Chapter Text
Peter, now wearing various items of daisy chain jewellery, finished packing up his fishing equipment and turned to gaze into the forest nearby.
'We're gonna have to go look for them, Jess,' he said apologetically. 'We can't wait any longer.'
'It's okay, we don't need to go,' said Jessica. 'I can see them coming. They've got their arms around each other.'
'Where?' said Peter, squinting at the line of trees. 'I don't see them, sport.'
'Not there,' said Jessica, somewhat scathingly. 'Beside the river!'
Peter turned and saw that Oscar and Kevin were indeed stumbling along the riverbank with their arms around each other, looking and moving like a two-headed zombie.
'Where on earth have you two been?' Peter called to them. 'I was getting worried!'
'It's a long story, Dad,' Oscar said, as they came up to the fishing area and collapsed onto the ground.
'Give me the short version,' said Peter.
'We got lost,' said Oscar. 'Kevin twisted his ankle and I cut my leg, and then we found the river and followed it back here.'
'That was smart of you,' said Peter, kneeling to examine Oscar's leg. 'You put this tourniquet on, Kevin?'
'Er... yeah, I did,' said Kevin.
'It's well done, considering it was a field procedure,' said Peter. 'This blood is dry, so I don't think it's bleeding anymore. We'd better stop by the walk-in clinic in town to see if it needs stitches, just in case.'
'Aw, man,' Oscar sighed. 'We'll be there for hours!'
'Do you want to risk getting an infection?' Peter asked sharply.
'No, Dad,' said Oscar.
'Then that's settled,' said Peter. 'Kevin, do you think you can make it to the car on that ankle?'
'Um... to be honest with you, Dr Venkman, I think I'll need some help to get up that hill,' said Kevin.
'Then you did the right thing telling me now instead of when we're halfway up,' said Peter. 'Okay, I think I'm gonna need to make three journeys – first I'll help Kevin to the car, then I'll come back for Oscar, then finally I'll come back and pick up all the equipment. Jess, I want you to stay down here with Oscar until I get back, then come up with us.'
'Okay,' said Jessica. 'Am I looking after him or is he looking after me?'
'You're looking after each other,' said Peter.
'I'll bring the cooler and the bait box when we come back up,' said Jessica. 'I can manage them, Dad, don't worry.'
'Great, then I'll come back for the rods and the stools,' said Peter. 'Okay, let's do this.'
Peter's car pulled up outside the hospital. Jessica was sitting beside him in the passenger seat, while Oscar was spread out on the back seat with his legs on Kevin's lap.
'How's the leg?' Peter called over his shoulder.
'It's started bleeding again,' said Kevin, 'and Oscar seems kinda out of it.'
'Jesus,' Peter muttered. 'Wait here, all three of you – I'll go get a wheelchair.'
Peter dashed from the vehicle, leaving the door open and the keys in the ignition. Jessica sighed heavily, before reaching over and taking charge of the keys.
'What's going on, dude?' said Oscar. 'Am I bleeding to death?'
'Of course you're not, man,' Kevin replied, giving him a squeeze on his uninjured leg. 'We'll get you inside and they'll have you stitched up in no time.'
'Jeez, I hope they don't have to cut off my leg,' said Oscar, giggling slightly. 'That'd be weird. Wouldn't that be weird? I think that'd be weird.'
'Just hang in there, bro,' said Kevin. 'I can see your dad coming back with a wheelchair and three medical practitioners of some kind – you'll be okay.'
'Quick, dude,' said Oscar, 'give me a kiss before they get here.'
'Are you serious?' Kevin laughed.
'I'm quoting Lethal Weapon Two,' Oscar explained. 'Plus I'm probably delirious from the pain – pay no attention to me, bro.'
With that Oscar's eyes slid shut, just as Peter flung the car door open.
A few hours later, Kevin was sitting at the table in the Venkmans' kitchen with his left leg up on a chair, setting out the pieces on a chess board. Dana entered the room.
'How's the ankle, Kevin?' she asked him.
'It's fine now,' said Kevin. 'The swelling's practically gone – I feel great, I really do.'
