Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 16:00:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: c.e. jordan <cejordan2000@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Village Boy 4

The Village Boy 4
Copyright c.e. jordan

     Eliza was beginning to appear fluttery and vague again, it seemed she
couldn't decide whether to toss the remaining pizza into the garbage or put it
into their little refrigerator. Jer took it from her hands and put it in the
`fridge.

     "I have to go now...but I want you to call me tomorrow Eliza, don't
forget." As I rose to leave she refocused, "Yeah, I'll call you Charles, we do
have a lot to discuss, don't we...." She was watching Jeremy as he came to my
side and reached for my hand again.

     "Mom, I wanna walk with Charles to the subway........may I?
....Pleeeeze....?"

     "Alright, just come right back home, it's getting late."


                                                         ****
     (to be continued)


_________________________________________


The Village Boy
Copyright c.e. jordan@mailandnews.com


			 THE VILLAGE BOY - Part 4


     Darkness had fallen quickly, and for awhile Jeremy and I walked along
negotiating the flickering evening shadows in comfortable silence. But he
stayed so close to me that we kept bumping into each other: Hip. Bump. Arm.
Bump. Shoulder. Bump. Finally, I thought to myself, `to hell with what anyone
thinks, this IS the Village after all' and I put an arm around his shoulder. It
was a lot easier to walk together with him this way. And as his arm slipped
around my waist, he looked up at me and smiled contentedly. Damn! How quickly
I'd grown to love that smile. Still, my mind was in turmoil as I went over all
that had happened during my unexpected visit to Jer's home. I sensed my life
was about to change substantially.

     The rasp of metal wheels grinding against the concrete pavement broke
through my thoughts and erased the quietness; out of nowhere it seemed, a
teenager of about Jeremy's age, blonde curls bobbing, flew directly at us. We
froze. But at the very last second before impact the kid's feet did a complex
hopping movement and the skateboard he was riding on seemed to fly upward into
his hands. Casually tucking the board under an arm, he stood there glaring at
us without speaking. I felt Jeremy's body stiffen beside me.

     "Hey, Kev, uh....you  going home now?" I thought Jeremy's voice wavered
slightly.

     "Yeah. Where the heck were you man? I waited for you all afternoon at St
Mark's...."

     The skinny boy dressed in baggy clothing seemingly two sizes bigger than
he was glanced at me briefly then pretended I didn't exist.

     Jeremy stammered, "Kevin I....I...." But Kev interrupted, "You promised we
were gonna go to the movies together...I even bought the stupid tickets." His
voice rose as he repeated, louder this time, "You promised! Damn it Jer, I
waited and waited for you!"

     The streetlight illuminated the boy's soft screwed up face. He was very
angry, or maybe just doing a macho job of trying not to cry. As he came closer,
the large coloured beads he wore around his neck made a small clicking sound
each time he moved his head. I was feeling very uncomfortable and it seemed
Jeremy had gone quite dumb. What had I gotten myself into?

     Kevin reached in his pocket and tossed two tiny pieces of paper at Jeremy.
The movie tickets, I assumed, fluttered slowly to the ground.

     Jeremy tried to speak again, "Kev.....I'm sorry...." But the blonde boy
had dropped his well-used skateboard with the peeling paint to the pavement. I
thought he was going to jump on it and ride off, instead, he grabbed it up
again and sprinted away on foot into the night, and this time I was fairly sure
he was crying.

     Jer's face turned to me confused and upset. I just nodded. He tore out of
my arms and ran off after Kevin. Even after I couldn't see him anymore, I could
hear him yelling, "Kevin....Kev? Wait
up..........pleeease.......Kevvvvvvy.......wait........."

     I stood there alone on the street-corner. I felt......I don't know what I
felt. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to wait there for Jeremy to return or
not. Was he even going to come back? What does this all mean? What was I even
doing there?

     About half an hour later, after just standing around watching people pass
back and forth on the street, my feet started walking again toward the subway
which was now only a block or two away.

     It was clear to me that Kevin and Jeremy were far more than just ordinary
friends. It was also obvious that if I was going to have any kind of
`relationship' with Jeremy--whatever that meant--I had to allow him space to be
himself......to be a kid with all the confusions and growing pains that
implied. No matter what I desired, no matter how much I wanted him all to
myself, I had to leave him room enough to grow and develop naturally. It didn't
matter if he was going to be gay or straight. To `force' him to always be with
me alone in the name of `love' would probably
be...unnatural....posssessive....and in some sense, abusive. And I cared too
much to ever hurt him that way.

     But, for the moment, that was all academic. For all I know Jeremy may have
already decided to dump me in favour of his friend. I'd just had that thought,
when I heard the sound of running feet behind me, "Hey Charles.......wait
up..."

     I spun around in time for Jeremy to run up to me and fall straight into my
arms. He leaned on me panting, his mouth open like a puppy, "Damn, seems like
I've spent this whole night just running up and down, and up and
down....geeeze......you guys are makin' me sooo crazy."

     I chuckled a little bit, "Sorry about that kiddo. How's Kevin?"

     Jer's face became serious, "Okay now.....I think. I told him you were a
friend I met this afternoon, someone I hadn't seen for a long time and in the
excitement I just forgot about the movie."

