by Jenny Wood
“Jody did what?” Kingsley whispers back. My smile breaks and I can’t contain the giggle.
“He did, he kissed him right on the lips,” Kayson says, still whispering. Now they were being overly dramatic.
“Then what happened?” Kingsley whispered again, more insistent this time.
“He went to his room and now Cameron’s looking at us.” He tells Kingsley, making me laugh once again.
“You jackass!” Kingsley says in a half yell, no longer whispering. I can’t contain my hysterics at these lunatics.
“What’s so funny?” Jody says, joining us in the kitchen again. I take a drink of my coffee and leave Kayson to answer that one.
“Kingsley and I noticed that you kissed Cameron,” Kayson says seriously.
“Kingsley isn’t here, tattle-tale. YOU noticed that I kissed Cameron.” Jody rolled his eyes and shoved Kayson aside, looking for his own wallet. Once located, he looked at me for conformation.
“You ready now?” He asked. I nodded, I didn’t have much else to get ready, just had to grab my keys, so I could go now; and we did, leaving an open-mouthed Kayson in our wake.
Chapter 8: Jody
Because we hadn’t heard anything about Asher being located, (even though it was a weekday and I was positive he’d be at work today); I still wanted to keep Cameron close. I needed to get Jase’s graduation/birthday cake, a gift and some decorations that I hoped Conner and Cameron could put up, so I needed to head to the mall, myself anyway. Cameron agreed to come with me and we’d get his car on the way back home.
I was never one for shopping because I wasn’t a big fan of crowds. I liked to get in, get what I needed and get out. Cameron was the exact opposite. He stopped and looked at clothes, make-up, bath and body products, hair stuff and whatever else caught his interest. When he saw a sale, he’d grab my arm and guide me to whatever it was; he’d take my hand and half drag me to something else and his eyes lit up when he saw a shirt that I had to have because it’d “showcase those inked up arms and make all the girls drool over the muscles in your chest and back”. It just looked like a black shirt to me. He bought it anyway, despite my many protests.
Shopping for Jase was another thing altogether. I got him a one-hundred-dollar gift card and I know all the guys were, as well. I also picked up notebooks, folders, pencils, binders and shit like that because Conner said kids didn’t think of that kind of shit. Cameron, however, went for personal. He got him a photo album with a digital camera and portable printer so he could scrapbook his time away.
“I wish I’d had stuff like this growing up, so I could look back on everything that helped me get to where I am today. Good and bad.” He says. I’d have to ask about that, later.
“Kayson and Kennedy’s mom always had a camera. She’s got albums of us, some just sitting around playing video games.” I say, making him smile at me.
“Was it ever a big deal that all three of her boys were gay?” Cameron asked. I know he knew that she wasn’t my real mother and that the boys weren’t my real brothers. I loved that he saw it that way though because blood couldn’t have made us any closer.
“Not even a little bit,” I explain as we made our purchases and headed to the party store. “Kayson came out first he was fourteen. He’d sat us down and told us all together; Kingsley, me and Mama Kennedy. Then, Kingsley started laughing when a nervous Kayson finally blurted it out and he said: “me too”… I kept mine quiet for a little bit, I didn’t want to be, didn’t want to risk the fallout if someone found out and didn’t like it. Still, Mama Kennedy sat me down after a middle school dance and asked me flat out. I couldn’t lie to her. Kayson and King thought it was cool; like we were some brotherhood united or something. We were the gay kids but we were all still cool and popular, nobody fucked with us. Not even in middle school or high-school. It just was what it was.” I shrugged. “Of course, we were in California and the majority of the population of kids are gay.” I laughed, thinking of how different it was here. Then it made me sad because I wondered how many kids suffered because of it.
“That’s awesome, I’m so glad you guys had that,” Cameron said sadly. “What about their dad? He cool with it too?”
“Nope, but he didn’t matter. Didn’t then and he doesn't now.” I told him honestly. None of us had even spoken to him since losing Mama Kennedy. Cameron nodded, reflective it seemed like.
