Chapter 9

Wren’s dad, Officer McHenry has come to our dorm.  He doesn’t know I’m sitting in the bathroom.  He’s talking to Wren.   He’s telling him all this stuff.

One of Coin’s friends set him up.   They gave McHenry the sex tape and McHenry targeted Coin.  

But which friend?  I wish so much that Wren would ask that question but instead, he just nods.

“I think I know which one,” he says out of nowhere and just shakes his head, “It all makes sense now.  Why haven’t you come out with the true story?”

Officer McHenry shrugs, “It would still be considered a hate crime.  So instead of the blacks protesting, the fags would be.  Didn’t mean fag son…”

“Yeah,” Wren awkwardly responds, “You heard about the tape…”

“Listen, son.  I might not agree with it but you told me you were bisexual years ago.  And if you were ever gonna fuck somebody I was glad it was that....mothafucking….”

He growls something under his breath.  I can’t hear it, but it makes my blood burn a little bit seeing this guy who killed Coin so close to me.  He had so much hatred for Coin.  Coin had ruined his life forever whether he beat this case or not.  The country knew him forever as the racist white cop who innocent Coin.  

Except now since that video had come out Coin wasn’t so innocent anymore.  Fox news had a talking point.  

A conservative best friend were the gays so they could have a fucking talking point against the protests.

“Damn?” Wren looks surprised, “This is how you react when a gay sex tape comes out?   You treated me like you hated anything gay for years…”

I’m glad Wren calls him out on his shit.   It’s so goddam obvious.  When I found out Wren was gay I should have put it together that this was the reason they were estranged, to begin with.  But now he seemed almost proud of his son.

“They not the enemy now.   It’s these black lives matter people...ruining my life and the reputation of this uniform that I wear.”

“And you fucked him, right in the ass!” one of McHenry’s men shouts out.

I hadn’t even noticed them at the door from where I was.   I couldn’t see them until I hear all of them in the background listening in to this conversation and laughing at the idea of Wren fucking Coin in the ass.  

“That’s what he gets,” McHenry says, “We try to keep these streets clean and this is what we get in return.  The major of this fucking city feeding me to the jungle to save her political career.  All I’ve done for this city!”

“That’s right McHenry,” a few of them respond.

It was a circle jerk to massive proportions.   It’s so strange to me because Wren seems to ignore the subtle racist remarks that they are making.  

But then I realize his silence is only because he is thinking.  He is thinking of something that I hadn’t even thought of yet.

“Dad, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes…”

“Is that party the first time you seen that video?”

My mouth drops when he asks that question.   But then I look at Wren’s father and he just seems stone-faced.

“The hard truth is if it comes out that I knew him they could move my charges from 2nd-degree murder to 1st degree premeditated.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“I knew the face,”  McHenry says to his son, “I went through your phone one night and saw those messages.  I recognized the face in those texts.”

What the fuck?  My mouth drops. If this came out this would it would change a lot.

“Did you pull him over because you recognized him?” Wren says.

He doesn’t deny it.

He just says, “Listen.   If anything like that comes out it will be really bad.   And with this video out rumors are already circulating.  Your roommate is Coin’s lover.  He may know have something on Coin we can use in the case.  Keep an eye on him.  Report back to me if he says anything about the case…”

“OK,”  Wren says again.

What happens next is a bit strange.   Officer McHenry reaches out and hugs Wren, in a way that makes me wonder whether or not Wren lied about them being estranged.  

I feel this emptiness as I’m standing there.   It crosses my mind that there is a possibility that Wren won’t tell me about the encounter with his father.   What if he’s willing to throw me under the bus.  

What if he won’t say anything?

I feel this sense of emptiness until I see Wren pick up his phone.   Immediately when his father leaves Wren starts to dial a number.

My phone rings.

I know my phone rings because it’s still on my bed.   Now I know and Wren knows I left my phone as well.

“You were gonna call me….” I walk out of the bathroom.

I’m happy but more then anything I’m relieved.  The way Wren was agreeing to work for his father scared me.   It made me think he was really on his father’s side.

“You were in the bathroom the whole time?”  He asks.

I nod,  “I heard everything.”

He nods,  “Great.  I was wondering how I was going to explain to you that Taz turned on Coin.”

The way he says it makes me think he knows for sure that this is the case.   Honestly, it turns my stomach when I hear it.   It makes me sick knowing that Taz could do something so low down.

“Listen there is no proof it was Taz.  It could have been Pompey.  It could have been Kesean…”

“C`mon Dijon.  I know you’re cool with the guy but you know how he is…”

“Angry, bitter, dangerous?” I ask.

Wren sighs at that moment, “You making it sound all…”

“Weird huh?” I ask, “Or ignorant?   Because where you see an angry, bitter, dangerous kid, I see a low-income boy who had to hustle from the bottom to get a blessing.  To me, he’s braver, he’s more strong, he’s more loyal.   Loyalty means a lot to him.”

