“So…did you have…fun?”His lips twitch in amusement.
“Oh, Dandy!”I giggle.“We arenothaving this conversation.Now or ever.”
“Fair enough.Besides, I think we’ll need something a lot stronger than coffee for that.”
As mortified as I am, it feels nice to stand around Kit’s kitchen, sipping coffee and gossiping how best friends do.
I’ve missed Dandy so much.
“I trust you both came up with a plan before your clothes…came off.”He snorts into his mug before taking a sip.
I ignore him and focus on something I can talk about without blushing.
For the next half hour, I lay out Kit’s plan, ensuring I don’t leave out a thing.Once I’m done, we’ve gone through two cups of coffee and are on our third.
“So what do you think?”I ask, unable to read Dandy’s response.Perhaps he needs time to process it.
“Look, Hallie, it’s a solid plan, but is it enough?”
That wasn’t what I was expecting him to say.
“Enough?”I question, confused.
He nods.“I think it’s only fair she gets a taste of her own medicine.This seems, I don’t know”—he waves his hand as if searching for the right word—“like she gets off easy.
“Your original plan seems a lot more satisfying.”
“My plan was to kill her, Dandy,” I say, in case he’s had a lapse in memory.
But when he deadpans me, it’s apparent he remembers just fine.“That bitch took you away from me.She ruined your life.She’s a horrible monster who deserves to hurt the way she hurt us both.”
I understand that this is personal for Dandy too.
“Life would be so much better if she just…disappeared.That’s what she made you do.Now, it’s her turn.Knowing the Blooms, they will know some high judge somewhere, or a police commissioner, and this will all go away.No, she needs to pay!”Dandy thumps his fist onto the table, shocking me.
“What’s going on?What aren’t you telling me?”Something more is at play here.
Dandy sighs, his shoulders dropping.“I was seeing a guy, Renaldo.I thought he wasthe one.How stupid.Anyway, one night, I was at work, and it was a slow night.Bobby Harris came in.He was alone.”
I don’t say a word.
“He ordered a strawberry shake, but instead of sitting in his usual booth, he took a seat at the counter.He made small talk.Then he asked me how I knew I was gay.”
This is about to turn dark.And I think I’m about to uncover why I saw the change in Dandy on his socials.
“I asked him if he liked to suck dick.He was horrified, standing up abruptly and puffing out his chest like the macho man that he is, saying he only likes pussy.No dude was going to suck him off!Boo-yah!”Dandy says, mimicking the jocks at our school with perfection.
“But when I looked at him without judgment, Bobby changed.He said he didn’t want to suck dick but wouldn’t be opposed to someone doing it to him.Only out of curiosity, of course.So, well, one thing led to another, and Bobby realized he liked getting his dick sucked by a dude.He liked it a lot.”
Well, I wasnotexpecting that.
“It only happened that one time, and we never spoke about it again.But when I met Renaldo, something changed in Bobby.He was…jealous, maybe?I don’t know.But one night, we did more than just fool around.This went on for a couple of months.In secret.I felt horrible cheating on Renaldo, but sleeping with Bobby was like a fuck-you to this town.
“I can’t explain it.I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t stop.Bobby told me he was leaving Rebecca.He said he was his true self with me and wanted to be together.But when Rebecca caught us in his car, he showed me that he was still the same asshole jock he was in high school.
“He said I’d drugged him, even though he was the one getting a blow job behind the wheel.Rebecca didn’t believe Bobby, but she said I wasn’t to tell anyone about this, as she knew what shame this would bring to her.Imagine that, Rebecca Bloom’s high school sweetheart is gay.The shock, horror!
“Bobby begged me not to tell anyone.That we would have to be more careful.That nothing changed and that he loved me.But for appearance’s sake, he needed to stay with Rebecca.I was the mistress,” Dandy says, his anger and hurt clear.
