Streamline (35 page)

“Let’s try this again,” CS barked. “Tell me the mission statement, word for word.”

Leo began, but CS interrupted his stammer, ordering him to complete fifty pushups.

As Leo struggled to ignore the searing pain in his right wrist, his father leaned down by his ear. “That’s the freaking worst pushup I’ve ever seen! Get your body weight evenly distributed to the right.

Ten, hut!”

Leo returned to standing.

“Are you
trying
to piss me off?”

“No, sir.” Leo felt the familiar tingle of terror climb up his throat.

Any element of playfulness within the challenge evaporated when his father’s eyes turned violet.

“What’s wrong with you? How do you explain those lousy pushups?”

“No excuse, sir.”

“Bull. You tell me what’s going on.”

Leo could barely breathe. He’d thought they’d come a long way these last six weeks, but now Leo knew he’d get hit no matter what he said. Once again he opted for honesty. “My wrist hurts. I apologize for my weakness, sir.”

“Aw, the baby’s wrist hurts?” CS turned away, hands on hips, and seemed to force some deep breaths. His voice had calmed a bit when he wheeled back around. “How’d you injure your wrist?”

“When I fell back, sir, I must have aggravated my wrist sprain.”

“You sprained your wrist? When was that?” His father’s fury now seemed to melt into curiosity.

Leo hesitated. “In March, sir. It was after we went to the restaurant…”

CS looked down. “It was me. I did that to you.”

“It — it wasn’t as bad as my ankle, sir, and — ”

“You sprained your ankle too?”

“Y-Y-Yes, sir, but they both healed just fine…It sucked being in a wheelchair but it helped — ”

“You were in a wheelchair?” CS looked horrified.

“I, uh, couldn’t use crutches because of my wrist, sir…” His father looked off in the distance. “I put you in a wheelchair.

I put my son in a wheelchair.”

Leo paused, unsure of what would happen next.

Abruptly CS pivoted and ran, disappearing toward the parking lot.

Leo stood, cradling his wrist and staggered by his father’s response.

Left to complete the workout on his own, he chewed his lip as he jogged around the track.

When Leo returned to the Roses’, he found three accusing sets of eyes waiting for him.

“Audrey, please wait in your room while Jason and I talk to Leo,” his mother said.

Audrey nodded and brushed past Leo, avoiding his questioning gaze.

Sensing he was in trouble, Leo instinctively stood at attention in the kitchen. His mother patted his arm. “Hey, relax. You’re not a sailor yet. Have a seat.”

When she grasped his hand to guide him to a chair, he yelped.

She gasped and let go. “Did James hurt you again?” As he sat at the kitchen table, Leo’s eyes darted back and forth from his mother to his brother. “No, why would you say that?”

“Leo, the jig is up,” she said, shaking her head. “Audrey told us she saw you and your father together at the track.” Leo closed his eyes.

“What’d he threaten you with to get you there?” Jason demanded.

“He didn’t threaten me. I — I asked him to meet me.”

“What?” Jason thundered. “What were you thinking?”

“I asked him to help me get ready for the Academy,” Leo explained.

His mother seemed on the verge of tears. “He’s helping you get ready? What, by beating you unconscious? Will you be ready for the Academy when you have a broken arm?” Her voice rose shrilly. “Will
that
help prepare you, Leo?”

Leo shook his head. “He
is
helping me. I fell on my wrist tonight, but it wasn’t Dad’s fault. I’ll be fine, ma’am.”

“I can’t believe how stupid you are,” Jason said.

“In ten days, when you turn eighteen, I can’t stop you from seeing him, Leo. Though why you’d take that risk is incomprehensible to me. But until then, I forbid it.”

“Why are you so mad, Mom?” Leo’s stomach twisted in knots.

“I didn’t do anything wrong! I just spent time with my own dad!”

“In a normal family, it’d be fine to see your father. But we all know this family’s far from normal.” She studied him. “I’m guessing this wasn’t the first time you met up with him.” Why did she have to ask that? “No, ma’am.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Since April.”

“And you say you didn’t do anything wrong?” she yelled. “You’ve kept this secret from us for over a month! You knew it was wrong, young man.”

Leo looked away. “Yes, ma’am.”

“For the next ten days I want you in this house unless you’re at school or swim practice,” she said quietly. “If you need to go for a run, Jason can accompany you.”

“What about graduation parties?” Leo asked, gripping the table with his good hand.

“You can go only if you stay with Audrey the entire time.”

“Great, so now Audrey’s my freaking chaperone?” She looked too angry to answer. She closed her eyes. “Go to your room,” she finally hissed. “I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.” Leo balled his hands into fists. “Yes, ma’am.” A few minutes later, he heard a light knock on his bedroom door.

“Go away, Audrey!”

At first he felt satisfied as her soft footsteps faded down the hall, but almost immediately a deep longing swept over him. He wanted to hold her in his arms and forgive her for revealing his secret. But how could she go behind his back like that? Didn’t she trust him?

Why hadn’t she even talked to him? He felt betrayed all over again.

