Wayward Son (18 page)

Jimmy threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, honey,” he said when he could talk again. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”

All Mikey could do was shake his head. “I have a feeling I’m gonna regret this.”

Jimmy wrapped his arm around Mikey’s neck and planted a kiss on the side of his face. “C’mon, y’all, I’m starvin’ Marvin. Where are we headed for lunch?”

“Masala Indian,” Kitty replied. She waved toward the door. “I’m starving too. The restaurant’s just about a mile away.”

Mikey grabbed Jimmy’s hand and used the grip to unwind Jimmy’s arm from around him. They ended up holding hands as they headed out. “This place has the best garlic naan anywhere,” Mikey said. He leaned in closer. “So be sure you eat plenty so it doesn’t matter that we both have garlic breath.”

Jimmy chuckled. “Trust me, babe, it wouldn’t matter either way.”

He squeezed Mikey’s hand and gave him a look full of promise, and Mikey didn’t even try to suppress the shiver that ran through him. Damn, he really was glad Jimmy was here. He felt equal parts guilty and content at the realization, but he told himself again what Jimmy and Cory had told him from the start: accepting help didn’t make him any less of a man. It just made him a man who had people who cared about him.

And he cared about them right back.

They piled into Jimmy’s rental, a midsize sedan whose bright cherry red color offset its humdrum body design. Mikey tried to defer shotgun to Kitty, but she wouldn’t hear it.

“Sit with your boyfriend!” She waved off his protests. “I can ride in a backseat without bruising my womanly pride or whatever the hell.”

Mikey lifted his hands. “Okay, okay.” He slid into the front
seat and shut the door. “Just don’t get carsick or anything back
there,” he tossed over his shoulder as he buckled his seat belt. “You’ll be paying to clean the upholstery.”

“I have never been carsick in my life,” Kitty shot back. “And I only got sick on a roller coaster that one time, at that rickety old park I can’t even remember the name of. They shut the whole thing down like a year after that anyway.”

Jimmy had the car started by then and was snickering into the steering wheel. “Are you two done sniping now? Can we go get some food before I pass out from hunger?”

Mikey smacked Jimmy’s leg with the back of his hand. “Shut up and drive.” He flipped his hand over and ran his fingers along Jimmy’s thigh. “If you play your cards right, you might just get lucky later.”

Kitty wolf whistled from the backseat, and Mikey giggled in response.

Jimmy just shook his head as he backed the car out. “You two are a mess,” he said, though his tone was teasing. “Just try to keep
the inside jokes to a minimum so I can keep up with the
conversation.”

“We can try,” Kitty replied. “But after eight years, they just slip out. You know?”

Jimmy laughed. “Oh yeah, I know. I bet Cory and I have had Mikey totally confused a dozen times already, and we haven’t even known each other that long.” He checked traffic and pulled out into the street before dropping one hand from the steering wheel to land on top of Mikey’s where it still lay on Jimmy’s leg. “But I’m expecting to be around this one a good long while, so I might as well start learning now, right?”

Mikey flushed as a mix of excitement and embarrassment rushed through him. What did Jimmy mean by “a good long while”? Not that Mikey thought he and Cory would dump him and run, especially not after Jimmy had followed him to Florida.

But Jimmy couldn’t mean anything more than having some fun, right? Mikey couldn’t afford to start thinking of whatever the three of them were doing as something permanent, or even long-term. He was less than a month into college in a new city with no job and, however nice it was, only a borrowed space to live in. Permanent was a foreign concept.

Mikey shook off that train of thought and focused back on the here and now, when Kitty was directing Jimmy into the parking lot next to a strip mall that had seen better days. Anchored by a big and surprisingly nice dollar store, the shopping center also housed a UPS Store, an “antiques and more” shop in which the “and more” meant “mostly yard sale castoffs,” a mattress discounter, and the tiny Indian restaurant that was their destination. Jimmy nabbed a spot directly in front of the door and gave Mikey a grin as he put the car in park.

“This better live up to the billing,” he said, reaching for his door handle. “I am about to pass out from starvation.”

Kitty snorted. “I think you’ll live,” she shot back before climbing out of the car.

