Phase 2

"Wake up," Papa says.

He walks in and he leans over to grab me.

"I'm up..."

"You have work today remember?" he reminds me, "I'm going out with Mr. Gonzalez. We're going to do some handy work for Mr. Gonzalez over at one of his restaurants."

Mr. Gonzalez was Elias's dad. He was really a big shot in our neighborhood. He'd opened up multiple restaurants and one of them included Edges for his son Elias. Mr. Gonzalez was...strict. An old school kind of guy. My father worked for him for as long as I could remember. My father was really his go-to handyman. Forever I felt like Gato's family and my family was entangled and this was just another example of that. Mr. Gonzalez was also Gato's stepfather and the relationship there was just as strained as before.

"Did you tell Mr. Gonzalez about my restaurant idea?"

"The gay one?"

"It's not gay, papa..."

"You want your food on rainbow buns..."

"The idea that I had was a Willy Wonka themed restaurant."

I had gotten the idea before. Where all the food had food coloring that made it unique and crazy colors. Purple chicken. Pink bread. Blue meat. I thought it was creative and was running it past Mr. Gonzalez but of course, I had to go through my father who just knocked it down as being gay because it was too colorful.

"Listen, he says that he wants to meet with you but you haven't done what he asked," my father states, "Mr. Gonzalez wanted you to get Gato and Elias to get along. Just yesterday Elias threatened to fire Gato..."

"Yesterday?"

The night of the party.

"Yeah. I don't know what happened at that party but it seems like it had to be a big deal. Clearly, you had a good time. I saw that girl sneaking out of your bedroom at 5 am in the morning adjusting her panties smelling sex..."

"Girl? Michelle?"

I was so hungover I didn't remember having a girl over the night before.

"No. No, it was another girl."

~

I sleep in for a little while longer getting up on my own. My head hurts. The pain is throbbing through my head and the worst part of all of this is that I definitely did have sex. I can feel it. The moistness wrapping around my dick when I looked down. My bedsheets were oozed with precum and pussy juice. I look in my phone searching for clues only to find out that it was off.

if I didn't have sex with Michelle then who the hell did I have sex with?

"GET AWAY FROM THE TV! The goddam president is resigning. I need to see this!"

Walking downstairs and seeing my sister pushing my little brother out of her face with a shrieking loud noise the night after being hungover wasn't exactly the best case scenario. The television, sure enough, has the president stepping down. I see these guys in white suits behind him as he does it. I am not as surprised as my sister. The married president coming out as gay was a huge situation. Everyone was talking about it. I avoided politics and I still couldn't get away from this story. My sister was more into politics and was eating all of this up, however. Juan Martin loves to wait until you are interested in something to bug you. My little brother can be annoying. He is throwing up gang signs in front of the tv to get on my sister's nerves and it's actually working.

I grab him by his neck, "Move your ass----I don't want to hear screaming this early."

"Early, it's 12 o'clock in the afternoon," he states.

I give him a look. The kind of look that says no matter how gangster he thinks he is and how grown he thinks he is, I can still whoop his ass. My little brother looks up to me. Maybe it's because Dad raised us like that. He's a smartass to other people, even the women in my family but luckily we can rein him in a little bit when he gets too unruly.

"Don't you got shit to do?"

He sighs, "Man whatever. Don't wanna be in this shithole anyway."

He walks away. He doesn't have an attitude. That's just how Juan Martin is. He's difficult. Really difficult.

I sit at the table.

"Where's Ma?"

"She's upstairs watching her soaps..."

"And dad?"

"Mr. Gonzalez came and got him, working on the new construction site----but JD, you should be worried about you," my sister says, "You look like shit."

"Thanks," I sigh, "Hungover."

"Was it that much fun?"

"A hot mess..."

She leans in, "What happened?"

I look around making sure that Juan Martin was gone. It wasn't that Juan Martin had was a gossiper or anything. It's the fact that he was so immature that I could see him repeating something accidentally at the wrong time or even doing it on purpose to be spiteful. I knew that Sara Sofia would never give up anything that I tell her.

