That time after Thanksgiving just flew by. My parents moved to their new house in Destin, and it was a nice house, too. It wasn't but about forty minutes from their old house, our house, but I guess that since my daddy was working in Destin, he wanted to live there, too. I didn't know the whys and wherefores of that, and they didn't really tell me. I figured my mama wanted a new start after Clay's death, but he had been dead for more than a year. I knew they had grieved him hard, just like I had, and I guess I was glad they were moving on. The furniture for my condo was basically the stuff they had in their old house. It was still very nice. They took the antiques to the new house, and they gave me all the furniture that was left over. My mother had a decorator come over to "place" everything. I cooperated with that lady, but I didn't think we needed her. I mean, she wanted stuff to the very inch, and that didn't at all matter to me. "Are you going to be in a magazine, Stud?" Justin asked. He and Brian were there with me and Tim when they moved me in. The movers and the decorator lady were gone then, and it was just the four of us. "Yeah, Out and XY," I said. He laughed. "Yeah, you wish." Brian had started working out with the dog man, and he was so damn excited about what they were doing with Trixie he couldn't stand it. "I could make her fly right off this balcony, if I wanted to," Brian said. "If you did that, we'd fly your ass off right behind her, too," Tim said. We laughed. Brian was just boasting. That boy would die before he ever hurt that dog, and we knew it. Trixie was there with us, and she was exploring the place. We were on the balcony watching the sunset, and she was slowly getting closer and closer to the rail, crawling on her belly like a cat stalking a bird or something. She knew that balcony was a potential hazard, and she was taking it slow. She couldn't ever get through the railing, though. A little puppy might be able to, but not her. "Mr. Mack said Trixie is the smartest Lab he's ever known," Brian said. "When I told him how we got her, he was sort of amazed." "Brian, you know Trixie is your dog, don't you?" I asked. "She belongs to all of us, Kyle," he said in reply. "Officially. I know that, but you're the one she loves the most," I said. Everybody was quiet for a few moments. "Do you guys resent that?" he asked. "Fuck no," I said. And Tim and Justin said the same. "Brian, you've taken up huge amounts of time with her," Tim said. "We know she's yours." "But who does she technically belong to?" "She belongs to the family," I said. "Yeah, but the family's going to be splitting up in a year or two," Brian said. "What's going to happen to Trixie? What's going to happen to us?" That was a fucking downer, for sure. What was going to happen to us? I knew Tim and I would be together, but what was going happen to Justin and Brian? "I've got it figured out that I can graduate the same time Tim does," Brian said. "How is that?" I asked. "I'm taking junior English next semester, and that's the key. I'll be able to graduate when Tim does," Brian said. "I took some proficiency tests and got credit for them. You need twenty-eight credits to graduate, and we have thirty-two chances to get them. A lot of people start full-time at ECCC in January of their senior year. I was already going to be able to do that. But I'll be able to start college in the fall by accelerating." "We need to talk about this," I said. "Tim and I want to go to college in New Orleans. I've been hoping that's where you guys would want to go, too." "I definitely do," Justin said. "You do, too, don't you, Buddy?" "Yeah, but it's going to be very expensive," Brian said. "Don't worry about that shit," I said. "I foresee vast scholarship opportunities in your future, Brian." They laughed. "Seriously," I said. "There will be plenty of money for you, Bri. Same for Justin. Everybody knows the four of us are not to be separated, unless we want to be, which I don't think we do." "Babe, I've done some research, and Tulane is great for pre-med, but they don't have anything at all for hospitality. At least not that I could tell from their Web site," Tim said. "That's not good," Justin said. "You would think in a city that big there would be a college that has hospitality courses." "There is, Jus. The University of New Orleans has a whole college of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management," Tim said. "I checked it out on the Web, and it looks like it's pretty good. You and Kyle could go there, and Tim and I could go to Tulane." "There you go. Problem solved," I said. "That's