by Leanne Davis
Ross bit his lip to keep his smile from showing. Nodding, he glanced at Jody as he held a glum gaze. “I can see why. I had no idea she didn’t have one. I guess this can’t be my favorite place either.”
JayJay brightened. “Maybe you could convince her to get one.”
Ross shook his head. “You heard the rules. I don’t think she breaks them very often.”
JayJay nodded. “She doesn’t ever.” Sighing, he stared at the TV.
Ross turned back to Jody who watched them, and a strange expression appeared on her face. “What?” Ross asked.
She started to grab stuff from her refrigerator and brought out more pans. “He’s autistic, you know.”
“I figured that out. He startled me at first, when I came downstairs in my underwear and he’s…”
“Huge. Yes, his size sometimes worries us. People he doesn’t know or the police might find him threatening only because of his size.”
“I see the concern. They might assume he’s a fully functioning adult.”
“He doesn’t always get people’s personal boundaries. If he’s excited and wants to share something, he might go up to a complete stranger and startle them… and being so big, well, we struggle sometimes to keep him safe. There is not a threatening bone in his body. He’s a giant, like a big, wonderful St. Bernard that thinks he’s a lap dog, brimming with gentleness and joy. He tries to make everyone feel happy. But not everyone realizes that. We try to keep him safely at a distance.”
“The rules?”
“Yes. The rules explain what he can and can’t do on his terms. He genuinely can’t understand, see or hear things that are implied, instead of literal. That applies to your tone of voice too. We have to be clear with him at all times. He needs boundaries. If not, he’ll sit in front of his stupid game for twenty-four/seven and forget to eat or sleep. He’ll munch on Pop-Tarts five times a day if we let him.”
“I had no idea.”
She smiled. “He comes here often. I usually pick him up for our Aquarium day. I can’t believe I forgot. It slipped my mind. I guess that’s owing to you…” She ducked her head and concentrated harder on the eggs while flipping them.
“Will he feel confused by seeing me this morning?”
“No. He knows all about sex. He knows I have it. I obviously don’t advertise it and I try to schedule his visits when I don’t have a man here. So that was a first. But he took the friend excuse with little agitation. I can usually tell if he doesn’t like hearing or seeing something.”
“Good. I’d hate to upset him.”
She shook her head. “How do you take your eggs?”
“Uh. Cooked. I’m not picky.”
She glimpsed at him over her shoulder. “Wow, something more to enjoy about you.”
“You seemed to find plenty to enjoy last night…”
She placed the eggs on a plate and arranged the avocado slices on the freshly toasted bread before she called her brother’s name. JayJay took his plate and went back over to the couch. She started preparing Ross’s.
“You don’t have to go with us today. That’s a lot to ask of anyone. He takes five hours. Goes through everything. Sea life is his thing. Do you know what that means?”
“A strong, narrow interest or focus?”
“Yes. That’s exactly it. And his is knowing and reciting every single fun fact about sea life you could ever comprehend. It’s uncanny how much he knows. And readily shares.” A smile brightened her face.
He shrugged, wondering if JayJay’s invitation was something she was delicately trying to get out of now? He wasn’t sure. The Aquarium sounded more interesting than anything else he could do or see in this town. “I have no plans. But if it’s a thing just between you two…”
“No. I mean it’s a thing only because we go on the first Saturday of every month. But it doesn’t have to be just us. Sometimes my parents come. Or a cousin or a friend. I have a lot of them.”
“Yeah. I’ll go.”
“You sure? He won’t skimp, not even with new people. He has a certain order he has to follow and he needs to stick to it or he gets upset. I don’t see any reason to upset him when it’s so easy to just stick to the order.”
“Of course. I get it. No changes. Transitions are usually hard.”
She nodded. “You know someone else on the spectrum?”
