The Nothingness of Ben by Brad Boney Page A

Colin had given him a choice. Then he saw Jason eying the two visitors with awe, as if they were some kind of exotic creatures at the zoo. Ben kept on stealing glances at David. He thought about crawling into bed with him, naked, feeling his skin next to his own. He considered how to maneuver him to the bedroom. His parents’ room? Still creepy, but he’d get over it. He decided to hold off, though. His brothers didn’t need to confront his sex life just yet.
    As the afternoon wore on and they hung out and talked, the brothers warmed considerably to both of his friends. Colin possessed a natural charisma that almost everyone found infectious. He had also met Ben’s brothers when they visited him the one time in New York. Jason started asking questions about the city, and Colin looked at Ben with a knowing smile. As he answered the questions, Colin went to his bag to pull out brochures of three New York prep schools. He’s campaigning already , Ben thought.
    “This one is my alma mater, so of course I’m partial. But the other two are top-shelf. What are your grades like?”
    “He got a B once,” Quentin answered for Jason. “A few years ago.”
    “Private school?”
    Jason looked at Ben.
    “No,” Ben answered for him. “They go to public school. It was a thing with my dad.”
    “I admire that. But if you’re moving to New York City, public schools are not an option for him.” He turned to Jason. “You are clearly a young genius like your brother.”
    “Public school is just fine with me,” insisted Quentin.
    Colin grinned knowingly. Ben laughed when he saw that. Mostly because he knew that Colin always had a plan and was probably two steps ahead of Quentin. He reached into his bag.
    “Which is why I brought you these,” he said, passing two brochures to Quentin and stunning him into silence. “The first is for LaGuardia Arts, the public school for visual arts.” Quentin looked up at him, puzzled. That’s when Colin took a book from his bag and pulled out a paper napkin from between the pages. He handed it to Quentin. “Look familiar?”
    “Where did you get this?” An elaborate pen drawing of a New York City street scene, viewed from inside a restaurant, covered the napkin. Cade and Jason both looked over his shoulder.
    “Hey,” said Cade, “that’s one of yours!”
    “That’s right,” Colin confirmed. “I picked it up off the table when I had dinner with your family. During your visit to New York. You have a great eye.”
    Quentin scoffed at the suggestion. “You kept this?”
    “Of course. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Am I right, David?”
    “It is pretty cool,” David agreed.
    “Let me see.” Ben held out his hand and Quentin passed him the drawing. Quentin had been scribbling on napkins in restaurants since he was three, and they had all stopped paying attention years ago. Clearly that was a mistake, since Ben could see Quentin’s talents had developed considerably. “This is awesome, little brother. The detail is amazing.”
    “In case you haven’t noticed, Walsh, your brother is an artist.”
    “I’m not an artist,” Quentin protested.
    “My friend Stephanie, who owns a gallery down in Soho, begs to differ. I showed it to her. She said if you did napkin drawings of scenes all over New York City, she could make a show out of them.”
    “No way,” said Quentin.
    “This is Colin, Q. He makes things happen.”
    “The other brochure,” Colin continued, “is for a private visual arts school.” Then he reached into his bag and casually added, “That’s if you can’t get into LaGuardia.”
    “Please,” Quentin scowled. “I could totally get into that place.”
    Nothing like throwing down a challenge to a Walsh , Ben thought. Well played, Colin . Colin pulled out one more brochure and handed it to Cade.
    “This is Bolton Academy. It’s an all-boys school that emphasizes athletics as well as academics.”
    “You mean like Dead Poets Society