Page 52 of Only You

“Either way, Abe,” Mom said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s tacos.”

I headed over to the phone on the wall, wishing for the millionth time I had an extension in my room. I’d love to tell Daniel about Harold’s books and my uncle’s portrait, but I couldn’t have a conversation like that here, not with my mother listening.

I dialed the number and waited through four rings before Kennedy picked up.

“Hey Kennedy, it’s me, Peter. Can I talk with Daniel?”

“Mister! It’s you!”

“It’s me, yeah.”

Mom was watching me while putting string cheese pieces into her mouth.

“Mister, did you know Milky Way is Danny’s dog for real now?”

“What?”

“Yes! Danny said she’s gonna live with him forever!”

My stomach dropped. “Um, that’s great, Kennedy.” I felt sick. “Can I talk to Daniel?”

“Dan! Mister’s on the phone for you!”

Apparently, I was Mister forever to Kennedy. I was all right with that. But what I wasn’t all right with was the new anxiety that’d taken up residence in my gut. I hoped Daniel came to the phone soon. Hopefully, I was wrong. Hopefully, he’d reassure me that I’d only imagined the worst.

“Everything okay?” Mom asked, her brows drawing low.

I waved her off, rubbing my temple.

“Peter?”

“Hey.” Relief fell over me at the steady sound of his voice. “My mom said you called?”

“Yeah, I did. That was earlier today. I was hoping you’d be home from school already because I was missing you.”

My heart skipped, and I turned away from my mom, putting my forehead against the wall, smiling like an idiot. “Yeah, me too.” I added in a whisper, “I thought about you all day.”

“Me too.” He paused, and my heart sank again. Oh no. “So that was the reason I called earlier, but I planned to call tonight, too.” I braced myself against the wall just as he said, “Bobby passed away today.”

“No. He was…he was…” My voice shook. “He was supposed to go home.”

“I know,” Daniel said, his own voice cracking a little. “I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t have to tell you this. I wish we could have just talked about how wonderful last night was, and made plans for another date soon, and—” He let out a small sob. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” I said. “Do you need me? I can be out there in forty minutes. I’ll leave right now and—”

“No, it’s okay. Stay home and get some rest. I’d just worry about you on the road. I know you barely got any sleep.” He sighed. “I’ll keep you in the loop about the plans. Right now, all I know is he’s left his home and belongings to ARK. They’re planning to auction them off and sell the property. There won’t be a funeral, and his body will be cremated. That’s it. That’s all I know. I don’t know what’s going to be done with his ashes.”

“Daniel, I’m so sorry. Let me come out there—”

“No, don’t. Please rest. I care about you too much to have you driving around on country roads with no sleep. Besides, my mom goes to rehab Monday, and my grandparents arrive the next day. I’ve got a lot to accomplish between now and then preparing for all that. I’d love to see you. You’d make everything feel so much better, but I have to deal with all this first.”

“If you change your mind, just call.”

We talked a few more minutes about less horrible things, though the heaviness lingered. I agreed to see him again soon, and when we hung up, I could tell that my promises had lifted his spirits.

“That sounded like a tough phone call,” Dad said, putting the already-stuffed tacos on the kitchen table.

I nodded, tears threatening. “Yeah. Bobby…” I cleared my throat. “The Person With AIDS I was helping Daniel with?”

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