I was officially a full-time college student, but it didn't take full time. It seemed like I had a lot more time on my hands than I thought I would. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I didn't have class until eleven o'clock. I know a lot of guys would just sleep in, but I was too hyper for that. I got up on those days when Tim did, which gave me a lot of time to study or read or whatever. I thought about working out then, but I don't really like to work out by myself. Besides, Justin and I had a routine established again, and we needed each other to stay motivated. One thing I hadn't done yet, but wanted to, was find out what was inside the college library. I mean I knew it had books and stuff like that, but I hadn't been in it yet to check it out. So, this one Tuesday morning right after we got back from Rob's christening, I got to campus around eight o'clock and went to the library. There was almost nobody in there, but I poked around a little bit. There were some study rooms with sofas and upholstered chairs that looked pretty comfortable. There were a couple of rooms that had quite a few computers in them for students, or anybody, really, to use. After I was in there for a few minutes, I had to go to the bathroom. I do that first thing in the morning, but some days I have to go twice, especially if I don't take my time the first time. So, I went to the men's room and got in the first stall. There were only three. I hiked my shorts down and took a seat, minding my own business. I started bouncing my right foot, like I often do. It gets on people's nerves, so I try not to do it too much, but it's a habit I have that I can't seem to break. All of a sudden, this hand comes from under the next stall and grabs my calf. It scared the shit out of me, which wasn't really a problem, considering where I was. I figured I was getting on the guy's nerves. "Sorry," I said. "I'll stop." He didn't say anything back. Instead, he started rubbing my leg. I jerked it away from him. "What the hell's going on, man?" I said. I was embarrassed and pissed off, but I tried not to sound too mad in case the guy turned out to be a giant and wanted to whip my ass for me. I mean, there wasn't anybody around to help me. He still didn't say anything. He picked up a piece of a paper towel that was on the floor and stuck it out for me under the stall. I took it and saw that it had writing on it. It said, "Tap your foot for a blowjob." Shit! I thought. This guy is trying to pick me up, and I played right into his hand without realizing it. I put the paper back on the floor. "I'm not interested," I said. Then, trying to be funny, I said, "Besides, I already had one this morning." Which was true. "I'll bet she wasn't as good as I am," he said. "It was a 'he,' not a 'she,'" I said. I don't know what made me say that, but I figured after the fact that it wasn't really a good idea. In fact, talking to the guy probably wasn't a good idea. "I'll give you something to compare it to, then," he said. "Look. I'm not interested, okay? I'm here to take a shit and get out of here," I said. "Besides, how do I know you're not a cop, trying to entrap people?" "I'm not a cop, and I'd have to tell you if I was, since you asked me," he said. I finished my business, wiped up, and got the hell out of there. That was the first time anybody had ever come on to me like that, and it kind of spooked me a little bit. Oh, sure, people like Stephen at work were always talking about wanting to have sex with me and shit, but they were people I knew. I also knew they were just joking around. Those kinds of things with them would always end up with us laughing. That guy wasn't laughing, though, and he was persistent. Thank God there wasn't anybody else in there. I would have been embarrassed to death to come out to see a line of guys at the urinals. I thought about what Justin and I had seen Sean do when we were in New Orleans. At the time I thought it was pretty cheap of Sean to do, but he was a young kid, and I knew he wasn't getting any, otherwise. At least he and the other boy had made eye contact while the band was playing on that club’s patio, and they waved to each other when the other boy left. Maybe my sex drive wasn't as strong as other guys', but I wouldn't have done that even if I wasn't in love with Tim Murphy. I just wouldn't. I thought about what had happened in that restroom off and on all day. I felt like I wanted to talk about it with Kevin and Rick, and I brought