Fiction_Online |
||||||||
|
Blissful LivingBy NOPYou all know it, you all love it. Two boys growing up in a different way. *DISCLAIMER* Chapter 7 I stood, again, at the door of the guestroom. The ice wasn't ice anymore, slowly I watched leaks drain down his exposed side. I walked over to him, with a towel, and mopped up the streaks, "Robbie, wake up." I rubbed his shoulder joint. "We need to switch some ice packs around." He shifted slightly before freezing and groaning. Bruises were now dark on his neck and jaw. His cheeks were greenish, and his lips dried from parchment. "Just a second," He mumbled softly, "I'm getting up." I unwrapped the water filled baggies, while he sat hunched over looking at the ground. He held his hands in his lap away from temptation. I left for a moment and escaped into my room to get him clothes. I brought back a pair of my boxers, black pants, and a short-sleeved, white-collard button up shirt, as well as his usual bracelets he used to hide the scars. "Do you want to take a shower?" I asked upon my return. He looked up at me and nodded. I lead him to the bathroom and pulled out a wash cloth and towel for him. I pulled some chap stick from my pocket and tenderly applied it to his lips. I kissed him gently, not touching him but behind one ear. He touched my waist with his hands, "Thanks." He smiled than kissed me on the check.
In an icy room with a cold air-conditioned draft, the police had Robbie strip off his jacket and shirt. He looked down, embarrassed, as they positioned his body for the photographs. With tears in his eyes, they took close ups of the marks around his neck and face. They allowed him to put on the shirt I had given him and had him take a seat. With his delicate fingers and gentle movements, he buttoned up the front of the shirt leaving one button undone. Painfully, he tucked the tails into the waist of my pants. He answered questions for the police all the while. "Please state your full name." "Robert Stanley Chase." "Date of birth?" "September 13, 1985." "Can you tell us, for the record, who hit you?" "Frank Chase." "Your father?" "Step." he sniffled. "Do you have anywhere to stay?" "Um, my friend's house. His dad brought me here." "We need you to a, stick around. We'll bring in a medical examiner to look at you." After the last question was asked he signed a paper. "Can you sign this?" They offered the clipboard to my father, "As a witness to these...marks." the woman shuddered. "Yes ma'am." He signed below Robbie. "Um...who do I talk to about his living situation?" "Child Services is sending up an agent, He'll discuss that with you." She smiled and walked to her desk. "Are you alright?" My dad asked Robbie, who was close to crying in humiliation. "Yeah. Just want some air." He looked at me. I glanced at my dad before leading him out the back of the building. He sat on the back step, leaned his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in the palms of his hands. I leaned against the building, letting him cry. He regained the control he always possessed and wiped his face on the sleeve of the shirt. "That bastard." He laughed, "Making me cry." I laughed with him a little, "but he'll get his." "God bless Karma." I stated. It was our little saying when ever something when bad. It was often offensive to those around us given the Christian setting, but no one was there to glare at us. "Good old Karma. Wish I could see it." He turned solemn again. I sat next to him on the cold hard block of concrete. I gently let my arm circle around his lower back, and let him rest his head on my shoulder. We sat on the cold concrete until an officer came out for a cigarette break. "What are you two doing out here?" He asked, slightly disturbed at the crowd. "Avoiding." Robbie laughed. "Ah, you must be the one that bastard is yelling about in there." The officer clarified, "He's sore at ya, definitely." the man chuckled, "Keeps saying we should a chained you fellers up instead of him, rotten child beater." "Yeah, well. Can you tell the people in there that we're going around the corner to get some food?" Robbie asked. "Sure." We started to walk down the alley way. Only semi-conscious of the people we passed. Robbie walked with his head down while I picked the way through the walking commuters. "Hey, guys!" a familiar voice plucked my ears. I looked around and finally found the caller in a car parallel to us, parked at a meter. "Hey, Rabbit." I laughed. "Hey. So...ah Robbie." He looked at him with question, but he didn't look up, "Everything alright?" I could see his eyes staring at the dark bruises at Robbie's jaw. Robbie nodded his head. He lifted his eyes and smiled his, "No, but everything will be," smile, and dropped it quickly. "You guys want a ride some where?" "No, we're heading up the corner, you want to join?" I asked. "No, I have to run, but it was good to see you man." He directed his speech at Robbie, "Take care of him." He pointed at me. "Yes, Comrade Napoleon." I raised a hand as he departed into traffic, "Are you alright? Robbie?" He grabbed my hand with a mischievous smile on his face, and drug me into the next alleyway. He forcefully pushed me against the brick building, behind a dumpster and out of sight. I looked around, cautiously, for people. He let his hands firmly grip my hips while he kissed me. The sweet taste. If bliss were ice cream.... Eventually, we made our way into the restaurant. He sat across from me, our knees touching under