64. The Hourglass runs dry
After the Jason scare, Anderson grew increasingly uncomfortable.
He had this strange feeling that he carried around for the rest of the day, like a shadow of something eerie. He knew what it was. His instincts were trying to forewarn him of an impending doom, but something held him back from adhering to those words.
Hope.
He could feel it now like a blossoming spring in his chest, Carl *wanted* this! The possessive look in his eyes the previous night when he had suggested that they ended their sexual escapades had revealed everything to Anderson. Carl found this as exhilarating as he did! He could almost sense it, he was gaining access to Carl’s softer side; a forbidden world he thought he’d never be able to enter.
“Don’t you have classes to attend?” Carl, who had been standing at the door for the past two minutes, cut into Anderson’s thoughts. “Why are you daydreaming so early in the morning?”
Anderson cleared his throat awkwardly and color flooded his cheeks the next second. “What’s wrong with you? You always like being so mysterious and sneaky. I didn’t even hear you come in.”
Carl shrugged and sauntered to his bed, “When you live in a house like mine, where I grew up in, you learn to move your weight around without making a sound.”
Anderson heartbeat surged and his ears pricked attentively. A sizzle of excitement coursed its way to his heart with the speed of lightning. Did Carl just open up to him? It didn’t matter how subtle it was, Anderson’s body was bubbling with excitement.
“Why did you have to move silently though?” he asked, failing to snuff the curiosity out of his tone. When Carl’s impassive eyes stared at him, he leaned back, “Y-You don’t have to tell me though, if you think I’m prying. I’d just love to know more about you, Carl.”
“There’s nothing to know about me.”
“Everyone has a story.” Anderson persisted, “No matter how bad, or good or gory, it’s still a story.” He looked away ruefully, his heart sinking. “If you do not trust me enough to reveal things to me, just say it, Carl. You don’t have to cut corners anymore. I’m used to your indifference.”
Carl scoffed and sat on his bed, “That’s the thing about all you people. You jump into conclusions, you think you know people…” he glared at the floor, his cognac eyes blazing with fury, “just like I once thought that I knew my father.”
Anderson swallowed, his heart pounding at the mere thought of Mr. Brimmer’s face.
“Your father?” Came Anderson’s choked voice.
Carl chuckled wryly, “The devil. Funny how I still refer to him as father without puking. He ruined everything for me. He ruined the general image of people. Painted my view of the world black, white and even gray.”
Carl’s mind slipped into tunnel vision and the hurtful flashes of his childhood all came back to him. He sat frozen like a statue for about three minutes, trying to control his emotions from flaring up. He took deep, labored breaths. The images were messing with his head and veins bulged at his temples now.
“Carl!” Anderson exclaimed and sprang off his bed when he noticed the physical and emotional pain Carl was going through.
Without thinking, he wrapped his arm around Carl’s shoulders, “You don’t have to talk about it, Carl. It was selfish and foolish of me to impose it on you. I had no idea that it hurts so much. I’m so foolish, and very sorry, Carl.” He said softly, stunned that Carl could ever be this vulnerable.
“No.” Carl mumbled, his tone strained as he drew away from Anderson’s comforting hold. “I have never told anyone this, because there’s only one person that has ever inquired.”
“Who?”
The moment Carl replied, Anderson’s skin was littered instantly with goosebumps and he realized that he should have never asked in the first place.
“Buck. My father’s personal bodyguard,” Carl replied and Anderson froze like Elsa. “He’s the most dangerous man I know.”
“Oh…” Anderson mumbled, his heart slamming a hole into his chest. “Is he?” he stammered.
“Yeah. Tough dude with too many jokes, but he is also cruel and doesn’t spare any man he’s after.”
“*Oh shut up, please!*” Anderson panicked, his body quivering like a leaf in the middle of a hurricane.
“My mom died when I was young, she was the best woman in the world. She gave the world its color. She mirrored resplendence into a very dark world and took the colors with her when death came calling. I can remember her lying on her hospital bed, pleading with my father.”
