CARTER'S DUTY: WILLIAM CARTER
III
Chapter 03 - By Christopher Patrick Lydon
Andrew's rolling gait kept pace with his best friend, his hands
in his pockets and a lot thoughtful expression drifted across his face. Jared
was talking about nothing as usual; sports, cars, girls and Andrew enjoyed
the fact that Jared could just get lost in a conversation.
He grinned as he caught what Jared was hinting at, "I can't
afford to buy another mustang right now." He said simply, "What
between school and everything else I can't afford to keep a car."
Jared flashed him a sympathetic look, Andrew had sold his prized
car to pay for his tuition, and the classic Mustang his father had left to
him had been sold to give him a chance at a future. That had been a sad day
for both of them, though Jared had taken it harder than Andrew had, he had
done his best to get a good price for it. Andrew sighed looking over his should
beck towards Will's house and then up at his friend.
"You okay buddy?" Jared asked in concern.
Andrew noted the look, casting one of his own and he shrugged,
"Carter's not been himself lately, I don't know..."
They were both making the trek to the local beer store for a
two-four and it had given them a chance to get out of the house and talk.
Andrew appreciated that it was Jared's way of easing the tension.
"Will gets like that at times," Jared said in understanding,
"You just have to picture him with that indignant `I'm British, you can't
say that to me,' look on his face and that silly grin he gets whenever he
is being sarcastic..."
Andrew couldn't help but smile, "But... but..." he
spluttered imitating Will's British accent, "...I don't really do that
do I?"
Both Canadian's chuckled at their friend's eccentric behaviour,
and Andrew shrugged, "I don't know, just he's broken and I don't know
how to fix him."
Jared stepped down off of the sidewalk as they crossed the street;
contemplating that, "Well look at where he works, if I had to deal with
a Human Resource department day in day out, I'd be a morose mother fucker
too."
Andrew punched Jared in the arm a light tap that said "hey
watch it, that's my boyfriend you're talking about."
Jared rubbed his tenderized arm as he looked at his old friend,
"But you see what I mean right? It's not that he's deliberately an asshole
or anything."
Andrew sighed staring about him at the rows of brown wood town
houses that made up their neighbourhood, it was quiet in the early evening,
kids playing a game of street hockey, clearing their nets out of the way of
passing cars, their parents sitting on stoops keeping an eye on their kids
sipping beer from bottles and talking amongst themselves. Andrew liked the
area; it was a place for families, a place for settling down and making a
life for themselves.
"Carter..." Andrew began.
"Why do you still call him Carter?" Jared asked suddenly,
curiosity burning in his eyes.
Andrew hesitated, as if he had never really considered something
he just did instinctively now, "I don't know," he replied honestly,
"Started in school and I just kept doing it. It suits him better than
Will does." He watched as one of the kids missed a slap shot and the
tennis ball bounced in their direction.
Jared looked thoughtful as he absently kicked the rogue tennis
ball back to the kids, who cheered in thanks at his kind gesture, "Just
it does describe him though doesn't it. How are..." he grew mildly uncomfortable,
"well you know... how's it going?"
The way Jared stressed the `it' Andrew knew he meant the relationship.
He stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded to Mrs. Twineham, the old woman
cheerily waved before returning to watering her flowers with a garden hose.
"It's going," he said resignedly, "But I don't
think Will's ever going to relax, like I said he's broken and I don't know
what its going to take to fix him, if I even can. I love him, and I think
he loves me, but you know its tough when I barely see him..."
"Yeah," Jared admitted, "Tough one, but you just
need to see the way he looks at you to know he thinks the world of you."
"And he means the world to me," Andrew admitted as
they began to cross the Beer stores parking lot. He rounded the obligatory
Police Cruiser permanently stationed there, and reached out to hold the door
open. "The problem is making him believe that."
They walked into the store, watching the long line of Sen's
fans buying beer for their victory parties, or commiseration ones. Andrew
gave Jared a look, both young men had no idea how the Sen's had fared and
it was the playoffs. It was sacrilege to miss a playoff game in Canada, but
the girls had categorically refused to watch the game on a movie night. The
argument had grown heated, until Lisa, Farah and Will had each made it very
clear that it was hockey or them. And hockey had nearly won out.
Life was hockey, everything else was a detail.
The trick was to find out the score without appearing like a
couple of guys who were whipped by their significant others. Jared gave Andrew
a determined look and leaned on the counter, "What about that penalty?"
he said a little loudly, "Man..."
Andrew picked up on it quickly; suppressing his grin, "Tell
me about it."
"I know, eh?" one of the other guys in line wearing
his Sen's jersey said as he turned, "The ref was blind."
Jared nodded sagely, "Yes, and the goal..."
The Sen's fan rolled his eyes, "They would never have scored
were it not for the power play..." He grinned, "Though we showed
them, eh?"
"Yes, we sure did," Jared said in total agreement,
agreement for what he had no clue.
Andrew turned to the cashier and placed his order for a two-four
of `Fifty' a rather noxious, if cheap brand of beer. He leaned back, into
the hockey conversation, "You think we're going to win it in six?"
he asked the fan jovially.
The fan nodded enthusiastically, "We got the split tonight,
stole home ice advantage from them, it'll be Ottawa in six."
Andrew grinned, they'd won, and set it up so that they would
win the best of seven games and that was good news. He gave Jared an applicative
look and the two paid for the two-four, and carrying it between them they
started on the return walk.
Something Jared had said was weighing on Andrew's mind and as
they each held a side of the two-four and crossed the parking lot, "What
did you mean when you said he gets like that sometimes?"
"Aw man," Jared said seeming to regret ever having
said it, "You know him better than I do..."
"Actually I don't," Andrew replied softly, regretfully,
"He's been distant lately, I think there's something going on at work
he's been staying late and coming home exhausted. I catch a ride with him
when I can, but even then..."
"Yeah," Jared said with a sigh of his own, "He's
working too hard, Will's out to prove something to himself. But that's what
happens when a person gets bumped up the ladder too fast, responsibility changes
people. He's just ... different. Like a bit of him is missing or something."
Andrew sighed; they'd had their rough patches. The odds had
been stacked against them. There was supposed to be only so long a teenaged
relationship could last before the pressures of real life tore it apart. He
remembered how much pain he had been in sitting on the train heading for his
university leaving Will behind him on the platform. Long months of separation
had nearly broken their relationship, and they had almost drifted apart. Letting
go of Will would have been the hardest thing he had ever had to do, and it
dawned on him that Will might be fading away from him, and that scared him.
"He'll be ok, he got you back didn't he?" Jared said
as if reading Andrew's thoughts, nudging his leg with the beer.
"Yeah," Andrew said with a faint ghost of a smile,
Jared had helped so much in those first few years, as if he wanted nothing
more than to make sure Will and Andrew stayed together despite all the pressure
to just give up. But that was a true friend, someone who looked out for your
interests, even when you didn't. He'd kept Andrew up to date through messengers
and Emails. Reminding Andrew to call Will, and generally being a pain in the
ass whenever he could.
Andrew blew out a sigh of regret, "I just wonder if I'm
going to get him back."
Jared nodded, "He's getting better, just don't expect too
much. Lisa... Lisa thinks he's trying to figure out what he wants from life..."
"You and Lisa have discussed this?" Andrew asked,
not sure if he should be amused or irked with them discussing his relationship
with his boyfriend.
"Yeah," Jared admitted, "we were getting worried
about him... about both of you."
Andrew nodded, "Alright well what with the wedding and
everything maybe I can show him that he doesn't have to feel so alone."