"I found something out. Stumbled on it really. Something I shouldn't have. Ruined my entire night. Gato is having sex with Olivia."

"Olivia who?"

"Olivia from Edges. Engaged to Elias..."

Sara's mouth drops. I can see why. We've known Elias since we were kids. No one really liked Olivia. She wasn't a likable person. I remember when Elias told us he was getting married to her, my mother brought holy water to edges. That's the kind of person that Olivia was.

Sara Sofia shakes her head, "Oh my god. Elias is so sweet."

I nod in agreement, "Right, isn't Olivia such a fucking evil bitch to do that to him?"

"Olivia? What about Gato?" Sara asks, "That's his brother."

"Yeah but it's Gato."

The way Sara Sofia looks at me makes me cringe. It's one of those looks that tells me she's disappointed in me. Her arms cross over and her eyes dart towards mine. She definitely didn't like the idea of me sticking up for my best friend.

"You need to stop looking at Gato like he can do no wrong. He has a problem. A serious one. Who sleeps with their brother's girl?"

Maybe Gato did have a problem. I knew he was a womanizer. For the most part, I didn't think it hurt anyone. Those girls knew Gato's reputation. Everyone in Phoenix knew that Gato was the kind of guy who got what he wanted when he wanted it from the opposite sex. No questions asked. It was their fault, right? No one got hurt. Well----maybe every once in a while an angry boyfriend of one of the girls he slept with got upset and threatened us while we were out. But no one I knew was hurt. Until now.

I pause, "I'll talk to him."

"Good."

"But that's not really my problem."

"What?"

I pause, "Well after I saw what happened with Gato and Olivia I was kind of...I don't know. Turned on."

Sara Sofia leans in, "Olivia is a good looking girl..."

I pause and look away. My sister knew me. If anyone in this world knew me it would be her. Without me having to say anything and me just looking away I can hear her gasp a little bit. She knows by my reaction to her statement that I wasn't talking about Olivia.

She knows I was talking about Gato.

She starts tripping looking for words but I just cup my hands over her mouth.

"It just lasted a second. It was nothing," I state, "That wasn't even the problem. The real problem is I ended up getting drunk and having sex."

"With Michelle?"

She knows about my crush.

I shy away from the thought, "No. That's the problem. I don't remember who it was with."

Sara Sofia looks at me as though she doesn't recognize me. It wasn't like me to get drunk and have random sex. That was maybe Gato's thing. It had never been mine. Not until now.

~

I hate that I have to go back to work. I arrive and look down to read a message. The message is from Elias. He writes: HEY, DO YOU MIND COMING UP TO MY OFFICE WHEN YOU GET IN.

I know what Elias wanted to talk about. He wanted to ask me if I saw anything suspicious with Olivia. He'd send me to spy on her and honestly, before last night, I was happy to. I was happy to snitch on someone like Olivia. She wasn't good for Elias. But that had come to bite me in the ass because snitching on Olivia meant snitching on Gato and there was no way I was ever going to do that.

"Yo JD," one of the guys at work says.

I hate that I'm doing this at a time like now. I know that we are having a Cinco De Mayo celebration at Edges. It's one of Elias's big parties that he has. I walk in to see Juanita, Liza, and Devin decorating while Raisin Bran is sitting there holding his nuts not even pretending to contribute to what everyone was doing. They all look a little hungover so I'm thankful it's not just me at this moment feeling the pain. I look around and I'm glad that I don't see Elias right away. What I do see though is Olivia and she's with these guys who are setting up some sort of booth.

"What's going on over there?" I ask.

I am looking over at where Olivia was setting things up. There are these strange men in white suits. It's kind of hot out here. They don't fit in. Everyone around Edges is so laid back and chill. These guys look so uptight.

"Some new group," Devin shrugs, "Olivia brought them in."

"I've seen them before," I state, "On tv...this morning..."

