When Delcan and I had found seats far away from everybody else watching the movie, I watched him as he took a long drink of Dr. Pepper, scrunching up his face as if it were alcohol. “This stuff tastes horrible,” he complained.
“Then why are you still drinking it?”
He glared. “Because I want to,” he told me. I turned myself away from him, shifting in my seat as credits for movies began to play. Delcan continued to look around the theatre, watching as the girl I had previously seen outside walked in with the older guy, carrying sprite and gummy bears.
I should’ve bought some candy for Emmanuel.
“Do you know her?” I asked him, keeping my face towards the screen. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Delcan as he kept his eyes on the girl.
He shook his head. “I never really knew any children,” he said. “It’s only been a few months since I’ve last been here, Ezra.”
Delcan was right. Only eight months ago, he woke up from his coma, and only five months, two weeks, and two days since he got out of rehab, and we met. So yeah, I guess it is pretty fair to say the area could still be fresh off of his mind. It hasn’t even been a year, I think to myself, sitting back as the lights dim.
Commercials continued to play while Delcan texted someone on his phone. I smiled again as he took another drink of Dr. Pepper, finally giving up and simply eating the popcorn. Just when I thought the movie was about to start, I heard a low, familiar voice behind me. “At least I was right about it being a white boy.”
I turned around to see Grayson Williams, his eyes glued on Delcan and his hand on the back of his neck. Behind him were five other guys from the football team I didn’t know well, two of them hidden in the shadows of the dim room. I watched his hand on the back of Delcan’s neck, wondering what would happen if I caused a scene in a movie theatre.
“Hey, Grayson,” Delcan said, casually turning as Grayson moved his hand down to Delcan’s shoulder. “How’s that hobby of stalking me going?”
Grayson took his hand off of Delcan’s body, shoving it into his pocket. I watched the situation closely, feeling bad about knowing only one thing about Grayson and Delcan’s relationship. “That doesn’t matter. I knew that I was right, Delcan.”
“What’s your issue, man?” I asked him. He looked at me, one of the idiots from Oakwood behind him chuckling.
Grayson shrugged. “Be a real shame if your daddy knew about ya hanging out with a Heslop,” he told me, sneering. I didn’t react from what he said, but I turned my face away from him. Through the yellowing teeth and the cracked front tooth from Adam, I could smell his breath. “Much less, ⟴ this little slut.”
“Don’t call him that,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. As long as I didn’t get pissed off and break his neck, I’d be good.
“I can fend for myself, thank you,” Delcan said. “Gray, sweetheart, if you have a problem, please express it to me. Yawning means that I’m very interested in you.” Grayson seemed frazzled, turning back to Delcan in a quick move. I turned back around to see that no one was watching the situation, or trying to interfere with Grayson.
“You can’t do anything for yourself, babe,” Grayson said to him, stroking Delcan’s cheek. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from doing something I would regret, taking deep breaths and listening to my own breathing. “Why else would you have about a thousand sugar daddies? You plannin’ on datin’ Ezra’s dad?”
Delcan recoiled. “Why would I date him?” he asked. Regaining his composure, Delcan shrugged. “Plus...I don’t like his features anyway.”
I looked at him.
“Ezra is a blend of his mom and dad,” he continued, not even glancing at me. “And if you really think I’d sleep with a racist, Gray, you don’t know your crush too well.”
Crush?
Grayson likes Delcan.
Some of the guys behind Delcan laughed, one of them claiming he had lost his sense in rehab. “The only thing I lost in rehab was my keycard,” Delcan explained, giving him a casual smile. “No matter I’m at, stupidity always seems to follow.”
“I don’t like you like that.” Grayson had taken his hands off of Delcan, and I continued to look around at everybody else in the theatre, wondering at all if this was bothering their experience. “But this one probably does.”
I shook my head. “I’m dating someone,” I said. “I asked Delcan to come with me to the movie before I could show it to my girlfriend.” Delcan looked at me like I had just said the dumbest thing in the world, shaking his head when I raised my eyebrows. “Do you have an issue with that?”
“What would Ezra Gatley be doing in Paris Heights?” a guy behind Grayson called out. This time, people turned their heads, and I felt my face go red. Already, I knew it was a horrible idea to agree to this date. “Thought your daddy didn’t like hood rats.”
I shook my head. “Your language seems to be repetitive,” I explained. “There are many other words for ‘daddy.’ For example, father, papa, and one basically everybody uses, dad. Try harder.”
Grayson scrunched up his nose, a grin on his face. I glanced at Delcan, who was watching someone hidden in the shadows. “Good job for being smart.”649Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeNE9eHLqC
“Harvard is an achievement, isn’t it?”
He nodded in response, going back over to touching Delcan. This time, Delcan watched him as he ran his hand down his arm, his face straight. “I’m sure this ⟴ bothers you more than grammar…” his words got lost before he pulled Delcan close to him, trying to kiss him.
