Justin's Rock

Chapter 1Two young men came out of the gym and began walking toward the student parking lot. The first of them was a rangy 6’1” with black hair and brown eyes. His broad-shouldered companion was shorter, about 5’9” or 5’10” with light brown hair and blue eyes. Both wore crew cuts. “I know you wanted to play third base, Jus,” the taller one said, “but our defense has really improved since Coach moved you to shortstop. You’re a natural in that position.” Justin shivered slightly. It might be spring in Northern Ohio, but the weather was far from balmy. He’d just showered, and the breeze chilled him. He wished he’d worn a jacket. But he grinned at his friend and said, “Yeah, who’d a thunk? But it’s good to know you’re behind me to catch my mistakes.” The centerfielder for the Higgins High Hornets grinned back. “That’s my job, dude. Hey, you wanna go for a burger or something?” “I’d like to, but I’ve gotta go home, grab something to eat, change clothes, and get back to school. Tonight’s the Symphonic Winds concert.” “Oooh, gotta go and be a groupie for your boyfriend, huh?” “Up yours, Morelli!” “In your dreams, Quinn,” Steve replied, chuckling. He stopped beside his car. “Then I guess I’ll see you at practice tomorrow. Enjoy the concert.” “Thanks, bud. Later.” Justin hadn’t wanted to play baseball at Higgins High. He’d played his freshman and sophomore years at St. Anselm’s Academy, but when he transferred to Higgins the fall of his junior year, he’d taken some flak for being openly gay, a problem he’d never faced at St. A’s. It was mostly a few of the football players who’d caused the problems. They’d call him faggot or queer as he passed them in the halls or in the lunch room. Twice he was tripped. The second time it happened, Justin found himself sprawled on the floor, the contents of his backpack spilled all over. He got up and slugged Carl Lobocki in the gut. By the time the two were separated, Justin had a black eye. Both boys were sent home for fighting. The next day the principal got on the PA system and talked for ten minutes about how diversity was valued at Higgins High and how intolerance wouldn’t be tolerated. After that, Justin found himself a hero among the gays, the geeks, and some of the girls in his class. For as long as it lasted, he wore his shiner as a badge of honor. During the rest of that year he’d made friends, but he refused to go out for baseball when spring rolled around, unwilling to expose himself to what he saw as the homophobia of the jock culture. That summer, however, Justin had met Brody Cox, with whom he had immediately become infatuated, and Dave Cromer, both older than he by several years. They’d invited him to play on their summer-league team, the Higgins Hammers. Later, after he’d started his senior year, both Brody and Dave had urged him to try out for the baseball team when spring came. Justin resisted, claiming that too many other things were going on. It was his senior year, for f**k’s sake. And now he had a boyfriend. But even Gary had said he ought to try out for the team—though he suspected Gary wanted him to carry the rainbow flag onto the diamond. At any rate, he’d made the team. At first some of the guys were a bit cool, but the rest of the team welcomed him, especially after they saw what he could do. And the others had come around. So it was all good. He’d made a bunch of new friends on the team. Brody and Dave had promised to come to his games whenever they could, and even his dad seemed pleased he was playing ball again. The guest conductor for the Symphonic Wind Ensemble’s spring concert was Hardy Wolfe-Ridgway, head of the music department of nearby Windsor University. Justin had expected the program to be mostly marches, but he was surprised. They played a nice mix, including arrangements of some Beatles’ tunes plus wind settings of works by Bach, Handel, and Vaughan Williams. The only march was the second encore, which was, of course, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” The audience was delighted when the tubas stood and played the flute/piccolo part in the second strain. After the concert there was the usual mob in the hall outside the auditorium, but Justin spotted Gary’s parents. After he’d shaken hands with Mr. Keller and been hugged by Mrs. Keller, he saw Gary, first chair trombonist with the Ensemble, working his way through the crowd. The Kellers told their son how wonderful the concert was and hugged him. He accepted their congratulations and then said to them, “I couldn’t eat much supper. I was too nervous. Is it okay if Justin and I go grab something to eat?” “Sure, but tomorrow’s Friday and that’s a school day, so be home by eleven.” “Aww, Dad, it’s ten o’clock now. Can we make it 11:30?” Mr. Keller smiled. “Well, you’re about to graduate from high school and this is a special occasion. Sure. Justin, I assume you’ll drop Gary off at home?” Justin grinned. “You can count on it. I’ll have had enough of music talk by then.” “Oh, Gary,” Mrs. Keller said, “don’t forget to tell Justin your news.” “What news?” Justin asked. “I’ll tell you later, okay?” * * * * Justin and Gary were having milkshakes and fries at the BK. “That Wolfe-what’s his face dude, the guest conductor, was seriously hunky,” Justin said. “I mean, with that curly blond hair and all. He looks like he’s got some muscles, too. Not your typical musician.” Gary stuck his tongue out at Justin. “Yeah, I knew he was a star in Ohio music circles, but I’d never seen his picture. I nearly creamed my pants when Mr. Burnside introduced him at rehearsal.” “And he’s gay, too.” “Yeah, but how did you—oh, of course, your gaydar is, as you keep saying, infallible.” “Uh huh. But what’s with the hyphenated name? Is he a Brit or something?” Gary dabbled a fry in catsup, ate it, and then