by Lynn Lorenz
“Yeah.”
They walked in silence to Canal Street. Scott didn’t realize how much he missed just hanging with someone. Well, someone as young as him. Charlie was nice and had looked out for him, but he must be in his late thirties. The other men at the shelter weren’t his age; most of them were in their forties, fifties, and even older. Some just looked older from the booze and the drugs.
“Well….” Scott didn’t know if Tony planned to walk him all the way home or not. It was kind of weird, but kind of nice. And sweet.
“It’s almost dark.” Tony looked up at the sky.
So he knew the business district wasn’t safe after dark. After all, he’d been waiting to jump someone, hadn’t he? Or had he just been down there looking for someone to rescue? Scott doubted that.
He crossed the large intersection. “Were you going to jump me the other night?”
Tony chewed on his bottom lip. “Yeah. I… I didn’t have no money.”
“So why did you stop that guy? Mad he got to me before you did?”
“Naw. I coulda had you first. I just let you pass.” Tony moved his fingers like they were walking.
“Why?”
Tony halted, looked at the ground, and whispered, “You smelled nice.”
Scott stared at the big man. “What? I smelled nice?” He burst out laughing. All he’d needed to stay safe was to take a bath more often?
Tony’s brows drew together and his lips tightened. “Don’t laugh!” he shouted.
Scott stopped and sobered. “You’re right. I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at the merits of good hygiene.”
“Oh.” Tony’s hands relaxed and he pushed the dreads out of his face. “Okay.”
“Thanks.” Scott took off again down the block.
“Well, you did. Still do,” Tony muttered, and Scott’s heart did a little flutter.
The shelter steps were a few yards away. The walk had been quick with someone to talk to, even though there hadn’t really been that much talking.
“This where you stay?” Tony pointed at the sign hanging over the sidewalk.
“Yeah. It’s not bad.”
Tony thrust his hands in his pockets and stared at his feet. “I have a place.”
“You do? Where?” Scott hadn’t heard of another shelter nearby, except the one in Mid-City.
“A house. Down on St. Josephine.”
Scott thought about where it would be located. “On the other side of the bridge?”
“Yeah, near the old St. Thomas projects.”
The federal government shut down the housing projects after the flood and never reopened them. They stood empty and boarded up, and the neighborhoods around them weren’t much better.
“That’s great.” Scott didn’t know what else to say. The sun had retreated behind the buildings, and they had reached the shelter. Charlie stood on the steps, giving Tony and him looks Scott couldn’t decipher. “Well, I gotta go now.”
Tony looked up at him, need and hunger burning in his eyes. Time dragged as they stared into each other’s eyes. Scott knew something important might happen, or the moment might pass and they’d go their separate ways.
“Want to stay with me?” Tony blurted out.
Scott blinked. “What?”
Tony looked up, then down, then shuffled his feet. “Nothin’. See you.” He spun around and headed down the block.
Scott’s heart stopped, then started in his chest as he watched Tony’s slumped shoulders, before his gaze dropped to the firm ass filling out the worn jeans. Without thinking, he ran after Tony, caught him by the arm, and pulled him to a stop.
“Yeah. I do.” Scott looked up into chocolate eyes, swimming in pain and tears.
“Huh?” Tony looked down at him, head tilted to the side.
“I want to stay with you. It’ll be farther to get to work, but I can take the bus.”
“The bus costs almost a dollar.” Tony rolled his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe Scott would spend the money to live farther away with him.
“I don’t care.” Scott squeezed Tony’s arm. “I don’t care.”
Tony glanced back at the shelter. “They got hot water here, I bet.”
“Yeah.”
“I only got cold water.”
“If I want a hot bath, I can come here and get it. You can, too, you know.”
Tony’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Hell, yeah. You just sign in, get a padlock for your stuff, and hit the showers. And you can have a hot meal too.”
“Oh.” He sighed. “I don’t have any power.”
Scott shrugged. “Okay. No lights.”
His rescuer stared at him, still unbelieving.
