Something Like Lightning (2 page)

That was the deal with his parents. Get good grades and he was free to do whatever he wished. No curfews, no tedious rules—just one responsibility that he was expected to uphold. The same work ethic was shared by his parents.

Doug the plumber and Laisha the bankruptcy lawyer. An odd combination, but his parents shared one thing in common: Both worked their asses off. They did so with the weekend in mind. Every Friday evening, their cell phones were turned off and remained that way until Monday morning, regardless of emergencies. His mother had an assistant to deal with such occurrences, and his father usually had a reliable apprentice or two. The focus of the weekend was spending time together.

This began with a night out on Fridays. Kelly and his younger brother Royal weren’t obligated to join in, but with their parents in high spirits and feeling generous, neither liked to miss out. Last night had been okay. They went to the cinema and watched Captain Jack Sparrow swagger around the screen, but all Kelly could think about was how much Jared gushed about the movie when he had seen it during the summer. He had gone with a neighbor girl, referring to her as a date before they actually went. Afterwards Jared had only talked about the movie, never mentioning the girl. Kelly had felt relieved by that. Encouraged even.

“Your aunt called,” Laisha said. “She wants to know what you want for your birthday.”

“Money,” Kelly answered immediately, not taking his eyes off his homework.

“You haven’t given us many ideas either,” his mother continued. “I miss those lists you’d make when you were little. Always in alphabetical order.”

“I can still do that,” Kelly replied. He thought a moment and glanced up. “Cash. Followed by gold, money, stocks, and wealth.”

“Why do you need so much money?” his father asked.

“I plan on blowing most of it on horse races. The rest will go to booze and rent boys.”

Doug paused his game and raised an eyebrow. “Rent boys?”

“Male prostitutes,” Laisha said, “and before you panic, he’s kidding.”

“I sure hope so,” Doug replied. “Gay or not, our boy is too handsome to pay for it.”

Kelly shook his head. “Awkward. Thank you, but seriously... Awkward.”

“Then tell us what you want,” his mother said.

“I’m saving up for a new camera lens. I need to buy it myself, since there are complicated technical details and compatibility issues to keep in mind.”

“Then maybe we’ll take you shopping for one,” Laisha said.

“Or how about a nice disposable camera?” his father suggested. “You use them once and drop them off at the drugstore. No fuss, no muss.”

Kelly ignored him and addressed his mother. “Telephoto lenses are expensive, but maybe we could combine my birthday and Christmas presents into one.”

“You won’t be sad, having nothing to open on one of those holidays?”

“Absolutely not,” Kelly said. “This lens is all I need. Seriously!”

Laisha nodded to his homework. “You just keep working hard and we’ll see.”

Kelly grinned at her and returned his attention to the task at hand. He felt doubly motivated now. An awesome birthday to look forward to at the end of the month, and—after a few more equations—a weekend spent with Jared. The second he was finished, he slammed the book shut, grabbed his phone, and sent a quick text message to his friend. He sat waiting for a response, watching his father lose himself in the latest 
Super Mario
game.

“I don’t get it,” Kelly said. “You work as a plumber all week. Why do you want to play one on the weekend?”

“Mario isn’t just a plumber,” his father said, continuing to hammer buttons. “He’s practically the patron saint of this family.”

“Speaking of false religions,” Kelly said, “I’m going to ‘church’ tomorrow. Jared is spending the night, so play along, okay?”

Laisha shook her head disapprovingly. “He’s your best friend. You should tell him the truth.”

“That I’m gay? You have no idea how wrong that could go.”

“And yet you came out to us,” his mother continued. “We could have kicked you out or taken you to some quack of a doctor. So much could have gone wrong, but you were brave and did the right thing anyway.” Kelly sighed. “Because I know you guys love me. The worst that happened is Dad couldn’t stop laughing.”

“I kept picturing when you were eight years old and dressed in drag for Halloween,” Doug said. “I thought there would be more of that.”

“It wasn’t drag,” Laisha said. “He wanted to be a nurse!”

“In a wig,” Kelly admitted sheepishly. “I could have been a male nurse, but no. I insisted on wearing nail polish too.”

