Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer rights apply.
Warning:Updates will most definitely be slow. Sorry, guys.
This contains SLASH, in other words: same sex couples. It also contains drug use, violence, sexual situations, and MAY contain a(n OC) death. This story is marked for mature readers only, please treat it as such.
Pairings: Will be sporadic, and a surprise. I'm not ruining the story by telling you end pairings.
No more beta's, because I've been lost for a million years and I'm very out of touch now.
Summary of Chapter 21:
-Dutchy convinces Specs to pretend to be with him in order to make Bumlets jealous
-Specs freaks out about the school thinking he's gay
-Spot freaks out about Racetrack touching him
-David freaks out about Specs freaking out
-Spot tries to be nice to Swifty
-Blink decides to fight Skittery in order to make him feel better
-Jack finds out that David knows Sean's the Brooklyn gang leader
-Itey asks Sarah out
... Doing this summary it occurs to me that I should have titled the chapter "Everyone Freaks Out".
In other news, please enjoy Chapter 22.
Getting Back Together Again
XXII: A Mystery Revealed
Bumlets looked at the small building and then back at the paper Swifty had given him after school. The addresses matched, but the building looked more like a house than a store.
Bumlets sighed. He wished Dutchy was here.
He walked up the sidewalk, debating on whether he should knock before entering. After all, what if this really was someone's house? He wasn't going to put it past Swifty to set him up, regardless of how he had been acting lately.
Fortunately the door opened before he had to make a decision on whether to knock or not. A chubby woman with a red face stepped out and engulfed him in a hug. "Welcome! Welcome! You're right on time! Splendid!"
Bumlets froze in the hug. He had no idea who this woman was or what he was expected to do.
The woman pulled back, but still held him by the arms. "Punctual and cute," she said. "You are going to be perfect here. You're hired!"
Bumlets' eyes widened. "Really? Just like that?" It was true he had expected to get the job, but he had thought there would at least be an interview or forms to fill out or something.
"Of course! Of course!" the woman assured him. "We just have to get the official 'okay' from my husband, and then we'll be all set to go. You actually showed up a little early for him, so I'll just show you around until he's ready."
Bumlets nodded as he was dragged into the house. So this was Swifty's aunt, huh? Weird fucking aunt.
"So you're friends with my nephew, right?" the woman asked as she held open the front door for him. "How is he doing? He never visits like he used to. How long have you known him? You two must be good friends for him to ask us to give you a job. He usually just tells us to call him if we ever complain about being short-staffed. He says we should keep it a family store." She laughed. "So I guess this means you're family now, right?"
Bumlets opened his mouth to answer at least one of her questions, but she hardly paused for breath.
"Of course, I always feel bad making him drive all the way over here. Especially since usually we don't call unless we need him to do something right then. And I do realize he has a social life. But anytime I try to bring it up he always tells me not to worry." She sighed. "He is a sweet boy, you know. I just wish he wouldn't try to do everything all by myself."
Bumlets looked around the store. He was only halfway listening to the woman, by this point assuming he wouldn't get a word in edgewise anyway. It looked a lot larger on the inside. He counted ten aisles all filled with CD's, along with all the CD's lining the walls. There were a few bins holding records, and a few more bins on the opposite side of the store holding tapes. In the back corner of the store sat music posters and some clothing.
This was going to be a lot to learn.
Bumlets tuned back into the conversation, trying his best not to get intimidated by the huge store.
"And that's when he decided all by himself that he would own the store after my husband and I passed. I was touched. I really was. Of course, I realize he was only about six or seven at the time, but I took him seriously. Plus, he is the one that helps with it the most, so I guess it's only fitting."
The older woman dithered on. She never seemed to notice if Bumlets was listening or not. "We have an upstairs too. That's mostly for electronics. We have some mp3 players and stereos up there. We also have a jukebox and an arcade. We wanted to create a safe environment for you kids to play. It seems to be a great hit, but there is a lot of cleaning we have to do because of it. I've been thinking of getting a concession stand up there too, but most of the time the kids just go across the street for food. That's Steve's pizza parlor, so I'm quite alright with them going over there. He's a nice man, and I'd hate to start stealing his business."
"Are we a business or aren't we?" a skinny old man barked from the top of the stairs. "Who the hell cares if we run Steve out of business? Fair's fair."
The woman tsked. "Is money all you ever think about? Steve's been good to us." She turned back to Bumlets. "He's been here longer than we have, you know. He showed us the ropes and got us our first customers. He helped start us up, he did. That was back when we were using the upstairs as living space. A few years ago we decided to open it up. We wanted more space, for all you kids. We have an apartment a few blocks away now, but, for the most part, we still sleep in the store." She put her hand up to her mouth and leaned in closer to Bumlets. "I can't get my husband to leave this place for the life of me," she said in a loud whisper. "I think he loves this place more than me."