what they call UNO, isn't it?" Justin asked. "Yeah, dummy. The U stands for University, the N stands for . . . ." He jumped me before I could get it out, and we were wrestling around on the balcony, laughing our asses off. Trixie was barking, wanting to play with us. Finally we settled down, breathing ragged from playing and from laughing so hard. "Kyle, you're the first one who's going to fly off this place," Justin said. "Yeah? But we'll be holding hands going down," I said. "We've got to get serious here. I've got to figure out what the hell I'm going to do next year." "Do what I do. Work and go to college," Jus said. "I really would like to work full time," I said. "I don't know if my daddy will go along with that, though." "Get your basics out of the way next year, Babe," Tim said. "You could start at UNO as a sophomore, maybe." "Yeah, I guess I could do that. I already have my basic math out of the way--college algebra and trig--and this year I'm getting English. I got Western Civ out of the way, too. I guess I could do it. I am not going to summer school, though, so nobody even bring that up," I said. "Kyle, let's you and me go to summer school next summer," Justin said. We all laughed. The four of us were spending that night at the condo. It was my home, I guess, but it didn't feel like it was. We had lived in that house on North Lagoon Drive since I was born, and it was pretty emotional saying goodbye to it. They didn't sell it. They decided to keep it and rent it out, but having new people there, people I didn't know or care about, was pretty hard for me. "Who wants a drink?" I asked. Justin did, of course, and so did I. Tim and Brian drank cokes, like they always did. I had finally used my fake ID with my brother's picture on it to buy some liquor at a real liquor store, and it had worked fine. I had also bought some ground meat, some bottled spaghetti sauce, some spaghetti, some good bread, and some stuff to make a nice salad. That was going to be our first meal in the new condo. The three of them sat on the stools at the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room while I cooked. It was like we were two married couples having a quiet Saturday night at home. I put out a wedge of brie and some little slices of bread for us to munch on while I cooked, and Tim dug around until he found a can of cashews. I had a jar of pickled okra, and Justin found those in the 'fridge. He ate 'em right out of the jar because nobody else wanted any of them. Tim got out my digital camera and took some pictures of me at the stove. He took shots of the others, too. Those would be going on the family Web site the next day. After dinner we had coffee and carrot cake. I loved that stuff, and Publix made the best carrot cake of anywhere I knew. We watched the Saturday night feature movie on HBO, and everybody was sleepy when it was over. "This has got to be the life," Justin said. "I can't believe I'm here." "I know," Brian said. "Tim and Kyle, I don't think you guys fully understand where Justin and I came from." "Maybe not, Bubba, but we fully understand where you're going," Tim said. "That's right," I said. "Tim, are you ready to go to bed?" "Yeah," he said, and the four of us turned off the lights and went to bed. * * * The next day we decorated Kevin and Rick's house for Christmas. We put up the tree and the outside lights, but it was kind of sad. Alex had his last final exam the next day, and he and Cody were leaving on Tuesday. "I can't believe you're leaving us, man," I said to Alex. "Yeah, well, you know," he said. "Yeah," I said. I knew he wanted to get back to his old stomping grounds and his mom and all. Still, it was hard saying goodbye to him. "You saved my life, Kyle, and I'll always owe you for that," Alex said. "I didn't save your life. The doctor did," I said. "Yeah, but would I have ever gotten to a doctor if you and Tim hadn't taken me home that day? Would I have ever gotten to a doctor if you hadn't called Kevin in to look at me in that shower that day? I don't think so. You saved my damn life, man. Accept it," Alex said. "Well, if I did, I'm damn glad I did," I said. Alex and I hugged each other. I felt that he was hard, and I grinned at him. "I know. Give me a break," he said, laughing. "I can't help it." "You and Cody are in love, aren't you?" I asked. "Yeah. You know how it is," he said. "I do know, and it's great, isn't it?" I said. "Yeah. He's kind of nervous about moving," he said. "Don't you think that's normal?" I asked. "Yeah, probably. Everybody will like him, though," he said. "Yeah, you know that, but he doesn't. He's pretty