The City of Rossford

“STOP,” CHAY WHISPERED. “Just a moment.”

Sheridan sat naked on the edge of the bed, his body white in the darkness and his tee shirt raised above his head.

As he lowered his arms he said, “They’ll be here in a moment.”

“I know,” Chay leaned up on the side of the bed. He touched Sheridan’s hip. His hand went a little up his side.

“I just wanted to touch you is all. You know?”

Sheridan looked down at him. He kept up his arms which were still in his tee shirt.

“I know,” Sheridan said. He let down an arm and he touched Chay’s hair.

“Last time you just left. Well, you didn’t leave. You drove me home, and you said it would never happen again.”

“I know,” Sheridan said.

“I’m not accusing you.”

Chay sat up and he reached for his underwear. He began dressing.

“It’s just… I want to hang on to this. Because it might not happen again.”

By now Sheridan was in his underwear and tee shirt, holding his jeans. His hair was sticking up.

“What do you mean it might not happen again?”

“Well, I mean… It might not. Right?”

“I just assumed it would.”

“But Logan.”

Sheridan shook his head.

“Logan gets paid to have sex with tons of other people. I don’t know why Logan should be in the way of me and you.”

“You love him right?”

“What’s that got to do with us? You love Casey.”

“It’s only...” Chay began taking a hand through his long hair, untangling it with his fingers. “What does it make us? I thought that we would have today, and then go back to Casey. And Logan. I don’t mind if you love him. He’s my friend. But I love you.”

Sheridan had pulled back on his hoodie, and Chay reached across the bed to turn the lamp on and begin unrumpling the bed.

“Does this room smell funny?” Sheridan said, jamming his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and squirming into his still tied shoes.

“It smells funny because it’s been closed up all day. Not because of sex. I’ll go get the air freshener.”

“Listen, Chay,” Sheridan said, as Chay went to open the door.

“I’m not so good at talking like I should be. But…. Whatever we have with anyone else, I think that takes a backdoor to what we have with each other. What we always had. Don’t you?”

Chay nodded.

“I’m saying I want to keep doing this with you. Alright? Don’t think you can’t ever call me and I won’t be there. I don’t know how the rest of this will work, but we’ll work. Alright?”

Chay nodded.

Chay opened the door.

“Chay?”

Outside the hallway was dark. Sheridan’s parents weren’t home. Chay nodded.

“I’m sorry I fucked shit up. But I love you, you know that right?”

Even with today, the truth was Chay had not known. He had hoped, but he hadn’t known. He nodded though.

Sheridan followed him, shambling along to the bathroom with his hands in his pocket.

“You wanna stay together tonight?” he asked him.

“Yeah.”

“Good, I want that too.”

Downstairs there was a knock at the door the same time both of their phones went off.

“Meredith,” Sheridan said while Chay, reaching into the bathroom for the air freshener said, “Mathan.”

Mathan Alexander and Meredith Affren sat on the sofa across the coffee table from Chay and Sheridan.

“You look really, really beautiful,” Sheridan said to Meredith.

She made a face.

Sheridan shrugged. “You just do.”

“Well, what about me?” Mathan said, crossing a leg.

“Why do you think I have my legs crossed?” Sheridan said, sarcastically.

“You’re an asshole.”

“I’ve got a perpetual hard on for you, Mate.”

Chay burst out laughing at this, and then he said to Meredith, “You went to visit Kip Danley?”

She nodded.

“That must have been horrible for you.”

“It was worse for him,” she dismissed it. “But now, what do you guys want to tell us?”

“Well, that’s direct,” Sheridan said.

Meredith nodded, a little mercilessly.

Mathan bumped her shoulder with his.

“Give them time.”

“We don’t need time,” Sheridan said, suddenly. “We’ve had enough time. See, and this probably won’t surprise you too much, I’ve been really stupid. For a real long time. And… I love Chay. And that’s it really. I love him. And he loves me.”

Meredith and Mathan, slowly, looked at each other.

After a time, Sheridan said, “Well, come on guys, say something.”

“It isn’t really a surprise,” Meredith said, more to Mathan. “Is it? Why do I feel surprised, then?”

Mathan grinned and shrugged. “I sort of feel the same way.”

Sheridan grinned stupidly, grabbing his knees. But Chay did not, and Mathan noticed this.

“We have to tell them everything,” Chay said.

Sheridan blinked.

“You forgot?” Chay said in disbelief.

“Yes,” Sheridan admitted.

His face changed.

“Everything?” Meredith noticed him saying to Chay. Sheridan said it as if Chay were the one person who could make him do this. He said it the way she would say something to Mathan.

Chay nodded.

“Well,” Sheridan said, still looking at him. “Okay.”

And so Sheridan told them about working for Casey, about Chay’s affair with Casey. About Logan. This was hard. He never talked about sex with them, and he talked about Shelley and leaving her. The story was twisted and convoluted; many times he had to begin again, and part way through it Meredith said:

“I know that bitch. That’s Bryant Babcock’s niece.”

“Small world,” Mathan commented.

“Icky world,” Meredith said. She shrugged and gestured for Sheridan to continue.

He told the whole story up to where he beat the man over the head, cut him, came back and found him dead. He was shaking and going white and Chay had to help him through that part. When he was finished they had been listening for an hour, and Chay was stroking Sheridan’s trembling arm.

“Well… where is he?” Mathan said after a moment’s silence. “The body, I mean?”