Scott laughed. “Anything else you want to warn me about?”
Tony bit his lip and nodded.
“Well? What is it? ’Cause if it’s roaches, man, we got the big flying ones and the nasty little ones at the shelter. And I seen a few rats too.”
“There’s only one mattress.”
“Oh.” Scott thought about that, and his body heated. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Tony blinked, then smiled. “Really?”
“Really.”
“You trust me?”
Scott sighed. He moved his hand down Tony’s arm, and the strong muscles beneath his touch flexed. “You could’ve jumped me a dozen times, I figure. Dragged me into any alley in town and….” He coughed. “Well, yeah, I trust you.”
“Okay.”
“Do you trust me?” Scott slipped his fingers between Tony’s fingers, the large hand swallowing his.
Tony’s mouth twisted, then he laughed, as if that were the funniest thing Scott could have said.
“What’s so funny?”
“Asking if I trusted you.”
“How is that funny? Don’t think I can hurt a big guy like you?” Scott put his hands on his hips and threw his shoulders back.
Tony reached out, took Scott by the back of the neck, and pulled him to his chest. Scott used his arms to resist, but they couldn’t stand against the power coiled in Tony’s arms. They slammed together, and the force nearly knocked the breath from Scott. Tony stared down into his eyes, and Scott lost his breath anyway.
“I figure you could kill me, if you wanted to.” And by the way Tony’s gaze searched his, Scott knew he wasn’t talking about taking Tony’s life. There were other ways to destroy a man, to leave him broken and dead inside.
“I won’t hurt you, Tony,” Scott whispered into Tony’s chest. He inhaled, his chest filling with the unique smell of Tony, slightly musky, slightly sweaty, and just slightly sweet.
“I’ll never hurt you, Scott.” Tony ran a finger down the side of Scott’s cheek, and Scott shuddered.
No matter what might happen in the future, in that moment, with his face buried in Tony’s neck, Scott believed him. At least, he wanted to believe him. Desperately.
And that shocked the hell out of him.
Chapter 7
“WHO’S YOUR friend, Scott?” Charlie glared at Tony, barring his way across the steps.
Tony glared back. “None of your business, mister.” He clenched his hands as he faced Charlie. He didn’t like this bastard, and he really didn’t like the way he looked at Scott.
“Relax, Charlie. He’s a friend. We both need a hot shower and some food.” Scott pointed at Tony as he climbed the steps.
The man narrowed his eyes but stood aside. Tony wondered if Charlie was more to Scott than just a friend, and he didn’t like the kick in the gut that came with that thought.
Charlie went inside, through a door, and appeared at a counter. He placed two padlocks on the counter and shoved them toward Scott. “He needs to sign in if he’s staying.” His tone of voice made it crystal clear to Tony that Charlie didn’t like the idea. “We’re sort of full, you know.”
“I know. It’s just for the shower and dinner.” Scott smiled and took the locks. “Come on, Tony. I’ll show you the way.”
&
nbsp; They went down the hall, then veered to the right, past the gym. Scott went through a swinging door marked Men’s Showers, and Tony found himself in a large locker room. Rows of tall metal lockers lined the walls, and between them stretched long wooden benches.
“Pick a locker, stow your stuff, and lock it. Put the string with the key around your neck while you get cleaned up. Towels are on the shelf over there. Shampoo and soap are in the dispensers on the shower wall.” He pointed to stacks of thin white towels.
They each took a towel, got undressed, and wrapped the towels around their waists. Tony didn’t peek at Scott, and he didn’t think Scott peeked at him, although the urge to look ate at him.
After they stored their stuff, they stepped into separate stalls hung with gray plastic curtains for privacy. Tony pulled off his towel and hung it on a hook, then turned on the taps. Hot water sprayed from the overhead nozzle, and he jumped as tiny pinpricks of fire assaulted his skin. At first it was too hot to stand, but he relaxed into it and eventually turned around so it beat over his back.
