Two Boys On A Bike - 6. Chapter 6

Part 6
James reached home put his bike away greeted his mother and went to put his clothes in the laundry basket. Half way up the stairs his mother called out.
“Should I put some food out for you James?”
“No thanks mum I’m not hungry.”
His mother waited for him to come downstairs again then asked him, “What’s wrong James?”
“Nothing mum, why d’you ask?”
“James King, you may be big for your age but you’ve still not reached your fourteenth year, and normally when you come home from school or your practise sessions you’re hungry, unless of course something is wrong that’s when you lose your appetite.”
“Mummm, leave it will you.”
“Alright but if you want to talk let me know.”
“Okay mum, I’m going up to my room to do my homework.”

Alone in his room he lay on his bed wondering how he was going to get back with Patrick again, he could phone him but he most probably wouldn’t want to talk he’ll just have to wait for school tomorrow. He felt miserable “That stupid fucking bitch,” he thought. “Had to bloody kiss me, jeez if she were here in front of me right now I’d plant my foot up her arse.

Patrick stayed up in his room till his mother anxious about her son’s non-appearance went to his room knocked on the door and saw him lying face down on the bed. Going over to him she laid her hand on his head stroking him “What’s the matter Patrick.”
The boy slowly turned over to face his mother who noticed the tear stained cheeks. “I sent James away mum because I was angry with him.”
“Whatever for Patrick?”
“I can’t tell you Mum you wouldn’t understand.”
“Patrick I might understand more than you know. Are you angry with James because he likes someone else besides you.”
“How did you know mum.”
“Never mind how I knew, so what happened?”
“I saw him kissing a girl in school.”
“Oh and you got jealous?”
“Umm, yes.”
“Patrick you don’t have a monopoly on James. Don’t forget he had his friends before he met you, and he’s not about to drop them all just to be with you all the time.”
“I thought that he would be like Jeremy," Patrick said disconsolately, "But he isn’t”
“I see, well maybe James is not quite the same as Jeremy. So you should make allowances for him.”
“Mum I don’t want to go to school tomorrow I’ll go back on Monday.”
“Don’t be silly Patrick you’re blowing this business with James out of all proportion.”
“Mum please will you just leave it about James, and I’m not going back to school till Monday.”
“I’ll speak to your father when he comes home and let him decide.”

Later that evening with Patrick still up in his room Mrs Jensen related what had happened between the boys and that Patrick didn’t want to go to school for the rest of the week.
“Blast, “Mr Jensen said scratching his head, “I hope he doesn’t revert to his old self of having no friends. It’s terrible to see him day in and day out by himself. I really thought that he’d found someone special now it’s all back to square one." He paused for a moment then continued, "Let him stay at home Mary to get over it, and hopefully later he may get to make other friends beside James.”
“Alright dear I think you’d better go and have a talk with him and try and cheer him up a bit, I think he'll listen to you more than me.”
Mr Jensen by not alluding to the subject of James in any way eventually got Patrick to come downstairs and sit with them watching TV. till it was time for bed.

Next morning James made his way to the park and waited for Patrick to arrive but by eight forty when he hadn’t appeared he left and made his way to school, and angry that Patrick hadn’t shown up, “If that’s the way he wants it okay,” he thought, “Fuck him, I’ve got my other friends.”
During the course of the day Duncan asked him, “What had happened to the new kid seeing that he wasn’t in school?” and was startled when James turned on him snarling, “How the fuck should I know why don’t you go and ask someone else.”
“What the hell’s wrong with you Jamie, all I did was ask you about the new kid because I saw that you were friendly with him, and you’re yelling your fucking head off at me.”
“Sorry Dunc’s didn’t mean to, and I don’t know what’s wrong with the new kid haven’t seen him since yesterday.”
The rest of the day went by with James’s spirits picking up a bit as he got involved with his friends again and also talking with Natalie during the breaks.
He went home in much better spirits then when he had arrived at school. Saying goodbye to Duncan and Heather he turned off and headed home. Walking through the front gate he paused as he looked at the open door of the garage and his bike leaning up against the wall. The memories of the last few days came flooding back, he felt a lump in his throat then tearing his gaze away from the bike he went into the house. That evening his parent enquired about Patrick and they were quite surprised when he told them that he hadn’t come to school and that he’d not had any contact with him. They didn’t press him for any further information noting that he was a bit reluctant to talk on the subject.

