The Pendleton Omens - 27. Chapter 27

Julie was gone when I reached her house. I’d spoken with her earlier and simply asked, “Is he still in there?”

“Yep.”

“Then tell him I’ll be over.” Not that I wouldn’t have gone.

“See you later,” she said.

“Sure thing.”

Ruby greeted me by barking inside the door. I punched in the alarm code and let myself in. Scoot was lying on his back when I came into the pool house. But he quickly sat up. Ruby had followed me and began sniffing Scoot’s feet. He whistled once, short and low, and she moved on to licking his hand.

“Maybe she wants her cage back,” I joked.

“Nah, she doesn’t like it much.”

I laughed at him. “I honestly thought you’d be out this morning.”

“How’s Mom?” he replied, grinning.

“That’s not gonna work. I’m not gonna let up.”

He shrugged and grinned again.

“Your mother wants to talk with you,” I went on.

“What did you tell her?”

“Nothing, really. About the same thing I told Amy. That you wanted to tell them yourself.”

“Asshole,” he said, laughing

“Yeah.” I grinned, then considered something. “Why don’t you talk to your mom now?” I pulled out my phone, hit Sharon’s work number on autodial, then slipped the phone into the cage. Scoot screwed up his face then answered the call when it stopped ringing.

“Hey, Mom,” he said. Then he listened, for maybe a minute, smiling at me and increasingly trying not to laugh.

“No, I’m fine,” he finally got in. “Really.”

Again, he listened.

“I’m here with Dad. How else would I have his phone?”

He listened.

“I’m out by the pool. It’s great weather. Yeah, I’m in LA.”

“I never left it, actually. Didn’t Dad tell you?”

“Well, I’ve been part of a kind of experiment. Not for UCLA. Not drugs.” He laughed.

“It’s not dangerous,” he insisted.

“I don’t know when it will end. Maybe another month.” He said that looking right at me.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“I don’t know,” he repeated.

“Look, Dad wants to talk with you,” he finally squeezed in, trying to slip me the phone. But he got sucked back.

“I love you, too.”

“I promise I’ll see you soon.

“I just saw you at Christmas.”

“I don’t know, maybe this summer.”

“How about my birthday?”

That was in late June.

“I’m fine. Honest.”

And he passed the phone to me, refusing to take it back. I’d been kneeling by the cage and quicky spoke with Sharon.

“”Morning,” I told her.

“It’s after twelve here,” she said.

“Is it? Afternoon then.”

I hadn’t set an alarm and had overslept.

“Is he really all right?” she wanted to know. “He didn’t say much.”

“He’s fine,” I insisted. “His mind’s just tied into this experiment, and he barely has any time off. But he wanted to reassure you.”

“You said he was going to tell me something.”

“He said that. And he will. Want me to put him back on?”

Scoot was shaking his head, holding up his hands in surrender, then seemingly threatening to tear apart the cage. I almost let him. It would have ended all this. Meanwhile, Sharon said, “Yes, put him back on.”

“Sorry... I can’t. He just went into the pool.”

It was the first thing I could think of, and Scoot made a fake splashing sound to back me up. He sounded like a 3-year-old.

“Where are you?” Sharon asked.

“At one of his friend’s.”

“They have a pool?”

“Everyone has a pool. You know that. You’ve been here.”

“Well, put Scoot back on. I really want to talk.”

“He’s starting laps now.”

Scoot was lying on his back, laughing. He tried to do a backstroke and smacked his arms against the bars.

“Well, ask him to stop,” Sharon went on.

“I’ll have him call you later, honest. He really doesn’t have much time free. But he wanted to say ‘Hello.’”

Sharon thought about that, then said, “Okay. Thanks. And thanks for having him call. I’m sure you did that. I love you.”

“See you in the morning.”

“Is that tomorrow? Oh, that’s right.”

Before she clicked off, I whispered, “By the way, Pendleton strikes out again.”

She knew what I meant.

“So now you’re lying for me,” Scoot quickly joked, after I’d stashed my phone.

“Actually, I’ve held pretty close to the truth. And I didn’t see you doing much better.” I pretended to imitate his voice. “Oh, hi, Mom. I’ve been naked in a dog cage for a month, and it’s really hot. And I’m dating this rich producer, and she’s hot. And she’s older than I am, but that’s not the reason we’re not having sex. Because I really get off being licked by her Great Dane.”

Scoot was still on his back, holding his sides because he was laughing too hard. I think his cheeks were wet.

“God, I love you, Dad. I couldn’t pull this shit on any other father.”

“Will you get out of the fucking cage?” I said bluntly.

He ignored me. And since he was on his back, he started doing crunches.

“I do these every morning,” he went on, smiling like that would distract me. “A couple hundred at least. Though I’ve never tried talking while working out.”

I stood there and watched. He had a very good body, which I’d forgotten. I was never that defined. I thought about leaving before that distracted me and thought again about just taking the cage apart. And I wondered why his being in it bothered me so much.

