Autumn - 16. Wreck on the Highway

“Look, bruh! It’s Cap’s truck. I didn’t know he was picking you up.” Harley looked at CJ with a slight worry on his face. His friend had told him and Thiago of the fight he’d had with Brett after the weekend in Chicago, but nothing else had been mentioned in the past couple of days. “Are you talking to him? You really shouldn’t fight, CJ. Cap’s a good guy.”

“I ain’t saying he isn’t. I’m just pissed at him.” CJ scrunched up his face trying to decide what to do. “Come on. You can say hello and then I guess I’ll get in the truck. He had to leave work early to be here at this hour. Least I can do is ride home with him.”

Brett, wearing his uniform, leaned against the passenger side of the Ford. His ankles and arms crossed with a soft smile on his face, his head continuously moved as if scanning his surroundings. As the two boys approached, he straightened up, pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, and broadened his grin.

“Hiya, Cap!”

“Hi, guys. Harley, good to see you. When are you coming over to hang out again?”

“CJ invited me and Thiago to come spend next weekend with you. We’ve got to be up early on Saturday, so it’ll be easy if we’re together. Maybe we can play some hoops in the back? Or we could go to the university and swim some. It’s too cold to use the pool at our house. Hey, how come you don’t have one? There’s room―”

“It all sounds good, bud. Whatever you guys want.” Brett turned his gaze towards CJ, a little hesitation visible in his eyes. “Hey, big guy. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by unannounced. I thought… I thought we could go for a ride and maybe spend a little time together? I’ll make sure you make it to the dojo on schedule.”

“Yeah, that’s okay.” CJ put his fist out for Harley to bump. “I’ll text you tonight when I get home from practice. Thiago said we’d be finished by nine.”

“Cool. Talk to you tonight,” said Harley, dropping his skateboard on the street. “Later, Cap!”

“Do you mind if we take a little ride?” asked Brett looking at CJ. “I’d like to talk to you for a bit. We’ll have time to stop at home for you to change first.”

“Sure.”

“I don’t think it’ll take too long to say what I need to say. We’ll just go home by way of Virginia.” Once they’d both adjusted their seat belts, Brett turned on the ignition. “Look, CJ. I apologize for being an ass. I was upset with you, even though I really don’t have an issue with you getting laid. But I was even more pissed at your cousins who I thought had let you go off with a stranger. I was wrong. You were honest with us as we asked you to be and I reacted badly. Neither your dad nor I want you to change.”

“Okay.”

“César and I are new at being parents. I fucked it up, and it’ll happen again. Although I’ll try hard not to repeat the same mistake. I'm constantly worrying I’ll do something wrong, and I go ahead and do the worst thing possible. I blew up at you without justification. As my obviously smarter half pointed out, any chance we may have had to express any sort of dissatisfaction with what happened I torpedoed.”

“Yup.”

“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Asshole.” Brett felt a slight lessening in the tension between the two of them. CJ was toying with him; a good sign their rift was on the way to healing. The Marine had driven towards the Lincoln Memorial, crossed the Potomac on the Arlington Memorial Bridge, and headed south before turning around and getting on the Jefferson Davis Highway. “Can we stop at the Iwo Jima for a few? I promise you won’t get arrested.”

“Ha, ha. Funny guy.”

“Finally! More than one word.” Brett slipped the truck into a parking spot behind the grove on the side of the monument. “Look, CJ. You and your dad are the most important people in the world to me. I’ll say it once again: I was wrong. I can’t promise I won’t snap at some other point in the future, but I swear I’ll try real hard not to.”

“It hurt, Papa. I was already rejected and thrown out of my house once this year.” The boy looked out the window of the truck, his eyes moist. He fought to keep the quiver out of his voice, trying to contain the emotions the memories brought. “I’ve been feeling real good about how it all turned out. And then you blow up on me for being honest. For telling you what I did in Chicago. I don’t want to sneak around doing stuff behind your back.”

“Oh come here, baby.” Brett reached over and pulled a sobbing CJ as close to him as he could while still wearing their seat belts. “No crying please, or you’ll have me bawling too. I love you so damn much, and I get so scared for you sometimes. I need to realize I don’t have to be. You’re smart, definitely smarter than I was in this case. And you can defend yourself pretty well. Please, please forgive me. I’ll do my best not to be a jerk again. If I do, call me out just like you did on Monday. Okay?

