Session Five:
Mequi sat in his office, his hands trembling as he stared at the information he had gathered about Chance Kelly. There was not much.
The boy had been born in San Francisco, California and then grown up in Sacramento, the capital of California. His father had been the typical working man with just enough pay to get his family by and his mother had stayed home to raise her ten children all by herself. He had grown without any other relatives by his side and had lived a life of barely even passing any of his classes, starting in kindergarten and all the way through to high school, which he had graduated only a year prior to this moment. He was eighteen, but had graduated at seventeen because he had entered school a year early than he probably should have, which was why he had struggled for the remainder of his school life. He had grown up with many friends, but had not managed to keep very many of them when he had entered high school. During high school, he had become something of a recluse, losing most of the friends he still had. Now out of high school, he was too busy to have any friends at all. He worked six jobs to survive and lived in a rundown apartment.
“Is that truly living?” Mequi asked, his words unsteady. “Six jobs? He can’t possibly think that’s living…this isn’t a life. This is horrible.”
“Yeah, isn’t it?” Chance’s voice made Mequi jump and he looked up to behold the sight. “It isn’t much of a life after all…probably, because it isn’t yours.”
Mequi’s eyes scanned Chance’s mostly bare body in all its athletic wonder. It was obvious that the boy worked his body well. His muscles were toned, but not bulky, providing him with a sleek look. His skin was fair and clean with just a tiny bit of color that made him look golden. He wore only blue and black flower-print swim trunks, a black and white coral-beaded necklace, and black sandals. His hair was wet, but appeared more sunshine-like than usual. He seemed almost angelic to Mequi, but the therapist quickly pushed the thought from his mind.
“I wouldn’t call my life a life either.” Mequi whispered in reply to Chance’s statement. “I’ve lived a horrible one too. You know that.”
Chance frowned as he looked away and then walked to the couch to lie down. “Sorry. I went swimming.”
“I understand.” Mequi set the paper down and then leaned back. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine…” Chance glanced over at Mequi. “How do you know about my life?”
“I figured it was necessary to find out a little bit more about you since you are my client.” Mequi sighed, clasping his hands together. “Your case is a serious one and I needed more information. I didn’t have enough. It was just a necessary precaution and needed for research. I hope you don’t mind.”
Chance laughed heartedly. “The way you say it makes it sound like I’m some sort of newly-discovered organism!”
“Sorry.” Mequi chuckled. “I didn’t mean to state it that way.”
“It’s okay.” Chance snickered, covering his mouth momentarily. “It’s just funny…so, how did you get this information anyway?”
“I hired a detective.” Mequi reddened at the answer. He sounded perverted in his mind.
“Stalker.” Chance laughed. “Oh, well. Whatever you think is necessary.”
“Sorry, but thank you.” Mequi leaned back in his chair. “So, would you like water before you continue?”
Chance stopped laughing and sobered. “Um…yes, that would be nice. All business, right…”
Stunned by Chance’s words, Mequi paused at the pitcher of water. What did the young man mean by that? He tried to ignore the statement, but it kept reverberating through his mind. What had Chance meant by it? It was as if it hinted at some dearly-kept secret inside of the young man’s heart. What was being said in that single statement?
Handing Chance the glass of water, Mequi took his seat.
Hesitantly, he spoke, “Is there something else you wanted to talk about today, Chance?”
Chance stiffened. “No. Not really. I left off with you having wrote your father a letter…and then the doorbell rang…”
~~*~~
Mequi ran to his window and peeked out it, staring down at the sight of a beautiful man in casual garb. Vienza opened the door and the man instantly threw his arms around the teacher. Startled, Mequi went to his door and slipped out of his room, sneaking down the stairs to get a peek at what was going on.
His heart skipped a beat.
There stood Vienza with his arms wrapped around the stranger as the new man pressed his lips against the teacher’s. The caress carried on longer than any that Mequi had ever seen as the two drew closer, their hands feeling each other in a hunger that caused the boy to tremble.
Finally, Vienza pushed the man at arm’s length, his breath heavy. “Peter! What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to never come to one of my student’s houses!”
“You did.” Peter laughed, pressing himself against Vienza’s chest. “But I had to see you. I’m sorry…but I really had to see you! I love you.”
Vienza began to redden as he returned Peter’s embrace. “Is this about last night?”
“Yes.” Peter murmured as he snuggled his face deeper into Vienza. “You felt really good last night.”
“Peter!” Vienza yelped, his face turning a bright crimson. “Don’t be vulgar!”
“I’m not being vulgar!” Peter retorted, looking up at Vienza in indignation. “I’m not being vulgar!”
“My student is here right now and just up those stairs!” Vienza hissed darkly. “If I leave him for too long, he’ll slip down here and I certainly don’t want to influence him! His parents would kill me!”
“Come on!” Peter whined. “Just tell him to study a section and take a bathroom break! I don’t think I can handle a whole day without you!”
Mequi ducked farther up the stairs when Vienza glanced up in his direction. What if Vienza used his “ability-to-always-know-where-Mequi-was-and-what-Mequi-was-up-to” and figured out that the boy was spying on the two of them? Mequi did not need that to happen, but the scene fascinated him! He wanted to ask his teacher questions about it, but he did not know how to.
“I have to go back to my student.” Vienza stated sternly. “This is my job. You have your own job to deal with so go work with that! Find a distraction if you can’t wait for me to come home, but you’re not aloud at my student’s house! This is wrong! Look…you’re not the only one suffering. I want to be with you too…I can’t stop thinking about it…but I have to work with my student. Do you understand? This boy means a lot to me and I want to see him excel and go far. I can’t teach him, though, if I’m in the bathroom with you!”
