Of course. Of course they did. But damn if he didn’t want to kill whoever did this.
“He’s not breathing right,” David said, his voice shaky.
“I know.” Amy’s eyes swept over Christie’s bare chest and ribs, where patterns of purple were starting to fill in around dark-red puffy scrapes. “It’s probably a collapsed lung. It looks like he was kicked hard in the ribs.”
“Oh my Lord.”
“It’s okay, Dad. A collapsed lung doesn’t have to be fatal. The doctors can fix it. I’m—” she stopped, as if she didn’t want to say more.
“What?”
“Uh, I’m more worried about internal bleeding, like if one of his organs is ruptured.”
David couldn’t stop the desperate sound that came out of his mouth.
“What can I do?” Joe asked, his voice tight. “Did you call an ambulance?”
“Yes. Before I called Amy.” David’s hands were shaking now as he compulsively petted Christie’s forearm while holding his hand.
“Dad, don’t worry, he’ll be all right,” Amy insisted quietly, and it did make David feel better, even though he knew she couldn’t possibly know that for sure. She checked Christie’s skull with her fingers, looking for God knew what.
What if they kicked him in the head, or worse? Why is he not conscious? What if he has bleeding on the brain? Brain damage?
Fear overwhelmed David again and he forgot about Amy and Joe. He leaned down closer to stroke Christie’s neck since his face looked too hurt to touch. He tried to reassure him. “I’m here, Christie. The ambulance is coming and Amy’s helping too. I love you so much. So you fight for me, okay? You fight.” Wet stuff splashed onto Christie’s chest. Tears. “We can move back to the city if that’s what you want. That’s what I was coming over to tell you. I won’t let you go. Won’t give you up.”
There was a distant wail of sirens.
“Dad.” It was Joe’s voice. He was squatting down next to David. His face looked guilty and pained. “I—I did text Jessie. Jessie Robeson. I told him I’d found you with Christie. I’m…. Oh man. I’m so sorry, Dad. I had no idea he would do something like this. I was angry but… I would never…. I’d never wish anyone hurt like this.”
David knew Joe was telling the truth. He wasn’t a violent person. But Lord, was he going to make Jessie Robeson pay. “I believe you, Joe.”
Amy was wrapping up a deep cut on Christie’s arm. She looked up at David, her eyes soft. “I don’t see any head injuries. He’ll be all right. Please don’t be so upset.”
“But he’s not conscious.” David wiped tears and snot from his face with the crook of his arm. “Please, God.”
“He has lost some blood, but not enough to be life-threatening. His pulse is slow but steady. He’ll be okay, Dad. Joe, can you grab that afghan?”
Joe grabbed it and David helped Amy tuck it around Christie.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” Joe said, still sounding guilty, though what he was sorry for, exactly, David didn’t know. Maybe Joe didn’t know either.
David nodded but his eyes stayed fixed on Christie.
“Me too, Dad,” Amy said, her voice thick. “I didn’t know you were so miserable. I love you so much. You know I’ll support you no matter what.”
“Okay,” David said. “Okay.”
See, my love, it’s not so bad. You
have
to stay with me now. After all, we have a whole new life to lead, you and I.
A new life together. A second chance for both of us.
As if he’d heard the silent plea, Christie shifted his hand in David’s and squeezed.
ACT IV: Feast
Epilogue
One Year Later
“HIS HANDS
are so little!” a girl of about seven exclaimed.
“T. rex didn’t need big hands ’cause of his teeth are
huge
!” Jeremy said. “He could
do
more with normal-sized hands, just like us.” He made a grabby gesture with his fingers.
“That’s exactly right, Jeremy.” David smiled at the little boy. The five-year-old was a firecracker, that was for sure.
He was giving a private museum tour to a large family group. It was clear this outing was chosen for the kids’ sake, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it, even the texting teenagers.
“You can see similar features in some of today’s reptiles—a large mouth and teeth, powerful back legs, and relatively small and dexterous forelimbs,” David explained. “When we go over to the Reptiles and Amphibians wing, I’ll point them out.”
“I want to see more dinosaurs!” Jeremy insisted.
“Oh, we’ve got lots more to see here first. What are the scariest dinosaurs, do you think?”
