Love in the Courtyard: Chapter Five

The next day, Damon arrived in the classroom before Erasmus was there. He was crying. 1

“What’s wrong?” asked Belen, putting his arm around him. “You can tell me.”2

“I think I should tell you,” Damon responded.3

“What do you mean?”4

“It’s Erasmus. He loves someone else.”5

“What’s that got to do with me? I mean, I’m sorry and everything but…”6

“…with Jerom. And, personally, I think it’s neutral.”7

This angered Belen, but rather than acting upon it he stayed still, in silent disbelief. Jerom? His beloved? Loving another? Of course, he had sex with other men, he knew that. But, one’s heart was not one’s penis- if this was love then Belen felt it should be only for him.8

Jerom and Erasmus entered the room together. They were watched, silently by the others. They sat down together and settled to work, Jerom halfway between Erasmus and Belen. 9

The lesson began. They were still debating the nature of whether humans had a soul. “Or, more importantly, whether Jerom has a soul” commented Belen. Jerom’s jokes were gradually overtaken by Belen’s spoken anger. Jerom wondered why, especially since Belen would not come to the cause of his anger, but skirted around the issue with comments about everything, all directed at Jerom and Erasmus. 10

“What’s wrong?” Jerom asked at lunchtime.11

“Oh, nothing that you don’t already know about,” came the response. 12

“Well then there’s nothing because I don’t know anything wrong”13

“Of course you don’t, everything’s fine for you.”14

“Listen, you’re a beauty, with a lovely nature. I don’t see what’s upsetting you.”15

Belen turned away from Jerom. He did not care what his lover said to him, because his lover, he felt, had another.16