USUAL INTRO & THANKS ====================
See, I told you Part 10 would be posted sooner than Part 9 was, didn't I? So, here we are, and I have nothing new to put in the intro section; just the usual thanks to everyone out there who reads these stories, to everyone who loiters around Nifty in the hope of a new chapter, and to everyone who has contacted me, by whatever means, to lend their support and encouragement. You're a fine bunch of people! This one is dedicated to my 'Island Beauty'; you know who you are!
DISCLAIMER ==========
This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. The author asserts all legal and moral rights (copyright (c) 2000 - ardveche@hotmail.com) to this work and you may not copy it or transmit it in any way except in its entirety and with this disclaimer. This story features descriptions of sex between consenting (all over the legal age, at least in my jurisdiction they are) males:
- if such material is prohibited in your jurisdiction, please DO NOT READ ON, - if you're under the legal age to read such material, please DO NOT READ ON, - if you don't like, or are offended by such material, please DO NOT READ ON.
Now, if everyone who is still here is meant to be here, let's get on with it. All comments are welcome and gratefully received (email them to ardveche@hotmail.com).
NEW TO THIS STATE =================
Chapter 10 - Family
I turned on the radio as I drove, and listened to the sounds of the seventies the whole way back, tapping along on the wheel and whistling thinly and tunelessly (but enthusiastically), roughly in time. I had spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon with my new group of friends, and I was heading back to the arms of my new boyfriend. How much happier was it possible for me to be? Not much, I can tell you. Life was certainly looking up for me since my mom and I had made the split and moved out to California.
I ground to a halt outside my grandmother's house, I could dimly see her straw hat bobbing around among the fruit trees, and knew that Curtis would be there with her. Providing her with a bit of 'scenery' while she tended her garden. I sat in the car until the end of the song, pondering David's word and feeling pretty good about the world generally. Finally, Jefferson Airplane gasped their last and I shut off the radio and got out. I wandered over to the bower of trees, hoping to surprise my boyfriend. God, how good that word sounded when it was applied to him. As I approached, I began to be able to make out the conversation Curtis was having with Lois.
"But it has to happen eventually." He was saying.
"Certainly it does, but eventually can be as far away as you need it to be, dear." Lois replied. I was curious, so I moved closer, cautiously, to listen. Eavesdropping seemed to be becoming a bit of a habit for me lately.
"I don't want to be a burden." He protested.
"You're not." Good old Lois, I knew I could count on her.
"Yes I am."
"Poppycock. And what's more, I actually like having you here. And I like the effect you're having on Andrew, he's brightened considerably since you came along." It was true, I had, but it still surprised me that other people noticed.
"Um, yeah." He seemed a little ill at ease with this particular topic of conversation. I reached a line of bushes and was able to peer over at the two of them. Lois was on her knees attacking the weeds in amongst her vegetables with a short-handled hoe while Curtis followed her adding the casualties to the growing pile in a wicker basket. "Um. Thanks, you know, for being so cool about it, I mean."
"Think nothing of it. You're hardly the first, and you won't be the last. It makes no difference to me which sex you prefer to sleep with. All I care about is what kind of person you are. And from what I've seen, you're the best sort."
Curtis laughed at this and then, to my amazement, bent down and kissed Lois on the cheek. "Thanks, Lois, I wish you were my grandmother." He whispered.
"I warned Drew about that word, and it applies to you too. But, thank you, Curtis, it means a great deal to me. You know, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need, and if you need a shoulder to cry on, or anything else, just come to me, okay?"
"Okay." He answered.
"Look at me and say that." Say what you liked about Lois, but she was sharp.
"Okay, Lois, I promise!"
"There, that wasn't so hard. I'm already thinking of you as one of my family, so I want you to think of me in the same way."
"I'm choking up here, Lois." I could hear the amusement in his voice, and had already known him long enough that joking about things was his way of avoiding dealing with them. Apparently Lois noticed something about his time as the next weed landed not in the basket, but hit him squarely in the chest, the earth dangling from its roots exploding messily on impact.
