Finding Home (4 page)

“Sweet! Let’s go,” he replied excitedly, bouncing like a little kid. “Oh, don’t forget your key either. I happen to know the owner, and she hates replacing keys.” He chuckled to himself which Dillon thought was adorable.

“Where are we going?” Dillon asked. Adam just smiled like he had a huge secret and opened the door, gesturing for Dillon to exit first. “Wait, I forgot something,” Dillon told him and hurried over to his bag. He opened it and found his money, not that he had a lot to spare, but he felt like he needed to have money on him so that Adam wouldn’t get stuck paying for him all day. Dillon grabbed a couple twenties and slipped them into his wallet before sticking his bag back under the chair where he was trying to keep it hidden.

Then he turned back to Adam with a smile. “Now I’m ready.”

*****

They walked out to Adam’s car where Dillon slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. Adam had them quickly pulling out of the parking spot and heading into morning traffic. Of course, Dillon had absolutely no idea where they were headed, so he just watched out the window. Dillon hadn’t gotten the greatest view the night before, so it was nice to actually see some of the city he now lived in.

Adam, on the other hand, was inordinately thrilled about his plans for the day, and he hoped that Dillon was going to enjoy them just as much as he knew he would.

Wow. It’s really real, isn’t it?
Dillon thought. He didn’t live in Chicago anymore, and he never had to see those people again if he didn’t want to. That was both refreshing and scary as hell, and Dillon felt like he could panic at any moment.

Adam put his hand on Dillon’s knee and squeezed, which made him aware of where he was again. “Are you okay?” he asked, concern lacing his voice. “You were breathing awfully fast and staring off into space.”

“I’m fine,” Dillon assured him. “Just thinking about reality.”

“Well, today your reality is just having fun and relaxing. It’s a celebration, dude.”

“If you say so,” Dillon retorted.

Soon they were pulling into a huge parking lot that was nearly overflowing with cars. “Where are we?” Dillon asked curiously, thinking that he really should’ve been paying attention.

Adam’s face lit up in pure delight. “We’re at the zoo, man!”

“The Henry Doorly Zoo is ranked in the top five zoos in the nation!” Adam’s excitement was contagious. Dillon grinned like a loon when he realized that Adam really had brought him to the zoo for his birthday, and he barely knew Dillon. What did that say about the type of person Adam was?

There was something about Adam that was rapidly infiltrating its way into Dillon’s heart. That school boy crush that Dillon had been determined not to start developing had started anyway. In a major way.

Adam opened his door to get out, so Dillon followed suit. It was still early enough in the day that the air had a bit of a chilly bite to it, and the wind was swirling the leaves from nearby trees into tiny whirlwinds around them. But the sun was shining brightly, making it impossible not to be in a good mood. Dillon followed Adam through the sea of cars until they got to a walkway that led up to the entrance of the zoo. Adam pulled out his wallet, and Dillon was about to interrupt with a protest of how he could pay for himself, when Adam pulled out a card and his driver’s license then handed it to the entrance attendant.

“Adam Banks,” he stated to the zoo employee. “This is my guest, Dillon Turner.”

“Thank you, Mr. Banks,” the worker replied after he scanned the card and handed it back to Adam, along with his license. “You two enjoy your day!”

“We intend to, sir; thank you!” Adam put the cards away, and they walked through a courtyard with several bronzed animal statues that had young children crawling all over them and mothers taking pictures of the activity. The entire place was bustling with people.

Dillon stopped to just take in the sights around him. There was a humongous dome to the left and several smaller buildings to the right. He glanced up at Adam who was beaming. “It’s really something, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s looks pretty cool so far,” Dillon answered him in awe. “Which way are we going?”

Adam started walking forward. “Well that depends on whether you want to do the Desert Dome or the Lied Jungle first.” Then he stopped abruptly and turned to face Dillon with a serious look. “Wait, what’s your favorite zoo animal?”
God, he’s too fucking cute.
That thought made Dillon smile.

Dillon just sort of shrugged. “The last time I was at a zoo was in the second grade for a school field trip.”

“Are you serious?” Adam’s face scrunched up again. “That’s just wrong on so many levels. The zoo is one of my favorite places to be.”

“Yeah. I remember thinking the tigers were pretty cool, though,” Dillon recalled.

