...
...
With every day that passed and every hour he spent in Air's company, Khemp felt closer. His desire to kiss Air was becoming overwhelming. Khemp didn't let go of Air's hand until the last second. He reassured Air, again and again, that he had nothing to worry about, and, that P'Chess wasn't at all the way Air described him in his rant this morning.
Air had a chance to tell them the story once Pilot was taken away. The guys, Sky and Khemp, walked one on each side of the mud-soaked teacher.
He gave Air a nod just as he pushed the door open. "I'll be up, Nong, if you want to talk later."
Khemp could see and feel what came from Air's eyes and the tiny spark of a smile. Air was thankful. Khemp handed him over to Fair.
Air was relieved and sighed long. Chester hadn't come downstairs yet and it gave him a few minutes with Fair.
"P', I'm really freaked. I don't think he likes me." The boy's voice was bruised with emotion.
"I think this will be my last day here."
Those words came close to stopping Fair's heart. "Nong, don't say things like that. I think he already likes you."
"Why would you say that P'? Didn't you hear him today? He blames me for the car wreck and he pretended that he, that he..."
For the briefest moment, Air thought maybe it didn't matter to Chess if he liked his son's teacher. Maybe this cantankerous man cared not about the person, but rather what the teacher could give to his son.
Fair put both arms around Air and hugged him close. "Nong, when you have dinner with him tonight, you'll notice that everything on the table will be your favourite foods. Chess called cook himself and chose the menu."
Air stepped back from Air's warm hug.
His mouth gaped. "When "I" have dinner? Aren't you eating with us?"
"No, Dell, Green and I are eating at the staff house tonight."
"No P', no, can't you stay?"
Fair touched Air's bangs, they were still a bit damp. "Sorry Nong. I should get going. Chess will be down any second now."
This astute house manager knew one thing absolutely, something was going on. Just an hour before Air arrived, Fair saw Tim running across the lawn and into the main house.
Tim was employed on the farm for his skills in animal husbandry. There was only ever one reason why Chester would call Tim to the house, and that was for Tim's fashion expertise. He was the man Chess called upon when he was attending events or had business meetings abroad. Tim was the guy that made sure Chess got it, just right.
He held Air by the shoulders and looked him over. "Khemp helped you dress, didn't he?"
Air confirmed with a single shoulder shrug and a nod.
"I can tell, your friend has good taste."
All in black, Fair was both impressed and proud. Air looked darling, (if not gorgeous), and Fair knew that Chess would appreciate the boy's effort.
He tried to pull away. Air held him by the wrist with both of his hands. Fair could see that he was genuinely scared. There was little, or more rightly, nothing, he could do to change that.
...
Once fair had left the house, Air didn't know what to do with himself. He could hear Chester upstairs moving around. His heart stopped altogether when he heard Chess's footsteps on the stairs.
He stood off to the side of the dining table and cut the blood circulation from his hands, he was squeezing them so tight.
...
Chess pulled Air's chair out.
Clumsily, Air was seated.
Chess walked to the other end of the table and sat. You could hear a pin drop.
He raised his hand and waved to someone that Air didn't see, within seconds, the food was ushered in.
Air did his best and kept his mouth closed. The man sitting at the other end of the table was, in Air's estimation, fine, and oh so easy on the eyes. Chester had fitted black jeans and a jacket to match.
The voice was the same, but under all that mud was an intelligent face with skin as smooth as it is clear. The man has big hands, full red lips, and his hair has body and waves. There was no trace of the soiled being that crawled from the river, earlier on this same day.
Sky was dressed in kitchen whites, he placed the main course down. It was covered by a big silver cloche.
Khemp entered the dining room too, he was dressed in black and white like a waiter and poured from an already open bottle of red wine. When he was finished, he set the bottle at Chess's end of the table, removed the cover from the dinner, and left without a word.
Air wanted to acknowledge him and ask him: "Why didn't you tell me you would be here?"
Fair was right, it was all of Air's favourite foods, the problem now, he was embarrassed. Air's tastes weren't exactly five-star, and he suspected that Chess's choices would be very different.
Air was still petrified and found that he couldn't move or speak. It was worse than ever, he couldn't seem to raise his eyes and look at Chess.
"Sir?"
"Yes."
"I'm glad to see that your ankle got better so fast." Air noticed that Chess was not limping at all. Earlier in the morning, he could barely walk.
Chess sat up straighter and put his clenched fists on the table, one on each side of his still empty plate. The cutlery jiggled and clinked.
Air braced.
Chess let out a long gust from his nostrils. He seemed to have changed his mind and made no remark.
