I set our alarm clock Friday night before our trip on Saturday to make sure Brian and I wouldn't miss the plane, but it turned out we didn't need that. I woke up at 5:30, bright-eyed and ready to go. I slipped out of bed to pee, and I decided to go ahead and take my shower, too. I had left the bathroom door open into our room so it wouldn't get too steamy in there, which was something I always did. Most of the time, Brian slept right through me taking a shower like that, but that morning it woke him up. I saw him come into the bathroom through the glass door of the shower. He sat down on the toilet to pee, and he leaned way forward so he could get his dick in a place where he could piss into the toilet, and not all over the floor. When he finished, he flushed it. Whoa! Bad move! The shower water turned red hot. We were going to have to have a talk about flushing toilets when somebody was in the shower. He got in with me, like I figured he would, and he grabbed me around the waist. He leaned against me. "Hey," I said over the water. He didn't say anything, but he kissed me on the back of my neck, and I felt him start to go from half-hard to fully hard. I knew what he wanted, and I wanted it, too. So that's what we did. "Are you excited," he asked me when we were done with our shower. "I'm always excited about a trip," I said. "You know that." "I know. Me, too. Did you ever think you would go on so many trips?" "No. I thought last summer my next trip was going to be to the morgue," I said. I thought he was going to laugh, but he didn't. "Please don't say stuff like that." "I'm sorry, Little Buddy," I said, and I took him into my arms. "It could have been, though, you know?" "I know, but let's don't talk about it, okay? It didn't happen, and it's not going to happen," he said. "Okay." I gave him a quick kiss. We finished getting dressed, made our bed, and went downstairs, bumping our luggage on every step. Luggage? Hell, all I ever had before I came there was a paper sack from a grocery store. And even that wasn't full. The first thing I saw when I got to the breakfast room was a multitude of teeth shining out of Kyle's face. He was all scrubbed up, smiling and happy. I went to ruffle his hair, but he dodged me. "Don't touch it," he said. "I spent a good bit of time styling my hair this morning." I laughed while I got me and Brian some coffee. "A good bit of time? Like what? Ten seconds?" "Twelve," he said. "This is a special occasion." Brian and I both laughed at him. He wore his hair like the rest of us did, "moussed and messed." Plus, I knew he was going to wear a baseball cap all day, so what difference did it make? "There's breakfast on the stove," he said. "What the hell time did you get up," I asked. "A little before five," he said. "I just woke up." "You're excited about seeing Tim, aren't you?" "Well, what . . . I mean, wouldn't . . . " "You're fucking speechless," I said. He just grinned. * * * Our plane to Atlanta was right on time, and we had about an hour's layover in Atlanta. We got something to eat. "Do you want to go smoke, Kyle," I asked, when we had finished eating. "No, thank you," he said, grinning. "I don't smoke. But feel free, if you want to." "No, thank you. I don't smoke, either," I said. Brian was laughing at us. "Let's go smoke," Kyle said. Brian laughed even harder. * * * The flight to Boston was good, and Kyle went to sleep after we were in the air for about ten minutes. He was on the aisle, Brian was in the middle, and I was on the window. "Let's see if we can make him drool," Brian said. "What," I asked. "Watch this," he said. He gently rubbed Kyle under his jaw, and, sure enough, there it came. "I'm rubbing his salivary glands," he said. "That's gross, man," I said. "I know, but isn't it neat?" He daubed up the spit that was leaking down Kyle's face, and then he and I settled down. There were some TV's hanging from the ceiling of the plane, and they were showing music videos. I watched some, but then I went to sleep. The next thing I knew, there was a guy shaking my arm. I looked over, and he was doing the same thing to Kyle and Brian. "You're in Boston, guys," he was saying. "Wake up." It was a flight attendant. It was a good thing none of us was the kind that came up swinging. If we had been, we would have taken him out. The rest of the airplane was empty, so we just strolled right off. Walking off that plane, Kyle was about to jump out of his skin, he was so excited. He spotted Tim and Doc as soon as we got out of the gate area, and that was a sight out of a movie. They ran to each other and grabbed a-hold of one another like they were both drowning or something. If two people could grin bigger and harder than those two were doing, I didn't want to see it. We were all grinning, too, of course, at how cute they were. "Did you have a good trip, guys," Doc asked. "Yes, sir," we all said, more or less at the same time. "Well, let's get your luggage. We're going to drop by my parents' house for a minute so you can meet them. My dad has to have