"Hey! I'm an invalid, you can't do that!"
"And I'm an old lady, so you shouldn't mock." They both cracked up and I felt a great love for these two people, people I suddenly felt closer to than anyone else in the world. Nothing could make me happier than the idea that they were getting on as well as they were. Now, if only my mom would accept Curtis into the family on the same terms. Of course, Lois knew something that my mom did not as yet, that Curtis and I had slept together. She knew he was gay, mind you, but she didn't yet know I was too. And I could think of no way to tell her that wouldn't hurt her, and that was the last thing she needed right now.
I listened for a few minutes more as they traded jibes back and forth, and I could have crouched there all day listening to there quiet, reassuring banter, but my legs were getting sore and I was running the risk of one of them, or my mom, noticing that the car was back, so I moved stealthily back from the bushes. Then, rising to my feet, I walked over to them normally, making enough noise that they knew I was coming.
"Hey, guys!" I called.
"Drew, hi!" Curtis looked up and smiled his dazzling, white smile at me, his entire face lighting up and his eyes coming to life as he did. "How'd it go?"
"Pretty good. Hey, Lois."
"Hello, dear. I suppose you want to steal my helper away, do you?" She smiled at me too, and I knew she wouldn't begrudge me a few hours alone with him.
"Well..." I drew the word out slowly. "Not if you can't spare him, and I have stuff to do anyway."
"Hey!" Curtis began to protest, then he must have noticed my face and realized that I was just trying to wind him up. "Asshole!"
"Language!" Lois remarked, almost absently.
"Sorry." We said as one, the very picture of contrition and she couldn't help but laugh at us.
"Oh take him away! He was a lousy assistant anyway." Lois laughed and Curtis assumed a hurt expression. "I only let him hang around because he's easy on the eye."
"I'm a sex object, what can I say?" Curtis remarked, hauling himself upright with a sigh. "I feel strangely violated."
"It can be arranged." I said quietly enough for him to hear, but not Lois and his face was such a picture I couldn't help but laugh aloud, which earned me a funny look from Lois and a kick to my shins from Curtis. After he had dusted himself off and shaken the dirt from Lois's missile off his shirt we headed indoors.
"Drink?" He asked heading towards the fridge.
"Sure."
"Gonna need a little more information, buddy."
"Whatever, I don't mind really. Is there any lemonade left?"
"Which is it? Don't care? Or lemonade?"
"You think you're clever, but you're not." I replied. "Lois is right, if you weren't such quality eye-candy you'd be outta here!"
"Really?" He sounded suddenly serious.
"Of course not, dummy!"
"'Cause if you want me to leave, you know you only have to say." He was looking right at me, one hand resting on top of the open refrigerator door.
"No! I don't want you to leave." I approached him and put my hand on his waist. "I love you, man." I whispered.
"And you're not just saying that?"
"No! Of course not, didn't we settle this last night?" I was worried that I had crossed some line with my jibes and he was going to walk out of my life so soon after he had walked in and brought so much wonder with him. Suddenly his serious face cracked into a broad grin and he burst out laughing.
"You should've seen your face, Drew!" He continued to laugh while I just stared at him in disbelief.
"That wasn't funny, you bastard. I was really scared that you..." I trailed off.
"Was going to leave you?" He stopped laughing and looked at me intently. "Don't worry, I'm a lot harder to shake off than that. You can't get rid of me."
"I hope not. I really do." And I was hugging him, right there in the kitchen, utterly heedless of who might walk in and catch us. He looped his arms about me and kissed the top of my head gently.
"Okay, Drew, better let go, buddy. C'mon." He untangled himself from my grip and favored me with another lopsided grin.
"Sorry, but you really had me worried there, promise me you'll never joke about leaving again?"
