Back in the Ramsey house…
Though it was almost three, the three Ramseys, plus Ben Twist, decided to have an early dinner. Especially since the boys hadn’t had much of a breakfast. They’d only had a chance to grab a bowl of cereal and then run to the school to get to Ben’s practice on time.
“Thank you Ms. Ramsey. Everything was great.” Ben said, pushing his chair away from the table.
“Ben for the millionth time, call me Shelley.”
“Uh, alright. Thank you Shelley.” Ben blushed. He got up, ignoring the cheeky grin Alex was giving him, and fumbled his pockets looking for his phone.
“Ben you dropped this.” Peyton Ramsey said. The envelope Eric had given him fluttered out of his back pocket, where he’d put it after reading the message in the locker room.
“Thanks,” Ben said, taking the envelope and putting in his backpack.
“What’s that about?” Alex asked, gesturing to the envelope. .
“Huh, oh it’s the Watson’s address. Mom misplaced her phone and forgot to give me their contact information before we left.”
“Watson? You mean Gina Watson?” Alex’s mom asked.
“Ya. Ben’s going over to babysit for her tonight.” Alex said.
“That’s nice. Poor women’s been a wreck since John passed.” Peyton said.
“How old is her son?” Shelley asked.
“Nine or ten. He’s actually in Martha Anderson’s class.” Ben explained. Peyton and Shelley nodded, though they had no real connection to the Andersons other than that their son Nate was a member of their pack, and Ben’s neighbor and Alex’s friend. Contrary to popular belief, wolves and foxes do get along.
Still, the Ramseys had only briefly met them during town 4th of July party. There were so many people, and so many things to do. It was hard to keep a conversation going for many than five minutes.
“What’re you going to be dong this evening Alex?”
“I’ve got some homework to do. But I was thinking of going over to the Watson’s with Ben if that’s okay.” Alex said. Ben had already run it by Gina, who didn’t have a problem with Alex tagging along. The only condition was that they kept their behavior “family friendly” in front of Jeremy.
“Sounds like a plan. What time do you think you’ll be home?”
“Probably around nine. Gina’s going out to dinner wth the family lawyer a few town over. She didn’t think she’d be out too long.” Ben said.
“You two will behave yourselves, won’t you?” Peyton Ramsey got that look in his eyes. He didn’t care that his son was gay, or that he and Ben seemed to have relations on a regular basis. But he wanted his son to understand there was a time and a place for everything. Just because they had increased libidos didn’t excuse inappropriate behavior. On a side note, that was one of the reasons he disliked the mayor so much. Martin Stovall seemed to just go wherever the wind took him.
“Of course, we’re not stupid Dad” Alex said, a little put off by his father’s apparent lack of trust.
“Alright, just had to check didn’t I? I’m due back at the repair-shop for an extra shift. I’ll see you later. Bye honey.” Peyton said, getting up from his seat and kissing Shelley’s forehead. He grabbed his jacket and keys before exiting through the kitchen door.
“Has your dad found another job yet?” Ben asked quietly. Alex’s father’s unemployment was a touchy subject. He’d been laid off from his past job, and was now working part-time at the auto-shop in town. Shelley was a secretary at City Hall, so that combined with Peyton’s bare minimum wage was just enough for the family to barely scrape by.
“No. It’s tough, race track mechanics aren’t exactly in high demand.” Alex said. His father had previously been employed at PACIFIC RACEWAYS, which ran a drag race track and a road course in Kent. But they downsized their staff to economize.
“Neither are professional baseball players.” Ben thought. He’d always dreamt of playing for the Red Sox when he was a kid. He did football in the fall, rested during the winter, and then did baseball in the spring/early summer. But when he entered high school he realized ho impractical that dream was. Still, a guy could hope.
“I’m sure things will turn around. He’s only been out of work for a couple of months. Give it some time, I’m sure someone will offer something more engaging than working in a tiny garage.” Ben said, trying to reassure his boyfriend by slinging his arm around his shoulders. Alex smiles and patted Ben’s hand.
“And here I wondered why your mom said you’d make a good therapist one day.” Alex said.
A career Ben wasn’t really considering. At least, he didn’t think he was….
“Be nice to have another Dr. Twist in the family.” Ben thought pleasantly. And he certainly wasn’t pursuing medicine like Alex was. The idea of dissecting living things, it grossed him out to no end.