“Okay, that settles it.” He smiled and led Dillon toward the big dome.

They walked into the building and were immediately assaulted by humid heat and a slightly weird smell. Adam led Dillon through the top portion of the desert-themed exhibit which actually had some really cool animals on display and was populated by some really awesome looking cacti. Yes, Dillon learned from Adam that the plural of cactus was cacti. Adam was rather well versed in his zoo knowledge and seemed to take pride in that, so Dillon was content just to follow him around and let Adam tell him all of the really interesting things he knew.

Once they were done with the top portion, Adam led Dillon down a flight of stairs to the bottom which was dark and creepy. It was all about creatures of the night and had a lot of soft light, but it was still hard to see the walkway in a lot of places. One of the rooms was built like you were in a cave with water holes in the floor that looked like it went fifty feet down and you’d be lost forever if you fell in, but Adam clued Dillon in to the secret that there was a layer of clear Plexiglass several inches from the surface to make sure no one actually fell in. There were bats flying all over and if you looked up, it went on forever with real looking stalagmites and stalactites on the floor and ceiling. It echoed loudly and there was a waterfall and everything.

Dillon felt like his face was going to break from smiling so much and that his eyes were going to be permanently widened from trying to take everything in at once. Then they came to the swamp area which was so cool. There were snakes, alligators, huge turtles, and some really unique looking fish all living together in the swamp. They had to walk across wooden bridges and stone walkways to make their way through the area. At one point, Dillon tripped over a place where the wood and cement connected, and Adam wrapped his arms around him to stop him from falling to the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asked Dillon softly in his ear as his grip around Dillon’s torso tightened and his breath wafted against the back of Dillon’s neck, causing goose bumps to erupt all over his skin.

Dillon’s heart started racing, and he wasn’t positive if it was from the near fall or from being so close to Adam, but he might’ve taken a couple extras seconds to answer so that Adam wouldn’t let go as quickly. “Yeah, I’m okay now,” he assured him and when Adam let go, he felt the loss of his touch deep inside.

Adam had wanted to stand there and keep Dillon wrapped up in his arms, but it was dark in the swamp and he didn’t want other people to run into them. He did, however, keep his hand on Dillon’s elbow the rest of the way through the darkness.

They exited the dome as soon as they could, and since Adam knew exactly where they were going, Dillon was content to just follow his lead. He led them down an incredibly steep slope which led to the cat house. Dillon was mesmerized by the power and beauty of the cats. Pacing back and forth in their cages, you could see their muscles flexing and releasing as they moved. He got as close as the fence would allow and just admired them. He’d been right about one thing, the tigers were definitely his favorite, and he didn’t even have to see the rest of the animals to know that he wasn’t going to change his mind. As they moved slowly down the outside of the fence, Dillon couldn’t stop staring at the beauty of the animals.

Adam was watching Dillon more than he was watching the animals. Seeing his face light up, and watching him become completely awe-struck, had Adam’s heart thundering in his chest. Those moments were worth it to him, and he couldn’t stop himself from capturing them permanently.

Dillon heard a click and quickly turned to see Adam holding his phone up and grinning from ear-to-ear. “What are you doing?” he asked, blush creeping across his cheeks in apparent embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, but the look on your face was just too perfect not to capture it.” Adam put his phone back in his pocket. “Plus, now I’ve got a photo I can use when we finally get you a phone.” He said it like it was just something to check off his list, and Dillon didn’t really have a say in it. Dillon would hate to be the one to break it to him that he wasn’t going to be able to afford a cell phone or a plan anytime soon, but he’d have to tell him eventually. It really made Dillon feel like crap, because he knew that would be just one more reason for Adam to look at him like a charity case.

Adam grabbed Dillon by the arm. “Come on,” he insisted as he pulled Dillon inside the cat complex. “There are some baby lion cubs in here that you are going to love!”

He was right. There were five of them, and they were seriously some of the cutest little things Dillon had ever seen. They were so tiny, yet feisty, and Adam and Dillon stood there and watched them with the small group of onlookers that had gathered. There was no way for Dillon to be sad as they oohed and aahed at the tiny cubs while they wrestled around with each other and tried to force the mama lions to get up and play. Adam pulled his phone back out and snapped several shots of them, showing each one to Dillon after he took it. He really had a knack for capturing their playfulness so candidly, and Dillon told him so.

