“Do you have money?”
Cody hesitated. “A bit.”
“How much?”
Cody tried not to bristle at the question. “Enough for the bus fare.” Barely.
“And after that?” Bruce asked. “Enough to eat?”
“I figured I’d take a couple of sandwiches with me.” Plus, he was used to being hungry. He just had to get to Nate. After that, he’d figure it out.
Bruce sighed scuffed the toe of his loafer in the dirt. “You’re all he talks about. It drove me crazy at first, but now . . .” He shook his head, studying Cody like he couldn’t quite figure him out. “It’s like he lights up every time he says your name. I don’t even have to see him to know it. I can hear it in his voice.”
It made Cody smile. He didn’t care that it was Nate’s dad saying it. He couldn’t even find it in himself to be embarrassed. All he could feel was incredible joy at those words. “I know exactly how that feels.” And he knew he sounded like a damn fool saying it, but he didn’t care.
Bruce sighed again, staring up at the sky as if it held answers, and Cody realized he was fighting tears. Bruce took a deep, shaky breath before he met Cody’s gaze again. “This disease. AIDS. It’s rampant, and it’s a death sentence. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been paying attention? You know how it’s spread?”
“I do.”
“You understand that you’ll be putting yourself at risk? Both of you?”
“No.” Because it wouldn’t be like that—the bathhouses and the anonymous sex and the hustlers. It wouldn’t be like that at all. It would be him and Nate. “Not as long as it’s just us. We’ll be fine.”
Bruce nodded, looking away from Cody again to wipe his eyes. “Promise me.” His voice strained against the tears he refused to let Cody see. “Promise me that you’ll both be very, very careful. Promise me you won’t take risks or get carried away and do something reckless. Because I can get used to the two of you being together. I really can. But I can’t face watching my boy die because one of you did something stupid.”
Cody couldn’t believe it. Bruce didn’t hate him. He didn’t want to keep them apart. He just wanted them to be safe, and with AIDS tearing like wildfire through the gay communities, who could blame him for worrying?
He wanted Cody to promise they’d be safe. That they wouldn’t take risks. For himself, it was easy to commit, but could he make that promise for Nate? Could he tell Nate’s dad with a straight face that he and Nate would be together forever, for the rest of their lives, with nobody else ever coming between them?
No. He couldn’t promise him a lifetime. But he could promise it for now.
“We’ll be safe,” he said. “I promise.”
Bruce nodded, still refusing to meet Cody’s eyes. “There are maps in the glove compartment. I marked out the best route. Don’t speed. Pull over when you get tired. Don’t sleep overnight at rest stops unless you have to, and if you do, park under a light and lock your doors. Do you understand?”
No, he didn’t. He didn’t understand what was happening at all, but Bruce didn’t wait for Cody to answer. He reached out and took Cody’s hand, and he placed the car keys in Cody’s palm.
“Nate needs his car. And you need a ride. This seems like the obvious solution.” He let go, and Cody stared down at the keys, feeling stunned.
Was Nate’s dad really giving him Nate’s car?
“Tell my son I love him,” Bruce said. “No matter what.”
Cody made his way back up the porch steps to his front door, still stunned by Bruce’s gift. He’d offered him a ride back to his house in the Grove—it seemed like the least he could do—but Bruce had just smiled and said, “Seems like a good night for a walk. I could use the exercise.”
And now here Cody was, with the keys to Nate’s Mustang in his hand.
“What was that about?” his mom asked as he stepped back inside.
Cody looked around at the shabby, run-down trailer that had been his home for as long as he could remember. There’d been a house once, when he was just a baby and his parents were still together, but he only knew about it from a few faded photographs. This narrow, cramped space was all he’d ever known. It suddenly felt safe, and the rest of the world seemed incredibly huge and scary.
Cody sank into the armchair. “He gave me Nate’s car.”
His mom blinked, looking as stunned as he felt. “He what?”
“He said I can drive it Iowa. To be with Nate.”