'That's good,' said Dana, fixing him with a smile. 'Just keep that ice pack on there until it loses all its coldness, won't you?'
'Yeah, I will,' said Kevin. 'I feel very lucky – I got off much easier than Oscar!'
'That was really impressive what you did, putting on that tourniquet,' said Dana. 'You would've saved Oscar's life, if it had been an arterial bleed.'
'But it wasn't,' said Kevin. 'It was just a minor flesh wound.'
'Much better to be able to say that now than to wish you had put a tourniquet on an arterial bleed,' said Dana. 'And he did lose a lot of blood; if it wasn't for you he would've lost a lot more.'
'Yeah,' said Kevin, 'I guess so.'
Oscar arrived in the kitchen at that moment, wearing a pair of shorts and sporting a large bandage around his right thigh. After checking to make sure that his mother was watching him, he limped over to the fridge.
'I've finished setting up the chess, man,' said Kevin.
'Great, dude,' Oscar replied, with his head in the fridge. 'I'll bring us something to drink.'
Oscar pulled a large carton of fruit juice out of the fridge, and Kevin's face lit up.
'Whoa, Sunny D!' he exclaimed.
'Yeah,' said Oscar, as he fetched down two glasses from a nearby cupboard. 'It's really tasty and refreshing, isn't it? It tastes better than my pee!'
'I doubt that's true of the blackcurrant one,' said Kevin. 'Listen, bro, I... well, I'm sorry my walk-in-the-woods idea turned out so gnarly.'
'Are you kidding?' said Oscar, as he sat down at the table and handed Kevin a glass of Sunny Delight. 'I wouldn't have missed it for the world!'
'But we got lost and you sliced your leg open.'
'Yeah, and you put a tourniquet on me! Don't you have any idea how cool that was? I'm gonna find out how I can do a full-day first aid course – you can really save someone's life in an emergency if you know that stuff.'
'Yeah, you really can,' said Kevin.
'I'll go online and investigate,' said Dana. 'Maybe we should all do it, as a family.'
'Yeah, wouldn't that be swell?' said Oscar, looking slightly annoyed. 'Okay, dude, make your first move – you're going down, 'cause this is the one thing I know I can beat you at!'
'We'll just see about that,' Kevin grinned.
Sitting on his mattress on Oscar's bedroom floor, Kevin stretched his feet out in front of him, compared the sizes of his ankles, and nodded in satisfaction. At that moment Oscar stepped into the room, dressed in his blue pair of boys' pyjama bottoms and nothing else. He did a little twirl in the doorway.
'Ta-da!' he declared.
'What was that for?' Kevin laughed.
'You said you wanted to see me wearing just pyjama bottoms,' said Oscar, 'so here I am, doing it!'
'I didn't say I wanted to see you wearing just pyjama bottoms,' Kevin pointed out. 'I asked you if you ever did, that's all.'
'Same thing,' Oscar shrugged.
'It's not,' Kevin giggled.
He threw a pillow at Oscar's chest; Oscar collapsed onto his own bed and joined in the laughter. He then noticed that Jessica was watching them through the open door; he lunged towards the foot of the bed and slammed it shut.
'Okay,' said Oscar, 'now I want you to punch me in the abs as hard as you can.'
'Why?' asked Kevin.
'To test out my new muscle exercises,' said Oscar. 'If I've been doing them right, I won't even feel it.'
'Are you sure?' Kevin laughed. 'Don't you think we've gotten bashed up enough today?'
'It'll be like punching a brick wall,' said Oscar, 'trust me.'
Kevin came to stand opposite him. Oscar held his arms out to his sides and braced himself.
'Are you totally sure you want me to do this?' Kevin asked, balling his hands into fists.
'Yes, dude!' Oscar insisted. 'Give it to me as hard as you can!'
Outside the bedroom door, Jessica heard a cry of pain and the sound of a body collapsing onto the floor. She made a face and moved away.
'Jesus, dude,' Oscar wheezed, as he wriggled around on the floor.
'You said as hard as I could,' Kevin pointed out, coming to stand over him. 'Let me help you up.'