surgery Monday morning, so we won't really get to spend much time with them," he said. "What's wrong with him, Doc," Brian asked. "He has a hernia, Brian. He's on some new medication for his arthritis, and he's able to walk again. The hernia has been really uncomfortable, though," he said. I made a mental note to ask Tim what a hernia was when it was just the four of us. We got our stuff and took off, Doc driving. Once we were on the expressway, or whatever it was, Tim and Kyle kissed each other hello. I always got hard when I kissed Brian, but I didn't know watching them would get me that way, too. It damn sure did, though. I checked out Brian, and it did it to him, too. They didn't get into a big make-out session or anything, but they definitely knew they had been kissed.
Seeing Tim in that airport was the best sight I had ever seen. He was smiling so happy and all, and we hugged so hard I thought we'd squeeze each other breathless. I wanted to plant the biggest kiss on his lips that you could imagine, but I sure didn't want to embarrass anybody by doing it right there. I did in the car, though. "I can't believe how good it feels to be here," I said. "Did you miss your boy, Kyle," Doc asked. "Yes, sir. Every second," I said. "You want to know a secret," Doc asked. "Yes, sir." "He missed you every second, too," he said. "Were you gone somewhere, Tim," Jus asked. That made everybody laugh. "He missed you just as much as we all did, Bubba," Brian said to Tim. "I think even Trixie missed you." "How was the party last night," Tim asked. "It was okay," I said. "The food was good, but it wasn't the same without you. Rick cried when you called, Tim," Brian said. I could tell that made Timmy feel good. Tim's grandparents lived in a real big old house, but it was divided into apartments. They had a lot of old furniture, like antiques and stuff. I remembered my manners for once and told them how nice it all was. I got the feeling they would have let me have whatever I wanted out of there, too. They were that nice. We didn't stay there very long, and Doc didn't come with us when we left, like I figured he would. He had rented a mini-van, and he was going to let us have that for the week. His parents had a car that he would use. I didn't know how serious the operation was, but it couldn't have been too bad because old Mr. Murphy was only supposed to be in the hospital one night. He'd have to take it easy at home, though. We were staying at a place called the Swissôtel on Avenue de Lafayette. I had never heard of it, but that didn't mean much. It was only one block from Boston Common, and there were a lot of big office buildings around it. It was something else, inside, too. We didn't have anything like it in Emerald Beach, and I felt like I was someplace in Europe when we walked in. I figured that place was going to turn us all into tipping machines, and I wasn't wrong. We had two rooms, each with a king size. In New York we had stayed at one of the brands we had, and it wasn't even half as nice as that place. "How'd you like to get you one of these," Justin asked me. He knew I was mentally drooling over it. "Maybe I will someday," I said. "Tim's going to have to do a whole lot of doctoring for us to afford something like this, though. Y'all give us about an hour to freshen up. We'll meet you in the lobby at seven o'clock." "Freshen up, my ass," Justin said, grinning. "It could use it, Buddy," Brian said. "He should know," I said. "He just got your ass last, after all." We all laughed. Any sixteen or seventeen year old boy who's ever gone a week without any sex at all, even jerking off, knows what we were feeling right then. When God created sex, He must have had times like that in mind, and He damn sure knew what He was doing. The first time was pretty quick, but it was intense. That was to be expected. After that, though, we took our time, and we made some awesome love. "I don't ever want us to be separated again," Tim said, as I was holding him in bed. "Me, either. This kind of made up for it, though, didn't it?" He laughed. "Kyle, I don't even know how to say how much I love you," he said. "You don't have to say it. You show it every time you look at me, every time you touch me, every time you talk to me," I said. "And you do the same thing," he said. I didn't really think either one of us had planned on a shower, but after that, we needed one. We fooled around in there, too, and that was fun. We ate in the restaurant in the hotel that night, and it was really good. Expensive, but good. Then we walked over to Boston Common to take in the sights. It was still not quite dark, and there were people everywhere. We hit up on a quartet of string musicians, and we listened a while. You see street musicians in places like New Orleans and New York all the time, but it's usually one guy with a guitar or a sax or something. Leave it to Boston to have a string quartet on the sidewalk. It had been sort of hot during the day when the sun was out, but it cooled down pretty good at night. We