Teach Me, American Boy |ManXMan|

Lesson 22

Monty had to go back to the apartment and they both cried as they said goodbye. Oliver slipped away to his room as Monty wrapped his arms around Adisa's neck and buried his face in the crook of Adisa's chest. Adisa couldn't be strong that evening and the pads of his fingers left bruises on Monty's back with how tightly they held the younger man.

Adisa bit his bottom lip as he pressed their foreheads together, "you should get going so you can be back before your dad's get worried."

"I don't wanna go," Monty whined, and another tear slipped down his cheek, "how am I gonna sleep without you next to me?".

"Call me when you're going to bed, I'll want to hear your voice too, Emen must be missing you." Adisa pleaded with the boy, if he didn't leave soon, Adisa would keep him there and that wasn't good for either of them.

"You have Angels number, right? He's in the city for an expo so if you need anything call him," Monty wiped the tears from Adisa's eyes.

"I have it cub, don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles too early," Adisa tried to lighten the mood.

"I love you so goddamn much, I swear if anything happens and you don't tell me, I'm parking my ass in your room and will stay until you graduate if I have to," Monty's words held no water as he was smiling while crying saying them.

"I love you too, so much Montgomery," Adisa rarely full names Monty anymore so the blond knew he was telling the truth.

"I'll text you when I get home," Monty took a step back.

"Be safe," Adisa whimpered.

"I promise" Monty placed one more chaste kiss on Adisa's lips before he finally turned to leave. Adisa stood as the door closed and then sagged into the couch. His chest felt hollow. The last time he felt this lonely was when Emen died and he couldn't even morn in public.

"You want a beer?" Oliver slunk out of his room and called Adisa's attention, "or a shot?".

"A beer would be nice" Adisa replied, he drunk even more rarely then he called his lover Montgomery, but tonight was an exception, it was a long and hard day.

Oliver brought over two beers and handed one to Adisa who enjoyed a long swing, "I know what you're feeling," Oliver said, "He's got that effect on people."

Adisa peered over at Oliver, "he was such a sweet kid, no matter what happened, he always smiled when he saw me. It was like a ray of sunshine was put into a body and then placed in the shittiest situation in the world. The day he didn't come back I panicked. Got my ass beat by the Misses. I'm glad he has you, you fit him, both going through hell."

Adisa squinted his eyes.

"He didn't give me any details, just that you haven't had it easy either. It's not my place to snoop but if you want- we can get drunk and vent."

"We have orientation tomorrow," Adisa said.

"yeah? So? Pretty sure everyone is gonna be hungover for that, not like we haven't gone through enough orientations. S' dumb," Oliver said and Adisa chuckled, "another beer?"

"Happily," Adisa finished off his first one and Oliver came back with another.

"let's hear it," Oliver rose his bottle, "What's the sob story?"

"I don't know..." Adisa sipped quietly.

"Look man, I can handle whatever damage has been done, I took care of Monty for years and that kid was in bad shape 99% of the time, I'm not gonna be weird about nothing."

"Why'd you come to medical school? Why do you want to be a doctor?" Adisa asked suddenly.

"Monty," Oliver answered, "you see kids beat up and you kind of want to fix it. Plus patching him and everyone else up gave me some pretty good suture skills."

"My boyfriend died from an easily preventable sickness in Gambia," Adisa took a long sip, "cholera, I'd seen other people die from things like that, you know, the English take over your country- control it- and when you break free, they leave it in ruins. But man, Emen...he was indestructible and then poof, he was ten pounds lighter, lying in his own vomit and dying. No one should have to lose their child, their friend, their...lover. Not like that." Adisa placed the now empty bottle on the coffee table and stood up.

"Night," Oliver said.

"Night," Adisa took a shower, brushed his teeth, and changed into sweat pants. He sat on the edge of his bed, it was small and cold and didn't have the one thing he wanted most in the world lying in it. He pulled his phone from the wall charger and dialed Angels number.

"Hello?" Angel answered after three rings, "Adisa?"

"How in lords name did you do this?" Adisa blurted out the question and the line went silent.

"It sucked, every second of every day sucked complete ass. I almost flunked out first semester cause I was so distracted. He just leave?" Angel asked.

"bout an hour ago," Adisa mumbled, "I wanna go home".

Angel frowned on the other side of the line, he was sitting on a hotel bed only a few blocks away from the African. He was lucky Cole came with him and was currently in the shower. Angel just wanted to give the kid a hug, he knew how much this sucked, that person becomes your life and suddenly you are hours away.

"It gets easier," Angel sighed, "not like tremendously easy but it does get so you can pay attention in class and still take care of yourself. This first month is going to be hard, I'll admit that, but Cole and I are here for now and we can always extend the stay if you need some support."

"What about June?" Adisa asked.

"She's two, and also with my dad, she adores him so staying for a while longer won't bother her, if my dad gets tired he can bring her to Coles parents, they always love having her around," There was mumbling on the other line and rustling before a second voice came over the waves, "Hang in there Addie!" Cole sounded off, "I promise it's not forever!"

"Thanks," Adisa sighed, "really, thank you so much."

"You're family Adisa, it's what we do," Angel said and Adisa smiled, it's been a while since he really had a family.