David turned around when he noticed I stopped what I was doing and looked up. “Jesus, the devil brothers always look more evil when covered in dirt.”
“Doesn’t help that Richard has a permanent sneer on his face when he looks at me,” I replied.
“Why is that? What did you do to him that he can’t look at you without that expression. Like he caught you roaming Liberty Avenue in the city at midnight. Can I borrow your soap? I forgot mine in the locker,” quickly changing the topic like what he just said didn’t rattle my brain. Liberty Avenue in the city had a secret reputation for being the meeting ground for men that like other men.
“Where did that come from?” I handed him the soap, “Stick that up your ass, you are buying me a new bar.”
“He looks at you like what I would assume is how he would look at a fag. That’s a lot of hatred in his eyes.” David then looks down at the soap. “How am I supposed to wash my ass then?” with pure curiosity in his tone.
I looked at him with irritation. From both topics of conversation. But he’s clearly pulling my leg. “First of all, don’t say that word. Second, give me my soap back. You’re done.”
Rolling his eyes, he suds up his hands before giving me the soap back. “I didn’t know you had a soft spot for those kinds of people.” Then he gave me a quizzical look, turned serious and slightly embarrassed when he realized my face wasn’t going to change.
“Just like you said, they are people. They should be respected as such. No matter what they like– unless it’s Richard, then he can go fuck himself,” I explained, giving David a small smirk, showing him that in all seriousness, what he said didn’t have to be a big deal. “Just, don’t say that anymore, yeah?”
“Yeah, okay. Sure,” nodding at me but also studying me, trying to figure out, I’m sure, why I took that stance.
“We had a run in with him in the mine, which isn’t going to help my cause or Charlie’s first impression. The kid had a mouth on him I didn’t see coming,” I said as I was washing my hair out. I kept it shorter in length for cleanliness, but it always felt gritty and dirty no matter how much I washed it.
“That’s not good, especially with Richard likely to tell anyone that would listen,” David stated with weariness. “It’s one thing with you or me, but that kid is going to get eaten alive.”
“Yeah. We are going to have to keep an eye on how others are receiving him and Mike. Not like we can do much about it anyway with this lot,” I said while turning off the water after finally being able to see the real color of my skin.
Finished, we walked towards the door having to pass Richard and Dan. As we got closer, Richard looked at me like he wanted to jump me for simply existing.
“For as much as you both bicker and banter like a married couple, I would have expected to see youat least wash each other’s backs,” Richard spewed, trying to get a rise out of us.
Before I could even think about what to say, David beat me to it. “It wasn’t necessary today since neither one of us was partnered with you,” giving me a visual I never needed to have of Richard in a sexual situation.
“Why you fucking f–,” Richard said, diving for David before Dan’s arm shot out, wordlessly keeping his brother from doing something he’d regret, giving me the chance to grab David by the arm and dragging him out of the shower.
“Boy, that was fun,” David said with a huge smile on his face as I got us to our lockers.
I shook my head with a smirk that said,“You’re unbelievable.”
“But you were right in the showers,” he said as he dropped his towel and grabbed his pants. “Being on the other end of almost being called that word wasn’t a great feeling.”
“I’m glad you see reason,” I said, dressing quickly. “I’m heading home. Gotta wash my jumper and I’m exhausted so I’m going to hit the sack early tonight. See you tomorrow,” I smacked David’s shoulder, slammed the door to my locker closed, and headed to the door, feeling multiple sets of eyes on me along the way.
four
Dead Mountain Living
Charlie
It’s like the city of Pittsburgh has forgotten about this town.
If you look up at the six-hundred-foot mountain side from the city, it looked like the devil himself burned the hillside to ash. Not one living plant. Just rock, dirt and coal debris. The only proof of life you could see were the two inclines that go up and down the mountain to transport materials and individuals, as well as the mile long Indian Trail Steps.At the base, there was the railroad for trains to come and go with coal and other Pittsburgh manufactured items and materials.
Walking through Mount Washington at the top, in the state that it’s in, you would think we were hundreds of miles away from the nearest city. However, this patch town was better than the one wejust came from in West Virginia, so I guess that’s something. That was more like an old western ghost town. Mount Washington was populated with more people, houses, and buildings than I have ever seen in one place before.
The buildings and homes closest to the mine looked practically unlivable. Some were even abandoned, left to decay by themselves. But the farther away we walked, their condition got better and more habitable. There were single and multi-family homes for those that could afford it. Probably people that either work in the city and choose to live up on this dead mountain or those that work higher up in the Pittsburgh Coal Company.
There were a couple of pubs and restaurants near the mine, for the workers to stop for a drink or four after a shift, just like every mining town. There is also a Post Office and other business store fronts, so if we never wanted to leave the patch town and venture out to the city, we didn’t have to.
We didn’t live far from the mine, only less than a mile’s walk. Huffing north on East Sycamore Street, away from the site until we reached the end of the street and turned left on Olympia Road.
After walking in silence since we left, Dad startled me by speaking the one thing I was most afraid of, “Still a secret?”