"I promise. Next time I talk about leaving it'll be for real." He kept grinning.
"Asshole." And I was forced to hit him lightly on the arm. I don't know why it was, but I was utterly unable to stay mad at him for more than a couple of minutes at a time. He always did something incredibly cute, like the way he grinned or whatever and I'd go straight from wanting to kiss him to wanting to hit him.
"Here." He handed me a glass of lemonade, "though why I should be pouring drinks for someone who just called me an asshole..."
"Just getting even, dude." I grinned at him. He made a noise that might have been a word, might have been a snort, it was hard to tell. Either way, it was clear that my explanation was not impressing him. Oh well, some of us are just born to be misunderstood. "Wanna go upstairs?"
"With you?" He tried to sound like the idea disgusted him, but there was a twinkle in his eye that said otherwise.
"Yeah, with me. I thought, maybe, I could apologize properly." I winked at him. "And I paid you five dollars this morning, so you have to come love me long time."
"That offer expired." He said as he followed me up the stairs to my room.
"Bullshit."
"No, it's not good any more. But I have a number of special offers that sir might be interested in." He patted my rump as we walked along the hallway.
"You're insatiable, Reid."
"I can't explain it, you do something to me." The laughter was evident in his voice.
"Something? I'd do anything for you." I said as we entered my room and I turned to loop my arms around his neck and kiss him on the lips. I allowed a sight o escape me as he placed his hands on my waist and kissed me back, kicking the door closed behind him.
"I may just hold you to that!" He said as he came up for air.
"Do." He half propelled, half carried me to my bed and we toppled over together onto it, still in each others arms, and resumed our kissing. This was more intense, more prolonged and a lot more intimate than any kiss we'd shared so far. We just lay like that, never letting go of one another and hardly taking our lips off each other. I was utterly lost in him, between kisses we told each other how the afternoon had gone and the time just shot by.
"Hey, we should go downstairs." He broke my reverie. "Your mom just called."
"You know what's cool?"
"Me?" He cocked his head at me.
"That too. But I was thinking about a word."
"Oh? What one?"
"Boyfriend." I answered with a grin.
"Yeah, that's a pretty good word. You know what other one I like?"
"Lover." He rolled the word slowly.
"Mm. Another good one. But I think I can top that one."
"Oh yeah?" He looked unconvinced.
"Yeah. My favorite word ever." I paused to build up suspense. "Curtis."
"You can be so mushy." He shook his head at me.
"And that's why you love me, admit it."
"Nah, I love you 'cause you give great head." And with those words he bolted from the room and headed downstairs. I caught up with him easily, as he was still moving slowly and painfully, I pounced and we crashed into the wall together, gasping for breath and laughing. He squirmed round surprisingly quickly and I found myself under attack as his wonderful hands began to tickle me mercilessly."
"No! Stop! Stop! Stop!" I managed to gasp out between huge breaths and gasps of mingled pain and laughter. I was in real danger of losing bladder control when he finally let up his assault.
"You sorry?"
"No!"
"Well, I'll just have to punish you later, Andrew Timothy Quinn." He sounded just like my mother and I couldn't help but laugh. "Now, let's eat!" Sounded like a plan, so we made it to the kitchen with a little more decorum and joined Lois and my mom at the table.
"I hope nothing got broken during that horseplay." My mom said, raising an eyebrow and looking at us both over the top of her glass.
"Only my spirit!" I joked.
"That'll never happen." She snorted.
"You may have a point." I said as I fell to eating. The day's activities had made me really hungry and I contributed nothing to the conversation, which was mainly about gardening, as I shoveled food into my mouth.
"Andrew. Slow down." My mother finally instructed me. "Nobody's going to steal it from you, you know." She then resumed chatting with Lois about the vegetables. She has a real knack for telling me off mid-flow and then going on as if she hadn't broken her sentence at all.
"Yes. He was a great help." Lois was now saying. "He has green thumbs."
