Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 16:00:53 -0700 (PDT) From: c.e. jordan Subject: The Village Boy 4 The Village Boy 4 Copyright c.e. jordan Eliza was beginning to appear fluttery and vague again, it seemed she couldn't decide whether to toss the remaining pizza into the garbage or put it into their little refrigerator. Jer took it from her hands and put it in the `fridge. "I have to go now...but I want you to call me tomorrow Eliza, don't forget." As I rose to leave she refocused, "Yeah, I'll call you Charles, we do have a lot to discuss, don't we...." She was watching Jeremy as he came to my side and reached for my hand again. "Mom, I wanna walk with Charles to the subway........may I? ....Pleeeeze....?" "Alright, just come right back home, it's getting late." **** (to be continued) _________________________________________ The Village Boy Copyright c.e. jordan@mailandnews.com THE VILLAGE BOY - Part 4 Darkness had fallen quickly, and for awhile Jeremy and I walked along negotiating the flickering evening shadows in comfortable silence. But he stayed so close to me that we kept bumping into each other: Hip. Bump. Arm. Bump. Shoulder. Bump. Finally, I thought to myself, `to hell with what anyone thinks, this IS the Village after all' and I put an arm around his shoulder. It was a lot easier to walk together with him this way. And as his arm slipped around my waist, he looked up at me and smiled contentedly. Damn! How quickly I'd grown to love that smile. Still, my mind was in turmoil as I went over all that had happened during my unexpected visit to Jer's home. I sensed my life was about to change substantially. The rasp of metal wheels grinding against the concrete pavement broke through my thoughts and erased the quietness; out of nowhere it seemed, a teenager of about Jeremy's age, blonde curls bobbing, flew directly at us. We froze. But at the very last second before impact the kid's feet did a complex hopping movement and the skateboard he was riding on seemed to fly upward into his hands. Casually tucking the board under an arm, he stood there glaring at us without speaking. I felt Jeremy's body stiffen beside me. "Hey, Kev, uh....you going home now?" I thought Jeremy's voice wavered slightly. "Yeah. Where the heck were you man? I waited for you all afternoon at St Mark's...." The skinny boy dressed in baggy clothing seemingly two sizes bigger than he was glanced at me briefly then pretended I didn't exist. Jeremy stammered, "Kevin I....I...." But Kev interrupted, "You promised we were gonna go to the movies together...I even bought the stupid tickets." His voice rose as he repeated, louder this time, "You promised! Damn it Jer, I waited and waited for you!" The streetlight illuminated the boy's soft screwed up face. He was very angry, or maybe just doing a macho job of trying not to cry. As he came closer, the large coloured beads he wore around his neck made a small clicking sound each time he moved his head. I was feeling very uncomfortable and it seemed Jeremy had gone quite dumb. What had I gotten myself into? Kevin reached in his pocket and tossed two tiny pieces of paper at Jeremy. The movie tickets, I assumed, fluttered slowly to the ground. Jeremy tried to speak again, "Kev.....I'm sorry...." But the blonde boy had dropped his well-used skateboard with the peeling paint to the pavement. I thought he was going to jump on it and ride off, instead, he grabbed it up again and sprinted away on foot into the night, and this time I was fairly sure he was crying. Jer's face turned to me confused and upset. I just nodded. He tore out of my arms and ran off after Kevin. Even after I couldn't see him anymore, I could hear him yelling, "Kevin....Kev? Wait up..........pleeease.......Kevvvvvvy.......wait........." I stood there alone on the street-corner. I felt......I don't know what I felt. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to wait there for Jeremy to return or not. Was he even going to come back? What does this all mean? What was I even doing there? About half an hour later, after just standing around watching people pass back and forth on the street, my feet started walking again toward the subway which was now only a block or two away. It was clear to me that Kevin and Jeremy were far more than just ordinary friends. It was also obvious that if I was going to have any kind of `relationship' with Jeremy--whatever that meant--I had to allow him space to be himself......to be a kid with all the confusions and growing pains that implied. No matter what I desired, no matter how much I wanted him all to myself, I had to leave him room enough to grow and develop naturally. It didn't matter if he was going to be gay or straight. To `force' him to always be with me alone in the name of `love' would probably be...unnatural....posssessive....and in some sense, abusive. And I cared too much to ever hurt him that way. But, for the moment, that was all academic. For all I know Jeremy may have already decided to dump me in favour of his friend. I'd just had that thought, when I heard the sound of running feet behind me, "Hey Charles.......wait up..." I spun around in time for Jeremy to run up to me and fall straight into my arms. He leaned on me panting, his mouth open like a puppy, "Damn, seems like I've spent this whole night just running up and down, and up and down....geeeze......you guys are makin' me sooo crazy." I chuckled a little bit, "Sorry about that kiddo. How's Kevin?" Jer's face became serious, "Okay now.....I think. I told him you were a friend I met this afternoon, someone I hadn't seen for a long time and in the excitement I just forgot about the movie." "If I were him, I