Henry's End by Julie Richman Page A

good long time in a hell hole in the Middle East and that’s a promise. And if he does get back stateside, he will not be stepping foot in California, I can guarantee you that.”
    Edwin looked up at Schooner, “Is that what you’ve been doing on that cute little cellular phone of yours?” Edwin loved the new little StarTac phone Henry’s friend seemed to have attached to his ear.
    Smiling, “My mom and dad send you their love, H.”
    Inwardly smiling, it was immediately clear to Edwin that Schooner Moore’s parents had some very influential connections and that he had called upon them to gain some justice for his friend.
    Watching Henry close his eyes and drift back to sleep, both men hoped that they had given him some solace in knowing he wouldn’t fall prey to another attack.
    “I need to go make a call,” Schooner began to move away.
    “You needed corroboration?”
    He nodded, “Obviously we needed to confirm, but it’s exactly as we thought it was.
    “Will he really be shipped off?”
    There was a look of satisfaction on the handsome blonde’s face and he nodded. “Yeah, he’s a huge liability to them.”
    Smiling, Edwin pointed a finger at Schooner, “I knew I liked you.”
    Laughing, “Well, I think you are going to like me even more. There’s a little part two to this that I think you’re going to like and I’m going to need your help to pull off. Are you in?” Schooner gave Edwin an irresistible, conspiratorial smile.
    Dipping his head and looking up at Schooner through his lashes, “I’m all in.”
    Edwin wondered if anyone could ever say no to this beautiful White Knight.

    Schooner walked into Henry’s apartment with a small soft cooler bag and put it down on the coffee table. “Hey, look at you,” he smiled at his friend sitting on the couch. “You really look amazing.”
    Home for several days, Henry’s bruising from both the attack and the subsequent surgeries had improved significantly, as had his swelling. Handsome prior to the beating, a team of Southern California’s very talented surgeons reconstructed the bones in Henry’s cheeks, nose, jaw and eye orbits, resulting in Henry not only looking like his former self, but with a finer, more refined elegance to his bone structure. A one and a half inch scar below his eye on his left cheekbone would add a slightly rugged dimension to his impressive looks.
    “I feel a lot better,” he said through clenched teeth.
    Unzipping the cooler bag, Schooner began to unpack Tupperware containers filled with colored purees. “CJ has been making this homemade, organic baby food for Zac, so she’s made a whole set for you, too. They’re labeled, so that you know what they are. And there’s some adult flavored food in there in addition to the peas and carrots mush.” Schooner smiled.
    “CJ made that for me?” His face was still too swollen to register shock.
    Nodding, “Yeah, she did. She was really upset by what happened to you. She’s genuinely worried.”
    Using the word genuine in connection with anything concerning CJ Moore felt like an oxymoron to Henry. He and his friend’s wife had never been fans of one another and he doubted they ever would be.
    Henry had first been introduced to Schooner in January of their freshman year in college. His close friend and dorm mate, Mia Silver, had gotten to know the big blonde tennis player during freshman orientation at the beginning of the school year. The month of January at their school was known as Interim. During that period, many students were off-campus, traveling abroad, and taking classes overseas for the month, while other students remained on campus where they would engage in one very intense workshop class four days a week.
    Schooner, Henry, Mia and their friend, Rosie, remained on campus that January, and together became a project-partner team in a workshop on music in American popular culture. The four became inseparable, working, studying, eating and hanging out together