“You can rent a helium tank, look,” Cameron said, effectively changing the subject.
“Oh, yeah, we probably need that, huh?” I ask, looking around at everything. It looked like a children’s party exploded in here. Cartoons, princesses, cars, motorcycles, sports gear. There was a theme for every damn thing.
“Can I help you fellas find something?” A perky, blonde, cashier asked as we were looking at banners.
“We’re throwing a graduation slash birthday party,” Cameron says, friendly.
“Oh, great! We have banners and balloons for both.” She walked away still talking, not even looking to see if we were following. After we picked out balloons, plates, napkins, 2 banners, a sash and some ridiculous looking party hats; we also rented the helium tank.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Cameron said excitedly. I wasn’t so sure.
After being at the mall for almost two hours, we finally made it to Cameron’s to get his car and some clothes to keep at the house; he didn’t seem to want to linger and I couldn’t blame him, there was broken glass in the living room that looked to be from a glass of some sort and hole in the wall of the bedroom that looked like a shoe had gone through it. Once I followed him back to my place, I carried in all of our party paraphernalia as Cameron went to put his things away. He has a closet and dresser in the guest room but he didn’t bring much stuff.
Before I had even half of the balloons aired up and tied off with string; Cameron came out to help; within another half an hour, Kayson and Conner came in together.
“Layla and Jinx are manning the shop tonight. I canceled my four o’clock. Since they’re going back to California for a couple weeks, they’re both trying to get all their appointments in this week, instead. Conner left Claire and the new kid at the shop. We’re here to party!” Kayson yelled as they entered but grabbed party stuff and started hanging it.
“Jase isn’t tutoring today so he should be here in about an hour,” I tell them.
“We forgot the cake!” Cameron gasps. Fuck, I knew we were forgetting something.
“You guys stay, keep hangin’. I’ll run out and be back in 20 minutes, top.” I tell them and wink at Cameron before I walked out, making him blush prettily. I know this is the worst timing for me to try and start something with him and really, I don’t even know what I’d have to offer him; surely not something he deserved, I didn’t know how to be in a relationship that wasn’t completely selfish on my part; but trying to stay away from him the last several months on top of seeing him beat all to shit. I don’t want to stay away from him anymore. I want to be free to kiss him when I want, I want him to feel free enough to be himself around me; wear his make-up or whatever else and laugh like I’ve seen him do the last couple days. He fits in with my family, he’s best friends with two of them; why couldn’t I try? For him, I think I could.
Conner thankfully called this order in earlier today so I don’t have to wait around or explain what I need when I get to the bakery.
“I’m here to pick up for Kennedy,” I tell the older, white-haired lady behind the counter in her white apron that’s splattered with pink and yellow icing.
“I have it here for you dear and it’s already been paid for but I need you to sign the receipt.” The friendly smile never diminishing. She opens the box and lets me take a look at it before sealing the box closed. It’s a nice cake; both chocolate and white on either side, buttercream frosting with Jase’s name across the front. It says “Congrats, Graduate” diagonal in one corner, “Welcome Home” in another. “Happy Birthday in the other corner and a big number 1
8 on the bottom right. Seems like Conner thought of everything.
“I put in a special graduation cookie in here for the young’n. You be sure to tell them I said congratulations. Graduating high-school is a big accomplishment, these days.” She patted my hand as I handed over the signed receipt.
“I sure will, thank you.” I attempted a smile back; the feeling not as foreign as it did only a year ago.
I get back home in plenty of time to spare but notice there’s an extra car on our block and Jase doesn’t have one. It only takes me a second to recognize the Mercedes and see the silhouette of the prick still sitting in the driver’s seat. He’s looking down at his phone when I approach so he jumps when I tap on his window to get his attention. He doesn’t even attempt to hide his delusional superiority.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask, not sounding the least bit willing to help.
“I believe my boyfriend’s here seeing that, that is his car.” He points to Cameron’s car “Can you go get him for me?” He asks, somehow making it sound less like a question and more of a demand.
