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Cater ran. Despite the shouting of Dr. Rosehearts and his own mother, the confusion of Trey and others, Cater ran. His breath heaved, his legs burned from the hill, and part of him cursed himself for not having that growth spurt to give himself strength as he pushed himself up the hill. Up to the “secret hideout” that was hardly a secret or a hideout.
There, in the clearing between trees and bushes, dangling with his legs off the edge of the cliff that looked out over the ocean, was Leona Kingscholar.
Cater had always admired him. He had been seen as the leader of their little friend group, taking charge with a confident smirk that got everyone to follow after him.
Right here he looked like a scared little boy, not the brave and proud fourteen year old he was.
Cater took a few steps closer, before finally sitting and scooting with his legs off the edge of the cliff, right next to Leona. The lion didn’t even look up, and instead continued looking at the ocean, the light growing dimmer as the sun set behind them.
“...Is there any news?” Leona finally spoke after a few moments of silence.
“Nothing. Except that they want you to go home.”
Leona clicked his tongue, frustration as a hard front to hide the deeper turmoil inside. He ripped a handful of grass from the ground and tossed it out into the air. Cater’s eyes followed the green strands as they were caught by the sea breeze, before he lost them in the distance and shadows.
“...Leona, if he dies, what… What’s gonna happen?” Cater whispered, not in secrecy but as though he thought the question was taboo. He wanted to take it back when Leona’s breath hitched, but it was too late for that.
Leona’s shoulders loosened as he sighed, and he threw another clump of grass out into the dimming light.
“Farena takes over the business. He’ll be in charge. Mother will still be my guardian, but… I’ve overheard her talking with Farena. They plan on sending me to boarding school. They think it’ll do me good… Even if we all know it’s because Farena hates me…” Another clump of grass tossed. Another statement full of venom, laced with pain.
“...Boarding school. That means…” Cater’s own heart fell. “What about us? Me? Ruggie? Trey? They’re just gonna send you away–?”
“Like I said!” Leona shouted. “Farena wants me gone and if he has a chance, I’m out of here!” His body shook again, bottles of emotions trying to push their way out of his young soul.
Suddenly he shot up, swinging his legs back up onto the ground and getting to his feet.
“L-Leona?”
“Run away with me.” Leona reached his hand out, offering it to Cater.
“W-What? Where to? How?” Cater asked as he looked away. His heart pounded in his chest, and he wondered if he would pass out. He didn’t want to fall off the edge of this cliff, but he just might at this rate.
“Anywhere.” Leona pulled his hand back to talk. “Across the sea to Europe! All the way to the Orient and the Far East! Maybe we could go out west and try to find gold together, start a homestead, something!”
It was the unspoken words that truly made a mark for Cater.
Anywhere but here, as long as you’re with me.
Away from the verbal abuses of his mother, of Dr. Rosehearts and her son. Away from his chiding sisters, from the control of Farena Kingscholar. Away from this stupid seaside village of nowhere and out into the grand world full of adventure and wonders.
Away from Trey. Away from Ruggie.
Away from their best friends. From the few families who did care for them.
Cater gulped as he looked at Leona’s hand, extended again to help him up.
Cater responded by sticking his pinky out and holding it up.
“Promise me you won’t abandon me.”
“W-what?” Leona looked confused and pulled his hand back slightly.
“If we’re going to abandon our home, our friends, our families… I want to know that you won’t abandon me on the other side of the country. Or the other side of the world. I want to be by your side and I don’t want you to leave me. Promise me.”
Leona looked at Cater’s hand, and stuck out his own finger, looping it in a pinky promise.
“I promise. I will never abandon you.”
They shook on the pinky promise, and Cater’s worry left his body as he smiled. Their hands shifted their grip, and Leona pulled him up to his feet.
The two smiled, locked eyes, half hugged as they just enjoyed the moment.