“Not particularly well. I worked with a guy who was. He had a tough time, without the kind of family care and support you give JayJay. He could almost do his job, but he needed more support. I tried to help him whenever I could; we were both bagging groceries. It was back when I was just a stupid kid. The manager got mad at us one day and fired us both.”
Her head tilted. “You got fired for helping an autistic person do his work?”
“No, I got fired because I didn’t get the freight put away because I was helping Austin, that was his name. I guess indirectly it was for helping him instead of doing my own job.”
“That’s shit. The manager should have been fired.”
“There was no one to report it to. I needed another job to pay my rent. I was just outta school. And like I said, his family wasn’t much help. I always felt bad for him.”
“That breaks my heart. If JayJay were exposed to the outside world, they would eat him alive and spit him out. Yet he’s bright, inquisitive, funny, sweet, and the best friend anyone could have. He works for a few hours down at the local food shelter. He goes there with my cousin, Kayla, and her husband, the pastor, so he gets direct supervision from people who understand. There are hazardous triggers we have to watch out for. He usually works in the back, where there is less of a crowd or loud noise or overstimulation. Sometimes he wears headphones to drown out the outside world. But the world would miss his bright, shining smiles and—” Jody’s face glowed as she described her brother. Damn. Jody endowed her brother with unconditional love and adoration. “I’m glad we have so much fucking money. It gives JayJay access to the best medical care and treatments, allowing him to achieve his full potential. It makes me sick that we, as a society, don’t give all of our citizens the same opportunities and care. The Lassiter money shouldn’t be the only way to afford it. Or the loving care that accompanies it all.”
“Yeah. I used to see a lot of that.”
“At home?”
“Home. Here. Everywhere.”
She nodded with a dull expression. “The whole world is fucked up.”
She put his breakfast on the plate and slid it to him. Ross dug in and ate it up gratefully. She wore him out the night before and he was still fatigued. The food tasted delicious on his tongue. She turned back to him after observing how fast he ate, “You are hungry.”
He nodded, and replied, “You strained everything about me. I need to nourish my muscles and replenish my energy. And you’re right that the whole world is fucked up.”
She smiled. “But not here, not right now, so there’s that.”
“Right. True. Not right now. And yeah, I’ll tag along if I may today.”
“Yeah? Great. You haven’t seen the Aquarium yet anyway, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, no one gives a tour of the Seattle Aquarium like my brother does.”
With that, she took her plate and the three of them sat down on the couch to watch his cartoon show. Ross shoveled in the second helping she made him. Then they put on their shoes and raincoats when the sky began dripping outside. They stomped through the mud puddles as they walked the few blocks down to the stairs at the waterfront, walking northwards to the iconic building on the wharf.
After they paid and entered, JayJay made a beeline for the undersea dome, his favorite part and the place where they always started. It was the largest exhibit, offering a three hundred-and-sixty-degree view of four hundred thousand gallons of sea water. Ross was turning all around on his first time in there. His smile was as huge as JayJay’s. Ross followed JayJay and stood beside him. “So, what is this?”
And
that started the long, thorough, detailed tour. No one could possibly know as much as JayJay Lassiter did about the Aquarium. He knew all the staff there including the management and the caretaking crew. Most greeted him with an extra big smile and kind words. Ross saw everything that lived there from the various types of rockfish to the sea urchins and if there was a trivial fact about any of it, JayJay knew what it was.
They stopped midday to eat lunch and recap the morning, as well as planning and getting excited about their afternoon adventure. Jody’s eyes were a bit glazed over but she nodded and did all the right responses on cue. Ross caught her several times trying to conceal her yawns and realized she was exhausted. A long work week and his showing up last night for ceaseless sex seemed to be taking its toll. So much sex that burned late into the night.
Ross wanted to do something special for her. Something nice… but what? How could he relieve her exhaustion? Going home and leaving her alone would probably be the best solution, but no. He didn’t want to go home.
No.
