The next time David and Davide hung out they decided to go to Davi’s place. That didn’t exactly surprise David, his dad was a major douche to Davi even without Davi knowing what he’d said after he left.
“We got rid of all the boxes, I promise.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you hadn’t dude,” David said.
“I guess but still just, for the record. We have actually settled into the house.”
Davi wasn’t lying, not that David thought he would mind you. The house was free of any and all cardboard. There were a few books on the coffee table and a small statue of La Pieta. David was a little surprised admittedly he probably shouldn’t have been, it was hardly uncommon to find some Italian Catholics on Long Island, himself included. He wondered if Davide’s family was particularly devout, he hadn’t seen them at the church his family went to. He was tempted to ask him about it when Davide’s mother walked by. She was carrying a briefcase but still dressed pretty casually,
“Oh hey boys! Nice to see you again David,”
“Hey there Mrs. Maloney,” David waved,
She chuckled a bit, her laugh was very similar to her son’s, albeit a little higher in pitch,
“Remember, here I’m just Nicolette. I get enough Mrs and Professor at school, I don’t need it at home too.”
“I’ll be grading papers in the office but feel free to knock if either of you needs me for anything, okay?”
“Will do, thanks, mom,” Davi nodded.
She nodded and headed off, presumably to her office. David looked over at Davide,
“So, what do we want to…do today?” He asked.
“I could show you my dark room? Shirley thought it was pretty cool,” Davi offered.
“Is that a euphemism? You uh “showed her your dark room” and shit?” He winked. Just make a joke about how he’s banging the girl you’re into. It’s fine David, you can handle this. He thought to himself.
Davi snorted, “No, it’s not a euphemism.” He eyed David, “Unless you want it to be?”
David laughed, “Ha! You’re funny, anyway show me this mystery basement, man.”
“Stay close to me, I don’t want you messing up any of my projects.”
“I won’t touch your photo shit.”
“Good, I’ll feel bad if you get chemical burns down here. They’re nasty little bitches.” He started walking down the basement stairs. It was already dark but once he actually reached the bottom and he realized Davi wasn’t exaggerating. David couldn’t see dick or shit down there. Davi grabbed his hand, “Stick by me. I know where everything is.”
“How do you get anything done down here?” He asked, a little incredulous knowing the space was made this way on purpose.
“My eyes are quicker at adjusting to the dark than the average person, plus I set everything up myself other than the ventilation. So that helps.”
“You set this all up yourself?”
“Yeah, installed the blackout curtains and the tables and shit. I was formulating my own developer fluid for a little bit but the stuff not made of coffee grounds works a lot better, go figure!” He said as he leaned on a table with three tubs of liquid in them that smelled really strongly of chemicals.
“How long does it take to develop stuff like this?”
“Not that long surprisingly enough. Usually around ten to fifteen minutes.”
“So you’re not working on any right now I’m guessing?”
Davi shook his head, “Nope, might work on some after you leave but I thought it might be a bit rude to keep you captive while I play with chemicals.”
“God, you’re a little bit of a freak aren’t you?” David said with a fond smile.
Davi smirked, “Oh you’re just noticing now? I’ve been slacking.”
He led David away from the tubs of fluid and over to a string that was hung up on the other side of the room, there were several photos hanging from it with clothespins.
“These ones are drying. Well okay, they’re dry by now but you know what I mean.”
David stepped a bit closer to the array of photos, there weren’t too many up quite yet. The first one was Davi and Shirley making silly faces at the camera. Davi was winking and had his tongue hanging out like some metal singer. Shirley had made herself go cross-eyed and was giving Davi bunny ears. Another one was just a grey wall with black spray paint of two diamonds smushed together. He felt like he had seen that emblem around town before. Maybe Marcus had drawn it in the margins of his notes before? He turned his attention to the last picture,
“Wait you actually, developed that one?” He was surprised Davi had even bothered. It wasn’t like he had been doing anything noteworthy or silly. He wasn’t even looking at Davi when the photo was taken. He was staring at the TV, his hands were gripping the controller and he had a determined look in his eye. The lighting from his window was casting him in a soft almost halo effect.
“Of course I did, I think it’s the best one I’ve taken so far,” Davi said plainly, “Do you…not like it?”
“What? No no! Dude it’s rad. I’m just surprised since you know the other ones had more shit going on in them and I’m just you know. Playing a video game.”
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Yeah but the lighting,” He felt Davi’s hand on his shoulder and his breath in his ear as he stepped closer to point at the picture, “It was so nice plus you were so focused, it kind of reminded me of old paintings of angels.”
David snorted and took a step away, it was getting a little warm down there.
“Want to head back up?” Davi asked as he put the picture back where it was.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind being able to see again,” He joked.
“Oh come on it’s not that bad.”
“Maybe not for you Mr. built-in night vision!” He poked Davi in what he hoped was the space between his eyes. He’d feel more than a little bad if he blinded his bro.
“You were able to see well enough to notice the picture of you,” Davi said as he started to leave the basement. David scampered after him. He almost walked right into the coffee table once the two of them were in the light of day again. If Davi had an easier time adjusting to changes in light David had an infinitely worse time. He kept blinking and rubbing his eyes.