it up that night while we were having our snack. I told them what had gone down. "It sounds like you handled it the right way," Kevin said. "Yeah, but why would somebody do something like that?" I asked. I looked at Sean, and he had a painful look on his face. I winked at him to let him know I wasn't going to say anything about what Justin and I had seen in New Orleans. He smiled a little bit and relaxed. "He wanted to give somebody a blowjob. Haven't you ever wanted to give somebody a blowjob?" Justin asked. I knew he was teasing me, but I wasn't in the mood to be teased about that. "Of course, but as part of making love. I've never felt like I wanted to give a blowjob to some total stranger whose face I hadn't even seen," I said. "Don't get mad, Kyle. I was teasing you, Bubba," Justin said. "I know. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at that guy, though," I said. "That was scary and humiliating." "I'm sorry it happened to you, Bubba," Kevin said, "and it's definitely something we need to talk about. I've come across a few things on the Internet about it. There are restrooms where guys hook up for sex all over the place. They're called Tearooms." "I know about those," Justin said, sort of a sad tone in his voice. "Did he make you do those, Jus?" Rick said, all kind and tender like. "Yeah," Jus said, barely above a whisper. "I fucking hated it, too." Denny, Murray, and Sean perked up. They didn't know about Justin's past. "Tearooms are somewhat controversial in the gay community," Kevin said. "Some people believe they are central to gay culture all over the world. Not just Tearooms, but meetings in parks or other public places. Usually it's just for oral sex or masturbation. Some 'Queer Theory' experts claim that anonymous public sex is essential for us to assert our right to be gay. They claim that sex in bath houses and sex clubs and truck stops and Interstate rest areas reminds the straight community that we are here and won't go away." He definitely had our attention. "They call people like us 'assimilationists,' meaning we just want to fit right into the straight population and lose the 'differentness' of being gay. They would definitely not like the fact that we live in what is basically a straight neighborhood and that there isn't some kind of gay symbol on our house or cars. As I understand it, they believe homosexuality is a gift to the human family because it reminds people of diversity and the uniqueness of individuals. We're kind of like a witness to the fact that everybody doesn't conform to the mass stereotypes of straight society," Kevin said. "I think we're just about as out as we can be, Kevin, short of flying one of those rainbow flags in the front yard," I said. "We are out, but we're accepted as ordinary guys, even though we're gay," Kevin said. "Now and then some prick gets pushy, but that's the exception, not the rule. Kyle, you were president of your school last year, and you've got a big job in your fraternity this year. Tim's president of the Science Club. You guys are leaders, and everybody knows you're gay. Brian, you could damn sure be a leader, too, if you wanted to be, but I know you don't want to be. And we respect that, Bri. But, see, we're assimilated." "I'm sorry, Kevin, but I don't get the connection between us being leaders and fitting in, and some guy wanting to suck me off in the men's room while I'm taking a shit," I said. "It probably smelled real sexy to him," Justin said. That made everybody laugh. "Well, what I said was just the theory that some guys believe. What Justin said before might have been the case. He might have just wanted to get off by giving some guy, probably a straight guy, a blowjob," Kevin said. "I don't get how bathroom sex would make gays more visible and less assimilated," Tim said. "Look at it this way, Tim. What if Kyle had been a straight guy on that toilet? Even if he hadn't accepted the blowjob, do you think he could have just walked out of there without thinking about what it might have been like? Every guy wants to experience oral sex. Many straight guys do, but many don't, too. And if he was straight and had gone through with it, he would have had a whole different attitude about man-to-man sex, don't you think?" Kevin said. "Yeah, I guess so, when you put it that way," Tim said. "And we don't know that the guy was gay. He might have been questioning or curious, testing out his own sexuality," Kevin said. "There's a lot more to this than I