He paused for a few seconds and Anderson watched his hands curl into fists.
“My father was a kind and loving man before my mother’s death. He treated the both of us with so much love. We were a perfect family, but he changed the moment he made that promise to my mother right before she kicked the bucket. He told her he’d take care of me, make me his priority…but he lied.” Carl scoffed, “he started picking up whores, sleeping around and getting drunk.”
His bloodshot eyes stabbed Anderson’s chest like lava-coated daggers. “This was only a week after, Anderson. My mother hadn’t even been buried at that time. He suddenly stopped coming home at night. He slept in hotels or worse…in his office. The Brimmer enterprise was like a spirit that took over him, engulfing his whole being. He became the company…and the company became him.”
Anderson was speechless.
“Whenever I tried to spend time with my father, I always got chased away by a beating or a slap or even a punch from my father. Other times, it was the intoxicating smell of his cigarette and the moans of his prostitutes. Sometimes, when luck shone upon my little face, it was Buck who carried me back to my room and played chess with me.” A wry smile formed on his lips. “I basically grew up as an orphan who had to tiptoe in my own father’s house so my father wouldn’t hear me moving around. Buck, an ex-con and hardened criminal, was more of a father to me.”
Anderson’s jaw dropped. Buck was an ex-con?
“Oh no…I’m so fucked…” Anderson thought wearily.
“Well, there you have it. People always wonder why I act like a vampire or some cold monster in a cave.” His cognac eyes lost its anger the moment he looked at Anderson. The way they softened eased the tension around Anderson’s heart momentarily. “You’re the only one who truly knows me now. It feels weird opening up. I wonder what you’re going to do with that information.”
“Cherish it.” Anderson blurted out. “Like I have never cherished anything before.”
Carl’s eyes grew inquisitive, “Why?”
“Because it is important to you…and,” he cleared his throat, her heart entangled in the strands of his jittery nerves, “this might sound awkward, but I place a lot of value on whatever is essential to you, Carl. Well,” his face dropped and his eyes reflected his annoyance, “Except Keisha.”
Carl suddenly burst out laughing and Anderson smiled. He had actually made him laugh!
Carl’s hand closed around his wrist and he jerked Anderson’s body towards him. Anderson gasped, but before he could close his mouth, Carl’s lips crushed his. His eyelids slowly jammed shut and his body melted. He felt a spark in his insides, a violent flutter of butterflies in his stomach and his fingers found their way into Carl’s silky hair.
The loud ringing of the bell snapped both of them out of the passionate moment and Anderson’s eyes widened when he realized what it meant.
“Oh fuck!” he exclaimed and jumped off the bed. “I’m late! I’m late!”
Carl on the other hand was as cool as a cucumber. He took his time putting on a black polo and he packed his bag languidly. Anderson looked at him when he was set to leave and he smiled.
“Thank you for opening up to me, Carl. It really meant a lot.”
Carl walked past him and yanked open the door, “It doesn’t mean we’re best buddies now or anything of that sort, stick to Jason.”
Anderson chuckled and closed the door after him. “Heading to practice?”
Carl shook his head, “No. I’m going to the same class you’re so jumpy about.”
“Really?” Anderson blurted out, picking up his pace to meet Carl’s. “Another rare day of seeing Carl Brimmer in class. I’m sure the girls will get a knock out of it.” He remarked dourly.
“Someone sounds jealous.”
“Of course, I am not!” Anderson rebuffed, “why would I be? It’s not like I am in love with you or anything.”
Carl stopped and glanced back at him impassively, the vague look in his eyes making it impossible for a startled Anderson to read any emotion. Without another word, he walked away. Anderson’s heart fluttered with excitement. That kiss had a different vibe to it. It wasn’t just sensual, but…romantic!
His phone buzzed as he caught up with Carl and the moment he looked at the message, his smile dropped in turn with the color that drained from his face.
It was Buck.
And the message was simply the emoji of an hour glass whose sand had run out.
At that moment, Anderson struggled to breathe.