But Oscar had another plan in mind. With a mischievous grin, he hooked his ankles around Kevin's knees and brought him crashing to the ground.
'Hey, no fair!' Kevin laughed. 'You never taught me that one.'
'I know,' Oscar grinned. 'And here's some more stuff I never taught you.'
He launched himself at Kevin and they tumbled across the floor.
Peter and Dana looked at each other as a series of loud crashes thundered through their bedroom wall.
'What do you think they're up to?' said Peter.
'Just fooling around,' said Dana.
'Should we go and stop them?' said Peter.
'There's no need for that,' said Dana.
'What if something gets broken?' said Peter.
'Then we'll fix it,' said Dana, 'or replace it. Right now I think it's more important that Oscar enjoys himself.'
'But they sound like they're tearing the place apart!' said Peter.
'Well, you know how it is,' Dana shrugged. 'Boys will be boys.'
Kevin stared through the glass panel in the front door as Oscar finished dragging an overstuffed holdall to the bottom of the stairs.
'Jeez, do you have bricks in this thing?' said Oscar.
'They've stopped talking and they're looking up at the house,' said Kevin. 'I guess I have to go now.'
'Yeah, I guess so,' said Oscar. 'I'm gonna arrange so you can come and stay one Saturday night sometime soon, like you did for me in December.'
'That'd be great,' Kevin beamed at him. 'But no walks in the woods this time.'
'No,' Oscar laughed. 'We'll stick to the stay-at-home stuff.'
Kevin nodded, then suddenly found himself enveloped in a crushing embrace, which he returned with slightly less force.
'Watch out, man,' Kevin laughed, 'you're crushing my ribs.'
'Sorry,' said Oscar, drawing away slightly. 'I just... I'm really glad you came, dude.'
'Me too,' said Kevin.
They punched each other on the arm, dug each other in the ribs and then hugged again. Then Dana opened the front door, so Kevin picked up his luggage and went outside to join his mother.
'Hi, Mom,' he smiled at Beth, causing Dana to adopt a slightly wistful expression.
'Hi, honey,' Beth said warmly. 'I hear you made a tourniquet out of four socks and a piece of stick.'
'Well, yeah, I did do that,' Kevin was forced to admit.
'That's really clever, sweetheart,' said Beth. 'I'd never have thought of doing that!'
'Well, you know how it is in an emergency,' Kevin shrugged. 'Sometimes your instincts just take over, don't they? Come on, let's go if we're going.'
Kevin slung his luggage into the back of the car, climbed into the passenger seat and waved to Oscar and Dana, who both waved back. Beth's car moved away from the house; Oscar stood and watched it. When it had disappeared around the corner, Oscar turned his attention away and was surprised to find that his mother was no longer standing next to him, but Jessica was there instead.
'Is Kevin your boyfriend?' she asked.
'What's that supposed to mean?' said Oscar, frowning at her.
'It's a simple question,' said Jessica. 'But I already know the answer so you don't need to tell me if you don't want to.'
'Jess, I don't think you really understand...'
'You love him, don't you? I think you love him.'
'You don't know what love is, Jess.'
'Oh, and you do?'
'I know there's all different kinds... and you can love different people in different ways.'
'Jeez, you're such a little pansy!'
'Jess, where the hell do you hear this stuff?' said Oscar, gaping at her in surprise.
'Why did you and Kevin keep shutting yourselves in your room together?' Jessica demanded. 'What were you doing in there?'
'We were doing... boys' stuff,' said Oscar. 'You wouldn't understand.'
'I understand plenty!' said Jessica. 'You and Kevin wanted to be alone together – you must've spent about a hundred hours locked in there!'
'I've told you a million times, Jess, don't exaggerate.'
That made her laugh. Oscar smiled at her.
'Come back inside,' said Oscar, 'and I'll get us some Sunny D.'
'I know you love him, you know,' said Jessica, as they trudged up the front steps together.
'And I know you've been spreading toothpaste all over your bedroom wall just to see what happens to it after several weeks,' said Oscar, 'so let's both keep this stuff to ourselves, shall we?'
'Okay,' said Jessica, and the front door closed behind them.