To his surprise, Ross was enjoying the whole damn day. More than almost any other day, even days when he was drumming with Zenith. Of course, this didn’t compare to that. But this day was pretty damn good.
Chapter 8
JODY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT to make of Ross when he was so easy going and natural with JayJay. He socialized and interacted with her brother in ways she never witnessed from him or anyone else. Including all the ways he interacted with her. Watching his genuine sense of comfort and ease with JayJay did weird things to her heart. What could make a person more interesting and compelling than this amazing interaction with her autistic brother? She doubted it was an act. Ross wasn’t the type to pretend to handle something like that. And no one could sustain it for this long. Not so many hours. Jody found it grueling and she adored her brother. But he demanded a lot from her and during hour six, when she saw Ross lean in and listen closer as JayJay listed off the attributes of whatever he was currently discussing, Ross melted Jody’s heart. She usually tuned JayJay out before now.
But Ross? God, he seemed like he’d been part of their life since JayJay was a little kid. Ross was great. Compliant, genuinely intrigued, and overall, just nice. He was not fake or condescending. And as for his patience, who knew? Jody never imagined that of him in her wildest daydreams.
Now what to do with her new image and assessment of Ross? Of all people? Good Lord. You could never tell what was inside someone’s heart.
Her brain was too frazzled right then to figure it out. Dragging her feet, her eyes felt just as heavy as her body. She definitely couldn’t drink tonight. Her bed sounded heavenly.
But JayJay was still excited and full of energy. Feeling especially talkative, he spouted off all kinds of facts. The rapt audience he had in Ross was better than almost anyone else who wasn’t part of the family or raised with JayJay.
All of a sudden, JayJay asked, “Could we go to Ross’s house? Please, Jodeee? He has Shield’s Combat with all the special addition bonus stuff. I really want to see it. Please? Just for an hour?”
Jody’s eyelids felt so heavy but she couldn’t resist JayJay’s begging or his undying excitement. Ross added, “You guys are welcome to come over if you want.”
After all those hours, Ross wasn’t tired of JayJay’s incessant talking or annoyed by his constant barrage of unanswerable questions. JayJay often became invasive with his questions, since he had no real sense of people’s boundaries, and several queries were cringe-worthy for Jody, but Ross never even flinched. To her surprise, he answered JayJay honestly. Or he smiled and gently evaded JayJay’s inquiry without letting him realize that he was skirting the answer. Jody had to concede her respect and approval of his kindness in the companionship he exhibited towards her brother and her.
“Okay. For just a little while. It’s going on seven, so as long as we’re home by eight-thirty.”
They made the short walk to Ross’s condo and plopped down on his couch as he loaded the gaming system up and handed JayJay a controller. Jody took a side chair. One that was roomy and cushy. “Need anything?” Ross asked her.
“No,” she replied, letting her gaze wander. After eating a huge lunch, they’d grabbed a round of fries at six so she felt bloated and tired.
Jody jerked awake to find the room completely dark. Where was she? Foggy-minded, she sat up, pushing the covers away to find herself in a bed. In his bed. Ross was right beside her. Asleep.
JayJay!?!
She rushed from the bed and leaned over the railing that separated the loft from the lower floor. The couch was made into a bed and her giant, teddy-bear of a brother was sound asleep on it. What the hell? The city-lights created myriad patterns and provocative shadows on the walls, floors and furnishings. A glance at the clock told her it was well past three AM. Shit. Shit. Shit. Her parents would be panicking over where JayJay was. Scrambling to call them, she turned and spotted her phone on Ross’s nightstand. She lit it up and saw there were zero messages. How could that be? She started to click on the numbers when the phone was gently removed from her hands. Startled, she glared up.
Ross was awake, but groggy, holding her phone in his hands. “JayJay used your phone to call your parents and tell them where he was.”
Relief instantly calmed her. Imagining her parents’ anguish if they’d been looking for him in the dark of night and unable to reach her, she nodded and asked, “They just accepted that?”
