There's just no figuring people. When I was alone and lonely, with no friends but Dennis who was not gay, everyone figured that I was a gayboy. Now that I was with Joel, madly in love and bonking like bunnies, nobody believed that we were gay.
Joel was not gay, they knew that, (Hah!), so, by extension, I couldn't be either. We were, they thought, just friends, very good friends - bosom buddies.
Len kept his distance and kept his mouth shut about what he thought. By the way, I was surprised that his car was insured, but it was. The insurance company coughed- up and he was soon madly in love with his new car - Loser!
Joel and I were included in everything that was going on. Well, he was the Head-boy and he was popular, always had been. I was always with him so I was, kind of, popular as well.
We had sleep-overs nearly every weekend, sometimes at Joel's house but mostly at mine. He introduced me to tramping and we did a lot of that. We walked every track and climbed every hill for miles around. That was well worth it because we, mostly, went on two-day hikes and slept together in a small tent up on a mountain somewhere. Very cosy and lotsafun.
In the school holidays, we took a week to walk the Abel Tasman Track. That's an easy-graded, spectacular, walking track down along the coastline through the Abel Tasman National Park, all the way from the Wainui Inlet to Marahau. We could've done it in, maybe, 3 days, but we took it easy, took 6 days and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great!
The track was, mostly, flattish and followed along the golden-sands beaches. There were some short, sharp, climbs over the hills between the bays, but otherwise, you could do it in a wheelchair. The sea was calm and so clear that we could see fish in it when looking down from the high points on the track.
By then, in May, it was well past the peak of the summer season, and that was good. It was still not cold, winter hadn't started to bite yet, but there weren't many people about. For two nights we had the accommodation huts all to ourselves, so we could stretch out and play on bunks meant for maybe 40 or more people.
There were huts and, primitive, camping grounds in various bays along the way. Toilets were disgusting holes in the ground with wooden seats over them. At least paper was provided. Rough paper. Showers were cold water - Brrr! We were in and out of them pretty quick.
The main visitor information centre was at the National Park Headquarters at Totaranui. (A Totara is a tree, 'nui' means it's big). The camping ground there was mostly empty and it was huge! Totaranui is the only bay with road access, everywhere else you can only get to by boat or by walking and carrying everything that you need.
In the summertime they restrict the numbers of visitors because, otherwise, they'd run out of fresh water. You have to book for months in advance, it's that popular.
It's a spectacular area. I didn't know there was anything like it in New Zealand - golden sand, clear water, blue skies and lush, green bush. It looked like something in a Pacific Island paradise, which, I suppose we are really - we just don't think of it like that, it's just home to us.
Funny thing, most of the people we saw were Europeans and Asians. Where were the Kiwis? In Aussie, probably.
The other good thing about doing the walk in the off-season was that we could cook every night on driftwood fires on the beaches. You can't do that in the summertime, fires are banned then - it's way too dry.
That was a good week, one of the best weeks of my life and the best thing about it was that I was with Joel.
We suffered through winter. Hate winter! It snowed once, but it didn't last long. We tried to make a snowman but it didn't work, it was too icy. Life was good, but then, in September, it started going to hell.
We stayed at home for those holidays because Joel had to entertain his cousin. Sixteen year old, Sally Griffin was the daughter of the uncle who Joel was going to work for next year. She lived in Kaimoana, of course, and she came to stay with Joel and Uncle Dick for the holidays.
Sally was pretty cool, for a girl. I liked her. She was not the problem; the problem was the other girl who she brought with her, her friend Cynthia Lemon. "Cyn for short and Sin for sure."
Whoah! Cyn was hot. If I wasn't gay and seriously in love with my boy, even I'd be tempted, and I wasn't the only one. She was an immediate hit with all the boys around the town.
What did she look like? Think a 16 year old Paris Hilton, but without the squinty eyes. Morally, she made Paris look like an old matron. She pretty much could have had any boy she wanted, but, being a girl, she only wanted the one she couldn't have and she set out to get him - my Joel! Bitch.
She didn't fool me for a minute; I knew right away what was going on. I tried to warn him, but Joel just laughed at me.
"No worries, Virgil. I'm gay and I'm all yours. It's just the way Cyn is. She's a flirt and she does it with everyone.
She did not. She didn't do it with me, or any of the girls, just the boys and especially the best catch in town - my Joel. Dammit!
I guess he wasn't as gay as he thought he was, and he wasn't as much in love with me as I was with him, or it wouldn't have happened - but it did. On their third night there, Cynthia went into his room late at night and climbed, naked, into Joel's bed.
If it had of been me, I would've been out of there and up the road like greased lightning. But, Joel wasn't me and he didn't - he surrendered. She won and I lost. Dammit!
Being Joel, upright and honourable, he came around next morning and told me what had happened. I didn't handle it well; I was pissed and I told him so. I called him all the stupid fuckwits under the sun, and then I said that I'd forgive him, maybe, one day.
"I'm sorry, Virgil. . ."
"Sorry? Yeah, you should be. I hope you don't think that that makes it all right."
"I don't. I'm sorry, but we're over."
"We are what??"
"Over. Finished. What we had is gone. I'm sorry, Virgil, really sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."
"LIAR! You weren't thinking about me. You were just thinking with your dick! I hope you're happy with her. Make the most of it, she'll drop you as soon as someone else comes along.
"Virgil!"
"Fuck off, Stafford. I'm better off without you."
I shoved him out of my room and slammed the door in his face. He fucked off - back to her.
If ever I get another boyfriend, it's going to be a bloody ugly one. Good-looking boys are not worth it! The higher they lift you up, the further you fall. Pricks!
I didn't see Joel again. He didn't come back and I didn't go looking for him. Two days later, the girls went home to Kaimoana and he went with them. The story at school was that he had to leave because his uncle needed him to get ready for the summer season. I knew better. He just wanted to be with her. Fuck'im.
He left me a letter, but I didn't read it. Mum handed it to me and I threw it in the fire.
Mum said, "That's not nice, Virgil. Don't you want to know what he's got to say?"
"I don't. I've heard all I want to."
"You're being silly, My Son."
"I'm being me. Fuck'im anyway."
So, that was it - the end of my big romance. I wish I never loved the Prick.
Somehow, I got through the rest of the year, alone again. I guess that I always will be. Then, the week before school finished, Mum came home with big news. She'd got another job, with more pay and in a bigger school.
"You'll like it, Honey. It's nearer to Christchurch too."
"Well, good! I can't wait to leave this place. Where are we going, Mum?"
"You'll love it. It's a little town called Kaimoana."
"WHAT? We bloody are not!"
"We bloody are so. We're moving to Kaimoana."
We did.
That's it. That's me and that's my story. Bummer, eh? Life goes on. David can tell you the rest. If he wants to.
(okay, that's the end - well, almost the end. There is more but it's not going to be posted on Nifty. If you want to see it, you're going to have to write to me.
How desperate is that? But I would like to hear if anyone's still reading - please!
Thanks for reading and thanks to Nifty - where would we be without Nifty?
Cheers, david
Canned-heat@hotmail.com)