“I’m gonna head to my room in a sec if you want to join me.” Davi said, blinking a little bit as well, guess he wasn’t totally superhuman.
David made his way into the kitchen and got himself some water, “Be there in a second Dav, just a little thirsty.”
Davi snorted, “Yeah I noticed.”
David blinked a bit at that, did his throat sound parched or something? Whatever, Davi was weird nothing to worry about. He followed Davi into his bedroom. It was pretty bright considering his general aesthetic. Off-white carpeting and eggshell walls. The walls did have a decent number of posters on them that seemed more in tune with what David had pictured Davi’s bedroom to look like.
“Surprised you didn’t paint the walls black.”
“Maybe in a few months. Who knows, maybe I’ll get Marcus to paint one of his murals on my wall.”
David was struck by a lightning bolt of insecurity. Davi was such an artsy dude and so was damn near everyone else in the group. What did he bring to the table? A car? Well, Davi seemed to like him well enough right?
“Davey? Are you listening?”
“What? Sorry I, zoned out a bit.”
Davi sat on his bed and patted the spot beside him, “Clearly. Come on man don’t just stand there you’re making me nervous.”
David sat next to him, “Alright alright, so how was school for you today? I noticed you and Marcus didn’t have your usual post-math debrief in the car today.”
Davi sighed, “Oh my God it was a fucking trial man let me tell you. First of all, Snyder totally has it out for me she asked a question, like eight people had their hands up and she picked me, not raising my hand! I didn’t know the answer so I looked like a fucking moron and was frustrated. I asked why she called on me when clearly there were people who knew the answer and she told me to check my Attitude Problem.” He rolled his eyes.
“Ah, now you’re starting to get some of the staple experiences.” David sighed in commiseration.
Davi started gesticulating, “Why the hell is that a normal thing? Why embarrass me when you’re supposed to be teaching I don’t understand” Davide’s elbow hit David and his drink went all over. Davi’s shirt was soaked,
“Shit sorry, I’ll go get a towel-” David started to get up and was struck still when Davide pulled his shirt off,
“It’s whatever. I need to do laundry anyway.” Davide was super thin, his ribs weren’t jutting out exactly but David could still see them pretty well but what stuck out to David far more was the dark and extensive scarring all over his upper chest all the way to just above his navel.
“Shit man, those are pretty intense.” David shifted a bit closer, “How’d you get them?”
“Animal attack as a kid.”
David reached out and then paused, “Can I touch them?”
Davide shrugged as he tossed his shirt into a clothing hamper in the corner of the room,
“If you want to.”
David’s fingertips barely made contact with Davi’s skin at first, the scars were puffy and a bit rough to the touch. The feeling sent an electric shiver down David’s spine. He was glad he managed to suppress the feeling, he didn’t want Davi to think he was freaked out by his body or anything like that. Some of the scars had faded a lot more than others, a few were a faint pink that was barely distinguishable from Davide’s slightly sickly pale skin color, while some were a deep pinkish red. Davi held very still while David’s hands mapped the varying elevations of his skin. He brought his other hand into the mix to get a more complete feel of them. He paused as he saw his hands cupping another guy’s chest as if they were proper breasts. If Davide was a girl this would solidly be second-base action. He cleared his throat, suddenly very embarrassed at letting his curiosity get the better of him,
“How long ago was it?”
“Eight years ago. It was, pretty bad.”
“Looks like it.”
“I almost, I almost died.”
David looked up at Davide’s face, his eyes seemed heavier somehow, “Well, I’m glad you’re still here man.”
Davi gave him a hint of a smile, “Me too. Even rabies couldn’t take me out.”
“Holy shit you had rabies? Doesn’t that like, a hundred percent kill you?”
“If you get symptomatic, yeah,” Davide nodded, “I spent like, a month in the hospital getting treatment.”
“Shit, that sounds intense.”
“It was, but I’m good now and I…don’t go on hikes anymore,” He chuckled awkwardly, and David realized his hands were still on Davi’s chest. He pulled them back, and brushed his bangs out of his face,
“Yeah that, that makes sense.”
Davi jerked his head towards his dresser, “You want me to put another shirt on or?”
David sat on his hands and cleared his throat, “I uh, that might be good.”
Davide nodded and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out a grey tank top, it hung a bit loose on Davi’s narrow frame, and the top of one of the scars was peeking out.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a tank top before.”
“Yeah I don’t really wear them at school since you know,” He motioned to his chest.
“Right yeah, must be tiring getting questions in like Gym and stuff right?” He asked, feeling a little bad for having put Davi on the spot earlier.
“Oh, are you kidding?” Davi snorted, “I get changed in the bathrooms. If someone wants to see me half naked they gotta seduce me first.”
David elected not to point out that he had just seen Davi half-naked without anything that even remotely resembled seduction happening. He glanced down at his phone, oh fuck it was later than he thought. He jumped off of Davi’s bed,
“Shit uh, sorry man I gotta go I’m so gonna be late for work. See you tomorrow?”
Davi looked surprised at his sudden leap, “Oh uh, yeah get outta here. Don’t wanna get you in trouble. Good luck at McD’s.”
He nodded and ran out, leaving Davi standing alone in his room.