Read Online Twisted by Jake Mactire - Free Book Online

shoulder.
    “Well, I reckon I’d better call my mom.” He sat there for a few minutes and finally picked up the phone and dialed the number his dad had given him.
    “Hello. Mom? It’s Mike.” I could hear an exclamation of delight from the other side. Mike listened for a couple minutes and answered.
    “Me too. I never expected to hear from any of you again. They’re both there?” I reckoned that he was talking about his sister and brother. He continued. “Sure. Jeff, my partner, is here with me. You don’t mind if I do the same? Great!” He turned to me.
    “I’m gonna put it on speakerphone. I want you to meet them. Mom’s gonna do the same so we can talk to her, Eve, and Guy all at once.”
    “You sure you want me around?”
    “I’m sure.” He pushed a button, and all of a sudden I could hear a lady who had the same accent as Mike’s dad.
    “Hello? Mike, can you hear me?”
    “Loud and clear, Mom.”
    “Good. Jeff, I am very happy to meet you. I saw you with Mike in the magazine articles.”
    “I’m pleased to meet you too, Mrs. Guidry.”
    She laughed over the phone. “Please call me Madeline. Mrs. Guidry is too formal for family.” Mike was beaming at me. He started talking.
    “Eve, Guy, are you there?” He was asking about his brother and sister.
    “Hello, Mike!”
    “Hey, Mike!”
    Madeline spoke up again. “Mike, we are so happy to know you are all right. The pictures of you in the magazines are very nice. You look so handsome and happy.”
    “I am happy, Mom. I got a good life out here and a great partner.”
    I heard another female voice. It must have been Eve. “Mike, tu as de bon goût! Ton partenaire est très beau.” She’d just told Mike he has good taste since his partner is good-looking. I couldn’t resist jumping in.
    “Merci , Eve!” Everyone laughed when I said thanks.
    “Mike, you did not tell us Jeff can speak French.”
    “I haven’t had a chance to tell you much of anything yet.”
    Madeline spoke up. “Mike, we have been looking for you for so long. Tell me what happened. How did you end up in Washington State? How did you become a cowboy?”
    He took a deep breath and started to speak. “Well, when I got off the bus in San Francisco, I was scared to death. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I just sat there for most of the day. A police officer had been walking through occasionally, and I reckon he noticed me. He asked me if I had anywhere to go, and I said no. He asked if I ran away, and I said no, I got kicked out. He didn’t even ask why. He told me about a shelter for homeless youth and took me there. Most of the guys there were gay also. I didn’t really hang around with them since they sold themselves for money. I was afraid I was gonna have to do that when my money ran out. I was lucky though. The same officer that had taken me to the shelter came by and mentioned that the police department had an equestrian unit, and they needed a stable boy. The wages were being paid from a program for ‘youth at risk’, and if I was interested, he had an application for me. I filled it out and got the job. I learned about horses there and was able to go to several ranches that had weeks for city kids and youth at risk. I didn’t really like San Francisco, so I was looking around for a place to go. I worked as a stable boy, and then as a cowboy in Northern California for a while. One of the ranches we went to was in Washington State, near here. I thought this place was really beautiful, so I came up here looking for a job cowboying. I worked at a couple of different places and then met Jeff’s dad. He hired me and was really great to me. He sort of took me under his wing. When he passed away, Jeff came back, and we got to be friends. We started datin’, and now we’re together.”
    I remembered Mike having told me this before and being pleasantly surprised that he hadn’t had to sell himself just to have money to buy food. 
    “Mike, I am so sorry. I