It did bother me.
I don’t consider myself a violent person, but in times like this, I consider how horrible jail for five to ten years could be.
“Stop,” I instructed.
Delcan turned his face away from Grayson, taking Delcan’s hand off of him. I stayed in my seat, clutching onto the armrest. “Ez, don’t you think it's sad how desperate some people are for affection?” he looked at Grayson again, putting his hand on his cheek. I turned my head away, biting the inside of my cheek while Delcan continued speaking. “In all honesty, Gray, there’s only two guys in this room I’m going to willingly kiss, the only shame is you’re hiding him.”
Grayson made an action like he was about to slap Delcan, but Delcan had moved faster, snapping his arm and then kissing him on the cheek. “You can leave now,” he whispered, biting Grayson’s ear when he cried out.
I turned away again, now realizing that everyone had their eyes on us. The jocks behind Grayson watched in surprise, none of them moving an inch. I raised an eyebrow to Delcan when his eyes fell on me, and he smiled.
“You broke my arm!” Grayson cried, holding his arm.
Delcan shook his head. “No, I didn’t,” he said. “But if you interrupt my conversation with Ezra again, or if you even think about telling his dad, I’ll hire someone to do the dirty work for me. Is that information processing in your stupid brain or not?"
Grayson gritted his teeth together to keep from crying, and I grabbed Delcan’s arm, trying to ask him if we were about to be sued. “You’re a psychopath, Delcan,” Grayson said, holding onto his arm as he ran out of the theatre, his confused goons following him.
When they left, I looked at Delcan as others began to mind their own business again. “Why did you do that?”
“Calm down,” he said, sitting back. “He burned me and kissed me. All I did was sprain it. Five weeks and-”
“He kissed you?” I asked, hearing my voice change.
Delcan looked at me in surprise. “I thought Evelyn would’ve told you by now,” he confessed, whispering silently as the movie began.
“My sister-” I stopped myself. It didn’t matter, really. If I thought about it, I wasn’t the one who touched Grayson Williams at all. But that doesn’t mean Grayson won’t complain to his parents about how Delcan had an “accomplice.” Neither one of us talked for two hours, our hands staying far away from each other as we watched other people laugh at the jokes from the actors.
I looked at Delcan in the dark lighting, his jawline clear and his composure calm. Behind all of the beauty that he was, secrets were swirling in his blood, secrets that, somehow, connected to my family.
After the movie and after Delcan had bought sugar-free gummy bears for Emmanuel, I rested my head against the window of the car, contemplating what I was supposed to feel. There wasn’t an ounce of me that wanted to yell at him, but all of me wanted to know how much I was missing in this puzzle.
“Are dates always like that?” he joked, starting the car. The engine rumbled for a moment before beginning, and I didn’t respond to him, watching as he tried to figure out getting out of the parking lot.
“Let me drive,” I said.
Delcan paused halfway through his fifth attempt to get out. “Huh?”
“Let me drive,” I repeated. “Driving helps me clear my mind.”
He took his hands off the wheel, looking at me with blue and green eyes. “You’re upset with me, right?” he asked. “I’m really not good at understanding people’s emotions.”
“I know.”
“Well...what exactly do you want me to say to you?”
I ran my hands through my hair, feeling my face get red. “More about you would be nice!” I said. “You know everything about me, and all I know is-”
“No,” he protested.
“No, what?”
He turned to me. “You have no right to ask me information that I don’t feel comfortable with, much less remember.” When I was about to explain that it was basically the point of a date, he continued to speak. “And it’s not like I’ve ever asked you anything about your life. I either was told something or you told me willingly.”
I hate it when he’s right.
“Well, you-” I didn’t have anything to say in response.
Delcan shrugged. “I can’t fix my past,” he explained. “And I’m sorry if it bothers you that I just - thought he deserved it - sprained Grayson’s arm, but it’s just an ongoing feud. I'm used to it and I’m fine with it. He’s not going to sue anyway.”
“Just because someone deserves something, it doesn’t mean you should do it,” I said.
Delcan slowly nodded. “I know,” he said. He met my eyes again, the color of his brown. “Let me try to make this better, okay? You can drive, and I’ll give you directions. At least then I might get a C on this date."
I smiled. “I don’t grade dates, Delcan, but I appreciate your concern.”
“Do you want to drive the car or not?”
Sighing, I got out of the car, and the two of us changed places. Delcan slouched in his seat, clearly thankful he wouldn’t be responsible for both of our lives. I had driven a Rolls Royce before (it was my cousin’s and she threw around her money like it was monopoly), so at least I knew how to drive correctly, as well as turning on the radio to rap music.
Delcan looked over to me. “Oh,” he said. “You’re bad.”
I pulled out of the parking space with ease. “Tell me more, Heslop.”
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