Jeremy made a big show of thinking about it, putting his finger on his dimpled chin. “Raptors?”
“I think so too. Let’s go check them out.”
It was New Year’s Eve day, and David, being low man on the museum totem pole, was working all day. He didn’t mind. He adored just being
in
the New York Museum of Natural History, much less working there. Normally he worked in archives doing filing and processing and the tours went to docents better qualified than him. But they were all on vacation. Today felt a bit like being an understudy called in for the big show. He was relieved to find no one asked questions he couldn’t handle or grilled him about his credentials. In fact, he felt like a million bucks by the time the museum closed at five thirty. It would be years before the natural history classes he was taking from the NYU extension resulted in a degree, but at least he’d had a taste of what it felt like to be an “expert.”
A security guard named Frank waved to David as he left. “Have a good New Year’s Eve! And say hi to Christie for me!”
“You too, Frank. Happy New Years to your family too.”
He took the subway across the river to the duplex he and Christie were renting in Brooklyn. Inside the house smelled warmly of curry and naan, making his stomach growl.
He found Christie in the kitchen. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey!” Christie turned from the stove with a big smile. They met in the middle of the room for a kiss. “How was your big debut?”
“It went well. Exceptionally well.” David couldn’t keep the pride from his voice.
“I told you! You know more about that museum than anyone.”
“Well, that’s not true, but apparently I know enough. It was fun.”
“I’m so glad.” Christie squeezed him tight before letting go. “Oh my God, Joe and Amy should be here any minute. I’m so nervous.”
“It’ll be fine.”
David hadn’t spared a worry for Amy and Joe’s arrival all day, but he felt a spark of nerves now. They’d all come a long way since last New Year’s. At this point he and Christie were so solid a Mack Truck couldn’t run them down, but he felt less confident about his kids. This was the first time they were visiting his new place. He just wanted everyone to get along.
He remembered the horrible night that was last New Year’s Eve. His eyes ran over Christie’s face as he stirred something on the stove. He had a scar on one eyebrow and another on the middle of his lip where it had been split. His nose had been broken, and you could still see a bump. His arm was in a sling for weeks. But fortunately no permanent damage remained. They ran together most mornings, and Christie was as strong as he ever was.
Fierce Christie.
God, David loved him.
Evelyn Robeson had been cleared of any foreknowledge of the attack. But Jessie Robeson and his two friends were charged with a hate crime and each given ten years. And David couldn’t find it in himself to feel sorry for them.
He cleared his throat. “I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble.” He walked over to the stove and scooped some tikka masala sauce off a spoon with a finger. Yum.
“Who, me?” Christie said, tongue-in-cheek.
“Uh-huh. This looks amazing.”
“Do Amy and Joe even like Indian food? I totally forgot to ask.”
“I have no idea, but they should like it. It’s the best.”
“Oh God. They’ll hate it, won’t they? I need a glass of wine.”
“I’ll get it.”
David poured Christie a glass of merlot and had just handed it to him when the doorbell rang.
“They’re here!” Christie ripped his apron off and shoved it in a drawer. He was getting way too worked up. David caught his hands and pulled him close.
“Breathe.” David ran his nose along Christie’s. “Repeat after me: I’m beautiful, I’m sexy, and, gosh darn it, people like me.”
Christie laughed shakily. “Dork.”
“Seriously.” David gripped Christie’s face with both hands. “I love you. Okay?”
Christie blinked his blue eyes and stared at David. He visibly relaxed. “Okay.”
“So chill out, Stepdad.”
Christie rolled his eyes. “Shut up! Technically I’m not.”
“Yet.”
Christie raised his eyebrows questioningly. David ignored him and went to answer the door. Yeah, he wanted to marry Christie. But he wasn’t going to spoil that surprise just yet.
“Hey, Dad!”
Amy and Joe looked cold and a little nervous themselves standing on the stoop. David looked out at the taxi. “Can I pay the driver?”
“I already got it,” Joe said.
“Oh. Well… come on in.”
David took their coats and put them on a coatrack near the door. Their suitcases were set down and he gave them each a hug. It wasn’t his family’s way to hug, but he hadn’t seen them in months. Besides, he’d already figured out sometimes the “way things had always been” wasn’t good enough. He showed them into the living room just as Christie came out of the kitchen.