Wren shuts up.   I know he doesn’t want to.  He wants to argue.   But for some reason being quiet in this moment was more important to him than making his point.  I respected that about Wren.  He knew when to be strong and he knew when to let me take the lead.  

“If you’re cool with him, I’m cool with him,” he tells me.  

“We mesh so good together…” I say out of nowhere.

At that moment I’m scared I’m coming off corny or desperate praising our chemistry like this.   I think it’s corny until Wren grabs my hand wrapping his fingers inside of them and leaning forward to give me a wet, long tender tongue kiss.   We press up against one another.  His larger body always gets the better of me and somehow I end up wrapped up in him depending on him to hold my weight as our bodies intertwine.

“In more ways than one,” he states.

“Which gives me an idea.  We need to win a contest.   You need to prove to the world you aren’t some racist after what happened tonight.”

“Yeah, so what’s your idea....”

“Come to this address this weekend.  I’ll show you…”

~

It’s the weekend before I know it and I’ve come to the old warehouse.  As soon as they see Wren Pompey and Kesean immediately start to flip out.  They say they want to talk to me in private but then don’t take me far enough so I know Wren can hear almost everything they are saying.  It’s embarrassing really.

“You got a death wish bringing him here.  People in the hood are LOOKING for him…”

“He didn’t know it was Coin…”

“What?”  Pompey asks.

“Didn’t Taz tell you guys?” I ask, “I told him to tell you guys that Wren had no idea that Coin was under that mask.   It was a one night hook up.”

I’m confused on why Taz hadn’t mentioned it to the others.   That was just weird of him not to immediately call them like I asked him to.   Nonetheless, it seems like the boys are putting the information together.  

“It still looks, weird man.  I don’t

got no problems with nobody,” Kesean states, “It’s just you know Taz will bring the drama.”

“I’m thinking we can perform with him.   One night in front of the crowd and he can explain his side of the story to the media after the performance.   And who knows if he sounds good he can come on as my back up singer.”

“Back up singer?” Kesean says laughing from shock, “Really, Dijon?  What you been smoking man?”

“Just hear us out,” I plead, “Just let us sing.  We got this chemistry man...in person.  I think if we can translate that to music...it would be dope.”

I’d heard Wren’s voice.  He could sing.   We hadn’t sung together before and it makes me nervous putting myself out there on just a hunch.   Still when I look over at Wren and our eyes connect I just feel like anything we do together would just be fire.  

Surprisingly Pompey shrugs his shoulders, “It would be a big marketing tool.  We’d go viral for sure…”

“Viral?” Kesean asks, “Viral?  What about what people in the hood will think of us?  What will Taz say…”

“Taz. Taz. Taz,” I roll my eyes, “Kesean stop worrying about Taz for one second.   He’s not even here.  How many rehearsals has he missed so far?   Stop being scared of Taz…”

Somehow I knew calling Kesean out for his shit would put a stir to him.  The truth was he was terrified of Taz.  Out of all of us, Kesean just seemed to idolize everything that he does.  

“I ain’t fuckin’ scared of no Taz…” he growls at me.

“Prove it.”

Pompey breaks out into laughter but Kesean gives him a vicious look that cuts the laughter short.  I can tell I’ve really hit the spot by calling him scared.  

“Y'all better sound good.   What are we playing…”

“Latch by Sam Smith,”  Wren states walking up to me, “It’s a song I’ve had on my mind every time I think about you.”

The way he walks up on me is enough to send Kesean in a straight flipout.

“Wait so you two---wait...I’m confused.  Man, y'all trying to get Taz to shoot us all up…”

Pompey elbows him, “Just start playing---”

The music starts. I can remember the words to Latch but I forget the melody.   Which doesn’t seem to be the problem because surprisingly Wren is taking on as lead singer out of nowhere starting the song?  His voice is smooth, cool but not Urban.   He sounds like a Jason Mraz as he starts bellowing a suburban version of the Sam Smith soulful song.

It has to be the coolest sound I’ve heard in ages.

“You lift my heart up

When the rest of me is down

You, you enchant me, even when you're not around

If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down

I'm latching on babe”

Somehow I find myself remembering the song and taking over for the next verse.   Wren’s voice overlaps mines and we are singing in an accord that our voices seem to melt into each other.  

“Now I know what I have found

I feel we're close enough

I wanna lock in your love

I think we're close enough

Could I lock in your love, baby?

Now I got you in my space

I won't let go of you

Got you shackled in my embrace

I'm latching on to  you.”

We’ve gotten close on stage.  Staring at each other makes us able to match each other’s tone.   I’m staring at his lips.  Falling for him every time I see them move.   Strumming to me.  Every word that came out his mouth felt like they were aimed directly at me.  And his stare burned a fire in my soul.  He kept me close to him paying attention to every gesture.

