Chapter 21
Arthur
The older woman with the gentle smile and the sparkling blue eyes breezed into the shop, my only customer on a quiet Thursday morning.
“Hi Clara,” I said warmly. “How’s my favorite customer?”
She laughed and shook her head. “You’re crazy, Arthur. I’m just here for a refill." She slid her medical card across the counter, then stretched as tall as her illness-ravaged body would allow her to. “Where’s Leo?”
“He’s back in school,” I announced proudly.
“Wow,” she said. “How’s it going?”
“It’s been nearly a month, and he’s doing so well. And he’s bringing his grades up. Volunteering really helped him.”
She nodded sagely. “Seeing how blessed we are in our own lives is the best way to appreciate how lucky we are. I’m so happy for Leo. He is a very special young man.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him you stopped by." I slid her box of medicinal-grade marijuana across the counter and when she went to open her wallet, I stopped her. “It’s on the house, Clara. You have a wonderful day.”
I came out from behind the counter and walked beside her to the door, holding it open for her and waiting there as she shuffled out and got into her new Dodge Challenger. It was cherry red, and had all the bells and whistles.
“Life is short,” Clara had told me the first time she’d rolled up to the shop in it. Her fire and her refusal to let her illness sully her good time had made me smile.
She did a quick donut in the empty lot, then waved as she peeled out of the driveway and onto the street. I waved back, shaking my head and laughing at her. She was something else.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Principal Moss. I answered on the second ring, and the smile slid off my face.
“Leo has been in a fight,” she said flatly. “I need you to come pick him up, now.”
“What happened?”
“Please come get him, Mr. Reed.”
“Is he suspended?”
“Not at this moment, but he will not be welcome at school tomorrow. I’ll see you soon." She hung up, and I hurried to lock the door. Thursdays were always dead anyway, and I’d only come in because Clara had called to make sure we were open.
My hands were shaking, and I dropped my keys more than once before I finally got the car started and raced as fast as I dared to the high school. Every possible scenario went through my mind, but I was reeling.
Leo and Eddie had been so good together the past two weeks. A few times, Leo had even ridden home with Jonas and Eddie while I worked at the store, and by the time I’d come to collect him, his homework was done and he was in such a good mood.
“What the hell happened?” I said through my clenched jaw. “They were doing so well.”
A part of me hoped that Leo had gotten in a fight with a different boy, but when I saw Jonas’s Audi pull into the parking lot ahead of me, I knew.
I parked and slunk through the lot, head down. I fully expected Jonas to already be inside, but when I looked up, he was waiting for me in front of the doors.
“Did they tell you anything?” he said.
I shook my head. “Just to come get him.”
“Same,” Jonas said.
When he reached out for my hand, I stopped and looked at him. He smiled encouragingly, hand still out. “United front, just like we learned at the seminar. We’re in this together, through thick and thin.”
My throat got tight. He took my hand while I blinked away the emotions that threatened to consume me. It was not the reaction I’d expected from Jonas. It was so much better.
We walked through the doors and saw both boys sitting in the waiting room, in opposite corners, each sporting an identical black eye. My shoulders sagged, and when I caught Leo’s eye, he turned away.
Before I could say anything, the door to the principal’s office swung open and Principal Moss stuck her head out, then crooked her finger at us. “I’d like to see you both,” she said, and my heart sank.
Would this ever get better?
Jonas
I could feel Arthur trembling, his despair evident on his face. I kept my papa bear instincts in check when I saw Eddie’s face, reminding myself that siblings often came to blows, and that Arthur and I had the tools to work through this. Leo wasn’t the only one at fault, and despite what I’d always believed, Arthur’s parenting wasn’t the problem.
At least not entirely. Arthur challenged everything I’d ever thought about parenting troubled children, and as I sat beside him in the chair and held his hand, I kept my cool about the fight. Leo was our problem, and we were going to help him together.
Principal Moss looked at our locked hands and the corner of her mouth turned up in a slight smile as she nodded. “That explains a lot,” she said as the door finished swinging shut with an audible click. “Are you two dating?”
“We are,” I said evenly. “We were before we knew that the boys were having problems.”
