Something Like Summer (18 page)

Much to Ben’s amazement,
Allison’s father seemed to be listening. The anger had drained from
Mr. Cross face and he looked like he was about to cry. Ben had
obviously hit upon his worst fears.

“
I’m sorry you lost your
wife, and I can’t even begin to imagine how much that must hurt,
but you still have your daughter. She might be the only person left
in the world who still loves you. If you destroy that, who will you
be? What will be left of you then?”

Mr. Cross’s face crumpled
as his tears began to flow.

Ben made his way to the
front door, ignoring the sobbing behind him. “She’ll be home in a
few hours,” he said. “Don’t screw it up.”

A block later and the
adrenaline that had powered his confidence faded. Ben leaned
against a tree, his hands and legs shaking. Had he really just said
all that to Allison’s father? Had he made things worse or better?
The man had been crying when he left! What if he killed himself or
something? Ben second-guessed his actions all way home, sometimes
feeling proud of himself, other times feeling like he should run
back and apologize. But then, what difference would it make? In the
end, all was said and done.

* * * * *

Allison wasn’t in school
the next day, which was worrying. She had returned home yesterday,
giving Ben a short call in the evening to say that she was all
right, and that her father was upset but not at her. Ben thought
everything was going to be okay, but now a number of terrifying
scenarios were playing out in his mind. What if Mr. Cross had left
the state with her? Even worse, maybe he had killed her before
taking his own life.

As soon as he was home, Ben
called but there was no answer. He kept trying every half hour
until, a little past nine, Allison finally picked up the
phone.

“
Are you all right?” Ben
stammered.

“
Yeah.” There was a
hesitation. “Great, actually. What did you say to my
dad?”

“
Why?”

“
Well, he’s like a
different person. He apologized to me all day yesterday, and today
he took off work so we could have a father/daughter
day.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah.” Allison laughed.
“I’m even allowed to see you again!”

Ben wanted to cry in
relief. “Did he say why?”

“
Something about how
protective you are of me, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about
it. What did you say?”

Ben considered telling her
everything, but ultimately decided to give her an edited version.
He didn’t want her to think that her father’s actions were the
result of blackmail. Ben didn’t want to believe that either. He
liked to think that he had appealed to Mr. Cross’s heart and that
everything would be fine from now on. That didn’t sound very
realistic though. Ben would never be able to let his guard down
again.

__________

Chapter 12

A sea of green and red
wrapping paper threatened to consume the living room as Ben and his
sister tore into present after present, tossing paper and ribbons
carelessly away to better see what Santa had brought them. Karen
squealed over some designer purse, while Ben admired his new pocket
watch.

The watch was silver with
erratic maroon lines carved tastefully into its surface. He pressed
the button on top and the watch face swung open to reveal the time,
which was already correctly set at 6:34 a.m. This was their
tardiest Christmas yet! Usually Ben and his sister would wake their
parents and be under the tree by five.

“
You can use that watch to
get home at a decent time,” his mother teased.

Ben smiled and thanked her
before digging around for another present with his name on it. Not
that he was lacking anything. He had gotten his PlayStation, even
more games, new clothes, gift certificates, a couple of books, and
a wallet. There was still more to be opened, though. His mother
always went overboard when it came to Christmas.

Weeks of shopping and
preparation was over in half an hour. Mr. Bentley went back to bed
the second he was granted permission, and Karen scooped up her
booty in her arms, taking it back to her room like a rat returning
to its lair. Ben played the part of the good son and stayed to help
his mom clean up the mess.

“
We should probably start
recycling,” Ben suggested as he surveyed the enormous amount of
now-useless paper.

His mother didn’t hear him.
Her lips were pursed and her forehead wrinkled in thought. “Think
how much nicer it will be at home,” she said. “There’s plenty of
food and we won’t get in your way.”

Ben didn’t need her to
explain what she was talking about, since it had been the only
topic between the two of them for the better part of a week. Tim’s
parents were in the Pompanos for the holidays, leaving their son to
fend for himself. Ben didn’t know how they could do that, but he
was told this wasn’t the first Christmas they were absent
for.

“
You know why I want to go
over there,” Ben said patiently. “It’s going to be
romantic.”

“
But I still don’t see why
he can’t eat Christmas dinner with us,” his mom countered. “You two
can go back to his place in the evening and have your
time.”

Ben smiled and shook his
head. How could he truthfully tell her that being around family was
one of the biggest mood killers? As much as he loved them, it was
hard to maintain an amorous state of mind when Grandpa was telling
stories of his mall Santa days or while defending Tim from Karen’s
constant teasing. Ben’s mom might be respectful and give them their
space, but the others were oblivious to such social
graces.

“
It’s just one Christmas,”
Ben reassured her. “It’s not going to become a
tradition.”

“
There’s only one
Christmas left before you move to who knows where,” his mom pointed
out. “And what about your grandparents? They won’t get to see you
at all!”

There was no winning with
her, so in the end Ben promised to stay for Christmas dinner, which
wasn’t so hard considering it took place in the early afternoon. As
it turned out, he was glad he stayed. Aside from being there to
receive even more presents from his relatives, he also was provided
with enough leftovers to keep him and Tim fed for a week. In fact,
it was too much to carry when Tim’s present was added to the
equation, and Ben had to accept a ride from his dad just to make it
there.

Tim was in a solemn mood
when he arrived, which was no surprise considering the situation.
Ben stowed away the food before kicking the house into gear. He put
Christmas music on the stereo and sang to it while walking around
the house and turning on all the decorative lights. He added his
present to the multitude under the soulless, department store
tree.

