Gemini - 23. Washington, D.C.

Jacob

“We will be dining in an hour,” Josh’s grandmother reminded me.

“Okay, I’ll make sure to come down on time, grandma.” I smiled as I walked up the stairs. I was in a good mood; so good in fact, I had to stifle the urge to take two steps at the time. Not a good idea, that one. I had done it the first day, and had been reprimanded instantly. No running in the house, dinner at seven pm sharp, lights off at eleven pm sharp, sit upright, not slumped, always dress like you’re going to meet the president and eat like you’re at the Ritz, yada, yada, yada. Josh’s grandparents were just as strict as his parents, the only difference was that they were also around to enforce the rules. That didn’t make them bad people however. I was surprised at how warmly his grandmother had welcomed me and how happy she was to be spending time with me. It was almost unthinkable that a man like Mr. Adams had grown up in this house.

Not that the term ‘house’ really fit. ‘Mansion’ was much more appropriate. I could hardly believe my eyes when we arrived on Friday evening. The building was huge, even compared to other houses in McLean, and so was the plot of land it was sitting on. It had to be at least a hundred yards of well-kept lawn between the street and the house front. A paved path wormed its way from the street to the front portico, passing an old fountain and a large number of small boxwood shrubs, artistically cut into ornate forms. Tall trees framed the property from both sides, reaching at least forty feet into the sky, while the white house stood three stories tall - an intimidating sight when walking up the stairs to the entrance hall.

Although Josh hardly ever spent time at his grandparent’s, he had his own room. At least it had his name on it. With nothing else in it but the large plasma screen, the huge bed and the expensive oak wood furniture, it appeared more like a five star hotel room than a place where you would expect a teenager to live. Whether it was intended to be this way or Josh had never cared to add a personal touch, I didn’t know, but I enjoyed the luxury either way.

Having locked the door behind me, I stripped down and went to Josh’s personal bathroom to take a well-deserved shower. Sighing, I stepped under the relaxing jets of hot water and the fresh scent of pine rose into the air as I began to wash the sweat off my body. I closed my eyes and slowly massaged my leg muscles, thinking back to everything I had done and seen that day.

Josh’s grandmother had suggested we spend the day at the Smithsonian. We started out pretty early, at least for a Saturday, at 10:00 am at the National Museum of Natural History. Paul, their gardener, had driven us the ten or so miles from McLean and dropped us off just when they opened. Margery, that was Josh’s grandmother’s name, had probably picked that one because of Josh’s interest in history. In the beginning, I was less than enthusiastic about it, but I pretended to be excited anyway, because Josh would have been. That however changed. We were walking through the section about the ice age and I was studying some stuffed mammoth, stifling a yawn and wondering how I could get Mrs. Adams to suggest moving on to another museum, when I spotted a dinosaur around the corner. Dinosaurs are always cool, no matter how little you care for history.

After about two hours of admiring Tyrannosaurs, Sauropods and Raptors, and actually learning something (did you know that there is a debate about whether Tyrannosaurs were predators or scavengers?), we left. Mrs. Adams was about to head towards the American History Museum, but I managed just in time to steer her the other way, to the Air and Space Museum. Even if the dinosaurs had been fun, I don’t think I would’ve been able to take any more history that day.

I had known that the Smithsonian was the largest museum complex of the world, but after two hours of looking at aerospace stuff and an exhibition about Military Unmanned Aircrafts (way cool), a short lunch break at Mitsitam Cafe and another hour of humoring Josh’s grandmother in the National Gallery of Art, I had an idea of just how big that was; and so did my legs. After we were done at the gallery, we took a cab to the National Zoo to spend the rest of the day there. And that’s how I ended up with my legs feeling like they were filled with lead; and the summer heat and the high humidity during the afternoon hours at the zoo didn’t make it any better either.

As I left the shower and toweled myself, I thought about Josh. He was enjoying his weekend with Ethan, probably playing basketball and hanging out at the park. Remembering the conversation I’d had with Cody a few days back, I wondered. Could it be that Ethan was gay? He had seemed pretty eager to spend the weekend with Josh. Had he noticed that Josh was gay, and was interested? Before I’d met my twin, it would’ve seemed weird to me, but now, the thought felt almost strangely normal. I had to grin. If this was the case, I had spent the last few weeks hanging out with three gay guys. If Ian and Conrad only knew that there were more than just Cody.

I shook my head, wondering where that had come from. Maybe it was the weird twin connection thing you sometimes hear about? Who knew what Ethan and Josh were doing in that very moment to cause these thoughts? I grimaced. Not that I really wanted to know.

I got dressed and walked down the grand stairs. It was still fifteen minutes to dinner, but it wasn’t like I had anything better to do. The door to the parlor was slightly ajar, allowing me to hear the faint voices of a conversation. They seemed to be talking about Josh. Not wanting to be noticed just yet, I sneaked down to eavesdrop.

“Well, at least I think he has changed for the better,” Margery said.

“If you say so,” her daughter-in-law grumbled.

“Mary, he is happier, much more outgoing. You might’ve noticed the same, if you were actually spending time with him,” the elder Mrs. Adams stated. Her tone was painfully polite, but paying close attention, you could hear her annoyance.

“I told you years ago, it’s no wonder he turned out to be such a wuss if you always have the maids look after him while you two are on your business trips,” his grandfather declared. “He’s spent his entire life around women babying him.”