thought. That's why I wanted to talk about it," I said. "I have to admit. It fucked up my day." "I'm sure it did, Bubba," Kevin said. "Are you getting all right about it?" "Yeah, now I am," I said. "Was it an old guy or a young guy?" Justin asked. "I didn't see his face, but his voice sounded young, like college age or something," I said. "I've read that some younger guys go through a 'slut' stage. They want all the sex they can get, shortly after they accept themselves as gay, and they don't care if the other guy is somebody they care about or even know. In some places they have these holes in the partitions between toilet stalls. Those are called Glory Holes, and guys stick their dicks through them for a guy in the next stall to suck or jerk off. Sometimes guys put their asses up to them to get fucked," Rick said. "I've seen one of those Glory Holes," I said. "I've seen them, too," Justin said. "Was there one in that stall this morning?" Rick asked. "No. The thing was metal," I said. "The one I saw was in New Orleans, only I didn't know that's what it was." "Well, that's probably what it was," Rick said. "Rick and I don't lecture much about sex, but this is a good time to talk about this. One of you might one day find yourself in the same situation Kyle found himself in today. There are at least three good reasons why doing Tearoom sex is very dangerous. First, it can get you arrested, and you'll be a sex offender for the rest of your life. You'll have to register with the police wherever you go, and in Florida your name, address, and picture will be put on a Web site. You don't want that," Kevin said. "Damn, that's pretty harsh for a blowjob," Justin said. "It might be, but it's the law. Second, the guy in the next stall might be a gay basher looking for somebody to beat up. I read about one situation where a guy stuck his dick through a Glory Hole for a blowjob, and the other guy grabbed his dick, pulled out a lighter, and burned his dick severely. Not to mention the possibility of getting beaten up afterward." "That hurts just to think about it," Brian said. "Third, you have no idea of the health of the guy on the other side of that partition. He might have AIDS or some other sexually transmitted disease that he'll expose you to. That's an incredible risk for just an orgasm, guys," Kevin said. Everybody was very quiet. I looked at Sean, and I could tell he was soaking it all in. That was the first time since he had been there that we had had a talk about being gay or about sex, and I knew it was having an effect on him. "I guess the moral of this story is, 'shit at home,'" I said. They laughed. "Have you got any of that Tick Supreme made up?" Justin asked. "Yeah. There's a big jar of it. Go get it. I'm still hungry, too," I said. "This was a good talk," Sean said. "I've got homework, though. Thanks, guys." "Night, Sean. We love you, Bubba," Kevin said. The rest of us told him good night, and Denny and Murray, too. I noticed those two paid good attention during that talk, even though they didn't say anything. Sean was the one who needed it the most, though. "Were you scared to death, Babe?" Tim asked me. "I wasn't exactly scared. I mean, I was, but it was just so strange. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before," I said. "I didn't know whether to shit or wind my watch." "You figured out what to do, though, right? You did shit, didn't you?" Justin asked. We laughed. "Jus, you've been pretty funny tonight, and we appreciate that. But you also said Buel made you do that. Do you need to talk about that, Bubba?" Kevin asked. "Naw. I'm okay about that," he said. "I've got my family, now." Damn! I wanted so bad for him to have the money I was going to give him so he could say, "Fuck it all! I'm rich, and I don't give a shit!" I loved that boy like I had loved my own brother, and I hated it that I couldn't make him independent yet. Or even tell him about it. Damn.