They turned, ready to run. Where would they run? They didn’t know. The future of the two friends was ahead of them.
That hope was soon dashed as they saw who was coming up the path.
Ruggie, the youngest of their friend group. Followed by Trey, just a little ways behind. And behind him, struggling with old bones on this slightly steep hill… Was Kifaji. Leona’s father’s personal assistant and closest confidant. A man that Leona had known all his life. The adult who would bring the dreams crashing down.
Cater and Leona stopped and stared as they processed the vision before them. Ruggie knew of their hideout, as did Trey… But Kifaji? The two boys had guided him here of course. Which could only mean one thing.
Cater felt Leona grip his hand tighter. Even then the lion was trembling. Cater squeezed back, trying to keep him calm, even though they both knew what was coming.
“Mr. Kifaji… What are you doing here?” Leona asked. His voice trembled as he spoke, and they all watched as the old man took the last few steps onto flat ground. Despite his clear struggle with the climb, he still managed to maintain poise, needing only a single deep breath to hide his struggles… And to prepare for what came next.
“Master Leona…” Kifaji started. “I… I regret to inform you that the master of the house has finally succumbed to his illness. Your father is dead.”
Kifaji had barely finished that final sentence when Leona collapsed to his knees, like what strength had been holding him up had finally given way. He turned and clung to Cater, the dam finally breaking as tears leaked out and stained the ginger’s shirt.
Cater wrapped his arms around Leona’s shoulder… How did you comfort someone when their father died? What could you say? Cater’s pain wasn’t as deep as Leona’s but seeing him cry like this tore him apart… It made him feel helpless to be there for Leona.
A smaller pair of arms joined the hug. Ruggie of course. Trey soon followed, and soon all four were embraced by the old man, the one adult who could do anything to comfort them. It did help, just a little.
As he grew older, Cater would look back at this moment as the day his innocence was lost, and the day his childhood officially ended. He wondered if the young child even knew it in the moment, that this was his first step out of his castles in the air and onto the terra firma of adult reality.
There was one thing he knew though. When he looked down at the sobbing figure of Leona Kingscholar, one of his closest friends, the one he wanted to run away with….
Cater knew that their promise wasn’t one they could keep.
With the ringing of the church bells out in the town, the students behind Cater all started to grab their things. Class was over for the week, and that meant the kids were ready to rush out and enjoy their free time for another few days.
The days of youth, when you had dreams and had no idea that they would be torn apart, that those you care about would disappear. He hoped he could be the guiding light to these children, the adult that would be by their side like Kifaji was to him back in the day… He chuckled a bit, smiled since the old bird was still kicking around.
“Alright kids, I’ll see you on Monday. Just don’t forget to do your reading this weekend! We’ll be having a discussion about–” And as the kids left, Cater sighed, realizing that they wanted to go. There was only one left, and that was…
“You said I could clean the erasers?” Cheka Kingscholar asked as he looked hopefully up at his teacher.
“Of course. Just be sure to lean out the window when you do it.” Cater said with a smile. Cheka let out a cheer as he gathered the erasers from the chalkboard and ran to the nearby window.
Meanwhile, Cater went about his job as a teacher, grabbing each individual kid’s slate left on each desk, that small bit of clean up he did at the end of each day as he let the excited kids go. It was rote at this point, the close of his day before he could go out and relax, especially on the weekend.
But as he worked and walked down the line, he heard Cheka’s soft voice from the window, speaking between slaps and shakes of the erasers.
“Mr. Diamond? When did you choose to be a teacher?”
Cater stopped his gathering of slates, a stack hooked in one arm and pressed against his chest, and looked back at Cheka.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Daddy knew he was gonna run the family business since he was a kid! And he says I’m gonna work there too once I’m an adult! And I’ll run it when he gets old like Grandma!” The childhood excitement that didn’t know the ravages and tragedies of aging. Only a kid would be excited for his parents to get old.
