Walking Home

         The park outside Kazan Academy could have won an award for being the most mundane place in Royeken City. It had no playgrounds, no lakes or barbeque grills. It wasn't even big enough to play your typical playground games or have family picnics. The place only had an empty weedy parking lot and a little bridge that crossed a tiny stream with floating plastic. I couldn't even tell you the name of the place, because the one sign in front of the lot said: "Park," and that was it. However, for some reason it was this park where my friends and I came to hang out.

         "I'm not going to eat that." Dai said.

         "But it's good for you! Filled with... umm... all those proteins and vitamins that you're jabber'n about!" Hotaru waved a large, crumbling sugar cookie in front of Dai's face.

         "That thing is pure sugar." Dai tried swatting the cookie away.

         "It says on the package that there is ...." Hotaru reached down and grabbed the clear plastic wrapping as he inspected the label. "... point five percent calcium! That's a vitamin, right?"

         "Eat your own damn cookie."

         "Well, at least Akio appreciates a good cookie when he sees one. Right, Akio?" Hotaru looked to me and I nodded my head with a laugh. 

         It was late Wednesday afternoon and Dai, Hotaru, and I lounged about the graffiti-chalked bridge. We never had anything really important to do after Wednesday classes, so we'd come here to simply hang out. It was one of the few times during the week that all three of us could meet due to our busy schedules. The three of us were friends since middle school, although since then time caused us to grow apart. Dai was captain of the Kendo club, Hotaru went to the neighboring Furin Academy, and I was vice president of Kazan Academy's student council. Hotaru attended Furin because the school was closer to his home, but he never seemed thrilled about being apart from Dai or me.

         "Don't you eat enough cookies at your tea club?" I asked. Hotaru managed to swallow the remainder with a shake of his head. A smile grew in his dusted green eyes as he licked the crumbs from around his lips.

         "My dear, you can never eat enough cookies." Hotaru tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind his ear. "If more people in the world would eat cookies, things would be much sweeter."

         Dai snorted suddenly as he sat himself down upon the yellow-green grass. "God, how long have you been sitting on that?"

         "Since English class."

         "Well you try that one out on the druggies and we'll see how well that goes over," Dai said.

         "I'm positive that it'd solve the rivalry problem." Hotaru smirked as he dug his nails into the cookie package and forced it open. He offered me a cookie and I took it and bit into it.

         "Something tells me that the day Kazan and Furin get along would be when cookies are used as peace offerings." A few crumbs sprayed out of my mouth.

         "Yeah, then my kendo team would turn into some gay hugging contest." Dai stretched his tanned body out on the grass, eyeing a waddling duck that strayed near us. I laughed.

         Kazan Academy and Furin Academy were the two schools that every kid in Hawfield City went to for a "proper" education. It was rumored that they were founded by feuding brothers, and I suppose that would make sense, looking at how the student bodies from both schools fought constantly. It made my life at school quite busy sometimes, because it was the V.P. who had to deal with the little group spats.

         The three of us remained splayed out on the grass for most of the afternoon. At one point all three of us had pondered chasing a duck across the stream, but then Dai pointed out that we'd look like idiots doing that sort of thing. The air became cooler as evening crept into the late afternoon.

         "Hey, look who it is," Dai said. Across the bridge was a guy with shaggy, mud-colored hair. He wore the typical all-black Kazan uniform and his slinky relaxed posture gave him away immediately.

         "Yuuto. He got into trouble last week," I said.

         "What for?" Hotaru asked as he absently scratched the back of his head.

         "Gambling I bet," Dai said.

         "Yep. Managed to get five hundred dollars off the track team, again."

         "You think those idiots would learn the first time." Dai yawned as he closed his eyes. Yuuto's figure disappeared down the road into the growing shadows of the street.

         "What time is it?" Hotaru asked.

         "Probably about five or six," I said.

         "Dinner time then. My sister will have a fit if I'm late." Dai pushed his muscular body off the ground as he got up.

         "See you guys next week?" I asked.

         "Actually, I was thinking this weekend we should go to that new club that opened up!" Hotaru threw the clear empty package away, clapping his hands together to rid the sugary residue from his hands.

         "A new club?" Dai shoved his hands into his black pants pocket.

         "Yeah! I can't remember the name... but it opened up on Stevens Road last week. They've got a live band and I think they're still doing discounts."