"Well, who the hell wouldn't?" the man grumbled. "At least this shit hole brings in more money than it costs me. What the hell do you ever do for me?"
Bumlets' eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the two. This was a husband and wife? This was Swifty's aunt and uncle? Did they argue like this all the time? It wasn't like he had expected a perfect couple or anything, but he had definitely not expected such blatant hatred from a husband to his wife. And the woman must have been dull-witted as all hell, because it seemed as if the insults just made her happier.
The woman even giggled. "He's kidding, of course," she said, waving at her husband as she steered Bumlets up the stairs. "He must be in the middle of something; he always gets cranky when he gets interrupted."
"I always get cranky when I have to see your ugly face," the man muttered as he glared at both of them coming up the stairs. "Who the hell are you, anyway?" he asked, looking at Bumlets.
Bumlets flinched, trying and failing to hold back a stutter. "I – I'm …"
"Oh, shush," the woman replied for him. "This is Swifty's little friend. He'll be working here from now on."
"The hell he will," the man snapped, grabbing Bumlets' arm and pulling him away from his wife. "Ain't no way I'm paying into another salary, especially to someone who's so wet behind the ears. What the hell do you think this place is? A daycare? You plan on watching the little brat?"
"Who the hell are you calling a brat, you bitchy old man?" Bumlets asked, tugging his arm away. Fuh-huck this job. He wasn't about to subject himself to this bullshit. No wonder Swifty was willing to get him a job; he was probably tired of having to come here to deal with this shit when the store got too busy. "I'm seventeen fucking years old, thank you very much; I certainly don't need babysat. And why the hell would you ever think I'd be willing to work for a crabby bastard like you?"
The old man pinched his mouth back and started to shake. He held his stomach as he fell onto the ground.
Bumlets' eyes widened. "Oh, Jesus Christ, are you okay? Fuck, are you having a heart attack? Did I just give you a heart attack?" He dashed to the old man's side and turned him over onto his side. He immediately frowned as he saw the bastard laughing. His jaw dropped, and he looked towards the old woman. She was laughing too. "What the – what the fuck?"
The old man patted him on the back, holding onto a wide smile as he sat himself up. "Just thought we'd fuck around with you a little bit."
The old woman continued to giggle. "I'm sorry, hun. It was Jeff's idea, and goodness knows I can't turn down a practical joke."
The old man – Jeff – pushed himself up by one of his knees. "We get a lot of little, bratty kids in here; I needed to make sure you have what it takes to put them in their place. I knew there was no way you could yell at knee biters if you couldn't yell at an old man. Congrats, son: you're hired."
"Huh?" Bumlets replied, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"He is a bit dimwitted though, eh?" Jeff asked, looking toward his wife. "Maybe we shouldn't hire him."
"Oh, Jeffy, be nice," his wife said, smiling at Bumlets. "I am sorry, dear, Jeff insisted. He wanted to see how you'd react. It's his favorite way to interview new potentials, you see. Until you came around, nobody had enough balls to yell back at him. That's why we continually had to ask Swifty to come help us out. This old bastard refused to hire anyone, no matter how much I liked them. He always has such a problem with me getting my way, don't you know."
Bumlets rubbed his head, no longer feeling the need to watch his mouth. "What the fuck? I'm going to get such a headache working here."
Both the man and the woman burst into smiles.
"But that does mean you accept, then?" the woman asked.
"Hey," Bam said, walking into Spot's room after finally picking the lock. "You wanna talk about why the fuck you punched Gadget in the nose and then made a mad dash up here? You've been out of it for days now, and you're freaking everybody the fuck out."
"Get the fuck out," Spot growled out. His whole body was beneath the covers of his bed, and it didn't seem like he was willing to leave anytime soon. "Don't you know that a door is locked for a reason, you fucking dumbass?"
Bam's first reaction was sympathy, but he tried to push that down as much as he could; sympathy was not at all a good way to deal with the gang leader. He decided to play a cool and casual approach. He closed and locked the door back up before leaning against a wall and crossing one leg over his ankle. "It seems to be that doors are locked, not only for a reason, but also to keep something valuable out of other people's reach. And you know how much I love valuables."
"Yeah, enough to whore your slut ass out before I came along," Spot grumbled.
Bam growled and immediately jumped on the bed and started to punch the lump: anywhere and everywhere. Fuck cool and casual; if Spot wanted to be punched then he had no problem being the one to do it.
Spot struggled, trapped in the blankets. He groaned as a fist hit him in the head. He flailed his arms out, trying to find a way out of the blankets. He was starting to struggle for breath as the punches kept landing.