Mequi flinched at those words. What would two adult men be doing in a bathroom? He had never heard of such a thing before! Then again, he had never seen two adult men kissing either…in fact, he had not even seen boys kiss. Was he just blind or was the action abnormal?
“Fine.” Peter sighed, his tone disheartened. “I’ll go, but I really want to stay here with you.”
“I’ll get home as soon as possible.” Vienza placed a hand upon Peter’s cheek. “Just wait for me.”
With that, the teacher kissed the man again, causing Mequi’s heart to beat faster. For some reason, Mequi found their kissing exciting and he smiled at the sight.
~~*~~
“That did not happen!” Mequi yelped, jumping to his feet. “I did not smile at that! I was sickened by it! I was just a little kid! I was mortified!”
“You liked it!” Chance growled, shaking his head at Mequi’s stubbornness. “You liked it! You were completely enthused by it!”
“I was not!” Mequi whined, his face taking on one of complaint. “That’s sick!”
“You liked it.” Chance restated, growing more stern. “Just admit it. Okay?”
Mequi frowned as he took his seat. “Fine, whatever.”
“Anyway…” Chance rolled his eyes as a faint smile tainted his lips. “Where was I? Oh, yeah…”
~~*~~
The two men pulled away from the kiss after a prolonged moment and then Vienza practically shoved the man out of the door. Vienza turned and Mequi instantly saw the anger in his teacher’s eyes.
“Mequi!” Vienza shouted loudly, the sound echoing harshly through the home. “I thought I told you to stay upstairs!”
Mequi jumped up before he could stop himself, revealing his hiding place, and then scampered back up the stairs and into his bedroom, dashing under his bed and cowering there.
Vienza entered the room soon after and there was a pause as he scanned the room with his eyes. Then he moved towards the bed and flipped up the covers and bed skirt. His eyes pierced Mequi’s and then instantly softened.
“Dear God…” Vienza practically cursed. “That scene traumatized you!”
“No!” Mequi rebuked his teacher’s words, shrinking away. “I’ve never seen you so angry before! Why did you kiss him? Is he someone special to you?”
Vienza reddened as he withdrew from the boy. “I can’t talk about that.”
“Tell me!” Mequi insisted, crawling out from under the bed to stare at his teacher. “I want to know! It was really cute!”
~~*~~
“Hold it!” Mequi stood again, his face stern. “I did not say that! I know that for a fact!”
“You did too!” Chance stood as well, his eyes flaring to life. “You did say that! It was a long time ago for you! It feels like only a couple of months ago for me, but also just like a few moments ago! I can remember details like that because it feels like its happening only moments prior to now! You can’t!”
Mequi sat down with a huff. “Whatever…you have an hour left…I didn’t say that.”
“You said that!” Chance yelled in exasperation. “You definitely said that! You thought gay guys were cute!”
“Ew! No, I didn’t!” Mequi shouted back. “I didn’t like gay guys when I was a kid!”
“You thought they were cute!” Chance insisted.
“No!” Mequi hollered. “I didn’t think that!”
“Yes, you did!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Yes, you did!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“This is pointless!” Chance sat back down, his look one of frustration. “I don’t want to keep doing this.”
“Are you giving in?” Mequi asked coyly.
“Well, I know the truth.” Chance let out a small snort as he looked away from the therapist. “At any rate, Vienza was unwilling to tell you anything about the occurrence, but finally consented the following day when you nearly cried because he was withholding information from you…”
~~*~~
“So…” Mequi put a finger to his bottom lip as he stared innocently at his teacher. “It’s…normal?”
“Yes, but a secret.” Vienza insisted. Mequi was certain that his teacher had said “secret” at least forty times by now. “You can’t tell anyone because it’s a secret. Look. You’re too young to know about this kind of thing.”
“But I know about all the other stuff!” Mequi insisted, his face contorting into a form of seriousness. “I want to know more about stuff! You love Peter, right?”
“Yes.” Vienza turned scarlet. “We should focus on your studies…”
“I love you, Vienza.” Mequi whispered and the teacher visibly stiffened. “You’re like a big brother! Can…I kiss you then?”
“No.” Vienza stated sharply, causing Mequi to look at him quickly. “You only do that to boys your own age and only if they let you.”
Mequi furrowed his brows and then smiled. “Oh, I get it! I can hug you, right?”
“Yes.” Vienza let out a sigh of relief.
~~*~~
“Okay…” Mequi was a brilliant red by now and he refused to even look at Chance. “I do recall saying that…”
“Well, at least, you admit something.” Chance chuckled.
Mequi sighed. “Your time is up. I’ll see you next week.”
Chance stood, smiling at Mequi’s reluctance and then he furrowed his brows. “Um…Mequi…never mind.”
“What?” Mequi stood, his gaze resting upon Chance’s soft features. “What?”
“Nothing.” Chance opened the door. “I’ll see you next week!”
Mequi stared after the young man and then rushed to the window to watch as Chance left down the street. His heart was racing for a reason he did not know. Chance was making him feel unsteady and the feeling itself was causing him to become insecure.
“Chance…” He muttered, closing his eyes as tears filled them. He still wanted to hold Chance, but did not know why. Chance was certainly not someone that Mequi would have thought he could find himself falling in love with. Still, there was something about the young man that was eating him up. He had to finish this case before his emotions got out of hand.