     "If I were him, I don't think that excuse would have made me feel any
better."

     "Well, it didn't....." Jeremy hesitated and bit down on his lower lip.
There was obviously something more he wanted to tell me but couldn't bring
himself to say.

     "It's okay, Jer, I understand......about you and Kevin...." He looked at
me suspiciously, "You do?"

     "We gotta have a long talk Jer......not now, because your mom must be
wondering if you're gonna be gone all night again...."

     Near the subway we stopped at a small abandoned newsstand and sat together
on one of the empty boxes stacked on the side between the sidewalk and the
street.

     "I want to say one thing, don't ever think you have to get rid of your
good buddies just because you're friendly with me...I saw Kevin's face, and he
was really hurt that you'd forget about him so easily...."

     "Yeah....I know." Jer wearily slouched back against the newstand wall.
"Since we moved here Kevin was always so nice to me....he's my best
friend...actually, my only real friend.....I could tell him just about
anything, and no matter what I do he never  ever gets mad at
me........uh...well, until tonight

     "I have a feeling that your friend was more hurt than mad at you."

     "Yeah....but....but......Charles, he.....he never told me before......you
know, what he really felt about me....not until tonight." Jeremy's head bowed
and for an instant I saw an errant spark of light catch on the thin silver loop
in his left ear. His fingers were twisting together in his lap. I was reminded
of his young mother's similar nervous habit.

     "Charles....Kevy was crying!....I felt so bad....then he said he loved
me....that he's always loved me...that he couldn't stand it if I hated him,"
Jeremy turned his face full of shadows to me, "but I don't hate him Charles."


     "Did you tell him that?"

     "Yes."

     There was obviously more to this story. I hesitated, but I had to ask,
"Did you tell him you loved him too?"

     The ensuing pause stretched out achingly long as I held my breath. Finally
the answer came, "Yes."

     A sigh escaped my lips before I could pull it back. It was a sound of
either defeat or acceptance....at the moment I simply didn't know which.

  o regain my attention, just as he did that night we met not so long before,
he reached out and pulled my head to face him. "I told Kev I cared about him.
but that there was someone else...and he said he knew, but he didn't care just
as long as I could like him too."

     "Baby," I said, unconsciously using his mom's pet name for him, "if I love
you I will love anybody who truly loves you and I promise to care for anyone
you care for...it doesn't matter if it's your mother, Kevin, or anyone
else...that's what it means for me...if what we have is strong enough it will
not make a difference for the two of us."

     It took me a moment to identify the soft sniffling sound. Jer was crying.
One of his long braids swung forward as he quickly checked to see if anyone was
looking, then he leaned over to place his soft yielding mouth gently on mine;
just before we broke the kiss, his tongue flickered out and back between my
lips for a little electric charge. His teary face hovered in front of mine with
an mpish grin now plastered across it. "I'm so glad I met you."

     "Me too baby, me too."

     I stood. "You have to get yourself home now, I don't want to make your
mother mad at you...or me."

     "Okay, okay....but when are we gonna meet again......I mean when we can be
alone to....um....you know......"

     I pretended not to know what he was talking about and asked somber faced,
"Whatever do you mean child? Alone? To do what exactly?"

     Jeremy stared at me confused for a moment wondering if I was serious or
not, but then he saw me smile and punched me hard in the arm. "Ow! You don't
have to kill me baby."

     He giggled.

     We walked the few paces to the subway entrance, his hand in mine again. He
squeezed it a couple of times, "Charles, you don't know how I'm going out of my
mind....I feel like I'm gonna explode.....every night when I'm trying to go to
sleep I remember what we did...everything...and I can't wait for more." Jer's
voice was suddenly breathy, passionate, excited, and exciting. "Don't worry
baby, there'll be time enough for everything....um....do you think your mom
might let you spend a day with me? I've seen where you live, maybe now it is
time for both of you to see my place....."

     His face lit up, "You mean it?"

     "Yeah....lemme talk to your mom again, remind her to call me tomorrow.
Don't forget."

     "Alright, I will remind her."

     And as I turned to leave, I said, "You have a very nice mom Jer...I'm glad
I met her."

     "Yeah, she's okay....I think......." His voice was soft, thoughtful, and
his almond shaped eyes were downcast making them seem closed.

     "Jer? Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine, for you and me...and your
mom, take good care of her, ok?

     "Okay."

     As I descended the stairs, I decided  to tease him a little bit: "And take
care of your `other' boyfriend too, give cute Kevy an extra hug for me."

     "Oh you.......". Jeremy looked around for something to throw at me as I
ran down the steps but he couldn't find anything, "I'm gonna get you next
time," he yelled.

     I reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up to see him still standing
there sillouetted against the night sky just like the last time.....but this
time around I knew I would definitely be seeing him again.

     "'Bye Chaaarles!" Jeremy shouted at the top of his lungs from the top of
the long staircase causing the few other people going up and down the steps to
turn and smile at me.

     I laughed, "'Bye Jeremy," I yelled back just as loud, "call me tomorrow."

     He was still standing there when I turned a corner deep into the station.


--------to be continued-----