Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Shane

"What's wrong with it?" Shane asked.

"Ain't nothing wrong with it now," Leonard replied with a dour look to match Shane's bitter voice, "I fixed his car, runs like a beaut."

They had got down to business the second that Shane stepped into the office attached to the garage. Shane readied himself to question that claim, but both Becky and Milo united against him.

"G'morning, boys!" Becky greeted as she hoisted herself up from behind the desk. Her belly looked even bigger since the last time Shane had seen her at the general store.

And Shane wasn't the only one to notice.

"Morning," Milo chirped back with wide eyes. "I can't believe you're still on your feet."

Becky shrugged as she waddled over to them. "I have to do all I can before this kid comes. I'll be running things around here until the baby pops out and Leonard, well, he'll be fixing cars until he's dead."

That drew a brief laugh out of Milo despite the dark humor.

"Good to see you, Shane," Becky commented and gave him a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. There was a twinkle in her eyes as she looked between the two of them. "And you're looking good too, in fact, I've heard from lots of folks about how good you've been doing lately."

Shane frowned. That was far too much good in one sentence. Made him think things weren't good at all despite the warmth in Becky's voice and the kind look in her dark eyes. He blamed Jessie Mae. She must have wagged her tongue about their visit to the general store last week and now the whole town knew about them. What else would Becky be insinuating?

Everybody knew, he thought.

Somehow the thought didn't fill him with dread. Annoyance, maybe, but there was no fear behind it. Not like there had been when he'd been seen in public with Milo last week. Funny how much had changed for Shane since Milo joined his life. Though things were the same as they ever were in town.

"Now, Milo, you want my husband to give you the nitty-gritty on your car's problem?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Shane saw Milo shake his head. "To be honest, I don't know much about cars. I barely get away with driving one."

"Well, I'll give you the layman version of it." Becky let go of Shane and rested her hand on Milo's shoulder. She nodded her head toward the office's backroom and began to guide Milo in that direction. "Say, would you help me make a pot of tea?"

"Uh, sure," Milo agreed, quick and easy. He looked up at Shane and smiled wide. Those honey-brown eyes darted between Shane and Leonard.

She didn't need any help. It was only an excuse to leave Leonard and Shane alone together. For whatever reason, Shane couldn't fathom, though Milo seemed happy to disappear with Becky.

He and Leonard stood there in tense silence. They looked at each other without blinking. The only sound that passed between them was the clock ticking on the wall. To hell with it, Shane thought, he still wanted to get out of there sooner rather than that.

"Well?" Shane started and put his hands on his hips as he fixed the other man with a hard stare.

"I'll show you the car," Leonard shoved his hands in the pockets of his overalls. The front was caked with a thick layer of oil. Shane got a good whiff of it each time he inhaled.

The smell only got stronger as they walked into the garage.

It brought back old memories of his younger self and those long-gone boyhood days with Leonard. The workshop and its office were familiar sights to Shane. Its smell was the same and the decor was relatively untouched over the years. Leonard hadn't changed much there since he'd inherited the family business.

He and Leonard had spent damn near every day after school hanging out. Helping Leonard's dad around the shop for a little petty cash. Running errands for Leonard's mama. They talked shit to each other and even shot shit together out in the woods.

Shane stared at Leonard and could almost remember the boy he used to be.

And recalled the friendship he used to have.

The silence stretched between them as they stood in the workshop. Business was booming. Each bay had a car or truck and most looked in the midst of the repair job. Only Milo's car, newly cleaned, looked ready to hit the road.

Shane needed to know the prettiness on the outside matched how good the car worked on the inside. He wasn't going to let Milo drive it again until he knew for sure it was safe. And that it wouldn't experience anymore surprise breakdowns.

"So, what was wrong with it?" Shane grunted again. He waited a moment and then swallowed a mouthful of his pride to give Leonard's skill set its due. "What'd you fix?"

Shane could wield a wrench better than most men to do basic maintenance and figure out minor repairs, but he didn't have Leonard's professional know-how. Still, he could follow along with Leonard's intermediate description of what went wrong and how it'd been tinkered with until all was set to rights.

Leonard popped the hood and they went over it together.

The sedan looked as pretty on the inside as it was on the outside. Leonard had done quite a lot of work to redo the botched repair job from whoever had it last. The problem had actually been fixed. Shane might not have liked Leonard, but he still respected Lenard's mechanical skills.

"Thanks for patching it up," Shane said as Leonard pulled down the hood.

"A job is a job," Leonard shrugged, "and Becky is awfully fond of the boy…uh, you too. You seem fond of the boy, I mean. I've heard folks saying it around town too."

Whatever good will had been built between them threatened to crumble. "Bet you're happy to hear it. You must be crowing to see me be the queer you called me."

