The Value Of Rain by Shire Brandon

Author:Shire, Brandon [Shire, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TPG Books
Published: 2011-07-23T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

March 1981

Henry collected me on the first of March, six years and three days after I entered the Birch Building. Caufield stood beside me outside the entrance. My hand was knotted around the small bag containing my meager belongings, and a hot pang of trepidation burned in my gut. Caufield was enjoying the unusual warmth that had run up the coast from the south.

“They call this a blackberry winter where I’m from,” Caufield said as we waited. “Of course, that’s usually much earlier in the season, but…,” he shrugged, trying to ease my anxiety.

“He’s late,” I said, oblivious to the weather. “Maybe he’s not coming.”

“He’s coming,” Caufield replied.

“He might have changed his mind. I couldn’t blame him if he did; not really.” I looked away, troubled by the thought that his second abandonment would probably not be nearly as hard as the first.

“Look,” Caufield pointed as Henry turned into the parking lot and began threading his way through the slender slotted rows. “You have my number in case of an emergency, and I’ll be calling you at least once a week to make sure everything’s going okay. Right?” Caufield asked.

I looked at him. “But what if I am that crazy fag that he’s afraid of? Christ, I’ve spent ten years denying it and now I’m afraid it might be true. I’m mentally fucked up!”

“You’re not, Charles. And Henry is not your mother.”

“He’s… family.”

“Henry’s part of a larger world Charles. Give him a chance. Give yourself one.”

I nodded as he embraced me.

“Now go on, I’ll call you in a week,” he said.

I turned to walk to the car but stopped suddenly and looked back at him. By law, it had been a panel of three that had allowed me my freedom. Caufield had been but one on that panel. “The other two, what’d you offer them?”

“Only you,” he answered before he turned back into the building.

I sighed, whether that was true or not, there was no going back. I slipped into the car with Henry’s big grin and slight handshake and we were off.

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