“And lipstick.” His father fought down a smile. “So many people that night complimented me on my pretty daughter. I felt oddly proud. In fact, I haven’t felt as proud of you since. Maybe Nurse Kelly should make a comeback.” When his wife glared at him, he quickly returned his attention to his game.

“Anyway,” Kelly said, “I knew you guys would have my back. Jared doesn’t share that obligation, and school is miserable enough without broadcasting my personal life.”

“Eventually he’s going to notice,” Laisha said. “Or someone else will when they see you together. Lately it’s hard to miss.”

Before he could respond, the phone chimed. Kelly grabbed it and read the text message.

what are we doing

Kelly searched for a good idea but came up empty, so he went with the default.
The mall? on my way

Kelly pocketed the phone. As he stood, he saw his mother’s worried expression. “There’s nothing to tell. We’re just friends.”

Laisha considered him. “When I was in college, your father kept saying the same thing. He’d show up at my dorm room day after day with a bouquet of flowers, and he’d always say—”

“Flowers for my best friend,” Doug said. “You looked terrified each time. Somehow it worked though.”

“Yes, but all you needed to do was tell me the truth. Instead of flowers, I wanted to hear how you really felt about me.”

His father appeared puzzled. “But you liked the flowers, didn’t you?”

“Not as much as I liked you showing up. And I wasn’t terrified. I was excited. And nervous.”

Kelly watched his mother’s eyes shine at the memory. A little persistence and a bunch of flowers. If only it could be that easy for him, strolling up to Jared and thrusting out a bouquet of roses that communicated everything he felt. Or better yet, forget the flowers. Kelly would rather speak those three magical words. What a way to come out! No careful explanations, no awkward questions afterwards. Just the truth, spoken aloud, carrying countless implications in so few syllables.

I love you.

Jared was easily entertained. Kelly couldn’t remember ever seeing him yawn, even near bedtime. Thank goodness, because this was their third trip to the mall this month and November was still young. They strolled through stores long-familiar to them both, eyes scanning inventory that hadn’t changed since their last visit. Neither was looking to buy, so they mostly just talked.

“I can’t believe you brought that thing along,” Jared said.

“Why?” Kelly asked, reaching for the camera that hung around his neck.

“It’s so nerdy.”

“The camera is awesome.” Kelly lifted it to his face and clicked the shutter. On the display screen flashed an image of Jared looking annoyed. He’d add it to the collection. Kelly lowered the camera slightly and glanced around for inspiration. “Grab that dress and hold it up.”

Jared appeared puzzled before taking a dress off the rack. He held it away from him, looking like a bullfighter wielding a black flag covered in sequins.

“Hold it
against
you,” Kelly said.

“You’re crazy!” Jared guffawed, but did what he was told. “You’re not going to take a photo, are you?”

Contrary to his words, Jared was clearly amused by the idea. He even flipped the hanger over so it couldn’t be seen, holding the dress fabric right up to his neck. Like Kelly, he had a runner’s build, meaning he was lithe enough that the dress might actually fit him.

“Looking good,” Kelly said as he snapped a few photos. “I think we might have found this season’s top model!”

Jared jutted out his hip to appear more feminine. After a couple more photos, he reached for the camera. “Your turn.”

“Not a chance,” Kelly said, taking a step back. “My drag days are firmly behind me.”

Jared snorted. “Just as well. You know you can’t compete.”

“You’re probably right.”

One of the salesclerks gave them the evil eye, so they put the dress back, left the store, and headed out to the mall corridor. Kelly flipped through preview images on the camera as they walked. One was a close-up of Jared’s face, and for once he didn’t look annoyed. Damn that smile was gorgeous!

“Stop messing with that thing,” Jared hissed.

Kelly glanced up at him, then followed his gaze to a group of girls coming toward them. Not wanting to embarrass his friend, he slung the camera around to his side where it stood out less. Jared started strutting just as the girls were passing, his head turning to follow them. Then he pretended an invisible force was dragging him backward, like a hooked fish. After hopping on one foot a couple of times, he winked and resumed walking normally.

The girls giggled. Kelly turned away from them with a grimace. Nothing confused him more than the fairer sex. Did their giggles mean they thought Jared was stupid? Were they mocking him? Or, like Kelly, perhaps they found his antics more adorable than embarrassing.