"You fucking bastard fuck!" Bam gritted out, his fists flying forward and connecting with anything under the blankets that happened to move. "You cold, heartless bastard! You don't know fuck all about me! I'm out of this fucking place! I don't need this fucking shit! I don't need fucking you! You worthless sack of shit! You think you're better than me!?"
Spot was used to pain; he got more clear-headed the more it rained down on him. It was refreshing, actually; he had not been able to get in a true fight since he had become the all-feared, all-powerful Brooklyn gang leader. He remembered Stealth telling him he'd miss all the running and roughhousing he had done in the streets. He smirked at how right he had been. This was the type of situation where he felt most alive, he felt most like himself. He liked the struggle of getting to the top. Maybe he was getting restless now that the struggle was over.
He turned back into reality as a fist hit the back of his head and made his ears ring. No doubt he would be suffering some bruises for pissing Bam off so much. He saw a glimpse of light and jutted his hand towards it. He quickly ripped the blanket away from himself, gaining more leverage. He smirked when he soon after saw his opening. Bam had a hard punch to him, but it was clear he was not well trained in street fighting.
Spot grabbed ahold of Bam's flying hand, quickly repositioned his body, and flipped both of them over, so that he was on top. He clenched his teeth and grinned down, feeling the power of control wash back over him. It was a drug, truly it was.
Bam knew he was in trouble, too. He was trapped, and his face reflected it. He gulped loudly, but didn't say anything. He didn't beg; Spot could respect that.
But how far would he go when danger was looking him right in the face?
Spot leaned his face close to Bam's, some of the blood on his forehead dripping down onto Bam's cheek. "Leaving me, are you?"
"No, sir," Bam replied, quickly and quietly. "That was out of line. This is home. I would never leave you."
"I am absolutely better than you."
"Very much, sir."
"And you need me," Spot said, his smirk widening as he tested his limits.
Bam gritted his teeth but nodded his head.
"Say it," Spot hissed, pressing his face even closer.
"I need you."
"Because before I came along all you were was a slutty whore."
Bam immediately started struggling again. "Fuck you!" he shouted.
"Trying to sell a body nobody even wanted," Spot continued, drawing his face back but strengthening his hold, "Begging people to take you, just to see a look of disgust on their face. Customers feeling so bad for you they'd force themselves to let you suck their dicks, so your skinny, gross ass could finally buy some food."
"Fuck you, you fucking bastard!" Bam screamed, eyes starting to water.
"But you were so god damn incompetent, instead of getting some food for a day, you decided to get crack. You couldn't even take care of yourself. Let alone anyone around you."
"You told me you wouldn't ever bring this up!" Tears were streaming now. "You told me the past would be behind me here!"
"And you told me you would never leave me!" Spot roared, voice cracking ever so slightly before rearing back a fist and punching Bam in the jaw.
Bam stopped struggling as the punch came to him, and Spot softened his hold soon after. He wrapped his arms around his boss, barely even thinking about the immense pain that was coming from his jaw.
And Spot let him. He felt the energy drain from him as he let himself melt into Bam's hold. He didn't bother to move as resentment, bewilderment, and exhaustion flowed through him. He knew he was losing it.
It would be just a matter of time until he was back on the bottom. He could feel it in his gut. Who would follow him then?
Sarah paced around her room as she tried to make herself focus on Physics. Damn Itey. She should have been paying attention in class instead of having an insane discussion with her brother's friend.
He must have been trying to play a joke on her or something; it wasn't like she didn't know he was gay. As if she would ever go out with him.
Not to say she wasn't flattered, or that she wouldn't, had he been straight. He was quite cute, and he did possess a sort of quirky charm. And he was pretty amusing, and great to talk to.
But he was absolutely, positively gay, so there was no use thinking about it. In fact, he probably meant something else by the question entirely.
Which meant Sarah probably looked like an absolutely idiot when she said she had to think about it. What if he was just asking her out as friends? That was probably exactly what he was doing, and she had completely insulted him by telling him she needed to think about it. Now what? How could she go about explaining that misunderstanding?
'Sorry, Itey, I thought you were asking me out, and I wasn't sure if I could go out with a gay man or not, what with my having a vagina and boobs and everything.'
Sarah rolled her eyes. Yeah, that conversation would never happen.
The phone ringing finally snapped her out of her thoughts.
Shit, she was supposed to be doing Physics homework! Damn! Itey was distracting even when he wasn't there!
She ignored the phone in favor of her homework; someone else could answer it, after all.
Two rings later she had finally started to understand the first problem.
"Sarah!" she heard her mom shout from down the stairs. "The phone's for you!"
Sarah rolled her eyes; she just couldn't catch a break, could she? Still, she supposed she could take a break from Itey and homework in favor of one of her friends. "Got it up here, Mom! Thank you!" she shouted back, picking up the phone that her parents had let her keep in her room.