“Now I got you in my space

I won't let go of you

Got you shackled in my embrace

I'm latching on to you…”

The performance ends.  There are those performances that end in an eruption of applause.   Other performances end with an eruption of emotion.  These are the silent applause.  Pompey and Kesean silently approving and we all know by just a stare just how much they approved.

After a second Kesean just nods, “So yeah, we’re doing this…”

“Who put you in charge nigga?”

Just at that moment, we realize that someone has been watching us.   Across the warehouse we see Taz standing there.  There is no telling how long he’s been there but by the grimace on his face, it was clear he has been there long enough to be offended by something.

“Chill Taz…we were just trying out a new sound,” I start to address him.

He walks up to me.  It’s aggressive in a way how he gets in my face and just says, “Why the fuck you singing duets with this guy?”    

“It’s  just a song.”

“That’s not what the FUCK I asked you!”  Taz puts his finger in my face.  

“You might want to back out of his face,” Wren states.

Wren pulls me back out of Taz’s face and takes my place.  He’s showing that he's not intimidated by Taz in the least and it was nice to see someone finally doing that.  

Wren holds onto my hands from behind.  

I think his body is blocking it off but Taz notices it.  Taz stares directly at our fingers intertwined.

“What’s going on here?”  Taz asks.

Wren steps aside letting Taz see exactly what is happening.   It shocks me, even more, when Wren’s fingers tighten between mine.  He secures his grip and stares Taz down.

Taz laughs, “C`mon Dijon.  Can’t no lil’ white boy fill you up after you got this mandingo dick?  Let him know…”

He was just being disrespectful at this point.  He’s trying to get a fight out of Wren.  He’s looking for a reason.  Taz was good at provoking.  

“Trust me ain’t nothing lil’ about me,” Wren says, “You can ask my baby if you want.  Baby, is the dick good for you?”

Wren talking trash was something I don’t think anyone expected.   I think Kesean goes straight into a coughing fit.  A lot of people didn’t talk to Taz like that.   It didn’t take a fraction of that to make Taz flip out on you.   But Wren had gone all the way.  I don’t think Taz expected it.

I felt bad answering it but Taz was the one who started talking about my sex life first.

“Yes.  It’s so good…” I admit.

“We outta here.   Dijon when you get to your senses you are always welcome back in the band.   Pompey, Kesean----we out…”

I shake my head realizing how much of a dick Taz was being. He was pulling his weight.  He was making sure that he took his ball and went home.   What he doesn’t expect though is what happened next.  The members of the band don’t move.  Pompey and Kesean just keep sitting where they were initially.

Taz notices it and looks back.   I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so upset as when he turns back and realizes his boys weren’t following him.

“It’s a good sound,” Pompey says taking up for himself and Kesean.

It hits Taz that his boys aren’t giving in at this point.  Both of them seemed resolved to welcome Wren to the band after hearing us perform.

“If this boy is playing in my band then I fuckin’ quit!”  Taz warns us all.

“I play the piano, too,” Wren says.

It was another blow to Taz that causes Taz to stop in his tracks.  I can tell he’s getting angrier and angrier.  

“I’m happy you got a smart ass mouth but you should hear what niggas in the hood are saying about your racist ass.  Shit is really bout to get started now…”

“I’m sure you’d like that,” Wren responds.

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Andrew got the video somehow,” Wren explains, “Someone must have given it to him.”

It’s at that moment that I almost lose it with Wren, “Wren I told you not to bring that stuff up…”

“All I’m saying is that Coin had it and it must have been someone close to Coin to release it…”

“This white boy already poisoning you against me,” Taz states, “I should beat his ass right now…”

I can tell Wren is getting offended every single time Taz says, white boy.  But that’s the thing.  He didn’t know Taz.   Not like I had gotten to know him.  Taz has this look in his eyes.  An I-told-you-so look.   He smiles at me and even when I reach out he pulls away and starts walking off.   I can almost feel the heat coming from out of his pores as he moves away from me.

“Just walk away Taz.  Please…”

“You know what.  Just because you ask me to baby.  I’ll walk away,” he surprisingly says.  

I’m surprised he calls me baby.  I watch how he looks at me.  That’s when he walks over to me and kisses me.  The kiss is strange.  It’s long, dramatic, sensual.  It was a man who had no fucks to give and had a reason to prove something.  So he slobbers me down in front of Wren and his two straight friends.

And then he turns to walk away and I’m just happy to be avoiding any issues.  But as he’s walking away Wren says, “That won’t be happening too many more times…”

I’m shocked he says that.  

