***
Darcy’s “Aunt Catherine headache” had subsided only marginally by the time he returned to his trailer later that afternoon. They had finished one scene, but she would return tomorrow to complete a shoot that should have taken one day. Noting the tightness in his neck muscles, Darcy mused that he could have used Cecil B. DeMille’s massage.
He stopped short when his trailer came into view. A slender Asian boy with spiked hair and an elaborate earring in one ear was sitting on the steps leading to the front door. Good lord, what now?
The boy stood up as Darcy approached and extended his hand. “M-Mr. Darcy? I’m Garrett Cho.” Darcy shook his hand. “From the True Colors program?”
Oh yeah. His mentee. Well, the kid wasn’t too grungy for being homeless. His band t-shirt and skinny jeans weren’t particularly fashionable, but they were clean and neat. The hair and earring wouldn’t cause anyone to bat an eye on a movie set.
And he didn’t appear to be the kind of teen who would lift Darcy’s wallet. Of course, you could never tell for sure; Darcy would have to keep an eye on him just in case. After a movie’s release, props and costumes could be sold for a hefty profit on the internet. Why did I agree to this again?
Darcy unlocked his trailer and gestured for Garrett to follow him. He had been planning to pass the kid off on Kurt, but his personal assistant was late getting back from his coffee break. Again.
Damn. Now Darcy needed to stall and make small talk, which he sucked at. What kinds of questions was it okay to ask a homeless gay guy? Or maybe he wasn’t a guy? Maybe he was a she? Or a they? Damn, this was confusing. He tried to examine Garrett more closely without appearing to be staring.
“Er…” Darcy indicated the leather sectional occupying the trailer’s living room. “You can have a seat. So…how long have you been at True Colors?”
Garrett’s eyes went wide as he surveyed the trailer. It was probably a palace to him. Bringing Darcy’s personal trailer to the set had been a considerable expense, but it was worth it. The trailer was certainly more comfortable than lounging around the soundstage, and it afforded him some privacy. The leather sofa and fifty-inch television did help him unwind, although he rarely used the stainless-steel appliances in the gourmet kitchen. I could invite Garrett to use the gaming systems when he’s not working. Darcy didn’t know how to operate them.
“Six months.” The boy tucked himself onto one end of the sofa as if trying to take up as little space as possible.
“Um…how old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
The kid’s one-word answers made it hard to keep a conversation going.
“Are you particularly interested in filmmaking?” At least this question would demand a longer answer.
Garrett’s face finally showed some animation. “Yeah. Oh my God! Being on a film set is like my dream come true. And meeting you…well…” He made an explosion sound effect. “My mind is like completely blown!”
+Darcy was finally getting somewhere. “Do you think you might be interested in a career in filmmaking?”
Garrett’s head bobbed up and down. Here it comes, Darcy thought. Everyone at that age thought they’d be the next Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise.
“I’m particularly interested in sound design or, like, being a Foley operator?” The kid chewed on his lower lip.
Huh. That wasn’t something you heard every day. There was more to this kid than Darcy had expected. “Have you worked in sound design before?”
Garrett chewed on a fingernail. “A little. I did some work backstage with the sound board at my high school…before I dropped out.”
Something about the kid’s shy, earnest attitude made Darcy feel unreasonably protective. “You shouldn’t have dropped out.” God, now I sound like a parent.
“I know.” Garrett squirmed uncomfortably on the sofa. “I tried to keep going, but it was too hard after my parents kicked me out. Just finding a place to sleep and getting food took so much energy. And I was so tired all the time. After a while I started to wonder what’s the point of making all that effort to go to school. You know?”
Darcy did his best to keep his expression neutral. He had known, of course, that such things happened to LGBTQ teens. But he had known in a vague intellectual way. He hadn’t actually expected to meet someone with such a horrific story. Which was pretty stupid, now that Darcy thought about it. How did he think that homeless teens ended up being homeless?
Garrett had slumped into the sofa, the perfect pose of teenage languor, but then he sat up straight. “But it all worked out. I mean, True Colors is awesome, and they’re helping me get my GED.” Had Darcy appeared so distressed that Garrett felt the need to cheer him up?
“I’m glad to hear that.” Darcy wondered if there was a tactful way to inquire how and why his parents had kicked him out. But before he could develop one, Kurt ambled into the trailer, apparently not in
the least concerned about being twenty minutes late returning from break.
Darcy carefully refrained from yelling at his personal assistant in front of the teen. “Kurt, this is Garrett from True Colors. He’s going to be on the set for a couple of days.” Garrett’s face lit up. Darcy had promised Elizabeth he would take a student for a day, but now seeing the kid’s earnest face, he couldn’t keep it so short. How much could Garrett learn in a day? “Can you give him a hand and show him where everything is?”
Kurt regarded the teen with complete blankness, adding to Darcy’s suspicion he dabbled in illegal substances during his break. “I don’t know. I’m kind of busy…”
Darcy took a deep breath, striving to keep his temper under control. “That wasn’t a request, Kurt. This is part of your job, do you understand?”