Page 40 of The Care of Broken Things
“I don’t want to. I really don’t want to. But I’m scared foryou, puppy. When we’re separated by the gate anything could happen.”
“But I have to go.”
“I know you want to see your sister, and Than too, but I think we should play it safe. We can see them together on Saturday.”
“But Hailey’s coming on Monday.”
Eli pushed back on his shoulders. “What?”
Too late, he remembered it was supposed to be a surprise. Well, there was no surprise if he didn’t show up, so he supposed it was ruined already. “She got permission. She was going to see me Monday, and you on Tuesday.”
Something flashed across Eli’s face. Regret? Longing? “We’ll wait for Saturday.” Pain. That’s what it was. And once again he had been the cause. He was so tired of that. What was the point of caring for people if you were just going to hurt them? Better to lock your heart away forever and keep everyone safe.
“You have to go on Tuesday. I could wait for you by the gate. Or get someone else to watch me.”
“There’s no one I trust enough.”
“But she’s been waiting—”
“I said no. Now come back to the dorm and lie down with me. I couldn’t sleep without you.”
He rose, and for once he did feel like Eli’s puppy as he trailed along after him. He felt bad. Really bad. Why hadn’t he kept the news to himself? Now Eli would be tortured by what he was missing, and all because the man was too decent to let him stew in his fear for an hour.
Eli had breakfast waiting for him, though it had coagulated a bit during the wait. Samuel didn’t care. He ate it while tucked into Eli’s side.The man helped him shower and change into new clothes. He put fresh sheets on the bunk too, as if he knew how dirtied Samuel felt from his encounter with The Android. Or maybe he was just aware of the power of being clean.
Samuel had slept so much already that he never expected to fall asleep. And yet fall asleep he did, with his head pillowed on Eli’s chest. He woke before Eli, but when he tried to roll off him, Eli’s arm tightened, keeping him close. Even in sleep the man’s protection remained.
Eli woke around lunch time and together they called Nathaniel to explain the situation. Nathaniel demanded to know The Android’s name and every word the man had ever spoken to either of them. “I’m going to get him out of there,” he promised. “I’ll frame him if I have to. No way is he getting near my boys again.”
The words slipped deep into his heart.My boys. He glanced at Eli’s face when the man said it, but Eli showed no surprise. “Don’t stress too much. If you can’t do it, we’ll manage. And we’ll be smart, I promise. Will you be alright this week?”
“I have Hailey and Darren. Willyoube alright?”
“I have my babysitter too.”
Chapter Eleven
An Elephant on Trial
Eli was true to his word. He kept his eyes on him at all times, though Samuel didn’t exactly make it difficult for him. He found it easy to keep his promise not to wander off. They’d already been eating their meals together and going to sleep together, so joining the rest of their time was pretty seamless, and even enjoyable once the initial fear began to fade. Eli was just so good at making it seem like hewantedto be there. And despite the man’s insistence that they do “social” things, Samuel was having a better time now than he’d ever had in prison before.
Movie time, for instance. Every Friday afternoon at three pm the prison put on a VCR tape of some old-ass film. Samuel only needed to walk by the room sometimes to put him off ever joining. It was always full of annoying people who yelled at the screen, each other, or the demons in their heads, and basically the opposite of what he considered a good time. Besides, that was when Nathaniel sometimes visited him. But there was no Nathaniel now. And since he was even more determined to distract Eli from that fact, he allowed himself to be dragged to movie time.
By the time they got there, all the seats but one were taken. So what did Eli do? He pulled Samuel down into his lap, as if he really were a puppy and not a giant blonde slab of meat. When the people behind him complained about blocking the view, Samuel thought that was the end of it, but Eli turned around and with his mostintimidating smile, said, “Will you really make my husband sit on the floor?”
That sparked a lot of questions. Which was strange. When Samuel mentioned Eli, everyone shut up and hurried away. But when Eli did it, it became a press conference.
“Who’s on top?” Was the question everyone wanted to know.
“That’s private,” Eli said, which was where he should have stopped, but then his smile twisted in mischief. “But no one leaves my bed unsatisfied.”
Samuel jerked his eyes away, but it was too late. His heart was thud-thud-thumping and he knew it showed on his face.
“Does your real husband know about him?” was one of the next questions.
“Of course. If I was going to be sleeping with anyone, he wanted it to be Samuel.”
“I’m telling Nat you said that,” Samuel hissed, red as a sun-ripened tomato, but Eli only smiled at him.