I listened to Kyle's story about getting propositioned in the restroom at college, and I wondered if that was true. I mean, I wondered if that had really happened the way he said it did or if he was really talking in a disguised way about what I had done in New Orleans. I had thought a lot since that night about what had happened. Sometimes it made me hard, and I jerked off thinking about it. Sometimes it made me feel like a fool for doing it. I noticed that boy in that club place as soon as we sat down. He was gorgeous, and his hair was really nice. So were his clothes. It was hard to tell how old he was, but he was drinking a beer. In Virginia you have to be twenty-one to drink, and I figured it was the same in Louisiana. Kyle and Justin had liquor drinks, but Craig had ordered them. Anyway, he was twenty or twenty-one. Somewhere in that age range. I noticed him looking at me, and I kept looking at him, too. He smiled a little at me, and I smiled back. I started getting hard, but not all the way. We kept that up for a while, and he kept darting his eye over to the building where the restroom was and then staring back at me. It was like he was trying to communicate that he wanted me to meet him in the restroom. One time it looked like he started to get up, and he cocked his head in the direction of the restroom when he did that. I excused myself from the table, and I saw him out of the corner of my eye get up at the same time I did. I got to the restroom just before he did. It smelled sort of bad, and there wasn't much light in there. There was another guy in there using the urinal, but he finished and left before I could even take out my dick to pee. I took it out, and I was pretty stiff. The other guy took his out, too, and he was hard as well. He reached over and touched mine. That made me let out a little sigh. He took me by the hand and led me back to a stall. Our dicks were still out, and they rubbed together when he pulled me in to kiss me. We kissed for a little while. He unbuttoned a couple of buttons on my shirt and played with my nipples. That drove me wild, and I almost came from him doing that and from the friction on my dick from his dick. He sat down on the toilet without dropping his pants. He pulled me in front of him and took my dick into his mouth. He sucked it and ran his tongue around the head. I had never felt anything that good in my life. I heard two people come into the restroom, and I heard some mumbling. I couldn't understand what they said, and I didn't even recognize the voices. One of the guys farted. The guy was still working on my dick. He'd get me ready to shoot, and then he'd pull off me for a few seconds, and I'd calm down a little. He did that several times. Right before I came, I thought I heard somebody whisper my name, but if someone did, he didn't say anything when I asked "what?" I shot off, and the guy did, too, all over the floor. Some of his even got on my leg. We cleaned ourselves up and got out of there. We never said a word to each other. Walking to the coffee shop after we left the club, Kyle and Justin asked me if I had had a good time. I made some lame-ass comment about enjoying the music. Then I realized they knew what I had done. They told me they figured something was up between me and that guy, and they wanted to be there to help me out if I needed it. They said they would never tell, and they hadn't. After that talk in the den about what had happened to Kyle that day, I couldn't stop thinking about what I had done. It wasn't quite the same thing, but it was pretty close. I had a little homework to do after the talk, but not much. I did my math homework that I had started, and almost finished, in class, and then I tried to read a book I had to read for English. I couldn't keep my mind on it, though. I decided I wanted to talk to Kyle and Justin. I went down to Kyle and Tim's room, and tapped on the door. "Come in," Tim said. I opened the door, and he was in there by himself. "Where's Kyle?" I asked. "I think he and Jus are in the clubhouse shooting pool or something," Tim said. "Okay. Thanks," I said. I went downstairs and peeked into the den. Kevin and Rick were in there watching TV, but it looked like Rick was asleep in Kevin's arms. I didn't go in there or speak to them. I went outside through the kitchen and walked over to the clubhouse. Kyle and Justin were in there, and they were shooting pool. "Hi," I said when I walked in. "Hey, Bubba. You want to shoot pool with us?" Justin asked. "No, but can I talk to you guys for a few minutes?" I asked. "Sure," they both said. We sat down. "What's on your mind?" Kyle asked. "Did that story you told about this morning really happen to you?" I asked Kyle. "Yeah. What makes you think it didn't?" he asked. "I thought it might be your way of bringing up what happened last Friday night to me in New Orleans," I said. "No, we're never going to say anything to anybody about that," Kyle said. "We told you that." "I know, and thanks. Do Tim and Brian know about it?" I asked. "Tim doesn't," Kyle