This story contains some explicit scenes of erotic love between males. If you are under age, or live in an area where reading stories that include sex between males is illegal, or if you're not into this type of story, please leave. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at NJMcMick@yahoo.com.
The story is set in the fictional city of Trenton, New Jersey. Yes, there is a real city by that name, but other than being a state capital on the Delaware River, it bears little resemblance to the city in this story. While a few of the places mentioned may exist in reality, all of the characters and events are fictitious.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Marcus and I went back to the rooming house and spent most of the rest of the afternoon in bed, catching up on some of what we'd missed since the holidays. When he came over on Saturday afternoon we ended up in bed again. As much as I loved his body and wanted to make love with him, I had been hoping to spend more out-of-bed time getting to know one another better. But I didn't object when he started making out with me. Or did I start making out with him? It didn't matter; neither one of us objected.
Afterwards, I had dozed off in Marcus' arms when a knock on the door woke me up. From the groggy, lost look on his face it was clear he'd been sleeping as well. I got out of bed and opened the door a crack, standing behind it to hide my naked body from whoever it was. It was Manny, and when he realized I was hiding from him he pushed the door wide open.
"It's a little late to be getting modest now, babe." His eyes were glued to me as the door swung open but then he looked over at the bed and saw Marcus lying there naked. Marcus grabbed the sheet and pulled it over himself. "Oops, I didn't realize you were having a little afternoon delight. It looks like your vow of celibacy didn't last long."
I closed the door and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waist. "I don't think you two guys have met. Marcus, this is my friend Manny. Manny, this is Marcus."
The two of them stared at each other for a long minute. Finally Manny walked over to the bed holding out his right hand.
"Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you, not all of it good. You'd better not be fucking with my buddy's head or heart."
Marcus quickly glanced up at me before reaching out and shaking Manny's hand. "I've heard quite a bit about you, too, most of it good. Miah says you're a good friend but you don't have to worry about me hurting him."
Manny raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. "Miah? I thought your professional name was Coy."
"Professional? What's that about?"
"It's along story, Marcus. I'll tell you later." I turned to Manny. "Marcus and I were just taking a nap. How about the three of us do something tonight and you guys can get to know one another a little?"
"Sure, babe. How about Buddies?"
"Sounds good to me." I looked at Marcus. "What do you say?"
"Sure, that could be fun. My parents expect me for dinner tonight but I can come back later."
"Great, let's all meet here at eleven, then." I nudged Manny toward the door. After he'd gone I crawled back into bed and lay down on my side with Marcus spooning me.
"I don't think your friend liked me. What have you been telling him about me?"
"Nothing but the truth."
"Shit! No wonder he looked at me that way. I hope you haven't been telling all your friends about me or I'll have an uphill battle trying to win them over."
"Just Norman, and I've told him the good as well as the bad. Plus, he knows your father so he'll probably cut you some slack. And I'm sure Manny will love you when he gets to know you."
"That may take a while, with him knowing how I've been acting the last few months before even meeting me. I feel like an ass."
"What a coincidence. I've got an ass you might be interested in." I wiggled my butt back into his half-hard dick and felt it grow as I did.
"Might be interested? You know you've got my attention."
And so we made love again. I made a silent promise to myself that once we'd worn our dicks off we'd stop with all the sex and spend some time together doing other things. It didn't take such extreme maiming to get us to calm down, however. Saturday night we went to Buddies with Manny and had a good time, although the two of them were a bit stiff around each other. On Sunday, Marcus drove us up to New Hope for brunch at The Raven and we spent the rest of the day wandering around town. We went to a movie in the evening and then he had to get home. His summer job with the county road department started in the morning. We'd managed to get through an entire day without sex and, as much as I loved the sex, being able to enjoy that much time with him out of bed was wonderful, too.
Monday afternoon I went through the mail basket on the table downstairs and there was an envelope for me with the return address of Mercer County Community College. I didn't even wait until I got up to my room; I just tore it open in the hall. It was short and to the point. I'd passed the GED exam and my certificate would be mailed to me in two to four weeks. I'd done it! I was a high school graduate, or the equivalent of one, anyhow. I ran upstairs and called Norman. I was going to his place for dinner in a couple of hours but I couldn't wait.