That earned a raised eyebrow from her. “Did they know?”
“No,” Arthur said. “We didn’t find out until we went to volunteer." He chuckled. “In fact, we’d been talking about our boys, and neither of us made the connection.”
“To be a fly on the wall,” she said, her expression less angry than I expected. She almost looked happy. She leaned against the desk and smiled.
“I’m not going to lie; I think they deserved it, but you know the policy. I have to abide by it, no matter what I think. They’re suspended tomorrow, and they can return to school Monday. As for the other boys—”
“Other boys?” Arthur and I said in unison.
“The boys who started the fight,” she clarified. “They’re also suspended until Monday, but they’ll be going into Mrs. Granger’s volunteer rehab program the entirety of next week. I’ve let Leo and Eddie know if it happens again, to see me immediately, and they will be expelled for hate speech. I don’t tolerate that here.”
“Hate speech?” I asked. “I guess I’m not following.”
“Leo and Eddie have been very open about their newfound friendship. Apparently, Ricky and Eric thought it would be a good idea to make fun of them for having gay dads who were also dating."
She smiled and leaned forward, her voice low. “I’m going to be completely honest. I hope those little jerks learned a lesson. But as I said, everyone involved in the altercation has to be disciplined, per the policy.”
Arthur and I looked at each other, then back at the principal. “You mean, they were defending us?” I said, incredulous.
She nodded.
“Wow,” Arthur said. “Is it wrong that I’m proud of them, instead of angry?”
Principal Moss shrugged. “That would make three of us."
She motioned her head toward the door. “I’d love to chat about this more, but the parents of the other two will be here soon, and I don’t want any drama. I’m sure the boys learned some of the homophobia from home, and how does the saying go?"
She smiled. “When a guy has a black eye and he says, ‘You should see the other guy.’ Let’s just say that Leo and Eddie didn’t hold back. Nothing that some ice packs won’t fix right up, but they’ll be feeling it all weekend.”
The principal saw us out, and by some unspoken agreement, the three of us gave the boys stern looks and didn’t let on that we weren’t even remotely angry. Arthur and I hurried them to the parking lot; then our eyes met over the tops of our cars, and we both smiled.
“My place for pizza?” I asked.
“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll grab some ice cream on the way.”
I got into the car, and Eddie looked at me. “Did you seriously just tell Arthur we’re having pizza and ice cream?”
“Totes.”
“Dad, don’t use slang. It’s lame.”
“Leo told me lame is practically my middle name.”
Eddie looked at me and laughed. “We’re not in trouble, are we." It was a statement, not a question.
“For standing up to bigots? No.”
“Does it matter if we threw the first punches?”
“Did you?” I asked as I drove us home.
“No,” he said. “But I wanted to. When they cornered us in the bathroom and started saying all those things—” he clenched his fists, then forced himself to unclench them. “I just saw red.”
“Why were you in the bathroom together? I thought you didn’t have classes together?”
Eddie sighed. “Leo texted me. He was having a panic attack. I went in there to calm him down.
“Ricky and Eric saw us in there, and they started calling us names and acting like we were dating because our dads are. I told them Leo is practically my brother, and that just made it worse. When Ricky hit me, I hit him back.”
I nodded, listening intently. When he was finished, I asked him a few questions before I got down to the most important issue. “How long has Leo been having panic attacks?”
Eddie blinked. “Crap. Did I say that? I’m not supposed to tell.”
“Does Arthur know?” Eddie shook his head. “We’re going to have to tell him.”
“I know. But Leo trusted me with his secret.”
“Has he been having them awhile?” He nodded. “All right, Eddie. We’ll talk more about it later.”
“Are you going to tell Arthur? Leo’s never gonna trust me again.”
“No,” I said. “Leo needs someone to confide in, and the fact that he’s chosen you is special. We’re going to do what it takes to get him help without making him feel like you betrayed his trust.”
“How are we gonna do that?”
I smiled at him and patted his leg. “Trust me. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Thanks,” he said. “We’re starting to feel like a family, and I don’t want to let that go.”
“Me too, Eddie. Me too.”