Bishop: A True Lover's Story

“Sure, Bishop. That’s no problem.” Mike rubbed sleep from his eyes. “Was that all?”

“Um.” Bishop pushed his bowl to the side. “You mentioned this school when I got home about—”

“The one where you bit my head off and I ain’t mentioned that shit since,” Mike snarked.

“That one,” Bishop said through clenched teeth. “You think you can maybe…?”

His dad got up and came around the table and gave him a big, wet, sloppy, stinking kiss on his cheek. Bishop shoved his dad away. “Dude, get the fuck off.”

“I’m proud of you for even asking, man. I got your back.” Mike headed towards his bedroom. “I love you, B. Let me throw my shit on. I’ll be out in a second. I saved the website on the laptop.”

“Ugh, not the laptop,” Bishop grumbled. He hated the sound of that. Technology was the devil. All that complicated device did to him was show him how uneducated and out of date he was. His mood was deflating already. He scrubbed his hand over his beard. He could do this. He had to do this. He wanted to be a better man. Not only to be worthy of a good partner, but for himself. He didn’t want to feel like this anymore. He didn’t want to be illiterate. He wanted to walk hand-and-hand into a bookstore with his guy and browse like everyone else. He was certain it sounded small and simple, but it was what he wanted.

“All right, we got about an hour before we gotta get to work. Let’s take a look,” Mike said, setting his laptop on the table and sliding their chairs close together. “I’ve already done quite a bit of research before you came home, and it looks like the Adult Learning Center is your best bet.”

“Why?” Bishop asked. He waited while Mike dragged his finger over the smooth pad and clicked on various shit. Bishop was already gritting his teeth, having no clue what his dad was doing.

“Because they have evaluation testing so you can see exactly where you are, and then they have online prep courses you can do at various levels that I think all lead up to you taking the GED.” Mike threw his hand up as soon as Bishop opened his mouth to argue. “You don’t need to even think about that test right now. First things first. We’re just interested in the starter classes they have.”

Bishop didn’t look his dad in the eye, instead he kept them on the screen. He hated the feeling of humiliation. “Online prep?”

“Yes. Meaning…” Mike squinted at the screen then clicked on some highlighted words. “It’s basically a virtual classroom. You do all the work from your home on the laptop.”

Bishop ran his hands back and forth over his short hair. If he’d had any length up there he probably would’ve yanked it out of his scalp. “Fucking hell, Mike! Why are you even showing me this? I can’t do nothing on that thing,” Bishop growled, shoving the laptop away.

“Hey!” his dad barked, glaring back at him. “Calm the fuck down.”

Bishop fought to control his anger, his disappointment. Was this the only way? Did every fucking thing have to be on-the-goddamn-line? What happened to going to a building and speaking with a person and getting some help? He had no idea how to use a computer, and if that was the only way for him to continue his education then he was royally screwed. The thought of having to work on one of those things made his palms sweat. And the hope he’d had of ever being good enough for a man like Edison was fading faster than an evening sunset.

“Bishop. Look. I know it sounds shitty. But I can help you. The programs are set up for whatever level you’re on. You can take the eval test, and when you’re enrolled they’ll probably give you logins to apps that’ll be real user-friendly, I’m sure. And when you start using it… you’ll see… you’ll learn it, Bishop. This is learning. No one said it’d be a piece of cake. Nothing is. But, I’m here now and I ain’t going nowhere. I can help.”

“I know,” Bishop grumbled. He felt like an ass. “You’ve always been there, Mike.”

“Yeah, but I been there as Mike.” His dad slammed the laptop lid down and ran his hand over his head the exact way Bishop just had. “You didn’t need a goddamn homie when you were growing up, B. You needed a father. An adult that should’ve made sure you went to school every day, and that you were getting your lessons and doing your homework. Not messing around in the streets.”

Bishop shook his head. “We’re not going there again. It wasn’t your fault I was a fuck-up.”

“You fucked up because that’s the example you had.”