Swimming to Freedom

by Robbie Michaels

  “Strategies? For what?”

  “Our team plans for how to win? That’s why you wanted to talk to him.”

  “No, it’s not. We didn’t talk team stuff. We just had a great lunch and talked about life in general.”

  “Why?” Brandon’s dad demanded.

  “Why?” Tyler parroted back the single word question. “Why what?”

  “Why did you want to talk with Brandon if not to get team plans out of him?”

  “We share a common background, and it was good to talk with somebody who understands and can relate. A team wins by swimming faster than the other guys.”

  “I don’t understand,” Brandon’s dad said.

  “That’s why I took him to lunch,” Tyler said. “Brandon and I are the same age, and have the same basic life experience. You’re like way, way older than me, so I don’t think we’d have much to talk about.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Brandon’s dad said.

  “Dad!” Brandon said sharply. “You’re embarrassing me. Stop it. Just because I don’t have a lot of friends now doesn’t mean I don’t want them. But if this is the way you’re gonna treat any other people I become friends with, I’ll just have to make sure that you never know anything about them so you won’t be as miserable to them as you’re being to Tyler. Now let go and back off,” Brandon ordered, surprising himself.

  Tyler couldn’t know it, but that was the first time Brandon had ever confronted his father and ordered him to do something. His father released Tyler’s hand, but Tyler didn’t move, standing his ground against the other man.

  “You need to leave. Come on, Brandon, let’s get inside.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” Brandon said. “Just go ahead inside.”

  “Brandon, I said come with me, now,” his father angrily ordered, clearly unhappy at having his son disobey a direct order.

  “And I said I’d be there in a minute. I need to apologize to my new friend for you and your behavior. I’ll be inside in a minute.”

  His father’s eyes were wide.

  “Before I forget,” Tyler said, “I want to get your cell number and your email address.”

  Brandon sighed. “Sorry. I’m not allowed to have either.”

  “What? Everybody has them. My grandparents are in their eighties, and they both have cell phones and email accounts. They’re both on Facebook and Twitter and… I don’t understand. Why don’t you have them?”

  “I’m not allowed,” Brandon said in quiet resignation.

  “You’re kidding. That doesn’t make any sense at all. Well, I guess that just means I’ll have to come back so we can talk face-to-face. What about next Saturday or Sunday? Or Friday night? Got anything planned?”

  “He’s busy,” Brandon’s dad said, still hovering nearby.

  “No, I’m not,” Brandon told his dad. Turning his attention back to Tyler, he started to ask, “What—”

  “Brandon, I said you were busy,” his dad interrupted.

  “Dad, go inside, please.”

  His father glared at him with an intensity that spoke volumes.

  “Make it quick,” he ordered Brandon as he turned to walk toward the house.

  Once he was inside with the door closed, Tyler said, “Wow. I see what you mean. He really is totally focused on winning and on having absolute and complete control over you at any cost.”

  “That’s the only thing that matters to him.”

  “Dude, I’d hate to have him as a father. I’m so sorry.”

  “Tell me about it,” Brandon said as he sighed in resignation. “Sometimes I wish for the days when he barely knew I was alive.” They leaned back side by side against Tyler’s car for a few minutes, neither saying anything. Since their hands were not visible from the house, Tyler gently twined two of their fingers together. Brandon smiled.

  “He doesn’t keep any guns in the house, does he?” Tyler asked.

  “No,” Brandon said.

  “Good,” Tyler said. “I’d hate to get shot for keeping you outside ten seconds longer than he wanted.”

  “I’m really sorry about him. Joel calls him a real dick.”

  “Yep, sounds about right. Is he gonna give you lots of grief about talking to me today?”

  “Of course. But I’m used to dealing with him.”

  “So, about next weekend, what would work for you?”

  “I’ve got nothing planned. I’m not allowed out of his sight and he’s not going anywhere next weekend, so I’ll be here. I’m sure he’ll try to pile extra chores onto me to keep me so busy I won’t have time to talk with you.”

  “Let him try,” Tyler said with a smile.

  “Don’t worry, he will.”

  “So how about Saturday morning about ten o’clock? Would that work for you?”

  “Sounds wonderful,” Brandon said. “I’ll look forward to it all week.”

  “Good. I’ll be here and will see you then. But now, sadly, I need to hit the road and head home. Got a ton of homework to do yet today.”

  “Me too,” Brandon agreed.

  It was a toss-up as to which of them had the bigger smile on his face.

  Tyler waved as he turned around and drove off down the driveway. Brandon hated to see him go and half wished he could just jump back into the car and go with him. He had to go inside and face his father and answer for his crimes of treason and consorting with the enemy. He loved life, but he hated the warped spin his father placed on that life.

  Brandon didn’t have to wait long to hear what his father thought. Of course he already knew. The only question was how the whole thing would play out this afternoon.

  He didn’t even have the door to the house closed before his father was in his face.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” his dad shouted at him as he stepped inside the house.

  “Closing the front door,” Brandon said, managing to keep a straight face. He was determined not to let his dad get to him.

