It Started With a Kiss
by Kiwi
Part 6
Chalky had softball again, after school, but I couldn't be bothered with that today. So Melissa went to the Square with him and I went home.
After checking Mum's food supply, I went over to the busy Matthews' house. I knocked at the kitchen door, Mrs. Matthews looked up and smiled at me.
"Hello Davey. Don't just stand there, come on in."
"Hello Mrs. Matthews. Thanks. Is Carter here?"
"Yes and no. He's out the back somewhere. Davey, if you're going to be hanging around with Carter, I think that you'd better call me 'Marie.' That's all he ever calls me."
"Umm. Okay. Thanks, Marie. What do Dick and Dyke call you anyway?"
"They just call me 'Mum" like everyone else does. Not Carter though."
"No, not Carter. He wouldn't, would he? I'll go and find him then."
"Yeah, you do that. He's out there somewhere, has been all day."
I went out the back and found Carter, it wasn't hard to do. He was sitting up on top of the rotary clothes-line. He was squatting on top of the central pole, arms around his legs, his chin on his knees, and a far-away look on his face.
"Hey Carter. What are you doing?"
He looked down at me and switched on a big welcoming smile. "Davey! Hey. I'm looking for a career."
"A career? How are you going to find a job sitting up there?"
"Just looking. Years ago Christian monks and hermits used to sit up on top of poles. Getting closer to God, or something. They lived up there for years sometimes, some of them.
People used to send food up to them. I've been sitting here all day and nobody's fed me yet. I think they'd just forget about me. Would you feed me, Davey?"
"Yeah, of course I would. I wouldn't forget about you."
"Great!" he grinned. "Thanks, Davey. I do like having a friend, don't know why I didn't do it years ago. But, you weren't around then, were you, Davey?"
"I'm nothing special, just an ordinary kid."
"Don't be silly. You're not ordinary - you're special, very special. I love you, Davey."
('Carter!!') "You. . .ah, umm. . .I love you too."
"That's great, thanks Friend. Anyway, I'm sick of this. Don't think I'll be a pole-sitter, it's so bloody boring!"
He swung down and stood in front of me. "That's the end of that career. Pay's lousy anyway. I'd hug you now, but I won't. I'm all hot and sweaty - I think I stink. I think I'll have a swim, you coming?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming. A swim sounds good, it's been a hot day."
"Certainly has, still is. Those guys sat up on poles out in the desert too. I think that they must've been loonies."
He ran over to the pool and plunged in, clothes and all. He did take the time to kick his shoes off this time.
"C'mon Davey. This is great. This is all I've been thinking about for hours now. What'cha waiting for?"
I walked over and looked down into the pool as I kicked my sneakers off. It really did look good - just the thing on a hot afternoon. I shook my foot clear of the second sneaker and dropped into the water.
When I came up, shaking the water out of my eyes, Carter was standing there, grinning at me. "What are you doing, swimming in your clothes? Are you mad or something?"
I grinned back, splashed some water at him and said, "What are you doing in your clothes? You mad or something yourself?"
"I'm not mad, I think. But I'm something."
('You certainly are! You're something all right!')
"Anyway, my clothes are all smelly from sitting and sweating in the sun all day, what's wrong with yours?"
'Oh.' It was then that I realised that Carter always had a reason for the things he did. It might not make sense to anyone else, but it made sense to him. He stood there, peeling his clothes off and slapping them out on the concrete patio. I just stood there, feeling a bit foolish.
Naked now, he started swimming around. "Take your clothes off, Davey. It feels better with the water on your skin."
So, I did. I took my clothes off and slapped them on the patio like Carter had done. I kept my boxers on though. I wasn't going to swim naked in front of his whole bloody family.
It did feel better. It felt great actually, once I was rid of my wet, clinging clothes.
Carter tired of swimming before I did. He got out of the pool and laid down on the warm, concrete, patio. He rolled over a couple of times leaving blurred 'Carter' water-prints on the concrete.
I got out and wiped the bulk of the water off my body and limbs, using my hands. "I'm going to duck home and get some more clothes."
"You could come up and put some of mine on if you like - I've got plenty."
"No, I'd better not. It won't take a minute, I'll be back soon."
"Okay, Davey. See you then."
