Free Signs of Life by Melanie Hansen

call the fucking police, Kai. I am the police!”
    “You’re not the police here, dumbshit, you’re the victim of a crime. You need to report this.” Kai had watched Loren pace, both hands clutching his hair in agitation.
    “But I can’t risk it, Kai. I can’t risk my department finding out that I was up here. How would I explain that?”
    “You don’t have to explain shit to anyone, Loren! You took a trip up to Portland and you got robbed. End of story.”
    “I can’t risk it,” Loren repeated. “You know I’d have to disclose who I was with, list my movements during the night. If anyone on my squad found out I was at a gay club—”
    Loren didn’t finish his thought, his distress written all over his face. Kai grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit on the bed next to him.
    “You know your work situation better than I do, man,” Kai said, rubbing Loren’s back soothingly. “If you don’t feel comfortable reporting it, then don’t. Okay?”
    Loren nodded. “I can’t, Kai. It’s not just about me, it’s my dad and brothers—”
    “I know. I get it. I’m not judging you, Loren.”
    Totally subdued, they packed up their stuff and headed back home, not caring if it was the middle of the night. As Kai drove, Loren borrowed his phone to make as many calls as he could, reporting his credit and debit cards stolen. He finally hung up and sighed heavily, then reached over and laced his fingers with Kai’s, resting their joined hands lightly on Kai’s knee.
    “I think we’re done with this shit, don’t you?”
    Kai rubbed his thumb over the back of Loren’s hand, thinking of what had happened, and that led to thoughts of Jeremy and their sordid encounter.
    “Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “We are. It’s starting to feel a little pathetic, to be honest.”
    Loren squeezed Kai’s fingers lightly. “I just don’t want to be lonely, you know?”
    Kai knew he wasn’t talking about just sex, but about being able to be himself, not having to hide who he was, if only for a little while.
    He squeezed Loren’s hand back wordlessly.
    Trish scraping her chair back from the table jolted Kai out of his reverie.
    “Once more unto the breach, dear friend,” she misquoted with a wry smile, gathering up her bag and getting ready to head back to class.
    “Be safe, okay?” Kai saluted her with two fingers, then sat up straight. “Hey, Trish, wait a sec.”
    She turned and looked at him expectantly, her arms loaded down.
    “Have you ever had any self-defense classes?” Kai asked. “Just in case of—you know.” He waved his hand vaguely, but he’d heard more than one story of teachers, especially female teachers, being assaulted by their students. Trish knew exactly what he was talking about.
    “A couple of classes a long time ago, you know, jab your thumb in his eye or elbow his gut, that type of thing.”
    “I can teach you a couple of moves,” Kai said earnestly, standing up. “A couple of simple moves to incapacitate someone so you can get the hell away and find help.”
    Trish looked dubious. “You mean that ninja shit that you do? I don’t think I could do that. Obviously I’m not that athletic.” Her mouth twisted self-deprecatingly and she waved her hand down her body, indicating the few extra pounds she carried.
    “It would be something anyone could do, moves that are simple but effective. Think about it, Trish. A button on a desk doesn’t do you much good if you’re cornered across the room by someone twice your size.”
    Trish nodded. “I’ll think about it. It’s probably not a bad idea. Thanks, Kai.” She turned and left, and Kai gathered his own things, heading off to class.
    Fifteen minutes later he stood at the front of his afternoon science class, calling off the names on his roster, sighing as he tallied a total of sixteen out of twenty-four present. Most of the faces looking back at him were sullen, disinterested, some outright hostile. At least three of them were over