walked around and found a little coffee place. I noticed a gay rainbow flag decal on the front window, but they had a lot of decals. I figured it was just there for no particular reason, but there were only guys in the place. "I think there are homosexuals in here," Justin said in a very serious tone of voice. "Does that make you uncomfortable," Brian asked. "Yes. I don't want them looking at me," he said. "They're undressing me with their eyes, Brian. I'm being visually raped. They should all be sent to some island somewhere so they can do that to each other and leave me the hell alone." The three of us were laughing our asses off, but he was still acting serious. "I want something fruity," Tim said, looking at the menu. "Me, too, with lots of cream. Thick, delicious cream," Brian said. That's what it finally took to get Justin laughing. "That cream sounds real good, but I want to suck on the nozzle of that big, round can the cream comes out of," Jus said. We could barely talk, we were laughing so hard. "Have you ever had fruitcake with hard sauce," I asked. "Hard sauce is a kind of cream." "I have," Tim said. "It tasted so good I thought it had been made by fairies." We were laughing loud, and people were looking at us. There was a couple at the table next to us, probably late twenties, and they were listening to everything we said. They were laughing their asses off, too. "I like fruitcake pretty good, but my favorite is banana cream pie," Jus said. One of the boys at the next table was taking a sip of his coffee when Justin said that, and he sucked that coffee down into his windpipe. He was choking and laughing at the same time. "You need a little help there, buddy," Justin asked him. "I do real good mouth-to-mouth." They both laughed some more, and I was starting to get a little bit worried about the boy who was coughing so hard. I mean, fun is fun, but you don't want to laugh somebody to death. His face was as red as a strawberry. He held up his hands like it was a hold-up or something, but he kept on coughing. "He'll be okay. He does this all the time," the other one said. The boy who was coughing finally calmed down. "Where are you guys from," the non-cougher asked. "All over the damn place," I said, "but we live in Florida. We're just here on a trip." "Do you mind if we join you," he asked. "Hell, no. Come on over," I said. They pulled their table and chairs over to ours. It was only a couple of feet, anyway. We all introduced ourselves, but just with first names. They were Jim (cougher) and Bart. We made us some friends that night of those two guys. They were twenty-eight, and they had met when they were freshmen in college, right there in Boston. They had been together for ten years, and that in itself was pretty inspiring to us. We spent about two hours with them, just shooting the shit and laughing. They gave us a list of must-sees, but Tim already knew about most of them. We had a great time with those guys that night. It was like when you lost your first tooth as a little kid. You stick your hand under the pillow, and there's a surprise. We walked into that place for a snack, and we met two great guys. Surprise! They gave us their business cards, and we all wrote our names and emails on a napkin. Nobody ever expected to keep up with each other, but we had us two gay brothers in Boston, if we needed 'em.
We had a really good time Saturday night. We spent a couple of hours in a little coffee shop off Boston Common. It turned out to be sort of a gay hangout, which we didn't even know when we went in. We met a couple of guys who were incredibly nice and very funny. Kyle and I had some more catching up to do that night. We got in bed naked and just rubbed each other. I know that doesn't sound all that hot, but, believe me, it was. It was like we were desperate for each other's bodies, to feel them and hold them and touch them. We didn't ask for a wake-up call or anything. The next morning, we made love, and then, after a shower, we met up with Jus and Brian in one of the little eateries in the hotel. We didn't like the menu all that much, and the prices were pretty high. We had enough money on us, but twenty bucks for breakfast seemed like too much. "Let's go find a coffee shop like last night," Kyle suggested. We all were in favor of that. I felt like they were all looking to me to know what to do, and I did have a pretty good idea. I had been to Boston a bunch of times to visit my grandparents, and the thing I wanted to do to get us started was to take a Duck Tour. Ducks are half truck, half boat, and they used them in World War II to get men and supplies to land from ships. Some company had gotten a bunch of those things, painted them bright pink, and now they gave tours. We walked up to the Prudential Center where the Duck Tours were, and we bought tickets. They cost $20, and I knew Kyle would want us each to tip the tour guide five dollars. "What the hell is this thing," Jus said, when we got on board. "I feel like I'm in some kind of monster machine." "It's