The following day James was more concerned than angry about the absence of Patrick his mind was working overtime thinking what could have happened. Till eventually during the morning break he asked Mr Tomlinson if he’d heard why Jensen was absent from school.
“His mother phoned yesterday saying he wasn’t feeling too good but that he would return to school on Monday.”
James thanked the teacher and turned away “Shit!” he thought, “He’s staying away because of what happened with Natalie,” and he made his way over to Duncan and Heather. When he reached them Duncan asked, “What time are we meeting up tomorrow afternoon Jamie?”
“What, I thought the party was at night.”
“I’m not talking about the party, the match you know, like kicking a football around against Hamilton Park you know, school versus school.”
“Oh shit yeah, I’ll meet you at one at your place that will give us time to meet up with the others.
“Okay,” and they talked about the forthcoming party till they returned to their classes. The rest of the day dragged by and he was glad to hear the final bell so that he could get out of the school and escape to the confines of his bedroom and reflect at what had gone wrong in his life.

Saturday afternoon he met Duncan at his house and together they made their way to meet the rest of the team outside the school gates. They boarded the coach and were driven across the city to the school that they were to meet in the inter-school league game. There was a constant chatter throughout the journey with most of them predicting what they were going to do to the opposition and how many goals they would win by.
Two hours later they were back on the coach subdued and quiet having been beaten 4-0 by Hamilton Park one of the less successful teams in the schools league.
After they’d got back to the school gates and had left the coach Duncan and James walked back home together.
“What the Hell was wrong with you Jamie, we would have been better off having my grandmother on the team, you were bloody useless?”
“Just shut it, I’m pissed off with your moaning, there’s more than just one person on the team.”
“Yeah but when you play badly the others are effected.”
“Well I can’t help that, if they want they can find someone else to replace me.”
“Jamie what’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird for the last few days.”
“Nothing it’s okay.”
“Bollocks I know you, and I know when you’ve got something on your mind, especially when you start losing your temper so easily.
“What the fuck are you, umm sorry Dunc’s, yeah I have got something on my mind I’ll tell you some other time.”
Duncan stopped walking and held James in check, “Can’t you tell me now, or, do you want me to tell you.”
James glared at his friend “What are you yapping about.”
“The new kid that’s what I’m yapping about. I might be all ga ga about Heather but I can still notice things about my best friend. And from the day that Jensen hasn’t turned up for school you’ve been acting different.”
“Duncan you’re way off the mark it’s got nothing to do with Jensen.”
“Jamie don’t try and fool me I’ve known you since we were nine and there is nothing that we can hide from each other.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Not to others, but I’m not others. So what happened that you’ve been acting so strange?”
“I can’t really tell you, it’s something that I’ve got to sort out between Patrick and myself.”
“If you can’t tell me who can you tell?”
James started walking again his head hung down thinking how he was to tell Duncan about Patrick and himself. After giving it some thought he turned to his friend.
“Dunc’s”
“Yeah.”
“You know when I asked you about you and Heather, and you told me it wasn’t just about sex that you just wanted to be like, with her all the time.”
“Yeah I remember.”
“Well it’s like that with Patrick and myself.”
“I thought so. So why the attitude?”
“Natalie’s the reason; he saw me and her kissing in the playground on Wednesday.”
“So what’s the problem, you’re entitled to go with anyone you want.”
“What would you say or do if you saw Heather kissing someone else?”
“Oops yeah I see what you mean. But has he got it so bad for you.”
“It’s not just one sided, I feel really miserable not having him around. I shouldn't be telling you this so don't repeat to anyone else. Patrick’s last friend along with his whole family were killed in a plane crash. He hasn’t had any other friends since then, he’s been too scared to in case as he puts it, his new friend gets taken away like his friend Jeremy was. I’m the first one that he’s got friendly with since then and we sort of latched on to each other. So when he saw me with Natalie he just lost it and hasn’t spoken to me since.”
“Shit! James I’m sorry, if you want I can go and tell Patrick what really happened maybe he’ll listen to me.”
“Thanks but I don’t think that will work.”
They continued their walk home together till they had to go their separate ways Duncan reminding James, to meet him at nine later that evening at his house so they could go together to pick up the girls.

The Party to say the least as far as James was concerned passed the time away, James did the normal things with Natalie that would have been expected of him but which had as much effect on him emotionally as a wet fish. It came as a relief when they took the girls home and he was able to get back to his room and crawl between the sheets. He lay thinking about Patrick and how when he got on the bike how the smaller boy put his arm around his waist and squeezed and the thrill it brought to him. He continued to think about Patrick till his eyes drooped and he finally slept.

