All Things Lost (4 page)

“I know you live here,” Jamie said patiently, “that's why it's not exciting.”

“He's got a point,” I said with a grin as I allowed myself to be drug off down the hall.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Asher asked as he followed.

“Well living with someone does tend to take away some of the magic in a relationship.”

Asher frowned but we were distracted by
Bethany
's sudden appearance. She was only six months pregnant, and refused to say who the father was, but she was already huge. She tended to loom these days whenever she made an entrance.

“You'll never believe who called today,” she said to Asher.

“Who?” he said impatiently.
It seemed he wasn't in the mood for guessing games.

“Aunt Judy!” Jamie yelled as he hopped up and down.

“You couldn't let me tell him that?”
Bethany
said. She ruffled Jamie's hair, which everyone knew he despised, and he ran off to comb it, which was the desired effect.

“Aunt Judy called?” Asher said as he dropped onto the sofa. I sat next to him and
Bethany
lowered herself carefully into a chair. We teased her that she would need a crane by the time she was full term.

          Judy was Asher's aunt on his father's side. She lived in
California
with her two sons, Dash and Jake. Jake had lived here until a year and a half ago. Jamie's real parents, who were actually Jake's aunt and uncle, had raised him. Confused yet? Don't feel bad. It still confuses me sometimes too. Judy was a quite an interesting person. She was some sort of psychic, or at least it seemed that way, although she hated the term and would never say it about herself. She had a creepy way of knowing things that she had no real way of knowing.

“Yes, and she had some big news.”

“Bigger than your news?”

She stuck her tongue out at him and continued, “Her and Jake are moving back.”

“Back here? What about Dash?”

     “Yes, back here. And Dash is staying there. He's in school and he's lived there all his life. Jake is apparently missing the
area,
and us too, and so Aunt Judy has decided to move.”

          “Wow,” I said. Judy had always intimidated me a bit. When I'd first met her she'd changed looks about as often as most people changed their underwear, and her uncanny ability to know things had unsettled me. We'd had more than one encounter that left me with the willies. She'd saved Asher's and my life though, and Jake's too. I wondered if she was still as strange as she'd been then.

          “What is she going to do?”

          “Well, apparently she has her own business now, she's doing interior design. You know, going into someone's house and redecorating? She has some weird hook but I forget what it is. She's planning on doing that here too.”

         “That sounds like fun!” Asher exclaimed. “I wonder if she'll need any help.”

          “Yeah, that sounds like a pretty fruity job,”
Bethany
said with a sly grin. It was Asher's turn to stick his tongue out at her. “Seriously, though,” she went on, “you should ask her. I'm sure she'll need some help.”

Asher's mom entered the room and surveyed the three of us sprawled across the furniture. “It's moments like this that make me so proud to be a mother,” she said, sarcasm warming her voice.

          “What do you need, Mom?”
Bethany
asked as she struggled to stand up.

          “No, no. Don't bother lumbering to your feet,” she said and waved her back down, “I just wanted to tell Asher that Aunt Judy was moving here and get a report on the new baby.” Asher's mom, Deb, and Will's dad were brother and sister, which made Will Deb's nephew.

          “Well, Beth just dished the dirt on Aunt Judy,” Asher told his mom, “and the baby is doing great. Will
named
him Darin Joseph. Darin means precious something.”

          “Gift,” I supplied.

          
“Yeah, precious gift.
I haven't seen Will this happy since Uncle Lowell and Aidan died.”

          “Good, we could use some good news around here for a change.”

          “Ahem,”
Bethany
said with a pointed look at her round belly.

          “While a baby is always good news, I would have preferred that tidbit came with a daddy attached.”

          “We've been through all this, Mother,”
Bethany
sighed. Her expression clearly said that she wished she hadn't brought attention to it now.

          “Don't mother me,” Deb said with a grin, “You know we're here for you. I just wish I could say the same for the father, that's all. Oh, and Asher, some boy called here for you today.”

          I perked up and looked quizzically at Asher, who was looking rather blank.

          “Who was it?” he asked.

          “He wouldn't leave a name. He said he'd call back. Dinner will be ready in about an hour.”

          “Where's Marcus?” Asher asked
Bethany
after his mother had left.

          “He's out looking for a summer job,” she said.

          “Come on, let's go check my email,” he said and we left the room. Usually Asher had a room to himself but when Marcus was home he had to share. The room held two twin beds and a desk, a couple dressers and a desk with a PC sitting atop it. The walls sported a Wizard of Oz poster on one side (Asher's) and a Red Hot Chili Peppers poster on the other (Marcus'). Asher headed straight for the computer while I flopped onto his bed.

          “So, you have guys calling you often?” I asked playfully while he signed on.

          “Only when I think you're not going to be around,” he answered in kind, “Actually I have no idea who it could be.”

          “Sure,” I teased.

          “And what was that crack about a relationship losing its magic when you move in together all about?”

          “I was just kidding around,” I said defensively.

          “It didn't sound like it to me. Is there something you're not telling me, Killian?”

          “What do you mean?”