"Hello?"
"Sarah!" Itey's voice came over the line. "Have you thought anymore about our conversation? I was thinking a movie followed by coffee. I thought that'd be sophisticated enough for you. But then I thought it might be too boring. So I was thinking we could maybe go to the amusement park instead, except I don't really know how you feel about roller coasters. I love them, personally, but that's just me. Of course, roller coasters aren't the only thing they have there. They've got some really nice non-terrifying rides, as well. Or we could scrap both ideas and go to a museum. Museums are sophisticated, right? I don't really know anything about all that art crap, but I can pretend to be interested if it's something you're into. Oh, shit … I didn't mean pretend … I mean, I would pretend, but that's not something I wanted you to know … not that I want to lie to you … or that I would. It's just that museums aren't really a big, awesome thing for me, but I could try it out … And I mean, actually try it out, not say I'm trying it out but just sit and mope the whole time. I'm not that type of guy, you know, and-"
"Itey, slow the fuck down," Sarah interrupted. "You're beginning to sound like David. What the hell is wrong with you?"
Itey shrugged before remembering that he was on the phone and Sarah couldn't see him. "I'm just a little bit nervous. It's been a really long time since I asked anyone out, you know?"
Sarah sighed and flopped down on her bed, hand on her head. "Itey, you've got to explain to me what's going on here, because, honestly, I'm just all sorts of confused."
"Well, I thought it was pretty obvious I was asking you out on a date. How do people normally ask you out? I didn't think I'd been out of the loop for that long. Is there some new slang out there for it I haven't caught up to yet?"
"So, you are talking date, right?" Sarah interrupted in disbelief. "Like, a date-date?"
"Yes, Sarah, a date-date," Itey replied. "That's if a date-date means going somewhere with you, treating you to a good time, and hoping to get a kiss good night after spending a wonderful day talking to you and getting to know you better. Honestly, normally a date-date would also consist of me hoping to get around the bases, but I know you like to hold out until the second date. Which is fine with me; I can wait."
Sarah's eyes widened. She was going to kill David! "David did NOT tell you what I told him after you left!"
"Of COURSE not, Sarah. Davey's your brother; he wouldn't do something like that to you," Itey smiled into the phone; they both knew that was a lie. "Plus, I was kidding. I heard from your old ex-boyfriend that I had to wait until the fourth date to nail you, and his information seems a lot more trustworthy."
"Oh my god! Masson is NOT telling that to people! I can't believe I ever let him talk me into it! How many people know?! Oh, god, how many people is he telling? Is he still telling people?" Sarah's eyes began watering. Fucking Masson. He wasn't even that attractive, and he was stupid to boot. But he was just so popular and rich, and she hadn't been that smart herself at the time.
"Ok, probably not the best way to woo you. Check. Won't happen again," Itey replied.
"Itey! Please explain to me what the fuck is going on here. And please don't fuck with me," Sarah said, wiping at her eyes. "Last time I checked you were pretty fucking gay, and absolutely head over heals in love with Skittery, even though I can't on earth think WHY."
"Okay, first, last time you checked I was pretty fucking BI, Sarah. Bi and gay? Not the same thing," Itey corrected. "Second … well, I am in love with Skittery, even though I don't know why either. But I don't want to be. I can't be. That's not ever going to end well. I don't want a girlfriend or anything serious. I just want someone to keep me preoccupied so I don't have to think of him. I want someone to hold and appreciate and treat to nice romantic dinners that won't run off as soon as they realize they're being wooed."
Sarah raised her eyebrow. "So you're using me to forget about Skittery?"
"Well, basically. But, hey, there's free dinners in it for ya, huh?"
"I don't understand why we need to be sneaking out of the window," Bam said, looking down at Spot who was hanging onto a downspout. "You live on the top floor, for god's sakes." He had a bruise on his jaw that covered the bottom half of his face and was still growing. "Who exactly are we trying to hide from?"
Spot rolled his eyes as he looked up. "Are you kidding, or are you that fucking idiotic?" He had dried blood running down the right side of his face from his ear. His left eye was bruised and completely closed up. The bottom, right side of his lip was swollen up. His nose was swollen. He had bruises all over his arms. He even had a bruise Bam could see on his collar bone.
Bam couldn't hold back a cringe.
"It's your handiwork," Spot replied. "Be proud of yourself."
Bam frowned. "I'm not a fighter, Boss. I didn't mean for this to happen."
Spot gritted his teeth. "I can't believe I let a fucking pussy do this to my face." He slid farther down the spout. "Hurry up, you woman. Now's not the time to be pissing me off. Don't make me make your face look like mine."