I don't think it was normal for politicians to wear white suits like this. It was definitely odd.

"I've seen them before too," Liza states leaning in to say, "At the Rite Aid. They've been running tests..."

Interesting.

"Like HIV tests?"

"No," Juanita says, "Like gay tests."

"To see if you are going through the Phase," Devin adds in.

I'm kind of confused, "You shitting me."

"No shitting you," Raisin Bran adds in out of nowhere, "They take you back to their van. Show you porn and make you cum. Somehow can detect if you are going through the Phase. I did it 4 times since my shift. It's awesome. Free porn."

Juanita grunts, "Porn doesn't turn me on."

"You need the real thing huh?" Raisin Bran teases her.

They start going back and forth but I keep looking over at that table. It's just odd that these guys are testing for this gay phase thing. My heart is beating heavy.

"So what happens if you----you know have signs of going gay?" I ask.

"They take you out back and shoot you," Raisin Bran says.

I gulp.

"He's just fucking with you," Devin jumps in at that moment, "They have treatment. I don't know what it entails. None of us have tested positive for it yet. You should go and get tested. This disease is going around fast."

Disease.

Is that what it was? A disease.

That's when Liza jumps in with bugged out eyes ready to do the thing she does best, "My cousin's baby mother's aunt told me not to trust these guys. She says they are going to fuck with your brain if you go through their treatment. I also have a friend of a friend of my old coworker who says they are some crazy company out of silicone valley. You all seen the documentary about those Silicone valley people..."

"Girl, do you ever stop gossiping?" Juanita states, "JD how about if you're curious you just go find out what they do yourself. And get tested...like Devin said."

Tested.

My heart is racing. The idea of taking this test is literally making me weak to my stomach. I had a thought. It was just one thought. A wild thought about my best friend but it didn't mean anything. It couldn't have. I had sex with a girl after that. I'm not sure which girl. It hasn't hit me but I know I had sex with a girl. I just couldn't remember who.

I couldn't be gay.

So I'm walking over. Nervous but still ready to prove something. Not to anyone else. To myself. I wasn't gay. Never had a thought about a guy before yesterday. Never wanted to be with a guy. Never cared for it.

And as I get to the testing booth the white men look up at me.

"Hello."

A man with blonde hair welcomes me over. He smiles but he doesn't seem friendly. It's weird. He just seemed like he knows I'm afraid and he doesn't really care.

I'm so nervous.

Why am I sweating? Why do I feel faint? This couldn't be the first signs of the Phase right? This couldn't be the first time this is going to hit me. Right, when I'm about to start asking questions and getting tested I feel an arm grab me.

Right on time.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice states.

It's Olivia. She's giving me the most unnecessary resting bitch face expression I'd ever seen in my life. At no point did this girl look pleasant save when Gato had 11 inches of dick inside of her at the party last night.

"Hey, Olivia."

"Don't hey me. I'm not your friend. You can call me, Mrs. Gonzalez actually," Olivia states.

I want to tell Olivia that she isn't even married to Elias yet. Why would I call her Mrs. Gonzalez? I don't even call Elias Mr. Gonzalez. I call Elias's dad Mr. Gonzalez. I really wanted to ask her what made her think she deserved to be Mrs. Gonzalez based on the fact that she was cheating.

"Ma'am, did I do something wrong?" I ask.

"Elias wants to see you."

"Oh...ok."

"He always wants to see you," she states, "Always saying how cool you are. Always wanting to invite you over the house."

She is saying it in the most negative nasty way I've ever heard someone say something in my life. There is this undercurrent that I can't get over.

"Again---I'll ask, did I do something wrong?"

"Nothing," she states, "That's the thing. You've done nothing wrong. You've done nothing right either. Wonder why he thinks you're so fucking special?"

"We've been friends since----"

"I didn't want you to answer that question idiot," Olivia states, "Go upstairs. Have your little meeting with Elias and get your ass back down here and get to work before I fire you."

