5 Spring, Year 4
The Troll
Two days go by without a hitch, and in the warm spring air, this is probably the best vacation I've had since I moved to the farm. My big surprise for Harvey was the Body Worlds exposition, which he liked, but we also went to a few of the other places.
On Friday morning we accompany my parents to the supermarket – mainly because I want to see if they have any other seeds here that Pierre doesn't sell, and also because I want to run a little errand of my own. Harvey sticks with me as I meander through the rows – everything's been changed up several times since I was last here, of course, so I have to go looking for the seeds.
In one row I spot a familiar profile from afar and quickly go two rows further. And also toward the back wall of the supermarket, instead of the center corridor.
"Evan, I think I spotted them over there," Harvey comments, pointing back toward where we came from.
"That's... um..." I'm not good at inventing excuses, and besides I don't really want to start lying. "There's... someone over there I'd prefer to avoid. Let's just... wait a bit around here, I'm sure he won't stay long."
We happen to be in the baking materials rayon, so I start looking at the different things they're selling. It amazes me how many different types of flour they have – pizza flour, bread flour, strong flour, all-purpose, dessert flour, and some more out-there things like coconut, chestnut and... acorn flour?
"Huh, I didn't know you could make flour from acorns. Maybe I should try that."
"Acorns aren't really edible, though," Harvey remarks, picking up a bag of the stuff to look at the label. "It's possibly some kind of industrial process, like bleaching sugar. They do that with sulfides, I think."
"Chestnuts are edible, though. I never really found any chestnut trees on the farm. There's a few hazelnut trees out there, but they don't really produce enough nuts to make it worth it to mill them."
There's about a hundred types of food coloring, too, and a bunch of different kinds of sprinkles, icing and fondant to cover baked goods.
"Man, and a cake already has so much sugar in it," I comment.
"What are you going to do?" asks a voice I haven't heard in years. "Eat your cake bare?"
I've spun around to face the man before I've really realized I should keep my emotions hidden. Anything I give him, he will use against me. Now, the best thing I can do is pretend that I'm just shocked that he appeared.
"Dylan!" I grab for my heart. "Man, you scared me to death."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I spotted you from afar, and I figured we could have a chat. It's been a while since I've seen you."
"True enough," I chuckle I'm not going to volunteer to tell him why. Dylan explicitly looks over to Harvey. I'm not sure if Harvey is aware that this is the guy I was trying to avoid, but it would look impolite anyway if I didn't present them to each other. "Well, Dylan, this is Harvey. Harvey, Dylan, an old acquaintance from university."
"Just an acquaintance, hmm? Such a shame, we used to be so close," Dylan insinuates, offering Harvey his hand. He does it all with a smile, though, as if everything he says is just a charming joke. "Pleasure to meet you, Harvey. Are you also an 'acquaintance'?"
"I would consider myself a friend, but some of us are more hesitant with that title than others," Harvey answers mildly. I'm nearly sure he understands what's going on here – at least he's taking cues. I didn't introduce him as either friend or boyfriend for a reason.
"A truth like a lark, as my grandma used to say," Dylan responds pleasantly. "Never really got what she meant by that. So I heard you moved away, Evan."
"Yeah, I'm just visiting my parents for a week."
"And Harvey came with you? Or are you also visiting him?"
Harvey asked me not to protect him. I look over at him, wordlessly asking him to answer.
"There's one or two things one can only find in the city. Evan heard I needed to take the trip... It's not the most pleasant experience to take that bus trip in both directions on the same day, so he offered me to stay at his parents' house."
"Hey, Dylan," I interrupt, "I'm sorry, man, but my parents took us in the car and they still have other stuff to do today. This place is too big to just find somebody, so we're gonna need to get back to them. I'll see you around sometime."
"Of course. Don't get them worried. Au revoir. And I really did enjoy meeting you, Harvey. If you ever need something from the city again, you don't have to wait three years for Evan to come over. Just knock on my door."
"That's very hospitable, thank you," Harvey responds while I'm already moving out of the rayon. We left my parents somewhere around the dairy, so that's where I head. I wait a rayon further until Harvey has caught up.
"So something tells me this is the acquaintance from university," he comments.
"Yeah."
"Scarier than he looks, is he?"
"Look, you're not going to like me saying this, because I'm not a medical professional... But something is not right about this guy. He likes to play power games, get into people's heads. After I kicked him out of my dorm, he kept on getting back in while I wasn't there, telling my roommates that I'd invited him, that he'd forgotten something of his there, and always charming as cherry pie. Nobody wanted to believe he was rotten. Then he started going after everyone he saw me so much as have a chat with, slandering me black, and he made a point out of dating the gay men before I could so much as talk to them a second time."
"That sounds like the mother of all grudges."
"I don't know, I had the impression he enjoyed it anyway. He gives me the creeps, now."
"Well. I have the impression you made it obvious enough that you didn't want to talk to him. Didn't you want seeds?"
"He's just going to keep hanging around, I want to get out of here."
My parents are a few rayons closer to us than where we left them. After we've loaded the groceries into the car, I speak up.
"Hey, um, I've got a little errand to run here in the neighborhood. You guys go along home, I'll take a bus or something."
"Oh, okay," my dad answers. "Have you got money on you?"
"Yeah, I do. I kind of planned this. I have my keys too."
Harvey closes the car door he just opened, ready to come with me.
"Um, no, Harvey... This is a bit of a secret. You're not supposed to know. Yet." I wink at him.
"Oh. Sure." He opens the door again and sits down in the car.
I also intentionally waited until the end of our stay to do this, so he's a bit comfortable with my parents. I shouldn't be long.
Two hours later I come home with a wrapped package. Harvey is in the living room talking animatedly with my parents and Sandra, who has finally got a chance to ask her weird medical questions, from what I can gather. I quickly hide my package in my suitcase and join them.
