Waterways (4 page)

Kory looked at his computer and felt a little ashamed of having it. His family didn’t have much, but they had DSL and they each had a computer. “You have a lot of brothers and sisters?”

“One older sister. She’s away at college. Two younger brothers and one younger sister.”

“Wow.”

“You?”

“One younger brother, that’s it.”

“Nice not to have to wear hand-me-downs, huh?”

Kory grinned. “I thought you said you didn’t have an older brother?” 

“My sister wore jeans. And t-shirts with flowers. I shouldn’t be telling you this, I just met you.”

Kory laughed. “It’s okay. My brother hates wearing hand-me-downs too.”

“Why, do you wear t-shirts with flowers on them?”

“Worse,” Kory said. “Dragons. Oh, I don’t think I should be telling
you
this.”

“You went through a dragon phase too?”

“Uh…”

He heard the fox’s soft chuckle. “Still kind of in it?”

“Kind of.” He looked at the dragon poster on one wall. “Do you ever play online games?”

“Not really. It’s hard with not having much computer time.”

“Oh yeah.” Great, Kory. Nice guy you are. Why not tell him how great the rich kids’ pool is while you’re at it?

“I play some games. The guys on the team play poker once in a while. My brothers and I play card games too. I used to read to ’em, but since they got older they don’t like that so much. I still read to my sister, though. She’s four. How old is your brother?”

“Thirteen,” Kory said.

“Cool,” Samaki said. “You got any homework tonight?”

“Yeah. Working on a paper for English.”

“Hey, me too. Want to hear what mine’s about?”

“Sure.” He sat at his desk and listened to the black fox talk about his English paper, and then he told Samaki what his was about, and they talked about homework for forty-five minutes.

The next night, Samaki sent him an e-mail with directions to the theater and a note: “Math homework tonight. Quadratic formulas. You any good at that?” And they spent another hour talking on the phone, letting math lead them into science and science fiction and other favorite books they shared.

On Wednesday, Sal asked him if he’d called his girl, and it took him a moment to remember what his friend was talking about. “Oh, uh, yeah, she’s busy Friday night. Sorry.”

“You going to see her Saturday? We could go out to Kern’s maybe.”

“No, she kind of, uh, blew me off. I don’t think it’s worth calling again.”

“You give up too easy. I bet if you call again, she’d go out with you.”

“Just leave it, okay?” Kory slouched in his seat.

“Tell you what,” Sal said after a moment of silence. “There’s this place I know, over by the college. College women like high school boys. I got laid a couple times there,” he added nonchalantly.

“You never told me about that.”

“You were dating Jenny. Didn’t seem like you needed it.”

“You’re dating Debbie!”

Sal shrugged. “Yeah, well, what she don’t know… so, you in? I’ll take you there.”

Kory realized that his friend was making a sacrifice, telling him about his “special place,” but he found the whole thing rather distasteful. “Nah. You know Friday and Saturday are the only nights Mom lets me play Warcraft.”

Sal gave him a long look. “So play Saturday night.”

“I can’t, I… look, there’s this group I’m supposed to go out with and… do some mission.
Planet Death
, it’s called. They’re going Friday night. I… I’ll go with you some other time, I promise.”

And fortunately, Sal lost interest at that point.

Friday night, Kory told his mother he was going out to the movies with Sal. She told him to be back by 11.

“What movie?” she wanted to know.

“Uh…” She’d never agree to
Planet Death
.

“I don’t want you seeing an R-rated movie, Kory. Even if you are seventeen.”

“I know. I’m not. We’re going to that Schwarzenotter movie,
Girlie Men
. It’s PG-13.”

Her muzzle turned down. “Isn’t there anything better playing? Well, all right. A little more Hollywood decadence won’t kill you, I guess.”

He caught the bus a few blocks away and rode to the Landmark, feeling a little giddy. He kept seeing Samaki’s jet-black muzzle and bright white smile in his mind. They’d talked on the phone every night that week, about homework and games and books and friends, and Kory was really looking forward to seeing the fox in person again, his worries about whether or not Samaki was gay pushed to the back of his mind, if not forgotten.

The black fox gave him that smile and a cheerful wave as he walked up to the theater. “Hey, you found it. I got our tickets already. How’s your head?”

“It’s fine, thanks.” He shook the fox’s paw and followed the fluffy black tail into the theater, watching the white tip bob back and forth. “How’s it going?”

