Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela (13 page)

the white skin before disappearing inside her jeans. ―Girlfriend—what

the hell?‖

―Yeah,‖ Cheryl whispered when she looked over her shoulder and

saw what they were all staring at. ―Roger did that. With a huntin‘

knife.‖

―Your husband?‖ Norah asked.

―Soon to be ex-husband—thank God.‖

Tish smoothed the shirt gently back down, saying, ―I can see why

you finally left that bastard.‖

―That ain‘t why I left him. That wasn‘t even the first time he went

after me with a knife.‖

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Felicia Watson

Norah closed her gaping mouth enough to ask, ―Then what finally

did it?‖

―It was my little girl. Amber.‖

Joining the conversation at last, Logan growled, ―He went after

your little girl?‖

―No, it wasn‘t that,‖ Cheryl said, her voice growing stronger. ―It

was…. See, I never wanted her to end up like me. I stayed with him all

those years ‘cause it was what my mom did. I saw my dad knockin‘ her

around, and I guess I grew up thinkin‘… thinkin‘ that‘s just the way it

is. She even told me it was ‗my duty‘ to stay with him, even though it

kept gettin‘ worse. Every time Roger beat me up, I tried to make it

seem like no big deal to the kids—so they wouldn‘t get upset, you

know? Then last time—‖ Cheryl choked back tears, and Logan had a

second to notice a grim-faced Nick had appeared in the shop and was

silently listening.

Cheryl recovered and went on. ―Then last time… I got home from

the hospital, and Roger Jr. was lookin‘ at all them stitches, and Amber

piped up like it was nothin‘, ‗Oh mommy got another boo-boo.‘ And I

knew… I knew she was gonna end up just like me, thinkin‘ a man had

the right to beat her and cut her and—‖ Another shaky sob echoed

around the garage before Cheryl finished, ―So I had to show her it

wasn‘t so. I had to get out so she would know….‖ By now, copious

tears were running down her cheeks as she finished, ―…so she would

know it ain‘t right and she shouldn‘t let it happen to her.‖

Logan watched Nick as he moved to Cheryl‘s side and put an arm

around her shoulder. She turned her face into his polo shirt, crying,

―I‘m sorry. I knew this would happen. I shouldn‘t‘ve started, but I

couldn‘t help—‖

―It‘s okay. You have every right to tell your story. We aren‘t

bothered. It‘s all right,‖ Nick soothed. Tish and Norah chimed in,

immediately agreeing that they were glad Cheryl had finally told about

her past, too.

Logan was off to the side, mute with horror and frozen with

confusion, needing to offer some gesture of comfort but sure it would

be unwelcome.

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75

After a few seconds, Nick escorted Cheryl outside to get some

fresh air and regain her composure. Logan cleared his throat and said,

―We better get this finished up if you‘re planning on gettin‘ home

tonight.‖ He then ably helped a subdued Tish and Norah finish the oil

change on the Cavalier.

Tish, though, could not be silent for long; as Logan did the final

check of the engine, she said to Norah, ―I never thought about that, you

know? I hope to hell my boys don‘t think they can go beatin‘ on their

woman some day. And my baby girl—damn, I‘m glad she won‘t

remember any of that shit.‖ Norah had no reply, but still Tish went on,

―And what about what Cheryl‘s mom told her, that it was her duty to

stay with that son of a bitch? How fucked up is
that
?‖

The hood of the car clunked down, and the shop was eerily silent

for a second until Logan dropped three words into the hush. ―Plenty

fucked up.‖ He didn‘t care that the question hadn‘t been directed at

him, and he refused to flinch from their evident surprise.

THERE wasn‘t much conversation beyond basic greetings when Nick

and Logan met up on Sunday morning for their second go at the car.

Nick didn‘t find it odd that Logan was quiet, and his own mind was

wholly occupied by the daunting task of removing the engine from the

Thunderbird. The two men worked together efficiently, the only words

spoken directly related to the task at hand. By eleven a.m. they had the

engine bolted to the engine stand and were ready to begin the tedious

process of disassembly.

