Page 44 of Diamond Ring
Ben: Nice necklace. Do you believe in magic?
There’s a pause. It’s possible Mike’s not interested. It’s possible Jake will get left on read. It’s possible he’s going to die alone, which is the kind of melodramatic thought he reserves for one in the morning. His phone buzzes a second later.
Mike: If it works, it works
Ben: Does it work? The necklace I mean.
Mike: Sure
Maybe Mike is busy or waiting for Jake to tell him his address. Or maybe he’s looking through Jake’s profile—at his carefully anonymized photos like anyone still cares who he is—and getting disappointed.
Mike: Anything works if you believe in it
Ben: I guess that makes sense.
Mike: You don’t have to make me feel better. I know I’m superstitious
Ben: I gotta put my shoes on a certain way. If don’t, I take them off and start over.
A ritual normal in the clubhouse but nowhere else, like the order in which he does up his cleat laces—then redoes them, then redoes them—will keep his elbow safe.
Mike: Does it work?
Ben: Does what work?
Mike: Whatever you’re trying to accomplish with your shoes
No. But that’s too serious for a late-night hookup chat. That he’ll never accomplish it but has to try, and that’s the crux of the problem.
Ben: I’ll let you know when I find out. OK, I said mine. What else are you superstitious about besides the magic necklace?
Mike: This would be easier if you just asked for pics
Ben: You’re hot. Send those too.
Jake’s phone buzzes, a picture that’s almost chaste by app standards: Mike’s stomach again, his hand resting on the waistband of gray sweats tugged low enough on his hip to reveal the drag mark of a scar. The lighting is bad and Mike’s not really bothering to pose, and it’s hotter than if it was something plasticky and perfect.
Ben: I told you. Damn.
Mike: It’s pretty late if you’re looking for something. I probably shouldn’t even be on here. I’m not really into hookups
A relief. Because there’s only so much explaining Jake wants to have to do about meds and needingtime, and a lot of people just shrug and clean themselves up and leave.
Ben: Nah I’m too tired. Tho should I be insulted you didn’t ask to see me?
Mike: I thought you wanted to know my other superstitions
Ben: I can be both curious and vain.
Mike: I have to put my left glove on before my right one
And Mike could be a plumber or a welder or someone with bad circulation who wears gloves. But Jake would put money on ballplayer or former ballplayer.
Mike: It’s really a bunch of stuff. My ex used to tease me about it
The last added on like he wants Jake to ask about his ex, though mostly Jake’s just reminded of a conversation he and Alex had years ago, when Alex said he wasn’t superstitious, he just didn’t like sitting on chairs with certain serial numbers because they had bad energy. At least he laughed when Jake said,That’s what being superstitious is, Alex. Jake then added,What happens if you sit in them?And received an Alex-ish shrug, like that sort of thing could be dropped so easily. Like that wouldn’t occupy his brain for hours after.
Ben: I’m guilty of that too. Not that stuff’s gone my way. But I keep hoping it does.