The dining room itself was more beautiful than Air had seen it before. The dishes in front of him looked expensive and fancy. They definitely weren't the ones that he and Fair eat from every day. There was a highly polished candelabra in the centre of the table, and the side table had vases with flowers. The lights had been dimmed, and somewhere in the background, he could hear the faintest music.
"Tell me about yourself Nong."
Air hesitated.
"I don't bite, go ahead and talk boy."
"You don't bite, but you might lie to me again."
In the shadows and just outside the dining room, Air's comment made someone gasp and fill their lungs. They held it.
Chess's eyes narrowed. His lips tightened. "I didn't lie, I was jealous."
"Did you say jealous?" Air must have looked on the outside, as confused as he was on the inside.
"You bewitched my dog, and, well, he's supposed to protect me..."
Chester's voice fell off. "Forget it... I just didn't tell you who I was."
Chess could see the stubbornness in Air's expression, and, his quirky smirk.
The next thing Chester said, made Air's smirk vanish. "I knew it was you. I mean, I knew you were Del's new teacher."
Air didn't ask how; Chess appeared sore. "You're not going to say anything?" He got louder: "You're not going to ask how I knew it was you?"
Chester's face was turning red. Air said the first thing that came into his head. "Fair must have sent you a picture."
"Ah, nevermind. Let's move past it." Chester shuffled in his chair. For a moment there he came close to spitting out the truth. He came close to telling Air how he watched him sleep.
Air couldn't sigh as he wanted. He kept his back straight.
Chess felt the need to grill Air over dinner about his teaching qualifications. He didn't say it, but Fair was correct, Air was indeed a brilliant and accomplished student.
Khemp came and went at Chess's beck and call. He was careful with his eyes and only looked at Air when Chess couldn't see him. For a boy as nervous as he claimed to be, Khemp thought Air was amazing. No one else on the entire working farm would ever talk-back, or quarrel with the boss. Khemp couldn't believe his ears as Air's determination held out and stood strong.
P'Chess was a nice man, but he ran the farm the way he saw fit. Its most evident prosperity could be credited to none other.
He wanted to know about Air's religious leanings. Chess gave the impression that he thought the whole business to be tomfoolery. "They'll teach you to grovel and lower yourself."
Air was becoming familiar with Chess's bark. "...Never!"
Several times throughout the meal, Chess fell silent. Air would look up from his food and see Chess staring. The man's head would tilt ever so slightly to one side and then the other.
"Do you like sports Nong?"
Air said that he enjoyed tennis the most, but he liked to watch gymnastics and soccer on television. "I love to swim too. There was a community pool not far from where I grew up."
"We have a pool here. Have you used it yet?"
"No sir."
"Why? You know you can." Chess wondered to himself: "Is he so shy that he won't use the pool?"
"What about music? Do you play any instruments?"
"My apologies sir. I never found the time to learn."
Chess looked away and mumbled something about not being very well-rounded.
"Would you learn if I bought you a guitar? You could teach Del too."
"I would try, sir."
"Ugh, quit calling me that."
This time his gruffness scared Air, he jumped in his seat and his fork skidded across the floor.
Chess pushed his chair back. He stood.
Air wanted to crumple up and disappear, but he didn't. His shoulders were still held square and he kept his chin firm.
Chess retrieved the fork and placed it back on the table.
"It looks like you're done eating anyway."
Air nodded. "Yes, sir... ah... P'Chess, I am."
Air couldn't believe his eyes. Chess was standing just a foot away. He smiled for the very first time. "That's better. I like the sound of that."
Chess held his elbow out the way a man would for a woman. "Bring your wine glass Air. Sit outside with me."
He showed Air how to loop his arm through. They went to a separate outdoor space that Air had only glimpsed up until now. As they stepped out, Air saw two people scurry away. A giant roaring fire was ablaze and chairs were placed in front of it. The whole thing had been planned.
They hadn't reached the seats yet when Air asked: "Is there more you need to know, P'Chess?"
"No, this is the part where we sit and finish our wine together, like friends."
Chess smiled again. Air thought it was bright and friendly.
"Friends sir?"
"Stop calling me that!"
Chester's voice was amplified. The chorus of crickets whose song had been filling the night, stopped chirping.
The boy coming up behind Chess must have been used to his outbursts, he never faltered in his gate, and placed down a tray of the most perfect strawberries. They were blemish-free, bigger and redder than any Air had ever seen.
"These were picked five minutes ago, P'Chess."
The boy wai'd and left quietly.
"Five minutes ago? They picked them in the dark?" Air was not trying to be cheeky. He just couldn't imagine the worker stumbling around a strawberry field with a flashlight.