“Okay.” They stopped in front of the concession stand. “Do you want popcorn?” Samaki asked.

“Sure.” Kory handed him a ten. “That cover the ticket?” “Yeah, it was eight… here.” The fox gave him a couple ones back. “You know, it’s cheaper if we get one medium instead of two smalls. If that’s okay.”

Kory grinned. “Sounds fine. But I won’t share your drink.”

He didn’t know why he’d said that, but Samaki seemed unruffled by it. “I drink Diet Coke. Most guys don’t like that.” He stepped up to the counter and placed their order.

“Ugh.” Kory stuck his tongue out as they walked away with popcorn, drinks, napkins, and straws. “I hate that aftertaste.”

“Yeah, but it’s healthier.”

“I dunno, all those chemicals?”

Samaki took his straw into his muzzle and sipped on the way to the theater. “Mramm, chemicals.”

Kory laughed and sipped his regular Coke. They settled into two seats in the theater and chatted until the theater darkened.

Kory had never been big on people who talked in movies, but the first time Samaki leaned over to whisper a comment to him, it was exactly what he’d been thinking, only funnier. He coughed around a mouthful of Coke, and whispered back, and they kept that up through the whole movie.

It was a terrible movie, and Kory couldn’t remember one he’d enjoyed more.

“Who,” Samaki said as they left the theater, laughing, “would be frightened of little chipmunks?”

“They did have bright red eyes,” Kory reminded him.

“And claws of… what was it?”

“Diamondine,” Kory giggled. “The hardest substance in the universe.”

“Still…” Samaki cocked his fingers into a gun and aimed at imaginary chipmunks on the sidewalk. “Pow! Pow! Pow! Problem solved.”

Kory chuckled. “No kidding. Man. That was awful.”

The fox stretched. “I don’t feel like going home yet. You have time to grab a shake? I know a great place.”

Kory checked. “Yeah, as long as I get on the 10:15 bus I’m cool.”

“Forty minutes? Plenty of time. Come on!” Samaki dragged him down the street into a small shopping center, walking fast along the sidewalk to a small shop with a red and white-striped awning. He held the door and bowed. “After you.”

Cool air ruffled Kory’s fur. He swung his tail in to make sure it didn’t catch in the door and breathed in the rich, sweet fragrance. Samaki led him through the small round tables to the ice cream counter, where a young goat raised a hand to wave. “Hey, Sammy,” he said, looking over Kory’s shoulder.

“Hi, Chuck,” Samaki said. “This is Kory. First time here.”

“Great!” The goat smiled. “You on the swim team?”

Kory shook his head. Samaki chuckled. “No, he can have the full milkshake.”

“Usual for you?” the goat said, already starting to scoop some ice cream into a silver milkshake cup.

“Yeah.” Samaki turned to Kory and grinned. “What flavor you want?”

“What’s a ‘full milkshake’ mean?”

“Oh, when I ran track they made me these frozen yogurt shakes. Almost as good and half the calories.” Samaki patted his stomach. “It’s hard to break the habit.”

“
Almost
as good.” The goat grinned at Kory. “You get the real thing.” He shoved the cup under the old-style milkshake machine, and the whirr of the mixer filled the room.

When it subsided, he poured the shake into a cup and set it on the counter. “So, what flavor?” he asked Kory.

“Just vanilla.”

“Malt?” Kory hesitated. “If you’ve never had it, I recommend trying it,” the goat said.

“Okay, sure.” He returned Samaki’s encouraging grin.

“My treat,” the fox said when the goat slid Kory’s shake next to his.

“I can get mine,” Kory said, but Samaki waved a paw.

“I dragged you here, I insist. You take me to one of your favorite places and you can treat.”

Kory had his wallet out, but the fox was handing a ten to the goat, saying, “Don’t take his money, Chuck,” and when the goat took the ten, Kory thought he saw a brief wink back at the fox.

They sat down, slurping the first cold mouthfuls as they went. “Wow,” Kory said. “Nice.”

“I haven’t had a malted in a while.” Samaki sucked another mouthful and then clutched his head dramatically. “Ow! Brain freeze.”

“Don’t gulp it,” Kory said. “That’s what my mom says.”

“I know, I know.”

Kory didn’t know what made him do it, but he slid his shake across the table. “Want a taste?”