"I couldn't be happier, Jerry, and I'm so proud of you. I'm going to call Isabel right away so she can get your paperwork started for college in the fall."
"That'd be great, Norman. You can't believe how good this makes me feel about myself. I really didn't like being a dropout."
"I know you didn't, and I can understand how good you feel. You've done something very positive that will help you the rest of your life. You should be proud of yourself."
I was proud of myself. Although I hadn't thought the test itself was very difficult, I'd worked plenty hard studying for the past several months.
When I got to Norman's a little later he had a surprise for me. He wanted to have a little party to celebrate. Nothing big or fancy, just a gathering of my friends. We decided to make it a cookout the next Sunday afternoon. That put it in the middle of Memorial Day weekend but hopefully no one would have other plans. It wasn't like I had a lot of friends, anyway. I gave Norman my cell phone and he went through the phone book, asking me who people were and jotting down names and numbers. He insisted that he would take care of everything; all I had to do was show up on time.
Tuesday morning when I called Nancy to check in I told her about passing the exam. She congratulated me and transferred me to Patrick, I assumed so he could congratulate me as well, but he had something else on his mind.
"That's great news, Coy. I still can't believe you're as young as you are, but I'm glad that you're at least done with high school now. What I wanted to talk to you about is your living arrangements."
"My living arrangements? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, when you were here you said you had no interest in returning to Chester and that you wanted to stay in Trenton, that your life was there now. I asked you to think about it so you'd be sure that was what you wanted."
"There really isn't much to think about where that's concerned. My life is here and so's nearly everybody I know. In fact, I was just talking to my friend Manny the other day about maybe looking for an apartment with him later this summer."
"I was thinking about something like that myself, although your friend Manny wasn't in the picture as far as I knew. How about I come up there later in the week and help you look around?"
"At apartments? Um, I'm not really ready to start looking yet. I've got a little money set aside but nowhere near enough. And Manny's not sure he's got a job yet, so we were going to wait a while."
"We'll have to talk about where this Manny fits in, but I see no reason for you to wait. There's enough income in your trust fund to pay for an apartment so you don't have to live in a rooming house any longer, unless you want to stay there, that is."
"No, I do want a real home, I'm just a little surprised. I had the feeling I wouldn't be getting money from the estate for a long time."
"The principal of the trust, even the direct income, won't be yours for several years, but I told you I could disperse money from the income at my discretion. I'm glad to see you're trying to make it on your own, but the trust fund can help you out a little here and there."
"So I can get an apartment then?"
"Sure, if we find one you like. I was thinking of calling a realtor to show us around. Would you prefer Trenton itself or maybe the suburbs?"
"I'd rather stay in the same neighborhood I'm in now. That's where everything I know is. Besides, I'd need a car if I was in the suburbs. Unless you're gonna buy me a car, too?" What the hell, as long as he was in the mood to spend money on me, why not go for it?
"One thing at a time, Coy. Or would you rather I called you Jerry now?"
"It doesn't matter, whatever you're more comfortable with. I'll answer to just about anything."
"So when do you have a day free to look at apartments?"
"Thursday or Friday are both okay, but I have to work in the evening both days."
"That's all right. I'll check with the realtor and get back to you."
He called back a while later and said he'd be at the rooming house at eight Friday morning so we could have breakfast together. I bought the newspaper the rest of the week to look at the classified ads, trying to get an idea what was out there. I knew this realtor he'd lined up would show us, but I wanted to know what to expect.
Over breakfast at the diner Patrick filled me in on what he'd been thinking.
"We're going to be looking at condos today, not apartments, Coy. I figure if you're going to be here for at least the four years it'll take to get through college it's better to own than rent."
"But I definitely can't afford a condo. Aren't they a lot of money? And don't you need a down payment and even then you have to get a mortgage, something I'd never qualify for? I'm only seventeen and I just work part-time."