         "I'm there," I said.

         "There's kendo practice all weekend-"

         "Come on Dai-"

         "-but I guess I can give the guys a day off." Dai rolled his eyes at Hotaru, a small hint of a grin curling on his face.





         I didn't drive home from the park because my house was close to school and I didn't feel a need to drive a car everywhere, unlike most students my age. Part of the reason I liked walking so much was because I could take my time and the world seemed to move slower. When I reached thirty-ninth street, I could see my house but it still took me ten minutes to actually get there. The damn thing is an eyesore.

         It sat atop a hill and loomed above the average-sized homes and even the few apartment complexes that dotted the rural part of the city. The yearly fresh coat of white paint could rival most metallic surfaces, reflecting light in such a way that it was blinding. The large windows, the gated yard, the timed water sprinklers--everything about my house screamed obnoxious.

         "You're late." My father's beady black eyes flickered above the daily newspaper as he sat in the living room. I gently shut the front door, untied my shoes and placed them neatly on the edge of the white welcome mat. For the life of me, I don't know why we have a white welcome mat. You'd think that white mats wouldn't even exist for the stupidity of it.

         "Sorry." I headed past my father and walked through the doorway into the pebble-tiled kitchen.

         "How was school?" I could tell he  had gone back to reading the newspaper.

         "Same, same." Opening the refrigerator door, I attempted to find something to eat. The array of chilled foods ranged from yogurt, ripening fruit, and packaged deli meat to left over pizza and strawberry soda.

         "Do you want to go out for dinner?" I could hear my father flipping the newspaper page clumsily.

         "Nah, I'll eat here." I shut the door, unable to find anything to eat.

         "Alright. I'm leaving at eight." He flipped another page, "Won't be back until Sunday."

         "Have fun." I walked back through the entrance way, past my father and headed up the stairs towards my bedroom.

         "Oh, Akio..." He began and I stopped for a moment, turning around to peer through the stairway at my father. "... that boy, Hotaru, called just before you came in."

         "Really? What did he say?"

         "Something about meeting at a park on Friday."

         "Did he say a time?"

         "Hmm..." My father set down the newspaper as he raised a finger to his chin. "... I honestly don't remember. Seven? I think it was seven."

         "Alright." I turned and took a step up the stairs before I had to stop yet again.

         "Akio, isn't Hotaru that blonde haired kid?"

         "Yes, yes he is dad." I rubbed my temple for a moment.

         "Are you still friends with him?"

         "Yes, Dad."

         "You know he's gay, right?"

         "Dad... you don't know that." I bit my lip as I took a few deep breaths.

         "Hmm, I suppose I don't. Still, I'd rethink my choice of friends if I were you."

         "Good thing you're not, then." I turned and walked up the rest of the stairs.  I couldn't wait for Friday.

         The next morning a hundred dollar bill was left on the kitchen table with a note, "For the weekend" stuck onto it.

         

         I hated Thursdays more than any other day of the week. It mocked the fact that it wasn't Friday yet and I already hung out with Dai and Hotaru, so there was nothing to look forward to later in the day. This Thursday was no exception, except that it passed slower than normal. Even during the last class of the day, I found the clock hands were glued in place.

         "Can I sit here?"

         I snapped my head upwards to see a penetrating stare of blue eyes.

         "Oh... go ahead Yuuto," I said. I had busted Yuuto a thousand times and despite all that, I still was a little unsettled whenever he was around. I always expected for him to threaten me or at least give me a hard time for the discipline the student council has put him through. The guy was like a dog. He'd be punished and then the next day come back wagging his tail doing the same thing all over again. Of course, the discipline was usually a meeting with the entire student council in which the person in trouble would merely get a verbal warning or probation from school for a week. If someone did something horribly wrong, they'd be sent to a guidance teacher. The student council moved through disciplines quickly, because like most of the adults at the school, they were too busy planning other events than to worry about disciplining constant petty crimes.

         "Did we have homework?" Yuuto rummaged around in his faded maroon backpack as he grabbed a few loose pieces of torn papers and slapped them upon the desk.

         "Yeah, we had to write a poem."

         "A poem?" Yuuto pursed his lips for a moment before shrugging. "Yah got a pen?"

