Desert Star Read online

  Desert Star

  Chapter 1

  Larsen Davis generally looked down when he walked through the hallways of Mystekal High, so if someone were to smile at him, he’d hardly notice. But he always knew precisely where he was, and his keen peripheral vision always told him when he was approaching his two least favorite senior classmates, Jax Reinhardt and Antonio Reyes.

  Six foot four and muscular, Jax could be physically intimidating without saying a word. And often, just because he could, Jax liked to puff up his chest and get in someone’s way. On most days, Larsen was his favorite target.

  Larsen stopped short of walking into Jax, who had stepped into his path to block him from moving. “Hey, gay boy, I know it’s only October, but I couldn’t help but wonder. Got a date for the prom? Picked out what dress you’re gonna wear yet?”

  Jax turned to his friend. “Whatcha think, Tonio? Pink sound like a good homo color for our boy here?”

  “Yeah, or maybe purple. As long as he has matching shoes and purse.”

  The two teens exploded in laughter, while Larsen took a step to his right to get around Jax. But Jax took a step to his left.

  “C’mon, homo boy, what’s the matter? Don’t you want to stay here and chat with us?” Jax flashed an evil smile. “We gotta know, is it true about you black dudes? Do you guys all have logs in your pants? Or is yours a wittle bitty stick?”

  Larsen looked up at his tormentor. “Shut up. Just let me pass, Jax.”

  “Nah, maybe not.”

  Approaching the trio, River Dalworth, who only days earlier had noticed Jax bullying his classmate, was fed up. “Dude, why don’t you man up and leave the guy alone?”

  Antonio laughed. “Rio, sup with you? If anyone should be manning up, it’s this little homo boy.”

  Undaunted, River stepped closer to the bullies and stood boldly, distracting them just long enough so that Larsen could get away.

  Jax shrugged. “Proud of yourself? Letting the little queer escape? Well, there’s always next time.”

  River looked Jax in the eyes. “One of these days your shit is going to land you in prison. And then, as you’re so interested in the phallic measurements of your brethren, you’ll find out firsthand, via your anal sphincter muscle, everything you’re wanting to know.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about, Dictionary Dick? Who talks like you?”

  “I talk like me. I don’t talk like anyone else. I didn’t get my dictionary out of a gumball machine.”

  Gina Dennison stood across the hallway by her locker, admiring River. She had been crushing on him for two years, but he had always been oblivious to it. But now that they were both seniors, and River was displaying a sense of self she hadn’t seen before, he was all that much more attractive to her. He used words nobody else knew, he was smart, and he didn’t follow anybody’s ways but his own.

  Jax glared at River. “I don’t know what to make of you, but sticking up for homo boy like that, I’m just thinking you’re two peas in a pod.”

  “Yeah, you think? Bet you don’t even know what a pod is.”

  Jax looked at Antonio for help, but he had no idea how to respond to River either.

  River chuckled. “Really, Jax. You shouldn’t be using big-assed words like ‘pod’ if you don’t know what they mean.”

  Gina smiled and vowed to herself that she wasn’t going to wait any longer to get to know the mighty River.

  `*`*`*`

  River was just leaving school for the day when Gina caught up to him. “Hi there, River.”

  “Oh, hi, Gina.”

  “I was just wondering …”

  “What? If I’m as good-looking close up as I am from a distance?”

  Gina giggled. “Well, maybe.”

  Just as River was about to respond, Larsen appeared at his side. “Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute. Before you head home.”

  Gina looked disappointed. “Guess I’ll talk to you another time, River.”

  “Sure thing.” River turned to Larsen as Gina walked away. “Let’s go outside and hang a left. I think they spray for bullies there.”

  “Good one. Thanks, Riv.”

  As soon as they walked around to the side of the school, Larsen leaned against the wall and exhaled. “Man, it’s been a bad day.”

  “I’m really sorry about Jax and Antonio.”

  “They cornered me right after Ms. Carrow’s class.”

  “Sucks, dude. Sorry I wasn’t there.”