And I’m more surprised when Taz swings on him.  The punch comes out of nowhere.  Or at least the attempt at a punch comes out of nowhere.   Taz misses because Wren dodges.  Taz trips over his own feet falling on his ass and there is this look of embarrassment on his face as his boys come to try to help him up.  

I’ve never seen Taz so pissed.

“Keep smiling mothafucka,” he points at Taz, “You motherfuckers think your Dad is the only person who can take a life.   You should tell Daddy now that we know who you are related to him it won’t take too long to track him down.”

“Is that a threat?” Wren asks.

“Wren you’re making things worse,” I state.

“You think I AM making things worse?” he asks, “He just threatened my fucking dad and you take his side…”

“Your dad is a murderer…” I state.

Wren looks at me.  All of a sudden it feels like the things we never talked about were bubbling up to the surface out of nowhere.  I didn’t mean to be rude but Wren was pissing me off.  Every time Taz wanted to walk away he kept picking at him.  So I was taking Taz’s side.

And by now that was becoming clear to Wren.

It’s too late before I can stop Taz he leaves.   And honestly, I’m fuming. Wren didn’t need to call Taz out like that.   It was uncalled for.

“He’s my dad....”  Wren states, “Whatever he did that was wrong...let the courts decide that.  You don’t threaten his fucking life.”

“You don’t fucking get it, man,” I state, “Maybe you should go…”

“What?  You’re telling me to leave?”

I don’t respond.

Wren shakes his head at that moment.  A part of me feels bad for being so direct with him but I just thought at that moment we were too separate.  I was too angry about what happened to Coin.  It was still so raw to me.  Wren would never understand the pain of being victimized in that way and the fact that he was protecting his father pissed me off.

I took it personally.  I loved Coin.  Coin was stolen by McHenry.  

“I’m sorry I’m not mad at Taz’s threat.  Coin threatened McHenry too.  Just verbally.  Your dad felt like that was reason enough to kill him.”

Wren grabs me.  He pulls me away from the others as best as he can and starts talking low but in just as angry of a tone.  I can tell he’s pissed.  Really pissed.  It’s not helping that Taz is smirking behind him eating all of this up.

“So fuck the trial?  He just deserves to die?” Wren asks, “What you going to help him attack someone else.  Like he did Andrew?   You can’t go attacking people Dijon.”

“Did you tell your Dad that?”  I ask, “Taz is just angry.  He won’t do anything...I said that.”

“I have always been supportive of your viewpoint.  I know that’s your friend but he’s dangerous…” Wren explains, “You know it…”

He didn’t understand Taz.

“You should go…”

“You heard what he said white boy,” Taz laughs.

Taz mocking him seemed more than Wren could handle at that moment.  He gives me a look.  A look that tells me he’s disappointed I think.  In a way, I know that this is a defining moment in our relationship but definitely not for the better.

“Yeah, I should go…”

I want to stop Wren.  It is more that it hurts to see that I’ve upset him.  We didn’t agree.  Clearly, we saw this thing in two different ways but the way he looks at me tells me that he is more hurt by me on a personal level.

For some reason, I don’t though.  I just let him walk past me and don’t reach out to stop him.  

And that’s when Taz puts his hand over my shoulder.

“See I knew I could trust you.”

“It’s not like that...it’s just…I hate McHenry.  He admitted to knowing Coin.  He pulled him over because he recognized him on Wren’s app!”

I shouldn’t be saying this to Taz.  A part of me knows the kind of person that Taz is but honestly, it pissed me off so much that  I didn’t care.  And now I was so pissed that I was at odds with Wren.  

“You can’t trust these people,” Taz states, “It’s time we did something.”

“You wasn’t serious about going after McHenry were you?” Pompey asks him.

“Shit,” he shrugs, “Maybe.  Maybe it’s time we start a revolution.  A war…”

Pompey shakes his head, “Bro you’re tripping…

Kesean shakes his head at Pompey, “Is he?  Man, you’ve been feeling it too.  It’s all in the air…”

I nod, “No doubt.”

“Dijon, stop tripping man,” Pompey tells me, “You cannot be thinking there is a war coming.”

I shrug, “I dunno about anything at this point.   They always are the ones talking about race wars on Fox news.”

“They wanted this,” Taz states, “Now they got it.   Pompey, you need to get on the right side of this.  Dijon knows something had to be done.”

“Not this…”

“ You saw how they disrespected Coin’s mother on that stage.  You saw how they wanted to portray our boy Coin as some white man’s bitch.   They were so fucking ready to release that video.  They wanted it.  They think they got the upper hand.  But I got the fucking upper hand.  There’s a war coming and they just took the bait…”

Kesean looks a little nervous when he looks at Taz, “What you talking about man?”

I’m confused as well, “What you mean by bait, Taz?”

Taz looks at me, “How do you think that racist Andrew got the video.  I went through his things.  I found it.  I was the one who leaked the video…”

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