brave to do what he's doing," I said. "I know." Monday night we had a special family dinner in honor of Alex and Cody. The food was real good, but everybody was sort of subdued. "Come on, guys. We're celebrating Alex and Cody. Liven it up," Rick said. "But we're losing 'em, Rick," I said. "No, we're not," Rick said. "We didn't lose Chris when he left, did we?" "You didn't lose me," Jeff said. "Yeah, but you're right here, Jeff. We see you all the time. And as far as Chris is concerned, I think about him every day," I said. "And I write to him three or four times a week. The same with Seth." "What makes you think I'm not going to write to you, Kyle?" Alex asked. "Or me, too," Cody said. "Kyle, we owe you guys a lot, you know? You'll always be our family." "I wish you would wait until after Christmas to go," I said. "My mom wants us there for Christmas, Kyle. We need to get jobs, too, and we'll have more time to look before school starts back in January," Alex said. I was being selfish, and I knew it. I didn't care, though. You meet a guy, live with him, get to know him, get to love him, and he leaves. In this case it was two of 'em leaving. They were spending the night at Cody's house so they could spend some time with his family. His younger brother was a friend of mine, and I knew they were all pretty sad, too, that they were leaving. I couldn't imagine what it was going to be like when the four of us moved away. After we ate, they got up to leave. We all hugged them and wished them good luck and all that shit. I held it together until they were backing out of the driveway, and then the floodgate opened in my eyes. It did for all of us, even Denny, but I think I was the worst. "Let's go sit down and talk about this, guys," Kevin said. I didn't know what the hell there was to talk about. That was his solution to everything. Talk. Shit! "Kyle, when Rick and I agreed to have Tim live with us and for us to be his guardians while his dad was away, we knew that eventually George would come back and Tim would have to leave. The way it has worked out has been wonderful, but we were willing to love Tim, and eventually, you, even though we thought it would end," Kevin said. "I don't see your point, Kevin," I said. I was grumpy, and I knew I sounded like it. "My point is, we take in kids who need us, we love them, and we let them go when they don't need us anymore. We still love them, and we miss them, but we want what's best for them," he said. "I know you're sad about Alex leaving, Bubba. We all are. But don't you see that it's progress for him?" Rick asked. "I guess," I mumbled. "What? I didn't hear you," Rick said. "I guess," I said louder. "Rick, he'll be okay," Tim said. "All of us are going to miss Alex, though, and Cody, too." "Yeah, I'll be okay," I said. Justin started it. "Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots . . . " Then I started singing and the rest of them joined in. By the time we got to the chorus, I was feeling better. "'Cause, I've got friends in low places, where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases, my blues away, and I'll be okay . . . ." We sang that chorus about ten times, and that song did what it always does. It made us feel good. It was sort of a sad song in a way, about a guy breaking up with his girl, but there was hope, too. "and I'll be okay. . . " "Justin, let's check our grades, you want to?" I asked. "Oh, Jesus," Justin said. "Kyle, I don't know if I can, man. I'm scared." "Don't be such a wimp," Brian said. "You said you thought you did okay on the exams. What kind of password do you need to check them, Kyle?" "Just your social," I said. "Do you mind if I check yours," Brian asked Justin. "No. Do it, but let me down easy, okay?" Brian and I went into the study and logged on the college Web site. It came up very fast, and we went to the link to the section of American history Jus had taken. That little boy was so cute checking those grades. His hand was shaking a little bit on the mouse because he was nervous. He typed in Justin's social security number, and it went right to a screen with Justin's name on it. Brian and I saw the grades at the same time. "Oh, my God, Kyle," Brian said. "Oh, my God!" "Whoa! Check mine." I told him my social, and he entered it. "Not bad," I said. I had a B in my English course, and that's about what I had expected. "Let's go tell him," I said. We went back to the den, and it got quiet as church. "Well?!" Kevin said. He sounded anxious. "An A in American history and a B in English," Brian said. "Buddy, I'm so proud of you!" Brian hugged Justin and kissed him big