Kevin was lying on the couch with his eyes closed, looking utterly exhausted. Carl and Eduardo were sitting on chairs either side of the couch, obviously deep in conversation.
'He's really tuckered out, huh?' said Eduardo, nodding at Kevin's motionless form.
'Yeah – God knows what he's been up to!' said Carl. 'Apparently he's been using his first aid skills again, tying Oscar's foot back on with a pair of socks or something.'
'You should be really proud of him, Carlos,' said Eduardo. 'That stuff can save lives! How many kids from his old school bothered going to that first aid day last summer?'
'Um... him and about four others, I think,' said Carl.
'And I bet the rest of them'll wish they had, when they find someone needs them to save their life and they can't do it!'
'Yeah, well, I guess you're right, Eddie... now stop changing the subject! Why don't you apply to join the police academy when you finish college? You just give me one good reason!'
'I'll give you nine good reasons!' said Eduardo.
'Nine?' Carl repeated in surprise.
The phone rang in the kitchen; Beth was heard to answer it.
'First of all,' said Eduardo, 'I don't want to be a cop! Second of all, just because you're a cop and Dad was a cop does not mean I should automatically be a cop too! Third...'
Out in the hallway, the kitchen door burst open and Beth's raised voice cut into the proceedings.
'Kevin, Oscar's on the phone for you!' she called.
'Ooh!' said Kevin, seeming to wake from his coma-like sleep and rush from the room in a nanosecond.
'Oh,' said Eduardo, 'I guess he wasn't asleep after all... Carlos, what are you doing?'
Carl was eyeing the cordless phone extension that was resting in its carrier on the coffee table. As Eduardo watched with a disapproving expression, Carl lifted the phone, pressed a button on it, covered the mouthpiece with one hand and held it to his ear.
'Carlos, don't!' Eduardo hissed.
'Shh!' Carl hissed back. 'If you don't like what I'm doing then you can get out of my house!'
Eduardo scowled, crossed his arms and settled back in his chair, as Carl pressed the phone closer to his ear.
'She said she can't possibly know yet if we've got a free weekend before the end of the school year,' Oscar was saying, 'but then she said I can come and stay with you the weekend of Jessica's sleepover if you'll have me.'
'Of course I'll have you,' Kevin's voice replied.
'Don't you think your parents might be getting bored of me by now?'
'I don't care if they are – I'm not!'
'I'm relieved to hear that,' Oscar laughed.
'Maybe we can go see The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas at the movie theatre,' said Kevin. 'It should be out by then.'
'Oh, cool!' said Oscar. 'Y'know, dude, I... well, I don't know if I should tell you.'
'Tell me what, man?'
'It could change things for us – change them a whole lot! But I don't want to get your hopes up in case... well, in case it doesn't work out.'
'What do you mean?' said Kevin. 'You have to tell me now, bro.'
'I heard my parents talking last night about maybe moving back to New York City sometime soon,' Oscar said at length. 'I checked their internet history; they've been looking at junior high websites.'
'For you?'
'I kinda assumed for me, yeah.'
'My school has a website,' Kevin said casually. 'Should I email you the link, man?'
'It couldn't hurt, dude,' Oscar replied, equally as casually. 'Did you just hear a beeping noise?'
'Yeah. It sounded kinda like... oh man, I don't believe it!'
'Believe what?'
'I think my dad's been listening to us on the cordless extension! I've got to go now, man – I'll see you soon, okay?'
'I'm looking forward to it,' said Oscar. 'Ciao for now, dude.'
Kevin ran into the living room with a murderous expression on his face, just as the cordless phone finished rocking back into place in its carrier.
'What the hell do you think you're doing, Dad?' Kevin demanded.
'Just... just hanging out, son,' said Carl. 'Y'know, chilling at home, as you kids say.'
'You were listening to me and Oscar!'
'Well, I... yeah, I guess I was. But I was just trying to look out for you – I want to help you do what's right, son.'
'In no way was it right for you to listen in on my private phone conversation!'
'Look, son, I... well, no, I don't guess it was, really,' Carl was forced to admit. 'But now that everything's out in the open, would you please do me a favour?'
