Page 10 of Shifting Years (Whispering Hills #5)

We rode in silence to the police station, with me in the backseat behind the metal mesh. Todd's father had the same aura as the governors on television who wanted permanent martial law or free rein to shoot college protesters.

He said nothing and split his attention between driving and staring at me in the rearview mirror through his thick glasses. It felt like a trick to sweat me out.

We stopped, and he tightened the handcuffs once I got out. There were none on Todd. Either the sheriff's son never got in trouble or arresting his kid would be a scandal.

He pushed me into a small office as officers stared, then quickly looked away.

Todd took a seat on a wooden chair and his father sat me down with a shove.

He placed the joint on his desk next to a book filled with intricate, erotic drawings.

The two muscled men in leatherwear on the cover pretty much advertised the book's contents.

Todd explained how I was returning his wallet, hopefully diverting his father's attention from what I carried.

It didn't work.

"Where did you find it, boy?" he asked me.

"On the street."

"Where, exactly?"

"Bar area."

"What kind of bar?"

"The kind that serves alcohol."

His jaw tightened. "License?"

"In my backpack, where I kept Todd's."

"You waited this long?"

"Figured he'd get another license and I'd hitchhike soon."

"That's illegal."

"I didn't start in this state and got dropped off in another. No law against extra people in a van."

I didn't expect it to last this long. Most police had a temper and the power to make someone's life a living hell.

The chief glared as if he could see into my mind or make me spill my secrets. So far, he knew about the joint and the book. All I had left was a special stamp hidden in the backpack's lining in a sealed baggie.

He leafed through the pages, his lip curling with disgust. "I want all the bars' addresses."

"Can't we just let him go?" asked Todd. It was clear he cared, despite everything he had said in the woods.

"Why?" shouted his father with ice in his tone.

"Because I have something important to do with Donna and I don't want to worry about a stranger who came all the way to return a wallet."

"Speaking of returning, can I have my stuff?"

"This trash?" Todd's father picked up the book and joint, then motioned for us to follow.

Once near a cell, he tore the book, dropping pages and the joint into the toilet.

If he noticed the dropped evidence, he gave no sign.

His attention fixated on the nearly overflowed toilet.

Several flushes later, he spoke. "That stuff? "

The final flush echoed off the grey concrete walls, and I fought to hide my smirk. The book I could buy again, but the toilet saved me from prison. I hope.

"Now, if you're done wasting my day, it's time for you to list every deviant bar you know. You will sign an affidavit."

"He's a… nobody who found my wallet!" shouted Todd.

In Todd's father's mind, that was a lie. We wrecked a car far away from town. I was a drug dealer, gay, or both.

"Is this who we are?" asked Todd. "He came to return a wallet. That's it."

"Then he shouldn't be carrying in my town."

"Carrying what?" I asked.

His eyes widened behind the thick glasses while he searched his desk. "Vagrancy and resisting arrest, then."

"That's enough," shouted Todd. "I'll argue against everything you charge him with."

A son's word against his father's wasn't the same, but he paused. "Why does he matter to you?"

"Because he's a good guy."

I wanted to smile so much it would have hurt my face but kept it cool.

"Good guys don't take drugs."

"Weren't there times you didn't jail someone?" His father didn't answer.

Todd took a deep breath, his body trembling slightly. "Donna and I…" He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them up again. "I wanted to ask her tonight and make it official. We're getting married before I leave for Vietnam. I don't want this stranger hanging over me."

My chest tightened. I wanted to say something, but not with his father still in the room.

"Fine," said his father, glaring at me from across the wooden desk. "About time you put your life in order. I'll drive him out."

"I can."

"Why?"

"Because he's my responsibility and you told me a man cleans up his own mess. I lost my wallet when I should have taken better care of it."

A no was expected, but his father nodded slowly. "Out of town by sundown, or else." It had the tone of something repeated often.

Being around Todd wasn't bad for me, but I was too chaotic for his life. I grabbed the backpack without asking and gave thanks to the universe I wasn't driven out of town with a single police officer. Bobby told me a story where it happened to him, and I didn't want the shared experience.

I followed Todd out, ignoring the stares of short-haired officers who now felt comfortable staring at a pair of young men. When Todd became their commander, things would change.

He wasn't officially on the force, but a policeman's son picked up keys and signed out for a patrol car. Once we were alone and nearing the town's edge, I finally spoke. "Thank you, but you're letting that poor girl marry you."

"I'll fix myself. Donna and I will be fine." Her name burned into my mind as he described how he'd propose in front of her brick home, mentioning the two tall trees they'd use for the wedding ceremony. He then added, "I did it to get you away from him. At least one person should."

"Marrying someone you don't love is a mistake," I said softly.

"You… you're a mistake." His forehead wrinkled. "Not you, but this fantasy life you think we can live. My father knows you're gay. He saw the book. Do you think you can stick around after I marry Donna?"

The faint, sour garbage scent filled the air again. "You don't plan on marrying her." It wasn't a question.

His eyes widened as I tapped my head. "Not ESP, just common sense."

His wide shoulders slumped as he drove. "I'm enlisting after I break it off with her."

"Won't your father say something?"

"I'll be overseas, and the war will be over soon. It's us against a tiny, jungle country. You do the math. After the war, I'll re-enlist and get transferred to a base far away from here."

Away from me.

***

"Did you?" asked Kim, leaning forward.

"Go overseas?" asked Todd. "Not as fast as I thought and not by enlisting. I went to tell my poor girl it was over. She deserved a husband who loved her in the bedroom."

"We're just good in that room," said Kim about his Alpha. "You both had to deal with society and, well, not really liking each other and you got together." It sounded like a question.

"Our problems aren't yours."

Todd nodded. "It's about respecting the other."

Solid advice but my Alpha hit a sore spot as Kim caressed his red hair. "I wanted a mohawk, so I disobeyed him. He said I looked like a rooster and made chicken sounds."

"Well, that wasn't nice at all." I held his soft hands and mirrored his breathing. "You know they used to make fun of Bowie."

The kid leaned forward with wide eyes. "Did you know him?"

"Only saw the man in concert, but he was proudly weird and himself. A few years later, everyone wanted to be him."

He nodded that he heard and turned toward my Alpha. "Did you ever talk to Donna?"

"Yes, and I had my first experience with Disbelief," said Todd. "It's a great tool for hiding our world, but it breaks holes in reality sometimes."

Disbelief is humanity's subconscious, and it knows there's no such thing as the paranormal.

They're wrong, and yet not, since they can make the universe work to their understanding.

Sometimes it's convincing themselves. A pale, strong man isn't a vampire, but a druggie having an adrenaline rush.

Two shifters in wolf form are only large dogs or simple wolves.

But sometimes, it's so blatant or overpowering, that their worldview takes over.

"I wonder if what happened to her was a kindness," I said carefully.

"Some people become monsters," said Todd. "Others lose their powers and some blip from reality. Donna blanked."

***