CJ went for an early morning run by himself. His dads planned on playing rugby in the afternoon and decided to sleep in a bit later this Saturday. With the temperature in the upper fifties, the boy zipped up his red, American Giant hoodie to his neck. He tried to keep his hands tucked inside the sleeves. What most Washington residents considered a crisp morning, felt downright chilly to the boy from Miami. He had not yet acclimated to the colder weather. When he returned to the Georgetown townhouse, he was feeling warmer because of the exertion. He had even begun to sweat, despite the lower temperature.

“Damn it’s cold.” He walked in through the back door and straight into the kitchen. “Hey, Uncle Matt.”

“Don’t be a wuss, CJ. It’s gorgeous outside. It ain’t cold. Just a little cool.” Matt Calhoun had come over while the teenager was out running, and was sitting at the breakfast bar with a steaming mug in front of him. “What you gonna do when we dip below freezing, Bubba?”

“Stay indoors!” CJ opened one of the cabinets by the window, grabbed a glass, and filled it up with water at the sink. “Maybe I’ll get used to it, but it ain’t gonna happen real soon.”

“You wanna shower, or do you want to visit for a bit first?” asked César while pulling items from the refrigerator. “We’re having french toast for breakfast. Papa’s upstairs getting dressed and we can wait for you to clean up if you want.”

“Nah, I’ll shower later on. After I get done raking up all the damn leaves.” Yard maintenance was a chore CJ was responsible for. “Can we get rid of all the trees? Definitely not used to Mother Nature killing off the foliage all at the same time.”

“No, we can’t,” said Brett walking down the stairs. “You said you didn’t want to use the blower ‘cause it wasn’t environmentally friendly. Nobody’s forcing you to rake everything up. That’s what men created machines for.”

“Forget it, Papa. We need to stop wasting so much energy around here. Why do you think I asked for the extra blankets for my bed? They’ll keep me warm enough not to run the heater real high.”

“You kids are gonna have to work hard to slow down all the bad things the older crowd has done to the environment,” said Doc handing his mug to Brett indicating he wanted a refill. “And speaking of kids, Bubba, I wanna talk to you about Chipper. He’s the reason I invited myself over this morning.”

“Yeah! The Dads told me he’s gonna move down here to live with you―way cool! I can’t wait to meet him!”

“It ain’t a done deal, but we’re working on it. I may need some help from you if it does happen.”

“Sure, Uncle Matt. Anything you want, just ask.”

“Okay. Tell me about Walls.”

“Ummm. You want Chipper to go there?” The excitement in CJ’s voice was palpable. “That would be sick!”

“I assume that means it would be okay with you?” asked Doc, chuckling.

“Hell yeah! Walls’ the best school in the district. It’s ranked the highest in all the reports. Not real big on sports, but full of smart kids.” CJ’s enthusiasm when talking about his school was met with smiles from the three adults. “You have to fill out an application, have good grades, and go through an interview. I know Mrs. Edwards fooled around with the rules for me. She told me all I had to do was complete the application ‘cause she’d already reserved a spot just waiting for me to fill it out. I’ll talk to her about Chipper!”

“She did more than that, CJ,” said César while dipping slices of brioche in egg batter. “She did ask us for your grades at the previous school. We sent her a copy of the transcripts your Mom gave us.”

“And when we received the results of the tests you took here in Washington, for the classes you didn’t complete in Miami, we shared those with her also.” Brett pulled the beanie CJ was wearing from his head and ruffled his hair. “What? Did you think it was all by magic?”

“Hi, babe. So good to see you. I miss you so much.” Dragon wrapped his arms around King as soon as the shorter man walked in the door of their apartment.

“Hello, Dev. Nice to see you too. Thank you for agreeing to meet me for lunch.” Since their return from Montreal, the two men had talked on the phone daily, but this was the first time they had seen each other in a week.

“I’ll do anything you want, Rash. I want you back.”

“That’s nice to hear, Devon. The past week’s been tough. I can’t seem to figure out what I want. But last weekend made me realize the way I’ve been leading my life has to change. Haven’t been able to decide on how though.”

“You tell me what I have to do. I’ll go along with anything just so we can be together.”

“Yeah, see, that’s not bloody right. You can’t promise you’ll do anything ‘cause I have no idea what that might be. And you may not like what it turns out to entail. I won’t be an idiot and tell you how you have to lead your life.” Rashid knew of too many relationships which failed when one person tried to change the other one. “Maybe when I decide what I want, you can see if it also works for you.”

“And what are we going to do until then? Are you just going to move out? You can’t stay at a hotel permanently. And I really can’t afford this place on my own.”