“We don’t know,” Sheridan spread his empty hands.

“Whaddo you mean?”

“Someone took it,” Sheridan said. “Someone helped us take it away and said don’t worry about it. Don’t tell anyone. But… we told a few people. It was okay to tell you, I think.”

“Sheridan wait,” Meredith said, a little impatiently. “Who’s the someone? Not aliens. Not fairies? Who took this man away?”

“Brendan Miller,” Sheridan said. “He helped. But… It was Fenn,” Sheridan nodded to Mathan, “and—”

“Lee,” Mathan finished.

Sheridan nodded.

Meredith was quiet. She nodded her remembering what Lee had said to them before them when they were at Fenn’s house.

“No wonder,” she murmured.

When Meredith and Mathan were leaving, they stopped and looked at their friends.

“You want us to stay here?” Mathan said.

Meredith snorted.

Chay and Sheridan looked at her.

“Of course they don’t,” she said, knowingly.

Both boys went red and she said, “But you are coming to school tomorrow, right?”

“Of course,” Chay said while she reached out to hug Sheridan.

He clapped her on the back.

“I love you, you know that?”

“I know,” Meredith said, touchily, she parted from him. She hugged Chay.

Then Meredith turned to Mathan: “You ready?”

“I’ve been ready, and needed to be asleep an hour ago.”

“Yeah,” Meredith said. “Well, I need a shower, a shit and a shave, scuse the language. So let’s go.”

And then they were gone, and Sheridan and Chay looked out the door, looked at each other, squeezed palms, and then, pleased and happy, turned out the porch light, and prepared for bed.

Chad came home late that night. He was afraid to show up at all. He hoped that, somehow, this day and the discovery of what he had done would be gone when he got back. How had Bryant known? But how had he not known? They had been together so long, and really, Bryant knew everything. The better question, Chad told himself, was how had he thought an affair was a good idea?

It was a terrible idea. It was an awful idea. How could he have ever thought it would work? The mistake, once done, how could he dream of repeating it? What was in his head?

And so he came home, somehow believing in tiptoeing, believing in not being heard. He was in mortal fear of Bryant now, more than he had ever been. Certainly more than when Bryant had been his teacher.

He was walking around the apartment a while before he realized Bryant wasn’t there, and then, suddenly, he was in a rush to find him. He went from room to room as if, somehow, he could misplace or walk past a six foot, one hundred eighty pound man. There was no Bryant. He went to the bedroom opening the closets, peering behind the drawers even. And then he sighed.

He did not want to call anyone. He could not bring himself to call anyone. He just sat down on the edge of the bed, and then he sighed. Chad was there until he was nearly ready to fall asleep. He changed into shorts and tee shirt and turned back the bed. There, under his pillow, was the note.

From the sofa in Sean Babcock’s small apartment, Bryant said, “Thanks again.”

“No problem,” Sean told him. “We’re brothers, right?”

“I can’t believe Chad would do that,” Shelley sat in the chair across from Bryant. “You better talk to him.”

“I can’t talk to him,” Bryant said. “I need to be here right now.”

Shelley looked to Sean.

“Uncle Bryant needs us. We need to support him. Well, I mean, he needs you, Sean.” Shelley stood up. “He’ll have to need me later.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sean and Bryant demanded together, and then looked at each other.

“It means I have a little date tonight,” Shelley said with mild excitement.

“At ten o’ clock?”

“It’s not quite ten,” Shelley said to Bryant. “Besides, I’m grown. Matty doesn’t go to work tomorrow.”

“His name is Matty?” Sean said.

“His name is Matthew. He’s kind of a good old boy, but not really. From East Carmel. He says it’s a nice place. I might even go there.”

“East Carmel?” Bryant and Sean said together, but while Sean said it in a snobbish tone, Bryant said it cautiously, and added, “Does Matthew have a last name?”

“Anderson.”

“Christ,” Bryant muttered.

They looked at him.

Bryant shook his head. “Nevermind.”

“It better not mean he’s a killer or anything,” Shelley said. “For Chrissake, my last boyfriend turned out to be gay.”

“Your last boyfriend turned out to be a juvenile,” Sean reminded her.

Bryant dismissed this and told Shelley, “No. Matty’s not… There’s nothing wrong with him. But if I’m right… what’s he look like?”

“Redhead. Marmalade, I guess. Says he has a sister in town.”

“Goddamn!” Bryant groaned.

“Now, you’ve got me curious,” Shelley said.

“No,” Bryant shook his head, frustrated. “No, it’s nothing. It’s just… It all makes sense. It’s everything coming back on me. Have a good night, Shel.”

Shelley nodded, but as she left she called, “Sean? A word with you.”

Sean Babcock came outside into the hallway with his niece and shut the door.

“Alright? Do you really not want Bryant here so bad?”

“Whaddo you mean?”

“Because I’ll be glad to put him up in my dorm room if you really don’t want him. And you look like you don’t.”

“No,” Sean said. “He’s my brother. Of course I want him. He’d do the same thing for both of us. You know that.”

“I know,” Shelley said, twisting her purse around her shoulder. “I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

Sean nodded. “It’s just… complicated.”

“Is there some shit you’re not telling me?” Shelley said.

Sean said, “Yes.”

“And you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

Sean said, “No.”

Shelley Latham nodded.

Shelley Latham left the apartment her uncles were sharing, very confused.