62. James
JAMES
As I lay there—bound and gagged—I thought about my brother and our last weekend together.
The day before Travis drowned, he and Theo had spent ten hours on the couch finishing Breath of the Wild.
It had taken them over a hundred hours in total, and when they defeated the final boss, they jumped and cheered like the Red Sox just won the World Series.
Afterward, the three of us ordered pizza and cracked a few beers to celebrate.
Sometimes, I wondered if Travis waited to finish the game first, if he wanted to leave Theo with that memory in particular, the two of them playing video games and sharing a beer.
But other times, when I was feeling low, I’d think about what happened after Theo went to bed that night and blame myself for dragging Travis out to the pub.
It started as a typical night out. We shot pool and played darts.
But then, when it was time to leave, Travis got into a fight with the bartender, who insisted one of the bills he handed him was a ten, not a twenty.
I tried to resolve the issue by slapping another ten on the bar and dragging Travis outside.
But before we made it five feet, Travis broke free, shoved the cash into some random guy’s beer, and tossed it at the bartender’s face.
On the walk home, Travis’s fury quickly softened to shame, slowing his walk and slumping his shoulders. “I’m becoming just like Dad, aren’t I?” he’d said.
The door, which Tony had closed on his way out, swung open, and for a moment, I thought we were saved. Then Tony strode into the room, face pinched in anger. He grabbed a corner of the duct tape covering my mouth and yanked it off, along with what felt like half my mustache.
“It would seem your handsome nephew has decided to wait for you in the lobby, which is not going to work for me. As I see it, you have two options. Either you make him go away, or he joins you and Derek on the bed. Your call.”
Goddammit, Theo.
“I’ll call him,” I said.
“Okay, but if you try anything, I will shoot you.”
“I said I’d call him.”
Tony dialed and held the phone to my ear.
Theo picked up on the second ring. “Good, you’re not dead. What the fuck is taking so long?”
“Derek let Tony leave, so he and I have just been having a little chat.” I looked over at Derek, gagged and bound beside me, his right eye covered in white gauze. “We’ve actually grown quite close.”
“What? Really? You and Derek?”
“Listen, I need you to do me a favor. Derek’s called in an order for Thai food from a place called Thai Monsoon.
It’s just across the park, but they won’t deliver.
Do you think you can walk over and pick it up?
It’s already paid for. We’ll eat here. You’re gonna love Derek’s penthouse. This place is sick.”
“Why the fuck don’t they deliver?”
“I don’t know, bud. But according to Derek, it’s the best Thai food in the city.”
“Ugh, fine.” Theo hung up, and I let out a sigh of relief.
Before Tony could tape my mouth shut again, I asked, “Did you just take pictures of Will, or did you touch him, too?”
Derek squirmed at my side and mumbled something unintelligible into his gag, which was more than Tony said. All he did was reach for the roll of duct tape.
“I’m just gonna assume you did,” I continued.
“I mean, why else would you clobber Derek over the head? What, was he about to catch you with your pants down and your dick out? I used to think you were jealous of Will because Derek wanted him and not you, but I’m starting to think it was the other way around. You wanted Will and—”
Tony slapped a fresh piece of tape across my mouth.
“You watch too many movies. I’m not some sexual predator.
I’m just good at my job. I knew Derek’s career would be over as soon as William found out about Donna.
I tried to tell him you can’t fuck a guy’s mom and expect him to be okay with it, but he wouldn’t listen.
He thought William would understand and they’d live happily ever after.
All I wanted was to get Derek home before he ruined everything.
But then William stole Derek’s drink and passed out in his bed. ”
Stole his drink? But Will said he was drinking whiskey all night, not Southern Comfort.
“Then why did you take his picture?” I tried to ask, but the tape pulled painfully with each garbled word.
“I never wanted to hurt you, Derek. You know that, don’t you? You’re like a son to me. I was just trying to get William out of your room before you got back.”
Derek mumbled something that I couldn’t make out, but it sounded a lot like “Fuck you.”