Nick wiped the sweat off the back of his neck and looked at

Logan. ―Now what?‖

―We gotta remove the parts in groups, clean ‘em in groups, and

label ‘em in groups.‖

―Makes sense; where do ya wanna get started?‖

―The intake manifold. Then we‘ll work our way down to the short

block. Then we get at the valve covers, rocker arms, pivots, push

rods—‖

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Felicia Watson

―Okay, I get it, I get it,‖ Nick interrupted, afraid that Logan was

winding up to name every damn part left in the engine.

Twenty minutes later, Nick was humming happily to himself,

intent on the intricate disassembly work, when Logan cleared his throat

loudly. Nick now recognized this as the signal that the other man had

something of import to say, so he looked over and quirked an eyebrow

in a silent signal of attention.

It didn‘t take long for Logan to ask, ―How‘s Cheryl doin‘?‖

―Good. She‘s doing good.‖ Nick shifted slightly on the concrete

floor before explaining, ―That was a pretty positive sign that she told

you guys all about her situation. A lot of abuse victims have this

misplaced sense of shame, and it‘s good to see her getting over that.

Even though it was probably hard to hear….‖

―Sure as fuck was,‖ Logan grunted. ―That boy of hers—Roger Jr.,

she called him?‖

―Yeah?‖

―Is he a little redhead? Was on that Kennywood trip with us?‖

―That‘s him.‖

Logan removed his baseball cap and ran a hand through his

sweaty blond hair; he tossed the cap onto the workbench as he

continued, ―Boy seemed like a real handful.‖

―He sure is.‖ Nick stopped to label the head bolts he had just

cleaned before adding, ―But in a way that‘s a good thing too.‖

―Don‘t see how.‖ Logan hunched over the engine, his face a study

of intense concentration while he removed the water pump. After a few

minutes of work, he had it free and managed to complete his thought.

―Seems like Cheryl has ‘nough trouble on her hands.‖ He pointed at a

tool set near Nick‘s foot, saying, ―Hand me that puller, would ya?‖

Nick exchanged the requested item for the water pump as he

explained, ―Yeah, but ever since they left Wheeling, little Roger‘s had

a lot of anger festering. It‘s better that it‘s comin‘ out, even if it‘s

makin‘ things worse right now.‖ Nick watched Logan gingerly tugging

at the harmonic balancer and elaborated to the back of his head, ―I‘m

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

77

doing some work with him, but… I don‘t know. I‘m not really an

expert on juvenile counseling.‖

Without looking up, Logan replied, ―Looked like you were plenty

good with them kids at Kennywood.‖

―It looked that way ‘cause most of those kids are so damn grateful

for a little male attention that doesn‘t come with fear attached that

anyone….‖ Nick shrugged, then, realizing that the gesture was lost on

Logan‘s back, added, ―Well, any guy who cared to could do the same.‖

Having successfully removed the balancer, Logan straightened up

and eyed Nick. By the way he was chewing at his lip, Nick sensed

something was coming, and a second later it did. ―Them boys… like

Jesse and the rest?‖

―Yeah?‖

―Do they know that you‘re… um… gay?‖

―Never thought about it,‖ Nick replied. ―Probably. Most

everybody at ACC knows, I guess. I don‘t hide it, but I don‘t make an

issue of it either.‖ After taking a deep breath, Nick added, ―Why do

you
?‖

Resentment and alarm fell like a curtain over Logan‘s face. ―Why

do I
what
?‖

―Why do you make such a big deal out of it? That friend of yours

or whoever it was that got beat up…. Is that it? Or is it that you‘re

worried—‖

Logan snarled ―I ain‘t worried!‖ as he set the balancer down on

the workbench with a resounding thump and picked up a wrench.

―You sure you aren‘t afraid that maybe I‘m attracted to you,

Logan?‖ When the other man immediately turned back to the engine

and savagely attacked the mounting plate, Nick knew he‘d struck a

chord. ―So what if I am? Does it creep you out
that bad
? I don‘t leer at

you, and I‘m sure as hell not gonna make a pass at you. I never hit on

straight guys, so you can just
fucking
relax
, okay?‖

Hands still in the engine, Logan twisted around to glare at Nick.