“It’s not even like you’re wasting your life,” I reasoned to him.

“What?”

“It’s only been a month. There are so many worse things you could be doing.”

He was only half-listening. “Yeah. Right.”

It came out more like grunts.

“Amy says hello, by the way.”

“Good.” Another grunt.

“We had dinner last night, and I kind of set her up for disappointment.”

That stopped him, as I thought it might. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said, sitting up.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t.”

He just looked at me.

“You know, it’s not like paying my bills,” he told me, calmly. “And I’ll pay you back for that. I’ll write you a check right now, if you find my checkbook.”

“I paid the bills with your checks. It’s your money.”

“You forged my name?”

“I initialed your signature. And I spoke with your management company, so they knew what was coming. And banks don’t care anymore. As long as there’s money.”

He took all that in, then went back to Amy. “Don’t worry about her. I’m not the shit you seem to think.”

“Did I say that?”

He didn’t answer. Then he asked, “Why did you tell her anything?”

“Because you wanted me to.”

“I did not.”

“You knew we were having dinner.”

“Did I?”

“You knew I’d been seeing her.”

He admitted that.

“And you could’ve figured out I wouldn’t go without saying goodbye. And I’m leaving tonight.”

He considered that, then said, “You still didn’t have to say anything.”

“What did you think we were going to talk about? What else do we have in common? Why did I ever meet her in the first place?”

He thought about that, laughed, then went back to his crunches. I could have let him off there and told him she was feeling as tentative as he was. But it might have kept him locked up for another year.

“Look,” I said instead, “this is stupid. If you’d thought for one minute and made one phone call, I wouldn’t even be here.”

“What do you mean? What call?”

“To your mom. Or me. Or Jamie – if that was easiest. If you’d simply said, Hey, I’m gonna be gone for a while. It’s work. Don’t worry. I’ll call when I’m back, this whole thing wouldn’t have started.”

Scoot laughed. “Yeah... I realized that about a week in. I fucked up. But by then, the hormones had kicked in, and I was high. I hadn’t expected that, and it was cool. So I started making rules. And soon... well, soon... I don’t know... I began pushing things as far as they’d go. Just playing...”

I considered that. “You can’t get by with that much longer.”

He laughed. “Oh, Jeez, Dad. Don’t tell to grow up.”

He laughed again and seemed to be having far more fun than I was, though maybe not as much fun as the day before. I turned to look at the pool, completely frustrated.

Ruby was sleeping happily, her head half hanging over the edge but safely above the water. I was seriously thinking about leaving, to go chase down some lunch I didn’t need, when I realized Scoot was opening the cage.

“Give me a hand,” he said. “I’m not sure what my knees’ll do.”

I went to him, and he was right. His knees nearly went out from under him.

“Whew,” he said, quickly sitting on the cage. Then he grinned. “Whole different view.”

“Higher.”

“But not as high as before.”

He laughed and after steadying himself, tried to stand. Again, he half went down. Bracing his hand against my shoulder, he stood, grinned when he didn’t fall, then hugged me. Which was really awkward. But when he saw my face, he laughed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that pained,” he joked. He backed off slightly, still holding my shoulder. “Sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”

I looked him in the eyes. “It’s okay.”

He stared back. “I’ll bet you’ve said that to a lot of guys.”

“Far less than you have women.”

He grinned. “I hope you’ve known more.”

I relaxed, just a bit. “Well, you’ve got twenty years to catch up.”

We stared at each other for another moment, then laughed. Then he hobbled away and slipped into the pool.

“Join me?” he soon offered.

“This is weird enough, thanks.”

“I like your clothes,” he said again. They were still his. “Just don’t get those shoes wet.”

“I’ll buy you another pair.”

He laughed, swam to the end of the pool, then paddled back. He was better in the water than standing.

“It’s called an infinity pool,” he explained. “because it doesn’t have that last hard edge.”

“I knew that.”

He flipped onto his back, floating happily like a kid. Of course, his dick was bobbing, so I turned defensively away. While I studied Ruby, Scoot swam to the end of the pool, hit a button I hadn’t noticed, and was suddenly surrounded by a current. He started a slow crawl, but always stayed in one place. Remembering his apartment pool, I was surprised he could stay in so long. Then I remembered this pool was heated, and I reached down to test the water.

“Come in,” he repeated. He stopped the current and stood. The water only came to his waist, and I must have looked surprised. “It’s a lap pool,” he told me. “Designed for exercise.”

“The current must be strong... to keep you in place”

“Try it.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“No reason.”

He started the waves and his crawl again. I pulled off his loafers, rolled his jeans to my knees, and dangled my legs in the water.

“You know, I lied to you before,” he soon went on. He’d stopped swimming and was standing again, as if testing his knees. “I cheated.”

“What do you mean?”

I got out of the cage last night. I lost my high yesterday, kind of while talking with you, so you had your effect.” He paused. “That’s why I wanted you to take the key. I was hoping, if you forced me to stay in, it might come back.”