don't think that excuse would have made me feel any better." "Well, it didn't....." Jeremy hesitated and bit down on his lower lip. There was obviously something more he wanted to tell me but couldn't bring himself to say. "It's okay, Jer, I understand......about you and Kevin...." He looked at me suspiciously, "You do?" "We gotta have a long talk Jer......not now, because your mom must be wondering if you're gonna be gone all night again...." Near the subway we stopped at a small abandoned newsstand and sat together on one of the empty boxes stacked on the side between the sidewalk and the street. "I want to say one thing, don't ever think you have to get rid of your good buddies just because you're friendly with me...I saw Kevin's face, and he was really hurt that you'd forget about him so easily...." "Yeah....I know." Jer wearily slouched back against the newstand wall. "Since we moved here Kevin was always so nice to me....he's my best friend...actually, my only real friend.....I could tell him just about anything, and no matter what I do he never ever gets mad at me........uh...well, until tonight "I have a feeling that your friend was more hurt than mad at you." "Yeah....but....but......Charles, he.....he never told me before......you know, what he really felt about me....not until tonight." Jeremy's head bowed and for an instant I saw an errant spark of light catch on the thin silver loop in his left ear. His fingers were twisting together in his lap. I was reminded of his young mother's similar nervous habit. "Charles....Kevy was crying!....I felt so bad....then he said he loved me....that he's always loved me...that he couldn't stand it if I hated him," Jeremy turned his face full of shadows to me, "but I don't hate him Charles." "Did you tell him that?" "Yes." There was obviously more to this story. I hesitated, but I had to ask, "Did you tell him you loved him too?" The ensuing pause stretched out achingly long as I held my breath. Finally the answer came, "Yes." A sigh escaped my lips before I could pull it back. It was a sound of either defeat or acceptance....at the moment I simply didn't know which. o regain my attention, just as he did that night we met not so long before, he reached out and pulled my head to face him. "I told Kev I cared about him. but that there was someone else...and he said he knew, but he didn't care just as long as I could like him too." "Baby," I said, unconsciously using his mom's pet name for him, "if I love you I will love anybody who truly loves you and I promise to care for anyone you care for...it doesn't matter if it's your mother, Kevin, or anyone else...that's what it means for me...if what we have is strong enough it will not make a difference for the two of us." It took me a moment to identify the soft sniffling sound. Jer was crying. One of his long braids swung forward as he quickly checked to see if anyone was looking, then he leaned over to place his soft yielding mouth gently on mine; just before we broke the kiss, his tongue flickered out and back between my lips for a little electric charge. His teary face hovered in front of mine with an mpish grin now plastered across it. "I'm so glad I met you." "Me too baby, me too." I stood. "You have to get yourself home now, I don't want to make your mother mad at you...or me." "Okay, okay....but when are we gonna meet again......I mean when we can be alone to....um....you know......" I pretended not to know what he was talking about and asked somber faced, "Whatever do you mean child? Alone? To do what exactly?" Jeremy stared at me confused for a moment wondering if I was serious or not, but then he saw me smile and punched me hard in the arm. "Ow! You don't have to kill me baby." He giggled. We walked the few paces to the subway entrance, his hand in mine again. He squeezed it a couple of times, "Charles, you don't know how I'm going out of my mind....I feel like I'm gonna explode.....every night when I'm trying to go to sleep I remember what we did...everything...and I can't wait for more." Jer's voice was suddenly breathy, passionate, excited, and exciting. "Don't worry baby, there'll be time enough for everything....um....do you think your mom might let you spend a day with me? I've seen where you live, maybe now it is time for both of you to see my place....." His face lit up, "You mean it?" "Yeah....lemme talk to your mom again, remind her to call me tomorrow. Don't forget." "Alright, I will remind her." And as I turned to leave, I said, "You have a very nice mom Jer...I'm glad I met her." "Yeah, she's okay....I think......." His voice was soft, thoughtful, and his almond shaped eyes were downcast making them seem closed. "Jer? Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine, for you and me...and your mom, take good care of her, ok? "Okay." As I descended the stairs, I decided to tease him a little bit: "And take care of your `other' boyfriend too, give cute Kevy an extra hug for me." "Oh you.......". Jeremy looked around for something to throw at me as I ran down the steps but he couldn't find anything, "I'm gonna get you next time," he yelled. I reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up to see him still standing there sillouetted against the night sky just like the last time.....but this time around I knew I would definitely be seeing him again. "'Bye Chaaarles!" Jeremy shouted at the top of his lungs from the top of the long staircase causing the few other people going up and down the steps to turn and smile at me. I laughed, "'Bye Jeremy," I yelled back just as loud, "call me tomorrow." He was still standing there when I turned a corner deep into the station. --------to be continued-----