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Ao’nung and Neteyam were laying on Neteyam’s bed when they heard the commotion from downstairs.
It was a Friday and their afternoon practice was cancelled because of a problem their school pool had with its ph levels. They were home a good two hours earlier than they expected, so they chose to spend the time lazing about, Neteyam laying on his back, head against the pillows, while Ao’nung ‘s head rested on his stomach.
Ao’nung had let Neteyam free his hair from his usual braids and the taller boy was running his slender fingers through the curls, listening to the other hum pleasantly.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Neteyam teased.
Ao’nung sighed, burrowing his head further into the other’s stomach. Neteyam couldn’t help the giggle from escaping his lips.
“Would that be a crime, pretty boy?”
Neteyam’s face reddened. He was still not used to the nickname.
He shrugged in response to the question, lightly pulling a handful of curls, just to tease. The other’s hiss made him chuckle.
“I don’t know,” He thought, “Are you though?”
Ao’nung smiled, looking up at Neteyam. He nodded, eyes crinkling at the corners. Neteyam wished he could paint the sight on the insides of his eyelids.
“If I died here I’d be a happy man.”
Neteyam covered his face with his hands, grinning like an idiot into his palms. It was the middle of the school year, almost five months since they started dating and Ao’nung still surprised him with how he chose to share his genuine thoughts and feelings from time to time. Neteyam was so used to the other’s jokes and rarely serious phrasing that when Ao’nung expressed what he actually felt, it shocked him.
“You can’t just say that…” He complained, dragging his hands down his face.
Ao’nung grinned wolfishly, turning and starting to poke Neteyam’s stomach, effectively tickling him.
“Oh yeah?” He challenged and Neteyam did his best to repress the giggles bubbling up his chest. He failed tremendously, his body shaking with every giggle. “Yeah?” Ao’nung tickled harder, “Oh yeah?”
Neteyam laughed louder, doing his best to protest the assault.
“St- Stop, please, please I can’t, I can’t take it, I-”
Ao’nung opened his mouth to respond just as they heard the house’s entrance burst open, a string of angry words following.
Neteyam took a hold of Ao’nung’s hands, gently pushing him away to stand up and walk to his bedroom door. It was open slightly, so he leaned through it, just enough to see a sliver of the entryway.
He recognised his dad’s voice and he saw Lo’ak march inside, angrily taking off his boots. Their father entered behind him, a look of fury etched onto his face.
“-and I mean seriously kid, after all the things we talked about? Really?”
Neteyam couldn’t remember making his dad that mad.
“Dad, I told you what happened, you just won’t listen to me!” Lo’ak tried defending himself, struggling with the stuck zipper of his coat.
“Alright, explain then! Explain to me why I just picked you up from detention, again , after another fight. Come on, I want to hear what you have to say for yourself!”
Lo’ak groaned, pulling on his zipper harder, It wouldn’t budge.
“Come on, now! You have my full attention.”
The zipper broke and Neteyam could see his brother’s lip quiver before he sighed.
“They were saying shit. About me and Tsireya. And yesterday one of them wouldn’t leave Kiri alone, and I let it go, but I couldn’t today!”
“Oooh, I get it, so you just had to break some nobody’s arm, yeah, no, forgive me if I was too harsh, that’s completely understandable! What’s wrong with you?”
Lo’ak groaned, unwinding his scarf from his neck.
“I don’t even know why I tell you anything, you never listen, anyways.”
His dad ran a hand down his face, eyes rolling back.
“Kid, I know what it’s like, but you’ve got to understand that there are consequences to what you do!”
“Oh sure, but if Neteyam did it, it’d be all good!”
At the mention of his name Neteyam inhaled sharply, soon after feeling a gentle hand at his lower back.
“Where’d you get that idea? But you’re right, there is a difference between you and your brother, he wouldn’t pull shit like this! It’s been months , how do you still have problems like this?” His father yelled, exasperated.
The words were like a slap across Lo’ak’s face. The younger brother turned back to his father, away from Neteyam’s view and stood still for a moment, palms twisting into tight fists at his side. Neteyam didn’t see the expression on his face, but he could imagine it wasn’t a happy one.
Lo’ak suddenly turned, stomping up the stairs.
Neteyam quickly shut the door, hurrying the boy behind him to the bed, trying to act as nonchalant as possible after falling on the bed, pulling him along.
He thought he would hear the slam of a door next to his, but it never came. Instead, his own door opened suddenly, a teary eyed Lo’ak walking in. Only then did Neteyam really see the bruises littering his face, lower lip split.
At the sight of the two boys Lo’ak stilled, the colour draining from his face.
“Oh.” He said, after a moment. “I thought you had practice,” He mumbled, turning away, back into the hallway. “Sorry.”
Before Neteyam could protest, his brother was gone and a hand raised to keep the other in now hung in the air, before falling into Neteyam’s lap.
Ao’nung sat next to Neteyam, shoulder to shoulder, his own hands twisted in his lap, clearly confused on what to do, shoulders tense.