on the lips. Justin looked stunned. He looked back and forth between me and Brian, just waiting for one of us to say "Got you last." But we didn't because that's what he had gotten, an A and a B. "For real?" Justin asked. "Yeah. For real, Bubba," I said. "Scout's honor, dude." He jumped up, picked up Brian around the waist, and started dancing around with him. He was hooting and hollering, and all of us were going crazy at the news. Trixie was barking and wagging to beat the band, and everybody was slapping Justin on the back and just making him feel like a million bucks. "What'd you get?" he asked me. "I got a B. I'm happy with it," I said. "Tim and Jeff, help me get some ice cream," Rick said. That was an ice cream moment, sure enough. "I wish I had somebody else to tell about it," Justin said. "Call Chris," I said. "Call Chris, and then call Seth," Kevin said. "All your brothers want to know." We ended up calling Chris, Seth, Grandma and Grandpa Foley, Craig and Cherie, Doc and Sonya, my parents, and Sarah and Arnie. We were on the speaker phone a good two hours, and everybody was as happy as they could be for ole Justin. I was so proud of that boy I couldn't stand it, and everybody else was exactly the same way. I went to bed that night pumped up for Jus, and Tim and I did some pumping in that bed. "God, you're good at sex," Tim said. "How would you know?" He giggled. "True. I don't have a comparison, but surely you must be good at it," he said. "Well, you know what? You're pretty damn good at it, too, you little sex monkey," I said. He squeezed me tight, and I fell asleep in his arms.
"This was quite a night," Rick said. We had just made love, and he had me cradled in his arms. "I know," I said. "Why do you think Kyle chose to act like such a butthole over Alex's leaving?" "Babe, I think you and I forget that Kyle's still a kid. The family asks a lot of him, and most of the time he's mature and grown up about it. I think we saw a little residual immaturity tonight. He knew he was being selfish, too," Rick said. "You think he knew?" I asked. "I know he did," he said. "I think that's why he got over it so fast. He couldn't just come right out and say he was being immature, but he knew he was. He perked up right away when Justin started that song." "Yeah, I noticed that. Speaking of Justin, could he have been any prouder of himself?" "No. He was so cute. Wanting to call everybody. I guess for him, though, it was a pretty significant achievement," Rick said. "Making a 3.5 GPA your first semester of college is a significant achievement for anybody," I said. "Even if it was only two courses." "True. I'll bet you did, though, didn't you?" "Mine was a little higher than that," I said. "What about you?" "The same," he said. I had seen Rick's college transcript, and I knew that his grades were spectacular. He had actually made a 4.0 a couple of semesters, in addition to his internship. I had only done it my internship semester. "It's going to be interesting to see if he's as scared on the first day of second semester as he was the first day of the first semester," I said. "Yeah, it will be. Have they registered yet?" "Yeah. He and Kyle are taking the second of the two required English courses, and Jus is taking remedial math and a biology course. I wonder if not having Alex and Cody around will freak him out in those courses," I said. "Good point. I hadn't thought of that," Rick said. "He told me some guy named Paul that he made friends with is going to be in biology with him, and a guy from work is taking the math course. Maybe they'll give him support," I said. "I'm not sure how much support he needs in the course work, but having them there will at least ease his mind a little, maybe," Rick said. "Brian and Tim can help him with the content, if he needs it." "True," I said. "When do the high school exams start?" Rick asked. "Next Wednesday. They're only two days, Wednesday and Thursday. They have the day off Friday so the teachers can get the papers graded and their grades turned in before Christmas," I said. "God, it's almost here, isn't it?" he said. "Yeah. I'm glad we got the gift-giving routine worked out. I was talking about how we do it at the Chamber of Commerce meeting the other day, and two or three people said they were going to start that with their families. Even Gene and Rita have agreed to do it. They'll probably be able to add a wing to the United Cerebral Palsy headquarters when their check comes in," I said. He laughed. We got quiet after that and held each other into dreamland.
