Chapter 27
Rhys shouldn’t have let the comment about books get to him. So what if Mel did think he was just a dumb jock? Hadn’t that always been people’s impression of him? Teachers, foster parents. Hell, even the media seemed to enjoy spreading that narrative.
Sometimes he wasn’t sure it wasn’t true. Rhys knew the importance of stories, even if it had taken him forever to see himself in one. Still, he could never concentrate on the words on the page.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.”
Rhys looked away from the damaged book he held and saw the teenager from the coffee shop staring at him. They were Mel’s sibling. One of them. “Hello again,” he said. “Denny wasn’t it?” Or was it the other one? They weren’t exactly identical, but he hoped he wasn’t remembering the wrong one.
“Oh my god,” they said again, and he bit his lip to hold in his laugh. He was sure they could say more than that.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” they said at a near shriek.
He glanced at Mel who came up behind their sibling. “You didn’t tell them the team was coming to help?”
“Caleb only said he’d try to round some of you up. Didn’t know who would be showing up. Didn’t want to get their hopes up. I need you to sign in. The others already have. Just in case something were to happen.”
He furrowed his brow. “You expect something to happen?” Did they really think so poorly of him?
“No, but we have vulnerable kids who come through here. Some of them will likely show up to help. I’m not leaving things to chance.”
He relaxed slightly. “Yeah, okay, I can see that.”
“Really?” they asked. “You do? I usually get pushback, even from supposed allies.”
He looked back at them. “Do you consider bisexual people outside of your community?” How much clearer did he have to make that? Or were they never going to believe it of him, like all those bloggers who were sure they knew him.
“No,” Mel said. “Everyone under the queer umbrella has a place here.”
“I guess I don’t count as an ally then. Do you want me to start in here?”
“That’s fine.”
He put his name and phone number down on Mel’s sheet and watched as they turned away.
He picked up another book. Pages had been torn out of this one as well.
What a waste. As if it was words which would hurt someone.
He’d had enough of them tossed his way, and sure sometimes they could leave bigger bruises than a fist, but to try to take away someone’s ability to find the ones which fit them. It was simply cruel.
“I’m sorry if I was weird earlier.” He glanced over at Denny, but they were staring down at their feet. “I just got really excited and forgot my manners. If you ask Mel, they’ll say I never had any to begin with. I need to shut up. I talk too much when I’m excited. Sorry again.”
His lips tugged up. “Whoever said weird was a bad thing to be? You don’t have to apologize to me. I would never say you’re talking too much.”
“You’d be the only one.” They looked away.
He’d been hit right in the chest protector with one of Andre Mills’s—before he’d been called up to the Steel Suns—fastballs before.
At nearly 100 mph, that sucker hurt. Denny’s words knocked more air out of him.
“Yeah,” he said, when he got his breath back.
“I heard that a lot when I was younger. Still do, sometimes, actually. That I should just learn to sit still.”
“Because it’s that easy.” Their gaze sharpened on him. “I’ve watched you play. Like a lot. You’re always completely still behind the plate.”
He shrugged one shoulder, not sure why their observation made him uncomfortable. “Baseball’s different. When I’m out there, nothing else matters. I can shut out the noise in my head and concentrate on that.”
Rhys had never put that into words before, and he wasn’t sure that made sense.
“I get hyperfocused like that, too,” Denny said. “Just not on the right things. At least according to my parents. They say I should apply that focus to my schoolwork. I’ve tried, and I just can’t. Looking up player stats is a lot more interesting.”
Rhys couldn’t help but laugh. He understood what that could be like. “Do you play at all?” he asked.
“I wish. It would have to be softball, but my parents won’t even let me sign up for that. I’m going to school to learn, not to throw a ball. It’s not like there’s a future for me in the sport.”
Yeah, he’d heard similar arguments. Thankfully, he’d had Simon Molson to defend him for years.
By the time he was gone, the coaches begged Rhys to come back.
Even when his placements didn’t see it as useful, the school’s need outweighed their doubts.
He didn’t know if he would have been able to get through those years if he hadn’t had baseball.
“Caleb used to think that too,” he said. “Now, look at him.”
“Yeah, well, by my age, he knew exactly who he was. I’m still trying to figure that out. Pretty sure that’s not male, though.”
Rhys wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t know where Caleb would be if he hadn’t so completely identified as a man. He’d already had a hard enough time being accepted as the man he was. Denny might have a point. Progress could be slow.
None of that mattered if you weren’t given a chance to even play.
“What position would you play if you had the chance?” He continued to pick up books and place the ones which could be salvaged in a box. It might be smaller than the pile of utterly ruined books.
“I want to be a catcher like you.”
He glanced over at them, sending an appraising glance up and down their body. “A little long-limbed, but it’s not unheard of.”
Denny snorted. “Long-limbed. Is that a nice way of saying I’m a scarecrow.”
“You are probably already as tall as me.” He ran a hand from the top of his head to theirs. “Eh, a couple more inches.”
They laughed but when they turned from him, their whole body stiffened. “It doesn’t get easier seeing that,” they said. “I thought it would. Why do they hate us?”
Rhys saw the word that had been scrawled across the wall, His stomach clenched. He might not be able to go back and keep Denny from seeing it. They shouldn’t have to keep looking at that. “Where are those supplies your sibling brought in here? We need to get rid of that.”
“I just don’t understand why he’d do this. Just because he hates everyone doesn’t mean he had to be this cruel.”
Rhys turned toward them. “You know who did this?”
“He was waiting outside when we got here the other day. He took off when Mel tried to talk to him. Because he’s guilty.
I told them he was trouble. He’s always picking fights at school.
He’s in ISS more than he is in class. Mel should have chased him away the first time he started lurking around here. He’s more trouble than he’s worth.”
Those words hit Rhys hard. The same ones had often been aimed his way.
If the kid had been responsible for what happened here, he couldn’t exactly blame Denny for their anger.
“Let’s get those supplies and get rid of this mess.
” There might not be much else he could offer, but he could at least put a few things right.