Clay is very ready to leave work this evening. He has been sweating under the sun all day building the west wall of a future grocery store. He likes the rhythm that he can find bricklaying, it helps him push through the sore muscles, the bumps and bruises that accumulate over the day.
Normally, as Clay nears the end of his day, he thinks only of returning to Ivan. Since his sister Brittany moved to South Carolina, though, Clay has spent most of his free time wondering how her life is going, hoping that she is safe. She has been gone for about a month now, and Clay has struggled without her.
When he does finally leave the site, he notices missed calls on his cell phone, all Ivan.
“You’re on your way home?” Ivan asks when Clay returns his calls.
“Of course. I’ve been leaving at the same time everyday.” Clay tries not to sound annoyed.
“I’m sorry,” Ivan says, he can hear the annoyance in his voice. “I just can’t wait to see you.”
Clay sighs. He wants to see Ivan, but since their last conflict with a supernatural force, Ivan has been different. Kind of clingy in a way that Clay is not used to. They had survived a harrowing experience, Ivan especially, but it wasn’t the first time and Clay has felt himself struggling to be there the way that Ivan seems to need.
“I’ll be home really soon.”
Ivan listens to Clay hang up and he slips his phone into his pocket. He is leaving the hospital and walking the distance back home like he does everyday. It is a short walk and he usually makes it home before Clay, and since things have returned to normal, he has tried really hard to be an attentive and loving partner. Not that he wasn’t before, Ivan just feels extremely guilty about everything that happened. It was his weakness that had allowed the attack from the Red Father, and ultimately, Ivan blames himself that Brittany is gone. He’s tried everything he can think to fill the void that Brittany left, but he knows that he is doing it all wrong and being annoying. Brittany never greeted him at the door with a change of shoes and snacks to enjoy on the couch, but Ivan thought that Clay might enjoy that after a hard day. He has been working against his knowledge of his partner, hoping that seemingly thoughtful gestures might change things enough that he wouldn’t miss his sister. Ivan knows that Clay likes to sit outside in his backyard, and he likes to see Ivan levitating and surrounded in his flame. Clay hardly ever watches TV, and when he does it is usually sports or game shows as he falls asleep.
Ivan arrives home before Clay does, and Alia is not home, probably with Gertrude. He sits on the couch and watches the door. It is exhausting trying to make Clay forget everything that happened, and it is futile. Ivan sighs and relaxes into the couch like he is deflating, and just then, Clay arrives home.
“Guess who’s back?” Clay says, leaning into the open doorway. Ivan sees the aggression on his face and he waves for him to come see.
They stand on the front porch and just over the hill of the front yard, and across the street, on the front porch of the home of the drug dealer/purveyor of prostitution, they see the drug dealer Jamar, with his baby mama, Laura. They wave and smile. Ivan looks to Clay who is glaring back at them, but he has not changed size.
“Good to see you neighbor!” Jamar yells across the street. “We have to get together, our friend Danny should be back in town soon. He can’t wait to see you!”
The couple smiles as they go back inside. Ivan knows that Danny is also known as Desperation, and the last time he showed up, Clay made Ivan leave town as they punched each other and made the neighborhood rumble. Jamar had hired Desperation to kill Clay, but their last fight had ended in Desperation’s beating and arrest. Ivan assumed that he was still in jail somewhere, though not in the local jail, or Clay would have known about it. He had gone to the local police department and then to the local jail where he pledged all of his strength to stamping out whatever trace of Jamar’s criminal organization existed after his arrest. None of the officers really took him seriously, and they almost arrested him several times for beatings he gave to corner pushers, but Clay had managed to bring peace to the streets that he called home.
“What are you gonna do?” Ivan asks.
“Whatever we do, we can’t cause a scene.” Clay looks to Ivan. “I say we watch and see what he does. We play defense.”
Ivan nods, and he smiles. They feel like a team again, in sync and united against a threat. Ivan would be helpful.
When Alia arrives home later, the sun is low in the sky and she finds the couple as she usually does; Clay lifting weights and Ivan levitating.
“You feel more focused than usual,” Alia says.
Ivan’s flame disappears as he stands on two legs.
“Clay and I are dealing with something. That drug dealer.”
Alia nods, Ivan had told her all about the conflict.
“I’m looking out for the assassin.”
“The one with the crush on you?” Alia asks.
Clay grunts and Alia startles. She turns and he is standing behind her.
“He was just messing with me,” Clay says. “You want to help?”