gonna eat you up, Bubba. You better be careful," Kyle said. "Y'all don't leave me by myself, you hear," Jus said. "We're not going to leave you," Kyle said. "Excuse me. Where are you boys from, if you don't mind my asking," a lady sitting across from us said. "We're from Florida," I said. "You don't talk like them," she said. "No, ma'am. He doesn't either," I said, meaning Brian. "It's just those two." "You're a fine-looking group of young men. I hope you enjoy our city," she said. "Do you live here," I asked. "My dad is from here. I guess I am, too, technically. I was born here." "Yes, I live here. My grandsons are visiting." She pointed to two boys that I had noticed on the way in. They were about our age, and they were gorgeous. I smiled politely. Then she started talking to a man in the seat with her, her husband, I guessed. The tour guide welcomed us and told us about the "craft" we were on. It was a renovated amphibious vehicle from World War II, just like I already knew. They had about seventeen of them in Boston, and they all were used to give tours. He told us he would be telling us about the historical sites along the tour and that we could ask him questions to "test" his knowledge of history. "I reckon I need to pay good attention to what he says," Justin said. "Maybe I can use some of this in my history class at college." "I'll bet you can, Buddy," Brian said. "I thought you were taking European history, though." "No. That was full up. I'm taking American history," Jus said. "And I don't know shit about it." The tour was great. It only lasted about an hour and a half, but the guide was funny, and he told some great stories about history and the "real" story behind the history. We passed by just about every major thing in Boston. We didn't get off anywhere, like we had on the bus tour in New York, but that was okay. People all over waved at us. It was almost like we were celebrities or something because we were on that tour. Justin and Kyle were both pretty quiet on the tour, although Kyle was taking pictures right and left. I could tell they were both listening intently to what the guy was saying. I was going to be taking AP American History next year, so I paid pretty good attention, too. We passed something that had to do with Benjamin Franklin, who grew up in Boston. "I know who Benjamin Franklin is," Jus said. "He's the guy that busted the Liberty Bell, right? Where is that thing, anyway? I'd like to see it." "It ain't here. It's in Philadelphia. I've seen it, and it wasn't all that much to see," Kyle said. "It's just a big bell." "Why'd they give it to Philadelphia," Jus asked. "I don't know, but that's where it is. Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love, and there are some real bell busters there," Kyle said. The lady I had talked to earlier heard what he said, and she started laughing. "They don't know too much history," I said to her. "Maybe not, but they're precious. All of you are," she said. I'm sure I blushed. "You guys shut up so I can hear what he's saying," Brian said. Justin squeezed his thigh pretty hard, and Brian got a painful look on his face. Then they both laughed. When we got to the Charles River on the Cambridge side, the Duck went into the water. "Shit!" Justin said pretty loud. "Are we going down?" The people around us laughed. "This is part of the tour, dumbass. Why did you think it was amphibious," Kyle asked. He was laughing at Justin, though. "I didn't know what that word meant," Jus said. "It means this thing goes on land and water," Kyle said. "It ain't going to sink. Shut up and enjoy it." "Kyle, I'm going to whip your ass tonight right there on the Boston Commons," Jus said. "It's Common, Jus, not Commons," I said. "Whatever they call it, it's going to be a field of blood tonight," he said. "Boys, violence won't solve anything," the nice lady said. "Please don't do that." She was really serious because she didn't know those two. Kyle and Justin both laughed. "Ma'am, this is my brother and my best friend," Jus said. "I would never hurt him. Besides, he could hurt me as much as I could hurt him. I'm sorry I scared you." She grinned when he said that. "You hear so many stories about how violent people are in the South. I was just concerned," she said. "Thank you, ma'am, for feeling that way, but he and I love each other. We'd never hurt one another," Kyle said. "I'm sorry I butted in, but . . . " "But you're a grandma, and that's your job, right," Kyle said. "Right," she said, smiling at us. When the tour was over, everybody applauded. "Don't forget the tip," Kyle said, as we were leaving. "Our boys probably don't know about a tip," the nice lady said to her husband. She squeezed her way up to them and told them. She also gave each of them some money. Then she came back to where we were. "You fellows have made this tour a lot more interesting for me," she said. "Welcome to Boston." When we got off the Duck, the lady's two grandsons joined their grandparents. The younger one looked at me long and hard. My