“I’m positive that nobody in that house is your boyfriend.” I somewhat lie. I hope Cameron’s done with him, but I haven’t actually heard him say that.
“I know for a fact that’s Cameron Rydell’s car, we’ve been together for longer than he’s known your little family now I’m asking nicely. Get my boyfriend and tell him it’s time to go home. I don’t have time for this.” He informs me, losing his patience.
“How about, instead, I call the police and have them come and talk to you. I know they’ve been looking for you all day.” I tell him, pulling out my phone and make it look like I’m dialing. Instead, I’m texting Kayson, since he’s the last person I’d texted and his message bubble was already up.
“And what do you think an officer can tell me? I’m on a public street.” He says smugly.
“Actually, you’re on a public drive. A public drive that I co-own. What I know that is, when the officer gets here, they’ll serve you with the protective order that Cameron filed because you beat the hell out of him. You’re lucky I’m letting the police handle it instead of using some of my own connections and burying your body in the Nevada desert where nobody would find a hint of the fucking stink you have rolling off of you.” I tell him, seriously. “I’m telling you politely one time. I better not see you outside my house again.”
“There a problem out here, Jo?” Kayson asks looking sinister as ever with his tatted up arms and chest on display.
“I don’t know,” I answered nonchalantly. “We gonna have a problem?” I asked Asher, who was still sitting like a bitch in his car.
“You can’t guard him, forever. You tell him the longer he stays gone, the worse it’ll be for him when I catch him.” Asher snarls at me before putting on his sunglasses and driving away; kicking up dust and flinging mud and rocks, everywhere.
“He’s a bowl of sunshine,” Kayson smirked.
“He’s dangerous, is what he is,” I tell him seriously. “The cake is in the truck; can you get it?” I ask, walking up the walkway into the house to check on Cameron.
“We called Carrie Garrison, they already issued the protection order in which he just broke; it was delivered at his place of employment around 2:30. I also called Sherriff Marks, he’s on his way to take a statement, we told him that Asher showed up after the court order was delivered. He’s bringing us, Cam’s copy as well.” Conner said the minute I stepped in. Cameron was standing beside the made up table, looking nervous, chewing on his thumbnail.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” I ask him, quietly. He nods and walks directly to me. I take his hand from his mouth and hold it in mine, guiding him to my bedroom. I shut the door behind us and turn to him. He still looks nervous.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
“Of course, are you?” I ask back, surprised he’d ask about me.
“Are you mad?” His voice shakes.
“Fuck yeah, I’m mad. I can’t believe he showed up here.” I let my control slip just a little bit and growled that louder than I’d meant to. I’m usually much calmer and easier around Cameron because I’m so much bigger than he is. Now more than before, I know why he’s so jumpy but some people are just intimidated by people bigger than them and I didn’t ever want Cameron to be one of those people.
“I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have come here.” He says, shaking his head and moving towards the dresser.
“Hey.” I stop him. “I didn’t mean I was mad at you.” I soften my voice for the one reserved just for him. I step closer to him, explaining myself because again, I don’t want him to be afraid of me. “It pisses me off that he feels like he can fuck with you. I don’t like him at my house, hunting you. I don’t like that he fucked with you before; hurt you.” I pull his hand back from his mouth where he’d started chewing his thumbnail, again. He blinked those wide, innocent, haunted, brown eyes at me and I pulled him into my chest. I wrapped my arms, tight around him and waited for him to do the same. He didn’t hesitate.
“I don’t want to cause any trouble for you or your family.” He whispers, softly.
“You won’t,” I assure him.
“He will.” Cameron tries again.
“Then we’ll cause trouble, right back,” I promise. While I somewhat lied about the “connections” I had in Nevada; I actually did have friends who had “friends” that could do exactly what I promised. I doubt I ever would, but Asher didn’t know that. I wasn’t above using some old friends to come down and scare him a bit, though if needed.