But, he didn't and I did get back either. The universe, namely my mum, had other ideas. First, she got me to go down to the corner shop for some things that she'd forgotten in the shopping. Then, when I got back home, I had to help her get dinner ready. So, I was stuck there, in the kitchen, chopping up vegetables and stuff for a salad, which I hate.
I mean, I love the salads, Mum does great salads, but I hate all the preparation - it's such a lot of bloody work! Mum could have done it a lot better and quicker herself, but that wasn't really the point. She didn't need the help, she just wanted me to stay around so that she could talk to me. That was an old trick. Also, it's supposed to be good training or something for when I have to feed myself.
I always knew that these conversations had a point, but it took a while for her to get there. First, she wanted to know how school was going and all that sort of stuff, then, once she got me talking, she started getting down to the real business.
"How's Chalky? Have you two made-up yet?"
"Chalky's fine, we're good. We had lunch together today. He took Melissa Scott to softball with him."
"Chalky's got a girl? Well, it's about time too, I suppose. When are you going to bring a girl home to meet us?"
"Mum!"
"Okay. Not yet, then. The other thing I wanted to talk about was young Carter, next-door."
"Oh? What about Carter?" ('Here we go.')
"Nothing really. I was talking to Marie today. That's Mrs. Matthews to you. We had coffee, she was telling me about Carter and that you seem to have made a friend of him."
"Yeah, we're getting on great. What of it?"
"She's just a bit concerned. Carter is not your normal boy, he has been through some bad stuff and it has affected him. Carter is different."
"I know that Carter's different, but I think he's great - I really like him."
"That's good. Don't get me wrong here. She's not worried about you, just a bit concerned that's all. Marie and David are delighted that Carter has got a friend. He's never had a friend before - never - not once.
He's not insane or anything, but he's different. Carter has always been very isolated and never really connected with anybody, not even his own family. He watched his parents die. Did you know that?"
"No. He didn't tell me - nobody did."
"No? Well he did. They had their own plane. Both of Carter's parents were keen amateur pilots. Something went wrong on a family outing, the plane crashed, and he sat, up in the snow on top of a mountain, for almost 24 hours, watching both his mother and his father bleeding to death from their injuries."
"That's awful, Mum. That's really horrible!"
"Yes, it was. Imagine how it felt for an eight year old boy, sitting there with no-one to turn to. He was injured too, but he survived somehow. Anyway, ever since then, Carter has been sort of switched off in a way - like he's never been able to accept it. He is very bright and he's your age, 15, but it's like he's stuck back there as that poor little boy."
Now I was crying, which was dumb. I was far too old to be bursting into tears, but I couldn't help it.
"Poor Carter. Poor little boy. That's just really, really, bad."
"It was, it is bad. Anyway, don't go bringing that up with him. If he wants to talk about it, he'll tell you. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut and just be his friend. You can, maybe, really help him. Be good to him but don't let him lead you astray. Don't expect him to be like your other friends, he's different. You could make a real difference in that boy's life, if he'll let you."
"I hope he does. I don't know what I could do, but I'd really like to help him if I can."
"You're a good boy, Son. Just be his friend, he needs a friend."
"I'll be the best friend I can - the best anyone's ever been."
"Don't you forget about Chalky either. You've been good friends since you were babies. That's special, don't lose it."
"I won't forget about Chalky. You know why I went and made up with him today?"
"No, why?"
"Because Carter told me that I had to."
"Carter told you to? Maybe he'll be good for you too."
"I'm sure he will, Mum. Can I finish chopping these bloody veggies now?"
"Okay. Give me the knife. You can go and clean your room up. It's a pig-sty up there."
"Aww! Mum. I'll do it tomorrow."
"You will not, you'll do it now and I'll be up to check soon. I want all those clothes off the floor and into the laundry."
She's a good mum really, lets me away with a lot, but when she puts her foot down, there's no arguing with her. So, I trudged off to clean my room up. It wasn't that bad - not a pig-sty. My room was just a bit lived in. I could handle that, why couldn't she?
I went in my room and put some music on, (well, you have to!), and started cleaning up. It was a mess! How did it ever get like that?