“You won’t have to worry about the finances. I’ll cover my share of the costs until we both decide what’s going to happen. In the meantime, I’ve asked for an extended leave from work. I’m flying home to London tomorrow to visit my family. I’ll be back in a month and we’ll sit down and talk then.”

“You can have a beer if you want, CJ,” Brett whispered into the boy’s ear. “The Aussies aren't as uptight when it comes to young people drinking. We’re technically on Australian soil while on the embassy grounds. The laws are different. And you definitely look old enough dressed the way you are anyway.”

“Thanks, Papa.” The teenager wore grey flannel pants, a white button-down shirt with a striped red and blue tie, and a blue blazer. “Club soda’s good right now. Maybe later?”

“You do look very grown-up, buddy.” César smiled at his son. “The preppy look suits you well.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Follow me, mates,” said JP to his friends. They were in the lobby of the chancery at the Embassy of Australia in Washington, D.C., located on Embassy Row at Scott Circle. “I want to introduce you to my boss.”

“The ambassador?” asked CJ.

“Yeah.” The Aussie walked up to a short, good-looking woman. “Reneé, if I could have a moment?”

“Ahhh, John Paul, this looks pretty good so far.” The woman’s eyes twinkled as she smiled at Pope. “Tom, so nice to see you recovered.”

“Thank you, ma’am. It feels good to be back to normal,” replied Detective Tom Kennedy. “JP and I are grateful for all you did for us after my incident.”

“It was our pleasure. You’re as much a part of our family as John Paul is. On a happier note, I understand you’re going on holiday to Oz over Christmas. Your first visit?”

“Yes, ma’am. And looking forward to it. Although a bit anxious about meeting the entire Smith family. Madame Ambassador, these are our friends who’ll be going with us. César Abelló, Captain Brett Davenport, and their son César Abelló, Jr.”

“Gentlemen. I hope you have a wonderful experience during your trip. Will this be your first time traveling to my homeland also?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madame Ambassador,” said César, shaking the diplomat’s hand. “And yes, it’ll be the first time for all three of us.”

“We’re all looking forward to seeing some of the places JP’s been telling us about,” added Brett. “And CJ gets to celebrate his sixteenth birthday down under. It’ll make the visit much more special.”

“Well, I hope you all have a wonderful time. If you’ll excuse me, I have to play my part and greet our other visitors. It was a pleasure visiting with all of you.”

“G’day, mates. All rested up?” CJ watched JP move a few steps away and approach a group of five men. He’d told them they were one of the Aussie entertainment acts―Buck and The Furballs―who would be performing during the upcoming week. In his capacity as the Australian Embassy’s Press Attaché, Pope had been one of the coordinators of the trade exhibit being kicked off at this evening’s reception and helped arrange for the band to travel to the United States.

“Yes we did, Mr. Smith. On behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank you once again for this opportunity.” The man shaking JP’s hand wore jeans, a silky-looking white top, and a black leather jacket. Short brown hair crowned his head, covered most of his face, and spilled over the neckline of his shirt.

“Come on, Wayne, I asked you all to call me JP. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together this week. We can do away with the formalities.” As the rest of the men in the group spoke with other attendees, JP turned towards Tom, CJ, and his dads, motioning them over. “Hey, I want you to meet my husband Tom, our friends Cesar and Brett, and their son CJ. How about you introduce the band to them?”

“G’day. Nice to meet you all. I hope you come listen to us at some point this week. I’m the band’s drummer. As soon as my mates join us, you’ll meet them all.” The Aussie muso shook hands all around ending up with CJ. “Since you’re the youngest in the crowd you’ll have to tell us where you and your uni mates hang out. We’re playing every day around lunch, plan on doing some sightseeing in the afternoons, and would love to visit a couple of good pubs for dinner and a beer a couple of nights.”

“Ummm. I can give you some ideas about sightseeing, but not about bars. I’m not old enough to drink.” CJ once again found himself in the situation of looking older than he was.

“How old are you?”

“I’m fifteen. Some of my dad’s friends might be better at giving you ideas. There’s one great college place by our house called The Tombs you might like, though.” CJ found himself alone with the guy, as his parents and the other adults wandered off to talk to the other band members. “But I can definitely help you with the sightseeing.”

“I thought you were older, mate. I have a son a bit over half your age, he’s almost ten. I hope he still looks young when he becomes a teenager. Otherwise, I’ll be in trouble. So are you going to stop by and hear us perform this week?”