Neteyam pulled his phone from his pocket, opening Lo’ak’s contact, before wincing and closing it again. Teeth worried at his lip as he put the phone down, waiting only for a second before turning it on again, considering, and dropping it. The cycle continued for a minute and eventually Ao’nung’s hand covered the phone, lightly pushing it down into Neteyam’s lap.
He looked at his boyfriend questioningly, itching to check his phone again.
“What do you want to say to him?”
Neteyam considered the question. He didn’t know, not really. He felt bad, but he thought his brother wouldn’t enjoy him poking around in his business. So he shrugged.
“Wait for a bit. Think it through. He has to calm down, too.”
Neteyam nodded, closing his eyes. He leaned against Ao’nung’s shoulder, looking up at his ceiling. He wondered if Lo’ak was doing the same on his bed.
The previous owners of their house forgot to take off glow in the dark star stickers from the younger brother’s ceiling and once, while Neteyam and Lo’ak were playing video games in Lo’ak’s room he confessed that he liked to look at them. That it was comforting.
Back in America, Neteyam and Lo’ak shared a room, as well as a bunk bed. Lo’ak was on the lower bunk and liked to stick various stickers and draw doodles on the underside of Neteyam’s bunk. He said the star stickers reminded him of that.
He took his phone out again, opening Lo’ak’s contact.
Are you ok?
He waited for a response, sighing when Ao’nung’s hand wrapped around his shoulder.
No
Wanna talk about it?
Maybe
Come to my room
Ok
Neteyam sat up straighter, pocketing his phone as he waited.
“Is he coming?”
He nodded.
Soon, Neteyam’s door creaked open and in came his brother. His face was blotchy and his grip on the phone in his hand was white knuckled. He was still wearing his outside clothes so Neteyam cringed when he tentatively sat down at the foot of the bed, but he suppressed it.
The three were silent.
Lo’ak cleared his throat, sniffing.
“What happened?” It was Ao’nung who spoke. Neteyam appreciated that he was taking the situation seriously, there was no teasing in his tone.
Lo’ak shrugged.
“Fought some guys. Broke an arm. Got detention.”
Neteyam, of course, knew this so he acted surprised. He didn’t want his brother to know just how unbelievably nosy he had been.
“Who?” he asked, “What’d they do?”
“Some year twelves.” Neteyam was a year twelve. And judging by the look on his brother’s face he assumed these were the same boys who had been giving Lo’ak trouble all semester. “They said stuff. Yesterday it was about Kiri and how she was a…”
Neteyam could guess what the boys said. Their sister was autistic, so this wasn’t the first time they had to deal with a situation like that.
“Whatever. I ignored them yesterday.”
“That’s good.” Neteyam felt like he had to say it, to point it out. “You did good.”
Lo’ak shrugged, glare stuck on his face.
“Not today though. I heard them say shit about Tsireya today.”
At the mention of his sister, Ao’nung’s ears perked up.
“What kind of shit?” He asked, voice low and dangerous.
Lo’ak’s glare intensified, like he was disgusted at the memory.
“How they’d… Do stuff to her. Like if I was there they’d beat me up and hold me so I could watch. Or how if I wasn’t there they’d record it and send it to me. To you,” He added, looking up at Ao’nung. “They thought they were so funny, too. They just laughed and hyped each other up.”
“Was she with you?” Ao’nung grit out. Neteyam’s hand found his, squeezing.
“Tsireya? No. She had some meeting with one of her teachers about her electives.”
Ao’nung nodded, satisfied with the reply.
“So what’d you do?”
“Well I was on my own. But I walked up to them and didn’t even think twice. I just started punching. I couldn’t stop. At one point they were all on me, but I was so angry I just shook them off. Broke one guy’s arm, gave the others a matching set of black eyes. They almost won when a teacher caught us. We all got detention.”
Neteyam understood Lo’ak. But he couldn’t help thinking up ways to go about solving the issues smarter.
“I would’ve done worse.” Ao’nung noted, a look of respect on his face.
“It isn’t a competition,” Neteyam complained, slapping his boyfriend’s shoulder. “It’s stupid, what you did,” He said, turning to Lo’ak.
His brother looked crestfallen, moving to get up from the bed.
“See, I knew you were going to pull a dad on me with this, I don’t even know why I told you anything-”
He was stopped by Neteyam’s hand on his shoulder.
“But I’m glad you did it.” Neteyam finished.
Lo’ak’s brows curled upwards and the corners of his lips twitched before he sniffed, wiping at his nose and looking anywhere but Neteyam.
“You need to tell dad.” At the sight of his brother’s complaints raising up his throat Neteyam squeezed his shoulder, silencing him just enough to finish. “I’m serious, this is more than just you and him. It’s about Tsireya too. And her safety. You need to tell him, so he can help.”
Lo’ak shook his head.
“He won’t listen, he never listens!”
“Then I’ll talk to him. But we have to do something !”
Lo’ak glared at his lap before nodding slightly.
“Okay. I’ll go talk to him. You stay here.”
