Page 8 of AJ’s Fire

“I get that, Jax, but I wasn’t asking why you hadn’t told everyone, I was asking why you hadn’t told me. You have to know I don’t give a shit about that.” He looked at me intently, and I waited him out.

“I went to private school my whole life, with boarding school for high school. A very exclusive boarding school. So for the most part, I was with other people from backgrounds like mine. But when I got to college, it was different. People came from all walks of life, and either they didn’t want to hang out with me or only wanted to hang out with me because I was Riley Jackson Dorso the Second. Here, now, I’m just one of the guys, Aje, and that’s all I want to be. You … you make me feel like one of the guys, and I didn’t, I don’t want that to change. I don’t want anything to change between us. But I do trust you. That’s why I told you last night. You and I don’t really have secrets, do we?”

“Nah, we don’t. Not anymore, anyway. And bro code, man, you can trust me; I hope you know that. I won’t tell anyone.” I could see the tension leave Jackson’s body as he smiled so brightly it felt like he could light up the whole sad little classroom. My stomach may have swooped, sharing that smile with him back then. I ignored it.

“You’ll buy me a car, though, right?” That earned me a punch to the arm. He’d hit the spot so often I was surprised I didn’t have a permanent mark.

“Shut the fuck up, AJ. You hate driving. It’s the main reason you're a NYC firefighter and not a Hampstead Valley firefighter.” It was nice to be laughing with my best friend after he’d shared his secret with me.

“Maybe not the only reason.” I thought about my academic father and stepmother and how hard it was for me to be the only one of my dad’s adult children to not have gone to college. I imagined that Jackson must have had similar feelings about leaving his parent’s corporate world to fight fires. I thought for a minute on what I knew about the Dorsos and brought us back to the topic at hand. “You’ve managed to keep out of the public eye?” I questioned.

“Yeah.” He snorted. “Unlike my parents, I have kept a low profile. My parents worked hard for that when I was younger, but after I got my MBA, I think they were ready to shove me into the spotlight. That’s when I decided to change careers. Huh. Do you think that contributed to my decision?”

“I’m not the shrink, bro, you’ll have to ask my brother about that. Which you can do if you come to my niece’s birthday party next weekend. We can go to that bar near his house to watch the game after we make an appearance.”

“Is it Vera’s birthday already?”

I nodded. “Gonna be four.”

We were quiet then, sitting across from each other in uncomfortable, too-small chairs. I felt like there were no more secrets between us. That may have been the day I realized he was my best friend. I wasn’t sure why that made my heart pound and the muscles in my stomach tighten. Maybe it was worry about my friend or the realization that we had more in common than I would have ever thought.

“I …” I may have also realized that up until that point, our relationship mostly consisted of witty banter and talking about our shared experiences. I knew I wanted to share deeper thoughts with him, but I wasn’t sure how. “It was really hard for me to tell my parents that I didn’t want to go to college, that I wanted to do this instead.”

“It was so difficult for me that I got a master’s degree before I plucked up the nerve,” Jackson said. “Funny, I never thought about it, but this is something you and I have in common. I’m so glad I don’t have to hide this from you anymore. I should have told you before now, AJ. I’m sorry about that.”

“Wait? I thought you told me when we met that you weren’t related to Dorso Electronics. So, you just lie about it?”

“I never lie. I also never reply when people ask. I just change the subject.” His voice lowered for a moment, becoming almost reverent. “I remember that day, the day we met, and I remember shrugging and changing the conversation when you mentioned DE.”

“Jesus, Jax. Dorso Electronics. I promise I’ll get over it, but you gotta give me today, okay? To freak out a bit. This explains your condo.”

“I never lied to you about that either! I told you my parents helped me get it!”

“Yeah, you did. So they must be somewhat supportive.”

Jackson thought long and hard again. “If it wasn’t for the whole ‘only child inheritance’ thing, maybe they wouldn’t mind. But in reality, I think they think this is just some kind of phase, and if they let me get it out of my system, I’ll eventually come back into the fold. They keep trying to pull me back in.”

“How so?”

He sighed. “Do you know who Emily Wyecrest is?”

“The child actor? Vera loves her show.”

“Yeah, that’s her. But that show was filmed years ago. She’s actually my age, and her family owns Wyecrest Entertainment. We’ve never dated, but we’ve been friends forever, and we both sort of didn’t care if people thought we were together. Both of our sets of parents are very concerned about some gold digger swooping in and stealing from us. Stealing from our families. I’m pretty sure my parents taught me about prenups way before they sat me down for the talk.

“Right or wrong, it was like my parents didn’t trust me to make my own friends or my own decisions. Like I said, when I was in New Haven, I saw it for myself, people who only want to be friends because of your last name. After that, I understood better how it might be possible for someone to take advantage of the lonely heir to a vast fortune. Ems and I never dated, but it was easy enough to let people think we were. It offered a layer of protection.”

I was overwhelmed, thinking about vast fortunes and TV stars. I remember that we sat quietly for a moment and I remember the feeling of fire burning through me when he said what he said next.

“I don’t worry about you taking advantage of me, and that's really important to me, Aje.” The way my body burned terrified me, so I turned his admission into a joke.

“I can assure you I won’t ever take advantage of you by asking you to take me to another one of those loud, trendy clubs.”

He stared at me like he was looking for the truth of that statement in my eyes, but then he laughed it off.

“Sometimes I forget you're almost ten years older than me! That was the most old-man thing you’ve ever said.”

“Shut the fuck up, Jax. And thank you for saying that you trust me. It … it means a lot to me.” We sat uncomfortably, and it felt like we had more to say. My whole body was tense when it should have been relaxed, Jackson having done all the hard work with his confession. I continued to ignore the strange feeling and got us back on track. “Hey, man, when can I borrow your private jet?”