"A condo is just an apartment that you own instead of rent. And you can afford it, at least the trust fund can. You've said that you didn't have any interest in the house in Chester and that you were uncomfortable being your stepfather's landlord, so I've decided to sell it, if you have no objections, that is. Do you want to keep the house?"
"No, I have some really good memories of growing up there, but they're with me no matter where I am. The recent memories were all bad and I'd just as soon not be reminded of them."
"Okay, then, we can put it on the market right away and use the money from the house to buy a condo. When what you want is a place to live here, it makes no sense for you to own two apartments fifty miles away. I was originally thinking of a one-bedroom place, but if you want to live with this friend of yours, a two-bedroom condo would be good. You wouldn't have a mortgage so the rent he pays you would cover the taxes, maintenance and utilities."
"I'd be charging Manny rent?"
"Well, sure. He's paying rent now to live in the rooming house and instead he'd be sharing a nice condo, which would be a much better situation for him, so he should have to pay something. We're not talking about ripping him off, just charging a fair price for what he'd be getting. So is this Manny a friend or a boyfriend?"
"Just a friend, although the word 'just' makes him sound like less than he is. He's my best friend."
"Tell me about him. I don't think I remember you mentioning his name when we were dating."
I really wanted to talk about the condo and not Manny, but Patrick was in his interrogating lawyer mode. I told him about meeting Manny at the rooming house, working out and fooling around with him and then his move to Houston, his return and the job at Buddies. He interrupted with a question here and there, making it sound like a real interrogation.
"It doesn't sound like his life is very stable." He made a face that indicated a verdict of disapproval.
"What, my friends have to meet your approval now? You're only the trustee for my inheritance, you're not my mother, you know." I didn't mean to sound snippy, but I was concerned that maybe Patrick thought he was going to run my life now that he was in charge of my money.
"I'm sorry, Coy. I didn't mean it that way. I'm in a difficult spot here. I'm used to managing trusts and estates, that's my job and I take it seriously. Barring unforeseen disasters, I can assure you that when you're twenty-five and the estate is turned over to you it will be quite a bit larger than it is now. But in some ways my role is a little like a parent to you as well. I want to help you as much as I can, but I don't want to spoil you, to take away your incentive to work to make your life what you want it to be. And there's also the fact that I like you an awful lot, that I want to be your friend. So I'm trying to be your financial advisor, your parent and your friend all at once. That's a complicated role and I'm doing my best."
"I'm sorry, too, Patrick. It just sounded like you were taking charge of everything and I'm used to being on my own. I've been reporting to Nancy since December but she hasn't interfered with what I do in any way, so that's what I'm used to. I guess this whole idea of a condo has thrown me, too. I was thinking we were going to be looking at some grungy old apartment over a store in downtown."
"I've been so focused on trying to decide how to best help you that I didn't realize you might look on that as interference, but I think we understand each other now. If I start to sound too pushy about something, tell me, but try to think of any advice I give as that of a friend as well as a trustee. And don't worry about the condo being more than what you were expecting. It's still just an apartment, although I hope you won't think I'm interfering if I insist on one that isn't grungy."
After breakfast Patrick drove us to the real estate office, where he introduced himself and then me to Ann Forsythe, the agent he'd spoken to on the phone. Apparently he'd previously told her we wanted to see one and two bedroom units, but before we started out he told her to skip the one bedrooms. Our first stop was what looked like a garden apartment complex in the south end of the city. These were older apartments that had recently been converted into condos. They looked a bit like what I was expecting, although I didn't like the neighborhood. It wasn't near anything in my life. The next place was a small townhouse community practically in the suburbs. The unit was much nicer but again it wasn't within walking distance of anything. We saw three more places like the first two before going back to the office at lunchtime.
"You don't seem very enthusiastic about any of the places we looked at this morning, Coy," Patrick said as we sat at Ms. Forsythe's desk.
"A couple of them were nice, but my feet are my only transportation. I was hoping to find something in my old neighborhood."
Ms. Forsythe took a map of the city out of a drawer and spread it out on her desk. "Show me where you live right now and where you spend most of your time."