―I ain‘t worried about none of that shit, so can we just stop talking

about it?‖

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Felicia Watson

―Sure.‖ Nick went to work cleaning the water pump but couldn‘t

resist mumbling, ―You‘re the one who brought it up.‖

Thirty minutes of working in strained silence in the sweltering

garage brought both men to at least enough feigned camaraderie to

peaceably work together at removing the oil pan and the timing chain

set. When Nick nimbly detached the pan, Logan actually grunted in

approval. ―You‘re pretty good at that for….‖

Nick waited, but when Logan didn‘t complete the thought, he

suggested, ―For a gay guy?‖

―That ain‘t what I was gonna say.‖ Logan laid the timing chain on

a drop cloth before adding irritably, ―I was gonna say for a guy who

doesn‘t do a lot of this kinda stuff.‖

Not believing him for one second but reluctant to renew the

hostilities, Nick retorted, ―I do plenty of work on my Jeep.‖

His only answer was Logan pointing at the motor and saying,

―We gotta turn it over now so we can number-stamp the connectin‘

rods.‖

―Turn the whole engine over?‖

―Yeah, of course. How else‘re we gonna get at the rest?‖

―Shit, I‘m already sweatin‘ like a pig,‖ Nick complained as he

pulled his stained, damp T-shirt over his head and wiped his torso with

it.

His own un-tucked, faded workshirt drenched with sweat, Logan

snapped, ―What the fuck do you think you‘re doing?‖

―I‘m hot and I‘m takin‘ my shirt off.‖ Nick parked his hands at

his hips as he challenged, ―Got a goddamned problem with that?‖

Logan looked down at the rag he was using to wipe his hands,

growling, ―You can‘t work like that. It ain‘t safe.‖

Defiantly, Nick threw his shirt on the workbench while asserting,

―I‘ll decide what‘s safe for me, okay?‖

Nick watched Logan fling the grease rag to the ground as he

yelled, in ascending syllables, ―I‘m the mechanic here, and I said it

ain‘t safe!‖

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

79

―Don‘t pull that paternalistic crap on me—‖

―Paternalistic?‖ Logan pivoted one step towards him, snarling,

―You fucking shrinks with your fancy ten-dollar words. Why can‘t you

stop talkin‘ bullshit and do something useful instead? You guys

wouldn‘t know a real job if it bit you in the ass!‖

―Is that right? Well for your information, I worked at Weirton

Steel as a screenman in the cinderin‘ plant every summer I was in

college.‖ He advanced on Logan, who refused to yield an inch; Nick‘s

voice grew louder and harder as he continued, ―And in case your
three

months in the mill
wasn‘t enough to let you know, that‘s one dirty,

back-breaking job. So you can shove that holier-than-thou shit right up

your ass.‖

Logan‘s breath was now coming in harsh pants, and his hands

were balled into solid fists. He gritted out, ―If you know what‘s good

for you, you‘ll get the fuck away from me. Right. Now.‖

Rebellion boiling in his veins, Nick yelled, ―Or what? You gonna

hit me? That‘s your answer to everything, ain‘t it?‖ He pointed a finger

in Logan‘s face, asking, ―What‘re you so fucking angry about, huh?

Why‘re you such a timebom—‖ Nick‘s question was cut off when

Logan grabbed him by the shoulders and backed him into the T-bird‘s

frame; Nick‘s entire body stiffened, preparing a defense against the

inevitable punch.

The blow came in a different form when Logan grabbed his face

and fused their lips together in a blistering kiss. Fueled by lust,

adrenaline, and relief, Nick‘s body slammed his conscious mind into

idle and took control. He grabbed Logan by the lapels and pushed back,

ramming their tangled bodies into the wall while shoving his tongue

into Logan‘s molten mouth.

The two men‘s sweaty, grease-stained bodies clung together as