“He explained we’d gone to the Aquarium,” Ross smiled with a kind of fondness in his eyes. “A lot of explaining for that. Then he got around to mentioning my epic gaming bonus features and said you let him come over to try them out. He also said you gave him permission to sleep over.”
“They must have wondered why I wasn’t calling.”
“You fell asleep. JayJay told them that and said I was a friend of you guys who let you sleep on my foldout couch.”
“As friends?”
“He seems to think we’re best friends now.”
She tilted her head curiously and Ross continued. “And honestly, I can’t think of a better friend to have. He’s honest, blunt, and real. What more could I want? I’m actually pretty honored he thinks that.”
Jody could have never predicted how Ross Karahan would turn out to be. Never like this. He was so right about her brother. She tried to swallow a weird swelling of emotion that lodged in her throat. “You should feel honored. JayJay’s the best.”
Ross nodded. “I agree wholeheartedly.”
“Why did you decide to let us stay overnight?”
“You fell asleep before the game even loaded. We played for the agreed upon hour and by then, you were snoring. JayJay asked for another hour and then…” Ross ducked his chin down a little and glanced away, “And then we got to battling, and he’s good. Damn. He’s better than me, and I didn’t realize two hours had passed…”
“He is very good from what he tells me. You let him play for three hours? My parents must have freaked out.”
“Your phone started ringing and that brought us out of it. He figured they would be calling so he tried to wake you up. You literally rolled over and didn’t budge. He took your phone and answered it. I was cringing, waiting for JayJay to tell your parents about meeting Ross in his underwear, but he didn’t mention that. He said he was visiting his best friend and gaming and you were here too and you guys decided to stay overnight rather than trying to make your way home in the dark.”
Her head felt musty and full of cobwebs. Yeah, they would be suspicious. They must have been wondering about her new friend, Ross. But what could they say? She was an adult. They knew she’d never put JayJay in any danger. Other than nearly becoming comatose, it wasn’t such a big deal.
“It is your building. I mean, your family owns it, right? So, it wasn’t like you were out someplace particularly shocking.”
She nodded. “Why am I not sleeping in the couch bed?”
“We made it up and played on it a
nd he fell asleep there. I left him and brought you upstairs. You never stirred once.”
She considered what he told her. He was nice, wonderful, and he bonded with her brother. She assumed anyone could or would if they only met JayJay. But more often, Jody watched the alternate version play out: people felt awkward and became cold, or fake, and appeared completely uncomfortable around him. JayJay didn’t always know what was wrong, but he instinctively reacted differently to people who were uncomfortable around him or responded negatively.
There was no bigger endorsement for Ross than that. She slipped her hand down the front of her body and smiled to see her clothing was still there. This guy was turning out to be totally decent. Not what she expected from their first introduction.
“And when I’m not down there in the morning?”
“I set the alarm for five. Figured I’d kick you out of bed so you would be there when JayJay woke up.”
“You figured it all out.”
“I figured out nothing.”
She twisted to glimpse him after hearing the stark, intense tone of his voice. He stared at her, looking confused. He moved until she found what she was looking for. Setting the foil package in her mouth, she rolled on top of him, straddling his middle. Startled, his hands came to her waist. “Jody, JayJay is right…”
She set her hand on his mouth, silencing him before she ripped the condom packet open and addressed his body. She fiddled with his clothes until she managed to pull him out. Rubbing and teasing him before she sheathed him, she pressed her mouth on his to keep him quiet. Their bodies moved together in a soft, familiar, gentle rhythm that displayed more caring and easiness than hot sex and orgasms. Even when it finally resulted in that, both were silent.
She rolled off him and instantly fell back asleep. When her clothes were being put on her again, Jody opened her eyes. “It’s five,” Ross said as he picked her up in his strong arms and took her down the stairs. Carrying her as easily as one would cradle a sleeping child, he watched her blink to get the grit out of her eyes.
