CARTER'S SHADOW
Chapter 21 - By Christopher Patrick Lydon
West was doing homework, sitting in his chair, with his feet
up staring at the screen and tapping away on the keyboard balanced across
his legs. Since all the university applications were in and acceptances had
been given, the last few months were a mere formality. But from the volume
of homework Greenwood was handing out, it seemed he was adamant about imparting
some last minute wisdom for his students to take with them on the next step
of their journeys, wherever life took them.
The measure of a man, it seemed, was a point that Greenwood
wanted them to dwell upon. It had been the theme of the year. The merchant
of Venice, it seemed, was the way he choose to drive it home.
West sat staring at the screen, at the finishing touches he
was trying to put onto his term paper. Drawing from each of the sources he
had studied that year, and trying to show what he had learned. Trying to show
that man was more than the sum of his parts, it was his actions that defined
him, not some preconceived stereotype.
His MSN, predictably, chose that moment to make its presence
known.
T-dawg says: Hey
West frowned a moment wondering who T-dawg was, before he clued
in to the fact that it was Tony and leaned forward to reply, "Hey yourself,
how's it going?"
T-dawg says: Good, just catching up on some studying, you?
"Great," West replied with a slight smile, "Just
finishing a paper."
T-dawg says: What's it on?
"The measure of a man." West replied.
T-dawg says: Six and a half inches.
West laughed shaking his head, "No, no, not the "Measurement"
of a man, the measure of a man, what makes a man a man."
T-dawg says: Oh, well my way's more interesting.
"You should change your nickname from T-dawg to Horn-dawg."
West laughed again as he leaned forward to take some notes in his spiral notebook,
continuing to work while he talked to Tony.
T-dawg says: I'm not a total horn dawg, besides I haven't even
slept with the guy I'm seeing yet.
West glanced up at the screen and smiled, "Yeah, hey you
have no problem waiting for that right? I don't want to lead you on and stuff."
T-dawg says: No, no, it's cool. I like the idea of waiting.
"Cool." West replied, "So what did you get up
to today?"
* * *
William Carter entered his house tiredly; it had been yet another
long day at the call centre, dealing with training new telemarketers in how
to use the phone systems. All of them had been literally hired that day and
thrust onto the phones at the speed of unprofessional. He hated the massive
call centre turn over that had left him scraping the barrel to put people
into seats. People with language barriers, or social barriers, or both.
Andrew followed him in, respectfully giving him the space he
needed to decompress. Walking through and stopping short when he noticed Peter
already a resident on the rug in front of the Television, visor cap turned
backwards nudging Blake sitting beside him.
Both turned to look up at him sheepishly, "Hey," Peter
said cheerfully.
"Hello mister...err Highmore." Blake said pausing
their game, some hack and slash game involving a lot of excessive violence,
the kind of game Peter tended to love.
"Hello," Andrew stated nodding and pushing his hair
back from his eyes looking mildly amused.
"What's up?" Will asked walking through into the living
room, loosening his tie and noticing Peter and his friend, "Oh they multiplied."
He commented to Andrew folding his arms, "Think I could start a Sprog
farm at this rate?" He teased.
"Hey Will, this is..." Peter began.
"Blake, yes I've met him." Will replied nodding to
the new comer to the house, "So I take it I'm cooking dinner for one
more?"
"I'll do it," Andrew said touching his arm in concern,
"You just relax."
Will glanced at Andrew's hand then up into those warm sapphire
eyes staring at him in concern before nodding, "okay." He caved
in with a smile, "Just nothing too spicy." He winced knowing that
with all the stress from work he was under the last thing he wanted was heartburn.
He followed Andrew through into the kitchen where Andrew began
to dig through the fridge tossing ingredients up onto the side. As usual there
was a lot of green in there and Will wondered what concoction Andrew was planning.
"Think it's a date?" Will asked leaning back a little
to look through the dining room into the kitchen where the two boys had resumed
their game.
"If it is we should give them some privacy," Andrew
said, leaning round to look as well.
"Yeah, we 'should'..." Will said quietly, "But..."
Will felt Andrew wrap his arms around his waist and draw him
close against him, and Will sighed as he closed his eyes feeling Andrew's
cheek against his, the coarseness of his five o'clock shadow, the rhythm of
his breathing and the light smell of cologne and leather that Andrew seemed
to carry with him everywhere.
"I could fall asleep like this." He murmured after
a moment.
"You could use a good nights sleep." Andrew observed
quietly, his lips brushing Will's ear as he spoke, "You're exhausted."
Will opened his eyes and glanced over towards the chrome toaster,
catching sight of himself in it. He looked older, the constant stresses of
his job taking their toll on him. The weight of responsibility of a thankless
job that paid the bills by taking little pieces of his soul away from him.
He sighed, "I'll eat and then go to sleep." He said
tiredly.
