1 Runaway Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

tried t-to hang himself in the basement. I’m the one who cut him down. The ambulance guy told me, like, one more minute and he’d have been a goner.” Sara took a ragged breath that was almost but not quite a sob. “I’ve left him ten messages on his cell. He hasn’t called me back or answered my e-mails. He didn’t tell me where he was going. Or what’s bothering him. Although it has to be about Charles. Having to sneak around and be invisible. It’s hard on Brucie. And so hard on Charles. That poor guy is under constant pressure to make every shot, ace every test, smile for every camera, be nice to everyone all day long. He’s on stage twenty-four/seven and he’s been hiding his sexual identity this whole time. Bruce wishes he’d come out. So do I. Charles would be such a trailblazer—the sports world’s first openly gay male superstar. But he’s afraid to. And the whole situation’s really getting to him. He had to be hospitalized overnight a couple of weeks ago.”
    “I read about it. They said he had food poisoning.”
    “Benji, it wasn’t anything Charles ate. His blood pressure spiked so high during practice that he passed out. He’s carrying around too much stress. It’s not healthy.”
    “Do his teammates know about Bruce?”
    “No way. No one connected with the team knows. Just a few people who they really trust. Charles trusts his mom, Velma, who’s a nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital. She raised Charles all by herself and is his best friend. She knows. So does Brucie’s roommate, Chris. He’s good people.”
    “Who else?”
    “Me. I know the real deal. And now so do you.”
    “Why me, Sara?”
    “I’m not stupid, Benji. If that law firm hired you to find him then that means somebody else must know. Which totally bites. But when I saw you at the bottom of the stairs just now, I was positive you were sent here to help him. I have good instincts that way. I’m very empathetic.”
    “Do you have any idea where Bruce might be?”
    “No, but Chris might. Although he’ll never tell you. Not if Brucie swore him to secrecy. I’m worried about my brother, Benji. He’s all alone somewhere and I’m afraid he might go into another downward spiral a-and…” She was fighting back tears. “He just sounded so down. He’s been that way ever since Christmas vacation.”
    “You mean because of Charles?”
    “Well, yeah. And no.”
    “Is something else bothering him?”
    “Maybe. There was this lady…”
    “What lady, Sara?”
    “Just some really strange lady. She came up to him at the mall when we were shopping for presents together. Asked if she could talk to him for a minute. The two of them walked away from me and started talking. Or she talked. Brucie hardly said a word. She was real freaky-deaky. Wild-eyed, waving her arms around in the air. Plus she was a total mess, you know? Like a homeless person. Had this stringy blond hair that I swear she hadn’t washed in weeks. And her clothes were all ratty. Brucie couldn’t get away from her fast enough. After she left I said, ‘What was that about?’”
    “And what did he say?”
    “Not a word. He got real quiet.”
    “Do you think he knew her?”
    “He definitely knew her.”
    “How old was this woman?”
    “Thirty. Maybe thirty-five. Whoever she was, she upset him. And he wouldn’t tell me why.”
    “Does he usually shut you out that way?”
    “We’re incredibly close. But, yeah, he can be pretty private sometimes.” Her half-smoked joint had gone cold. She stuffed it back in her pocket. “Benji, I’ll take the train into the city tomorrow morning instead of going to school. I’m going to help you find him.”
    “I don’t think so, Sara.”
    “But I have to help him.”
    “You already have.”
    “I want to do more. Please? I’ll do anything.”
    “Will you back my play with Chris? I may have to come at him a little sideways.”
    “Okay, I don’t know what that means.”
    “It means don’t narc me out. Go