“Hey, guys! I’m so glad you made it safely,” he said.
“Hi, Christie,” Amy replied a little shyly. “Thanks for having us.”
“Yeah, thanks,” said Joe.
There was an awkward moment. David could tell Christie wanted to hug the kids too because it was his way to greet people with hugs. But he refrained, probably not sure his touch would be welcome.
“This place is really cute, Dad,” Amy said, looking around.
“Thanks. We like it. Christie did a great job decorating. You know me. I’m a chair-and-one-mug kind of guy.”
David gave them a little tour. When he put the farm on the market last spring, he was lucky it had sold quickly to a large Amish family. He got a good chunk of money for it, but some of that went to Joe and Amy and the rest into savings. He and Christie agreed they didn’t want to buy a house right away. They wanted to be free to move around and travel if they decided to. But even though he didn’t own the duplex, he was real proud of it.
The outside of their row house was unassuming old brick, but the iron railings, porch, and window frames were freshly painted. The inside was far better. The previous owner had remodeled and put in a new kitchen and faux hardwood floors. Christie picked out some modern-looking gray furniture at a discount place and accented it with bright rugs and paintings and pillows in purple, moss green, and gray. David loved how it felt modern and a bit sparse. It was low maintenance and classy.
“Really nice,” Amy commented as he led them around. “You have good taste, Christie. I’m afraid I’m as hopeless as my dad about these things.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. How do you like
your
new place?”
Amy had graduated and gotten a nursing job at Lancaster General Hospital over the summer. She’d moved into an apartment with another nurse, but David hadn’t seen it yet.
She beamed. “I love it! We can walk downtown to eat or go to the farmers’ market. Or to do this….” Amy had kept on a paisley scarf when she took off her coat. She unwrapped it from her head now and took it off. They all stared.
“Oh, Amy!” Christie said, hand over his mouth. “I love it!”
“Do you?” Amy blushed and patted her short bob haircut. “I figured any man who wants to date me is going to have to be open-minded, so the hair is a first test. If he can’t get past that, he’s automatically disqualified.” She laughed, but it was a nervous sound.
“You look… beautiful.” David put his arm around her shoulders. “Your hair looks thick and healthy like this too.”
“It’s perfect,” said Christie.
“It looks good, Am,” Joe agreed.
David felt a twinge of guilt. Amy and Joe were still going to the Mennonite church, but Joe was no longer dating Amanda. He didn’t tell David all the details, but David figured having a gay father had something to do with it. As for Amy… she seemed to be questioning a lot of things these days. And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
“Thanks again for coming,” David told them both sincerely.
For giving us a chance.
“Of course!” Amy said brightly. “We had to see the new place. And I want to hear all about your job and everything, Dad.” She smiled at Christie. It was a bit tentative, but it was a smile.
“Anyone want a drink?” Christie asked. “We’ve got milk, Coke, apple cider, or wine. I hope you guys are hungry because I made way too much food.”
“It smells good,” Joe told Christie, looking right at him.
Christie swallowed. “Thanks, Joe.”
“I’ll help you get drinks.” Amy took Christie’s arm and they went into the kitchen.
When Joe and David were alone, Joe held out his hand. David was surprised, but he shook it.
“It’s good to see you, Dad.”
“You too. I appreciate this. I know it’s not easy to accept the situation given your beliefs.”
Joe nodded, looking away. “No. But you already know everything I’d say, anyhow, so I need to leave it up to you and Christie and God. We’re still family.”
David felt a dense ache in his chest, but he nodded. “Okay.”
“Actually I wanted to talk to you about something. You know I did that mission trip to Sweden last summer. Well, there may be an opportunity to do a pastoral internship over there for a year. I’m seriously considering it.”
“That’s fantastic, Joe. Living abroad would be a great experience.”
“Yeah. They have some different ideas over there, that’s for sure. I’ve been praying about it a lot, and I think it would be good for me to spend some time there.”
David knew which “different” ideas Joe was talking about. The Swedish Mennonite church had embraced gay marriage, in part due to the law. Gay marriage was legal in Sweden, and it was
illegal
for churches to discriminate against it. But the Mennonite leaders there had accepted the change with grace and had a much more loving and tolerant view of homosexuality than did their brethren in the US.