“Call me,” Todd said. “The more traditional way.”
And he jumped into his car, squealing away while Micah turned to address his fans, some who looked a little shocked by the very gay display of public affection before them.
Except a little girl who stepped forward, brandishing a notebook and a giant pen with a pink furry star topping it. “Can I please have your autograph?” she asked, very formally.
“Sure.” Micah knelt on the ground to get down to her level. “I like your pen.”
“Yeah, me too,” she said, and smiled.
It was contagious.
From The Reach Out, 5 July 2016
Out and About With Jasper Brunswick
An Apology
I’M NOT one to refuse to admit I’m wrong. At least, not in the last year or so. It might take me a little longer to admit it than most people, but I will do so.
And I have an apology to make.
First, to Will Deanes and Micah Johnson. It was insensitive of me to compare you in a time where tact and empathy was needed above anything else. Although I still stand by the parallels I was trying to make between your careers, I didn’t do it in the best possible way. I was rushing to meet a deadline, and didn’t check the tone of the piece and the hurt it may have caused, especially when you, Will, needed your mind focused on more important things. Not that I’d even suggest my little column would dare have such an impact upon you, but it wouldn’t have helped.
And finally, to Declan Tyler. I took advantage of our mutual friendship to ask you about Will and then printed something you meant in the context of a normal conversation between friends—or, partners of friends. Please know I will not do that again.
And if I do, I hope you’re as forgiving as you normally are.
One last thing: Micah, if you’re inclined to give an interview, is there any truth to the rumour you were seen in a very public display of affection with a young man on a Perth beach?
Watch this space.
Epilogue
THE DOCKERS hadn’t had a spectacular game, but the boys managed to scrape by and give Alex a victory at his first Perth game. Before he disappeared off the field, Micah managed to see Carter and his mother in the second row near the home goal, and leaned into the crowd to high-five him. Running back down the race to the change room the guys sang the Dockers team song with great gusto.
After they broke rank Micah sought out Alex, who was still wide-eyed from being allowed into the inner sanctum along with other team family members.
“You okay?” he asked.
Alex nodded, starstruck.
“I’m just going to have a quick shower, okay? Then I thought we could go for a drive.”
Alex regained the power of speech. “Don’t you want to go out drinking with the guys? You have to celebrate.”
“Nah. There’s plenty of games left for us to win. I want to spend some quality time with my little bro.”
Alex looked quite chuffed at being chosen over the team; Micah was pretty sure if Alex had been asked out by them, he would have dumped quality bro time in a hot second.
“But Todd will be coming, yeah?”
“No! I told you, this is just the Johnson Boys, painting Perth red.”
“I don’t like red.”
“Neither do I. Choose a colour while I’m gone.”
Scrubbing himself in the shower, Micah mused at just how quickly everything had changed. Alex was staying at the Mitchells until their parents arrived in a few days, giving the boys some much needed catch up time before they officially became a family again—even if Micah was still going to be living away from home. But Micah did see a lot of extended sleepovers in his future.
Although there were some slight hiccups now and then, Dane hadn’t reverted to his old ways. The atmosphere in the Mitchell house was much easier now, and Dane had even gone out of his way to be nice to Alex—which made Micah feel much warmer to him than he used to, now he was seeing an entirely different side of him.
And although other parts of his future were still unsettled, Micah’s negative status on his three-month HIV test paved the way for bluer skies. Sure, there was still the six-month test before everything was one hundred percent, but he felt much better about it all now than he had.
Will was also showing improvement. He was still at the stage where a twitch of the toe was cause of celebration—but, hey, it was a twitch of the toe and the doctors heralded it as the sign it was.
Alex was talking animatedly to the coach when Micah emerged in fresh clothes, and he quickly steered him away before anything embarrassing could occur.
“So where are we going?” Alex squinted as they stepped out into the sunlight, heading for Micah’s car.
“I’m going to show you what I love about this city.”
“A year ago you’d have said it’d be a short trip.”
“Yeah, well I would have said a lot of things a year ago.”
Even though they had already been along the West Coast Highway since Alex had arrived in Perth, his eyes still lit up as they hit the long stretch of sand and surf.
“It’s so white,” Alex breathed, long used to the grey grittiness of Melbourne beaches.
“And bright,” Micah said, putting on his sunglasses.
Alex mirrored his action, his sunnies too large for his small head. He looked like one of those grey aliens from The X-Files.
Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Micah rummaged through the glove box and threw something into Alex’s lap. “A little present for you to say welcome to WA.”
“You didn’t wrap it?” Alex asked.
“What am I? One of Santa’s elves?”