the table. He was looking through the menu with little attention. "Did you watch me strip down?" He asked not lifting his eyes. "Robbie!" I exclaimed. The waitress came and took our drinks. I asked for a coffee and he for a coke. "Well?" "I can't believe you think I would peek in public." I laughed at him unable to hold my face tight. "You did, didn't you." He smiled wide-eyed, "You little pervert." "You would've." I tried to validate. "I know, I was just checking." "Eh? Who's the pervert?" I asked laughing, "I don't know if you should be around small children, ever!" I laughed more. "You know what you have to do now don't you?" He leaned back, softly, onto the padding of the booth. I looked around trying to think of what he was hinting at, "Eh?" I asked, unsure. "Anything I want." "Ha ha, funny." I smirked. "Ha ha, fair." He smiled letting the waitress set the glass in front of him. He watched her turn and walk out of ear's shot, "You got to see me when I was vulnerable, now you have to do what ever I want, what ever." He smiled coolly. "One, no. Two, you're always vulnerable. Three, no." "I'll concede you that two point, but no is not the right answer." "Fine, what?" "If I'm going to be living with you I don't want to lie, come out. Or--" I didn't let him get to the other option. "When?" "Really?" "Yeah. When?" "When would you?" "Yesterday." He choked on the fluids he had just sucked into his mouth, but managed to swallow. "What's this?" "He asked, I answered. It's not like I'm ashamed of it." "Then that's not an option." "Yes it is. You offered it, I accepted and I already preformed." I smiled. "Technically, you didn't listen to all the options and are therefore ill informed in you decision. You also cheated." "You just hate to lose." I smiled, and let my left foot trail up the inside of his left calf, digging in under his pant leg. "I don't lose." He pulled his leg away, "You still have to do something." "Okay," I sighed, "What?" "Do my math homework for a month." "What?" I had expected something dirty after watching him play with his straw, eyes looking at the table cloth by the salt shaker, "I don't think you want that, I'm not good at math." "Well I guess I'll have to settle with holding hands and running down the hallway screaming, 'Free as the Fairy's Hair.'" I laughed. "I don't think I want to get my ass pummeled." "You have to." He smiled, "I said." "You said, you said. Who do you think you are? David Bowie?" I laughed, sprinkling the third packet of sugar into the cup. "Okay, I'll think of something better, like, 'Stop the thought Police!' or something." He shrugged, "But we're running down the hall hand in hand." "I might be forced to bite you." I warned with a smile. "Yeah, but you still have to get a mouth on me." he winked.
He was prone to sudden bouts of depression. He would sit in my room with me, door open at dad's request, and fold his arms in his lap. Sometimes he would curl up into fetal position and stare blankly at me, reading a book more often then not. "What's the matter?" I asked, stopping after a chapter. "Nothing." He sighed. I climbed up on to the bed, letting the smooth blue comforter wrinkle under me. I lain like he did, with my face parallel to his. I let a hand extend out and rub his arm. He would close his eyes and I could see the involuntary shiver flow up his spine. I followed his upper arm to the elbow then continued down his side to the rim of his pants. I let my index finger circle around the waist band until it reached the button. I pulled, gently, at the overlapping material until the metal coin popped out of its hole. I flipped the metal puller of the zipper, but I didn't pull it in any particular direction. "Darlene's coming over." I said loudly to snap him out of his concentrated darkness. "Eh?" He opened his eyes and furrowed his brow, "When?" "Sometime today." "Hmmm...that probably doesn't give us unlimited time does it?" "Nope." "Want to take a shower?" He bit his lit and brightened his eyes. "Oh, that'll go over well." As if by a miracle, my father yelled up the stairs, "I'm heading out to the store, be back in an hour." "Alright Dad!" I called. I lifted an eyebrow and let my thumb flicker on his arm. "Fortunate." he smiled. I smiled on one half and looked down, I thrust my hands in my pockets and rocked back on my heels, "I'll wash your back if you wash mine." I let out a breathy laugh. "Oh, we're beyond being able to get clean." he laughed and grabbed my elbow, which never left the pocket, and started to drag me towards the bathroom. I followed at a half trot. He shut the door behind us and locked the bolt in place. He looked at me a little lost as to where to start. I took the initiative and kissed his cheak gently. I pulled at his wrist and started to unbuckle the heafty leather bracelets that were his staple. He licked his lips and tried to pull his arm away, his eyes glaring at what my hands were doing. I pulled back against him and waited for him to find my eyes. With tears on the brim he looked back at me. "You're suppose to be happy." I smiled and kissed his lips gently then more forcefully, as I finished with the left bracelet and placed it on the vanity. I started on the other strap, pushing him into the door with kisses. His hands found my shirt tail, when I was done with them, and pulled it up. "Water?" I asked, standing topless in front of him. He turned a little red and laughed, I turned the spickets to my favorite temperature. |
|||||||