Free A Death On The Wolf by G. M. Frazier Page A

from the time Mary Alice and I went out on the porch until the fight was over. “That’s pretty much the story Mark told,” Daddy said. “Except for the queer part. What’s that all about?”
    “ I don’t know, Daddy. Frankie’s been acting jealous about Mark and me ever since that day at the river when Mark lost his trunks and I gave him a ride home. You remember me telling you about that?”
    “ I remember.”
    “ And you saw how he acted Sunday just because I asked Mark if he wanted to go with us to the Colonel Dixie. It’s like Frankie wants me all to himself. I think what really flipped him out yesterday was me sitting there with Mary Alice and holding her hand. I don’t know why he thinks I’m queer for Mark since he said himself that I’ve got a girlfriend now.”
    We sat there in silence as Daddy finished off his coffee. He got up to take the empty mug over to the sink. When he came back and sat down at the table, he said, “Did you ever think what’s really bothering Frankie is how he feels about you, not how he thinks you feel about his brother?”
    It took several seconds for me to grasp the meaning of my father’s question. “You mean you think Frankie likes me…I mean likes me like that?”
    “ I don’t know, son. I’m just saying it’s possible if he’s been acting jealous, especially given what he said about you and Mark.”
    “ Oh, man,” I said, and looked down. I didn’t want to admit it, but what Daddy had just said could be right. Was that it? Was Frankie mad at me because he thought I was queer for his little brother? Or was he mad because he knew I wasn’t queer for him?
    “ Nelson, look at me,” Daddy said. I looked up. “You and Frankie have been friends since you were both knee high to a grasshopper. Whatever’s going on with him right now, he’s clearly struggling with it. You need to remember he’s still your friend as you work this out with him.”
    “ I’m not queer, Daddy. I don’t want to work it out with him.”
    “ That’s not what I meant, son. All I’m saying is don’t be too quick to throw away this friendship until you’ve at least tried to understand what’s going on with Frankie.”
    “ And what if he is queer?” I said.
    “ Then you’ll have to deal with it. But if it’s true, son…don’t you think it’s bothering him, too? You all have never had a fist fight over anything that I know of. Why else would he be acting the way he is?”
    “ Because he’s crazy,” I said, dismissively.
    Daddy chuckled. “I know you don’t believe that. Anyway, I think you should go by there today on your way to work and apologize to him.”
    “ Apologize?!” I was incredulous. “Why should I apologize to him? He started it.”
    “ You broke his nose, Nelson. He spent most of the day yesterday at the doctor’s office.”
    “ Well, I didn’t mean to. He shouldn’t have started it.”
    “ Are you glad you broke his nose?” Daddy asked.
    His question hit me square in the gut. Of course I wasn’t glad I’d hurt Frankie, and if I’d been honest with myself, the fact that I did was part of the reason I’d had a sleepless night. Now that I knew just how badly I had hurt him, I really felt terrible. I finally looked up at my father and said, “No, sir. I hate losing my temper like that.”
    “ Think about how he must be feeling, Nelson. I’ll bet you he’s just as upset and confused about this fight as you are, just for different reasons. Do you want him wondering if his best friend hates him?”
    I didn’t say anything. I just glanced at Daddy and then looked back down at the red Formica of the table top. As usual, my father knew just what to say to put things in their proper perspective. I was going to have to go tell Frankie I was sorry, and not just because Daddy wanted me to, but because I really was sorry. I still couldn’t get my mind around the possibility that my best friend was a homosexual, but Daddy was correct there, too. If he