I couldn't get to sleep that night for thinking about those grades I made. Brian was so proud of me he couldn't stop telling me, except when he had a mouthful of dick, of course. That boy was something else. The sex attraction has gotten us together in the first place, and the sex we had was still important, but there was more there than two hard-ons, that's for sure. We were in love, and we knew it. About one o'clock I decided to get up and get some warm milk. I had heard that was supposed to make you sleepy, and if I ever needed it, it was that night. I poured a cupful of milk and warmed it in the microwave. I sat down at the table to drink it, and in a second Brian came in the room. "What's the matter," he asked. "I woke up and you weren't there. It scared me." "I couldn't sleep, Buddy. I'm having some warm milk. Do you want some?" It was a little chilly, and Brian and I were both naked. "I'll make it," he said. "I like to put sugar and vanilla in it." Hmmm. I hadn't thought of that. I put a spoonful of sugar in mine, along with a few drops of vanilla extract, and that made all the difference in the world. That stuff was good. "We didn't have a chance to talk about Alex and Cody leaving," Brian said, once he had his milk ready. Finding out my grades had sort of made me forgot about that, but all of a sudden I got depressed about it. "I don't like it, Baby," I said. "I don't like it one bit." "I know you don't. You heard what Kevin said, though. We have to look on it as a success for Alex. I think you were closer to Alex and Cody than I was," he said. "Well, with being in school and all with them, and working with them, too, I got to know those boys really good," I said. "I love them, Brian. I love both of them, and it makes me depressed that they're going away." "Maybe they'll come back for the summer to work at the hotel," he said. I hadn't thought of that, and nobody had brought it up. If Chris and David came, and Alex and Cody, we could end up with a damn house full. I would love it. "Did you say that to Kevin?" I asked. "No. I just thought of it," he said. "I will, though." "Do you think Seth is coming back? That might be a little bit awkward, if he came, too," I said. "Seth and I talked a good bit while we were in New Orleans a few weeks ago. He knows Cody and Alex are in love, and he's happy for both of them. It won't be a problem if he's here. Besides, Alex and Cody might want to stay at Cody's house," he said. "True. Do you think his parents would let his boyfriend live there with him?" I asked. "I don't know. They know they're going to be living together in New York," he said. "Do you want some more milk?" "Yeah." He made us each a second cup. We finished those and went to bed. It only took me a few seconds to go to sleep after that. * * * One of the holiday traditions in Emerald Beach was the annual Christmas boat parade. There were a million boats around there, and people decorated their boats with lights and made a parade. We hadn't fooled with it the year before, probably because Kyle's boat was brand new, but we were going to be in it this year. "I wonder if Monte and Terry know about the parade," Kyle said one night. "I don't know. They haven't mentioned anything about it. Kevin and I were just with them this past weekend, too," Rick said. Monte and Terry were Kevin and Rick's best friends, and they did stuff with them that the kids weren't involved in all the time. Sam and Fred were another set of their good friends, and so were Pat Taylor and Mike Lawley. Those six guys were their best friends, but they had a lot of straight friends they did stuff with, too. They knew a lot of people from work, but they also knew a lot of people from their running club and from the Mardi Gras krewe they belonged to. They had rejoined the Mardi Gras thing this year. "I'm going to call them to see if they know about it," Kyle said. He dialed their number and talked to Mont. No, they didn't know about it, and, yes, they were interested in being in the parade. "I told them to really decorate their boat good," Kyle said. "As big as that thing is, it could be a real showpiece in the parade." "Are you going to decorate The Clay?" Kevin asked. "Yes, sir. I was thinking about a patriotic theme. What do you think?" "I think that'll be nice," Rick said. "Do you have the lights yet?" Tim asked. "Not yet. I wanted to make sure everybody liked the patriotic idea before I bought them," Kyle said. "How do you power the lights?" Brian asked. "You need an adapter to hook to the battery, Bri. I need to get me one of those, too," Kyle said. They did the shopping for that stuff the next afternoon after school, and we did it that night. It