"Yes, I wanted fresh ones..." Chess grumbled. He acted perturbed and flapped his hand as if explaining his idiosyncrasies to Air, was too much effort.
The night was by no means cold, but being by the fire felt nice. Part of Air would admit that the wine relaxed him and made him less likely to argue and chew back at Chess. He'd done it three times just this evening, their very first meeting.
Chess popped one of the berries in his mouth. He gulped the wine and tossed his head back. He chewed with his eyes shut and then swallowed.
Chess dropped his head and opened them. "That's how you do it, Air." He looked straight into Air's eyes as he leaned closer. "Get the very best you can, and wring every last drop of delight from it. Drain it and leave none behind."
The man had power in his voice. He governed his house and business by way of command and expected the best from everyone around him. There were parts of that that Air was ok with, and other things that bothered, no, angered him.
The fire crackled and the smoke drifted straight up. "Damnit man, I said eat the berry, pour your wine over it."
Air's mule-headed side kicked in, (albeit not the best time), he placed the strawberry in his fingers, back down on the plate. He placed his glass and the few sips in it, down too.
It lacked the vigour of the older man's, but Air's own voice was raised:
"Have you ever thought of asking me nicely? You never ask for anything, you demand things. I don't like it. I'm not used to it."
Chess's neck appeared to lengthen. He looked like a man trying to hear something far in the distance.
Air couldn't sense him breathing, and the drawn-out quiet was too unnerving. "P', I'm sorry P'." Air was fidgeting. "I say things sometimes that I regret."
The letter 't' in regret had barely been pronounced when Chess interrupted: "Don't apologize Nong." He turned in his chair and again was looking Air in the eyes. "When you say what you believe to be true, never say sorry."
Chess held up his glass and waited for Air to retrieve his. He tapped it firmly to Air's. "Remember that Nong."
He said nothing more about it. Instead, Chess talked, (in a relaxed and almost gentle tone), about the upcoming harvest. He smiled saying that Air would love it. "The place will be buzzing and it's everyone's favourite time of year."
Air's wine was gone. Unknowingly, he made the sound of enjoyment with the last sip. "Mmm."
He was about to thank his host for dinner, when Chester's softer side, (not just his voice), showed itself.
"My mechanic said that the engine will be fine after some cleaning, and apparently, they think the interior can be restored. You can rest a little easier. I'm not mad about the car."
Chess had his hand high and in the centre of Air's shoulders as they walked to the door. P'Chester sounded coy: "I won't walk you home. The grass is already worn out." (Air had no idea what he meant.)
Air walked back to his house that night with a feeling that he may have scored some brownie points with Chester. Then again, he contemplated on whether this man might be some kind of eccentric weirdo. One would be a fool spending too much time trying to understand someone like that.
"What kind of person enjoys being argued with? Does he really like making me so mad that I fight back?"
...
Air stood, stretched his arms up and breathed deeply through his nose. This new day had a feeling in the breeze. He looked down at the tent in his boxers, Air decided to give himself five extra minutes in the shower.
It was Sunday. He didn't have to teach. Usually, after breakfast, he would walk to the temple. It wasn't far and Sundays there weren't busy. It was mostly peaceful and quiet.
Today turned out to be just that. Air bought two of the biggest fresh peaches and found a shady spot. He sat on the grass.
It was sweet, sugary-sweet and juicy, it dripped down his chin. Air kept using the heel of his hand to wipe it away.
Over his shoulder appeared some fingers. They held a napkin, the quality kind. "Here."
Air took the paper happily. He turned and looked up to see who it was.
"Hey, Doc." Air swivelled his head. "There aren't any animals here that need medical care." (Air was being sarcastic.)
Air held out the last half of one of the peaches. "It's a mess, but it's really good P'."
The veterinarian's nickname was Keel. He asked: "Are you sure?"
"Really, please P'. I'm full."
...
He thanked his lucky stars that no one else was there to see what happened. Chester would have been humiliated. He'd already, and very slyly, quizzed Fair and discovered Air's Sunday routine. He waited until he saw Air walking down the drive. Chess followed and managed to do it unseen.
He stopped at one of the vendors and purchased the most costly offering. It came in a big decorated basket.
That heavy basket was in his hands when he came up behind Air and the vet. Chester watched Air use a napkin and wipe the young man's mouth. The most painful part for Chess was that they looked so suitable together. The Doc was no doubt a good looking man. He was always nicely manicured and dressed. Air was a handful of years younger and his cuteness complimented.
Chess turned and headed back the way he'd come. He handed the basket to the first worshipper he passed.
...
... to be continued ...
FanFiction and Novel Adaptation by Kramdrof, all rights reserved, January 2021