Drawn from Memory by Laura Hatosy

Author:Laura Hatosy [Laura Hatosy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scrap Paper Press, LLC
Published: 2022-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

Gideon made a quick excuse about having to get back to his cubby. I lied through the pain in my chest and told him I had plans with Adam. He wiped the paint from his nose and left me with all the dirty brushes.

Thankfully, Ernst, Julia, and Adam were washing out theirs at the spigot in the square. I dumped the brushes into the metal bucket Ernst was filling. The clang echoed louder than I’d intended.

Ernst dodged the splash I made. “You all right?”

“It feels like that boy spends all his time up in that cubby of his.” I had to stop thinking about it. It wasn’t any of my business. That made the pain in my chest worse.

“I heard Esther Halpert visited yesterday,” said Julia as she shook two brushes out.

“That church mouse?” asked Ernst. He stepped aside and let me use the spigot. “No way.”

“Why not?” asked Julia. Yes, why not? Her head didn’t look like a ball of steel wool. She was sweeter too.

“Not his type.” Ernst hooked a thumb at me. “He likes them fiery.”

I banged my shoulder into his arm.

“See? Fiery,” Ernst said. He retied the twine holding his right shoe together.

“All right. These are done,” said Adam, holding up the clean brushes. “I’ll bring them back to the Art Department. Believe it or not, I have no interest in gossiping about Gideon’s love life.”

“Agreed,” I said to Adam as he walked away. I squeezed water through my brush until my hands cramped. “That he has such a robust one in a place like this is just in bad taste.”

“Is it possible you’re upset because you wish he brought you up there?” Ernst scratched at his ribs. The bruises must have all healed, but the lice bites continued to torment him.

“I don’t want to go up to that dirty, mouse-infested cubby of his.” The water from the brushes ran clear, but I still wrung the bristles.

“So, it’s not the company or the activity you object to, just the location?” asked Julia.

“I’m not in love with Gideon.”

Ernst laughed one of those breathtaking laughs of his. Julia patted me on the arm as if I had just received terrible news.

“I’m not! One day, he’s my best friend, and the next, he acts like I’m nothing to him.” I didn’t mention the heat that flooded up my arm when I’d grabbed his hands.

“Sounds like love to me,” said Ernst.

“You’ve been in love?” I asked. “With a man?”

“No, Rachel, with a coat rack,” he said. This made Julia giggle. He smacked my shoulder with the back of his hand. “Of course with a man.” Julia continued to smile, but Ernst’s evaporated, and he stared at the ground. “Marek.” It must not have ended well.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that, at nearly thirty, Ernst had experienced heartbreak. I’d never thought about two men in love before, but then again, I hadn’t thought much about homosexuality at all. I found my friendship with Ernst very thought-provoking.

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