Devlin and Garrick by Cameron Dane (short story to read txt) 📕

you said you took business courses but you more than hinted that they didn’t get you juiced up either.” A long pause enveloped the room in a thick silence wherein Gradyn studied Devlin in a way that made Devlin feel sick to his stomach and hard behind his zipper at the same time.

“Is there something specific you want to do with your life, Devlin?” Gradyn asked, his tone making it sound like the most important question in the world. “I don’t see you as a guy who wouldn’t excel at something you loved. It makes me curious about what kind of job might really get you psyched up to get out of bed every morning.”

Think, Morgan, think. Oh, right. Some of the knots building inside Devlin started to loosen, and he affected his easiest smile. “Do you mean after I got over my crushing disappointment that driving across the country in a cool Trans Am while eluding the law wasn’t a real job?”

Water spat out of Gradyn’s mouth with his bark of laughter. “What the hell are you talking about?” he asked as he wiped spittle off his chin.

Devlin started breathing normally again. “I’m talking about Smokey and the Bandit. I watched that movie with my brother and dad when we got our first VCR, and I thought the car in that movie, and driving it way faster than you’re supposed to, was about the coolest thing in the world. I probably watched it at least a hundred times by the time I turned sixteen and got my learner’s permit. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever owned a used Tempo and Corolla.” He shrugged and then took a bite out of the second half of his sandwich. “I guess I’m never gonna be the Bandit,” he said around a mouthful of food.

“That’s about the cutest damned thing I’ve ever heard, beautiful.” The twinkle of humor left Gradyn’s eyes with one blink, and the pinpoint focus of the man that remained made Devlin shiver. “It’s also a nice way to make me forget about the question I asked. What do you want to do, Devlin?” His voice held command, and Devlin could not ignore the palpitations it incited in his core. “And why would you rather make me smile with a sweet story than talk about it?”

With difficulty, Devlin swallowed and finally forced down the ham and cheese lodged in his throat. “It’s not that big a deal, really. I don’t want to become an astronaut or the president or anything. It’s just...” He’d never uttered his secrets to another soul in his life. “I think I want to be a firefighter.”

“Okay. Not strange at all. So why aren’t you?”

Having to share his reasons for staying away from that career was why Devlin had never allowed himself to talk about his dream. In this moment, he found he couldn’t look away or shut down in any way with Gradyn Connell.

“My brother is a firefighter,” Devlin exhaled an unsteady breath, “and I don’t know if I want to be anything that he is.”

Gradyn frowned, and furrow lines creased his brow. “I don’t understand.”

That’s because it’s stupid.

“Tell, me, beautiful,” Gradyn pressed softly.

“My brother,” Devlin found his lips moving and words spilling out of him in a way they never had before, “he’s older. His name is Aidan, and he’s the reason we had to move to Redemption, where I live now. We used to live in Texas but Aidan got into a lot trouble there, so my parents moved us to Maine so Aidan could start fresh somewhere new.” All these years later, Devlin still got cramps when he remembered staring out that plane window and watching everything he knew get smaller and smaller as they flew away. “I was ten and, God, I hated moving. I hated Aidan for being such a jerk that we had to move away from our cousins and friends and the school where I knew everybody and all of them already knew me.” Devlin looked at Gradyn without blinking and let his anger and eventual guilt from that time come back to the surface. “Back then, I couldn’t understand that if we’d stayed in Texas Aidan probably would have ended up in juvenile detention and maybe eventually much worse.”

“That’s serious stuff.”

“Yeah.” Devlin nodded. With the outreach type of work Gradyn did, Devlin figured he was probably one of the few people who could say those words and actually understand the depths of trouble Aidan could have drowned in all those years ago. “I didn’t even want to look at Aidan let alone speak to him for a long time after we moved. Eventually, I started to come around. Aidan was nicer in Maine than he was in Texas. There was a lot less yelling in our house. Aidan was home a lot more too; he would come knock on my door and ask me if I wanted to play a video game with him or shoot some hoops in the backyard. It was finally like having a real big brother, when while we were in Texas it was more like having this teenager living in our house, but he was almost a stranger.” Devlin leaned his elbow on the table and tapped his fingers against the smile forming on his lips. “He really did become a different person in Redemption,” he said, his voice softening with the nicer memory.

“I was so proud of Aidan when he graduated,” Devlin went on. “I was only twelve but by then I understood how hard he’d worked to change his life. Then the next day, he was gone, just like that.” Devlin slammed his hand on the table, creating a resounding crack, all traces of sympathy gone from his voice. In this motel room, Devlin’s emotions ran a spectrum in just minutes that had taken years to occur in real life. “He left a note saying he was moving and he would eventually call, but that he was fine and not to go