Violet eyes regarded him under one raised eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t want to share your drink with me.”

“Not when it was a Diet Coke. That stuffs nasty.”

“All right,” Samaki said, and lifted his straw from his shake, tapped it reasonably dry, and opened the top of Kory’s shake to slide it inside. He took a gulp and lifted the straw out, closing his eyes. “Mmmm. That is heaven. Thanks.”

He pushed the shake back across, and then said, “Want to try mine?”

“Sure.” Kory took a taste in the same fashion. He let the frozen yogurt roll down his tongue, as sweet as the ice cream, but with an acrid flavor behind it. “You’re right,” he said.

“About what?”

“It’s
almost
as good.” Kory grinned.

He felt relaxed and loose, sitting across from the black fox in the ice cream parlor. They talked about school and friends, and he told Samaki about Sal and his string of girlfriends, and that led Samaki to ask if he was dating anyone.

“No,” Kory said. “I got dumped last weekend.” The words spilled out naturally. To his surprise, he felt only a small twinge as he spoke.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was probably for the best.”

“What do you mean?” The fox’s ears swiveled forward.

“Well, things just weren’t going anywhere. I mean, I don’t know if you’re seeing anyone or if you know what I mean, but sometimes it’s just like you stay together because you don’t know what else to do, not because you want to.”

“That sounds like the wrong reason to stay together.”

“Yeah, it probably is.” Kory sighed. “But it was easier than breaking up. Until someone else asked her to the prom.”

“You didn’t ask your girlfriend to the prom?”

“I didn’t think of it until it was too late!”

Samaki chuckled. “Then ’scuse me, but I think you did the right thing.”

Kory nodded. “I know. But it’s not easy.” He looked up at the fox. “You seeing someone?”

Samaki shook his head. “Nah.”

“Really? I’da thought the vixens would be beating down your door.”

“Why?” The fox tilted his head. Kory began to feel a little warm. He took a drink to stall.

“Well, you’re an athlete. You used to be, anyway, and you still… I mean, all the jocks in our school have women hanging around them like… like a cloud of comets or something. You never know which one is going to be coming close at any particular moment, but they’re always there.”

Samaki leaned back and laughed. “That’s great. I’ll have to remember that one. No, the track team rates pretty far down on the list. Plus, uh…” He hesitated, taking another drink of his shake.

The nagging suspicions about Samaki returned. Kory didn’t want Samaki to tell him he was gay, not now. It would ruin this nice moment. He changed the subject before Samaki put his shake down. “How long have you been coming here?”

“Oh, years. My mom and dad used to take us out here for a treat, and when I starting working, I always put aside enough for one shake a week.”

“What’s your job?”

“I help stock at the grocery store on weekends.”

“I had a summer job at my mom’s office, just doing filing and stuff. She won’t let me work during the school year, though.”

“Too bad.” By now, Kory recognized Samaki’s gentle sarcasm.

“Yeah, I… oh, no.” He’d glanced up to his right. The clock on the wall read 10:13.

Samaki pushed his shake aside. “Come on,” he said, jumping to his feet. “We can make it if we run.”

“Maybe you can,” Kory said, but he got up anyway, and waved to the goat as they ran for the door. “Nice to meet you!”

“Come back soon!” Chuck the goat said as the door swung closed behind them.

They ran together down the dark street, paws slapping the sidewalk in time. Kory, a few paces behind the fox, admired the fluid grace with which he strode, and the billowing of his tail behind him.
I bet he’d be a track star if he put his mind to it,
he said to himself. He felt clumsy and awkward by comparison, his tail a heavy weight behind him. It was very useful in swimming, but a burden to run with.

They dashed around the corner. The bus sat idling at the stop. I’ll never make it, Kory thought despairingly, but the bus stayed there as they drew closer, and closer. Then it started up with a rough cough, lurched forward, and pulled away just as Samaki reached the back corner and slapped it with a paw, yelling, “Wait! Wait!”

To no avail. The bus chugged down the street. They saw it stop two blocks down, as if taunting them to follow, but Kory was already winded. He panted hard, paws on his knees.

“I’m sorry,” Samaki said, his long tail curled under his legs. “Maybe my mom can drive you home.”

“It’s okay,” Kory puffed. “There’s…  another bus…  fifteen minutes. I’ll be a little late.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. We’re about a fifteen minute walk from here, and then it’d be about half an hour.”