         I handed Yuuto a pen and quickly he went to work scratching away at his paper. There was still a few minutes before class, so I watched Yuuto for amusement. His large frame was hunched over his paper protectively and I found he reminded me a lot of Dai. Dai had the same defined forearms and large hands due to his long hours in Kendo. I wondered what he was doing now and if he had fallen asleep in his physics class again.

         "Yah think this'll be good?" Yuuto grinned as he handed back the pen and showed me his paper. I couldn't tell what was written on the paper, so I smiled and nodded.

         "Looks good to me."

         "I know! I think its pretty fuck'n awesome." Yuuto reached into his backpack again and pulled out a Sprite bottle. The liquid inside, however, was a caramel brown and I watched as a little of it dribbled down his chin as he drank.

         "Alcohol has a strong scent, you know," I said quietly, looking at the classroom door.

         "Really?" Yuuto smirked as he screwed the cap back on and dropped it roughly into his bag as he wiped his chin with his rolled sleeve. "I better avoid the council then."

         Professor Iglesia entered hastily through the door and apologized profusely for being late. No one in the room gave her a hard time, especially not the men. Professor Iglesia had a delicate figure and her luster-brown hair and prominent pink lips were always the focus of class. She wasted no time in collecting our homework, however, and her eyebrows rose when Yuuto handed her his poem.

         "This one is especially for yah." Yuuto said.

         "Oh boy, Yuuto," she remarked, shaking her head with a faint smile. As she moved past us, Yuuto leaned in to me and whispered.

         "She and I have been dating."

         "Wow, you're a lucky man." I forced a large grin as I focused on the blackboard. I had noticed a few months ago that she had a sizable diamond upon her ring finger.

         

         I drove my black sports car to school on Friday. It was odd parking it in the student parking lot-- I felt like a criminal. I didn't want to attract a lot of attention, but it felt as if my birthday present was as obnoxious as the house that I lived in. I was going to drive my car straight from school to the park, because I wouldn't have time to stop at home. This Friday's council meeting was going to last a little bit longer than normal, because we had another fight break out during a track event between Furin and Kazan. But at the meeting, no one wanted to be there, so we just decided that we'd put a small article on the fifth page of the school newspaper about being safe when leaving school.

         I drove to the park at five o'clock, which I had found out was the real time the three of us were going to meet. I waited for a few minutes before finally both Dai and Hotaru showed up. They had walked, since I was the only one who had a car.

         "I forgot how nice your car was!" Hotaru said cheerfully as he settled into the passenger seat and Dai slid in back. I looked into the rearview mirror to see Dai cross his arms and grunt in agreement.

         "Ah, yeah... I was really lucky to find that great summer job." I turned the key and the car purred to life. "Got the directions to this place?" I looked at Hotaru, who nodded, and he started to direct me.

         It was a twenty minute drive to downtown (where the club was located). Dai fell asleep halfway, but not before he commented about how he hated the people who built that wasteful large house on forty-fifth street.

         "It's so stupid. No one needs a house like that," Dai said. I loudly agreed and almost ran a stop sign, but managed to jerk to a stop in time.

         We drove by the club at first to make sure it was the right place. It was early so the line wasn't too long and we found a parking spot only a couple of blocks away. The club's name was Hotshots and the glow of the pink neon sign had the figure of a woman holding a putrid green martini. Dai raised a brow at this, but Hotaru promised it wasn't a strip club, so we waited in line for five minutes before we flashed our IDs and went in.

         The club was a daze of flashing lights, wavering bodies, lingering smoke and alcohol. On the left half of the club were small circular tables and a long illuminated black bar. Several people were sitting in large groups around the tables while they drank, screamed and laughed. Most of them, however, were dashing to the bar, ordering a shot and then ducking back onto the dance floor on the other side of the club. A local band was crooning into the microphone upon a raised floor that was only slightly above the dancing. The dance floor itself was swarming with people. Girls grinded on guys, guys grinded on girls and even a few girls shimmied their bodies up and down each other. Yuuto was even there amongst the crowd--a drink in one hand, splashing about messily as he surrounded himself with a few girls.

         Then there was Dai, Hotaru and myself standing in the entrance way like first year boys at our first high school dance. 

         "You never said this place was so big!" I leaned in and hissed into Hotaru's ear.

         "I had no idea!" Hotaru shrugged as he scanned the club. "What do you want to do first?"

         "Alcohol," Dai said. "Lots of alcohol."

