The Prayers in Rossford

When Casey opened the door, he heard laughing and chuckling from the back of the apartment, and then the laughing grew louder and he heard James say, “The prodigal son returns.”

A moment later, James came out of the bedroom in a housecoat, grinning, and Casey said, “What are you guys up to?”

Noah came out in his tee shirt and some boxers.

“The same thing you’ve been up to, probably. My God ,what a slut!”

“Don’t laugh guys,” Casey said, going into the kitchenette and opening the fridge. “I think I met someone.”

“You’re good,” James declared.

“I feel like I know this guy,” Casey tipped the orange juice container to his mouth. “I feel like… we’ve been together. Does that make any sense?”

Noah took the orange juice from him and said, “Are you gonna tell us about this great guy?”

“Well, his name is Keith.”

“Keith?” Noah’s voice dropped the name like lead.

“Yeah…” Casey said, looking at Noah, who was putting the juice back in the fridge.

Casey continued, “Keith McDonald.”

Noah choked on the remainder of the juice, and then coughed with laughter.

“Why’s that so funny?”

“You do know him,” Noah said.

“What?”

“He uh… his part time job was the same as ours.”

“What the hell do you mean?” Casey said, offended.

“Keith McDonald,” James said, simply, “is Bick Throbbing.”

“James?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we should tell him that Keith is a priest?”

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re always one for secrecy.”

“You can reveal a secret any time you want,” he said. “But once the cat’s out the bag, you can’t really put him back.”

After James had gone to bed, Noah came out to sit with Casey.

“James finally told me how he knew you,” Noah said.

Casey looked at Noah, surprised.

“He told me about working at Hawk Eye. It surprised me, but then nothing really surprises me about him. I dunno…” Noah shrugged.

After a time, Casey said, “Is that all he told you?”

“Whaddo you mean?” said Noah. “Is there more?”

At last, Casey said, “Yes. A little. Yes.”

Noah waited for Casey to continue. Casey Williams was an extremely confident person and this quiet Casey, Casey folding his legs under himself and preparing to speak, was a strange Casey.

“You need to hear this, because it will explain a lot about James to you,” Casey said.

“See, almost as soon as he came to work at Hawk Eye I noticed him. He was nicer than other folks. Well, there are lots of nice folks. You know. He was… he was more. I guess I’m saying I was actually afraid of him. I thought he was nice, but I didn’t even think about going up and talking to him.

“Well, I had been going through some stuff and, one night, as I was leaving, James asked if I was alright. I told him the standard yadda yadda, yeah I’m fine, and left with some guy who told me what a fan he was and such and such.

“Well, we went back to my place, where I was staying. That old place on Meadow, and this guy starts beating me. He just really decides he’s gonna have his way with me. And he’s got a knife.”

Noah went cold. His face felt heavy, and then it tingled and he nodded for Casey to continue.

“And, I dunno, Noah. Maybe you’ve been through shit like this too. But I was just water. I was just like, maybe he’ll beat me, rape me, take what he wants and I just get to live. Just do what he says and live. I mean… and this is the truth, I’ve been raped before, but I lived through it. Got through it eventually. So I was ready again. You know?

“And that’s when James came. He rescued me. He took a chair leg and just got this guy in the spine. And I was so shocked, I just looked up at him and I remember he looked down and said, ‘What the fuck are looking at, boy. Get up and help me whoop his ass.’”

Noah laughed delightedly.

“See, that’s how we became friends. And how I know him. After that he always watched out for me. He was my guardian angel. And maybe sometimes, in other stuff, I was his. Cause he can be a little too trusting. But… I guess that’s why James didn’t tell you anything. That first night he stayed with me. He slept in the bed with me, and I am really sort of bad with trusting people. He let me trust him. He was just there for me. That’s why he didn’t tell you anything. He thought it was my story to tell you.”

After some thought, Noah said, “He rescued me too. A long time ago. When we were kids. And I needed to be saved.”

“He came looking for you,” Casey said. “Maybe he thought about you when he was there for me.”

“I love him,” Noah said.

Casey nodded. “You should.”

While Charlie was getting dressed, the phone rang and Nell lifted a finger, saying, “Let me get that.”

“Hello?”

“Mom,” Dena said. “It’s me.”

“Well, when you called me Mom, that tipped me off.”

“You’re cute sometimes. Anyway, Bill Affren is here, and he brought you up. He wants to see you.”

“Is his wife with him?”

Charlie looked at her, and Nell added, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Mom,” Dena said. “You ought to come. You ought to… confront him. I think he needs to be confronted.”

Dena sighed.

“Ey, Nell,” Charlie said, “ I’m gonna grab something to eat. You wanna come with me?”

Nell opened her mouth.

“Mom,” Dena said, “Come over.”

“I need to get Dena,” Nell said.

Charlie looked at her strangely, but said, “All right, then. I’ll give you a call,” tying his shoe with finality,

“Good,” Nell said, and kissed him quickly.

Charlie drove downtown, for once something troubling his mind. The truth is Charlie wasn’t one for reflection. For a brief time he had been, and it didn’t do very much for him. It took a while for him to realize that he was troubled. In fact, it took until he got to the Pub to know it. He ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke and sat at the bar and then someone said, “Is it okay if I sit next to you?”