I winced at the words. Josh certainly didn’t have much self-confidence, but to hear his own family speak about him like this?

“Charles!” Margery exclaimed. “He is just different. He’s got more brains than muscle, that’s all! It’s a different time than when we grew up.”

There was a moment of silence. An image of the elder Mr. Adams rolling his eyes flashed into my mind and I suppressed a snort as I wondered if he would actually do such a thing.

“Well, we did hire a man when we moved to Albany,” Mary asserted. “James insisted. He gave the same reasons as you did.”

“Oh yes? What’s his name?” Charles wanted to know. “I hope he’s a good role model for Josh, and not some sissy.”

“Philip Campbell, and no, he certainly doesn’t look like a sissy,” Mary replied, amused. I had to grin. Philip was buff, and totally manly. “He keeps us well informed about Josh and there haven’t been any problems so far. If there has been any change in Josh then we have Mr. Campbell to thank.”

“I have always said it and this just proves I’ve been right all along. He needs a male role model. I’ve always wondered how the two of you could produce a child like him. He is nothing like you or James. Let’s hope that this Mr. Campbell can fix whatever all those maids did wrong over the years.”

There was another silence and I imagined Josh’s grandmother looking pissed off. When she spoke, I heard that I was probably right. “Anyway, how is business?” She asked, changing the topic.

I waited for a few minutes, not really listening to their discussion of defense contracts and employment laws, before I hesitantly knocked at the doorframe and poked my head into the room, effectively silencing the conversation.

Josh’s grandmother glanced at the clock and then smiled at me warmly. “Josh dear, dinner is about to start, why don’t you go to the dining room? We’ll be with you in just a minute.”

I nodded once, turned around and left the room. On the way down the hallway, I glanced at my mobile. The battery was completely dead. I wished Josh had remembered to pack the charger before leaving Albany and wondered once again what he was currently doing.

The smell of roast beef rose from the already set table, causing my stomach to rumble. Unsure whether I was supposed to sit down or not, I remained standing in the room, feeling somewhat lost as I was waiting for the rest of Josh’s family. When they finally arrived, they were still engrossed in their conversation about business.

Mr. Adams Sr. sent me a weird look and suddenly I felt pretty stupid for standing around like I did. He probably thought that I acted like a servant and not like the heir to a wealthy and influential family, or something like that. Blushing, I took two quick steps towards my chair, and almost stumbled.

Behind me, I could hear Josh’s mother give a slight cough. With closed eyes I forced myself to count quietly to three before I slowly took my seat. While the others sat down, I worriedly eyed the cutlery. Step by step I went through the crash course on proper etiquette that Josh had given me the weekend before. I didn’t really feel all that ready.

After Josh’s grandfather had said grace, I put a careful portion of Salad on my plate. The fork felt oddly slippery between my fingers as I began eating. I was chewing cautiously, constantly reminding myself to go slow and not wolf down anything. A few bites later, I dared looking up, and saw that nobody really paid me any attention. Relieved, I let out the breath I hadn’t even noticed I was holding. Only then I realized just how obviously paranoid I was acting.

“How are things at school?” Margery suddenly asked me.

I was so caught off guard, I almost choked on my fork. After a minor coughing fit, I finally managed to reply. “Very good, I will probably finish top of the class.”

“How about your classmates? Did you make some friends at your new school?”

I fidgeted on my chair and put another forkful of salad into my mouth to buy time, which immediately earned me a disapproving glance from Josh’s mother. “I, uhm… well, it’s okay, I guess”, I finally lied.

Josh’s mother opened her mouth as if to say something, but just then her phone began ringing. Both of the elder Adams stared at her, obviously annoyed at her for even having it turned on during a family dinner, but didn’t say anything as she took the call after a short look at the display.

“What is it?” She said gruffly.

The longer she listened to the tinny voice, the deeper her frown became. I couldn’t make out who it was or what they were saying, but it was pretty obvious that they were angry. Suddenly, her eyes moved to me and narrowed, causing an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

After about a minute the voice finally fell silent. By now, Josh’s grandparents were staring at Mary with an unreadable expression while her eyes hadn’t moved away from me even one bit. She took a deep breath and ended the call with a simple. “Understood.”

“We have to get back to Albany,” she informed me tersely. “Pack your things, we’ll take the next flight.”

“But Mary, you have only just arrived,” Margery tried to object. “Can’t Josh at least stay here?”

“I’m sorry,” Mary replied stiffly, “but we really have to go now.” To me she added, “What are you waiting for, go pack.”

I gulped and got up. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

I went up to Josh’s room as fast as I could without actually running and packed all of his belongings into the suitcase. After giving the room a last searching look to make sure I didn’t forget anything, I took the suitcase and Josh’s backpack, and hurried down the stairs. Margery was already waiting for me in the entrance hall with a bag; apparently she had packed some of the dinner for me. She gave me a last, warm hug and wished me good luck with my finals before she sent me on my way with a kiss on my forehead.

For a short moment I thought that I should feel thankful that Josh had at least one family member who seemed to care about him, but that was instantly lost in the rush and confusion of the situation.

A taxi was already waiting for us in front of the tall, iron-wrought gate. I tried to ask what was going on a several times, but Mrs. Adams icy looks choked the words before they could leave my mouth.

When we were boarding the plane two hours later, my hand moved to my pocket for about the hundredth time to pull out my phone. If only Josh hadn’t forgotten to pack the damned charger. Hopefully nothing too bad had happened.