"You know what they're doin' in there,."You know what they're doin' in there,... next door?" "Kinda," Rafael answered. "You,... wanna,... do,... that?" Grant asked slowly. The younger boy breathed out. The same question had been forming in his own mind but he hadn't been able to bring it out. He nodded, then realizing that his best friend probably couldn't see him in the dark, "Yeah, if you want to." The two boys lay still. Each afraid to take the next step. One of them would have to cross the floor, one of them would have to find the excuse or make the offer. "You wanna get in my bed? There's more light here near the window," Grant whispered. Rafael thought for a few seconds, then grinning happily he pushed the sheets down and padded across the floor in his bare feet. He looked down at Grant and saw his friend smiling. Grant lifted away the sheet that covered him and he moved back to make room for Rafael. They slept in narrow twin-size beds on foam mattresses, but the beds were big enough to accommodate two nine-year-old boys with room to spare. The two boys lay side by side uncertain as to what happened next. The creaking bed in the adjoining room was making even more noise, there was an urgency to the sound as it started to bang louder and louder against the wall. Then the regular pattern was disturbed, becoming erratic. Then the noise stopped. Silence at last. |