The dispensers on the wall had shampoo and liquid soap. He pumped out a handful and rubbed it all over his body. He’d taken plenty of baths in cold water, but there was nothing like a hot shower to wash all the grime, sweat, and stink off.
Once clean, he lathered up his dreads, gave them a rub, and then rinsed off the shampoo.
With his body cleaner than it’d been in a long time, he just felt better.
In the stall next to him, the water turned off as Scott finished. Tony did a final rinse, sorry to see the hot shower come to an end, and turned off the taps. He dried off with the towel, then wrapped it around his waist and stepped out.
Scott stood waiting for him.
“That was da bomb!” Tony grinned. “Been a long time since I had a hot bath.”
“Well, anytime you want one, we can come back.”
“Good to know.”
They sat side by side on the bench to get dressed. Tony hated to put his dirty clothes on over his clean body, but he had no choice. He could change once he got home.
They pulled their jeans on, and Tony ventured a sidelong glance at Scott.
Damn, the boy was skinny. His ribs showed, not bad, but enough, and Tony could see every bump on his spine. What he needed was some fattening up. Lots and lots of Tiffany’s waffles and wings should do the trick, not the kind of food they served here, he bet. That couldn’t put meat on a rat.
Tony hadn’t had a hot meal in a while, if you didn’t count hamburgers or the hot dogs they sold at the gas stations two for a dollar. Sometimes they had a special and he could get a candy bar with that.
Scott could use a few dozen candy bars.
They shrugged on their shirts.
“Let’s go up to my bunk and get my stuff.”
Tony followed Scott up the stairs to the second floor and into a large room. About two dozen cots, half of them filled, lined up in two rows.
First thing he noticed when he entered was how most of the men sat up, their gazes on him, sizing him up, and it was obvious they didn’t like what they saw.
Tough shit.
He put his most badass face on and strutted down the aisle, every inch of his body radiating a don’t fuck with me attitude.
“Stop that… you’re scaring everyone,” Scott whispered, but then he winked.
Tony shrugged. “Just settin’ some ground rules, that’s all.”
“Right.” Scott rolled his eyes.
“Don’t be rollin’ your eyes at me, boy.” Tony winked back.
“Right.” Scott stopped at a bunk, knelt, and unlocked the padlock on the locker. He opened it, pulled out a backpack, and stuffed everything from the locker into it. Then he stood, shut the lid, and turned to Tony. “Let’s go down and get some food, then we’ll head to your place.”
Tony smiled. “Food sounds good.” He rubbed his belly, and it growled. Looking up, he caught Scott grinning at him.
“I’m hungry too.”
They went back down to the cafeteria and shuffled down the serving line, pushing their trays ahead of them as the servers filled their plates. Scott led Tony to a table and they sat.
The food was hot, plentiful, and really not that bad.
But it was no waffles and wings, that’s for damn sure. Still, he was grateful to sit down in the well-lit room and eat with Scott. They ate in silence, stealing glances at each other.
Despite wanting it to be worse than what he had to offer, the shelter really wasn’t so bad. Tony wondered if Scott now thought he’d made a mistake saying he’d leave this place and go live with him in a rundown shack.
“You don’t have to come with me, you know.” Tony stared into his tomato sauce-covered spaghetti.
“I know.”
“You can change your mind.”
Scott put his fork down. “Look, if I change my mind, I’ll let you know, okay?”
“Okay.”
They ate more spaghetti, forks scraping to gather the last of the sauce-covered pasta.
“Still want to leave?” Tony asked around his last bite of bread.
“Yeah.”
“Just checkin’.” Tony smiled as Scott laughed and shook his head.
A tray slammed down on the table, shaking their plastic glasses of iced tea. Charlie dropped onto the bench next to Scott, glaring at Tony as if he’d just killed someone. Trying to look all dangerous and threatening. Trying to….
What the fuck?
Muthafucka thought he could scare Tony off? No fucking way. Scott was his. The urge to slam his fist down and declare “Mine!” nearly spilled out, but he kept control.
“Charlie? What’s going on?” Scott sat back, brows raised.