Bam sighed before climbing out the window, gripping the downspout until his knuckles turned white. "Surely you don't plan on hanging out in your room until those bruises go away," he said, trying to keep his mind off the fact that they were so high up; he did not like heights. He definitely did not like heights when the only thing stopping him from plunging to his death was an old, rusted downspout.
Spot slid down the spout effortlessly, not seeming to give death a second thought. He shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see. It does provide a nice excuse." His feet hit the ground and he took off running towards the back fences.
Bam's eyes widened as he saw Spot getting farther away from that. "Hey! Wait a second!" He slid down the downspout as fast as he could muster. "Didn't I give you a concussion, you bastard? How the fuck are you running so fast? I swear to god you aren't a human." His feet hit the ground and he stumbled, falling on his ass. He quickly leapt up and ran after his boss, scrambling up the fence that Spot had already cleared.
"Hurry up," Spot ordered, not slowing his running.
"Where the fuck are we going?" Bam bellowed, already huffing loudly. He did not slide downspouts, climb fences, or run, god damn it. He used his mind, not his legs.
Spot immediately stopped running. He turned towards Bam and shrugged. "No idea," he admitted.
Bam caught up to Spot and then fell on the ground. "Then why the fuck are we running?" he wheezed out, breathing heavily.
Spot shrugged again. "No idea." He sat down. "I'm dizzy."
"Holy, fuck, I'm following a crazy man," Bam muttered, putting a hand on his forehead.
Spot snorted. "So? Where do you want to go?"
Bam touched the dried blood on the side of Spot's face. "I wanna go get you cleaned up," Bam replied.
"Don't be a girl," Spot said, pushing his hand away. "Let's go have some fun," he declared. "What do you wanna do? Steal? Start a fight? You want to go throw eggs at cop cars?"
"You aren't in any condition to be doing those things." Bam frowned. "And those things are criminal activities, Boss. They aren't fun."
"Says who?" Spot asked, his arms crossed. "Criminal activities are fun."
Bam sighed. "If you want to go do something I can show you what kids our age usually do for fun."
Spot tilted his head to the side and looked at him. "Okay," he agreed. "So where do we go?"
Bam couldn't hide a smile. "It's called an arcade. You ever play a video game, boss?"
"Hey," Sarah greeted as she leaned on David's door frame with a couple books in her hands.
"Hey," David greeted back, rising from his hunched position over a notebook in order to sit up and stretch. "What's up?"
Sarah strolled into the room, dumping her books on David's bed before plopping down herself. "Physics is awful, and Itey is giving me a headache," she sighed.
David cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I thought you said there was nothing between you and Itey."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Down, baby brother," she sighed. "There isn't anything between me and Itey." She bit her lip. "Or, at least, there's kind of nothing between us?" She chanced a look at David from the corner of her eye.
"'Kind of' nothing between you?" David bit out, leaping from his chair. "Exactly what is that supposed to mean? Sarah, if something happened in your room with him and you lied to me about it-"
"Nothing's happened, David," Sarah snapped, crossing her arms. "Thank you so much for the trust."
"Well what the hell am I supposed to be thinking?" David asked, walking up to Sarah and sitting next to her on the bed. "You're suddenly telling me kind of nothing's happened when just yesterday you were telling me that it was ridiculous. So what exactly happened?"
Sarah put her head in her hands. "He might've just asked me out." She raised her head up and looked at her brother, her voice quiet. "And I might be perfectly okay with that except for the fact that he's only doing it to forget about Skittery."
David raised his eyebrows. "You're telling me you like Itey?"
"I'm telling you I might like Itey," Sarah corrected. She shook her finger at David as she frowned. "This situation is already enough of a mess without you starting stupid rumors about me trying to steal Itey from Skittery."
"Sarah, I would never start rumors like that."
This time it was Sarah who lept up. "Of course you wouldn't on purpose, Davey. But the rumors will start themselves if you go around telling people I like Itey." She flung herself back on the bed. "Ugh, this is not going to end well for me at all."
David shuffled away from his sister and turned towards her, giving them both more room on the bed. "Ookay, so … you want my advice?"
Sarah burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "Oh, Jesus, you're kidding, right, David? You don't know the first thing about relationships. Not to mention you're probably the most awkward person I know."
"Well then why the hell are you even talking to me about this?" David snapped back, his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
She had no problem ignoring her brother's fit. "I wanna know my chances," she answered quietly, leaning in closer to him with a grin on her face. "You think I could steal him?"
David sighed. "You think this is already a mess, and you're trying to make it even worse? Do you really think you need to be getting in the middle of this?"
"I want what I want, Davey," Sarah replied, her head held high. "And I don't see why I should back down for Skittery if he doesn't care, which is what it sounds like from the way Itey talks. So?" Sarah asked leaning closer again. "Do you think I have a chance?"