said. "Brian, either. We said we wouldn't tell," Justin said. "I know, but they're your partners and all," I said. "We pretty much tell them everything, unless we say we're not going to," Kyle said. "You just have to trust us on that." "I know. I do," I said. "Do you think I should tell Kevin and Rick about what happened?" "I don't. It ain't none of their business," Justin said. "Why would you want to tell 'em?" Kyle asked. "Are you ashamed of what happened?" "No, not ashamed, exactly. I don't know how I feel," I said. "How long have you been out?" Kyle asked. "Just since June," I said. "Not very long." "Did you have a boyfriend back home?" he asked. "I dated a guy for about a month. Then my parents broke it off right after the Fourth of July," I said. "I would never ask you this in front of Kevin and Rick, or other grown-ups, but did you and your boyfriend have sex?" Kyle asked. "See, that's another thing. I don't know if what we did was really having sex or not. We kissed and cuddled and made out, and twice he touched my penis through my shorts. That made me shoot both times," I said. "We consider that having sex," Kyle said. "You're fifteen, right?" "Right," I said. "Sex is brand new to you, and you're just exploring what the possibilities are. I don't think that what you did was all that bad. It was dangerous for the reasons Kevin said in there tonight, but you ain't going to hell for it or anything like that," Kyle said. "I guess maybe the danger might even make it more fun." "You could have gotten caught," Justin said. "We did get caught," I said. "I meant by the law. Kyle and I were there for the sole purpose of protecting you, if you needed it," Justin said. "You got to believe that, now." "I do believe that, and I appreciate that you cared enough about me to do it," I said. "I will say this. Be very careful if you do that again," Kyle said. "If you got arrested or got beat up, Kevin and Rick would have the monster fit of all times. I mean that." "I won't be doing that again. I'm just so horny, though," I said. "We sure understand that, Bubba," Kyle said. "What about that Milligan guy? Have you started talking to him?" "No, but I want to. I talk to him in class, and he is so nice," I said. "Invite him over to swim or hang out or something," Kyle said. "Do you think that would be all right?" I asked. "Of course. This is your home. If you can't have friends in your own home, where can you have 'em?" Kyle said. "You know we're going to be nice to him. Ask him out on a date. Does he know you're gay?" "I haven't said anything about that to him," I said. "There are a couple of other guys that I'm pretty sure are gay, too, that I've met." "You need to get you a social life," Justin said. "I know it's hard when you can't drive, but we'll take you out. Hell, we'll double date with you. Triple date. Quadruple date. We do that all the time with our friends, gay and straight." "Why don't you invite somebody to go out to a movie Friday night?" Kyle asked. "Friday night's a football game," I said. "Perfect. Invite your friend to go to the game with you. We'll pick him up if he can't drive," Kyle said. "We'll go out and get something to eat after the game. That's a pretty nice date." "Should I buy his ticket?" I asked. "Naw. I'd make it strictly dutch treat, don't you think, Bubba?" Kyle asked Justin. "Yeah. That's the best. See if you like him before you start spending money on him," he said. "Should I kiss him goodnight?" I asked. "Well, I kissed Tim on our first date, but I knew him pretty good by then," Kyle said. "I'd play that one by ear. Who knows? He might kiss you before you get a chance to kiss him." "You can also invite him over here, you know. Like we were talking about before. After school, even," Jus said. "Ask him to swim or shoot pool or something. Does he like to do 'guy' things like that?" "There's more than one I'm interested in. David Milligan is one, but there's also Matt Hernandez and Scott Michaels. Scott's the hottest one of the three, and I'm pretty sure he's gay," I said. "Is he in Drama Club?" Kyle asked. "Yeah," I said. "I know him, too. Yeah, you're right. I'm pretty sure he's gay, too. I don't think he has a single guy friend, but the girls are all over him. At least they were last year when he was a freshman," Kyle said. "I'm going to start staying at school for lunch, at least most days. I love having lunch with the family, and all, but that's about the only time I have to talk to people," I said. "You might