'What favour?' Kevin asked suspiciously.
'Will you answer two questions for me, truthfully and honestly?' said Carl.
'Sure, okay,' said Kevin. 'If you'll answer two questions for me, truthfully and honestly.'
Carl looked extremely uncomfortable. 'Okay,' he said at length.
'And Uncle Eduardo has to stay and hear what we both have to say,' said Kevin.
'But it's... okay, if that's what you want, son,' said Carl.
'It is,' Kevin said firmly. 'You don't mind, Uncle Eduardo, do you?'
'I wouldn't miss it for the world, man,' Eduardo said, without the slightest hint of flippancy.
'Okay,' said Kevin, 'ask your first question, Dad.'
'How do you feel about Oscar?' said Carl. 'Do you love him?'
'That's two questions,' said Kevin. 'If I answer both of them, you won't be able to ask me any more.'
'It's not two questions,' said Carl. 'It's only one, really.'
'Adjudication!' Kevin demanded, turning to Eduardo.
'It's two questions, Carlos,' said Eduardo. 'Pick the one you want him to answer, or have him answer both and don't ask another one.'
'Okay, fine,' said Carl. 'Answer the second question.'
Kevin looked uncomfortable for a moment, then his face set into a determined expression and he said, 'Yes, I do.'
'Is that all you've got to say?' said Carl. 'No details?'
'You should've picked the first question if you wanted details,' said Kevin. 'That question only needed a yes/no answer. Just to be fair, I'll ask you a yes/no question for my second question, but this is my first: why are you ashamed of being Mexican?'
'What?' Carl snarled. 'I'm a born American citizen and you know it!'
'You know what he means, Carlos,' said Eduardo. 'He answered your question, so now you have to answer his.'
'Look, son, I'm... it's just... it's not that I'm ashamed,' said Carl. 'It's just that the world is a certain way and we all have to deal with that.'
'People's bad attitudes can change, Dad,' said Kevin, 'but they never will if we buy into them ourselves.'
'You're too young to understand, Kevin,' said Carl. 'You don't know what it's like... not really.'
'Yes I do,' Kevin said.
'I... I don't want to talk about this anymore,' said Carl, looking away from his son. 'I've answered your first question, so here's my second question: are you gay?'
'I don't know yet, Dad.'
'What the hell kind of an answer is that?'
'It's a very honest and extremely mature one,' said Eduardo. 'Ask your dad your yes/no question, Kev, then he'll answer it and we'll be done.'
'Okay,' said Kevin. 'Dad, if I grow up to be gay and Hispanic and proud of both, will you hate me for it?'
Eduardo smiled and raised an eyebrow at Carl, who was looking extremely uncomfortable.
'I... I could never hate you, son,' he said at length.
'Good,' said Kevin, and left the room.
'Carlos,' said Eduardo, 'you do realise he's just completely shown you up, don't you?'
Carl's expression blackened, but quickly changed to one of distress.
'Yes, I do realise that,' Carl sighed. 'My son's a better man than I am, Eddie.'
'Yeah, no kidding,' Eduardo could not help but remark, but then he softened his tone. 'Look, Carlos, you can be as good a man as you want to be... as good a father as you want to be... as good a brother as you want to be. It's not too late – not yet.'
'I'm happy to hear you say that,' Carl admitted, 'but are you sure Kevin feels the same way?'
'Yes,' said Eduardo, 'I'm sure.'
'So... so what do I do?'
'You be there for him when he needs you, and you stop pestering him when he doesn't need you.'
'I guess I can do that,' said Carl. 'But Eddie, what if he is... well, what if he's not normal?'
'Jeez, Carlos!' said Eduardo, rising to his feet in disgust. 'Just when I thought you were finally starting to get it! I'm outta here – this conversation is over!'
Carl watched as Eduardo stalked from the room; he heard the front door slam a few seconds later. Looking troubled, Carl headed towards the kitchen.
'Beth,' he said to his wife, 'tell me I'm not a bad father, a bad brother... and a bad husband.'
'Oh, Carl,' Beth sighed, smiling wanly at him. 'Why don't we sit down and have a nice, long talk?'