The 'Cousins'

Part Seventeen : Choices for Jess and Commitment for Greg

A/N: This chapter contains references to prostitution- Gay and Straight!

At the same time as Greg was making up his mind whether or not to go to the Truck Stop, Jess had arrived back in his dormitory.  He expected to be ignored; shunned and shut out as usual by his room-mates.  There were only five in the dormitory and Jess was agreeably surprised when they welcomed him warmly.

‘Jess, we’re playing Trivial Pursuit. Do you want to join in?’

The invitation astonished Jess and put him on his guard, suspecting some kind of prank was being played out at that would ultimately be at his expense.  This was the first time he could remember Ed Baines, the flaxen haired, pimply youth that invited him to join them had called him by his real name and not ‘sodbuster.’ Jess decided not to be drawn in, and replied.

‘Uh! No thanks. Another time. I got class work to do.’

‘Stuck on anything? Maybe I can help.’  Phil Proctor, a lanky youth who was dynamite on the wing of the school soccer team, and also at math, was another who had ignored him until now.  Jess wondered what was going on and looked around for Kyler and his thugs, expecting to see them there weaving  mischief; but they weren’t in the room.  Jess decided to find out what this was about and took advantage of Proctor’s offer.

‘Actually, you can. It’s that quadratic equation I’m stuck on.’

‘Let’s do it.’ Phil called out and slapped his leg as he rose to extricate himself carefully from where he sat on a bed behind the makeshift table they had built out of chairs to hold the board game.’

With Phil guiding him, Jess quickly got through the project and began to understand the algebraic principles involved.  Phil was cheerful and friendly right up until the moment that Kyler appeared at just after 8 o’clock.  Jess saw the alarm come into Phil’s eyes and his face fall as he looked up at Kyler : Phil half rose to leave.

‘Hi Kyler, I was just leaving.’ Phil’s voice was apologetic, as if he shouldn’t be there. Jess’s spirits sank, but his resolve hardened. He now knew for sure who was behind the ostracism he had experienced and why.  He knew as long as he was going to work for Felix he would have no trouble with Kyler, which meant also that his room mates would be friendly towards him, and life would be normal; just as it should be. Jess quelled the spasm of anger that rose inside him with a sharp cough and a forced a smile.

‘Oh Hi Kyler, we’re just doing some math.’ Jess’s voice feigned levity.

‘So I see.’ Kyler addressed Phil, ‘ you don’t have to go.’

Jess could see Phil was anxious to get away; his face had paled to the colour of chalk. Jess helped him out.

‘It’s OK Phil; we’re done here anyway. Do you want me for something Kyler?’

Phil slipped away between them, but before Kyler could say anything his cell phone rang. He said ‘Yuh, Yuh' several times into it before he rang off and hastily headed for the door, muttering.

‘I gotta go.’

The tension that had mounted in the room vanished the moment Kyler left. Normal conversation and banter resumed immediately following his departure.  Jess wandered over to join the group playing Trivial Pursuit. He watched the play until it broke up as other boys returned to the dormitory and began joshing. 

Kyler returned, red faced and highly excited. Tension returned to the room with him and conversation ceased. The dormitory went quiet; everybody watched in silence as Kyler walked down to Jess’s bed space and tossed two twenty dollar bills onto his bed.