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Jay snorted. “So, it was about Golden Boy moving up in life and not wanting to have yesterday’s trash getting in the way. Told ya.”
“He doesn’t think any of us are trash,” I said, feeling an obligation to defend Chris although I wasn’t sure he deserved it. “It was just a party that had nothing to do with me. End of story.”
“There you go again,” Jay said and leaned back. “You’re still making excuses for him.”
“I’m not.” But there wasn’t much conviction in my voice.
“Leave him alone,” Anthony said as he was running his fingers over his cold glass of beer. “He’ll figure out on his own that Chris is a piece of shit.”
I gawked at him. “Well, damn, where the hell did that come from?” It wasn’t just that I never heard Anthony talk like that about Chris; I never heard him talk like that aboutanyone.
“Never mind,” he mumbled and stared down at his drink.
Jay and I exchanged looks, and it was he who said, “Come on, big guy. What happened?”
“Nope. Forget I said anything.”
“Tell you what,” Jay said and lowered his voice, “if you tell us what got you so riled up about Golden Boy, I’ll do the same.”
“Nice try, but we all know why you’re upset with him.”
“Is that so?”
“He disappeared once you… you know, went to prison. Didn’t want anything to do with you because of his status or whatnot.”
Jay shook his head. “I know you guys think that, but it’s not about that.”
I leaned forward, curiosity piquing. I had been dying to find out what went down between those two. “Then what is it?”
“Hold on. If I’m opening up about that, I’m doing it only after Anthony's done with his story.”
I nudged Anthony with my elbow. “You got to tell us, man.”
“Nothing good will come out of me talking about this,” Anthony said, his eyes still looking down, tension in his shoulders.
“We don’t always know what might come out of something until we try it,” Jay said like a wise elder. “If it’s something that’s been sitting on your chest, this can be your chance to drop off some baggage.”
Anthony raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, you won. Anything to stop your self-help crap.”
“Well, excuse me for not measuring up to your beloved Doctor Phil.”
Anthony rubbed his face and finally said, “I sort of… I mean, I sort of hooked up with Chris after my divorce. It lasted for a couple of months.”
The music around was still playing loud, but all I could hear was the buzzing in my ears. “You’re not… you can’t be serious.”
He seemed to be sinking into his seat. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did,” Jay said, a spark in his eyes. “And we aren’t putting that genie back in the bottle.”
Anthony drowned the last of his beer. “You sure you want to hear this?”
“I am,” Jay said, “and although E here looks like he might faint, I’m sure he’s keen as well.”
Jay was right. I felt lightheaded, but every part of me wanted to hear the full story.
With a deep sigh, Anthony began to speak.
4
