Page 32 of Straight To the Heart

“I have both,” Simon said. “A whole roomful.”

“I’m not surprised,” Ben said dryly.

Simon winced. That had probably sounded like bragging.

“Movie,” Ben said suddenly. “I think I could manage that. If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Simon demurred. “Pick whatever one you want to see. I’ll even make popcorn.”

“We just had breakfast!” Ben protested.

Unable to help himself, Simon reached out to playfully ruffle Ben’s hair. “That was hours ago, Benny.”

Ben opened his eyes wide. “Really? He looked down at the phone that sat by his leg. “Oh, damn. I’m so sorry I made you sit for me that long! You should’ve said something!”

“It was fine. I like that you were so engrossed in your work. It was… delightful.”

Ben wrinkled his nose. “Delightful?”

“Yes. And now I propose we have popcorn and candy and soda for lunch. What do you think?” Simon thought Ben could use a little junk food in his life.

“I think,” Ben said, more to himself than Simon, “that I might still be dreaming.”

“Oh?”

“And I’m going to be super bummed when I wake up.”

15

Ben Wants to Be Caught

Sunday, December 17

The media room

The Gold Coast

“Do you know what you’d like to watch?” Simon asked.

Simon had led Ben to the media room, as he called it, and sat him down on a small leather couch with reclining seats and cup holders. There were six of them in total but this one was front and center before the largest screen Ben had ever seen outside of a movie theater. It was even flanked by velvet curtains, like in a theater.

Simon went away, saying he was getting snacks, then came back with popcorn he’d made in what looked like an old-fashioned popcorn cart, a bowl of M&Ms, and drinks—a bottle of water for Simon and a glass bottle of Coke for Ben.

“If possible,” Ben said, “I’d like to seeA Christmas Carol.I read the book in school. Momma doesn’t believe in celebrating pagan holidays—she says it’s sacrilegious and evil—so I left the book at school and only read it there. It was short and didn’t take long. We saw the movie in class after we took the test on it. Momma never found out about the movies they showed in school. Anyway, that was my favorite. Probably because the guy in it has the same name as me.”

Simon’s mouth hung agape as he stared at Ben.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked.

Giving himself a visible shake, Simon nodded. “Yeah, Benny. I’m fine. That was just a lot to unpack. No holidays?”

Ben shook his head. “No birthdays, either. The only things you should ever celebrate are Jesus’ holy days. And for those we fasted and prayed.”

“Uh huh.” Simon’s face was entirely blank so he had no idea what the other man was thinking. He didn’t seem angry, though, so that gave Ben courage.

“Yeah. When I was little, I always told the teachers that Momma said I had to sit out during class parties but after a few years I stopped saying anything. It was a sin, but I prayed extra hard about it. I didn’t like having to be the only one sitting there. I’d always give away my candy or cookies or cupcakes to kids in the class. I figured that was fair.”

Simon cleared his throat. “I see. No movies, either?”

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