Mikey followed them, the smells of garlic and curry growing stronger with every step. Jimmy held the door for them, waving Kitty through first and using the opportunity to pat Mikey’s ass as he passed by. Mikey jumped and glared over his shoulder, but the look lacked heat. Well, lacked any real anger, at least. Heat of a different kind was another story.

Kitty had nabbed a table in the seat-yourself dining room already, and once Mikey and Jimmy joined her, she launched into a recitation of the best dishes on the menu. Mikey mostly tuned her out. He liked the naan and the butter chicken, and samosas if they wanted an appetizer, but he probably wouldn’t eat much after the size of their breakfast.

A few minutes later, orders placed, Jimmy sipped his water, eyes on Mikey over the edge of the glass, which he then set down on the table. “So,” he said. “I think maybe you need to catch me up on what I missed after you left our place Sunday morning.”

Mikey’s face flamed. Even the tips of his ears burned. And Kitty giggled.

“Oh, if you could see your face right now.” She nudged his knee with hers under the table. “You already told me about Saturday night. What are you all embarrassed about now?”

Mikey’s gaze flew to meet Jimmy’s. “Not details!” he squeaked out. “I mean, I said we….”

Jimmy gave him a lopsided grin. “We had sex. And damn good sex, if I do say so myself.” He lifted his glass in a mock toast, and Mikey blushed again, but this time from the memory of their night in bed with Cory. Yeah, it had been damn good sex, that was for sure.

But that didn’t answer Jimmy’s question. Mikey sighed and explained again, as briefly as he could. “Mr. Day called, and I decided I needed to talk to my dad. And I did. And I talked to his lawyer too. And then Kitty and I got drunk, and then we slept it off, and then you got here. End of story.”

Jimmy’s eyebrows reached toward his hairline. “That’s not much of a story.”
Understatement
, Mikey thought. “But all right. We don’t have to talk about it now. But you know we need to talk about it, right?”

Mikey drooped in his seat. “Yeah.” He shrugged. “My dad wants to see me anyway. Something he found in his office he needs to show me. We can go over after lunch. He won’t be back until after two.”

Jimmy nodded as the server approached carrying steaming plates in both hands. He smiled up at her. “Wow, that’s fast!” They’d skipped the appetizers, so the server and a food runner who joined her a moment later placed a plate in front of each of them and a platter of naan in the center. The pungent fragrance of garlic filled the air, and after assuring the server they didn’t need anything else, the three of them dug into their meals. Mikey ate one of the triangles of naan before he even touched his meal, and he put a second slice on the side of his plate before he picked up his fork.

“Guarding that for later?” Jimmy asked.

Kitty gave an unladylike snort. “He’d eat the entire pile if he could. Boy can put away some serious amounts of naan when he puts his back into it.”

His first bite of chicken in his mouth kept Mikey from firing back, so he flipped her off with his fork hand instead. He wasn’t sure if he should be terrified or happy to hear the sound of Jimmy and Kitty snickering in stereo, but he had to admit having them there sure beat eating alone.

A
FTER
DROPPING
Kitty back by the apartment so she could get ready for work, Mikey and Jimmy headed to the church. If Mikey thought showing up at his father’s church out of the blue the day before had been uncomfortable, that was nothing compared to how it felt to introduce Jimmy to his father.

“Dad,” he said, his mouth dry as the Sahara, “this is Jimmy Black. Jimmy, this is my father, the Reverend Robert O’Malley.”

“A pleasure to meet you, sir.” Jimmy held out a hand, smiling, clearly on his very best behavior. Charming but not overbearing. Mikey’s father shook the proffered hand, though he didn’t look comfortable doing it.

“Likewise.” He drew his hand back. “May I ask why you’re here?”

“Absolutely.” Jimmy clasped his hands behind his back, still smiling. “I’m a friend of Mikey’s, and I have a bit of a legal background, so I’ve been offering him some advice along the way. Since I was going to be in town anyway, we thought it might be helpful for me to come with him this afternoon.” Jimmy turned toward the conference table at the side of the office, where what looked like a catalog lay closed with a yellow sticky note marking a page. “Is this what we’re here to see?”

Rev. O’Malley was clearly still uncertain about Jimmy’s presence, but he didn’t pursue things further. “Yes, this is what I found,” he replied. He stepped over and flipped open the directory to the flagged page. He pointed to a picture halfway down. “That’s them.”