“The dads prolly won’t let me come listen to you play during the week because of school. But I’ll be at Rogo’s on Saturday. I know you’re doing a show there that night.”

By the end of the night, CJ had convinced his fathers to let him play tour guide one day after school. They also agreed to join the band for dinner one night. The boy gorged on prawns on the barbie, tiny lamb chops, cold smoked emu, bits of rare kangaroo, and all sorts of other good Aussie grub. He had also finally accepted the beer Brett had told him he could have, but didn’t much like the taste of the Victoria Bitter Wayne suggested. After a couple of sips, he got rid of it, replacing it with a glass of wine instead.

“I’m glad you and your dad worked out your problem.” Thiago and CJ were watching Harley take his turn against the Zombies in Call of Duty. Brett and César had taken the boys to The Tombs for dinner earlier; the boys were spending the night in Georgetown. Once home, the three teens changed into shorts and t-shirts―a drab olive one with Marines printed on it for CJ―and flopped on his bed to play their favorite game.

“I was pissed off when we got into the fight. It took me a few days to chill.”

“Homey, your dads are the coolest guys I’ve ever met. You’re a lucky fucker.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Fuck!” exclaimed Harley as he put the controller down. “I’m done with this game, can’t do anything right tonight. Hey, when are we getting up? I told José-María I’d text him. I don’t think he was too happy he wasn’t invited to spend the night. All he’s talked about for the past few weeks is the dinner you invited him to. And meeting JLo. Bro that had to be a blast! I can’t believe she asked you to dance with―”

“I think the guy likes you, CJ,” interrupted Thiago.

“Who? Harley?”

“Of course I like him! CJ’s my bud.”

“No, you dorks! I mean José-María!” chuckled Thiago. “I think he has the hots for you, homie. And he ain’t the only one.”

“What? Who?” asked CJ. “What do you mean?”

“CJ, the guy talks about you all the time. He tries to sit next to you whenever we all get together. He spends most lunches staring at you.” Thiago smiled as he ticked off each comment. “I’m pretty sure he has a crush on you.”

“Nah, we’re just friends.” CJ’s dismissive tone held a hint of doubt. “Plus, he’s a senior!”

“Bruh, that’s got nothing to do with it!” said Harley. “I agree with Thiago, he has a crush on you. When he asked me what time I was getting there tomorrow, I told him it was up to you and your dads. That I was spending the night and one of them would be dropping us off. He wanted to know if I’d stayed over before, what we’d done the last time, and what we were planning on doing tonight. When I told him about the boat and Thiago―”

“Hey! What the hell did you bring me up for?” asked Thiago giving his friend a shove. “I don’t need him being jealous of me. He knows I’m straight anyway.”

“You guys better be wrong. I like him as a friend but that’s it.” CJ’s face was scrunched up. What his buddies were telling him made him wonder if there was any truth in their comments. “Plus I don’t want a boyfriend. Hell, that could be a pain. If Papa got pissed because I got laid in Chicago―”

“WHAT?”

“CJ!” José-María’s greeting, and Thiago’s slight nudge, made CJ cringe just a bit. He was starting to believe maybe there was something to what he’d been told last night about the Venezuelan guy.

“Hey, guys.” CJ put his fist out for several students from his school to bump. They were huddling together, hands in pockets, heads tucked inside hats or sweatshirt hoods. “Damn, it’s cold.”

“Wuss!” said one of the guys. “We’re already at forty degrees. It’ll prolly warm up some more before the walk starts. You need to get used to the weather, My… ah… me…”

“It’s gonna take me a long time! Good morning, Mr. Rupple. Hi, Yousef.” The boy put his hand out for his English teacher and the man’s partner to shake, quickly replacing it inside the pocket of his Walls’ hoodie. The students were all dressed somewhat alike, with a school shirt or jacket as their topmost layer. Members of the GSA, and those of a few other school organizations, were taking part in AIDS Walk Washington as a group.

“Hi, CJ. Great to see you again,” said Yousef. “Your friend told us how great you looked in your tux. And I heard you met Jennifer Lopez and danced with her. That must have been exciting. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, I did. But I was sooo embarrassed. At least she was real nice about it. She even sent me an email later. Nice lady.”

“See what happens when you dress right?” asked Yousef. “I mailed you and your dads an invitation to a special event in a couple of weeks. We’re having a big sale on overcoats. If you haven’t bought one yet, you may want to come by the store that night. We’ll have refreshments and some food.”

“Wow, never been to a party in a store before.”