David rubbed his forehead and sighed again. "I don't know, Sarah. You probably know about this a lot more than I do. I haven't gotten anyone to tell me anything. Itey seems like he's sad, but generally okay. Skitts is yelling at everyone. Neither are talking about their feelings. I can't think this will just go away."
Sarah leaned back on the bed as she listened to her brother's rant. "But as far as you know they aren't talking to each other?"
"No, as far as I know Skittery isn't talking to anyone and Itey isn't talking about it," David replied. "I don't know what that's got to do with anything. I still say you should keep out of it."
"Uh-huh," Sarah replied, pushing herself up from the bed. She whirled around to smile down at her brother. "Thanks, Davey, you've been a lot of help. I'll be sure to return the favor in a few years when you actually find someone stupid enough to date you."
David replied with another sigh as his sister went practically skipping from the room. "Well," he grumbled to himself, "Skitts should enjoy whatever the hell mayhem this manages to create."
Bumlets was all alone on the first floor of his new job. He couldn't believe he was already left on his own. Well, kind of on his own; the old man was upstairs, but he'd been up there for over an hour and hadn't bothered to check on him once. The old woman had told him forty-five minutes ago that she was leaving to go get some food; still no sign of her coming back.
Still, the first floor did seem to be pretty slow; seemed that most activity was on the second floor.
In fact, everyone who had come through the front door since he had come in traveled right on upstairs without looking at anything else. It seemed as if the old man and old lady could get rid of all their music stuff, move the arcade games to the first floor, reclaim the second floor as their bedroom, and not lose a single cent. Not that he didn't know his place enough not to say that after his first day as their employee.
Bumlets walked down all that aisles for the fourth time, trying to memorize where everything was (though, if this day was anything to go by, he'd probably just have to know the upstairs). After strolling through the aisles he decided to walk back to the register. He figured he could learn where the buttons were on it, since he wasn't doing much else.
That was when the front door opened.
Bumlets turned to greet the visitors, only to realize that it was …
"Sean?" Bumlets asked. "What the hell happened to your face?"
"He did," Spot answered, pointing with his thumb over to Bam. "He's also the one who dragged me here. He said I could shoot someone."
Bumlets' face dropped for a second before he gathered himself back up. "You mean, like a video game? They're upstairs," he answered, gesturing over to the staircase.
"Sweet," Spot replied. "This shit better be fucking realistic. Come on, Bam." He started heading for the stairs but stopped when he realized Bam wasn't following him.
"It's you," Bam breathed out, staring intently at Bumlets.
"Hm?" Bumlets asked, not at all feeling comfortable under the predatory stare he was receiving from this stranger.
Bam's head flinched back like he had been punched in the face all over again. "Well, it was dark, but you must know me," he stuttered. "I called you the next day, but …" He blinked. "How is your boyfriend by the way?"
Bumlets' eyes widened and his stomach sank as he started to connect the dots, but he was too shocked to speak.
"You remember me, right?" Bam asked, taking a step closer to Bumlets. "You must. I'm the one who took your … well, you know."
Bumlets' mouth dropped open and his eyes widened even farther.
Spot gave a single nod of his head. "Well, I'm not staying to watch this pussy ass shit; I'm off to kill anyone virtual that pisses me off," he declared before starting up the stairs.
"So, are you still with that boyfriend?" Bam asked, paying no attention to his boss.
"No … I-"
Bam immediately lit up. "That's fantastic! The truth is, I've always felt bad about that night. Especially after hearing about your boyfriend; I didn't mean to take anything from him. But I really did enjoy it, and I wanted to call you so bad, but I never wanted to get between you two. I figured that I'd done enough at that point. You left before I woke up, so I never got the chance to talk to you. How were you? I mean, did anything hurt? Was I too rough or anything? It's been awhile since my first time; I hope I made everything feel good for you. I mean, you came, I do remember that, so –"
Bumlets, eyes still wide, took two fast strides over to Bam and covered his mouth. He gave a quick gaze to the room to make sure no one had been listening in. "Can we not talk about this here?" he hissed out.
Bam burst into a smile. "You mean we can talk about it somewhere else? That's great! Where do you want to go? My treat."
"I-no … I can't, I'm working," Bumlets stuttered out. "This is my first day; I can't just walk off."
And that's when his boss, the old woman, decided to walk in carrying a pizza. "Sorry I'm late, my dear," she said. "That Steve really does like to talk. You'll have to meet him soon; he is such a sweetheart."
"So when can you if not today?" Bam asked, completely focused on Bumlets. "I don't wanna end up like we were again. I wanna make this up to you. When are you free?"
"Oh, he can go right now, if he wants," the old woman answered. "We are very slow today, and Jeff won't be ready for him upstairs until tomorrow."
