Basement Royalty

Chapter 5

The front door opened and closed. Ray didn't turn to look, but heard Burnie's voice, quieter than usual:

"Are you okay?" Ray shook his head. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Burnie sat down on the edge of the porch next to him.

"No." Ray muttered, bringing his knees up beneath his chin, hugging his legs.

"Joel told me what happened. He didn't know what to do."

"So why didn't he come out here and say sorry?"

"He was afraid to talk to you. He told you that; only I think he said it wrong and... upset you."

"Right." Ray finally turned to look at Burnie. "He was fine with me the other day. Why is he having problems now? What's his deal?"

"Ray, listen. I've known Joel since our first day of freshman year. And yeah, he's a pain in the ass, I know that pretty well. But he's always been like this. The first two weeks I knew him he would hardly speak to me, took the first opportunity to get away from me most of the time. And you know, I got pissed at him too. He had another friend he'd come to the school with, Matt, and I didn't have anyone else. It took him a little while to realise that... that he was hurting me as well as himself."

"That doesn't explain why though. Why is he so afraid of everyone?"

"Well, I could ask the same of you." Ray frowned.

"What?"

"You're not so easy-going around all of us yourself."

"But I just moved here. I don't know anyone properly."

"Precisely. You don't know people. When Joel doesn't know someone, he draws away from them like he's the new one. It's kinda the same thing."

"Right." Ray nodded. "I guess that... that kinda makes sense."

"Yeah." There was silence for a moment as both stared out at the street, watching a passing dog walker. "Can I ask you something, Ray?"

"Sure."

"Why did you move here? You never did tell me."

"I never told anyone." He sighed. "My parents split up. My mom wanted to get away from New York and took me with her."

"Did you not want to come?"

"I... I still don't know. I didn't wanna stay and I didn't wanna go. I... It sounds shallow but I chose my mom's side cause I knew she would choose a better place to live than our apartment."

"Was it a bad split?"

"Not really. They just... drifted apart, I guess. There weren't a lot of arguments. Just a lot of quiet conversations where it looked more like they were having a business meeting than a chat. They both agreed to it, I think. They're gonna finalise the divorce papers in a week or two."

"That's sad. I'm sorry man."

"It's okay. I miss my dad a lot, and my old friends. I talk to my dad on the phone sometimes but it's... less often the last couple of weeks. I think... I think I like it here, though. I don't miss New York as much as I thought I would."

"Well, that's good to hear, at least. I'm glad you like it here."

"It's mostly cause of you guys. If I didn't have friends I don't think I'd like it so much."

"I hope we haven't made that worse tonight, then." Ray sighed and shook his head slowly. They were quiet again for a while. "Do you want to go home? I can get Jack to move his car and drive you if you want?"