  “Cut the crap. You know very well what I mean. And you are never to disobey me like that ever again, especially not in front of someone.”

  “Only if you promise not to embarrass me in front of someone else in the future.”

  Brandon didn’t know what had made him so gutsy. He’d never done this before and felt a mixture of fear and elation. Perhaps it was having a glimpse of the real world, or a taste of what life could potentially offer, of some of the forbidden fruit just beyond his reach. Whatever the cause, Brandon had started down that pathway and there was no backing down when dealing with his father. Backing down was seen as a weakness, a flaw, a failing, something to be exploited.

  Since he was on a roll, Brandon continued. “And I know you can’t do that, so you’ve got your answer. Now, I’ve got homework to do.”

  “Just one afternoon with some stranger and look at you. You’ve never disobeyed me before. You’ve never been so disrespectful before. That’s why you’re never to see him again. Look what he’s done to you in just a couple of hours.”

  “Sorry, Dad, but this is your doing. He had nothing to do with it. In fact I don’t think we talked about you once the whole time we were together. This is all your imagination working overtime. If you had simply been even mildly polite or pleasant for once in your life, then none of this would have happened. But you couldn’t do that. You had to pick a fight with an innocent man. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Now, as I said, I’ve got homework.”

  Brandon had never lived so close to the edge before, but the fact that he’d done it and lived to tell about it was an exhilarating experience. For the first time in his life he realized that perhaps he needed to change the way things were working.

  Chapter 9—That’s What Friends Are For

  TIME AFTER time Brandon had initiated the cell phone conversation with his father, but each and every time the outcome was the same: no. The arguments might vary, but the outcome did not: it was too expensive; it didn’t serve any useful purpose; he didn�
��t need one since he didn’t have anyone to communicate with; he could use the house telephone; it would be a distraction from his training, and his focus needed to be on swimming.

  Another thing his peers all had that Brandon did not was a driver’s license. He had dutifully taken driver’s education one summer so that when he got his license he would qualify for lower insurance rates. But when it came time for him to take the test and actually get his license, his father, not surprisingly, had one conflict or another and couldn’t take him.

  All he wanted to do was be able to contact Tyler. He didn’t want his father listening in on his conversations with his new friend for any number of reasons. He didn’t want to accidentally out himself.

  Things between father and son were a little tense the first twenty-four hours after he’d stood up for himself. Since they were already on edge, Brandon figured he had nothing to lose, so the night after Tyler’s visit he asked his father a simple question.

  “When can you take me for my driver’s license test?”

  “What?” his dad asked.

  “I said—”

  “I heard what you said. Where did that question come from? I thought we had settled this. A license is a luxury you don’t have time for.”

  “I’ve been through driver’s ed. I’ve done all of the training. All I need is to take and pass the test.”

  “And where is it that you want to drive?” his father asked, clearly caught off guard by Brandon’s question.

  “I don’t know. But I need to get my license.”

  “Why?” his father demanded.

  And this was where Brandon had a secret weapon.

  “When I was talking with Tyler yesterday, he told me that when I need to travel to a competition a long ways from home that I need a driver’s license to be able to fly. Actually he said a government issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or a passport. He told me I should get on it so that if things don’t go well in the test, I have time to take it again later. You’ve traveled to Florida and California every year. What identification do you use when you fly?” Brandon asked, knowing full well the answer to his question. Even though one episode did not make a trend, Brandon felt empowered to push things a bit more.

  “Tyler said he could take me, but said it would be better to go with you and take the test on a car I’ve driven and am comfortable with. Does that make sense to you?” The last part was a bone he was tossing his father, not that he wanted to, but Tyler had recommended he handle it this way.

  After quiet consideration, his father finally said, “I’ll have to check my calendar and your competition and training calendars and see if it’s possible.”

  “Okay. Don’t take too long. I don’t want to forfeit a match just because I don’t have the right ID to get onto an airplane. That would just suck.”

  Brandon left the issue alone for the remainder of the evening, deciding to wait and see how long it took his father to get back to him. He wasn’t sure his father would agree, but if he didn’t agree, he was prepared to push again.

  A COUPLE of days later when Brandon and Joel paused for a moment between swimming laps to catch their breath, Joel whispered to him, “The youth group meeting we went to is happening again this weekend. Do you want to go again?”

  “More than you know, but you know my situation. I don’t see any way for that to happen.”

  “But you would like to attend, right?” Joel pushed.

  “Yes, absolutely. I learned so much about so many things there. I’d love to go again. I just don’t see it happening.”

  “Let me work on it a bit and see what I can come up with. How are things between you and your new buddy? You two talking?”

  “Can’t. I can see it now—my dad would want to sit right beside me and listen to every word I said. No, that wouldn’t work.”

  “That sucks,” Joel said.

  Brandon told Joel about Tyler and his dad meeting.

  “What a dick,” Joel said softly.

  “Come on, Brandon! Enough loafing around, get with it. Swim, dammit. You’re not here for fun, you’re here to work.”

  “There’s the lighthouse foghorn,” Joel said.

  Brandon laughed lightly before slipping his goggles back on and starting another lap.

