Mark Me (9 page)

“Not yet,” Ambrose said. “Your mother loves you. What will it do to her when her friends find out that you’re gay?”

“I don’t really care about what a bunch of old women think.”

“You should. And what about your career? Do you think that the world is ready for a gay violinist?”

Eli pouted. His father was being so unfair. “I’ll be discreet.”

“You might be, but your friends won’t be. Trey couldn’t wait to tell me. I won’t say I wasn’t shocked at first, but I consider myself very liberal when it comes to sexuality.”

“Trey is just jealous that I have no interest in him.”

Ambrose cleared his throat.

“Would you have liked it better if I had hooked up with him?”

“At least his father is a lawyer, not the town wino.”

“That’s so not fair.”

“I offered Miller money to stay away from you,” Ambrose finally said.

Eli moved to the edge of his chair. “What? You didn’t?”

“Yes, I did. You are my son, and I will do anything to protect you.”

“Dimitri can’t be brought.”

Ambrose raised an eyebrow. “Oh, no? Everyone has his price.” What did that mean? Did Dimitri take the money? Did he leave him? Funny, he hadn’t heard from him in a couple of days. “How much?”

“One million dollars,” Ambrose said.

Eli groaned.
Damn
.

Dimitri stared down at the check.
One million dollars
. He still couldn’t fathom that amount of money. Granted, he loved Eli, but a million dollars could mend his broken heart. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t called him in two weeks, and he supposed by now Eli must have found out what his father had done.

Dimitri rose from the couch, upset that he had allowed Eli’s father to turn him into the type of person he despised most of all, someone motivated by money. He’d never been like that and he didn’t know what possessed him to accept the check. Still, he hadn’t cashed it.

That should mean something. Dimitri walked into his kitchen and got a beer. No, it did not change the fact that he accepted it. Poor Eli must be so upset and so angry at him. One minute he’d professed his love to him and the next he just took the money and walked out on him. Eli didn’t deserve to be treated that way, especially since he had been the one to seduce him and take his cherry. If it hadn’t been for him, Eli would probably be a happy teen entering his first year of college.

Now, his friends had deserted him, and the two men in his life that he thought he could trust had deceived him.

He walked back into the living room and sat down. He never figured that Eli’s father would be a snob. The man had turned his nose up at his apartment and at his tattoos. Just because he had money did not mean that he was better than him, just had better advantages.

Yet, he could understand what the man felt from a father’s perspective. Eli was his only child and a father needed to make sure that a child would be taken care of. Right now he could not do anything financially for Eli, but it would not always be that way. He planned to be useful to him in the future. He had dreams beyond being a tattoo artist. In fact, he’d been thinking seriously of returning to music or perhaps giving art another shot.

He got up again and walked over to his violin. Dimitri took down the case and blew the dust from it. Then he opened and removed the violin and bow. He placed the instrument under his chin and began to play. The beautiful music filled his tiny apartment. Afterwards he wiped a tear from his eye, amazed that the instrument still sounded so sweet after all these years, and that he hadn’t lost his skill. Granted, he wasn’t orchestra material, but perhaps he could start out small by performing in some of the local clubs. He and Greer had been part of a group once when they were teens. Greer played a mad set of drums.

Dimitri smiled. Maybe he’d like to get their act together again. He’d run it past him later.

Dimitri put the instrument back into the case and placed it on the shelf. He liked the idea of performing in front of a crowd again.

Maybe he would speak to Mr. Dubisson and get his opinion. Surely he knew some people who could get him started in the right direction.

He sat back down on the sofa and stared at the check again. The idea was good, but it didn’t help his present problem. Maybe he could use some of the money to get his new career on track. He would still have to stay away from Eli until he could prove to Mr. Coleman that he was worthy. No. Eli wouldn’t understand. Dimitri sighed. He didn’t know what in the hell he was going to do. But he had to make a decision soon.

* * * *

Eli dialed Dimitri’s number. It rang a couple of times and then it went to voice mail. He wasn’t surprised. It had been doing the same thing for the last month or so.
Damn him. Coward
. Dimitri could have at least told him good-bye to his face. Well, he wasn’t going out that way. If he wanted to be a bastard, so be it. He was tired of sitting around in his apartment, moping about some man. He was young, rich, fairly good-looking, and it was a Saturday afternoon. He reached for his cell phone again, surfed through his contact list and dialed a number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Randall. It’s Eli. What are you doing?”

