Page 54 of Broken Halos
Archie’s grilled cheese sandwich tasted even better than mine. “You used Gruyere cheese as I did, but I see you’ve gone an extra step. The outside of this sandwich is pure perfection. Do I see rosemary on this bread?”
“I made a rosemary butter to put on the outside.” He looked so proud of himself. “I added a special touch on the inside to make it creamier. Can you figure it out?”
I took another bite and closed my eyes so his smug smile didn’t distract me. “Mayo?” I asked.
“Yes!” he said, sounding like a proud teacher. “Millie gave me the basics, but I wanted to step up my game for my man.”
“Thank you for today, Archie. Your thoughtfulness and your—” He silenced me with a kiss.
“It’s what you do for people you love.” Hearing him say he loved me was still so new and thrilling. Looking into his smiling eyes, I knew the sentiment would never grow old and boring. “Eat up, Golden Boy. The Broken Halos are a few wins away from a championship trophy.”
When we arrived at Queen City Lanes, my mood soared even higher when I saw who our opponent was.
“Huddle up, team,” I said, gesturing for the guys to gather around me. “Team Righteous Brothers consists of the local homophobic pastors and preachers, including the man responsible for causing Henry’s current troubles.” The last part was directed at Archie since the rest of them hadn’t met Henry. “I know this isn’t very Christian of me, but I want to kick their asses so bad they leave here crying.”
“Savage,” Keeton said. “I like it.”
“Let’s do it,” Milo said.
We all put our hands in the middle and Andy said, “Broken Halos on three. One. Two. Three.”
“Broken Halos!” we all said loudly, earning glares and sneers from our opponents.
“Preacher Daily,” I said, approaching the lanes with my team following closely behind me. “How unpleasant it is to see you.”
“I was just about to say the same thing. Do you pansies think you can beat us?”
“I don’t think we can; I know we can.”
“God is onourside,” he said with a sneer.
“We’ll just see about that, won’t we?”
It wasn’t even a contest. All of us threw strikes our first time up to bowl, and it threw them off their game so bad they never recovered. I was so busy focusing on beating those jerks, I hadn’t thought about drinking or scoring drugs once. My high came in the form of putting Daily and his hateful crew in their places. It might’ve been a sin to act so smugly, but he had it coming. I did try to do the gentlemanly thing and offer to shake his hand, but he jumped back like I held a poisonous snake in my hand.
“I don’t want to catch something,” he said.
“You mean like humanity and kindness?” I asked as he rapidly retreated.
I stopped at the bathroom while Archie returned my shoes. I was surprised when Pastor Daily’s son, Geoff, followed me into the bathroom.
“It’s not safe for you to be in here with me right now, Geoff.”
“Please,” he said dramatically, “Father nearly left scorch marks on the floor getting out of here. I didn’t know he could move so fast.”
“Did you want to talk to me about something?”
“How’s Henry?” he asked softly. “Is he doing well?”
“He’s doing much better. I know he’d like to see you, and visitors are always welcome.”
“I don’t know, Pastor Ollie. If my dad ever found out…” His words died off, but I didn’t need him to finish.
“I want you to listen to me, Geoff. I’m just a phone call away if you ever need to talk to someone, okay? My cell phone number is on my website and don’t hesitate to use it, especially if it becomes unsafe for you to live at home.”
Geoff frowned, and I expected him to deny it would ever be necessary, but he didn’t. He simply nodded then left the bathroom.
I found Archie leaning against my car when I exited the bowling alley. “Let’s go home, Ollie.”