Next thing Genesis knew, he was opening his eyes to slivers of daylight breaking through his blinds. Shit, he’d fallen asleep in there. He hadn’t meant to. His first thought was Curtis. He was probably heartbroken, thinking he was so mad he didn’t even want to sleep beside him. Genesis wiped the sleep from his eyes and picked up his cell phone. It was a quarter to six. I must’ve been beat. It had to be the drive, especially after staying up until almost three with the guys after his brother and his new husband left to the hotel. He saw he had a missed text message from Curtis around one in the morning.
You coming to bed, Genny? I said I was sorry.
Genesis got up and left his room. Oh, baby. I didn’t mean to stay in there all night. He was going to make Curtis the best breakfast he could. He wasn’t as good as Green, but he could make a helluva short stack and some bacon. Curtis didn’t have to be to the center until two, maybe they could see an early movie. Genesis walked through their bedroom door to a freshly made bed. What the hell? There was a note on his pillow in Curtis’ neat handwriting, waiting for him.
Charles asked me to be in at six this morning. I’ll try to call you at lunch time. I missed you last night. Love you, Genny.
Genesis crumpled the paper up in hand and threw it across the room. “Jerk!” he yelled. There was definitely something up with Curtis’ boss. Genesis wanted to call him every curse word he knew. The kids didn’t even get there until school let out at two, what did he want Curtis to do? Sweep all the rooms again? Restock the supply closets? There were at least fifteen other volunteers there and from what Curtis said, the director was disrespectful to all of them, but he didn’t treat any of them near as badly as he treated him. Genesis paced back and forth, his mind racing. Was the guy a bigot? Was he a racist? Did he just loathe his job so much that he had to make everyone else miserable? Genesis wasn’t a violent person but he wanted to go down there and bust that guy’s head in. But if he did anything to get Curtis fired, he’d be sleeping in his den for a lot longer than one night.
Curtis Jackson
Curtis drank his triple shot latte, trying to give his body a little extra boost to stay awake. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night when Genesis didn’t come to bed. They always slept together. It wasn’t often they fought and when they did, it was cleared up pretty quickly. He knew his partner was getting fed up with his boss, Charles, but what could Curtis do? He pulled on the door to the center, but it was locked. He cupped his hand on the tinted glass, trying to see inside. Charles’ office was the first door on the right, so he knocked a couple times and waited. It was freezing out and his body was already trembling. He went around the corner and noticed that Charles’ Mustang wasn’t in his spot. He’s not even here! Curtis got back in his car and called Charles’ number. After four rings he answered with a curt, “Yeah.”
“Good morning, Charles. I’m here, but the door is locked. Is any—?”
“Tony will be there in an hour. You need to help him get the chairs set up in the rec room for movie day. Shawn’s wife had her baby last night so he won’t be in to do his job.”
“So you called me?” Curtis was so stunned he didn’t care how that sounded. He wasn’t the custodian. He was an educational volunteer. “What do you mean in an hour? You asked me to be here at six.”
“I called a few people but they weren’t available. Is this a problem, Curtis? Tony is coming in, too. He’ll help you get it set up. I’m late for a meeting. Goodbye.”
Curtis stared at the home screen on his phone. He held it so tight in his hands he had to put it back in his book bag for fear he’d crush it. He wanted to call Genesis, but he was probably still asleep. Instead of sitting there stewing, he pulled out his laptop and went back to working on his next proposal for the center. He wanted to start a computer education program. Learning computers and software was instrumental to this generation’s success in the future. Most of the schools in this neighborhood couldn’t afford computers or the newest technology. Curtis knew this center had money, he just had to figure out how and where Charles wanted it to be used… so far he hadn’t.