“I heard you were leaving. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”
“No reason. I’m fine.”
Charlie’s gaze darted to Tony, and Tony met him with narrowed eyes. Charlie held Tony’s stare, refusing to back down, but when he spoke, it was to Scott.
“You don’t have to do this, you know. Leave the shelter. Not if you don’t want to. Not if someone’s forcing you.” Now Charlie’s uneasy glare turned to outright hatred.
Tony flicked his gaze to Scott, and a shiver of fear raced through him. What if Scott changed his mind? What if Scott wanted to stay here with Charlie?
Scott took another mouthful of pasta, chewed, swallowed, then said, “No one’s forcing me to do anything. Tony’s my friend. He’s got a place so I’m going to try it out, that’s all.”
“Well, if you need help, you know where I am.” Charlie gave a final glare, then stood and stormed out, leaving his tray and food behind.
Tony exhaled. “Damn, man, did that fool lose his fucking mind?”
“Seems so.” Scott’s lips twisted as he stared after Charlie, the regret on his face plain as day to Tony.
Tony put his head down and stared at his empty plate. “He’s pissed ’cause he wants you.”
“What?” Scott’s head spun around, his long black hair whipping with the motion.
“Uh-huh. I could tell. I seen it in his eyes, man. Fool wants you bad.”
Scott stared at the door to the cafeteria, still swinging from Charlie’s exit.
“He’s a nice guy, but I don’t want him.” He looked up and met Tony’s gaze but didn’t say anything else.
Tony didn’t press for more, afraid Scott might say he didn’t want Tony either.
They finished with a piece of yellow cake covered in a thin chocolate frosting, then bused their trays and left the cafeteria.
They passed the office and went out the door.
“Scott?” Charlie leaned on the railing to the steps, smoking another cigarette.
“Yeah?” Scott paused.
He held out a card. “It’s got the number here. If you need anything, okay?” This time, there was only concern in Charlie’s eyes. “Anything. I mean it.”
“Thanks, Charlie.” Scott nodded, slipped the card into his backp
ack, tossed it over one shoulder, and trotted down the steps. He turned back and waved to Charlie. “See you around!”
Charlie looked like he was about to cry.
Goddamn muthafucka.
Tony grinned at Charlie, then slipped his arm around Scott’s shoulders as they walked away from the shelter.
“You know Charlie can see you, right?”
“Uh-huh.” Tony chuckled.
“You are so badass.”
“Yeah, you right!”
Scott laughed and bumped Tony with his shoulder. “How far?”
“Other side of the bridge”—Tony pointed to the bridges spanning the Mississippi River—“then about ten more blocks.”
“That’s not too far. Where’s the nearest bus?”
“On Tchoupitoulas, just a few blocks over.”
“Cool. I can ride it up to Poydras, cut across behind the casino, and still go down Decatur.”
“And if you get a transfer, you can take the riverfront trolley. Brings you all the way to Esplanade.”
Scott laughed. “Sure, I can do that in the morning, but maybe in the afternoon I’ll walk back.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Tony volunteered.
“No need. I can manage.”
“Well, if I’m working at the market, I can just hang around until then.”
“Like you did today?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you follow me after you took my money?”
“Yeah.”
“How come?” Scott glanced at Tony.
He shrugged. “Don’t know.” And it was the truth, because he didn’t know why he followed Scott, not the first time. Anyway, if he said something, it’d only sound silly.
Scott bumped him with his hip. “Maybe you saw something you liked?”
“Maybe.” Tony looked down at his feet, watching them as he walked.
Scott grinned.
Tony looked up, caught the grin, and rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Scott held out his hands as he proclaimed his innocence.
“Well, just don’t be rollin’ no eyes at me, that’s all.”
Scott looked up. Above them, the wide spans of the two side-by-side bridges soared, blocking the night sky from his sight. “Those are some bridges.”
“Sure is. I used to have folks on the West Bank, but they’re gone now.” Tony pointed across the river, then dropped his arm, regretting he’d brought it up.