want to get into Drama Club or the Debate Team. For some reason, those two clubs seem to appeal to gay guys. Those two, and band and chorus. I should know about Drama Club," Kyle said. "Were you in that?" I asked. "Hell, this boy played the lead in the musical last year. It was Grease, and he was Danny Zuko," Justin said. "Brian and I went to every show. So did Tim, of course." "Cool," I said. "I've never been in a play." "It's probably too late to be in the first play of the year. They do four a year, two each semester, and the last one is always a musical. They usually do one by Shakespeare, too," Kyle said. "That's when you get to see the boys in tights so you can check out their equipment." I chuckled. "Hopefully, if everything works out for me, I'm going to have to ask you guys for advice about sex pretty soon," I said. "Any time, Bubba," Justin said. * * * Scott Michaels was in the class I had right before lunch, and I made it a point of walking to the cafeteria with him the next day. We both had our backpacks and would have to go to our lockers after we ate. I was talking to Scott as we went through the line, so it was natural for me to take a seat at his table when he sat down. We weren't there long when two girls joined us. I didn't know either one of them, but Scott introduced me. "We're his two hags," one girl, Colleen, said. Scott blushed when she said that, and I couldn't figure out why. We made small talk about classes and the Drama Club and whatnot. They told me what I had to do to join Drama Club, and I was glad it didn't involve an audition or anything. "Do you guys like to shoot pool?" I asked. I really didn't want to invite the girls over, but it would have been rude not to. "God, no," Colleen said. "I'm a total klutz with a pool stick." Jenny, the other girl, agreed with Colleen. "What about you, Scott?" I asked. "He's a cutie, Scott," Colleen said. "I'd say 'yes,' if I were you." Scott blushed so hard that time he looked sunburned. "Shut up, Colleen," Scott said. "He's going to think I'm gay or something." "It wouldn't matter to me one bit if you were gay," I said. It would matter a hell of a lot if you turn out not to be, though, I thought. "See," Colleen said. "Baby, you're out to half the people on campus. People in this school don't care, Scottie." "I know," Scott said. He seemed uncomfortable. "Sean, I'm gay." "Me, too," I said. Scott's eyes got as big around as saucers. It was pretty clear he didn't know what to say. We had finished eating by then, and I wanted a cigarette pretty badly. One of the advantages of going off campus for lunch, apart from the much better food, was that you could smoke. "I wish you could smoke around here," I said. "Oh, but you can, my dear," Jenny said. "Come with us. We'll show you where." "It's not against the rules to smoke on campus?" I asked. "It's not just against the rules. It's against the fucking state law. But that doesn't stop us, or a bunch of other people, either," Jenny said. They led me outside and clear to the back of the school property where the stadium was. There were about twenty other people out there, and every one of them was smoking. Both girls and Scott lit up, and I did, too. "I didn't know about this. I've been going off campus for lunch, and I always smoke on the way back to school," I said. "Well, now you know," Colleen said. "Every now and then there's a raid, but it doesn't happen very often. We just drop them and haul ass. One of the deans rides out here on his little golf cart, and we can see him coming for a long way. To tell you the truth, I think he comes back here to smoke, too." "Interesting," I said. "I was in his office one time to appeal an unexcused absence. He opened his desk drawer to get a pen or something, and he must have had fifty packs of cigarettes he had confiscated from kids," Scott said. "I'm sure he never has to buy his own." "Another rule that is flagrantly violated is the one about no cell phones on campus. Actually, you can have a cell phone to use outside of school hours, but it has to be turned off during the school day. Nobody does it, though. We just set them to vibrate instead of to ring," Jenny said. "She loves it when her phone vibrates," Colleen said. We laughed; even Jenny. "Like you don't, bitch," Jenny said. Walking back to the building, I asked Scott if he wanted to come over to hang out that afternoon. He said he did. He whipped out his cell phone, dialed a number, and left a message for his parents, I