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"More than I’ll ad Berber--it’s like Arabic--but I barely know any of that He wanted to lose his accent because he thought he’d get better work that way, so he hardly speaks it at all now Most people can’t even tell he wasn’t born here"

A new note, so close to bitterness, had crept into Adam’s voice Nick frowned and wondered if he’dthis line of conversation

Adaht into the American dream of capitalism and baseball and apple pie--only to end up with a Brazilian wife and a gy dancer for a son"

Adam’s father hid who he was Then he’d asked Adam to hide who he was

Nick wondered what his own father would have thought

While he felt certain his mother would have understood him--

would have supported him, even--he had no idea how his father would have reacted Michael had gotten into it with their fatherlike this

Nick stroked a hand across Adam’s face "Do they ever come to watch you dance?"

"Nah Not really anyrow it one day"

"I think your dad should take a second look at how lucky he is"

Adahed, but not like it was funny "You know, if I wanted to do prettyelse with my life, I wouldn’t need a scholarship If I called hi a check to the college of e letters sitting in his desk at houilt "I’ave him a smile "It’ll mean more if I do it ain "Your turn"

"My turn?"

"Telluncomfortable about your fa unco the stretch of Ada good about your brother"

The words suh the his power to send the flaen fro fro spiders in his bed or peanut butter in his backpack or paint in his shale ti or just plain needed him

"We used to trade places all the time He loves sports, and I

well, I really looked for any reason to stay the hell out of a locker room, so he pretended to be me so he could play more sports The school lied

"H to be him?"

Nick snorted "His oing to misunderstand "Not like you think

When our parents died, he couldn’t keep up I started doing it to help him, just so he wouldn’t be held back It beca He believed he couldn’t do it, and I wanted to do that for hiusted noise "This is stupid"

"No It’s not" Adaain "What does he do for you?"

"I don’t--it’s not--" Nick pressed his fingers into his eyes

"Everything"

He kept hearing Hunter’s words on the steps I’m not his best friend, Nick You are

Nick realized he didn’t even know if his brother had made it home okay

He hated that Gabriel hadhere worried about hiain?"

Adam sat up and shifted to pull it out of his pocket He held it out without a word

Nick called the house phone The line rang half a dozen times

Maybe Gabriel had been hurt Maybe they were all out looking for hi soht--had he mentioned that to Michael? He couldn’t re His world could be cru on Adam’s back porch, coainst his rib cage, chastising him with each beat He’d let his brother drive off in a fury God only knehat he could have gotten into

Tyler Had Gabriel gone after Tyler? If soht to find Adaht?

Maybe--

The phone clicked as so"

Gabriel Nick almost dropped the phone

He didn’t knohat to say

The line filled with silence for the longest time

Then Gabriel said, "Nicky"

Not a question He knew Nick couldn’t read anything from his voice He still didn’t knohat to say

And his brother wasn’t filling the silence, either

Finally Nick cleared his throat "I just wanted to be sure youto that, Nick pushed the button to disconnect the call He all but shoved the phone back at Adam

They sat there in silence for a few beats

Then Ada call

Gabriel was calling back

"Do you want to talk to hi double time