“Guys! Sherriff Marks is here.” Conner yelled from the other room. I dropped a kiss on Cameron’s head and followed him back into the living room, hand in mine.
Sherriff Marks was only here for a few minutes and Conner never stopped working on getting the place ready for Jase. He sat out party cups, plates, and napkins. He sat out copious bottles of soda, juice, and bottles of water; the cake was on display on the kitchen counter and someone had stopped and gotten a gallon of ice cream, which was obviously still in the freezer. There were purple, yellow, blue and red streamers hanging from the ceiling, door frames and across windows; there were balloons and long strings everywhere you turned around and there was a small, gift table in the dining room where small boxes and a couple bags were sitting, waiting for Jase. Ms. Jay and all her kids from the center strolled in just a little after four and we knew Jase would be home any minute. All of the kids had drawn pictures and handmade things for Jase; they were all proud to put them on the gift table as well.
We knew we weren’t going to be able to hide all the cars and Ms. Jay’s giant van, but by the time Jase came in, he looked well and truly surprised.
“SURPRISE!!” We all screamed, the kids louder than anyone. He dropped his book back along with his jaw and stared in open surprise.
“Happy Birthday!” Some people yelled while others yelled “Happy Graduation!” Kayson yelled “Welcome Home!” The kids yelled a combination of all of it…numerous times.
“Wow” He whispered in awe, taking us all in. Kayson rushed him and handed him the phone where I noticed Morgan and Kingsley were on video chat, wanting to talk. Jase spent a few minutes listening to Kingsley talk and congratulate and wish him a happy birthday and a hearty welcome home. He was choked up by the time he handed the phone back to Kayson and he made his way through the gaggle of children vying for his attention.
We passed out the cake and sang Happy Birthday; we all watched as Jase opened his gifts and gave a heartfelt “thank you” to each and every person, even five-year-old, Garret who was proud as hell of the homemade painting of a bumblebee with a big “J” on its back. His big toothless grin was so adorable, I couldn’t imagine why nobody had snatched him up and never let him go.
We played silly games with the kids and loud music so they could go wild. We’d need to wear them out for Ms. Jay, so she didn’t have to take a handful of sugar filled kids home with her. The whole ti
me, Cameron stayed close to my side. I had to admit, if I was honest with myself, it was nice to feel needed in a way. It seems like I’d always been the one who needed, nobody had ever needed me before. I liked it; too much, probably.
Ms. Jay took the kids home around six-thirty; it was a school night, after all, the rest of us stayed up and just hung out. We all sat on the big sectional shootin’ the shit and trying to see who had the most embarrassing stories of birthday’s passed.
“I remember King pissin’ his pants because some guy at Dad’s office had hired his four-year-old a clown, so dad thought we had to have one too. He showed up with his red hair and painted face and Kingsley didn’t sleep right for a month.” Kayson laughed, sharing all kinds of stories about Kingsley because he wasn’t here to retaliate.
“I remember you getting nipped in the pants by that pony at Sarah Givens, birthday party and you cried to Mama, two blocks away how you thought he bit your pecker off.” I ratted Kayson out, causing a cackle of laughter from Jase, Conner, and Cameron. Kayson scowled but was still smiling. I’d never forget that.
“Remember the first birthday party you had at our house? Mama tried and tried to get you to open your gifts but you refused. You started crying too if I remember correctly. How old were we? Eight, at least?” Kayson laughed. I rolled my eyes for show, but I remembered that party vividly. I’d been so excited to see a big table full of gifts, but in my experience, whatever gifts I usually got, my mom would go through them and take them back, depending on how much money she could get for them. I knew because of all the nice wrapping and big, expensive looking gift bags that I’d probably love what was in those bags and I didn’t want to love them and then have them taken away. I’d never told anyone but Mama Kennedy that before. Right then and there, she made me open every single one and then take them to my room. My room that I had at her house, where everything in it, was mine. She promised me with a ferocity that never made me doubt her again. Man, I missed her so badly, sometimes.