Patrick’s parents were again concerned about him. Their happiness that he’d made a friend and seemed to be coming out of his shell had been short lived. The boy had been in the house for the last three days just moping around not taking any real interest in anything. Any attempt at conversation was answered with a yes, or no, or I don’t know, which at the moment was the extent of the vocabulary he was prepared to use. They took him to visit their relations thinking to take his mind off his problem with James, which made little change to his attitude. Now on Sunday morning Mr Jensen decided to confront his son. After breakfast he asked Patrick to join him in the sitting room so that they could talk. When they were seated he looked at his son who still looked drawn and the bruising over the right eye adding to the appearance of a small very unhappy boy.
“Patrick your mother told me what happened between you and James. I know that you’re disappointed about it, and feel that James has let you down. But you have to understand that you can’t expect James to be totally involved with you and have no other friends. I know that with Jeremy it was just you and him, but you were both a bit younger then. I’m more or less sure if Jeremy hadn’t died that as he got older he would have acquired other boys or girls as friends besides just you.”
“Yes dad Jeremy would have had them as friends and that’s all it would have been just friends, it would not have been like the feelings we had for each other.”
“So you think James has fallen in love with the girl you saw him kissing and you’re jealous about it because you thought he was in love with you.”
Patrick startled looked at his father, he tried to answer but his voice caught in his throat as the emotions of the last few days surfaced and he burst into tears rushing into his father’s arms. Mr Jensen stroked his son’s head and spoke soothingly to him till his sobbing subsided and he rested quietly against his father’s body.
“Patrick I’ve known for quite a long time how you felt about Jeremy, and then saw that same look in your face again when you brought James home with you. Now that you feel that you’ve been let down by James, it’s not the be all and end all of your world Patrick. You now know that you can make friends again but take it slowly don’t expect every friendship to be like the one you had with Jeremy.”
“I thought that James felt the same way about me as I did him, so when I saw him kissing that girl in the recreation grounds I just felt let down and realized that I was wrong.”
“Patrick you can still be friendly with James and go out on his bike with him.”
Patrick pulled away from his father’s arms to look into his face, “No dad, I couldn’t be friendly with James again, I’d get all sort of umm, I don’t know how to put it but just being friends with him wouldn’t work.”
“I understand Patrick, will you be alright to go to school tomorrow or would you prefer to go to another school.
“Could you put me into another school dad, I’d feel terrible if James was to let on to his friends about me then they’d really bug me if he did?”
“Alright Patrick, but I don’t think James would do that I’m sure he’s not that type of boy, but if you think so I’ll see what I can do. It means you’ll have to start all over again, at least at this present school you do know some of the other children.”
“I don’t mind dad as long as it means I don’t get any hassle I’d like to go to a different school.”
Alright I’ll discuss it with the local education authorities tomorrow and I’ll see what they have to say.”

On Monday morning Mr Jensen informed the school that Patrick wouldn’t be in today and most probably wouldn’t be returning to the school. He turned to Patrick saying, “I’ll make an appointment to see the Education authorities at lunch time and hopefully I can get you allocated to a new school. Meantime stay at home and do some school work, you have all the math and English CD’s you require for your computer so there’s no excuse not to study, I’ll check to see what you’ve done this evening.”
“You don’t have to check dad you know I’ll do it.”
Picking his son up and kissing him he said, “Normally yes Patrick,but you’ve been in such a mood these last few days that I don’t know what to expect of you. I’ve got to take the car today and I’m dropping your mother off at the shops this morning so she won’t be home till later, will you be alright by yourself for a little while.”
“Yes dad it’s not like I haven’t been alone in the house before.”
“Alright see you this evening.” and his parents left the house.

Again James had made a decision to speak to Patrick before they got to school so he waited in the park to meet him there so that they could talk. By eight forty when Patrick hadn’t come into view he knew that Patrick would be missing school again. He took his mobile phone and dialled Patrick’s home number hoping to speak to Mrs Jensen and to enquire about Patrick. He was stunned to hear Patrick’s voice answer the phone.
“Umm Patrick, it’s me James.”
“I wanted to know if you were coming to school.”
“What,” James said incredulously on hearing Patrick’s response, “Why do you want to go to another school?”
“Patrick don’t hang up I want to.” And the connection was broken. James put the mobile away, That’s it, he thought, I’ve had enough of this shit, and he headed towards the other end of the park.