guess, that he had something to do that day after school, so he wouldn't ride the bus home. "You ride the bus home?" I asked. "God, yes. The cheese wagon. I hate it, too," he said. "How do you get home?" "I ride with my brother," I said. "Who's your brother?" Colleen asked. "Well, he's not my real brother. He's just my honorary brother. Tim Murphy. He's a senior," I said. "Oh, I know Tim. He's Kyle Goodson's boyfriend, isn't he? What a waste it is that those two are gay," Colleen said. "Not necessarily," Scott said, and we all laughed. That was about the best fifty-minute lunch period I had ever had. I had made three new friends, I had come out to them, and I had found out where I could smoke on campus. That was quite a lot for one day. * * * I told Scott where to meet me at the end of the day. We only had one more class before it was time to go home, and he and I didn't have that class together. "Tim, can we squeeze one more person in?" I asked. "Sure. It's just you and me today, anyway. Denny and Murray have debate practice this afternoon, or a meeting or something. They're going to call me when they're finished," Tim said. "Tim, this is Scott Michaels. Scott, this is Tim Murphy," I said. They shook hands, and Scott checked Tim out. If Tim checked Scott out, he wasn't obvious about it. "We're going to hang out at home, maybe shoot some pool," I said. "You want to hang with us?" "Thanks," Tim said, "but I'm going to get started on my homework. I've got a ton of it." I could tell Scott was impressed with the house when we got out of Tim's car and went inside. The doggies greeted us with a lot of energy, as they always did, and Scott seemed to like them. "You want a snack or something?" I asked Scott. "Yeah. What are you having?" "I don't know. Let's see what we've got." There was part of a chocolate cake on the counter in one of those glass cake plates with a domed cover. "How about some of this and some milk?" I asked. "That would be great," he said. We got nice hunks of cake and glasses of ice cold milk, and we sat at the breakfast room table to have our snacks. "I'm a little bit confused about this place," he said. I chuckled. "It's basically an all-gay residence. There are ten of us who live here. Kevin Foley and Rick Mashburn are a married gay couple, and they take in gay foster kids. I'm one, and there are three more. Tim, the guy that brought us home, isn't a foster kid, but he once was, while his dad was at war, or something like that. His boyfriend, Kyle Goodson, lives here, too, but both Tim and Kyle have parents, who also live in town. Well, Kyle's parents live in Destin, now, but Kyle's eighteen. He actually has his own condo that is his official residence, but he really lives here," I said. "There's another guy, Ken, who's just here temporarily. Ken's a grown-up, though." "An all-gay household? Wow!" Scott said. "Are you from here?" I explained how I got there, and I think that blew his mind a little bit. "Let's go put our stuff up in my room. They don't like us leaving our things lying around," I said. "This is a big room, and this is a hell of an entertainment center," he said. "It's cool. I wish I could be in foster care here." I chuckled. God, the boy was cute! "I was totally surprised when I got here and saw all this stuff. The rooms on the second floor each have private bathrooms. I have to share the one up here with Ken, the temporary guy I was telling you about," I said. "I'm not complaining, though." "I wouldn't either," he said. "What's your family like?" I asked. "It's really just me and my mom. I have an older sister, but she's married and lives in Nashville. Her husband is from there. They have a little boy, and she's going to have another baby boy in a few months," he said. "Oh, so you're an uncle," I said. "Yep. I love my nephew, too. He's incredibly cute," he said. "Do you ever see your dad?" I asked. "No. My parents aren't divorced. My dad is dead," he said. "Yikes! I'm sorry, man," I said. "Thanks, but he was killed in an industrial accident about ten years ago. He was the manager of a factory that manufactured pipe for oil wells, and somehow a load of very heavy steel pipe crashed down on him. I barely remember him," he said. "Does your mom work?" I asked. "Yeah. She's a nurse practitioner with a group of doctors," he said. Scott and I never made it out to the clubhouse to shoot pool that afternoon. I learned that he's out to his mom, sister, brother-in-law, and all the rest of his close relatives. His