"If you want to go to bed now, I'll bring supper up to
you when it's ready." Andrew reassured.
"Thanks," Will said gratefully as he started off winking
to Peter before climbing the stairs to bed.
* * *
Tony stood out on the balcony of his apartment smoking a cigarette
and looking over the beautiful night skyline of Ottawa. It was one of the
few things he liked about his dingy little apartment in Lee's, the great view
of the city that it gave him.
Some kids were down playing basketball in a parking lot beneath
him, dodging about as they passed the ball from one to the other, the sound
of the ball bouncing against asphalt blending with the music coming from an
apartment below him.
He stood, resting his elbows against the concrete railing, taking
the occasional drag on his cigarette as he thought about his earlier conversation
with West.
He liked the guy, who wouldn't? The guy was tall, athletic,
handsome and intelligent. There was an almost all-American quality to West,
the kind of guy you expected to bring home the championship, to go on to father
children and own a white picket fence, coaching football on a Saturday afternoon.
Tony had never been one of those guys, he had hated school,
the fact he was in university was a quite testament to the fact that he hated
his home more and had done what he had to get out and away from there. But
there was this guy now, bright and intelligent, alluringly shy and...
Tony took another drag on the cigarette and smiled thinking
of West. Enjoying the electric thrill that ran through him at the memory of
that kiss. The silken caress of West's skin, the soft pressure of those lips,
that feeling of someone so self-restrained giving in to his emotions and getting
swept away with them.
* * *
Andrew came back downstairs with the tray, Will had fallen asleep,
before he had even had a chance to take off his clothes. Andrew had wisely
decided to just let him sleep; knowing how much Will had needed it.
The two boys were now chowing down gratefully on the stir-fry
watching some cheesy sitcom and laughing along with it. And Andrew smiled
to himself, remembering many a night curled up with Will on that very couch,
laughing...
It seemed so long since those days. Life just content to throw
its obstacles in the way, irregardless of some people desperately needing
a few seconds to catch their breaths. But Andrew smiled anyway, sure life
was tough, but all it took was to hear Will laugh and he felt better. Surprising
after so many years, but it was still the smallest things that reminded him
of how much he loved his partner.
He re-entered the kitchen, setting the plate down and scooping
up a fork. He might as well eat it, and if Will woke up hungry there was nothing
stopping Andrew from cooking up some more.
He climbed into a stool at the kitchen island and sat staring
up out of the big window overlooking the front yard, where Brody's car was
pulling up. Andrew smiled to himself, Will's roommate tramping up onto the
porch in his usual flurry of extroverted style. Banging through the door and
setting down his back pack and taking off his wool overcoat.
"Yo!" he called, looking through at Andrew sitting
at the island and nodding as he stamped through to look into the pan, "You
burning something?"
"Stir-fry." Andrew replied, "Help yourself, Will
fell asleep before he could eat it."
Brody let out a long yawn as he scooped up a bowl and heaped
a meal into it, "So I'm out today, as you do..." he stopped noticing
the four pairs of eyes in the living room and he leaned around to get a better
look, "Another one?" he inquired rolling his eyes, "All these
kids in my house..." he shook his head with a grin, "Anyway, so
I'm there today at the store and this pretty young thing came up to me, now
me I'm always the first to compliment a pretty girl...anyway before I can
get the words out of my mouth she's all like 'how you doing!'..." he
laughed, "Girl's a player and I'm thinking 'damn girl... you can take
me out anytime...'." He shook his head.
"Yeah?" Andrew asked smiling, "And did you?"
"Well I was about to, and then this little 'un came running
up all 'mommy mommy' and..."
"You ran a mile?" Andrew replied with a light smirk
and a nod.
"Hey, I'm no body's daddy!" Brody said holding up
his finger.
"You're a shallow, shallow man." Andrew replied with
a nod.
"Shallow? Me?" Brody feigned being wounded, "no,
no seriously I mean she was hot, it's just I don't want a ready made family,
if I want kids they're gonna be my own kids... ya know?"
Andrew quirked his eyebrow.
"Right," Brody said snapping his fingers, "I
need to start getting some straight friends, so they know what I be talkin'
about."
"Might help bud." Andrew nodded.
"So who's this?" Brody up nodded to the living room.
"That would be Blake, Peter's friend..." Andrew replied
following Brody's gaze towards the living room.
"Oh, right 'friend'." He added quotation marks with
his fingers, "When did my house get nominated as the dating hub of Ottawa?"
"Hello?" Lisa called sticking her head around the
front door.
"I really should learn to lock that." Brody commented
dryly under his breath. Andrew flashed him another smirk, knowing full well
Brody loved being the centre of attention.
"In here," Andrew called through, as Lisa entered
the house, taking off her coat and kicking off her shoes.