“You’ve got to work on your moves,” Kelly said once the girls were out of earshot.

“They liked me,” Jared said, oozing confidence. “Besides, I didn’t see you trying.”

“I let the ladies come to me.” Kelly instantly hated himself for pretending. He should be brave like his mother kept insisting he was. Besides, what did he have to gain by playing straight? If Jared was interested in him, this little charade would send the wrong signal. Coming out would be more strategic. That way Jared could do the same and they could finally admit the truth to each other.

Yeah, right. Kelly sighed. He already knew the truth. Jared was straight. There wasn’t a chance in hell they could be together, but in the meantime, at least he could pretend. As long as he never gave Jared an opportunity to shoot him down, Kelly could keep dancing with his own delusions.

“Sorry, man,” Jared said, mistaking the reason for his exasperation. “I was only kidding. Besides, who am I to talk? When’s the last time I got any action?”

Kelly grinned. “When your cousin tried to kiss you.”

Jared winced. “Don’t remind me.”

They both laughed, but as they kept walking, Kelly glanced over at Jared and wondered why his friend was always single. Sure he had sort of a big nose and his forehead was often a battleground for acne, but past these imperfections, he was downright fine. If the ladies couldn’t see that, it was their loss.

“Hey, we never go in there,” Jared said, bumping against Kelly and forcing him to enter a store.

A moment later Kelly found himself surrounded by princesses, pirates, and animals wearing human expressions. Disneyland had come to Texas, or at least its gift shop had. He followed Jared, who picked up various items and made snarky comments. Kelly barely heard his words, amazed by the sheer amount of corporate propaganda stuffed into such a small space. He lifted his camera and took a few photos, feeling like a tourist at the actual theme park. When they circled back around to the entrance, a pile of stuffed animals caught his eye.

Eeyore—the eternally depressed donkey from the Winnie-the-Pooh books. As a child, Kelly had always liked him best. Unlike the other maniacally grinning characters in children’s stories, Eeyore seemed much more honest. With his big fat back turned away from the world, he seemed to say, “Prepare yourself, kid. Life sure can suck sometimes.” Here the message was loud and clear. Eeyore the stuffed animal wasn’t even allowed his individuality anymore, set among countless plush clones of himself. Adding insult to injury was the sign above him advertising seventy percent off the normal price.

“We don’t want him anymore,” Kelly said, peering through the camera’s viewfinder. “Take the miserable ass home with you.” He snapped a couple photos and was steadying himself to take another when a concerned face filled the lens.

An older man stood between them and the display, an open palm raised as if he were a celebrity trying to fend off paparazzi. “I’m sorry, but we don’t allow photos.”

Kelly lowered the camera. “Why not?”

“Company policy,” the man said, hand still poised in the air.

“It’s just a bunch of stuffed animals,” Jared replied.

“No,” the man corrected, “it’s company property.”

“What if I bought one?” Kelly asked. “Then it would be
my
property and I could take photos of it all I wanted.”

The man hesitated. “That’s correct.”

“So then why does it matter?” Kelly pressed. “If people can take photos of them at home, it’s not like there’s some big secret worth protecting. You can probably find hundreds of photos of these things on eBay right now.”

The man dropped his hand and glanced around helplessly. Then another idea must have occurred to him, because he stood up straight and sniffed. “You can’t take photos of the store,” he said. “Company policy.”

Kelly snorted. “Trying to stop your competitors from stealing your amazing marketing secrets?”

“Like putting sale items by the entrance,” Jared said. “To lure in customers.”

“Or how the cartoons playing at the back of the store get kids in the rest of the way, dragging their parents along with them.”

“Or the impulse items near the cash register,” Jared said.

Kelly nudged him playfully. “Gosh, no one has ever thought of that before!”

The man glanced between them, his face turning red. Finally he sputtered, “Do I need to call security?”

“Don’t bother,” Kelly said. “We were just leaving.”

Before they went, he took one more photo, this time of the man’s blood-flushed face.

“I had no idea how much fun that camera could be,” Jared said as they continued walking down the mall corridor. “It’s annoying when you point it at me, but I never realized it would piss other people off. Let me try!”