“We do them a few times a year for special customers. Forgive me, I’m being rude. CJ, this is our friend Gray Young.” Yousef put his arm around a man significantly taller than him who looked to be in his mid to late twenties. “Gray, this is CJ Abelló. He’s one of Jimmy’s students and my favorite customer.”

“Hey, CJ. Favorite customer, eh? Wish I could shop there more often, but construction work doesn’t pay that much.” Gray chuckled, making CJ think the man wasn’t too worried he couldn’t afford Neiman Marcus prices.

“Hi,” replied CJ. “I’m not sure why I would be his favorite customer. The only thing I’ve ever―”

“CJ! Buddy! Where the hell have you been hiding?” asked a smiling Chatri as he approached his friend with Helen hanging on to her fiancé.

“Hi, Chatri. Sorry, bud. But you’ve disappeared just as much. I think we’ve both been busy.” CJ hugged his friend and then did the same with the girl, kissing her on the cheek. “It’s good to see you, Helen. This is a nice surprise.”

“It definitely is,” replied the young woman. “I’m glad the boss convinced us to join him. You know Dr. Harding, right?”

“Of course!” said CJ. “I haven’t seen you since Uncle Tom was in the hospital, Doctor.”

“Hey! None of this doctor crap. You should know better. Call me Prescott, or better yet, Pres.” The muscular, short man shook CJ’s hand and nodded, acknowledging the rest of the group gathered around the young man. “Hey guys, this is my friend Dash.”

“Hi,” said the man standing next to Pres. About the same size as CJ, his brown hair hung down to his shoulders underneath the knit cap he wore.

”Damn, Miami. We leave you alone for a minute and you’re the center of attention once again.” Thiago put his arm around his friend’s shoulder, a smirk on his face. “You just moved to the damn place and you already know half of Washington.”

“Miami?” asked Gray as he pulled a hunter green handkerchief out of the back right pocket of his jeans and wiped his nose.

“A stupid nickname some of these bozos gave me,” replied CJ. “Okay, let me see if I can introduce everybody…”

Rogo’s already had a large, happy crowd when CJ walked in with his dads and his two buddies. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving. And I’m in the mood for the garlic and blue cheese burger!”

“Ewww!” Thiago made a face and took a step away from his friend. “I’m glad I’m sleeping with Harley and not you. I hope you’re not planning on kissing anyone. That shit sounds like the perfect combination for dragon breath.”

“I sure as hell ain’t planning on kissing you, bud. Who knows what fugly girl those lips have kissed before.”

“Oh, like your lips―”

“Hey! There’s Mr. R, Yousef, and their friend Gray. I’m glad they listened to you and decided to show up, CJ. Mr. R’s cool for being a teacher. Isn’t that your doctor friend with them? And the guy he was with this morning? Bro, that doctor’s such a muscle head. He’s so short but look how his shirt’s stretched over his shoulders. The guy must live at the gym. Does he―”

“Shut up, Harley!” Tom’s bark and subsequent laugh made the boy stop. “Get over here, Pony.” The cop was motioning the group over to the large table in front of the window, which was their usual spot as of late.

“Awww, come on, guys. Please don’t call me that.”

“Yeah, Tom. Stop picking on the poor kid.” JP raised his mug in salute to the new arrivals.

“Hi, guys,” César said, shaking JP’s hand as the boys grabbed chairs and sat down. “Bet you’re glad this week’s over. I saw the trade exhibit got a nice little write-up in the Post.”

“Too right, mate. It went well, but I had to put in a lot of hours this week. I’m so ready to have a few pints. Tom’s the designated driver tonight, so I don’t have to limit myself.”

“CJ, who did you say those two guys with your teacher were?” asked Brett. “The ones we don’t know.”

“The real tall one’s a friend of Mr. Rupple and Yousef. His name’s Gray. We met him this morning at the walk. I think he said he works in construction.” CJ looked to Thiago for confirmation who nodded his head. “The other guy, the one with the longer hair, was there with Dr. Harding.”

“Really? Considering how close the tall boy and Pres are standing I would have thought those two were the ones who were old friends. You think there’s room for a flea to squeeze between the two of them?” Brett put his hands up in an apologetic gesture somewhat negated by the smirk on his face. “Don’t look at me like that, guys. I just call them as I see them.”

“CJ, why don’t you go over there and ask the five of them to join us?” César motioned for Tom to stand up. “Help me pull that other table closer, Tommy. Then we can all fit comfortably.”