Page 36 of Something Like Summer
“No really,I--”
“Come on, don’t letWilford get out the door or we’ll never see him again.”
Tim stepped inside, hisposture shy and stooped. Ben’s mother shut the door behind him tofinalize the deal, winking at Ben on her way back to thekitchen.
“Time to meet the family,”Ben chuckled. “The extended version, too.”
“Great,” Tim said, tryinga sheepish smile.
They stood there,considering each other before Ben was called back into the diningroom. Tim followed and was soon assaulted by a slew of greetings,handshakes, and even hugs from some of the older ladies.Introducing Tim to Allison was surreal, since they were the twopeople closest to Ben and yet their paths had never crossed. Timseemed unsure how to behave around her, but her knowing smile saidthat she already knew all of Ben’s secrets.
“Wait, everyone!” Mrs.Bentley declared. “We have one more present before we lightcandles.”
“No, you can open itlater,” Tim said. “Really,” he added desperately when Ben took itfrom him.
“That’s all right, we’rein no hurry,” grandma crowed.
“It’s just something I--”Tim began as Ben started ripping the paper away. Whatever he hadplanned on saying was lost in his throat.
The wrapping paper fellaway to reveal streaks of red, orange, yellow, and pink. Thepainting was abstract, a war of hot colors interlocking andswarming together. In their midst was something that looked verymuch like a heart. Two hearts, actually, overlapping so close thatthey appeared as one. Ben thought it was beautiful.
“Isn’t that gorgeous?”Ben’s mother praised while clapping her hands together. “Did youpaint that yourself?”
Tim opened his mouth toanswer, but Ben’s sister spoke first.
“It looks like someonebarfed up paint on a canvas.”
“We should have cut yourtongue out at birth,” Mr. Bentley scolded.
“It’s just something Ifound somewhere,” Tim said dismissively. “You don’t have to keep itif you don’t want.”
“I love it!” Bensaid.
Mrs. Bentley took thepressure off Tim by lighting the candles and coercing everyone intosingingHappy Birthday. Ben smiled, content to let others sing for a change.Allison finished off with an extra verse sung diva-style, whichsent everyone into fits of applause when finished. Deciding what towish for was easy. Ben knew exactly what he wanted as he blew outthe candles.
There was little time tocatch up with Tim. Ben was caught in a whirlwind of relatives whowanted to know what he had been up to, offer advice on what heshould do with his life, or simply hear him sing. While he washolding court with them, he tried to keep an eye on Tim, who wasbeing cared for by Allison. Already she had heroically steered himaway from Karen and their equally boorish cousin. If he wasn’tmistaken, Tim was beginning to relax in her presence.
As the party wound down,Ben suggested to Allison that she call Ronnie and they all headdown to Houston to check out some of the haunted houses. He didn’tbother asking Tim what he thought of the idea. It was his birthdayafter all. As the last of the relatives left, Ronnie showed up andwhisked them all away in his beat up old SUV.
Tim clammed up again inRonnie’s presence, no doubt worrying about their relationship beingexposed to yet another person who went to their school. This didn’tlast long. Ronnie found a football game on the radio and soon theywere talking the indecipherable language of sports. Allison and Benexchanged glances and rolled their eyes before laughing.
Ronnie and Tim kept thesports talk going as they stood in line at the Horror Hotel, one ofHouston’s newer haunted houses that Ben had never visited. Allisonand Ben stood behind, arms linked together as they pretended to bedating each other. They hoped by doing this that they would makeTim and Ronnie look like the gay couple. They even attempted totrade knowing looks with a few other people in line.
The haunted house wasreally good, much better than those in previous years, utilizingjust the right amount of scare coupled with humor and creativity.Allison could really scream, too. As the group wound their waythrough narrow corridors strewn with cobwebs, Ben jumped more inresponse to her shrill exclamations than from themonsters.
As original as the HorrorHotel was, there were still many of the same staples found in everyhaunted house, such as the pitch-black maze. These always stirredup claustrophobia in Ben, but his fear dissipated when Tim put ahand over his mouth and pulled him aside. They stumbled along thewall until reaching a dead end, the voices of Allison and Ronniefading away as they sought their way out. Ben found himself pressedup against a wall, Tim’s voice tickling his ear.
“I broke up withher.”
“With Krista?”
“Yeah. You were right.It’s you I like and it’s you I want.”
Before Ben could respond,Tim’s mouth was on his. They pawed and groped at each other in thedark, their bodies pressing together. The hardness of Tim’s pecswas soon joined by the hardness in his pants. Ben reached down forhis zipper when someone bumped into them from behind andscreamed.
“Boo!” Tim yelled, causinga chorus of girlish squeals to flee from them. “Let’s get out ofhere,” he laughed as he took Ben by the hand. He held on to ituntil the very end when the inevitable chainsaw-wielding cannibalsent them scrambling out the exit.
Allison and Ronnie werewaiting for them, one looking clueless, the other wise to whatmight have delayed them. Stomachs grumbling, they found asteakhouse, the topic of sports once again dominating everyconversation. Allison and Ben swore to each other to never doubledate again.