  “Listen, River. I wanted to thank you for standing up for me. People rarely do. I wasn’t so sure Jax wasn’t going to punch you out.”

  “I wasn’t worried.”

  “I really appreciate what you did. I just don’t want you to get caught up in my nightmare.”

  River shook his head. “No. It’s everyone’s nightmare when nobody stops bullies.”

  “I sure wish more people felt like you did. Wish they had your courage. I should be able to stop them without any help.”

  “Reinhardt’s a big guy. Antonio is a body builder. We all need a little help now and then. Just try to go home and chillax.”

  Larsen looked down and kicked the dirt. “Home. That’s a joke. I’m gonna tell you something, Riv, because I know I can trust you.”

  “You can. What’s up?”

  “Let’s just say that being at school is better than being at home most of the time. And considering I’ve got two jerks bullying me, that doesn’t say much, does it?”

  River looked dumbfounded. “School is better than home? What’s going on?”

  “I’ve got a mother who’s the biggest bully of them all.”

  “Your mom bullies you for being gay?”

  “That’s about right.”

  “How about your dad?”

  Larsen’s eyes began to water. “My father died when I was eleven. My mom says that the lack of a good male role model is what made me gay. She’s clueless. You know, Riv, when I was ten, my dad took me to the mountains one day. We were just sitting there, looking at the view, and he told me, ‘Son, when you grow up, there are gonna be some people who will bust your balls for being different. But take it from your old man, it’s okay to be whoever you are.’ ”

  “So your father knew you were gay?”

  Larsen wiped away a lone tear. “Yeah, he knew before I did. And I think he knew he was sick. That’s why he told me. I’m sure of it.”

  “Oh, damn, dude. I’m sorry. What did he die from?”

  Looking right, then left, Larsen paused before answering. “Some kind of lymphoma. My mother won’t talk about it.”

  “Sorry, Lars. I really am. So, what’s up with her?”

  Larsen looked in the distance and saw Jax and Antonio jump into a black Mustang where the driveway to the school met the main highway. “Let’s go, Riv. You don’t need to stand here and watch me hold the building up.”

  River laughed as he and Larsen started walking away from the school, toward the large expanse of desert where several students were still milling about, waiting for rides, or just talking. “I’ll tell you, if you can hold the building up, you can take care of those two clowns.”

  Larsen frowned. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, my mom, well, she’s embarrassed to have a gay son. Tells me all the time that it’s hard enough being black, so what the hell did I have to go and be gay for. I keep telling her that I had as much choice in being gay as I did being black. But she’s not buying that. She told me she’s gonna squeeze the gay right out of me one day.”

  “Yeah, right. C’mon, come over to my house. Hang with me for a while. I live about a mile down the road, off to the right.”

  “I live about a mile and a half in the other direction. Oh, man, Riv. What if someone sees us w
alking to your house together?”

  “Then it means their eyeballs are in good operating condition. C’mon.”

  Surprised but pleased, Larsen walked alongside River.

  “You’re a pretty good guy.”

  River was embarrassed. “I’m okay. Tell me about your mom.”

  “She works as a waitress in Palm Desert. She goes in before I get home from school and gets off work around ten-thirty.”

  “She’s not around to cook dinner for you?”

  Larsen sighed. “No. I eat mostly frozen dinners. Sometimes on the weekend she cooks up a pot of something and leaves it for me to heat up. Or I cook a little something myself. But that’s not the worst part, Riv. My mom picks up men all the time. And she doesn’t know them that long before she brings them home. She says she’s doing it for me. Wants me to meet ‘real men.’ They stick around for a couple of weeks and dump her.”

  “Wow, dude. That’s some lame shit.”

  Larsen picked up a small rock and threw it as far as he could. “She told me the last guy dumped her because he couldn’t sleep in the house with a homosexual in the next room. What kind of idiot thinks that gay people are attracted to just anyone of the same sex? Or that we’re all sexual perverts? Makes me mad. Anyway, Mom told me I’m ruining her life.”

