7 Days in November, part 12 (Sunday)

Upstairs, Farly and TJ waited at the dinner table. Ty all but stomped up the steps from the basement and slid into her chair. Farly and TJ started to take food from the plates on the table. Ty watched, her shoulders up, and a hard, contemplative frown on her face.

“Who was on the phone?” TJ asked.

“Bryan,” Ty said. She slouched in her chair.

TJ made a small, interested noise in his throat. “What’d he want?”

“He’s pissed at his parents. They said they don’t want him here anymore.”

“Why not?”

Ty looked at TJ. “Why do you think? I guess Bourbon’s foster parents have been talking.”

“Bryan’s not coming over anymore?” Farly asked, sounding a little wounded. He watched Ty carefully.

“He will. His parents don’t want him to, though.”

“Bryan’s a smart boy,” TJ said. “I don’t think they need to worry about him.”

Ty took a drink from her glass. “They’re worried that Farly or Bourbon might ‘rub off’ on him.”

“Rub off?”

“You know,” Ty said, narrowing her eyes. “Give him the gay.”

TJ let out a small laugh. “He should tell them. That’d be fun to watch.”

Ty shook her head. “He’s worried he’ll get kicked out like Bourbon was.” She folded her arms and stared at the wall.

“He could stay here, couldn’t he?” Farly looked at TJ for confirmation. TJ nodded.

“I wasn’t worried about that,” Ty said. “I’m just… mad, is all. I mean, what’s wrong with him hanging out with us? We’re not bad people. We don’t do stupid shit like the other kids in our class.”

“Well,” Farly said, dropping his eyes to the table, “maybe they heard about what Bourbon did last night.”

Ty shrugged.

“Tell him,” TJ said, “that he’s welcome here. He knows that anyway.”

“I’d call him, but his parents don’t like me, either.” Ty sighed. “I don’t get it. What do they want from him? We do our best to be good to him and it’s like they don’t ever see it.”

“You’re pretty sneaky about it,” TJ said flatly. “It seems like this place is one big cuddle-fest sometimes.”

“It’s not like we really have anywhere else we can go,” Ty said.

“And we all usually end up over here anyway,” Farly added.

“I’m sure they just don’t see that Bourbon and Farly would much rather lay around and play video games than seduce Bryan into having illicit gay sex with them. But they’re crafty, those two, and I’d forgive anyone for thinking so.” TJ sat back in his chair, and laughed a little. Farly sank into himself, blushing.

“It’s not like that,” he said, his voice just above a whisper.

“Of course not. But they don’t know that.”

“I guess,” Ty said. “It’s not very fair to Bryan.”

“Not at all,” TJ said. “We’ve got plenty of room if he needs it.”

Ty nodded. She stared at the food on her plate.

“Eat,” TJ said.

“I’m not really hungry. I’m going to go see if Bryan’s online.” She got up, pushed in her chair, and disappeared back into the basement.

“Have you talked with Bourbon?” TJ asked Farly.

Farly didn’t take his eyes off the table. His ears sank. “He needs to be alone.”

TJ nodded thoughtfully. “What about you?”

Farly shrugged.

“Is than an ‘okay’?”

“No. Not really.”

“You look like hell. Go get some sleep,” TJ said, in a voice that was at once soft and commanding.

Farly nodded. “Yeah.” He cleared his plate and left the kitchen.

TJ finished dinner alone.