"Phew that was a long day." She remarked walking in
and sitting down across the island from them, stretching out dramatically.
"Don't any of you have homes to go to?" Brody commented
looking at the pair of them.
Andrew and Lisa glanced at each other and shrugged, "Nope."
Brody rolled his eyes again, "Well wrestling starts in
twenty minutes," he raised his voice, "And there better be room
on my couch, or I'll be pissed!"
Lisa leaned round, caught sight of Blake with Peter and she
leaned back offering a questioning gesture.
"Blake," Brody offered, "I think its lil'petey's
boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," Peter replied walking into
the kitchen to put the dishes into the sink, "And keep it down he can
hear you guys!" his cheeks were suddenly very red.
"Hey," Brody gestured with his fork, "We be talkin'
about you not too you."
Peter shook his head as he grinned and darted back towards the
living room.
"So," Lisa said trying to change the subject, "I'm
on this work computer bulletin board, and Mary Conner's from training thinks
it's a good idea to pose the question 'If you woke up and I was in bed with
you, what would be your first thought?'."
"Uh oh," Andrew commented, "I see nothing but
bad coming out of that. What did you say?"
"I didn't, I stay well away from those types of conversations."
Lisa said straightening up.
"Well," Brody said with a smile, "Is she hot?"
"Mary?" Lisa asked, "Well she's a bit older,
but yeah she's hot. Why what would you say?"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
Andrew nearly spat his stir-fry across the counter as Lisa gaped
at Brody in shock. "That's wrong on so many levels!" she accused.
* * *
"They always like that?" Blake asked quietly, they
had long since given up on the sitcom, the one unfolding in the kitchen was
much funnier to the two teenagers.
"Always." Peter replied folding his arms and shaking
his head, "It's worse when Will's around. They usually end up picking
on him."
"So these are you're friends?" Blake asked resting
his head on his hand watching Peter.
"Yeah, I've been coming to this house since I was Twelve,
Will's kind of like my big brother, he looks out for me." Peter smiles,
"It's probably less chaotic at your house."
"It's nothing like this." Blake admitted, "My
place is quiet, my Dad's usually late getting home, so its mostly me in a
big house all by myself." He flashed his toothy grin again, "So
what other secret's are you hiding McCormick?"
"I'm not hiding anything," Peter said with a shrug,
"This is about it."
"Well," Blake said ginning mischievously, "Coach
Highmore is kinda cute..."
"Ewww!" Peter screwed up his nose, "He's too
old!"
"That's right," Blake grinned, "you like younger
hockey players."
"Would you stop with that?" Peter batted Black with
a socked foot, "I am not in love with West."
"Nope, not love, but you still like him." Blake caught
Peter's foot and yanked on it, causing Peter to slid along the couch.
"I do not!" Peter said coming up co grab Blake's arms,
Blake rolling with it till the two thumped to the hardwood floor.
"When I said Wrestling," Brody said standing over
them, Andrew and Lisa standing behind him, "I meant on the TV, not in
the middle of my living room." He shook his head, "this is all Will's
fault." He sat down on the recently vacated couch and turned the channel
to the right one.
Blake chuckled as he sat up, Peter, slightly flushed, coming
up to sit beside him as they all settled down to watch.
* * *
West finished the last line of his paper, smiling to himself
as he read over it. It had taken him much of the night to put together. His
mother had brought his supper to him, which he had appreciated. She was pleased
that he was getting the work done and didn't mind the fact that he was skipping
the typical family dinner to finish up.
He saved the paper, yawning as he pushed back from the desk,
and retreating to his couch to spread out and scoop up the clicker. If he
was lucky he could catch the Daily show or something and get a good laugh
before he fell asleep.
The knock at the door, caused him to look up at it tiredly,
"Yeah?" he called as Joey poked his head around it.
"Hey," Joey nodded stepping inside and sliding the
door closed, "I'm just going to be, but I wanted to know what you thought
of Tony?"
"Great guy." West replied sitting up and straightening
his messed up hair, "I like him a lot."
"Good, 'cause he was asking if you were talking about him,
and I was wondering what I should tell him."
"He was asking about me?" West grinned in amusement,
it was a new feeling and he shook his head to try and shake the broad smile
on his face.
"Yeah," Joey said nodding, "so I did good huh?"
"Yeah," West said with a nod.
"Cool." Joey said, shifting a little, "So Friday
night you're coming to watch us skate then?"
"Am I?" West inquired.
"Tony's hoping so, he was badgering me to ask you..."
Joey smiled, "It'll be cool you should do it."
"You're okay with that?" West asked suddenly concerned,
Joey was a guy that typically liked his space, and his Friday nights were
a way from him to escape from his family, and West didn't want to intrude,
even if he was unofficially dating one of Joey's friends.
"Yeah, it's cool." Joey admitted with a nod, "Be
good to show you some real skating."
