The City of Rossford

Part

Three

Dawn

Eight

The only Way to Keep

from Going Crazy

“SO YOU’RE LIVING WITH WILL?”

“I’m not living with Will,” Layla explained, unconvincingly. “I’m living in the house, and Will’s living in the house. It didn’t make any sense for him to keep living with his parents. So he’s more like my roommate.”

“Kenny’s my roommate,” Brendan announced, grinning and jerking a thumb at his boyfriend.

Layla gave him an inscrutable look and Dena said, “So… your boyfriend… is your roommate?”

“Exactly.”

Radha opened her mouth, and then closed it.

“What?” Layla looked at her.

“Nothing,” said Radha. “And when do classes start?”

“They start tomorrow.”

“She’s going to class with me,” Brendan said.

“But not to the law school, cause I can’t do law.” Layla specified.

“I’d like to think we’re all doing law all the time,” Brendan said, pressing his fingertips together.

Milo looked at him.

“It’s what Professor Bartridge says,” Brendan explained.

“And what does it mean?”

“It means… ”

“Here he goes,” Layla murmured.

“It means that… we’re always making laws… In little and small ways…”

“If this is the best they can do in Valpo.” Milo said, “before I commit a crime I’m going to make sure I know a Notre Dame graduate.”

“Oh, that’s harsh,” Brendan said as the door opened and Will Klasko came in.

“Well, now we’re all here,” Kenny declared, getting up and helping Will with his coat.

“How’s life at the lab?”

“It’s life,” Will shrugged. “At the lab. You know.”

“Actually no,” Brendan said. “None of us does.”

“He works late nights,” Layla said. “So he’s coming into the house when I’m going to sleep. I went to visit once. They make them where rags on their heads and shit.”

“To keep our hair out of… all the chemicals.”

“Well, you’ve got some lovely locks going on,” Milo noted. “You’re looking pretty shaggy.”

“You’re going to talk about uncut hair?” Dena looked at her husband.

“No,” Milo corrected. “I’m going to talk about Will’s shaggy hair.”

“Is it too much?” he asked generally. But after he’d spoken, he looked directly at Layla, and sat down.

“I think it’s fine,” she said, only sparing him a glance, but her hand remained in his hair.

“That’s the way it should be,” Kenny said to Brendan, and Brendan nodded sagely before noticing the time.

“I gotta go. I’m going to be late.”

He looked at Layla, “In a few days you’re going to find out just what it means to be in a hurry for Valpo.”

There was a knock, but only a very precursory knock on the door, and then it opened and Chad North came into the house, startled by everyone.

“Ey, Chad,” Brendan said, breezily. “Sorry we missed you. Kenny, you ready?”

“Yeah,” Kenny said, waving at Chad. “See you later guys.”

“You know where the food is,” Layla told Chad. “Help yourself.”

Chad stood there a moment, and then nodded and as he headed in, Will said, “How’s Rossford City High School?”

“It’s pretty—” Chad made a noise and, smiling, Dena asked, “Did he say ‘blech’ or ‘bleh’?”

“Blech,” said Milo. “Definitely ‘Blech’.”

Radha lifted a finger. “I’m… going to help Chad,” she stood up.

“Maybe you should too,” she told Layla.

“What for? He’s just getting a sandwich.”

“He might need help getting the sandwich.”

“That’s silly. He—”

“Get up!” Radha said, and went to the kitchen.

Layla, considerably chastened, joined them in the kitchen where Radha was saying, “I don’t think Chad expected Dena and Milo to be here.”

Layla wised up and said, “Is there something you want to tell us?”

“Not now,” Chad said. “I want to work my way to it.”

Radha tossed her hair out of her way and crossed her arms over her breasts asking, “Is it about Sean?”

“Of course it’s about Sean,” Chad said, irritated.

“Well,” Layla decided. “I think its time to bring in the big guns. I think its time to call in Claire and Julian.” She looked at Radha. “Maybe Paul and Noah?”

“No!” Chad moaned.

“I’m calling my brother,” Layla said. “He and Claire should be here.”

Radha handed Layla her cell phone and Layla said, “Just go sit in the living room. Dena and Milo are about to leave anyway. By the time you’re ready to unburden yourself, they’ll be gone.”

“Oh, shit,” Claire Lawden said. She looked at her husband for confirmation and said, “This is an oh shit moment, right?”

“It kind of is,” Julian said, still staring

“I wish you wouldn’t look at me that way,” Chad said. “You all are supposed to be my friends.”

“Of course we’re your friends,” Julian said. “But…”

“But you think what I’m doing is wrong.”

“And you don’t?” Julian said.

There was a knock at the door. Layla muttered a curse and got up to answer it.

“It’s just that for so long I wanted to be with him. And then on Christmas I was. I was with him that whole night—”

Chad cut himself off as Paul came into the house.

“Is that my sister? That’s my sister. I thought I saw her car. My sister with the bun in the oven, and the baker who put it there.” He winked at Julian and came toward Claire.

“Paul, I love the hell out of you,” Claire began. “But—”

Paul looked around.

“I should come back, shouldn’t I?”

Chad looked deeply uncomfortable and Paul said, “I’ll come back.”

He was walking backward toward the door. “I’m leaving. I’m leaving.”

He opened the door and backed out. “I was never here…”

And then he closed the door.

Chad resumed: “That whole night we were together, and-”

The door flew open.

“AND NOW I’M GONE.”

Claire took off her shoe to throw it at him, but the door closed.

Chad remained quiet, waiting to see if Paul really was gone and then, finally he spoke in a rushed string of words.

“And then I was with Bryant on Christmas. And it was better than ever, and…”

“And so,” Claire said, dragging this out, “you are now, currently, fucking both of the Brothers Babcock?”

Chad looked at her wiltingly.

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“It’s really no other way to put it.” Radha noted, and the look between she and Claire spoke of old best friends.

“Sean knows,” Chad said. “He knows I won’t leave Bryant.”

“Does Bryant know you’re screwing his brother?” Layla said, darkly. “Not that I can feel too sorry for him. Given the history.”

“Maybe…” Chad began, choosing to ignore about fifty percent of what Layla had just said, “If I… told it to him, he would understand.”

“What man would understand it?” Julian said.

“But maybe he should.”

They all looked at Radha.

“Look, my grandfather had four wives. And Mark… his mother’s family was Mormon. It was either his great-grandfather or his great-great… But he had six. And he loved them all. And my grandfather and Matt’s…whatever, were very religious men. I think… I think maybe we try too much to put love in a box. And why should something be sacred and right just cause it’s the way we do it in America? And,” she said looking at Chad, “for that matter, why should gay men act like straight people? It’s ridiculous to think that only one person should always be your everything. Or that you can only love one person. Maybe there’s some sense to what Chad’s saying.”

Chad looked only a very little hopeful. Layla looked put out, and she said, “Would you let Mark bring home another woman?”

“Hell, no,” Radha said, and then she reached for a chip. “But I do make a good case.”

“If only Brendan was here,” Will said. “He could take a lesson.”

Then Julian said, “Ohhhh,” and they all looked at him.

“What?” Chad said, wishing to divert attention from his situation.

“I forgot.”

Julian touched Layla’s hand. “I got big news.”

“Bigger than Chad’s foray into polygamy?”

Chad gave her a fierce look that almost made her quail.

“Yes, actually,” Julian said while Layla raised an eyebrow.

“We’ve got another sister.”