Page 49 of Baby Love

“What about your neighbors back then? The police?”

“Nok and I stayed scarce after Ma died. When we got older, I tried calling the police, but when Pah told them I liked men, they turned a blind eye on his beatings.” I lower my voice. “I guess now you know I’m attracted to guys. In case you didn’t, uh, realize that the night we got off on each other.”

“It’s nobody’s business,” P’Park says vehemently, adding, “And there’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

I smile softly. “Thank you, P’Park.” I want to ask him if he’s bi or if that experience was just some kind of fluke, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

“You don’t have to thank me for being a decent human being.” He frowns up at the ceiling. “I don’t want you going back to your apartment when your father could be there waiting.”

“I don’t have any choice. I can’t avoid it forever.”

“But you can avoid it for a while. Eventually, your dad will get tired of looking for you and leave.”

“Do you really think so?” I ask, afraid to hope.

“Men like him always do. I can go over there and get some clothes for you and some other stuff. If he doesn’t go away in a couple of weeks, I’ll go with you to the police.”

“I feel like a coward,” I say.

“Be honest. What would happen if, say, you and I arrange to meet him somewhere, and we tell him or, better yet, we show him that the house fell apart and you’re not holding back money from him. How will he react?”

I shudder. “If he’s been drinking, he’ll fly into a rage. If he’s sober, it’ll be worse because he hasn’t been able to get a drink. Either way, he’ll beat me.”

“I wouldn’t let him do that.”

“And I’m not going to let him beat you instead,” I say defiantly. “I don’t take after my father. He’s huge. You’re doing enough to help me.” I sigh. “Okay, I’ll stay here for a couple of weeks in the hope that Pah gets bored and leaves town again.”

“I really think that’s the right move.”

“P’Park?” I ask after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t even ask you. Do you want me to sleep on the couch?”

P’Park chuckles softly. “I didn’t even think about it. Stay here. You’re fine.”

Chapter Twenty-Two: Park

Acouple of weeks pass relatively quietly other than for daily nasty texts from Spin’s father, which I convince him to share with me. When Spin began staying at my house, I took his key and went to his apartment to get his essentials. I hoped I would run into his father—I was going to tell him to get lost and stop bothering Spin—but he wasn’t there. I could see he’d been inside the apartment, though. When I told Spin this, he called his landlord, who said Spin’s father claimed to be the one paying the rent.

“How can he possibly think that when I’m the one who hands it to him every month?” Spin asked incredulously.

The week the teaser trailer for Heartbeat is released, our ship blows up on social media like it never has before. It’s due, I think, less to the teaser and more to a last-minute appearance Khun Lee garnered for us in which we modeled clothes for a well-known brand. Photos from it are all over the internet. Unfortunately, it tips off Spin’s father as to where Spin works.

“Nong, you have a visitor,” one of the staff members says. We’ve been reading through a scene with Daeng and Aod, and Spin puts his script down.

“A visitor?” he asks, frowning. Standing from the table, he leaves the room. I don’t know what makes me follow him, but it’s a good thing I do because when I enter the main room of the studio, I walk straight into a confrontation between Spin and a big bull of man I assume to be his father.

“Imagine my surprise to find out my son is in the acting business, yet is too stingy to help out his own father!” the man shouts. People spill out of doors and stand gaping at the scene in front of them as Spin’s father grabs him by the collar and shakes him.

“Get your hands off him,” I say, stepping forward.

The man glares at me with dark eyes that hold none of the shine and spark of his son’s.

“Who the fuck are you?” he bellows.

“A friend of Spin’s. Take your hands off him now.”

---