Then he scrolled back a few photos and showed Dillon the picture he’d taken of him. Dillon’s mouth was open slightly with his face turned to the left just a bit. His hand was loosely gripping the chain link fence, and his eyes were wider than usual. To be totally honest, Dillon looked hypnotized which was how he’d felt, and Adam had captured the moment impeccably. “Wow, that’s a great shot,” Dillon praised him honestly.

“Thanks!” Adam beamed at the compliment. “Are you ready to go see some other animals now?” Dillon nodded his head and they left the cat complex together.

They visited the gorilla house next and then the orangutans. Dillon thought it was so cool to watch the monkeys as they interacted with each other and the crowds. They were extremely people friendly, and most of them sat next to the big windows and showed off for the spectators who stood with their cameras at the ready, lights flashing every few seconds. It was quite the sight for Dillon who hadn’t been in such a social situation for as long as he could remember.

After the primates, they walked around to see bears, beautiful gardens full of flowers, more statues that had children climbing all over them, and Adam took Dillon through the aviary. That was especially cool because they got to walk on a long, wooden deck while birds flew around them, completely oblivious to their presence. There were also some grey and black lemurs that were scampering around, playing with each other. They would be walking on the ledge of the deck or sometimes right in the middle of it and Adam and Dillon would have to stop and wait for them to move, as not to scare them. It was really awesome, and Dillon couldn’t believe places like that were available to the public.

“Are you hungry yet?” Adam asked as they exited the aviary. There was a concession stand in front of them, and Dillon was actually getting hungry. “Yeah, I could eat,” he answered.

They finally got to the front of the line after ten minutes of waiting. “What can I get you?” the concession employee asked them.

“I’ll take a foot long hot dog with regular chips and a Coke,” Adam told him pulling out his wallet. “What do you want, Dillon?”

“I can buy my own food,” Dillon protested. “I brought money.”

Adam got a slightly annoyed look on his face. “Please stop arguing with me. I brought you here for your birthday, so it’s my treat. Tell the man what you want.”

Dillon sighed deeply. “I’ll take a hot dog and a Coke,” he told him.

“That can’t be all you want,” Adam argued with him. “I know you’re starving, Dillon; I heard your stomach rumbling in the aviary.”

It was true. He’d planned on ordering more food than that but didn’t want Adam to pay for so much. “I’m fine with that,” Dillon told him quietly, slightly embarrassed to be having a pseudo-argument with Adam in front of a crowd people.

“Can we get his hot dog and Coke?” Adam asked the employee. “And also give us an order of meat nachos with extra salsa and sour cream and another bag of chips, please.” The employee nodded and began filling the order.

Dillon’s eyes widened. He really hoped Adam wasn’t ordering all of that food for him. “Adam…” he started to protest with a warning tone.

“Hush and let me do this,” Adam silenced him quickly. Dillon shut up and began to shut down, because he really, really didn’t like the feeling of being ordered around. Dillon zoned out, his eyes zeroing in on the glass above the window.

“Shut your mouth and get the hell out of here,” Dillon’s father yelled at an eight year old Dillon, who stood in front of him crying.

“But, I’m hungry, Daddy,” he sniffled. He hated being shouted at.

“I don’t care. Find something or starve. I’m busy.” His dad turned away and took another drink. Dillon knew he’d been dismissed. He opened the cupboard and found a half-empty box of crackers.

Dillon took them into his room and shut the door silently. He didn’t want to get yelled at again. He opened the box and bit into one of them. Stale, again. He sighed as he ate them anyway. It wasn’t like he had another option.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed that way but was brought back to reality by Adam handing him some food and asking him to carry it to a table. Dillon’s heart was pounding as he tried to shake off the horrible feeling that came with his unexpected flashback.

They sat down in black, cast-iron chairs and Adam unwrapped his hotdog, got back up, and went to the condiment station to dress it up. When he returned to the table, Dillon got up and went to put ketchup and mustard on his hot dog before joining Adam back at the table. Adam had set the nachos in the middle and was eating some of them, but he insisted that Dillon eat some too. He’d also given Dillon the other bag of chips. They ate in silence, because Dillon really had nothing to say to Adam. He was kind of upset that Adam was treating him like a child, but he didn’t want to ruin the day because it was honestly the best day Dillon had ever had.