“Well, sounds like you’ve got your whole life planned ahead of you.” Cater laughed, trying to be friendly at the so-called plans.
“Yeah, but… Unca Leona, he went to school, and instead of working in the business he traveled the world! He’s done so much! What if… What if I wanna be like him? When will I know what I wanna do?”
Cater stopped and watched the boy, who was still cleaning the erasers and not looking at his teacher, who was at a loss for words. It was when the boy was satisfied with his cleaning job and a thick cloud of chalk hovered outside of the window that Cater spoke again… Mostly because his student was actually looking at him.
“W-Well, first of all, it’s Uncle Leona.” Cater tried to keep his professional guise as he stepped back towards his desk, slates in hand. “Wanna and Gonna are one thing, but Kifaji will probably slap me if you don’t learn proper enunciation.”
“That’s what I said! Unca Leona!” The boy huffed.
“Either way, I didn’t really make a serious choice until I was… Sixteen, seventeen maybe?” He started explaining as he leaned against his desk. “I needed a job, and someone older than me, who was very wise, helped me get work here at the school. It was here I saw my calling, to be a teacher and help the next group of kids find their futures. And here we are.”
Cater placed his stack of slates on his desk and knelt down, looking at Cheka on his height.
“So, what you need to do is live your life, have fun with your friends, and one day you’ll see the world in front of you all… Click together for where you need to be.”
“Alright! If you say so Mr. Diamond!” Cheka smiled at him.
“Now, you go home and have a good weekend.” Cater gave the boy a pat on the arm, and already the boy was off. “Oh, and say hi to your parents and Kifaji for me!”
With that, Cheka left the classroom, and Cater stood up to finish his work. Stack of slates in hand, he went over to the shelf where he stored then, and started lining them up for Monday, making sure they were clean, and–
“Unca Leona!”
The blood in Cater’s veins ran cold. The shout from down the hallway. He wasn’t sure if there was a response, if the man was there… The man he hadn’t seen in over a decade at this rate.
Clearly he wouldn’t be there. He was traveling. He was exploring, adventuring. Doing anything but returning to this small town.
With the shelf put away, Cater turned to head towards the door at the far end of his classroom, only to see a figure that, even after all these years, he could recognize as Leona Kingscholar. That chocolate brown hair, those piercing eyes. His outfit was strange, a dark suit with gold accents and one of those Far East robes (A haori, if his brief study was correct) over his shoulders, also matching the color scheme.
“...Cater.” Leona said. He was still the confident Leona from their childhood, but it seemed tempered. Maybe a little mature now. Not that Cater cared.
“Come to pick up your nephew, Mr. Kingscholar?” Cater asked, his smile professional.
“No, I actually wanted to see my old friend.” Leona said as he stepped in. “I… Didn’t expect you to be a teacher here.”
“Well, where did you expect me to be?” Cater turned back around to pretend to focus on the shelf. “Since it clearly wasn’t by your side on all these adventures.”
“Honestly, up in the city. Helping your father with his accounting business stuff, maybe with a wife and kids of your own.” Leona guessed, still walking closer to the teacher.
“Well, I’m not married, I don’t have any kids, and I don’t talk to my family anymore. So I guess you’re dead wrong about me.”
“I… What happened with your family?” Leona’s voice was strangely soft. He knew he was treading on dangerous grounds. Cater stopped pretending to work on the shelf and turned around to look his old friend in the face… Why was Leona so close?
“For the same reason I don’t have a wife and kids.” Was all Cater’s said. He leaned against the shelf and kept his eyes on the lion.
“... That doesn’t answer the question.”
Cater stared a little more, wondering how honest he should be. Finally he sighed and admitted the truth.
“You’re cosmopolitan enough from your travels that I’m sure you won’t react poorly, but… I’ve confirmed my bachelorhood.” Cater put on a fake smile again.