Not that the tree wasn’t
attractive, but like all store-front trees, it lacked a certain
personal touch. There weren’t any homemade ornaments and it was
actually standing up straight. Who‘d ever heard of a straight
Christmas tree? All the lights were the same color too, and as much
as he liked blue, they lacked the multicolored gaudiness that was
expected this time of year.

The holiday cheer that Ben
was spreading like mad finally infected Tim, who regained his usual
smile. He slow danced with Ben to the mellow parts of Bing Crosby’s
song,
Happy Holiday
, and laughed as Ben did a jig to the up-tempo segment in the
middle. A plate of leftovers, which Tim devoured ravenously,
further soothed his spirits. Watching him chow down on ham and
mashed potatoes faster than even Wilford could manage was oddly
endearing.

“
You ready for some
presents?” Ben asked once he had finished.

“Oh, yeah!” Tim answered
enthusiastically.

They adjourned to the
living room where they started pulling out package after package.
All of them were for Tim, which was quite shocking. Ben had assumed
that they were for the whole family. Obviously the Wymans were
trying to compensate for leaving their son alone.

“
The haul was huge like
this last time, too,” Tim explained as he unwrapped a new stereo.
“At least it shows they feel guilty.”

The better part of an hour
passed before all of his gifts were opened, leaving only two
presents under the tree: the one from Ben and another small box
wrapped in snowflake themed wrapping paper. Tim handed this to Ben
somewhat shyly.

“
You shouldn’t have,” Ben
lied, accepting the present with curiosity. As he unwrapped it, a
wonderful scent reached his nose. He knew it was designer cologne
before he could read the label.

“
I almost bought that for
myself,” Tim explained. “The smell drives me wild, but you can
never really smell it once you spray it on yourself. It’s kind of
cool having a boyfriend that way. Now I can smell it all the
time.”

“
Oh, I like it!” Ben said
as he sprayed some on.

Tim leaned over and
inhaled, growling with pleasure. He attacked Ben, playing biting
his neck before kissing him.

“
Hey, cut it out!” Ben
laughed. “You have to open yours now!”

“
Later,” Tim
insisted.

“
No, now!” Ben pushed him
away with a smile. “We have the whole night to snuggle up and stay
warm.”

“
Yeah, right,” Tim said as
he righted himself and reached for his gift. “We could practically
go for a walk in shorts and flip-flops. Texas winters are crazy.
Don’t you ever miss the snow?”

“
Sometimes,” Ben admitted.
“We visited my uncle in Minnesota once and--” He trailed off as the
paper came off Tim’s gift. He was nervous about what he had
chosen.

There were two topics that
were forbidden with Tim. Sexuality was one. The most Ben could get
him to say was that he was bisexual, but he had only said it once
to appease Ben and put an end to a heated argument. The other taboo
subject was his painting. Tim had never openly admitted this hobby
of his and met any inquiries about it with dead silence. That made
Ben’s choice of present this year somewhat risky.

Tim examined the wooden box
full of paintbrushes. They were very expensive, the best that Ben
could afford. Tim’s face was guarded, but his eyes were impressed.
Next he looked at the four tubes of paint: red, green, white, and
ice blue.

“
Christmas colors,” Ben
explained.

Tim looked up at him, his
eyes questioning.

“
You don’t have to say
anything,” Ben said. “I just want you to know that I love the
painting you gave me and I think you are exceptionally
talented.”

He swallowed, waiting for
some reaction from Tim, who remained very still. Ben was on the
verge of apologizing when the silence broke.

“
These are
really
good,” Tim said,
holding up the brushes. “I’ll do my best with them.”

Ben gave an exaggerated
sigh of relief.

“
You are a very persistent
person, Benjamin Bentley.” Tim said. “Pretty soon I won’t have any
secrets left.”

“
You mean there’s
more?”

“
Maybe. Hey, do you want a
glass of wine?”

“
Um, okay.” Ben had never
actually had wine before. Aside from some cheap booze that tasted
like spiked Kool-Aid, he hadn’t done much drinking at
all.

They left the giant mess
behind and went into the den, where Tim chose the bottle that he
felt most certain his parents wouldn’t want him opening. He poured
two glasses, handed one to Ben and held up the other.

“
Merry fucking Christmas,”
he toasted with a broad grin.

“
Merry Christmas,” Ben
responded, taking a sip gingerly. The taste was bitter, but it
wasn’t too bad. “What?” he asked when the grin failed to diminish
on Tim’s face. “Am I holding the glass wrong or
something?”

“
No, no. I was just
thinking about something you said on your birthday.”

“
What’s that?”

“
How did you put it?” Tim
feigned deep thought. “I think you said that there was quote
‘nothing you couldn’t do that a girl couldn’t’ unquote.”

“
Yeah, so?” Ben didn’t see
where this was leading.

“
I thought we could put
that theory to the test tonight.”

Ben’s second sip of wine
almost went through his nose. He had given some thought to anal sex
before, but it honestly wasn’t something that he ever fantasized
about. Even when he had experimented by himself, it really hadn’t
done anything for him. And now Tim was suggesting they try it? For
the first time Ben wasn’t leading the bull by the horns. That
wouldn’t do at all.

“
All right,” Ben said.
“I’ll fuck you. Bend over.”

“
What? That’s not what I
meant!”

“
Sure it is! Don’t be
shy,” Ben taunted. “I promise not to hurt you!”

“
We’ll see who gets
fucked,” Tim threatened. He set his wine glass down and launched
himself at Ben, who almost spilled his drink all over the
carpet.