It took me a minute to get oriented, but then I pointed out the rooming house, Minho, Norman's house, the homeless shelter, the library and the college, even Buddies, although I didn't go there all that much. She marked all of the locations and drew a circle including them all, then studied the map for a couple of minutes.
"Most of that area is commercial property, some retail, some offices, lots of government buildings. But there is one new place that would be perfect as far as location goes. I don't know much about it so I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for or if it's in your price range. Why don't you go to lunch while I do a little research and make a couple of phone calls? Meet me back here in an hour and I'll have some information for you."
Over lunch I apologized to Patrick. "I'm sorry I didn't like what she showed us this morning. It's not that I'm fussy, but the one place with the best location was also the crappiest and the others were too far away from my life."
"It's okay to be fussy, Coy, this is your home we're talking about. I don't want you to pick just any place to make someone else happy. You have to like it and want to live there."
"What do you think she's going to show us this afternoon?"
"I don't know but if it isn't right, say so. At least she knows the area you want to be in now. Not to change the subject, but I made a note of the location of your friend Norman's house when we were looking at the map so I have an idea where I'm going on Sunday."
"Sunday? You're coming to the cookout?"
"Of course, you think I'd miss your party? How come you didn't mention it to me?"
"Norman said he was going to invite people and since it's his house I didn't think it was my place to ask anyone else."
"Well, he called me and I will definitely be there. Will I meet the famous Manny there?"
"Yeah, but don't start cross-examining him," I warned.
When we met up with Ms. Forsythe again she drove us to an area just north of where I lived. It was a small industrial neighborhood on the edge of downtown, only a few blocks from the riverside park. Just beyond it was an older residential area. The block she parked on had small stores along one side of the street and two large old brick factory buildings on the other. I didn't see anything that looked like condos or townhouses.
"This is it," she said, pointing at the old buildings. "These factories are being redeveloped into loft condominiums. It doesn't look like much on the outside but inside it's all new and very luxurious."
"I wouldn't know what to do with luxury. Having my own washing machine is all the luxury I want."
"Well, I'm told each unit does have it's own laundry facilities."
She led us into a small lobby. It was set up as an office and an older man got up and greeted us. Ms. Forsythe introduced us but the guy's name went out of my head as soon as I heard it. I'd been introduced to too many people for one day. As we took the elevator up to the fourth floor to the unit they had set up as a model, the salesman explained that this building was nearly finished and the second one would be done by the next spring. The elevator opened onto a short hallway with only four doors leading off it.
"Each building has five floors with four units on each. The floors are solid as are the walls between units, so you don't have to worry about noise from your neighbors."
He opened a door and stood back to let us go in first. I was shocked at the size of the room when I walked in. It was not only huge but it had high ceilings. To our left was a kitchen area, with stainless steel appliances and some kind of stone counters. To the right was a dining room area. The wall opposite us had tall windows running the length of it and that side of the room was set up at the living room, with a fireplace at one end. The furniture and curtains were fancier and frillier than I liked, but I overlooked that. I was impressed by the size of the place.
The man from the office showed us around the room, pointing out things like air-conditioning and heat vents, laundry facilities, electrical hookups and ceiling fans. He went over the features of the kitchen at great length. I wasn't paying all that much attention. I realized we were in a place way out of our price range so it wasn't a possibility, but it was fun seeing how the other half lived. The bedrooms were at opposite ends of the condo. He led us into the one at the end with the fireplace. It was a huge room as well. There was another smaller fireplace on this side of the wall, facing a king-sized bed that didn't even look big in a room that size. This room was at the corner of the building so it had windows on two sides. I looked out the windows and was surprised to see the park and the river. The buildings in between were all much shorter so from this height there was nothing to block the view.
I stared at the view for a while but then forced myself to look the rest of the place over. The bathroom had both a large stall shower and a big whirlpool tub. Next to it was a walk-in closet that was nearly as big as the room I was currently living in. If I spent a year at the mall I couldn't buy enough clothes to fill it. I followed the salesman to the other end of the condo to the second bedroom. This one was smaller, but only slightly, and had its own bathroom and walk-in closet as well, although the bathroom had a combination tub and shower and the closet was also smaller.