got dark so early we had to rig up some regular lights down at the dock to work, but it was fun. It didn't take more than a couple of hours, and that thing looked beautiful when all the lights were turned on. We took it for a short ride, and Kevin and Rick watched from the dock. On Saturday we decorated Mont's boat, and the next day was the parade. It started at five o'clock on Sunday night, and it lasted about three hours from start to finish. Monte's boat really looked good. It was a more traditional Christmas theme, with lights of every color. On our boat the colors were just red, white, and blue. "I wish they made strings of all lavender lights," Gage said. He and Chad had showed up to help with Mont's boat. The older guys all thought that was funny, but I didn't get it. I noticed the four of us and Denny didn't even laugh. "What's so funny about that?" I asked. That made 'em laugh, too, but I sure didn't mean for it to be funny. "Justin, sometimes I really wonder about you," Gage said. They all laughed some more. "Jus, lavender is the traditional color associated with homosexuality. Lavender and pink," Terry said. Once he said that, I could see how Gage's comment was funny. Unless you knew that, though, it was lost. "Did any of you know that?" I asked Kyle, Tim, Brian, and Denny. "Yeah, I knew that," Kyle said. "You did not, you big liar," I said. "I ought to throw your ass in that water for lying to me like that." Kyle was laughing. "Don't get your panties in a wad, Justine," he said. That made everybody laugh, including me. If anybody but my brothers ever called me Justine, I would have punched them out. They could get away with it, though, as long as they didn't do it too much. Which they didn't. "Damn, I forgot about music for our boat," Kyle said. "We've got to have Christmas music. Babe, help me to remember to take that portable stereo and some Christmas CD's, okay?" "Okay, Babe," Tim said. Riding in the parade was fun. We were in front of Mont's boat, and we waved our hands off to all the people who were on docks and on dry land up and down the parade route. We rode up and down those bayous in town, up the lagoon by our house, and in and out of a dozen or more marinas on the beach. There was more of a turnout than I expected, and you could tell people were in a holiday mood. Everybody ended up at our house after the parade. Monte and Terry were going to leave their boat tied up to our dock because they wanted to stay and party. We didn't party late because the next day was work and school, but everybody stayed until around eleven. Kevin and Rick made everybody take home some of the fruit and cheese and wine and shit they had been given by people they did business with. We kept the candy and the hard liquor, though. And some of the other stuff, too. "Did you guys have fun?" Rick asked us after they had all left. "I had a great time," Kyle said. "Next year I'm thinking 'Cowboy Christmas.' What do y'all think about that? With costumes." "Costumes? Are you out of your damn mind?" I asked. "This ain't Mardi Gras." "Simple ones, Jus. Jeans, cowboy shirts, boots, leather vests, and I'll wear my Stetson," he said. Since the weather had cooled off, he wore those boots I gave him constantly. Every time I saw him in them I got a feeling of pride. I was wearing mine regular now, too. "I guess that could work," I said. "Fellows, you've got a year to think about it," Kevin said. "It's late, and we all have to be up early tomorrow. Good night, guys." We told him and Rick good night, and they went to their room. Denny was already upstairs, either in bed or reading in the bathtub. Brian let Trixie out one last time, but she didn't stay out long. Tim was about half asleep, and the four of us turned out the lights and went up to bed. * * * Getting up the next morning was hell. I'm not usually too bad about wanting to stay in bed, but Brian sometimes is hard to wake up. He was that morning. I hustled his ass into the shower with me to make sure he'd make it in time for school. Not having class at the college was a real blessing that day because I was sure I would have gone to sleep instead of taking good notes. I wasn't at work more than thirty minutes, dealing with new arrivals, mostly, when Mr. Rooney sent word out he wanted to see me pronto. Every time he called me in I got the nervous stomach so bad I almost puked. It had only happened a couple of times and I had been able to keep it down, but I had no earthly idea of what he wanted that morning. "What'd you do, Davis?" the bell captain asked. "Damned if I know," I said, and I really didn't. I took a seat when