Race With a Heart
Chapter 127: A Night Without Stars

Chapter 127: A Night Without Stars

When Martin left the hospital it was completely dark. The night was lit up by artificial lighting of street lamps and shop windows. Martin looked up at the sky but could see no stars. There was too much artificial light between him and the sky, obscuring visibility.

Martin sighed. At this point, it would be nice to see something beautiful, something bright, just like a star in the sky, a star that he and Steve talked about.

The young mechanic had a heavy heart, though he tried to hide it from Paxton. But he knew that he had failed in this. Steve was smart and immediately realized that Martin was in a bad mood. And it was Martin that was supposed to cheer Steve, not the other way around!

The boy was still in shock after the assault he had witnessed against Steve. It is not so easy to forget a scene where a loved one lies in a pool of his blood showing no sign of life. Such a sight is simply shocking. Fortunately, everything was fine with Steve, but if the blade had struck more precisely, Martin would not have been visiting the hospital today, but was preparing for the funeral.

He shuddered. Human life is so fragile and happiness is so fleeting!

Steve tried to be indifferent to what had happened, but he too must have been terribly shocked. First the track accident, then the knife piercing his body. Now there was the exclusion from races that Steve loved so much ...

It was too much! It was way too much! Can a human heart take so much?

Yet Steve held on bravely. In spite of all these terrible adversities, instead of giving in to despair, Steve was able to smile and even laugh. He was such a wonderfully strong man!

That’s why Martin’s heart was so heavy.

The boy slowly headed for the bus stop opposite the hospital. He thought he would be alone here at this time, but he noticed that someone was sitting on a bench with his head down. His clothes indicated that he was a young person, and he was not a homeless person, but he was holding an open can of beer in his hand. As Martin walked over to check the timetable, the stranger looked up.

"Martin?" asked the man sitting on the bench. The boy looked at him instinctively, as is usually done when he hears someone say his name, and he was surprised to recognize his colleague.

"Don? What are you doing here?"

"I went to visit Steve but didn’t dare to come in."

"But why are you sitting at the bus stop?"

"I don’t know," said Don Alston and looked at the can he was holding.

Alston looked more depressed than Martin, which was strange. Don was not one of those easily melancholy. But something was clearly bothering him.

Probably Martin should ignore his colleague, pretend that he does not see the problem. There would be nothing unusual about it, after all, they weren’t close enough to engage in social chatting. The truth was, Martin did not like Don and remembered Don trying to blackmail him and coerce him into having sex together, but he also remembered that Alston had called an ambulance and saved Steve’s life. If he had any worries now, Martin owed him at least enough to try to help him somehow. It was required by sheer gratitude and interpersonal solidarity.

"Steve is fine," Martin announced, sitting down next to Don, but leaving a safe distance between them for the big man to sit down. "I just got back from him. He will recover soon. "

"Good." Alston breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Martin. "I was really worried about him and ... felt guilty."

" Guilty? Why?"

"I was in that bar then," Don confessed, lowering his eyes again. "When I saw you and Steve together, I decided to leave. Before I left, I overheard some boys planning revenge on someone. If I thought they were talking about Stevie ... "

Martin looked at him wide-eyed. Was Don at the bar then? Didn’t he come just before the event? Martin didn’t see him in the bar and met him in the parking lot, so he assumed, quite logically, that Alston had just arrived. But it could be that he was getting ready to leave, only saw Martin and wanted to talk to him. Maybe he was waiting for him on purpose? True, he said he wanted to apologize to him. He pretended not to see him before because he didn’t want to embarrass him that he had been seen with his lover. Don was actually okay, since he had so tactfully left the bar not only by not making a scene but also not staying to peek at them.

And those boys he heard ...

"How would you have guessed they were talking about Stevie?" Martin asked. "They didn’t give his name, did they?"