Mikey bent close to take a look and a switch flipped. “Oh! I remember him.” He pointed at the father, slightly overweight and red around the nose, like a former frat boy gone to seed. “From the water park. He kept cutting line and pushed people a few times. We almost had to call security on him once, but he backed off.” Mikey studied the woman and little girl in the picture, then shook his head. “I don’t remember his wife or daughter, though.”

Rev. O’Malley nodded. “I remembered them when I saw the picture. Mrs. Donaldson came to the office several times, not just when she temped here. There were some issues in the family. I can’t really specify what they were, but after a while she stopped coming. I have no idea if they resolved things, moved to another church, or what.”

“I guess the issues didn’t go away,” Jimmy put in. “I mean, I imagine that what Mrs. Donaldson alleges in the lawsuit probably did happen. It just wasn’t Mikey who did it.”

Mikey flinched like he’d been slapped, stricken. He’d been so wrapped up in worrying about what the lawsuit meant for him that he hadn’t even considered that what he’d been accused of might have actually happened. He didn’t do it, but someone apparently had molested that little girl, and she’d been living with it ever since.

Mikey flushed, ashamed. He’d been so self-centered. And like a flash, he realized that way of thinking was what kept him from being a grown-up. Not whether or not he could handle things on his own, but how he approached them in the first place. Yes, he still wanted to clear his name. But now he also wanted to find the person who’d hurt that little girl and bring him (or her, he allowed) to justice.

He understood with a stark clarity why Mrs. Donaldson had filed her lawsuit. She needed justice for her daughter, and since she didn’t have sufficient grounds for a criminal case, civil law was her only option.

His father had closed the directory and set it aside. “I’ll get this to Warren. My lawyer,” he clarified for Jimmy’s benefit. “He’s looking into things on this end and will be talking to Mikey’s lawyer. Mr. Day, I believe?”

“Yes. Father of one of my dearest friends,” Jimmy replied.

“Good.” Rev. O’Malley stepped away from the table. “I apologize for cutting this short,” he said, “but I do have a four o’clock meeting. Mikey—” He turned to his son. “—your mother would like you to come for dinner tonight.” He nodded toward Jimmy. “Of course you’re invited as well, Mr. Black.”

“Jimmy,” Jimmy corrected. “I’ve never been one to stand on formalities.”

Mikey’s father nodded and turned his attention back to Mikey. “The usual time. We’ll see you then.”

Saying no didn’t seem to be an option, and Mikey didn’t have the energy to fight it anyway. He just nodded his agreement and stood.

Jimmy followed suit, moving in close to Mikey’s side. “We can see ourselves out, Reverend O’Malley,” he said, and Mikey caught the emphasis on the formal title even if his father didn’t. “We’ll see you for dinner.”

Reverend O’Malley gave them a brief smile, his thoughts clearly elsewhere already, and Jimmy touched Mikey’s elbow, discreetly guiding him through the door and down the hall to the front entrance. The receptionist called out a good-bye, which Jimmy answered, but Mikey was too drained to pay much attention. He let Jimmy lead him to the car and climbed inside automatically. It wasn’t until they were on the road—headed back to Kitty’s, Mikey assumed—that he roused himself enough to speak.

“I want you there as my date,” he said. “Not just my friend.”

Jimmy raised one eyebrow. “Where’s there?”

“At dinner.” Mikey crossed his arms, a chill seeping through him. “I don’t want to have to sit there with my parents and pretend we aren’t gay. That we aren’t seeing each other.”

Jimmy was silent for a long moment. Then, “I understand where you’re coming from, honey. But maybe that’s best saved for another time.”

A ball of anger formed in Mikey’s gut. “I’m not gonna let them keep running my life,” he bit out. “They did it for twenty-five years, and I’m done with it. I’m not gonna hide who I am just to keep them from freaking out.”

Jimmy lifted his hand off the steering wheel and reached across to slide his fingers into the hair at Mikey’s nape. “I get it. I really do. And once all this mess is cleared up, I will be a thousand percent behind that. But maybe it’s best we wait until this lawsuit is taken care of before we step into that fire ant bed.”

Mikey wanted to protest. Wanted to lash out at the world and his parents and damn the consequences. But he couldn’t. He knew Jimmy was right, dammit. He needed to toe the line for just a little while longer, until they could unravel the legal tangle and walk away free and easy.