"Shane, c'mon. That was so long ago, it was high school." Leonard shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Don't feel like a long time," Shane snapped back, "not for me."

They stood in the middle of the workshop and refused to meet each other's eyes. Shane stared staunchly at the closed garage doors while Leonard looked down at his boots. The silence, thick with guilt from Leonard and slathered with anger from Shane, hung between them.

Shane refused to speak first.

"Is that…really why you"ve been pissed at me all these years?" Disbelief colored every word out of Leonard's mouth. "Why you've locked yourself up on your property and don't want nothing to do with anyone or anything?"

Shane let out a huff of air. Leonard made it sound like some big dramatic overreaction instead of a desperate bid for survival. He didn't understand, Shane realized, and while it wasn't his responsibility to forgive Leonard or forget what happened, well, maybe Shane could talk about it.

Talking with Milo about what happened had felt surprisingly good. There was no harm in talking to Leonard directly. Could be that'd feel even better.

"It's called getting outed. That's what you did to me." The word was odd to Shane's ears, but it sat right on his tongue. He'd taken it right from Milo's mouth, borrowing the younger man's more worldly experience and wider vocabulary with that type of thing. "It's just about the worst thing you can do to a gay boy besides bashing him."

Shane could feel Leonard's gaze pinned on him. "Is that how you…what you…fuck, Shane, I don't know what to say. This is – shit. I'm sorry, okay. When I asked you if you were gay back then, it wasn't because I had a problem with it."

"Took no offense to the asking. It was the telling you did that fucked me over."

"I didn't tell anybody."

Shane fixed him with a sharp look that immediately plopped Leonard's protest.

"I told one person. A girl, all right? Only because she wanted you to ask her out and I felt bad. Didn't want her to wait around for something that weren't ever gonna happen."

Shane sucked his teeth. "It wasn't your place to tell anyone anything. I trusted you. I only told you ‘cause you were my friend."

His best friend, but Shane didn't let himself say it. He couldn't. His throat was already starting to feel scratchy. It was Shane's turn to look down at his boots and he sniffed deeply to banish the sadness that nipped at his heels.

"I never stopped thinking of you as my friend," Leonard said. "I shouldn't have told anyone what you told me. But to be honest it scared me a little. When you said you thought you liked boys, I was worried you might have…liked me."

Shane glanced up just in time to see Leonard's cheeks turn a deep shade of scarlet. He scoffed. "Fat fucking chance."

He'd never felt anything like that for Leonard. Even in his most confused, awkward moments of his boyhood Shane had never looked at Leonard with any want. They'd only ever been friends, as close as brothers in that way.

Despite it all, Leonard let out a bark of laughter. "I can see as much now. Your type seems to be skinny. And pretty."

"My type is him." Shane loved Milo for who he was. Not what he looked like. The boy could lose all his teeth and gain fifty pounds and Shane would still want to kiss his mouth and hold him close. "We're together."

"Like me and Becky are together?"

Maybe not that far along, there were no wedding bells in the air yet and there never would be any babies. Maybe another dog. Or two. He didn't hesitate to nod his head. "Yeah, like you and becky. He's my everything."

Might have sounded corny as hell. That didn't make it any less true.

"It was hard when Becky moved up and we married. Those first few years, folks weren't used to seeing a white man and black woman together. And I know it ain't gonna be exactly the same for you and Milo, but we understand close enough."

Leonard cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry for what happened between us in the past. I mean that Shane. But you got to see that the world has changed. Our home is changing too."

"It hasn't changed much yet," Shane reminded him.

"I ain't saying you and Milo being the only gay couple on the mountain is gonna be sun and roses, but me and Becky won't let folks speak ill of y'all. We'll have your backs."

"I don't need that," Shane gruffed. He didn't fear anyone in town and even if trouble did come knocking, well, Shane had both Pumpkin and his shotgun to ward it off. He'd protect Milo, he'd protect himself, and he'd protect what they had together. And he could do that alone. Shane had been looking after himself for a long time and Leonard seeking reconciliation wouldn't change that.

Not that easy. Not so quick.

"You ain't my friend again just because you said you're sorry and made a pretty promise."

Leonard nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get that. Maybe we aren't friends again, but we don't got to be strangers. Can you take my help? I heard all about the damage to your roof. Let me help you get that fixed, Shane. Even if it's only to honor your mama's memory."

He offered his hand.

Now, that was something Shane could accept.

"Yeah, all right," Shane agreed with a nod before he took Leonard's hand. "I suppose I could use the help."

He and Leonard had a lot of work to do to heal their friendship, but there were plenty of repairs to do for the cabin.

They could work on both at the same time.