“Nothing much,” Randall said. “Why?”

“Would you like to go to a festival with me this evening?” He wouldn’t be surprised if Randall hung the phone up in his ear since he hadn’t hung out with him in a long time.

“What type of festival?”

“A music festival. There’s one in Lafreniere Park featuring a lot of good bands. There’ll be some classical performances too.”

“Sure,” Randall answered. “What time?”

“Can you be ready in an hour?”

Randall chuckled. “That depends on if I can get my hair to cooperate.”

“I’ll pick you up in an hour then. And wear something comfortable. We’ll probably have to sit on the ground or something.”

“Will do. See you in an hour,” Randall replied. “Just honk and I’ll come out.” He hung up.

“Yes,” Eli said excitedly. He’d made a date with Randall. Eli hurried out of the music room and ran up the stairs to find something to wear. After finding the perfect outfit, Eli took a shower, dressed, and then dashed out of the apartment. He hopped into his car and drove over to pick up his date for the evening. There were a lot of cars parked outside of Randall’s Garden District home when he drove up.

Eli blew his horn and Randall came out of the house a couple minutes later dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black T-shirt with Sebastian from the anime
Black Butler
sprawled across his chest.

Eli smirked. Randall could be Sebastian’s double with the long black hair, slim build and piercing, blue eyes. Why hadn’t he noticed Randall’s androgynous look before?

Randall slipped into the passenger’s seat and strapped the seat belt across his shoulders. “I’m glad you called. Some of my mother’s friends just arrived, and they’re gabbing and trying to fix me up with their daughters.”

Eli chuckled and drove off. Randall’s mother, like his, was always involved in some charity function or another. His father was the CEO

of a major engineering firm, and like him, Randall was also an only child. “Cute shirt.”

“I just got it in the mail yesterday,” Randall boasted. “You can’t find any great anime stuff in New Orleans. It’s all Saints, jazz, and Mardi Gras. Downer.”

“You’re a trip,” Eli teased as he drove. He liked anime too. He’d seen a couple of the
Black Butler
episodes but never got back to the series. Maybe he’d invite Randall over to his place next weekend and they’d make popcorn and watch a lot of anime.

“What possessed you to call me out of the blue? Your other friends busy?”

“What other friends?” Eli asked. He hadn’t heard from any of those losers in weeks.

“Justin and Henry,” Randall answered.

Eli noticed that Randall didn’t mention Trey. Randall never liked Trey for some reason. Maybe Eli should have listened to Randall.

“Oh, those friends. I haven’t seen them since we graduated and besides, none of them are interested in music.”

“Oh,” Randall said.

“Anyway, you were the first one I thought of though.”

“I was?” Randall asked, surprised.

“Sure. You’re my music buddy and I’ve always wanted to spend some time with you away from Mr. Dubisson’s like we used to do when we were younger.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Eli said, peeping over at Randall when he stopped for a red light.

Randall’s eyes twinkled. “You’re not wearing your glasses.”

“And you just noticed. I got contacts,” Randall said. “What do you think?”

Eli studied Randall’s eyes and got the strangest sensation in his balls. They tightened and pulled. He gulped. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be alone with Randall after all. “They’re nice.”
Too nice
.

“I always thought you had beautiful eyes and the best damn hair. If I let mine grow that long I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

“My mother has a fit every time I threaten to cut it,” Randall told him. “I think she was a little disappointed that I wasn’t a girl.” The light turned green and Eli drove toward the park. Cars lined the avenue and the neutral grounds. He drove into one of the parking lots and he and Randall got out. The band on stage filled the air with music. By the time they made it to the bandstand area, people were dancing around the stage and on the grassy area, while others barbecued and picnicked.

“Wow,” Randall said. “Look at all the people.” He took Eli’s hand and dragged him close to the stage. Of course they had to hop over a lot of squatters and picnickers to do it. “It’s Brussels,” Randall shouted excitedly.

“Brussels?” Eli asked.