I wandered around the place while Patrick and Ms. Forsythe asked the salesman questions. Aside from the furnishings, I loved the look of the place. The outer walls were brick and the floors were polished hardwood. The kitchen cabinets were white with windows in the doors and I would have preferred solid wood, but other than that I had no opinion on that part of the room. Aside from dinners at Norman's, I hadn't been in a kitchen in nearly a year. I was back in the master bedroom looking out the window at the river when Patrick found me.
"Ready to leave?"
"Yeah, I suppose so." I wasn't really but I had no idea why I wanted to stay. I wasn't doing anything, just looking out the window, thinking.
As soon as we were all in the car, Patrick turned to me. "So what did you think?"
"It's gorgeous, but I'm way out of my league there. That place is for millionaires."
"Not really, Mr. Walton. It's easily the most expensive place we looked at today, but it's not unreasonable." I wondered what Ms. Forsythe thought was unreasonable for a seventeen year old. A mansion, maybe?
"Yeah, Coy, it's quite a bit above the price range I mentioned to Ms. Forsythe, but the sale of the house could still probably cover it."
"No way! You haven't seen the house in Chester. It's crap compared to this place."
"I've seen pictures and read the inspector's assessment. It's in a similar kind of neighborhood and while it's old, it has been well maintained. And there are two two-bedroom apartments in it, so what we're asking for it is quite close to what they're asking for this condo."
"Can you just see me and Manny living there surrounded by doctors and lawyers and other rich folks?"
"According to Mr. Stewart," ah, that was the salesman's name, "there are all kinds of people buying there." Ms. Forsythe turned slightly toward me and smiled. "I don't think there are any other teenage college students, but it's probably going to be a pretty diverse building."
"Forget the price and the neighbors and whether you think you'd fit in there, Coy. Did you like it? Remember, that's what's important. Looking at all of these places should be a learning experience, so you can figure out what you're looking for."
I thought about it all the way back to the real estate office. I did like the place; I liked it a lot. I didn't like the décor, but I had no imagination when it came to stuff like that. I couldn't imagine living there, though. The only homes I'd ever been in that were that nice were Norman's and Derek's. I felt comfortable in both those places, but that was probably because of their owners. I explained all of that to Patrick and Ms. Forsythe when we were back in the office, sitting at her desk.
"Was there anything you didn't like about the place?" Patrick asked.
"Not really, aside from the furnishings and the kitchen cabinets. The closets were tons bigger than I'd need but that's not something to dislike."
"Keep in mind that's all the storage space you get. It's not like a house where you have an attic or basement."
"Yeah, but all I own are my weight bench and dumbbells. I don't need much room for them."
"You wouldn't even need them. According to this, they're putting in a small gym for the residents on the ground floor, with not only exercise equipment and weights, but a sauna and steam room as well." Ms. Forsythe flipped through a large color brochure.
"Oh my God, now I know I'm in over my head. That would be fantastic, but it all sounds too silly to even think about."
"It's not really, Coy. Tell you what, why don't you take Manny over there tomorrow and have him look the place over, see what he thinks? Sometimes it's good to get a second opinion."
I laughed. "Manny'll shit in his pants when he sees that place. Oops, sorry, Ms. Forsythe. I mean, he'll probably love it but he'll think I'm some kind of rich kid if I'm considering a place like that."
"Tell him the truth, that it's just an even swap with your great-aunt's old house. If you're rich then everyone in this country who owns a house is rich, and you know that isn't true."
While Manny and I worked out the next morning I told him about how my day of apartment hunting, which he knew about, had turned into a day of condo hunting. He was concerned that I was going to move on without him, but I assured him that I still wanted to be roommates. I told him about the lousy places we'd seen in the morning and the great place we saw in the afternoon.
"So would you like to go look at it after lunch? The realtor called the salesman and told him we might come by. I want to see what you think of it."
"Yeah, sure, I don't have to be at work at Buddies until seven. Is this place close enough for me to walk to work if we live there?"