I wasn't surprised at Olivia acting like this. She always acted like this. I am surprised at her stressing my relationship with Elias. Elias and I have been around each other forever. We'd always had a good relationship. Why all of a sudden did she feel like she needed to question that? It was very odd and out of the blue. I shake it off though hoping that this wasn't something I'd have to deal with.

I was so ready to tell Elias just what kind of sneaky, low down, dirty bitch he was getting with.

I start walking up the steps towards Elias's office and then I stop.

Gato.

I couldn't do this to Gato.

I find myself panicking. This heat wave comes over me. I didn't lie. I hated the idea of lying. My mother used to tell me that every time you lied the devil lit a match in hell. And I could just imagine sitting there burning. The crazy religious part of me was coming out and before I know it I'm out back trying to get a breath of fresh air. It's so hard to breathe that I literally have my hands on my knees struggling to take in the air.

"Whoa, you OK?" a voice asks.

Someone is over me. I look up and I see these perfectly formed lips. I see these gentle but strong eyes. I feel these arms grabbing me, holding me up. And my heart is throbbing in a way that It hasn't in so long.

And then I realize it's just Gato.

It's the same best friend who I'd seen a million times. I panic even more realizing I reacted like that to him and push him away slightly.

"Stay back."

"Whoa----it's just me," Gato states, putting his hands up, "I just wanted to make sure you're OK."

We're out back. Not too far away I can see a truck. It must be the truck that belonged to the guys in white. The truck has the words F.A.M on it. I wonder what the F.A.M stand for.

"What are you even doing out here?" I ask, "Did you get tested?"

"With those weirdos?" he asks, "No. Hell no. Fucking Elias has me out here scrubbing the throw up from the party last night."

"He found out?"

I'm playing dumb as though I don't know that Elias was hip to it all along. I just don't want to make things weird between Elias and Gato.

"Things got bad yesterday," he states.

"How?"

"I ended up with his car," he states, "Went joy riding. It's not like I wanted it. Olivia gave me the keys. I didn't even fucking crash it. He has a ton of cars. I'm the broke one. Elias can be such a stuck up rich fucking----"

"Is that why you're sleeping with Olivia?"

I regret confronting Gato about it the moment I do. I knew this is what Sara Sofia would want me to do. She would want me to hold my best friend accountable for the shit he did. So here I am struggling to hold him accountable for this. It's not working the way that I want it though. Gato gives me that face. That face that he gives me all the time. The face that he doesn't let anyone else see. He's vulnerable at this moment.

"You know..."

"How long has it been happening?" I ask.

"A while..." he states.

"Good god Gato," I state, "You're dating Nina."

"And I like Nina. She might be the one."

I struggle with this. I struggle with trying to make Gato see simple things when it comes to normal relationships. So I lean in close. I talk to him closely.

"So why are you sleeping with Olivia?"

"She does all my stepfather's books."

I'm not surprised by that. Olivia was anal. She was ridiculously anal. I'm not surprised Mr. Gonzalez was taking full advantage of it.

I shrug, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"She always liked me. So she said if I don't give her what she wants when she wanted it----she would tell the Gonzalez family what I've been doing."

"What have you been doing?"

"Olivia found me stealing money from Mr. Gonzalez..."

"Gato what the ----"

I start walking away. I'm over it. This was beyond. I knew Gato wasn't an angel. He always had that bad streak about him. We were opposites in that way. A lot of people didn't understand why we were friends. But I thought I understood Gato. This was one thing I couldn't understand.

HE WAS STEALING.

"Please let me explain."

"NO!" I'm beyond pissed, "You're stealing money and getting blackmailed for sex by the DEVIL in a dress. And what's worse is you've hidden all this from your best friend."

I'm so pissed at him. And that's when I notice Gato do something crazy. Something he's never done with anyone in his entire life.

He begs me to stay.

"Please don't leave," Gato states, "I can't take you leaving. Not you. You're all that I have, really. I fucked up. I fucked up big time."