Patrick after hearing James’s voice and breaking the connection sat down on the floor in the hallway contemplating what he’d done and valiantly trying to hold the tears at bay. He remained like that till the sound of the front doorbell startled him and quickly wiping his eyes he opened the door. Before he could react Patrick was pushed inside the house and the front door slammed shut behind them. He was lifted into the air and a pair of lips made contact with his and James’s tongue forced its way past his lips to gently caress his tongue. They remained locked in the embrace for minutes till James’s arms began to tire. Breaking the kiss and lowering Patrick to the floor he said, “You‘re not going to any other school except the one that I attend. Because of what you saw on Wednesday you jumped to the wrong conclusion. And because you wouldn’t talk to me you’ve made me bloody miserable ever since.”
Patrick looked up at the boy that had helped him to learn to love again. He couldn’t say a word and just let the tears of happiness roll down his cheeks.
“Oh shit! Patrick, I didn’t mean to make you cry come on specs please stop, if you want me to leave I will.”
“NO” Patrick screamed, and wrapped his arms around James’s waist, “Don’t go James please stay. I’m only crying because I’m happy to have you back.” as he stood clinging on to James.
“Specs I never went away you got the wrong idea about Natalie and I. Duncan and Heather were trying to get me to take her to a party and because I couldn’t make up my mind Natalie came over and kissed me to make me decide and that’s what you saw.”
“James I’m sorry I should have asked you first before acting like I did.”
“Yeah well you owe me Patrick Jensen, not only for making me miserable since Wednesday, but for getting are arses whipped 4-0 by Hamilton Park.”
“What you lost 4-0.”
“Yeah.”
Patrick hung his head “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
James took Patrick’s face into his hands and lifted it to look into his eyes. “If I had to lose a hundred matches just to be with you then I would,”
“You won’t have to lose any more now that we’re, Oh my gosh and he unwound his arms from around James’s waist went to the phone and dialled.
“Hi dad.”
“Know every things okay.”
“No mum isn’t back yet, dad, will you stop talking and listen please.”
“Don’t put me into another school I’ll go back to the same school.”
“Umm you can talk to who changed my mind,” and Patrick handed the phone to James.”
“Hi Mr J.”
“I uh skipped school and came over here to talk to Patrick.”
Okay Mr J. do you want to speak to Patrick again, alright bye,” and James replaced the phone.
“Your dad says I have to phone home and tell my mum where I am in case the school phones my house that will really worry her.”
“Okay go ahead then come up to my room I have to set up our lessons for the day on the computer.”
“What, I bunked off school to be with you and I didn’t have lessons in mind.”
From halfway up the stairs Patrick said, “If I don’t do these lessons my dad will throw a fit so the quicker we do them the quicker we’ll have time for other things.”
James took his mobile out and phoned his mother explaining what had happened then kicked his shoes off and followed Patrick to his room. Inside he saw the smaller boy sat at the computer setting up the lesson. He pulled his books from his bag and sat on the bed waiting for Patrick to finish. When Patrick finished he walked over to James to stand between his legs then push him backwards onto the bed and lay on top of him.
“Specs I thought we were supposed to be studying.”
“We will I just want to clear my mind,” and he lowered his head to bring their lips together. As their tongues united and the kiss caused the arousal of their loins, the front door banging made them jump apart like startled rabbits.
“Who’s that specs.”
“My mum she must have returned from the shops, let’s go down I’m sure she must have seen your shoes in the hallway and know that you’re here.”
They made their way down Patrick yelling from the stairway, “Mum, James is here.”
Mrs Jensen waited till the boys were in view before answering, “Hello James.”
Hi Mrs J.
“I’m glad to see you and so is someone else by the sound of his voice. I spoke to your father Patrick, and it seems that you’ve changed your mind about going to another school which isn’t surprising under the circumstances. And James after lunch you have to go to school, I’ll phone the Principal and make an excuse for your absence this morning. At the same time Patrick, I’ll have to inform him that you’ll be returning tomorrow.”
“Mummm, why can’t James stay the whole day? he may as well seeing that he’s missed the first half.”
“Patrick no arguments.”
“Oh shhhhhhhhhrimps.”
“Patrick behave yourself.”
“Mummm. I said shrimps.”
“I know what you said, and also what you implied.”
“Sorry mum, come on James lets go do some schoolwork.”
The boys went upstairs and Patrick sat on the bed pouting.
“That’s a real bummer you having to go to school this afternoon.”
“Come on Patrick it’s not too bad it’s only for two and half hours. I’ll go straight home from school grab a snack then come around on my bike then we can go for a ride.”
“Okay I suppose we had better do some work now.”

Later that day by 5pm James was back he left the bike on the lawn and rang the bell. The door opened and Patrick shouting goodbye to his mother slammed the door shut behind him. Standing looking at James he smiled, “Shall we go.”
James couldn’t resist the impish look of the smaller boy who still had the bruising around his right eye he grabbed him round the waist lifted him up and swung him around. “Where do you want to go?”
“Wherever you go James is okay by me.”
Setting Patrick down they walked to the bike. James straddled it while Patrick climbed up behind him onto the saddle. James waited then he felt the familiar arm come round his waist and squeeze and his body reacted like it always did sending shivers along his spine.
“Ready Patrick.”
“Uh huh,” and they were off out of the gate and along the pavement heading for the park. They talked excitedly as only thirteen-year-olds can, as the wind blew through their hair, just happy to be in each other’s company again.
As they cycled suddenly their bike took wings and soared upwards. James stopped and the boys looked down at the scene of carnage below. A speeding car had lost control and mounted the pavement; they could see the twisted remains of the bike under the car, and two bodies lying sprawled together on the pavement.
James looked over his shoulder at his small companion, “Ready specs.”
“Yeah where are we going?”
“Anywhere and everywhere.”
“Wicked, let’s do it James,” and they soared ever upwards gaining speed till they were just a blur as they disappeared into the heavens.