"Sure, it's probably closer to Buddies than we are now, just the other direction."
"Don't you want to take your boyfriend to see the place?"
"Yeah, but he's doing something with his father this afternoon. We're going out tonight. Besides, I'm going to be living with you, not Marcus, so it's more important that you see it."
Mr. Stewart didn't look pleased to see us. He was definitely less friendly toward me without Patrick and Ms. Forsythe being along, but he was formally polite and took us up to the condo. He didn't take his eyes off us the whole time we were there, however. Maybe he thought we were gonna steal the silverware or something. Manny's first impression was a lot like mine.
"Holy fuck! You can't be serious. This is like a penthouse."
"My sentiments exactly, but Patrick seemed to think it was only a very nice apartment, which it is. And it can't be a penthouse because there's one more floor above us."
"You know what I mean. This is awesome!"
I gave him a brief tour of the main room and then showed him what would be his room.
"Whoa! Are you sure this isn't the master bedroom? I love it!"
"They're both master bedrooms, I think, but the other one is slightly larger." I led him to the other end of the apartment and showed him 'my' room. He was most impressed by the fireplace in the room.
"I can imagine some great seduction scenes in front of this fireplace, but then, you really wouldn't need it if you got a guy this far."
"Yeah, it is kind of cool, but what I like most is the view." I went over to the window and pointed out the river. A thought occurred to me and I turned to Mr. Stewart. "Has the condo above this one been sold yet?"
He looked through the papers on his clipboard. "No, the only unit that's been sold on the fifth floor is a one-bedroom. Why?"
"I just realized that the view wouldn't be as good below here, and this unit is the model, so that only leaves the one upstairs."
"Well, it's still available. The construction crew is still working up there but they're nearly done."
"Does the top floor cost any more?"
"No, all of the two-bedroom units are the same price."
I was tempted to ask him what the price was, since Patrick and Ms. Forsythe had made a point of not mentioning it in front of me, but I decided I didn't want to know until after I'd made up my mind. It was better to take Patrick's word for it that the price wasn't too high and I could afford it.
Manny obviously liked the place. He didn't stop talking all the way back to the rooming house.
"Are you sure you're not rich, babe? I get the whole thing about selling the house to buy the condo, but man, that's one hell of a nice place."
"Yeah, I'm still pretty stunned by it, but like Patrick says, it's just a trade, basically. Other than the house there's just some investments Aunt Aggie had and some income from the family business. That's it."
"So maybe you could buy the condo with the money from the house, but how would we furnish it? In Houston Glen and I rented a furnished apartment 'cause we didn't have money to buy furniture."
"Well, I've got a thousand bucks saved up, but that probably won't go far. Maybe there will be some left over from the house. I'll have to talk to Patrick. He'll be at the cookout tomorrow, by the way. He wants to meet you."
"He's gotta check me out, right? Didn't you say he was hot? I think I know how I can get on his good side."
"No way! I don't want my roommate sleeping with my trustee. That's too complicated. Besides, he's into older guys."
"Older, like you?"
"Well, I was an exception. I was just too cute for him to resist."
"You're too cute for anyone to resist, Jerry. I hope Marcus realizes how lucky he is."
I gave Manny a sharp look. He sounded like he was jealous.
"You don't have a problem with Marcus, do you? I mean, I've noticed that the two of you haven't exactly warmed up to each other."
"No, it's cool. I know I might have sounded a little jealous there, but I'm not. I love ya, Jer, but as a friend. Okay, you're hot and I wouldn't mind makin' it with you again, but that's just physical." He sighed. "I guess I'm not putting this right. It's like you always said about knowing when you meet the right guy. I love being your friend, and I think you're totally hot, but that special something just isn't there. I think we're destined to be just buddies."
"I'm glad to hear that. I wouldn't want us to have any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. So how come you're so stiff around Marcus then?"
"Um, I think you're the one who's stiff around him, but that's probably not what you're talking about. I'm just taking my time sizing him up, Jerry. I know what he's put you through the past several months. I just want to make sure he's good enough for my buddy, that's all."
To be continued.