Bam's smile grew. "Oh, that's fantastic news! Thank you so much!" He grabbed Bumlets' hand he dragged him closer. "Does he need to clock out or anything?"
The old woman smiled. "Nope, you dearies just go on ahead. I am perfectly capable of closing down my own store."
"You are a beautiful woman, Ma'am," Bam complimented before dragging Bumlets out the door. "You have no idea how much we appreciate this."
"No problem, my sweets! You're only young once, after all," the old woman said, still waving at the door as it closed.
"Did you just let our employee leave without teaching him a single thing, you numbskull!?" the old man shouted from the top of the stairs.
"Oh, lighten up, Jeff. He's off having fun with his boyfriend; it sounds like they don't get a lot of time together."
"Two weeks, if you can believe it," Blink said, taking a bite from the burger that was in front of him. "And cleaning, too, not even regular you-can-do-your-homework-here detention."
Mush nodded from across the small booth separating them. "I don't know, Blink. From the ruckus you created I was worried you'd both be expelled. The fact neither of you are suspended is miraculous."
Blink quickly looked away from his friend's face and down at his food. He scratched the back of his head. "I didn't exactly say that, Mush. I just said that I didn't get suspended." He sighed and bit his lip. "Unfortunately, Skittery's had a lot of warnings. The principal said he couldn't let him go with just some detention, even though I told him I was the one that started it."
Blink finally looked back up at Mush. "Do you think he'll hate me forever?"
Mush sighed and shrugged. "Skittery's never seemed to particularly care what kind of trouble he's in. I don't think it's a very good thing at all, but it also means he probably won't hold anything against you."
Blink smiled slightly at his friend. "That's true. He'll probably think of the suspension as a vacation." His smile dropped slightly. "Unfortunately, I'd much rather have him in school. We were talking before we saw the principal …"
Mush leaned in closer. "And …?"
"He's been recruited by Sean," Blink replied with a wince. "Or volunteered, I guess is a better word for it, from the way he made it sound. He seemed really happy about it."
"Who knows what Sean will make him do during those school days," Mush hissed out as his eyes widened. "How long until he can come back to school?"
Blink glanced down and swallowed. "He won't be back until Monday, and I have no idea where he's staying in Brooklyn or how to get ahold of him."
"I bet Racetrack does though," Mush replied back with a stern face. "And I bet he'd tell us if we asked."
Blink nodded back, his face matching Mush's. "We can try to meet him in the bathroom during second period tomorrow. That teacher never reports back to Race's mom."
"So … how have you been?" Bam asked excitedly as he sipped on his coffee. "Tell me about what's been happening in your life."
They were sitting in a coffee shop only big enough for four small tables and two booths lining one wall. There was only one server working and Bumlets could tell she had been staring at them intently ever since Bam had pulled out his seat for him.
"Look, I think there's been a big misunderstanding here," Bumlets finally got out. "I didn't want to leave my job. I don't think we have anything to talk about. And I appreciate you offering to pay for this, but I can support myself."
"Oh," Bam replied, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry. Here I was trying to apologize and it turns out I'm messing you up more."
Bumlets sighed, feeling guilty. "Look, I really do appreciate everything you're trying to do and all that, it's just that it's not necessary, is all. That was a long time ago and I'd rather just forget it ever happened, okay?"
"Oh, fuck, you didn't like it, did you?" Bam asked, eyes wide. "Was I too rough? Did I go too fast? I'm so sorry. I was drunk and I guess I just wasn't as careful as I should have been. Usually I'm really good about things like that, I promise."
"No, no, it's not like that," Bumlets argued, shifting in his seat and beginning to feel very uncomfortable. "You were very … gentle … and … uh … loving and all that. I mean, I was drunk, too, so I don't even remember it … um … hurting. It's just … well … I'm straight, okay? So … what happened between us? I'd just kind of like to leave it in the past."
Bam's eyes widened even more. "Oh, god, I did such a horrible job I turned you straight! I swear that's never happened to me before. Shit, I didn't even know that could happen."
"That can't happen!" Bumlets exclaimed. "I'm straight right now because I've always been straight. I'm sorry, okay? That whole night was just a huge misunderstanding. And I'd just prefer to forget about the whole thing."
"You can't be straight; I slept with you," Bam replied.
Bumlets blinked. "What? Seriously? I mean, it was alright, dude, but it wasn't anything that epic."
"Okay, obviously you just don't remember it well enough," Bam argued. "Either that or I was so drunk I was off my game, because I am very epic, my friend. And no one has ever been straight after a night with me. So, how about another go, then?"
"Another … what?" Bumlets asked before everything clicked. "What? No, man, I just told you I was straight. I have no desire."
