Page 6 of Boyfriend on Parole: The Care of Broken Things Extended Epilogue

Rat snorted again. “You could try asking nicely for once. If you can’t even treat your best friend with an ounce of courtesy, I’m really going to start questioning why I do so much for you.”

As if he was going to fall for that one. “Tell me.”

“He castrated him, didn’t he? Went in there with a scalpel and just—”

“WHAT!”

“He really didn’t tell you this?”

“He chopped Racer’s balls off?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I said a scalpel, not an axe. He went in there with a little incision and slipped the boys out of there. What do you call them. The testes. Bee said they looked like cooked kidney beans.”

“Bee? Bee was there?”

“Of course. He was the one who held Racer down.”

“When the fuck was this?”

“Shit, when was it? That night you were in solitary, I think. After you flipped out over the underwear, remember?”

“And Racer tried to start something?”

“I don’t know what he was trying to do. Bitter maybe because you were off the market. You know, I don’t think he ever got over you. His white whale. Anyway, he started telling the Doc about it. The time he almost fucked you, and everything he planned to do. Nasty shit. Bee says one moment the Doc was just standing there and the next he’d clocked Racer in the gut so hard the man projectile vomited his lunch. Disgusting. And Doc said, “Hold him down.” And he had the scalpel already, though I’m not sure how he got it. Bee wasn’t sure either. And calm as anything your Eli went in there and got them suckers out, snipping the little cord or whatever they’re attached to. I don’t know the anatomy. I hear Racer screamed like a pig, but no one gave a shit.”

He couldn’t believe it. Or rather, he couldn’t believe Eli hadn’t told him. Except maybe he could. If it had been that night—the night in solitary with The Android. He’d come up so frightened. So desperate for protection. Of course Eli wouldn’t have told him. He ought to have told him later, maybe, but he could see also why the man might not have. It had been a critical period for them, high stress and so full of changes. Maybe Eli had worried about overwhelming him, or maybe he hadn’t seen it as a big deal. He’d told Eli to stand up for himself, after all, and the man had—and in the biggest way possible, no less. Surgical castration. Well, he’d seen his partner in that mode before. When Bee had been choking out The Android, Eli had acted as if it weren’t happening, so focused on the shoulder wound and stemming the flow of blood. He had thought about that moment a lot, and how it matched up with everything else he knew about the man. It was true that Eli was hyper-empathetic in pretty much every way, always offering his help, and he never seemed to ask himself whether that help was deserved. On the surface it seemed impossible that such a man could perform a dangerous surgical procedure under duress and without anesthesia no matter who the victim was. First do no harm. That was the Hippocratic oath, wasn’t it? The one every doctor took upon graduation. Well, maybe Eli had seen a castrated Racer as the version of less harm. Samuel couldn’t be sure, and maybe one day he’d ask, but even if he never received an answer, he couldn’t help but feel an inappropriate sense of excitement. “God, that’s sexy.”

Rat laughed. “Romantic too. Getting revenge for his beloved Ice Queen. You’d better show him a lot of loving the next time you see him.”

“With Jameson on visitation? I doubt it.”

“And that’s the only thing stopping you, is it?”

He didn’t think Rat meant anything by that, but with his recent worries he couldn’t help taking it the wrong way. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Rat nudged the mattress. “Go to sleep, princess. It’ll all be better in the morning.”

He didn’t think it would be a prophecy. Or even an omen. The day certainly didn’t start out that way, beginning with a phone call from a very regretful Nathaniel saying he wouldn’t be able to make that day’s visitation after all. He’d be staying back with Hailey who had woken up with a fever and a sore throat.

It was frightening news. “Is she okay? What did Eli say? Is it something serious?”

“Viral, he says. Nothing much to do except fluids and rest. She’s sorry, Sam. She wanted to see you so much.”

He’d been dying to see her too. It was usually too difficult to work out visits on schooldays, and Marie having her half the time meant he only got to see her about two Saturdays out of the month. Missing the visit also meant missing out on her birthday entirely—something he couldn’t help but take as a punishment for his stupid meltdown over the book. Well, he had a lot of time for revisions now. He clicked his tongue. “Thinking about others when she should be resting. What kind of irresponsible things are you teaching her?”

“Don’t blame me. She’s the spitting image of Eli.”

“Is she really alright?”

“She bounces back quickly, though she’s still upset I won’t drive her over. I only managed to convince her by saying we couldn’t afford to get you sick as well. It’s the only argument that had any impact, so make sure to look particularly feeble the next time we visit.”

Somehow, he choked out the promise, trying not to sound as devastated as he was. Without Eli at his side, the visits had become more important than ever. Jenny, at least, was able to come, and she even brought Darren—who Samuel could have done without. Darren too wasn’t exactly thrilled to see him, slouching in his chair, his glare just controlled enough to keep from getting thrown out.

“You could wait in the car, you know,” he told the boy. “Keep me from spoiling your appetite.”

He knew he wouldn’t have liked anyone his sister chose to date, but he couldn’t see what Jenny saw in the boy. Darren had a cute face, sure, but only because he looked so much like Nathaniel, and anyway, Nathaniel was much cuter and never sat around glaring at everything.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Darren said.