“Man, where have you been? Brussels is one of the hottest indie bands in California.”

“Obviously under a rock,” Eli said, finding Randall’s excitement cute. He’d just turned eighteen two weeks ago, but Randall still had that little boy charm and enthusiasm.

“Let’s dance,” Randall said.

Eli looked at him oddly. Here, out in the public where everyone could see them? Hell, he didn’t even know Randall knew how to dance. He’d always acted so shy in class. Eli watched for a few seconds, transfixed by the way Randall’s hips swayed in the tight blue jeans. He had some pretty smooth moves for an anime geek. What the hell? Eli thought. He was hanging out of the closet already so he decided to step out. He might as well learn to enjoy it.

* * * *

“The band is good,” Greer said as he, Jose, and Dimitri walked around Lafreniere Park. They closed the shop an hour early so they could make it over to the park to hear the bands before it got too late.

Dimitri nodded. Mr. Dubisson had told him about the festival and thought he could check out the competition so he could figure out what type of music he wanted to start practicing. The older man had agreed to give him lessons on Thursday nights and so far he’d taken four classes.

Greer had jumped at the chance to get the band together again and who knew that Jose used to play the trumpet in a band back in Fort Worth before he migrated to New Orleans?

“Yes they are and I especially like the fiddling.”

“I like zydeco,” Jose said, dancing to the music as they strolled.

Greer stopped abruptly, and Dimitri almost ran into him.

“What’s up, man?”

Greer pointed. “Isn’t that your stuff shaking it down with that other violinist from the music school?” Dimitri looked into the direction Greer pointed. He paled.
Eli
.

He’d been avoiding him for a month and here he was dancing like a wood nymph in the park in front of hundreds of people. “Yes,” he said. “My ex-stuff.”

“You never did tell me what happened between the two of you?”

“His father told me to stay away from him,” Dimitri answered.

“And you listened?” Jose asked. “Why? He’s over eighteen.”

“Because apparently I’m not good enough for him.” Greer continued to watch Eli and Randall dance. “He has some mad moves, man. The other princess too. They look good together.”

“Except Eli doesn’t look much like a princess now. He seems more like the seme,” Jose replied.

Dimitri ignored Jose’s last statement. “No they do not look good together. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Don’t you want to go over and say hello?” Greer asked.

“No,” Dimitri said. “It’s over.” He walked toward one of the concession stands in search of beer. Jose and Greer followed him.

“You think the two of them are dating?” Greer asked Dimitri once they’d gotten their drinks.

“No,” Dimitri said. “Randall is just a good friend.” Eli ruffled his hand through Randall’s long, black hair and Randall ran behind him. Dimitri smirked. “They’re just two kids.” Another older teen walked up and wrapped his arm around Eli’s neck.

The two of them wrestled a little and they slapped hands.

“Oh, oh, who is that?” Jose asked. “He’s fine.” Dimitri kept his gaze trained on the newcomer. He had short, black hair, a muscular build, and he was taller than both Eli and Randall. Eli smiled as the newcomer spoke with him. Dimitri’s heart quivered. He hadn’t seen him smile like that before. “Probably another friend.”

“They look pretty chummy,” Jose said.

“Let’s go,” Dimitri said. He couldn’t stand what he saw or himself.

“They’re coming this way,” Jose said.

“Damn,” Dimitri said. The look on Eli’s face when he recognized him nearly broke his heart. First shock, then confusion, and then hate.

“Hey, aren’t you Mr. Dubisson’s friend?” Randall asked Dimitri.

“The violinist?”

“Yes,” Dimitri said. “Nice to see you again.”

“Don’t you remember him, Eli? He came to visit the music school a couple of months ago.”

“Oh yeah,” Eli finally said, not looking him in the eye. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Dimitri said. “Who is your other friend?” The other kid was practically leaning all over Eli. He seemed a little older that Eli and Randall, but younger than him and his friends.

“This is my cousin, Dexter,” Randall told him.

Dimitri continued to look the young man over. He found him decent looking, and he had a muscular upper body like he played sports. And if he didn’t get his arm from around Eli’s shoulder he might kill him. “Nice to meet you, Dexter. These are my friends Greer and Jose.”