"They didn’t. I couldn’t even hear them clearly. But maybe if I thought then, or listened more clearly ... "

"Don, come on! How many times have I started to associate facts only after the event. Then I think ’ah, it was so obvious!’ I don’t think you should blame yourself. How could you have guessed? " Martin repeated. "It was impossible."

"And yet I feel bad about it," Alston confessed.

Martin felt a sudden rush of sympathy. It was late in the evening, and in the meantime, out of guilt, Don was sitting alone at the bus stop with a can of beer in his hand. He looked so pathetic at that moment that it was hard not to feel pity.

"But if you hadn’t called an ambulance so soon," Martin announced in a strong voice, "Steve would have bled to death. You saved his life. I am very grateful to you for that. "

"Really?" Alston rejoiced. He looked as if Martin’s words had poured life into him. "Will you give me a few minutes then? I would like to apologize finally. I know it’s late but ... "

It was late and Martin was tired and in a bad mood, but Alston had saved Steve’s life and was now asking to apologize to Martin. The mechanic was no longer so angry with him for the incident, and Don looked really devastated, so it would be cruel to deny him the opportunity to apologize.

"Actually, I was planning to drop in for a little snack somewhere. Three stops from here is a small kebab bar that is open late. Do you want to join me? "

"Sure!" Don was suddenly pleased.

Martin smiled too. Alston was mean to him, but that was a long time ago, and if he was repenting now, he should be given a chance and forgiven. After all, Martin cannot hold a grudge against him until the end of the world.

"Great! Our bus is just coming! "

Marin sat in a single seat on the bus, Don, holding on to the railing, was standing next to him. There were a lot of vacancies on the bus, but Alston easily explained that he had been sitting at the bus stop too long and had to stretch his legs. Martin understood him, but after working all day standing up, he eagerly took advantage of the opportunity offered by empty seats. They both looked pleased with the solution.

The Don was certainly pleased. Martin turned out to be as gullible as was to be expected. He was absolutely, totally naive. A few words of guilt in a pitiful tone were enough, and he was ready to forget everything.

What a naive he is!

But that’s what made him especially sweet about him.

And attractive.

Alston remembered well his last conversation with Nelson and his promise not to do anything stupid. He could have fun with Martin, he could fuck him up so that the mechanic would not sit down for a week, he could humiliate him, but he could not do it by force or blackmail. He could do anything with him as long as he had Martin’s approval, so all Don had to do was get that approval.

Don was not one of the most patient people, but some things were valuable enough to take some time to obtain. Martin was one of them.

The first step will be to gain his trust.

Alston knew that he had done wrong then in the stable. It’s not that he felt guilty about committing something wrong. Don was simply aware that his rash, violent behavior had aroused resistance, fear and aversion in Martin, and thus found himself in the red. So he did not start from scratch now, but from a much less advantageous position. So he had to be at zero, and for that an apology was needed.

The situation with Steve brought Nelson’s anger on Don, but it also opened up to him about winning Martin’s trust. Alston called an ambulance and saved Paxton’s life only because, had he not, investigating the murder of a famous driver would have been a real pain for him as a witness. Martin, however, felt that Don had saved Steve’s life and was sincerely grateful to him. He was so honest that although he had a grudge against his friend for his earlier behavior, he was now ready to listen to him. Maybe Martin didn’t trust him completely yet, but at least he was starting.

After Don’s sincere, regretful apology, Martin was sure to be moved. How easy it was to play these naive, good-hearted idiots! Martin will be touched and forgive and although he will not go to bed with him (Alston was no longer so naive as to try at the first meeting) but will start talking to him and who knows if they will not become good buddies.

Besides, Don had a few more compassionate cards ready. If he plays them properly, Martin will have no heart to reject him. They will get closer and closer and eventually Martin will succumb to Alston’s spell, as all the girls he has met so far succumbed to him. Everyone he wanted succumbed to him.

Martin will also succumb to him. After all, this boy was made for submission.