Adam Crain's Arc

Chapter 4 of 8

Adam clipped the heavy wrench to his belt before he left his bunk. The tool was the size of his forearm, orange grip, jaw worn smooth from use. He had asked the farm office two days ago to log him as the hand on the corroded shutoff behind the shed. The valve had been weeping for a month. Nobody else wanted to crawl under the pipes to fix it. Now the work was his on paper. If anyone pulled footage of him crossing the back field with that wrench, the trip explained itself. He took the long way past the hydroponic rows. Light came down through the glass roof onto the fruit trees and the racks of greens. He stopped at a tray of lettuce and pretended to check the drip line, the way a man with a task would. Then he walked to the metal outbuilding behind the trees and pushed the side door open. Willem had left it unlatched, the way he said he would. Willem was already inside, kneeling by the base of the pipe, sleeves rolled. He stood when Adam came in. Adam unclipped the wrench and held it up between them like proof. "I have a reason now," he said. "The valve is mine. I can come every day until it holds." Willem took the wrench, set it on the bench, and pulled Adam in by the front of his shirt. The kiss was not careful. Willem backed him against the bench. Adam felt the edge of the wood at his hip and Willem's hand at the back of his neck. He kissed Willem again, harder, and Willem made a small sound against his mouth. Adam's hands went under the gray shirt, up Willem's back. Willem pulled him closer by the belt. The heat came up fast. Adam started to laugh into the kiss because he had not believed they would get this far, and Willem caught the laugh and bit it off his lip. The side door scraped open. Adam shoved off the bench and Willem stepped back, but not fast enough. Chief Hanover stood in the doorway. She looked at Willem's hand still on Adam's belt. She looked at the wrench on the bench. She did not move. "Crain," she said. "The farm log shows you signed on for the shutoff. Good. I'll expect a repair report on my desk by end of week." She let the silence sit. "Jones. You're not on that work order. You shouldn't be in this shed." She looked at Adam again. "I'll be by tomorrow to check your progress. Both of you, separately, from now on. If I find you together in here again, the footage from the library goes to the council the same hour." She stepped back and pulled the door shut. The cover had held. The leash had shortened.