Hadrian's Lover by Patricia-Marie Budd Read Free Book Online

when he sees the food. “Thanks, Papa Dean. I’m starving.”
    “I knew you would be, a big boy like you. You shouldn’t go without food.” Shaking his head, he adds, “But your father was angry, and he was right to send you to your room.”
    Pulling Frank’s cell phone out of his pocket, he studies the ancient technology a moment. “Come over to the bed and sit down with me.” Shaking the phone slightly, he says, “I want to talk over a few things with you.” Frank complies and follows his papa to the bed. Dean pulls open the poster curtain and the two sit side-by-side on Frank’s king-sized mattress. “Whose idea was it to buy these things?”
    “Mine, but Crystal agreed. I mean, without a voc, it’s really hard to keep in touch with Todd. And vocs are just too expensive. We couldn’t buy him one of those.”
    “No,” Deans concurs. “That’s for certain.”
    Pleading now, Frank says, “We’re the three gay caballeros, Papa Dean; we need these to communicate.”
    Dean smiles briefly, “The three gay caballeros. I like that.” More sternly, now, he asks, “Do you understand why your father got so angry with you over this?”
    “Not really,” Frank admits. “He went a little crazy if you ask me.”
    “What you need to understand, Frank, is that Hadrian went a little crazy after 6-13.”
    “I know 6-13 was bad, but that was eight years ago.”
    “Yes, it was. Even so, fear of the outside world hasn’t abated. To have a dirty nuke explode in your borders, killing so many people, destroying so much of our fertile land—well, surely you understand there is a lot of distrust for anything outsider—especially technology.”
    “I’m sorry, Papa Dean. I just wanted a way to keep in touch with Todd is all.”
    “I understand. But we all have to make sacrifices for Hadrian’s lifestyle. You know that, right?”
    “Yeah—I don’t know—I guess.”
    “One of those sacrifices includes importation of many fruits and vegetables we used to enjoy and delicious items like coffee and chocolate and,” adding sternly, “outsider technology.”
    “But it’s not illegal yet.”
    “But it’s frowned upon and you know as well as I do that it’ll be illegal soon enough. Now,” handing the phone to Frank, he says, “show me how this thing works.”
    “Huh?” Frank is flabbergasted. After getting into so much trouble, he can’t believe his papa wants to use the phone.
    “I want to ask Todd why he didn’t come tonight.” Dean is matter-of-fact in his request. He understands that neither Mike Fulton nor his son, Todd Middleton, have vocs. There is no way of messaging them either since their wall screen broke down a few months ago.
    Frank is uneasy about phoning Todd. He has been avoiding him to placate Anthony, and he knows how much he hurt his friend when he texted him not to come over tonight. “But, Papa Dean, Todd’s sick.”
    “Really?” Papa Dean is not fooled. “Call him now!”
    “But Dad said—”
    “And, I’m telling you to phone him. Now!”
    Frank takes the phone out of Dean’s hand and begins pressing different keys, “Yes, sir.” When the number starts to ring, he hands the phone back to Papa Dean. Listening intently, he can just make out Todd’s voice as he answers, “Hey, Frank, what’s up?”
    “You don’t sound sick to me.”
    “Huh?” Todd is confused. This is not Frank’s voice.
    “It’s Papa Dean.”
    “Papa Dean.” There is a moment of reflection. “How did you—?”
    “Frank is not as circumspect as he thinks he is,” says Dean.
    Frank lowers his head as if he can feel Todd glaring at him through the phone.
    “Oh.” Todd remains silent, waiting for Dean to pass judgment.
    “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell on you.” Todd’s sigh of relief is audible even to Frank. “These little devices are not illegal—yet. But they are more conspicuous than the vocal contact lens so you boys have to be doubly careful.” When Dean stares intently at