The Colours of August MxM (Staten Krown)

13

My heart sinks as I hide out behind the large curtains in the ballroom. Beau and Stevie can't see me. They are talking and it's clear Stevie is trying to calm Beau down. I can't hear everything they are saying. I need to get closer. I need to hear what's going on.

I sneak closer. I go underneath the table in the ballroom and try to shift the chairs. One of the chairs must be old because it makes a strange noise that echoes through the ballroom.

"What's that?" I hear Beau stay.

His eyes dart across the ballroom. They are looking for something. They are looking for me. I stay still. I stay perfectly still trying to avoid making any other moves.

Somehow Stevie says something to Beau. I'm not sure what it is but for some reason, they start leaving. The two of them just start leaving out together. It becomes perfectly clear to me that Stevie must have been buying me time. He must have been doing what he could have to distract Beau. I didn't have any time to waste.

I run over to the captives.

"August," June Bug realizes, "Oh thank god. Thank god. Let us out of here."

"Are they gone?" I ask.

"Yes, Stevie convinced him to leave. I heard the door close. They are gone," June Bug assures me.

I start untying him first. The only one that isn't tied up at this point is Mary Flannery. She looks up at me with these desperate eyes.

"That nigger is crazy," she is telling me with tears in her eyes.

"Mary calm down. Go to the kitchen and call the police," I tell her, "I'll get them up..."

She nods and takes off. I am immediately starting to untie June Bug. As soon as I'm done with June Bug I move on to Chuck.

"He was helping him," Chuck states looking at me.

"What?"

"Stevie was helping him," Chuck responds, "He was goddam mixed up with the whole mess. He's just as bad. I promise you. He's just as bad."

Chuck looked pissed the hell off.

"If it wasn't for Stevie calming him down you'd probably be dead now dumbass," I tell my cousin finally releasing the last knot that was keeping him tied up around his abdomen.

Chuck is angry though. He has this looked of a man who has had his heart broken all over his face.

"You so sure about that?" Chuck asks.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing.'

"Chuck, what the fuck did you mean by that?"

Chuck shrugs, "All I'm saying is Stevie seemed awfully sympathetic to that mad man."

"They grew up together. They are friends?"

"Seemed a little bit more than that if you ask me," Chuck states.

I don't know why that makes my stomach turn. I don't know why the thought of it makes me so uncomfortable.

"It's all fake," I reassure him, "Stevie was just trying to give us time."

"OK, if you say so..."

Chuck gets up. By now June Bug has released Carol and Sissy. Mary Flannery joins in the room at that point and she runs over to Carol to comfort her, but Carol is already getting comforted. She's already being comforted by Sissy.

"What's this?" Mary Flannery asks.

Carol has her hands on Sissy's chest. The two seem to not care at this point what other people think about them. The embrace they are sharing is real. It's beyond real at this point.