Page 81 of Marcus in Retrograde
Nodding, I stood and shook his hand. “Thank you. Vincent. I know you don’t know me from Dick, but I appreciate this.”
“Any friend of Chase’s is a friend of mine.” Politely nodding at my mother, he moved out of the room, and closed the door.
“Chase!” Mom yelled, making us both jump. “A check for bail that big?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m not letting my boyfriend stay in Rikers.” He pulled up a chair and sat down. “Can you explain what’s going on? Why is someone accusing you of rape?”
I grabbed the copy of the reports that Kyle had left behind, and spun them so Chase could see them. “He’s not just accusing me. He’s doctoring the evidence. I’m hoping that once these cops look at this, the whole case falls apart.”
* * *
CHASE
THE PICTURESONthe table were no fucking joke. They were of a man who was beaten badly, and…well. Clearly had been penetrated.
Dawn stood. “I’ll let him tell you the story, I can’t hear it again. I’m going to get some fresh air.”
Marcus nodded and waited until the officer outside let her out.
As soon as the door closed, I grabbed Marcus and pulled him to me for a hug. “Damn it,” I hissed. “I am so sorry my brother did this. He’s been ejected from the house. Mom won’t let him back.” I leaned back and looked him up and down. “Are you all right?”
He ran a hand down his face, then shook his head. “No. I don’t think I am. Chase, I can’t afford two lawyers, and I don’t have the money to pay you back for this bail. I just don’t. I appreciate what you’re doing—”
Pulling him to me again, I slanted my mouth over his and kissed him hard. “Did you mean it?”
He went red from his toes to the top of his hair, then ducked his head. I grabbed his chin and lifted him to look at me. “Did you?”
Marcus’ eyes welled with tears. “I…yeah. Yes. I did. I do. I’d been kind of thinking about it a bit, but after it slipped out, I really felt it.” He leaned forward and whispered against my lips, “I love you, Chase.”
I kissed him back, softly, slowly, sweetly. “I love you, Marcus. Please, tell me what happened here so we can get you out and get home and celebrate that.”
“You may not want to after you hear this.”
I put my hand on his cheek. “Did you hurt someone? Did you kill someone? Did you rape or abuse anyone?”
“God no!”
“Then, nothing is going to change my mind. Tell me. And I’ll tell you why I can afford Kyle Tormundsen.”
His eyebrow rose. “Bribery, sir?”
“Damn skippy, and I’m tossing in some sex for the hell of it.”
Turning solemn, almost sullen, Marcus sat back in his chair and folded his arms. “So…I got accepted to Boston Conservatory for a whole host of things. I got in on visual arts, vocal arts, and classical guitar.”
“You play—”
“Nothing and I’ll explain why in a minute.” He took a deep breath. “I started dating Ed Roberts in my junior year. He was not an ideal boyfriend, and I should have realized what was up ages before the incidents. But I wanted the support of aboyfriendand he was there. Too there, if you know what I mean. Pushing me to go out with him, always at my rehearsals and recitals. I thought it would be fine once I got used to him. And you, of all people, know thatgetting used tosomeone is a bad sign. I wasn’t that smart.
“We started dating in October, and by February we were always together. He moved me into his apartment and started isolating me. I was smart enough to see that coming, though, and about four weeks after I moved in, I moved back out, telling him I just wasn’t ready.
“April was already heavy rehearsal season for the upper classmen, and I pushed through, relieved to go home for the summer.
“When I got back the next year, my senior year, people who had been kind of friendly were giving me looks that would take a SCUD missile down midflight. Some of the people I had called almost friends were avoiding me. Some of the friends Ed and I shared were now fully and only his. And of course, I had no idea what was going on.”
Marcus shook his head and I could see he was having trouble talking. I scooted my chair closer and took his hand in both of mine. I wasn’t going to push him for the story, but he started up again in a moment.
“During the course of the summer, he’d started a rumor I had been abusing him. That he had kicked me out of the apartment after I’d wormed my way in. And about mid-October, I’d had enough and I wanted it over with. I asked him nicely to meet me in the library and we could talk this out and be done.