grinned. “Nope. He used to be just Hardy Wolfe. But now he’s married to Matthew Ridgway, the president of Windsor, and he added Ridgway’s name to his.” “No s**t? That’s so cool!” “Uh huh.” After taking a long swallow of his shake and then stifling a burp, Justin said, “So, what was the news your mom was talking about?” Gary’s face lighted up. “I got my acceptance from Indiana U today.” “Hey, that’s great! I know that’s the one you were really hoping for. But why Indiana? Windsor’s got a great music program, and there are the conservatories at Oberlin and Cincinnati and the Cleveland Institute of Music all here in Ohio.” “Well, Windsor’s too close to home.” “What’s wrong with being near home?” “I’ve never been anywhere, except for Interlochen last summer,” Gary said. “I want to get away from Higgins.” “Okay, but what about the others, the Ohio schools?” “They’re more for people who want to be concert performers. I know I’m not good enough for a career as a soloist. Besides, I think I’m more interested in composition, theory, conducting, that sort of thing. And IU is great for those things.” “I should’ve known you’d have it all figured out. So, congratulations,” Justin said. “You know I’m happy for you.” “Uh, Justin?” “Yeah?” “You could come to Indiana, too. With grades like yours, I’m sure they’d take you. But it’s getting late to be applying anywhere. Sure you don’t want to come along and be my roommate?” Justin waggled his eyebrows and grinned. “Yeah, I’d love to have that sweet little ass available any time I wanted it.” Gary blushed and looked around. “Justin! Somebody might hear you!” “Well, it is a nice ass.” With an exasperated expression, Gary said, “Sometimes you’re just too much.” “Okay, straight answer. I’ve got my acceptance at Carnegie-Mellon and at Case. As I’ve told you, my folks, for reasons I don’t understand, aren’t all that excited that I’m thinking of majoring in architecture. I’ve still got to make up my mind whether I want to follow in the parental footsteps and, if so, where I want to go to college.” “I’m sure you could study architecture at IU.” “Yeah, I probably could. But the thing is, I think I might like Colby State. After all, I know the campus, my dad’s a prof there…” “You sure you just aren’t afraid to leave home?” “Oh, s**t, man. You know better than that. I’d insist on living in the dorms. I’m still just not sure about the whole thing.” “Well, that’s unusual for you.” “What do you mean?” “Just that you’re usually so self-confident.” Justin wiped his hands on his napkin. “You know me pretty well. I thought you’d have seen through that by now.” Gary looked steadily at his boyfriend but didn’t say anything. “Look, when you’re always shorter than most of the guys your age, and when you’re gay as well, you can either let everybody call you a shorty, a wimp, a faggot and crawl away with your tail between your legs, or you can let them think that sort of s**t doesn’t matter to you. I’ve always managed to hold my head up and still be who I am. But I used to go home and cry into my pillow a lot, too.” He grinned. “I hope I’m not disillusioning you.” “No, babe, not at all.” Gary raised an eyebrow. “I’ve always known you’re a cream puff at heart.” “You know I hate it when you call me babe.” “Oh, sorry. I forgot. I do know that,” Gary said, “though I don’t understand why.” “Because it’s, well, I don’t know, it’s, it’s too girly or something. I’m gay, but I’m a guy, dammit, and calling someone babe just turns me off.” “Okay, Tarzan,” Gary chuckled, “I’ll remember this discussion.” As they left the Burger King, the two boys made quite a contrast. Gary was six feet tall and skinny, even gangly, with big hands and feet. Justin, though shorter, had a more athletic build and was better looking by conventional standards. And whereas Gary often had a dreamy look about him, Justin most often displayed an air of cockiness that endeared him to some and alienated others. On Saturday morning Justin picked Gary up about eleven o’clock. They were heading for the mall to have lunch and take in a movie. “Hey, Gare, wanna stop by and say whassup to Brody?” “Oh, you’re in need of a Brody fix, are ya?” Gary asked, grinning. “Watch it!” Justin replied, pretending to be angry. Brody Cox was a former Marine who was now a freshman at nearby Colby State University. His family owned two flower shops, one there in Higgins and the other in Colby. Justin, who had made deliveries the previous summer for Petal Pushers, the shop in Higgins, had met Brody just after he’d returned home from Iraq with his discharge papers fresh in hand. Brody, 6’2”, blond, blue-eyed and very good looking, didn’t seem to realize just how his looks affected others. Justin had been immediately smitten. He’d screwed up his courage to come on to the older guy and been gently rebuffed. Brody had made it clear he had a brotherly affection for Justin, but there’d never be anything more than that between them. Brody, now living with David Cromer, had worked in the Cox family business since the previous June when he’d returned home. On Saturday mornings he could usually be found at Petal Pushers, where Justin and Gary often dropped in on him on their way to the mall or whatever they had planned for the day. Justin had repeatedly told Gary he was over Brody and their relationship was just a brotherly one. They pulled into the lot behind the shop and parked. Entering through the back door, they found Brody on a stool next to one of the long work tables, reading. He looked up and smiled when they came in. “Hey, guys.” “Hey, Brody,” the two boys said simultaneously. “You making like a student?” Justin asked, grinning. “Yeah. But you give me an excuse to stop. It’s been like a tomb around here this morning, so I’ve gotten a lot of reading done. Want something to drink?”