Mr. Rooney told me to. I sat up real straight. "Did you have a good weekend? Chip told me about the boat parade last night. It sounded like fun. I'm sorry Mrs. Rooney and I had to miss it," he said. "Yes, sir, real good," I said. "The parade was fun." Whenever I get nervous, I make this little cough. It's not a real cough. It's like a little tick or something. I was doing it in that office, for sure. "You're not getting a cold, are you son?" he asked. "No, sir, I just do that sometimes. I'm fine," I said. Cough. "Justin, are you happy here at the Laguna?" he asked. "Yes, sir. Very happy," I said. You ain't fixing to fire me, are you? I thought. "Good. I had a talk with Mr. Goodson about you the other day." I though for a moment he was talking about Kyle. Why would he talk to Kyle about me? I wondered. "Yes, sir," I said. "He asked me if you were learning what you should be learning. If you were making progress, in other words. He's very interested in you, Justin. I know you and his son are very close, so that's understandable," he said. "Yes, sir," I said. Where the hell is this going? I asked myself. "Justin, I think it's time for you to move, son," he said. Oh, shit! He is going to fire me. "Mr. Rooney, I've been doing my best. I promise you. I don't know what Jason told you, but I hustle. Please don't get rid of me," I said. "Get rid of you? We're not getting rid of you. I want you to become a desk clerk. Starting after the first of the year," he said. It took me a second to figure out what he had just said. Then it suddenly dawned on me I was getting a promotion. Maybe not a salary promotion because I didn't think the desk clerks made as much in salary as I did in tips, but it was a promotion in learning how to run the hotel. "I don't know what to say," I said. "Will you do it?" "Oh, yes, sir, and thank you. Thank you very much," I said. "You're welcome, Justin, but you've earned it. Mr. Goodson was very explicit that he didn't want your work schedule to interfere with your classes at the college, and he doesn't want you working weekends. Most desk clerks work weekends in rotation. You might have to fill in once in a while, but that'll be rare. No night work, either," he said. "Yes, sir," I said. "Jus, on a personal note, I want to thank you and the other boys for giving my son a life. He loves all of you, especially you and Kyle and Denny. He was miserable before he met you guys, and now he's happy," he said. I was relaxed by then. "Mr. Rooney, I consider Chip my brother. We all do. We love him, even though he's not like the rest of us," I said. "Not like the rest of you? What do you mean?" Jesus! I thought he knew. "Mr. Rooney, all of the rest of us are gay," I said. "I know. Are you telling me Chip isn't gay?" he asked, kind of surprised. Sweet Jesus, help me here, I prayed. "No, sir. He's straight. Did you think he was gay?" "Well, I assumed he was. All of his friends are," he said. "Yeah, but he isn't. I think he's even got a little girlfriend. Or at least he likes a girl," I said. "You know he's been changing a lot, don't you? I mean, er, . . . you know what I mean." "He's grown a lot in the last six months, but I haven't seen his, er, . . . you know." "Well, I have. We used to call him peanut, but now we call him gherkin," I said. I thought ole Rooney was going to break his hand, he was pounding so hard on his desk, laughing and carrying on. It wasn't that funny to me, though. When he finally calmed down, he had big tears almost ready to start. He got up from his desk, wiping his eyes. He walked over to me and nudged me to get up. "Let me buy you a cup of coffee. Gherkin," he said, just a-laughing. When I told my family about that interview that night, they were all over me with congratulations. If I had waited a week to call them all about my grades, I could have told them that news, too. I wasn't going to call again, though. "So, what does this mean," Brian asked. "It will probably mean less money for a while, but it will also mean more prestige and more opportunities to learn the business," Kevin said. "It's like Jus is entering a whole different phase of hotel work. He's starting at the bottom, but the sky's the limit, ultimately." "I'm going to have to wear a coat and tie every day," I said. "Think about my wardrobe the day y'all met me, and then think about that." There was dead silence. "I can't think about that," Rick said, getting up. He was about blubbering. "I'm making ice cream. Tim and Kyle, y'all come help me." They came out with huge bowls of ice cream and cups of hot elf cum for everybody. We were all so happy we were about to bust. |