          The computer shouted, “Welcome” and “You've got mail,” but it failed to distract Asher's attention.

          “I mean it's obvious something is bothering you about us moving in together. I want you to tell me what it is.”

          “Nothing is bothering me. I'm just a little nervous is
all.
”

          
“Nervous about what?
We've been dating for over a year. We've been best friends for most of our lives. We love each other. What more do you want?”

          “This is a pretty big step, Ash.”

      “Look, if it's bothering you that much we won't do it.”

          “Ash, will you listen to me. I'm not saying I don't want to live with you. I do. I'm just saying it'll take a while for me to get used to the idea.”

          
“How long?
A week?
A month?
A year?”

          “I don't know. I'll be ready by the time we find an apartment.”

          
“Promise?”

          “Yes, I promise.” I stood up and bent over Asher for what started off as a quick kiss but quickly heated up. We were still in a lip-lock when Marcus entered the room.

          
“
Geez
guys!
Get a room!” he yelled good-naturedly.

          “We did. We're in my room,” Asher shot back.

          
“My room too for the next couple months.”

          “Well, we're looking for one of our own,” I added.

          That caught his attention. “You're what?”

          “I, uh, hadn't really told my family yet, Killian,” Asher said sheepishly.

          “Oops,” I mumbled.

          “Killian and I are looking for an apartment closer to school,” Asher explained. “But don't tell Mom and Dad yet, ok?”

          
“Why not?
I'd think they'd be thrilled to get one of us out of the house once and for all.”

          “I just don't want them to get all involved with it. I'd rather have it all lined up and figured out before I tell them.”

          He shrugged, “Whatever. It's your life.”

          Asher rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer. He clicked on his mailbox and his mail popped up on the screen.

          Marcus and I chatted while Asher read his mail, until Asher interrupted.

          “Kill, do you remember that guy I was talking to whose dad was abusing him?”

          
“Because he was gay?”

          “Well it got worse after his dad found out.”

          “Yeah, I remember you talking to me about him. You met in the XY chat room, right?”

          “Yeah, his name is Caleb. He sent me a letter. I think maybe he's the one who called me.”

          I looked over his shoulder at the letter he was pointing to.

          It read, “
Asher,
thanks for talking to me. It's meant a lot. My dad beat me up again last night and this time the social services people are hanging around. They asked me if I want to go to a group home while they figure out whether or not to charge my dad with child abuse. I don't know what the big question is. He's been beating the shit out of me for years and all the neighbors and half my teachers know. So anyway, I might not be online for a while. I just wanted to let you know. I have your phone number in my wallet so if I can get to a phone I'll try calling you.
Later, Caleb.”

          “How old is he?” I asked when he'd finished reading it.

          “I think he's 15, or 16 maybe.
Somewhere around that.”

          “Where's he from?”

          “Near here somewhere. I can't remember exactly but I know he's on the Shore.”

          We lived in a small town on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, often referred to by locals as the Shore. It's also called the
Delmarva Peninsula
because the area of land between the
Chesapeake Bay
and the
Atlantic Ocean
is made up of all of
Delaware
, part of
Maryland
, and two counties of
Virginia
. The entire Shore, which is mostly flat farmland or wetlands, much of it intersected by rivers and creeks, is only about 200 miles long and 45 miles wide at its widest point, narrowing to less than 5 miles in places in
Virginia
. So if Caleb lived on somewhere on the Shore, chances were he was relatively nearby, which explained the phone call.

           “I wonder why he was calling,” I mused aloud.

          “He probably just needs someone to talk to,” Asher said, “I get the impression that he doesn't have a lot of friends. He must be lonely.”

          
“Poor kid.”

          
“Yeah.”

          “I need a job,” Marcus moaned from his bed.

          “Me too,” I agreed.

          “Me three,” Asher added.

          “I thought you were going to work for your Aunt Judy,” I said.

          “Aunt Judy? What? You guys are moving to
California
now?” Marcus asked as he sat up. “Mom's
gonna
really freak about that.”

          “We're not moving to
California
, you dolt,” Asher said with a laugh, “Aunt Judy's moving back here with Jake. She called today. She has some sort of interior design business and she might need some help.”

          “Sounds perfect for you,” Marcus grinned.

          “Now you sound like
Bethany
.”

          “What?” he protested with an innocent expression. “I'm just saying you have excellent taste.”

          With a mock growl, Asher hurled himself across the room, catching Marcus in a tackle, and the two of them tumbled backwards on his bed. I jumped in for the fun of it and the three of tried to throw each other off the bed until Deb called up and threatened to ground all of us if we didn't cut it out. The three of us lay panting side by side on the bed for a minute before Asher started giggling.

          “What's so funny?” Marcus demanded.

          Asher couldn't answer at first for laughing, but he finally managed, “I think that was my first threesome.”

          Marcus leaped off the bed in one fluid motion as the two of us burst into laughter at his flustered expression. He left the room shaking his head and mumbling something about how no one at school would believe him. I rolled over on top on Asher and we started kissing, all the tension and arguments from earlier forgotten for now.