         We crammed ourselves into a back corner table and ordered the cheapest shots the club had to offer. The discounts were still available, so I offered to pay for the first round of drinks. I guess we ended up drinking a lot, because after a while we ended up on the dance floor. The club was an entirely new world to us, so it was only natural that we stayed close together. Girls found their way to us and they came and went. We became the dashers from the floor to the bar and back again. The night was the sweaty gritty release that I hadn't had for a long time.

         My protective blanket of Hotaru and Dai was always near me. It felt safe to be next to them and I found my back pressing lightly into Dai's as the blast of the base vibrated through my ribcage. I guess it was the alcohol or maybe it was the exhilaration of knowing that I was free or alive. Maybe it was just a stupid mistake, I'm not quite sure. One moment I was dancing with some random cake-make-up girl and then the next thing I knew I had whirled around and my face was an inch from Dai's. His eyes were closed for a brief moment and I could feel his breath. I wanted to move in closer, to dance with him. I think for a moment our sides, our hands - something of ours touched and his eyes opened.

         I used to believe it was the alcohol, but for a stupid reason I smiled at Dai. I was so high in the moment that I actually smiled. I remember Dai pushed me away and abruptly left the dance floor.

         "Wait! Dai come back!" I yelled, squeezing through the crowd.

         "Stay the fuck away," Dai said. He didn't stop walking and continued to head towards the door.

         "Dai, please just wait up. I didn't mean to-"

         "Just stay the fuck away!" Dai whirled around and faced me. His eyes glared at me and I felt my stomach heave for a moment.

         "Dai, it was an accident. I didn't mean to... I mean, it wasn't anything-"

         "What's going on?" Hotaru placed a gentle hand on my shoulder as he caught up with us.

         "I'm leaving. Akio's a fucking fag, Hotaru. A fucking fag!" Dai reeked of alcohol and he continued to stare back at me.

         "What are you talking about?" Hotaru slid his hand off my shoulder as he looked to Dai and me.

         "It was an accident, Dai! I didn't mean to do that!"

         "Do what?" Hotaru asked but neither of us responded. There was an awkward, angry silence as Dai opened his mouth to speak but all he could do was shake his head.

         "I'm sorry," I said. Again, there was an awkward silence between the three of us. I knew there were blasting sounds of bass and singing from the band and laughter from people around us-- I just couldn't hear them.

         "I'm outta here." Dai headed towards the door again. Hotaru looked at me for a moment, but I simply shook my head.

         "How are you going to get home?" Hotaru called out to him, taking a step forward.

         "I'll take a taxi or something!" Dai yelled.

         "I'm sorry!" I watched as Dai slammed the door behind him. Hotaru seemed to hesitate for moment, as he stared at me.

         "Uh, Akio, I-"

         "Go," I said. "Go ahead." Hotaru nodded and rushed out the door after Dai, leaving me standing by the entrance. I think I stood there for a few minutes before I was asked to move by a worker at the club.

         I wanted to go home so I walked out into the chilled night air. I knew I probably shouldn't drive but I didn't care so I wandered to my car. I think I was sobering up a little by then anyway. I didn't drive though, because a large hand grabbed me and ripped my keys away. I thought I was being robbed when I saw it was Yuuto, but instead he asked me where was my car. I mumbled a few words and soon we were driving.

         I fell asleep in the car, because the next thing I knew I was waking up to the smell of thick smoke. Yuuto was leaning outside against the car and had a cigarette dangling from his lips. The window of the driver side door was open and the exhaled smoke crept into the car. I sat up, my head feeling like a cracked egg.

         "You feel'n okay?" Yuuto asked.

         "I'm fine... " I glanced out the window to see we were in the weedy lot of the same old mundane park. "Why are we here?"

         Yuuto shrugged, "I don't know where you live." 

         The night sky was fading away and a duck was swimming in the dirty stream. I coughed slightly as I took a deep breath of air, the after smoke practically choking me.

         "I think... I'll take a walk," I said as I slowly got out of the car.

         Yuuto took a long drag of his cigarette and then plucked it from his lips and he formed his mouth into a circle and tried to make little shapes with the smoke. "Well," Yuuto continued to smoke his cigarette. "I guess I'll be see'n yah at school." He threw his cigarette to the ground and smashed the bud into the pavement with his dirt encrusted shoe. I watched Yuuto's back for a while as he walked away and he gave me a back-handed wave. Then I started to walk.