"Yeah, right!" Curtis chimed in.
"You were a great help today. It's nice to have a big strong man around the place to help out. How else would I have managed that heavy, heavy basket?" Lois hammed up the 'old woman' routine.
"Same way you did before I showed up, probably." And Curtis was not falling for it. "And the same way you will when I leave." Everyone fell silent and I stopped shoveling as I tried to process what he'd just said.
"What?" I managed.
"C'mon folks, don't act so surprised. I can't stay here, it's not that I don't want to, I do. You've all been so great to me, but it's not right. I don't want to be in the way, and you have problems of your own without me adding to them. And I don't want to take more from you than you've already given, it's not fair." He was talking to fill the silence that had descended around the table. Astonishingly, it was my mother who stopped him.
"Curtis, I think I speak for everyone here when I say 'shut up'." He looked stunned at her words, as did Lois, and I KNOW that I was.
"Huh?"
"We're all glad you're here. And you're not going anywhere. At least, not until something sensible can be worked out, and not until you finish school. And that's my last word on the subject. If you absolutely insist on paying your way, then so be it, but we'll discuss that once you're able to resume working. So, let's not here another word about leaving, okay?"
"Um. Okay. I guess." He looked taken aback by how forceful my mother's tone was. I made a mental note to inquire of her later why she'd said all that, and to thank her for doing so. After dinner, I got an opportunity, I volunteered to clear the table as Curtis went outside to smoke a cigarette, leaving me alone with Lois and my mom.
"Thanks, mom. That was a nice thing you did just now. I know you weren't too happy about him being here."
"Andrew, I've had time to think since the other day, and I don't think I've seen you this happy in years, I think Curtis may have something to do with that, so as far as I'm concerned he can stay until he's old and gray. I', just glad you're coming out of your shell at last and meeting people. I want you to be happy, and I know the move has been hard on you."
"It's not so bad. There are some really great people here. And you and Lois are the best." For about the millionth time since we had left my dad, I felt like crying, and so far they had all been tears of joy.
"Thank you. But I can see that you two have a real bond."
"Yeah. He's a pretty special guy." If she only knew the extent of how 'special' Curtis was to me, I wondered how long she'd be happy to let him stay in the same house?
"And he needs us as well, however strong he may think he is. A real change has come over him since that first day. I see a real person starting to develop, and I want to give him every chance to find out who he is, and to be with people who care about him."
"I love you, mom."
"Finish the dishes." And our little 'mother and son moment' was over.
When I had finished I went outside and stood with Curtis again as he finished his cigarette in silence. I was getting pretty good at judging his moods and I could tell that he was feeling depressed again and appreciated me just being there, quietly. I didn't touch him, because I knew that Lois and my mother could see us through the kitchen window. Finally he finished and turned to face me.
"Want to go for a drive?" He asked me.
"Um, sure?" I half said, half asked, as I was unsure where this was going.
"Okay." He nodded decisively and stepped off the porch, making his way round to the front of the house where his car was parked. I called to Lois that we were heading out and would be back soon, not knowing if we would or not, and followed him. The sun was sinking fast as we pulled out of the drive. His jaw was set grimly, and I reached across to squeeze his hand. He turned slightly and smiled at me, showing that I had (for once) done the right thing at the right time. We drove for a while in silence, until eventually I had to ask where we were going. The only response he would make was "you'll see".
"Not back to your place?" I immediately assumed the worst. He reached up to touch the scar above his eye and smiled wryly.
"Not for a while."
"Good. That would be exactly the sort of damn fool thing you'd do."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence!"
"Well, you would." I tried not to sound defensive, but failed miserably. We continued in silence for another fifteen minutes or so and finally it was me who broke it again, with the most childish thing I'd said in years. "Are we nearly there?" This earned me a harsh bark of laughter from Curtis.
"Almost. We have to do the last part on foot." He drew to a halt a few moments later by a tall white wall and killed the engine. "Coming?" He asked as he swung open the door.