"Why'd you keep this from me?" I ask.

"Because I knew you would be looking at me the way you are looking at me now. You're looking at me like you're disappointed. And that hurts so much. The last thing I ever want to do is disappoint you, man. You are the only one in my corner."

I pause. I know I'm a sucker for him but Gato is emotional right now. I can see it. He's not crying. That's not the type of guy he is but I know the level of pride he has. With everyone else Gato puts on like he has no weaknesses. He puts on like he's the toughest person in the world. But with me, he has that wall down. He shows that vulnerability.

So that's why I sigh.

"I'm still in your corner. What are we going to do about this?"

That's when he reaches over and hugs me. He hugs me as tight as possible. I lean in and start smelling him. He smells so fucking good. The way he is hugging me is so intense. It's like he doesn't ever want to let me go. And I don't ever want him to let me go. I'm hugging him so fucking tightly back. I'm smelling him. My lips brush the hairs of his neck.

"You getting hard?" he asks.

I look down. Fuck I was.

"No...of course not," I lie.

I'm starting to think of anything at that moment. Kittens. Nuns. Dead kittens and dead nuns. I don't know. Anything to get me away from being hard.

He laughs though, "Just messing with you. I walk around hard half the day anyway. You know that."

I give an uneasily laugh, "Yeah you're right."

Just at that moment, a car pulls up. I notice who's car it is. It's Nina. She has a nice car. A rich person's car with some Italian name that I'd never heard of and can't pronounce. Nina waves over at him and I can see him smile.

I am about to tell him not to but he says it anyway.

"I'm out of here," he states.

"Elias is going to be pissed."

"Do I look like I care about what Elias says?" he asks.

"Clearly not," I reply, "You're fucking his girlfriend and stealing from his father. I have to figure a way to get you out of this mess."

"I'm doing it for you."

I roll my eyes.

"Yeah right."

"Seriously," he states, pulling out his phone, "What do you think the money is going to? Here look. Restaurant idea."

I look down at his phone. Gato has opened up an account titled BEST FRIEND GAY ASS RAINBOW RESTAURANT. And I see the money that he has stored in there. Money that he's stolen from his stepfather.

"You did this for me..."

I'm shocked. Gato wasn't lying. He was telling the truth.

"My stepfather kept ignoring you. I know it. I saw him push your idea off. Fuck him. You're amazing. You're brilliant. And I'm going to make your dream come true even if I have to steal from his dumb ass to do it. Even I have to fuck evil ass Olivia to do it."

"Gato...you don't have to do this."

"I do," Gato states, "You've always been in my corner. And I'll always be in yours. Even if it is a Gay ass rainbow restaurant."

"Gato..."

I'm speechless. This was the side of Gato that no one knew about but me. This was the side that I loved about him. Gato would do anything for me. Anything. No limit. He was always in my corner. He always believed in my ideas. And I was sitting here mad at him for all of this without knowing I was the motivation behind it. Every dime he'd taken from Mr. Gonzalez was because of me. And now he was letting Olivia blackmail him because of me too.

"Don't get soft on me. You already knew I'd do this for you. If I don't have your back who else will?" he asks, "Now keep an eye out. I'm leaving with Nina but I gotta run and get my car charger."

He walks away and I'm in a daze. I'm staring at Gato and I swear I feel something in my stomach as I watch him play with his hair. Why am I staring at him walk away? Why is my heart racing? What is that thing floating around my stomach over and over again? What is this feeling all inside of me?

Yes.

I needed to get tested.

I needed to get tested for the Phase ASAP.

"Hey, you..."

I turn surprised to see that Nina has gotten out of her car and come up to see me.

"Hey Nina, your boo went in to get his charger," I assure her, "He'll be back in a minute. I know he was hotping for some sort of excuse to skip out on his shift."

"I actually didn't come here to see him," she states.

"Really?"

That's when she GRABS MY DICK!

"After what you did last night, you are the only person that's on my mind," Nina tells me.

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com