“Ah.” Leona nodded. No freakout, just a simple acknowledgement of Cater’s confession of homosexuality. He didn’t even take a step back.
“Meanwhile you’ve been around the world. Stint in the French Foreign Legion, merchant marine… North Africa, Far East… All around the world.”
“So you’ve been following my adventures, huh?”
“Cheka always brags about you when a letter comes in. He thinks you’re the most awesome uncle ever.” Cater’s eyes rolled, and for a moment…. He didn’t hurt. This was friendly banter between two old friends, catching up.
“And here I thought you were reading my letters.” Leona chuckled.
That bought it all crashing back down.
“I haven’t read them in three years.” Cater said as he turned to walk away, to go towards the door and leave the classroom, leave this situation.
“Wha– Is that why you didn’t know I was coming? Why you haven’t written back?” Leona’s tone grew annoyed now, no longer nervousness covered by confidence.
“Where was I supposed to write back to!?” Cater spun on his heels and glared. “You’re in Paris one day, Fes the next. Rome, Constantinople, Memphis, Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo– You’re never in one place long enough. Just there to write some words about your adventures and assume anyone here cares.”
“Well, I thought you cared.” Leona growled and shut his eyes, trying to calm down.
“I cared until I realized you didn’t.” Cater said. “The moment you finished at your boarding school you… You didn’t even come back to say hello. You ran off. Off across the sea. I guess homesteading wasn’t good enough for you.” He scoffed. Leona’s eyes stayed closed, and he breathed deeper.
“...You’re right.” He whispered. “I ran away. I ran away and I… I‘m sorry. But I never stopped writin’ to you. I haven’t written to Clover in an age, and Ruggie gets folded in with the family writin’ since he helps Farena so much, but… I never stopped writin’ you.”
“And you think that makes it right…?” Cater’s voice was just as soft as he tried to contain his emotions. “That you can just show back up here after–”
“I’m here to try and keep the promise I broke.” Leona spoke, not whispering, but a simple statement, a conversation.
“...It’s a bit late for that.” Cater shook his head. “I’ve got these kids to take care of. You could have come once I turned eighteen but here you are now that I’ve got people I care about and a job and a goal and… You can’t just take me away now.”
“That’s–” Leona stopped himself, his mouth opening and closing as he searched for words. “I’m not leavin’ again.”
“You… What?”
“I came back because I… Know I’m wrong. Because the family needs me. And because I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about you.”
Cater’s hand rested on the door to the classroom. He slowly shut it, giving the two of them that extra privacy as they looked at each other.
“What are you saying…?”
“I knew I wasn’t gettin’ married earlier than you, Cater.” Leona said, the confidence back as though this was rehearsed. “It wouldn’t’a been fair but the reason I wanted to run away with you the day Father died was because… You made my heart race the same way I know Farena’s heart raced when he met his wife. I wanted it to be us against the world, but then I graduated, angry at everything and wanted to prove myself…”
“...So you ran…” Cater whispered as he stepped closer.
“...You don’t have to forgive me. You can punch me if you want. But I’m here to say I’m not leaving, and if you’ll have me…” Leona gulped and stuck his hand out, pinky extended. “I promise I will never abandon you again.”
Cater stared at the hand, stared up at Leona’s face…
And then he slapped Leona.
“You think you can come in here after all these years, breaking a promise and abandoning me to just be your favorite pen pal, and then say everything is okay? That sorry is enough?”
“Cater, I–”
“I was your best friend!” Cater continued. “And when I realized what I was I knew that I loved you. And every letter was something I held closer to my heart and every night I dreamed that it was me and you out there together. And now you… I…”
Tears started to stream down Cater’s face as he rushed forward and buried his face in Leona’s chest. He clung to Leona’s lapels and he felt the strong, warm arms wrap around his own body.
“Promise me Leona…” He whispered between the sobs. “Promise me you won’t abandon me again.”
“I promise…” Leona whispered in return. This time he would keep his promise.