“I’m not starlighting him…” Alia starts, and Clay laughs.
“No. Ivan is keeping track of the assassin, and I was gonna patrol the neighborhood. I want the dealers to remember who chased them off before they get orders to come back.”
“I can patrol with you,” Alia says with a smile. “I can look intimidating.”
“No,” Clay shakes his head. “I need you on Laura. You mind joining her church?”
Alia shrugs and agrees. “I’ll take Gertrude with me.”
“Good. Find whatever you can find that will get those two arrested.”
“Will you two be joining me this Sunday?” Alia asks.
“She’ll know us, they don’t know you. You can make friends…” Clay says before Ivan interrupts.
“You’re not trying to make Alia go undercover are you? That’s dangerous. These are dangerous people.”
“And this is the Alia, Ivan. She’ll have Crude with her…”
“Gertrude,” both Ivan and Alia correct.
“I don’t mind, I’m glad to help,” Alia says. “I can take care of myself.
Clay prepares dinner later that night and when they are done, Ivan gets back to levitating and searching for the energy of the assassin Desperation, and Clay prepares for his late night patrol.
“You sure you don’t want me out there?” Alia asks as she sits on the couch and flips through channels on the TV. She knows that Clay will not let her come with him.
“Just get ready for Sunday. You have to be holy and ghetto all at the same time.”
Clay enjoys the late stroll. His neighborhood is quiet these days. He had chased away the drug dealers and he made the regular people feel safe to come outside. He passed kids on the sidewalk and in their driveways playing games he had assumed their generation had forgotten, like hopscotch and four square, but then he realized that in order to be distracted by screens, their families had to be able to afford them, which they could not. Their parent’s seemed to have phones, Clay noticed them sitting on porches and only half paying attention to their kids.
Most everyone waves at him. They all know him by now, even if they haven’t spoken with him. They know what he is capable of, they know about his relationship with Ivan, and they know that he cares about keeping them all free from unnecessary violence. Even if they disagree with his lifestyle, and some vocalize it strongly to him, especially older neighbors who want to save his soul and marry him to their daughters, they respect his results and he is a welcomed presence.
When he crosses the intersection at Pine and Cloud, he turns onto Cloud street where he is met by a gentleman who is very happy to see him. His name is Sam, and he has been slowly transitioning to female for as long as Clay has known him. They are about the same age, and when they were children, Sam was openly gay, and it bothered Clay to be associated with him because of his hang ups with his own sexuality. As they got older, Sam wore his hair longer, and eventually he started to wear clothing traditionally made for women. Clay is surprised to see him with breasts tonight. The two have not ever had a substantial conversation, but they have always waved in passing as adults.
“I knew you were gay,” Sam says. He seems to come out of nowhere and Clay is startled at first. “You just always seemed so sensitive.”
Clay nods politely, gives a wave and tries to continue on his way, but Sam steps in the way and forces interaction.
“I think it’s amazing what you been doing, and you look damn good doing it,” Sam says and he puts a hand on Clay’s shoulder. “You and your boo look good too. Y’all out and proud ain’t you?”
Clay is uncomfortable, but he knows that he shouldn’t be. He knows that he has an irrational fear of flamboyantly gay men and he wants to get over it, so he forces a smile and ties to relax. He graciously accepts Sam’s complements.
“Like I said, I got a lot of respect for you and what you doing for this community, but you forgetting the people who need you most.”
Clay is taken aback by the accusation. When he isn’t working to keep a roof over his head, he is serving everyone within a ten mile radius whether they realized it or not.
“It ain’t yo fault, boo-boo,” Sam says and he pinches Clay’s cheek. “You just stumbling out of the closet the best you can, you just barely figured out who you is. So I ain’t mad or nothing.”
Sam flips his long red hair that compliments his light brown skin over his shoulder and Clay sees a gash held together by stitches.
“I gotta let it air out every now and then. I’m a expert at this shit now, I sewed this one up myself.”
Clay winces. “Why?”
“Don’t nobody care about me,” Sam says nonchalantly. “I ain’t nothing to nobody unless they paying me to suck they dick. And niggas get rough.”
Clay shakes his head. “You ain’t gotta do that.”
“I’m the one lecturing tonight,” Sam interrupts. “Just open your eyes big man. All the gay boys ain’t got superpowers like you, and they could use a hero, all day everyday.”
Sam walks away casually and Clay stands still for a moment.
PRL Serials 