The Sound of Silence: A Dream Daddy story

Chapter Seven

The day of the barbecue came sooner than you would've liked.

After your late-night rendezvous with Robert, you'd received another visit from Joseph, who officially invited you to the barbecue. Apparently it was some sort of tradition the neighbors had, and everyone on the cul-de-sac was expected to attend.

Like some sort of sick hazing ritual.

A hazing ritual where you had to parade for the whole neighborhood and let them judge whether or not you were nice and normal enough to be part of the Inner Ring. The first problem hit when you realized you had no idea what to wear. Were you supposed to go t-shirt-and-shorts-casual or jeans-and-button-up casual? You ended up going for a compromise and threw on one of your slightly nicer button-ups over a pair of cargo shorts. It didn't look terrible.

The next problem cropped up when you realized you hadn't even thought about bringing anything.

You spent a few frenzied minutes looking through the kitchen for anything suitable to bring to a neighborhood barbecue, hosted by a local youth pastor. In a panic, you finally snatched up a bottle of wine you'd bought the other day and neglected to open yet. It would have to do.

Why were you so awful at planning things in advance?

Laughing at the irony of that thought, you left the house at 3:00 on the dot, knowing that it would take you 30 seconds to walk next door to the Christiansen home. As you approached the open gate leading into the backyard, you could already hear the commotion of voices and laughter. All the sounds of a group of friends enjoying themselves.

You paused before going through the gate, taking a deep breath. You'd already given yourself a pep talk in the bathroom mirror, but now that you were feet away from a party full of strangers who all had happy families and idyllic lives, you weren't sure you could pull it off. Suddenly you were terrified that you were sweating through your shirt, or that you'd say something stupid and offend someone accidentally. You had no clue why you'd agreed to do this.

Making small talk with strangers who were all bound to question your past was just too daunting a task.

It wasn't too late to go home and open the wine yourself. No one had seen you yet.

Making up your mind felt good. Like you could almost go home guilt-free. You turned and--almost predictably at this point--found Robert standing behind you, leaning casually against the corner of the garage and putting out a cigarette. You jumped, letting out a squeak and pulling the bottle of wine close against your chest.

"Jesus! You have got to stop sneaking up on me!"

You thought you saw the shadow of a smirk playing around Robert's mouth, but he focused intensely on doing the fancy little cigarette-gum-wrapper twist for a long moment, so you couldn't be sure. When he finally looked up at you, his face was that same, flat look, only his eyes showing even a hint of expression. Talking past the piece of gum, he jerked his chin toward you. "Thinking of bailing?"

"What? No!" You cringed even as you said it.

Shit, now he knows you're a coward.

"Too bad. C'mon." Pushing himself away from the wall, he brushed past you, trailing the ever-present aroma of leather, smoke, and, added to it this time, spearmint.

You had no choice but to follow him, the scent of smoke filling your nose and brain with images you'd rather not remember.

The yard was quite literally full of people. You recognized Mat and Joseph of course, and, to your surprise and shock, Mary, the woman from the bar. A few of the kids looked familiar, likely from all the times you'd seen them racing around the neighborhood. You even recognized the man you frequently saw outside working on his lawn. He was definitely the kind of guy who spent hours maintaining his perfectly manicured lawn, just so he could then later brag about it.