Talker's Graduation

hips had stayed narrow because they
    still ran and surfed nearly every day, but Tate could tell that when
    he got older, Brian would have to work hard at not being stocky.
    Tate sort of looked forward to that. Brian was always so solid; it
    would be wonderful if he looked as solid in the flesh as he felt to
    Tate in his heart.
    But his hair was still a little long because he cut it short and
    then let it grow until he couldn’t stand it anymore, and his eyes
    were still that guileless cornflower blue, and he still looked at Talker
    like he was the best and only boy Brian had ever seen. As far as
    Talker knew, Brian would grow old and die and never really see
    another boy, and that was just fine with Talker. Talker was pretty
    sure he’d never see another man ever in the same way he saw
    Brian.
    A larger swell than usual buoyed Tate up and then dropped
    him in the trough, and Tate thought that maybe he should ride the
    next one in. Surfing hadn’t come easy to either of them, but being
    out in the cold sea, riding it home—that had felt so powerful. Maybe
    it was because they were used to being knocked over by waves,
    and it had happened so many times to the both of them, but finally
    being able to ride a wave in, to stay on top of things, and know that
    they could get up even if they got knocked down—that meant a hell
    of a lot to the two of them.
    Tate wiped his eyes one more time, and looked out for the
    next good wave. Shelley was still on his mind, but he would live
    with the worry. She was tough. She might get knocked down, but
    she could pick herself up again. And if she couldn’t, she’d have
    Tate and JoEllen and maybe someday a Prince Charming to help
    her do just that.
    Tate had faith now—he had to. He and Brian, yeah, they’d
    been knocked down, and yeah, there had been a couple of times
    Talker’s Graduation | Amy Lane
    60

    that Tate wouldn’t have been able to pull himself up without Brian’s
    help. But there had been a couple of times that Brian had needed
    Talker’s hand up too. He had to believe that it hadn’t been just luck,
    or chance, or whatever. He had to believe that if there was a Brian
    for Tate Walker that the other Talkers and Shelleys out there would
    have their own hand out to help them, because that’s what made
    the world bearable. The thought that there wouldn’t be a hand out
    there for those as lost as he had been made the world seem so
    unutterably lonely. Tate had to have faith.
    Brian looked up and shaded his eyes against the sun, then
    waved. Talker waved back at his reason to have faith, and then
    saw the perfect wave (for the Nor Cal coast, anyway—the waves
    were pretty small here, he had to admit). He smiled at Brian and
    pulled himself up on the board and stood just as the wave passed
    under the board. Then he found his balance and the wind in his
    face and the joy of the ride and followed the ocean home.

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    About the Author

    AMY LANE is a mother of four and a compulsive knitter who writes
    because she can‟t silence the voices in her head. She adores cats,
    knitting socks, and hawt menz, and she dislikes moths, cat boxes,
    and knuckle-headed macspazzmatrons. She is rarely found
    cooking, cleaning, or doing domestic chores, but she has been
    known to knit up an emergency hat/blanket/pair of socks for any
    occasion whatsoever or sometimes for no reason at all. She writes
    in the shower, while commuting, while taxiing children to
    soccer/dance/karate/oh my! and has learned from necessity to type
    like the wind. She lives in a spider-infested, crumbling house in a
    shoddy suburb and counts on her beloved Mate, Mack, to keep her
    tethered to reality—which he does while keeping her cell phone
    charged as a bonus. She's been married for twenty-plus years and
    still believes in Twu Wuv, with a capital Twu and a capital Wuv, and
    she doesn‟t see any reason at all for that to change.
    Visit Amy‟s web site at http://www.greenshill.com. You can e-mail her at [email protected].

    Also by AMY LANE

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    Copyright

    Talker’s Graduation ©Copyright Amy Lane, 2011

    Published by
    Dreamspinner Press
    382 NE 191st Street #88329
    Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA
    http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the
    authors’ imagination or are