mom doesn’t officially know that he smokes, and she takes a very dim view of smoking. Sounds like my parents. He is fifteen, just like I am, and he figured out that he is gay when he was twelve. He has never had a boyfriend, and he has never had sex. "Would you like to have sex?" I asked. "Now?" I burst out laughing, and he laughed, too. "No, not now. I mean, just in general. Someday," I said. "Well, sure. I mean, I guess I would. Someday. With the right guy," he said. He asked me if I had had sex, and I lied and told him I hadn't. "Do the other guys here have sex, do you think?" he asked. "Kevin and Rick, Kyle and Tim, and Justin and Brian do. They're couples who have been together forever. Denny has a boyfriend of sorts, when they're not fighting, but I don't know what they do. I'm pretty sure Murray has never had sex. Ken is dating someone, but I don't know if they have sex. So, I guess the answer is, yes and no. Some do, and some don't." Scott's cell phone rang, and he answered it. "Oh, hi, Mom," he said. Pause. "No, I didn't realize it was that late," he said. I checked my watch, and it was 6:15. Damn, it seemed like we had just gotten home. "I'll just walk home," he said. Pause. "I've got a new friend," he said, looking at me and smiling. Pause. "No, he's a guy." Pause. "No, just a friend, Mom. Jeeze!" Pause. "Okay. I love you, too. I'll see you in a little bit. Bye." "I didn't realize it was as late as it is," I said. "I didn't either," he said. "I've had a great time this afternoon. Do you want to come over again tomorrow?" "Me, too. Yeah, I do want to come over," he said. "Cool," I said. He got this really thoughtful look on his face. "Sean, I don't have very many guy friends. Even though I'm gay, I feel awkward around guys. I never know what to say. I'm sort of intimidated by guys. But you're not like that," he said. "Same here. I feel like I've known you a long time, Scott," I said. "Me, too. Thanks for . . . " "Thank you, too," I said. We went down to the first floor, and everybody was in the den eating sandwiches and bowls of soup. I took him in there. "Hey, Bubba," Justin said right away. "Y'all get some of this food. This soup is out of this world." "Everybody, this is Scott Michaels," I said. "How you doing, Scott? Do you remember me? I'm Kyle Goodson." "Hi, Kyle. Of course I remember you. I'm surprised you remember me," Scott said. "Why would you be surprised about that?" Kyle asked. "Well, I was a freshman, and you were a senior. And you were a big . . . star, and everything," Scott said. "Shit," Kyle said, and he chuckled. I introduced everybody else. "Get you some sandwiches and a bowl of soup. This soup is outstanding. It's oyster-artichoke, and I got it from Publix," Kyle said. "Are you hungry?" I asked Scott. "Yeah," he said, so we got some food. After we ate, Scott said he had to go. "I didn't notice your car out there," Kyle said. "What are you driving?" "I'm not," Scott said. "I'm walking home." "No way, man. Come on, I'll take you," Kyle said. "I did the food. The rest of y'all do the clean up." "Aye, aye, Capt'n," Justin said. "I'm checking when I get back. If it ain't done right, you're going to be swabbing the deck with your pubic hair," Kyle said. Scott looked at me like he was a little shocked at what Kyle had said, but I just shrugged. "Kyle, get out of here," Justin said. "He's a cutie," Kyle said on the way back from dropping Scott off, "and he's family, too, ain't he?" "Family?" "He's gay, ain't he? That's what 'family' means," he said. "Yeah," I said. "I think he was out to everybody in the Drama Club by the end of last year, and I suspect he's pretty much out to everybody at school by now," he said. "That's a very tolerant school, isn't it?" I said. "Yeah, I'd say it is, but the real beach part of Emerald Beach is pretty tolerant in general. They ain't as tolerant in town, east of the bridge," he said. "How many people would you say are out at school?" I asked. "I don't know. Sixty, seventy. Something like that," he said. "Are any of the teachers gay?" I asked. "I know one who is. A math teacher by the name of Mr. Mike Lawley. He's the best teacher I ever had, and he's also a friend of ours. His partner is Pat Taylor, Father Jerry's brother. I've got my suspicions about a few other teachers, too," Kyle said. "Like who?" I asked. "I'm not saying," he said. "I don't want to spread any rumors." "You guys are incredible," I said. "Naw, you can believe us," he said, and he and I laughed at his pun. |