I'd only been working for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door - it was Teaser! Wow. ('Eat your heart out, Chalky - Teaser has come to my bedroom.) I stood there, dumbfounded, I was in shock. This hot girl could have any boy in town, any straight boy anyway. What had she come to my room for? She was wasting her time, if. .
"Well, Davey. Are you going to ask me in or what?"
"Well, umm, yeah. Come in, Teaser."
She pushed past me saying, "About time too. Thank you Sir. So this is your room. Great view - you can see nearly all of our yard from here."
I followed her back into my room and turned the music off. "So, umm. What can I do for you, Teaser?"
She sat on my computer chair. "Sit down, Davey. We have to talk."
I sat on the bed, facing her. "What do we have to talk about?"
"About Carter of course. What else?"
"What about Carter?"
"Don't muck around do you? I'm a bit concerned about Carter."
('You too? Everyone's concerned about Carter.')
"Davey, this is very unusual for Carter to be making friends with someone. It's unheard of in fact. Carter has never made friends of anyone, ever."
"I know that - he told me that."
"You don't know, you can't know, how amazing that is. Carter hardly ever talks to anyone and he doesn't - he has never shared anything of himself with anybody. Ever. He just doesn't do that, until now."
"Until now. Well now he's decided that he wants a friend. I don't know why, but he's picked me. That's cool."
"That is cool, very cool. It's great that Carter has got a friend. You seem like a nice enough guy, Carter obviously likes you. What I'm concerned about - what I want to know, is what do you want from him?"
"I don't want anything from him. I just want to be his friend, that's all."
"I hope that's true, Davey. From the look of this room, you're a typical 15 year old boy. Carter's 15 but he's not typical. Carter's different. What do you see in him?"
"What do I see in him? Carter's different, yeah. He's great. He's fun, stimulating and interesting. I really like him."
"That's good if that's as far as it goes. You're not looking to get in his pants are you, Davey?"
"What? No! What would you say that for?"
"Because that's what I'm worried about. It's been tried before. You must have noticed that Carter is a very good-looking boy. He's beautiful and he's got innocence about him. He's also very sensual - very touchy - people have got the wrong idea before with disastrous consequences. He's more than capable of defending himself if he wants to.
I just don't want you, or anyone else, messing with his head. That is fragile, I think. Anyway, he's not interested in sex, doesn't even think about it. I know that's unheard of for a teenage boy, but that's Carter."
"That is Carter. Teaser, for your information, and only yours, don't tell anyone this, Carter offered to have sex with me last night.
"He what? He wouldn't! Well I suppose I should know better than to be shocked by anything Carter does. What did he offer to have sex with you for? Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. He said I could fuck him if I wanted to and get that out of the way."
"Yeah, I could see him saying that he wanted to get it out of the way. But, why would he say that?"
"Because he wanted to sleep with me - to sleep in the same bed. I said no because I wouldn't get any sleep."
"Yes, he could say that then. You didn't take him up on it did you?"
"No, of course I didn't. I wouldn't want to have sex like that, not with Carter, not with anyone."
"Good for you. Why wouldn't you get to sleep if he was there then?"
"Because it would disturb me, that's all. Can we drop it?"
"No, we can't. Why would it disturb you?"
"Because, umm. Look, Teaser, I think that I might be gay and like you said, Carter's a very good-looking boy. I wouldn't, well I wouldn't want to take advantage of him like that. Not Carter, it wouldn't be right."
And, she kissed me! The hottest, best-looking girl in town came over and kissed me on the cheek.
"Thank you Davey, and thank you for being honest with me. You're a sweetheart, you really are. I should have known that Carter wouldn't make a mistake, you're a good person. Be his friend and love him and if anything develops that's mutual, well fine. Just don't ever hurt my cousin, okay?"
"I wouldn't want to hurt him. Carter's my friend, okay?"
"Okay. Carter's a lucky kid. You are too actually. Carter's the nicest boy in the world when he wants to be. Thanks Davey. I'll leave you to it. Your Mum said that you're cleaning up your room. Looks like you've got your work cut out.
"Yeah, I have, I guess. See you later, Teaser."
"Yes, see you later. You come over anytime. And, Davey, call me 'Tease' okay?"
"Tease?"
"Yes, Tease. My best friends call me Tease, not Teaser."
"'Kay.Thanks, Tease."
She kissed me and then she left.
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