“He doesn’t come here much anymore,” Amy said.
“Not since we all learned he’s a fag.” That was Larry again. And just as before, Amy and Jimmy threw awkward glares his way while Logan ignored him.
“Amy’s right,” Jimmy said. “Cody doesn’t really hang out here. Not since—”
Larry laughed again. “Not since Dusty—”
Amy jumped to her feet, staring at Larry. “Shut up. Jesus, you’re such a pig. What’s Cody ever done to you?”
Larry only laughed, and Nate focused on Logan again. “Do you know where he lives?”
“He lives in the fucking Hole, man,” Larry crowed. “How trashy can you get?”
Logan finally turned his icy gaze Larry’s way. “Not like that’s his fault.”
“Guess his mom doesn’t make enough as a lizard.”
“That ain’t his fault either.”
“Everything else about him is, though.”
Nate cleared his throat. He hated how soft and weak his voice sounded when he spoke. “Like what?”
The triumphant smile on Larry’s face was enough to turn Nate’s stomach. “Like that he’s a fag.”
Nate sighed. “I get it. You don’t like him. That doesn’t mean—”
“No, man.” This time, it was Jimmy who spoke, not with Larry’s gleeful hatred, but in a tone that was almost apologetic. “He’s right. Cody’s— Well, he’s a homo. He’s into guys. Everybody knows it.”
“Yeah?” Logan said, suddenly pushing to his feet. “So what?”
Jimmy shrank a bit, backing down in front of Logan’s obvious threat, but Larry wasn’t so easily cowed. “‘So’? He probably has AIDS, the fucking queer.”
Logan shook his head. “Jesus, you’re an ignorant hick, you know that?”
“I don’t believe it, anyway,” Jimmy said without meeting anybody’s eyes. “I mean, I’ve hung out with him a bit. We had slumber parties when we were kids, and he never came on to me.”
Larry rolled his eyes. “Right. And God knows no fag could resist you, right?”
Jimmy shrugged, trying to look unconcerned, although he looked more embarrassed than anything.
“Who cares anyway?” Logan asked.
They were all standing now, moving away from the table, closing in on each other. The other teenagers in the bowling alley began to look their way, like sharks sensing blood in the water.
“You telling me you don’t care that he takes it up the ass?” Larry asked.
Logan shrugged. “That’s what I’m telling you, yeah. Like Amy said, he’s never done anything to you, has he? And it’s nobody else’s business anyway.”
Amy looked pleased that Logan agreed with her. Larry, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. “Gimme a break, Logan. You just like thinking you’re better than us.”
“Better than you, at any rate.” Larry opened his mouth to speak, but Logan rushed on before Larry could interrupt. “You know what? My whole life, my Aunt Nadine’s lived with a chick. We call her Aunt Mabel. And if you ask my mom, she says Nadine and Mabel are just good friends. But I’ll tell you what, I’ve been to their house, and they only have one bedroom.”
“They’re dykes!” Larry said.
“Maybe they are, but so what? They’re cool, man. And I’d rather have them than my Uncle Frank. He’s a drunk, and he beats on my aunt, and he beats on my cousins, and he harasses all the waitresses at work. Everybody knows he fucks around with any woman whose pants he can get into. So am I supposed to be proud of my good ol’ Uncle Frank and ashamed of my aunts because they like each other more than they like guys?”
For a moment, nobody spoke. There was only the wocka-wocka-wocka of the Pac-Man game behind them. Everybody else was watching now, edging closer, trying to hear what was being said. Jimmy was the one who broke the silence.
“I didn’t know that about Frank.” His voice was low, pitched so the others couldn’t hear. “I didn’t know he hit Lorraine.”
Nate couldn’t help but think he was intentionally missing Logan’s point.
“So you like your dyke aunts,” Larry said, apparently unwilling to let the point go. He allowed his voice carry, seemingly pleased at the crowd that was drawing nearer. “You probably think about them while you’re jacking off. You probably love imagining them in bed together.”
Logan took a step toward Larry, and Jimmy and Nate both put a hand out at the same time to stop him, although Nate doubted they would have been able to hold him if he decided to really make a move.