Page 13 of Mr. Frosty Pants

Chapter Six

“Casey, my man,to what do I owe this honor?” RJ was clearly a touch high; his voice through the phone sounded a little spacy. Casey wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he supposed it was part of the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. Sorry about that.”

“S’okay. How’s your boyfriend? What’s his name, Tad?”

“Theo. We broke up.”

“Because he was uptight and weird?”

“No,” Casey said, laughing and rubbing at his face. He’d parked in his parents’ driveway with the tree and wreaths he’d purchased from Joel’s store filling the SUV with needles and pine scent. The new neighbors’ houses were dressed up for the holidays—very tastefully, of course. He watched the moon reflecting on the lake beyond the house. “We ended things because we weren’t in love. We both thought we deserved more.”

“He got tired of you phoning it in?”

“I did more than phone it in!” Casey protested. He’d tried to be a good boyfriend to Theo, but love wasn’t something you could force.

“Fair enough. But I guess he’s a little right about you not opening up. Take me, for example. I knew you all through high school while you worshipped at Joel’s feet, but even then I couldn’t say for sure you were gay. Not until you showed up at Knitting Factory that night when I was playing in New York.”

“Well, I wasn’t out in high school.”

“Obviously. And maybe I just wasn’t looking closely enough. Sorry about Theo, though.”

“Thanks. It didn’t hurt as much as it should have. Which probably says it all.”

“Yeah.”

The neighbors on the right turned on their Christmas tree lights, visible through the big picture window facing Casey’s folks’ house. “Um, so I have a question.”

“Hit me.”

Casey tried to sound casual. “You keep up with Joel at all?”

“Oh, Joel. Your one true love,” RJ teased.

“I should never have told you about that.” He’d confessed it that night after the show at Knitting Factory back in RJ’s hotel room while Theo was in the bathroom.

RJ took a long sucking inhale on something. Probably a joint, since RJ had never smoked a cigarette in his life as far as Casey knew. “But you did.”

“Mistakes were made.”

“Maybe. But, no, man, I haven’t talked to him in a few years. Becca keeps up with him, though.”

“Ah.” Casey swallowed hard. “Did you tell Becca what I told you?”

“Tell ’er what?”

“About my crush on Joel?” Becca followed him on Facebook, so she knew that he was gay.

RJ chuckled deeply. “Nah. I kind of forgot about it until just now, to be honest. I was pretty drunk that night.”

“True.”

“But, I admit, I’m surprised Joel never came out.”

“Came out?”

“Yeah. I’d always hoped he would, you know?” He sounded sad and fond all at once. “From what little I know, though, he’s as closeted as ever.”