He stood up, squeezing Ao’nung’s hand one last time. Just as he closed the door behind him he heard Lo’ak ask Ao’nung if he wanted to play a game.
He was really glad they got along, then.
His dad was sitting on the couch in the living room, his expression worn. Neteyam sighed, steadying his breath, before he moved to the couch, sitting on the opposite side from his dad. He knew they had the room to themselves, Tuk and his mother were at the cinema and Kiri was at a sleepover with Rotxo.
“Hey, bud.” His dad sighed, quieting the tv in front of them. A random trucker show was on.
He doubted his father had been paying any real attention to it.
“Lo’ak’s in my room right now.” He started, only for his father to groan slightly in response, covering his eyes with his hand.
“I told that kid that he has to do his homework first.”
“No, listen he…” Neteyam watched his father’s expression carefully. “He told us what happened.”
The other raised his eyebrows, inhaling and rubbing his temple.
“He also tell you that he broke someone’s arm?”
Neteyam nodded.
“I would’ve done worse.” He said. He knew His dad listened to him and he planned to use the fact against him.
The other’s expression changed into one of curiosity.
“Oh, yeah?”
He nodded again.
“You should’ve heard what they said.”
“I’d love to! Your brother doesn’t tell me anything, these days! I just don’t get why he has so much trouble doing what he’s told.”
Neteyam sighed, the words stinging in his chest in sympathy with his brother.
“It was nasty. Really nasty. He would barely even tell us. ”
His father raised an eyebrow.
So Neteyam explained, watching the other’s confused expression morph into one of anger.
“Who even are these guys?”
Neteyam shrugged.
“Some year twelves. They’d been picking on Lo’ak for some time, now.”
“Give me their names.” His father requested, his tone so low and dangerous, Neteyam was afraid of being on the other side of it.
And so he did.
“Tell your brother to come down here.” He checked his phone for the time. “Is Ao’nung staying for dinner?”
“He isn’t.” He replied, taking out his phone and shooting Lo’ak a text.
Come to the living room
Dad wants to talk
“It’s getting pretty late, then.”
Neteyam nodded.
“I guess.”
He opened Ao’nung’s contact.
My dads kicking you out
(not really it’s just late)
Soon, the two boys came to the living room, his dad standing up in response. He got closer to Lo’ak, slowly and carefully pulling him into a hug.
Lo’ak looked unsure of where to put his hands, posture uncomfortably stiff.
“I’m so sorry. You must’ve been so scared.” His father said.
Lo’ak’s gaze widened and his lip quivered before he let out a broken sob, hands gripping his dad’s back, nodding into the crook of his neck.
“I’m sorry.”
Neteyam caught Ao’nung’s gaze, motioning for him to follow him to the entrance hallway.
He stood by the side, leaning on the wall as he watched his boyfriend pull on his boots and jacket. He picked his scarf from the hangers before the other could, stepping closer and wrapping it gently around Ao’nung’s neck. His hands stopped to lay flat against his boyfriend’s chest, looking up at the other’s pale blue gaze.
He leaned forward pecking the other’s lips.
“Thank you.” He whispered against his lips. He wasn’t sure what he was so thankful for.
“Ah,” Ao’nung retorted, waving a hand dismissively. “No problem.”
Neteyam smiled. He leaned forward, kissing the other again, longer.
After Ao’nung left, Neteyam reentered the living room to see his brother and father missing. He heard Lo’ak hiss out a curse from the bathroom, following the sound to see him sitting on the toilet as their father held a wet rag, which he ran over the cuts on Lo’ak’s face.
“Come on, you’re gonna try and tell me you broke some scumbag’s arm but this hurts?”
“No,” Lo’ak chuckled.
His dad grinned. “That’s right.”
A smile appeared on Neteyam’s face.
That night Neteyam lay in his bed, fingers wrapped around the spine of a book when Lo’ak walked in, standing at the foot of the bed awkwardly.
Neteyam raised a brow, lowering his book.
“I...Thank you. For today.”
Neteyam smiled.
“No biggie.”
“No, really.”
Neteyam nodded. Lo’ak turned, walking halfway through the door when Neteyam stopped him by calling his name.
“Yeah?”
“When you came home, you walked into my room first. You thought I was at practice. Why would it make a difference where I was if it was just a mistake?”
Lo’ak blushed. A moment passed before he spoke.
“I come here, sometimes. When dad’s mad. I lay on your bed and think about you. Like, what you’d do. If you were me.”
The answer shocked Neteyam. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that.
So he stayed silent, he didn’t know how to reply.
“Sorry.” Lo’ak said.
Neteyam shook his head.
“..Does it help? Coming here.”
Lo’ak’s gaze hardened slightly. He swallowed before speaking.
“Yeah.”
He smiled.
“That’s good then:”
Lo’ak’s lips curved slightly. He turned, walking out again.
“Night.” Neteyam said.
It was silent for a moment and Neteyam thought the other didn’t hear him.
He opened his book again, shaking his head with a private smile.
“Night.”