He blinked. She was pretty, with heavy hanging dark hair, soft eyes. Like Nell’s.

“Oh, sure. I mean, yes, Of course.” He patted the stool beside him and she sat down. The man at the bar came up and asked what she wanted and she said, “Scotch on the rocks.”

“It’s Sunday,” he told her.

“So?”

Charlie said, “There’s no liquor on Sunday.”

“Oh, that’s stupid!” she said.

Charlie shrugged, “I don’t really drink.”

The bartender was still waiting, and she said, “Give me… a club soda, please.”

“Anything else?”

“Get the cheeseburger,” Charlie told her.

“Well, then the cheeseburger,” she said, closing the menu.

The bartender nodded, and Charlie said, “So you’re not from around here.”

“I’m sort of from around here. I mean, Chicago is sort of around here. Except with liquor.”

Charlie chuckled.

“I’m from Minnesota.”

“You look like Minnesota.”

“Really?” Charlie raised an eyebrow. “What’s Minnesota look like?”

She shook her head. “A lot like northern Indiana.”

“I guess so.”

“What are you doing here, then?”

“I’m a weatherman. At one of the stations in town. About two years now. You?”

“I… I’m looking for my Dad. He disappeared a while back. I ah…” she shook her head. “It’s not like we got along. Not really. But… the last time he was seen was here. That’s what a friend said. So now I’m looking for him.”

“Wow,” Charlie thought about this. “So it’s like… an investigation. You got any leads?”

“No, I’m just… kinda hoping something’ll turn up.”

The waiter came with her club soda and cheeseburger, and the woman, pushing her hair back, said, “Thanks a lot.”

Charlie remembered himself and said, “Hey, I’m Charlie by the way. Charlie Palmer.”

“Charlie, Charlie Palmer.” She smiled at him and offered her hand. “I’m Meg. Meg Callan.”

His cell phone buzzed and Casey quickly, picked it up.

“Hi,” he tried to sound light.

“Casey?”

“Keith.”

“Yes. I just called. You know? To say hello.”

“Hi.”

“I’m not interrupting anything?”

“No, silly,” Casey laughed, and then he frowned. Why do I sound so gay when I’m in love? Then he repeated the thought to himself. In love?

“I just… I didn’t know if it was too early to call or—”

“I told you, I’m one of the Reachables.”

Keith laughed and said, “I didn’t know how long you were staying—”

“Until tomorrow night.”

“Oh. I just… I wanted to know if you, I mean if we—or if you would like to see me. I mean, we could go someplace. It doesn’t have to be just a meet up in a hotel. I’d like to go someplace. But only if you want to, and—”

“I do want to,” Casey began. “But I’m having dinner with some friends tonight and—”

James snatched the phone from his hand and said, “Casey would love to go out with you.”

Casey blinked at James and then said to the phone, “I guess that means I’m free.”

“Good.”

“Where should we go? Most people like the beach. I mean, its cliché, but...”

“The beach will be fine,” said Keith. “I’ll pick you up.”

“Great,” Casey said.

Keith said, “Great.”

“Do you regret climbing this hill?”

“No,” Casey began. Then sinking to his knees with his water bottle in one hand, he confessed, “Yes!”

Keith shook his head. “It didn’t seem as high from the bottom.”

The beach came out of a woods, and this hill of sand and dirt was a border between both. From its top they could see Lake Michigan, blue grey. Gulls screamed just for the hell of it, and launched themselves into the pale blue sky of early evening.

“It seems like whenever we’re together we end up sweaty and breathing too hard,” Keith said with a bright smile.”

Casey laughed and said, “You wanna make love?”

“On this hill?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you serious?”

“Half serious. Yeah. But only half,”

Casey turned from him. “There is a motel we passed down there. It’s funny. Whenever I’m with you I just want to be with you. It’s so different from anything else. Most people it’s either I love you or I’m fucking you, but…with you.”

“I know,” Keith said, stroking his hand. “I know just what you mean.”

“I do pornos,” Casey said suddenly. “I do gay pornos and have my own website.”

Keith stopped caressing his hand. He stopped breathing. The wind started up and flapped his jacket.

“I… I think I can tell you what you’re thinking,” Casey said. “You’re thinking if you should tell me the truth or not. I told you the truth about me so you could be free to tell me about you. I know who you are.”

“Oh,” Keith sounded almost relieved. Almost.

“I didn’t know at first,” Casey said. “But I… put it together after awhile.”

“Casey Williams,” Keith said, and then he said, “Well, yeah. But I never thought that Casey Williams would be…. Casey Williams. I mean, lots of people have that name, and… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I’m sure when we were both under the influence we were in some anonymous gangbang,” Casey said. “It’s not the same as making love. So… it kind of makes sense that we didn’t totally know each other.”

“But I did know you. A little.”

“I know,” Casey said.

“And I like you. A lot.”

“I know.”

“We could stay together,” Keith said tenderly. “I think I’d like that. I’ll call back to the… I’ll call back to work and let them know I won’t be back tonight.”

They sat there a long time, until the blue sky began to turn purple and it got cold. Keith saw Casey shiver, and took off his jacket, to drape over him. Casey smiled at him.

“Case?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s one more thing?”

“Hum?”

“I’m a priest.”