  AS PROMISED Tyler showed up at the door at ten o’clock on Saturday morning. And as Brandon had anticipated, his father had gone out of his way to make it just about impossible for Brandon to easily spend any time with Tyler. Brandon did get a long list of chores. Hell, Brandon didn’t think they could all be done in one week of nonstop work. Some of the “chores” were not at all urgent and had been on his father’s to-do list for years. He didn’t know if his father thought he was stupid, or if he just didn’t care.

  When Tyler knocked on the door, Brandon managed to get there first and opened it to give his newest friend a big smile as he stepped outside and closed the front door behind him. They’d made a point of moving away from the house to avoid being overheard.

  “So? How bad is it?” Tyler asked.

  “Bad. The list is more work that any one man can possibly do in one day.”

  “Well, then, let’s get to work,” Tyler said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said. If you have work to do, I’ll help you and we can spend some time together and talk while we work.”

  “Really?” Brandon asked. “You’d be willing to do that?”

  “Absolutely. And I hope you don’t mind….”

  “Yes?” Brandon was immediately suspicious. “What did you do?”

  “Me? Do something? Whatever would make you ask such a question?”

  “Talk,” Brandon ordered.

  “I made a couple of phone calls this week. I talked with someone I think you might know. He said he’d be glad to come over and help us as well.”

  “Who?” Brandon asked.

  Rather than answer with words, Tyler just turned toward the driveway when he heard a car approaching. He gestured toward the car.

  “Joel? You…? How…?”

  “I’m resourceful. Joel and I had a couple of very enlightening conversations this week. He said that he’d be glad to help, in the interest of…. Well, I’ll let him tell you all that later.”

  “Bran,” Joel said excitedly, giving Brandon a big hug first. Smile still cranked up to stellar intensity, he turned to Tyler and said, “And you must be Tyler.” He gave Tyler a big hug as well and then stepped back and looked him all up and down.

  “So what is it that the dick has us doing today?”

  Before Brandon could answer, though, the front door of the house swung open and his father came outside toward them.

  “Boys, Brandon has a lot of work to do today and doesn’t have time to play. You’ll have to go home so he can get to work.”

  “Oh, we’re here to help,” Joel said, seeming to take particular pleasure in delivering this message.

  “He doesn’t need help. He just needs to be a responsible adult and get to work.”

  Raising his voice as if speaking to someone who had problems hearing, Joel said loudly, “We’re here to help him. That’s what friends do for one another.” Turning his back on Brandon’s father, he said, “Okay, guys, what first?”

  “Cleaning out the garage is the monster job. I don’t think anybody has touched it, other than to pile more junk inside it, in twenty years. The car hasn’t fit inside there for more than ten years.”

  “Then let’s get to it,” Joel said, rubbing his hands together in mock enthusiasm for the task that lay ahead of them. When Brandon opened the garage door so they could see inside, Joel’s comment said it all. “Wow. You weren’t kidding, were you?”

  “Nope,” Brandon said. “A real mess, huh?”

  BY NOON the three of them were able to make a dent in the task. By four when they called it quits, they could hardly believe it was the same building. The before and after conditions were worlds apart and even Brandon’s fat
her was unable to hide his shock at what they had managed to get done in one day.

  Joel struck while the shock was greatest and said, “And now the three of us are going over to my house to veg out for a couple of hours and watch something mindless on TV.” Without waiting for approval, or disapproval, Joel dragged Brandon into his car and took off with Tyler close behind.

  At Joel’s house, he played good host and got the guys set up in the basement with snacks and drinks. He sat with them while they flipped through hundreds of channels to find something to watch.

  After five minutes of surveying the options, Joel had a more serious question for Brandon. “How much shit is the dick gonna give you for the way we played him today?”

  “I have no idea. This has never happened before.”

  “I’m sure he’s gonna be mighty pissed that for five minutes you are not under his scrutiny.”

  Tyler cuddled up next to Brandon and said, “I’m so sorry for the hell you have to live with because of that guy.”

  “Thanks,” Brandon said, kissing Tyler’s forehead quickly. “It’s what I’m used to. I’ve never had a choice.”

  “Well,” Tyler said, “I’m still sorry you have to endure it. As much as possible, please know that while I’m around I’ll help you with it. Of course, I’m not here more than I am here.”

  “That’s where I come in,” Joel chimed in. “Now that I know what’s going on. And I’m a pretty ballsy kind of guy, so I have no problem taking him on.”

  “You got big balls?” Tyler asked.

  “No,” Brandon said, holding up a hand toward each guy. “I forbid it. Joel, do not even think of it.”

  “What?” Joel teasingly whined.

  “I know you. Remember, you are to keep your pants on and in place. There will be no showing off your goodies to my boyfriend, got it?”

  Tyler’s head snapped around quickly to look directly at Brandon. “You called me your boyfriend,” Tyler said, snuggling even closer to Brandon as they lay on the sofa, theoretically to watch the television. “I like the sound of that.” He looped one of his legs over Brandon’s torso and draped one arm over his chest, his head resting on Brandon’s shoulder. “Mmm,” he vocalized softly.