"How do you expect me to turn you gay if you don't even give me a chance?" Bam asked.
"I don't want to be gay."
"Oh, I see," Bam replied. "This is just a case of homophobia, huh? Well, I can definitely take care of that one. All I need is one night."
Bumlets stood up from his seat. "Look, man, I don't really appreciate the pressure, okay? I'm not a homophobe and I have no desire to sleep with you. It was a mistake, and I just want to forget about the whole thing." He started walking towards the door. "Plus, that was a long time ago, dude. I can't believe you would even remember me. Just forget about it, okay?"
Bam immediately stood up and began to follow after him. He took his coffee cup full of coffee, but didn't bother to throw down any cash for it. "I don't understand why you're so apt to forget it. Are you embarrassed? What about it did you hate so much?"
Bumlets turned around, still walking away, albeit backwards now. "I don't know, man! Maybe the fact that I slept with a dude!" he shouted.
"How is that not homophobic?!"
"That's being straight," Bumlets shouted back, waving his arms as he kept walking. "There's nothing wrong with being straight, okay? Yeah, fine, I have some gay tendencies, but that doesn't mean anything! I'm tired of everyone just going ahead and assuming everything! In fact, I –fuck!" he yelled as he tripped over his own feet and fell over backwards.
"Hey, you okay?" Bam asked, racing over to him and kneeling down. "Are you hurt? I think I've got enough bruises on my face for the both of us. Plus, your face is much cuter than mine. Also, while there isn't anything wrong with being straight, straight men very rarely sleep with other men. And it's usually only homophobic people that get so defensive about it, no offense."
Bumlets sighed, not bothering to pick himself up. "I'm not being defensive," he claimed. "It was just all a mistake, okay? Excuse me for not wanting my mistakes rubbed in my face."
Bam sighed back. "I really liked you, you know? You were so sweet and innocent and cute. I was thinking about you for so long." He leaned forward and put his head on Bumlets' stomach. "Of course, the first guy I actually take an interest in is fucking straight. That's just my luck."
"Someone finally get tired of putting up with all your shit?" Jack asked from his bunk bed as soon as Skittery breezed down the stairs. "Heard someone kicked your ass."
Skittery rolled his eyes. "It look like I got the shit beaten out of me, asshole?" He swung himself up to his own bed. "It was just a stupid fight. Didn't mean shit."
Jack rolled onto his stomach so he could look towards his dormmate. "Doesn't seem like a simple fight if you're going to get so butt hurt about it."
"Has anyone told you that if you just didn't fucking talk you might be able to have friends?" Skittery grumbled before turning to face the wall. "Why don't you just shut up about things you don't know?"
"What the fuck's your problem?" Jack yelled, moving to sit upright on his bed. "I'm trying to be nice to you, you piece of shit, and you're getting fucking moody with me. You on your period or some shit?"
"I just want a fucking second where I don't have to see your god damn face," Skittery snapped back. "Or hear your god damn voice. Get the fuck out of my room."
"Your room?" Jack asked, his voice getting even louder. "Who the fuck do you think you even are? This is my room just as much as it's yours. If anything it's more mine because I've got seniority over you."
"Because you were here two nights before me?" Skittery yelled back, finally sitting up himself and glaring at Jack. "Yeah, two whole fucking days are so important."
"If you don't want to do it by seniority we can fight for it," Jack suggested, hopping off his bunk. "Unless you don't want your ass kicked twice in one day."
"Do you not hear what people say to you or are you just an idiot?" He swung off his own bunk and landed right in front of Jack, leaning in and pointing at his face. "This look like someone who got their ass beat today? Or does it look like a person who kicked someone's ass today?"
"Alright, that's enough ass kicking," a bored voice said from the doorway. "You guys are worse than twelve-year-olds," he continued as he walked into the room.
"Who the fuck are you?" Skittery asked, refocusing all his anger on the new person in the room.
The other boy didn't flinch. "I'm Slingshot, Second-in-Command and in charge of your training schedule if you still want a place to sleep tomorrow."
"Training schedule?" Jack asked. "I never agreed to that."
"And we never agreed to give you a place to sleep for free," Slingshot replied back. "You stay here and you work for us or you don't stay here and you don't work for us. Two options, ladies."
"I'm in," Skittery immediately replied, shooting a competitive look in Jack's direction.
Jack hesitated before nodding. "Yeah."
"Fantastic," Slingshot replied, his voice deadpan. "So, if you two children are going to prove useful there are things you need to learn." He turned around and started heading for the stairs. "Training starts today and continues everyday. If you have to miss a session you can use that time to find another place to sleep."
Skittery and Jack exchanged a glance before hurrying behind him.
TBC
Hopefully that was worth the wait. Next chapter is all about Bam and how he met Spot for the first time. :)