Inescapable History, Inescapable Fates

Still think he likes me?

 Alex still was not talking to Henry but they texted constantly. Alex had taken to sending him photos of every ugly or obnoxiously British thing he had seen and captioning it, "you." He would get Henry started on long lectures about sailing or polo and reply with a sarcastic "cool." Alex would send Henry shirtless selfies from his bed, three feet away. Henry knew Alex thought these selfies were hilarious because he would chortle while taking them and glance at Henry excitedly. Henry saved them to a folder he never looked in. He never replied to those shirtless selfies, but Alex kept sending them.

The Nigerian delegation returned to Nigeria and Pez returned to Sandhurst but did not let Henry come over for 24 hours. He kept saying he was working on something. Finally, he let Henry come over. Henry plopped down on his bed and showed him his messages with Alex.

"He likes you," Pez concluded after approximately two seconds of scrolling.

"I don't know," Henry said, wringing his fingers.

"He is sending you platonic shirtless selfies?" Pez said, pulling up a photo of Alex in his boxers, "Henry, darling, be reasonable," Henry twiddled his thumbs and decided he actually did not want to talk about Alex's hot-cold treatment.

"What have you been working on?"

Pez jumped up triumphantly, "I think I figured out the Mexico connection," He announced, spinning the pinboard around.

"Why didn't you tell me that immediately!" Henry admonished, studying the pinboard, which was now full of photos of an explosion that happened in 2013 in Mexico.

"I am very invested in your will they or won't they rom-com"

There were clippings from mainstream and less-mainstream news outlets. A blurry photo showed someone in a suit, but Henry could not make out who. All the strings attached to two photos in the middle. The two people killed in the explosion. Henry immediately recognized them from a photo weeks before. Alex's parents.

"Pez..." Henry said, his voice shaking.

"Right! So there was an explosion in Mexico in 2013, a Mexican diplomat and his estranged wife were killed-"

"-Pez-" Henry tried to get Pez's attention but he was so excited at his own investigative work he talked over him.

"The wife, Ellen Claremont, apparently-"

"-Pez-"

"She was the child of a commander of the British Military and her husband was the-"

"Pez, that's Alex's mom!" Pez stopped short.

"Oh shit. How-"

"The photo I found in Alex's wallet." They both stared at the pinboard for a minute, fitting everything together. Or, more, willing these pieces that seemed to match into a picture in their minds. Pez pinned up strings attaching Alex to his parents.

"Oscar Diaz," Pez started, tapping the photo. "Alex's dad, his parents, Alex's grandparents, were involved in the Mano Blanca, which was the right-wing government - slash - death squad that Britain and the US supported in Guatemala. And the explosion happened right when lawyers were pulling together evidence and witnesses for human rights trials on the Guatemalan genocide."

Henry pulled at his hair. "So this all means... something. It must mean something."

"Mainstream media in Mexico refuses to refer to it as anything except a freak explosion, but the leftists are convinced it was an assassination," Pez said. "And look at this clip." He pulled up his phone and showed a Youtube video of the last seconds of the explosion. A man in a suit is visible just outside the house. Pez blows up the scene and Henry squints his eyes,

"Is that..."

"Meet young, strapping human rights lawyer, Rafael Luna." Pez switches tabs to a profile written on him in 2012. "After the explosion, he disappeared for a few years and then reappeared as a low-level employee in the legal wing of Mexico's military."

Henry scanned the profile, "He's gay?"

"Yeah," Pez answered, offhandedly.

"And Alex was staying overnight with him at a hotel..."

"Oh."

Henry flushed red at the thought, though he wasn't sure if he was angry or embarrassed that his mind even went there. Raphael Luna was kind of handsome. It made Henry angry. "I mean, that's ridiculous..."

"Well, we can figure that out right now." Pez said, striding out of the room, "Alex is a terrible liar, right?"

"Wait, Pez!" Henry shouted after him.

Pez knocked once and threw Alex's door open.

"Sup." Alex greeted them. He was lying on his bed, typing on his laptop, and sipping a Redbull.

"Hey Alex, are you fucking Raphael Luna?" Pez said, conversationally. Alex dropped his Redbull.

"No. What? Fuck-" Alex jumped out of his bed and started drying his laptop with his sheet, still sputtering. "I'm straight. Motherfucker. It's Rafael Luna! are you fucking kidding." Alex had calmed a bit. His laptop looked like it would survive. "I mean he's hot but I would- he would never."

Henry wondered how Alex went so quickly from "I'm straight" to "Rafael Luna is hot" while Alex continued his admonishment, "Why do you - shit." Alex said, probably realizing this had larger implications for his *mission* "Why would you think I was fucking Luna?"

Henry had no good answer but Pez was already lying, "One of my family friends wanted to know why a Sandhurst student was staying overnight with a Mexican government official in a hotel room." Henry thought Pez should really be the spy.

Alex set down his laptop and turned on Pez with angry eyes, "Well I'm not having sex with Rafael fucking Luna. He's a family friend." Alex found his shoes and started attempting to put them on. This involved a lot of hopping on one foot and cursing. Henry almost reached out to help, but Alex shot him a look that could kill. "Any other questions? Or can I go wash THAT mental image from my brain with tequila." Not waiting for a response, Alex shoved past them.

"It's three pm," Henry said, hoping he sounded aloof and pretentious instead of mildly concerned.

It must have worked because Alex flipped him off, "It's five o'clock somewhere,"

Henry turned to Pez, "Still think he likes me?"

Pez shook his head laughing. "Yes!"