30
watched Carol through the sunroom’s many windows, march across the road to Janet’s home.
Anthony, a shy host at first, offered me a place on the carpeted sunroom floor as there was no furniture in the room. The room was a lemon-yellow, appropriate for a south facing sunroom. It had a closet to one side, a clothes rod running the length of it buoying cold-weather outerwear. In one corner on the floor was a short stack of what appeared to be textbooks and notebook paper. To the right of the closet, hanging on a hook, was a JROTC uniform, neatly pressed, bearing a name plate, honor star, and a Catholic school crest. The room had two outside walls lined with windows and no source of heat that I could see or feel. Brisk as it was, I sat on the carpeted floor; my jacket tossed nearby. He sat across from me, the two of us facing each other as small talk stumbled along.
I was trying to understand what had just taken place but became distracted by his open flannel shirt, the sunlight gleaning on his smooth chest and small tummy, and his well-worn, snug fitting jeans outlining his slim waist, round bottom, and slender legs. Was I here for a purpose that I was not yet aware? No matter, as I was beyond delighted to be with him. I gazed into his eyes as he spoke, probably looking the fool, lusting after this older boy while he talked, and I listened. I didn’t care how it seemed.
I prayed he hadn’t a need to tend to some pressing, older boy concerns. I didn’t want him sending me on my way. But he proved to be a perfectly willing host. I didn’t know it yet, but this boy would become my intimate, new friend.
Over time, small talk gave way to more heartfelt words, and a level of coziness began to develop between us just short of intimacy. While we were getting to know one another and moving into conversations of genuine honesty, he confessed that he encouraged his sister to bring me to meet him, revealing that he would watch me from time to time walking his sister home, and then watching as I turned to leave. I now knew the root of that devilish spark in his eyes when I first arrived. But now there was something else in his