gaydar went off very big time. * * * We did all the tourist stuff you can think of. We walked the Freedom Trail, we toured around in Quincy Market for about a half a day, we went to Concord and Lexington and Salem, and we saw all that stuff. We went to the Kennedy Library and the Mapparium at the Christian Science church. We spent time in the North End and Chinatown. We went to Cambridge and saw Harvard and MIT. We kept busy, and we did a lot. We went to Walden Pond and swam a little there. I think our best day, though, was with my cousins. We went out to the islands that make up Boston harbor, and we played. I introduced my three brothers to my four cousins. It was only the boys, not the girl cousins. "You guys must be really smart," Justin said to them. "Why do you say that," Paddy asked. "All this history shit is blowing my mind," Jus said. "Yeah, but we don't know it any better than you do," Tony said. "Really," Jus asked. "Just because you live in a place doesn't mean you know everything about it," Steve said. "We should, I guess, but we don't." "Well, I know a good bit, by now," Jus said. "We've never toured like you have," Paddy said. "Steve's right. We don't know the history of Boston very well." The harbor islands weren't nearly as pretty as Dune Island back home, but they were nice. Only one island had public swimming, and we swam there. The water was pretty cold, too, compared to what I was used to. That night all eight of us went to a Red Sox game, and that was something I had wanted to do for a long time. They were playing the Yankees that night, so we got a chance to see two great teams play at one time. My cousins and my guys got along really well. I knew Kyle, Justin, and Brian would like my cousins just because I wanted them to, but my cousins liked my guys, too. "Is Tony the one you walloped," Kyle asked me privately. "Yeah, but we're friends now," I said. "He's a really nice guy." "And Paddy's the one that's gay, right?" "Yeah." "He's really cute, Tim. I want to get to know him much, much better," Kyle said. "You shitass," I said, and we both laughed. When we got on the plane to go home, I felt like we had seen and done just about all there was to see and do in Boston. We went to a couple of comedy clubs at night. We went out dancing one night. We went to a couple of gay clubs one night. We had a very good time. "This place was unbelievable," Justin said. "Not more than New York," Kyle said. "Not more than New Orleans, either. But the three are so different," Bri said. "Travel is wicked good," I said. "You picked that up, didn't you," Kyle said. He was referring to my use of the word "wicked," something my cousins said all the time. "Yeah, along with a six-pack of tonic," I said. He laughed. "How'd they ever come up with 'tonic' for a soft drink," he asked. "How'd you come up with 'soft drink' for a soda," Brian asked. "Yeah, when everybody really knows that stuff is called 'pop,'" Justin said. "You want a pop?" "No, Kyle. Don't hit me, don't touch me, don't even look at me," Jus said. We all laughed. Kyle went to sleep during the flight to Atlanta, of course, and the rest of us were quiet. I thought about the three greatest guys in the world: Kyle, Justin, and Brian. Dear God, I prayed, I don't know how or why you put the four of us together, but thank you for doing it. These boys inspire me to be faithful and true, to accept other people for who they are, and to love without restraint. I know that some people think the way we live is wrong, and that we're all going to hell for what we do, but I don't buy that. Thank you for making us who we are, and help us be faithful to what you want us to be.
The house was way too quiet with the guys gone to Boston. Saturday night, Jeff and Seth both went out with their boyfriends, and Alex was there all alone with us. All of them went to Mass with us, but it was just Alex with us when we went out to eat after church. "I'm glad we're having a chance to spend some time with just you, Alex," I said. "Thanks," he said softly. "I miss Tim and Kyle, and Justin and Brian," he said. "They are always so nice to me." "Yeah, they're nice kids, aren't they," Rick said. All three of us studied the menu and ordered. Then nobody said anything. It wasn't a comfortable silence, either. Alex had been with us three weeks by then, and Rick and I really didn't know him very well at all. We would have had no trouble starting conversation with the others. In fact, we would have had to struggle to get a word in, most of the time. With Alex, though, it was different. "Are you all squared away for college," I asked. "Yeah. I have the same three classes that Cody does, and two of those are with Justin, too. Kyle is also in the English class I'm taking. It'll be fun being in class with them," he said. "Were you going to go to community college in New York," I asked. "No. Actually, I had been accepted at Pace University, and I was going to go there. I guess I should contact them and let them know I'm not coming," he said. "That's probably