  River bit his bottom lip while Larsen’s words replayed in his head. “Sounds to me like it’s the other way around … sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “S’okay, Riv. I’m down with the truth. Your parents gonna have any problems if you bring me home. I don’t want to—”

  “No. No way. My family isn’t like that. We’ve got our own history, you know. Nobody in my house is going to judge you. This is probably TMI, but my mom split on us years ago and went to live in LA with some loser producer. It’s a long story, but she came home, stuff happened, and then she and my dad fell in love again and got remarried. When she first left, we thought she was gone for good. So you never know. We’ve even got a dog now. Maybe things will get better for you.”

  “Don’t think so, Riv. My mom hates me more every day.”

  `*`*`*`

  Arielle’s burgundy RAV4 pulled up to the house just as River and Larsen were approaching. River, often a loner despite his easy charm, rarely brought friends home. Pleased to see him doing so, Arielle was smiling as she got out of her vehicle, followed by an enthusiastic border collie mix.

  “Hey, Riv. You brought a friend home.”

  River bowed dramatically, and then made a sweeping hand gesture toward Larsen. “Greetings, royal mother. This is Larsen Davis.” River turned to Larsen, grinning. “This is my mom. But you don’t have to bow. That’s only something she makes us do. Oh, and this canine rascal is Muggins.”

  Larsen laughed as he put his hand out. “Hi, Mrs. Dalworth. Hey, Muggins. Nice to meet you.”

  Muggins wagged his tail and after a quick round of roughhousing with River, jumped up to meet the stranger.

  “And very nice to meet you, Larsen. I see you’ve already mastered the art of not taking my royal offspring seriously. Excuse me for looking like I’ve been crawling through a dusty building, but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Let’s go inside and get out of the sun.”

  Larsen was beaming. As River held the screen door open, Arielle and Muggins walked through, as Larsen followed behind them. Arielle led Larsen into the living room and stopped by the couch. “Have a seat. Can I get you boys something to eat or drink?”

  “You don’t have to wait on us, Mom. Lars and I can raid the fridge in a few.” As soon as River sat down, Larsen did so as well.

  “Okay, if you’re sure.” Arielle sat in the armchair opposite the couch, and Muggins jumped up into her lap.

  Larsen smiled warmly at Arielle. “I’d love to hear why you were crawling through a dusty building.”

  “Well, as you know, our humble town of Mystekal is undergoing a complete redevelopment.”

  “Yeah, I just moved here with my mom in the summer, but I heard that the guy who used to be principal was a murdering creep who owned the town.”

  “That’s right. Ernest Carrow. He met his untimely demise right in the hallway of our alma mater! Mom and my sister, Jessie, and I saw the whole thing.” River paused. “A ghost choked the fuck out of him.”

  “Really? I heard about that, but my mom said it was probably a stroke or something. That’s what the papers said.”

  “Nuh-uh. The ghost of the guy he whacked a long time ago killed him—strangled him until his eyeballs bulged out of his head and popped wide open. The right eyeball went rolling down the hallway and was carried away by a giant cockroach. La cucaracha, la cucaracha …“

  “Riv … that last part didn’t—”

  “Carrow left all his money to the school nurse, Anna Nimble, but turns out she hated his homicidal guts all along. She was only pretending to like him. Who knows what he might have done to her if he knew how she really felt. After he died, she gave most of the loot to his daughter, Eve, our English teacher. Now she and Jinxsy Patterson, who turns out to be Ms. Carrows daughter, which really blew everybody away, especially Jinxsy, are Mystekal’s head honchos. The Jinxster is my sister’s BFF.”

  “Wow! That’s unreal!” Attempting to process all of the information that River had just given him, Larsen turned to Arielle. “You were going to tell me why you were crawling through a dusty building. Maybe that’ll be less taxing on my brain.”

