Page 28 of Vespertine
“If you want kids raiding your kitchen, I can arrange for acouple to drop by.”
Adrian laughed, then nodded toward the papers. “Is that whyyou’re here?”
Jasper hesitated. Now that the moment was here he felt atwinge of disappointment. He was going against the Order that had taken him in,that had given him hope and purpose for so long. Without the help of theChurch, Blue Oasis would never have existed.
But he couldn’t let them take it away from him now.
“I was wondering,” he began, slowly sitting down again, “let’ssay in a hypothetical situation, if I had to take over the lease of the school,how would I go about that? And if that wasn’t possible, could I keep Blue Oasisrunning without the support of the Church?”
Adrian’s eyebrows rose but he said nothing for the moment.Reaching for the contracts, he leaned on the counter and leafed through themfor a while, then whistled softly through his teeth.
“I’d have to look into it,” he eventually said. “But I’mguessing it would mostly take time and money. Time to sort out all the legalaspects of running a youth center, but with your background that shouldn’t betoo much of a problem, especially since a lot of the groundwork has been done.The money however…where would you make your income? You’d depend on grants—afew of those you have in place already, but I’m guessing you’ll want to hiremore staff, take in more kids.” Adrian bit his lip and nodded slowly. “Are theythinking about closing down?”
“They want to open it up as a shelter for all kids, not justLGBTQones. It’d be the end of the whole purposeof the group, Adrian. If they do that…my kids will fade away. Back to thestreets. To prostitution.” Jasper lowered his voice, infused it with kindness. “Todrugs.”
“Yes.” Adrian nodded. “Yes, I see. Leave it with me. I’llread through the contracts tonight. Do some research tomorrow.” He put his handon the file. “Does Lucas know?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay. Let’s keep it that way for now. Come over for dinnertomorrow evening, and we’ll talk about it then.”
Mrs. Blumfeld burst into the kitchen before he couldpolitely decline. “Oh what a wonderful idea!”
“I don’t know—”
“Yes, you do. We miss you, Jazz. I’m sure Nicky’s missed youtoo. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to get reacquainted. In fact, why don’tyou go say hi now? He’s outside by the pool listening to music. I left thelemonade with him.”
“I—” Jasper looked to Adrian for help, but there was none.Adrian just gave a one-shouldered shrug and a comical little smile that seemedto say,What can you do?“All right. I’ll…go say hi.”Going by their last encounter he’d be saying bye straight after anyway.
Chapter Six
THESUNLIGHT BURNED BLUE AGAINSTNicky’s closed eyelids. Music from hisparents’ outdoor speaker system drifted over the backyard to where he laystretched out across the top of the extra-long picnic table on which hisparents hosted barbecues. Nicky flexed his bare toes, enjoying the wet, soggyweight of his soaked long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans baking dry in the summersun. The pressure on his skin was just right, like he was being hugged allover, and he decided that when they’d dried, he’d jump in and do it again.
The rough wood of the table dug into his shoulder blades andthe knobs of his upper spine. The discomfort was comforting, a reminder that hewas sober and not numbed out on drugs or alcohol. He felt human. Real. His wethair dripped in ticklish trickles along his scalp and down the side of hisface.
He gripped the remote for the stereo unit built in by the pooltightly in one hand and held very still as the song’s rhythm guitar, snare, andtom-toms grew in intensity. A racing heartbeat. Or pounding feet on pavement.It was the music of someone running for their life. Nicky knew it well. Hotbreath at his neck, a knife glinting in moonlight, the sound of a windowbreaking, a lock failing to hold, running, running, running.
The song climaxed and in the scene behind his eyes therunner stumbled, falling in slow-motion. Instantly, the chasing demon devouredhim, and the dreamer awoke, all in the short beat before the singer deliveredhis final poignant lines.
Nicky hit repeat, wallowing in the self-indulgent opening tothe song all over again.
“Sweetie, you’ve got a visitor!” his mother’s voice calledfrom the direction of the kitchen door.
The formerly comfortable weight of his clothes became aterrifying restriction, and panic rose under an awful sense of being pinionedand trapped. Had Jimmy Orlean heard he was home? He shouldn’t have gone withhis father to the hardware store to look at wood for the steps, and hedefinitely shouldn’t have gone into Target for clothes. Someone must haverecognized him. Word had gotten out. Jimmy Orlean was bad enough. Now it wasonly a matter of time before the paparazzi or obsessed fans descended on him.Would his mother know better than to let one of them in?
His heart beat in time with the rising rush of the music.No, no, in all likelihood, it was just Jimmy. But then the question became howhe was going to tell his old supplier and pseudo-friend to get the fuck offtheir property without upsetting his mother? Or, a better question was how hewould pull off saying no to whatever drug Jimmy had come to offer. He swalloweddryly. God, it’d be so easy to say yes.
The maintenance medicine in his system would make himviolently sick if he used heroin. But Jimmy’s hottest product had always beenpot, andthatwas another story altogether. He couldsmoke up without any risk of spending a night puking. It would be stupid, sure,but that kind of thing had never stopped Nicky before.
Panic, tight and hard, coiled in him, and he struggled to asitting position, rubbing at the sun-blindness spotting his vision. He’d sayno. He hadn’t come this far to fuck it up. He’d say no. Or yes. Or maybe just alittle bit of yes.
No.
Footsteps approached. Black pants and a tight blackbutton-up shirt. A white collar. Jazz’s goddamn beautiful face.
“Fuck, it’s you,” Nicky said, not sure if he was relieved,pissed off, or embarrassed. Could Jasper see the temptation written on hisface? Would he see right through him like he had when they were kids?
Jazz glanced over his shoulder and then back toward Nicky. “Istopped by to talk with your father. Your mother insisted I say hello.”