“And?”

“Nada.”

“Why didn’t you get out then?”

He laughed. “It would’ve been giving in – and giving up. But halfway through the night... when I couldn’t sleep and was suddenly cold and bored ... I crawled upstairs and into bed with Julie. I had to crawl because my knees were fucked.”

I dead-panned, “I know a good chiropractor.”

It took him a moment to get that. Then he grinned. “They’ll be okay,” he assured me, bouncing a little as proof. “I just need to loosen up. And Julie was happy to see me.”

“Surprised?”

He seemed to debate. “Happy.”

“Sounds romantic.”

He laughed, then went back to swimming against the tide.

“Why did you go back in?” I asked. “Why make Julie lie to me... again?”

He stood. He was getting better at that, and the warm current must have helped. “She told me it was stupid,” he admitted. “But living with Carla taught me something about theatrics. And I didn’t want you disappointed.”

I wanted to hug him, but there was no way. “Welcome back,” I said instead, laughing.

“Thanks. At least, for a couple of days. I may go back in.”

“What!”

He said nothing.

“Why?” I persisted.

“Kind of to see if the high comes back... and the clarity. The sureness. I can’t describe it any other way.”

I thought for a moment. “You’re one weird kid.”

He disagreed. “No. Maybe weird in patches. And maybe not even that.” Then he was swimming again. His skin looked very pale against the blue.

He’d noticed me watching. “Take off your clothes, Dad.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s California. Because it’s warm. Because it’s private. Because everyone does. How many reasons do I need?”

“I’m fine.”

“What are you afraid of?

“What?”

“Why won’t you take off your clothes? It’s not like you’re ashamed...”

“Who said I was?”

“So?”

“What’s your point?” If he hadn’t been my son, I would have known.

He stood again. “It’s about taking risks.”

I smiled. “I don’t need to learn about them.”

“I know,” he agreed too quickly.

“So what’s in this for you?”

He grinned. “Maybe it’s about getting you to do something you don’t want.”

“Flying to California wasn’t enough?”

He didn’t buy that.

“I compromise all the time,” I insisted. “It’s what my life’s about. And any relationship.”

“It’s not like I’m asking you to get in the cage..” he interrupted.

I stared at him. But he stared back. I glanced at the cage then slowly slipped off my shirt, jeans, and shorts and joined him in the water.

“Now this I’d like a picture of,” he said, laughing. “More than all the ones Julie took. This would scare the shit out of Mom.”

And he swam over and hugged me again. I simply had to push away, mainly thinking about what he’d said. “Why would this scare your mother?”

He grinned. “Because of something she asked me when you two split. When you were growing up, did he ever touch you that way?”

“I’m gonna kill her,” I said quietly

That made him laugh again. “Then you would spend your life in a cage. And I love Mom a lot... but it wouldn’t be worth it.”

He was waiting for me to laugh, but I couldn’t.

“I can’t believe she asked you that,” I said instead. “I’m sure she didn’t ask Jamie. I’ll bet... even when she thought I was straight... she never would’ve thought of asking her.”

“Well, Mom was pretty angry at first – you’ve got to give her that. Still, I know if I showed her a picture of me in the cage... and one of us here in the pool... she’d be furious about this.”

I thought. “You have a camera with a timer?”

He laughed. “I’d never do that.”

“So there are risks you wouldn’t take?”

“Consider what would happen. It’s an image Mom could never forget. She’ll block the idea of the cage, even when I show her the pictures. But this is something she’s too afraid of.”

I thought for a moment then assured him, “I’ve given her enough to forget.”

He laughed. Then went back to his laps.

I tried to swim beside him. The pool was wide enough, and he quickly shifted over when he saw what I was doing. But he must have had practice, and it took a while to manage the current.

When he finally got tired, I got towels from the pool house. I’d seen a pile of them before. “Julie hates people dripping on her floors,” Scoot explained, stretching his arms out and standing better. And we were soon in the kitchen, towels around our waists.

“Will you really tell your mom about the cage?” I asked. “And your friends?”

“Sure – I just need to do it in person. Otherwise, they might not believe me.”

“You know she won’t wait till you come east.”

“She’ll have to.”

“I’m not going to lie again.”

“Then you’ll have tell her. I’ll e-mail you the pics.”

I considered. “That’s like expecting me to tell Amy.”

He thought about that, then admitted. “Yeah. Neither of those would go over well.”

Still, by then he seemed more focused on pulling food from the refrigerator, and I realized there’d been no lunch set beside the cage. I should have known he’d be coming out.

“How long are you staying?” he asked, as he handed me a sandwich. “Do we have time to show you around?”

“I fly back tonight.”

“Already?”

“I told you that. If you were listening.”

He seemed to remember, then laughed. “Yeah. I’ve been pretty wound up in my dick.”

But he seemed genuinely surprised I was going. And disappointed.