He fell back on the bed, hugging a pillow, and his mind swirled with thoughts and images from the day. He simply hated having his parents upset with him. When his dad was mad, he usually felt pure fear. But his mom’s anger was a different experience. He just felt horrible for letting her down.

How could he explain it to her? This need to be with his father despite the risk?
He
didn’t understand the hungry yearning inside him, so how could he explain it to anyone else?

The next day, Leo finished warm-up and looked over to see Matt wiping his forehead, sweating — even without the workout — in the late-May heat. “We’ll keep building our aerobic base today,” he informed them. “Four fifteen-hundreds.” Leo groaned along with his teammates. The four-mile set would take almost two hours to complete — the rest of practice. This was one of their last high-school practices together, yet Leo wouldn’t allow himself to even look at Audrey. How could she have tattled and gotten him grounded?

He pushed off in a tight streamline to begin the first mile, taking smooth, easy strokes. By the third mile, he was actually enjoying the set. He felt himself drop deeper into a relaxing trance with each pull and kick.

Once the long set was over, he leaned back against the edge of the pool and ignored Audrey’s stare. She final y pul ed herself out and left Leo by himself.

“SW, come on over.” Matt beckoned.

Leo approached nervously. Had he disappointed Matt somehow?

“What the heck’s going on with you and Audrey?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“I think I saw her crying during that set,” Matt said softly. “One of those cries where you have to dump tears out of your goggles.”

Leo sighed. “I’m mad at her. She went behind my back and told my mom something that got me in trouble.”

“What’d she tell her?”

Leo squinted in the sun. “Audrey saw me with my dad. He’s been training me for the Academy.”

Matt whistled through his teeth. “And you think she should’ve kept that a secret? Get your head outta your butt. If
I
caught you with your father, I’d have your mom on the phone in seconds.” Leo lowered his head.

“I have less than one month as your coach. I don’t want any time lost to bruises or broken bones. I don’t think you can afford to lose any more organs, either,” he added.

Leo looked up to find his coach smiling.

Matt cleared his throat. “I, uh, I’m going to miss you, Leo.”

“I’ll miss you too. You…you don’t suck as a coach.” Matt laughed. “I’m glad to hear that. You don’t suck as a swimmer either. Well, I better go…got a date tonight.”

“I thought you said women sucked out your life force?”

“I did. I don’t know what I’m thinking, but Jason set me up with this chick he knows, and I actually
like
her. She doesn’t take any crap.

Her taste in music does need some work, though.” Leo chuckled. “You need someone to broaden your horizons beyond the Dead, Matt. Good luck with that…you’ll need it. Heck,
she’ll
need it.”

“No kidding. You and Audrey have been dating for what, almost three years? That’s longer than any relationship I’ve had in my life, and you’re half my age.” Matt gave him a stern look. “Don’t screw it up, Spleenless Wonder.”

“Yes, sir.” Leo headed for the locker room with a smile.

“Leo?” his mom called from inside the house.

“Nope, it’s just me.” Audrey walked into the family room to find Mrs. Scott cleaning up papers after her tutoring session. “Matt was still talking to Leo when I left practice.”

“How was your day?” Mrs. Scott asked.

“Fine.” Audrey played with a strand of wet hair.

“Fine, huh? You don’t
sound
fine.” Audrey moved on to twirl the string on her shorts. “Leo’s not speaking to me.”

Mrs. Scott tapped the sofa cushion. “My son’s an idiot sometimes.

You did the right thing, telling me what you saw.” Audrey sat on the sofa, a safe distance from Leo’s mother. Mrs. Scott patted her knee.

“Maybe Leo will come around when he hears I’m not grounding him any more.”

“You’re not?”

“I talked to Marcus Shale today and told him what happened.

He said this probably isn’t as much about Leo’s dad as it is my fear of letting Leo go. It’s time for him to make his own decisions.” She sighed. “Marcus is right. I’m scared, but I need to let Leo go.”

“But what if his dad hurts him?”

“The truth is if James wants to hurt Leo, he’s going to do it.

Keeping Leo in this house won’t make a shred of a difference. I lived with my boys for years and was never able to stop him from hurting them.”

Her eyes shone with sadness. “And I’m worried that keeping Leo away from his father will draw James to this house, where he could possibly hurt you too.” She shuddered. “I just have to hope James has finally learned his lesson.”

“Mrs. Scott? Why did Leo ask his dad for help?” Audrey asked after a moment.

“I won’t pretend to understand their relationship, but I think Leo felt like he had to reach out to his father. He didn’t have a choice.”

“Yes, he did!”

“Audrey, your father’s been convicted of murder, yet you continue to stand by him. You continue to see him and support him. Is this any different?”

Audrey felt anger flare within her, and it was all she could do to stay on the couch. But then she knew it was true. Even if there were incontrovertible evidence proving her father murdered another man, she’d never believe it. She needed her father and he needed her.

“Do you think my father’s guilty?” Audrey asked softly.

“I honestly don’t know. He never seemed like a murderer to me,” she said. “Then again, James didn’t seem like an abusive father when I met him. I’m realizing there’s a lot I don’t understand in this world. But I know your father loves you, and I think it’s wonderful you stand by him.”