  Arielle laughed. “Ah, yes! Well, I’m in charge of the renovation and expansion of the Desert Theater. I’m working out of a trailer behind the building. We’re not only going to restore the theater to its former glory, but we are also going to add onto it. The abandoned paint store next door to it is going to be made into classrooms for a new performing arts school. I’m still working it all out now. But it’s going to be fabulous!”

  Larsen looked excited, then sad. “Sounds great. What a dream that would be …”

  “Are you interested in the theater, Larsen?”

  “Yeah. I’ve wanted to be an actor my entire life. I’d really like to do musical comedy except I can’t really carry a tune with a handle on it.”

  River turned to Larsen. “Mom’s an actress. She’s been in some movies and shit, but we don’t talk about that too much these days because that was a bad time for our family.”

  Arielle’s stare bored a hole through River’s forehead. “Riv, since we don’t talk much about that time, let’s not talk about it right now, as well. What do you think? Good idea?”

  “Ha ha, Mom. You crack me up.”

  Arielle resumed talking to Larsen. “I hope you will follow your dream, Larsen. If you want to act, you should go for it. Why do you look so sad?”

  “I guess you should know that River was nice enough to bring me to your home today because at school these … uh … these dick …”

  Arielle finished the word for him. “Dickheads?”

  Embarrassed and surprised, Larsen continued. “Well, yeah, those guys at school were bullying me again. For being gay. Thing is, Ms. Dalworth, like I told Riv, my mom hates that I’m gay and thinks she can ‘straighten me out.’ She thinks theater is a ‘gay profession’ and said she will never support me doing gay work with other gay people.”

  Arielle banged her head three times against the back of the armchair. “Oh, Larsen. I’m so sorry. Would it help if I spoke to her?”

  “Oh, shit no! I mean, no, thank you. She would probably think the only reason River was nice to me is because he must be gay, too, and then she’d think you were messed up for being okay with it.”

  “Well, my son isn’t gay, but if he were, I would be fine with it. And just for the record, I’m fine with him having gay friends. In this home, we care about associating with good people. That’s numero uno.”

  River blew a large puff of air through his lips. “Yeah, dude. You should have seen the douchebag movie producer my mom used to live with in LA. Creepy Phil Hodges. In fact …”

&nb
sp; “Riv, let’s save any walks down Memory Lane for those special times when there is absolutely no other possible choice for conversation. Like when we’re all dead. How about that?”

  Larsen and River both cracked up.

  “Damn, Riv, no wonder you’re an okay guy. You’ve got the coolest mom.”

  “You’re making me blush, Larsen. Listen, you guys help yourself to food and drink.”

  River turned to Larsen. “Otherwise known as sustenance and libation.”

  Larsen’s face screwed up in confusion.

  Arielle smiled. “My son, the language lover. You’ve probably noticed he’s a bit bizarre, but, well, we love him. Mars wouldn’t take him back, you know. His dad and I searched the desert for the spaceship he landed in, but it apparently went home without him. No forwarding address. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Larsen, I need to shower and get this plaster dust off me. You’re welcome in our home any time. Muggins, stay here and entertain the boys.”

  Larsen was choked up. “Thanks, Ms. D. I mean—”

  “You can call me ‘Mrs. D’ Larsen. Or Arielle. Either one is fine. See you later.”

  River noticed Larsen’s eyes welling with tears. “Hey, Lars, you okay, dude?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine, Riv.”

  “What’s up with those lacrimal gland secretions?”

  “Say what?”

  “The tears.”

  Slightly embarrassed, Larsen wiped his wet face with his forearm. “Nothing wrong. It’s just that this is the nicest I’ve been treated in a really long time. Oh, and one more thing: I think your mom is right. You might really be from Mars after all.”

  Chapter 2

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  Closing the front door of the apartment, Larsen looked stunned to see his mother, Raylene Davis, sitting in an upholstered living room chair with a wooden tea table in front of her, sorting dollar bills and change from the day’s tips.

  Larsen walked over to her. “I was at my friend River’s house. He invited me over after school, and then his mom asked me to stay for dinner. His parents and his sister are really nice people. His dad just drove me home. How come you’re so early, Mom?”