a good idea," Rick said. "You can write them a letter or an email, or something." "I will," he said. "We need to start giving some thought to some transportation for you, Alex," I said. "You're going to need a car, living where we do." He smiled. "Justin bought his truck himself, but we co-signed a loan for him. Or at least Rick did," I said. "I'll co-sign for you, if you want me to." "That would be really cool," he said. "I already feel like I'm freeloading, though." "Don't think of it that way, man," Rick said. "Kevin and I want to help you get on your feet. What you did was a pretty brave thing, and we admire that. Maybe some day you can pay us back by doing the same thing for some kid who needs help." That seemed to satisfy him. "I've thought a lot about what I did, and it was probably pretty dumb, in a lot of ways," he said. "What do you mean," I asked. "Well, I didn't have a plan at all. I mean, if Kyle and Tim hadn't happened to be grocery shopping that Sunday afternoon, who knows what would have happened to me. I'm too old for foster care, and I probably would have ended up in a homeless shelter. That's what I was, after all. Homeless." "Sometimes a man reaches his level of endurance, though," Rick said. "You reached yours. You took action. You were lucky your brothers found you, though." "Have you made any friends here yet," I asked. He looked at me very strangely, like I had asked if he had won the Nobel Prize yet. Then it dawned on me. "Besides us, I mean. You know, like at work." "I had friends before, but never this many," he said. "I'll make friends with people outside the family, though. Eventually." "Alex, you told us you're bi," Rick said. "I don't know how much Kevin and I can relate to that." "I'm sort of confused about that myself," he said. "I mean, I don't have any experience at all, one way or the other, to base it on. I guess I'd really like to have a boyfriend, though. That's really where I'm headed, I think." "Now that we understand," Rick said. "But I want a boyfriend who's real boyish, like your guys are. Does that make me a bad person," he asked. "Why would that make you a bad person," I asked. "I know the more feminine guys are just as good and just as nice as the more masculine guys, but they just don't appeal to me. I mean, I really like Chad and Gage, for example, but I wouldn't want a boyfriend like that," he said. "Lex, I think it's a matter of taste, you know," Rick said. "Some people like blonds, others like brunettes, others like redheads. If you were talking about women, would a preference for blondes make you a bad person?" "No, I don't think so," he said. "Being mean to brunettes and redheads because you prefer blondes would make you a bad person, for sure. Just like being mean to effeminate guys would make you a bad person. Preferring one over the other, especially for something like a relationship, isn't bad at all," Rick said. "Alex, a lot of it has to do with getting past the superficial and discovering the person underneath. Our boys had a problem accepting Chad at first, especially Justin. We basically said, 'He's our friend, goddamn it, so shut up about it.' And to his credit, Jus did. Now, Chad and Gage don't have a better or more loyal friend in the world than Justin Davis," I said. "Justin is really something, isn't he," Alex said. Rick and I couldn't even think of Justin without at least grinning, if not laughing out loud. "Alex, if you knew how far that boy has come, you would be totally amazed," I said. "I think Rick and I will always think of Tim and Kyle as our first-born sons, but Justin is a very, very close second. Rick and I think of the day that Tim's dad left for a hospital ship in the Indian Ocean as the start of our family, and that very day Tim and Kyle became boyfriends in our garage, after a Super Bowl party of our friends. That was a year ago last January, and that's how far back the history of our family goes. We got Justin a year ago in June, so, compared to the others, he's been here a long time. He was our first foster child, and, yeah, we love him." "Don't let that country bullshit of his fool you, either, Alex," Rick said. "That sucker is smart as hell. He lacks a certain polish in some areas, but I'll put him up against any of you guys in intelligence and character and heart. Which is totally amazing, when you consider his background." "Kevin and Rick," Alex said, looking at us with real puppy-dog eyes, "I don't know where I'm going or what the future is going to hold for me. I've never had more fun than I've had in your home, and I've never felt truly loved and accepted like I do with you guys. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you've done for me. Rick, what you said about paying you back by helping kids in the future makes sense to me. I won't ever be as stable and productive as you guys are, but I'll do what I can, just as soon as I can." "You'll be stable and productive, Alex. I just know it," Rick said. "And if you aren't, we'll still love you. You'll still be our son." |