Page 47 of Finding Basil
And he couldn’t blame the man for that.
Steve wasn’t violent. Basil guessed that the things he’d done came from heartbreak and pain. He needed to be committedagain, to have his pills given to him, and he needed to understand that Basil wasn’t going back to him. Not ever.
Basil said goodbye to Herb and went home, saying a fast hello to his mom, grandmother and Lila, who were making a quilt.
“Home already?” Lila asked, smirking.
“Uh…yeah. I’m not feeling well. Gonna go lay down.”
He headed straight for his room before Abuela came into it without knocking. “What’s wrong?”
“Just tired, Abuela.”
“No, you’re not. What happened?”
His grandmother had no love for the police. She had terrible stories of living in LA when she was young and all that had come with that and the police there. He had to tell someone.
“Steve’s back, and he’s…he’s living in Herb’s house.”
Instead of being shocked, she quietly nodded and came to sit beside him on the edge of his double bed, placing a thin, powerful arm around him. “He misses you.”
“I love Herb, Abuela. I love him.”
“Well, we all knew that. So, what will you do?”
“I can’t call the police. He’ll get out of the hospital and head straight to jail, and jail will kill him.”
Again, she slowly nodded. “Prison is no good for anyone in trouble. Just teaches them how to get into more trouble.”
“Exactly. Without me…”
“You were a rock for him, honey, but you were a rock breaking open for him too. You can’t spend your life fixing him. I know you would, but you have a whole man who would do anything for you now. If he were in trouble like Steve, he’d take his meds if only to make you happy. Steve…as good a boy as he always was, he’s not ready yet for you or any man. He needs to fix himself or let doctors help him fix him. You tried. You’re still trying. There’s no fault in you over what he does, Basil. Not a bit.”
“I know. I…”
“Take him to the hospital. Go to him, be careful, protect yourself, but get him and take him to the hospital and tell him the truth once you get there. When you’re safe there, with other people, tell him for the last time that it’s over, but you will always care about him, and be his friend.”
His grandmother was the wisest person he knew. She always knew what to say or do.
He hugged her tightly, feeling her bones through her thin skin. “I love you, Abuela.”
“I know that, honey. I love you too.”
That night, once his family was asleep, Basil got into the truck and headed to Herb’s, after texting him for a while to assure he was going to stay at Lila’s for the entire evening.
He parked down the road a bit, so no one would see his headlights flashing across Herb’s yard, and as he crept to the house, he saw the attic dormer window, and the soft glow of candlelight that shone there.
Stopping, Basil hid in the shadow of the two tall trees in front and watched. It wasn’t long before he saw the silhouette of Steve pacing fast across the floor, blocking out the light each time he crossed in front of it.
That told him that he had been right. When Steve was in the middle of his manic phases, he paced wildly as his mind spun like a record on high. Thoughts ran through his mind, and he’d voice most of them. It was why he almost always carried a water bottle. His mouth would dry quickly from his constant, fast speech.
His hands, too, never sat idle. One would run over his brown hair, the cuticles of the other chewed relentlessly.
Basil moved from the shadow of the trees and headed to the backdoor, turning the knob to find it locked.
What Herb hadn’t realized was that Basil had taken his keys before they’d parted. He unlocked the door and went inside,padding as softly as he could through the kitchen and into the dining room, looking up the stairs as he went.
There was the creaking, and it was pretty loud in the otherwise quiet house. He hurried up the stairs and down the hall, listening to the creaking as he went. It was fast and loud, that creaking, and the pacing was obvious.