"Yes." I climbed out and followed him, it was a little chilly out as the night drew in and the sun was soon going to set. I suddenly wished I'd grabbed a coat before leaving. Curtis had his from going outside to smoke, but I was still in the shirt I had worn to watch movies at David's place that afternoon. Already that seemed like a lifetime ago. I followed him along the wall and realization dawned as we approached the gates. The cemetery.
"Still with me?" He asked as he drew level with the gates.
"Of course."
"Cool. We have to climb the gates, they lock up at night."
"Is this wise?" I wanted to know.
"No."
"But you're still going to do it, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess I've come this far. Lead on." I stood back and watched as, with a grunt and a strangled gasp, he pulled himself up the wrought-iron gate and swung his leg over, dropping heavily on the other side. I hesitated a moment and then, a little more gracefully, followed suit. I had a pretty good idea why we were here, and I was determined not to abandon him, however much I might wish we'd done this in daylight. He started to walk along the path we had landed on, but quickly moved to the grass as the gravel was crunching noisily under his booted feet. I followed dutifully behind as he threaded between the stones and we made our way up the hill.
"Let's sit here for a bit." He said stopping suddenly by a stone bench. "I'm sure Bill won't mind." I glanced down at the bench and saw that it was a tombstone too, for one 'William Macbride, 1898-1918, Fallen in Service of his Country'. A guy not much older than the two of us. I sat down beside Curtis and he slipped an arm around me. We sat in silence as the sun sank behind the distant hills, it was a relatively impressive sunset. Nothing to write home about, but arguably the most beautiful I had ever seen, as I was seeing it in the company of the man I loved. That said, I could have wished that we weren't in a cemetery and that I wasn't freezing.
"You're shivering." He interrupted my thoughts as he let go of me and shrugged his way out of his coat.
"No, I'm fine. Keep your coat."
"You're a lousy liar. Here. He draped the coat over my shoulders and slid his arm back around my waist. "I'm wearing a thicker shirt, and I have those bandages for insulation." I heard a slight rueful chuckle in his voice as I settled back against him. Now that I was wrapped up a little against the cold, I felt a lot better. Ordinarily a graveyard, especially at night, would have scared the hell out of me. But the very real, very solid, very human and very vital warmth of Curtis sitting alongside dispelled all my fears.
"Curtis?"
"Mm?"
"I love you." I murmured the words.
"I know." He kissed me gently. "I love you too. I'm so glad we found each other."
"Me too."
"C'mon, there's more to see." The best of the sunset was now over and gloom was descending on us.
"I bet." I said wryly and he smiled at me, taking my hand he led me down the hill, finally stopping at a small, undistinguished white marker. I knew before I even looked at it, whose it was. He held up his lighter in front of the words and read 'Helen Anne Reid, 1948 - 1996, Beloved Wife and Mother'. I was about to talk, but he let the flame go out, and suddenly I couldn't think of anything to say. He let go of my hand, and knelt down on the damp grass in front of the stone.
"Hey, mom. I brought someone along with me. His name's Andrew, Drew really. I love him, I know you'd like him." He paused and smiled faintly up at me, I had a feeling like I was intruding on something terribly personal. "A lot's happened since I was last here. That stuff I was telling you about with dad, it got worse. So I'm living at Drew's place now. I don't think I'll be up here for a while now, I've found someone I can talk to. I'll still love you, I'll never stop, but I love him too. Differently. Does that make sense? Anyway, I know you're happy wherever you are, and I know you'd be happy for me too. I love you, mom."
His voice choked on those last words, and I knelt beside him and put my hand on his back. He turned and put his arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder for a few minutes. I gently stroked his hair and murmured to him that everything was going to work out, that I was there for him and that everything would be all right. After a while he pushed himself away and smiling at me, he turned back to the stone.
"See? I told you he was great. I gotta go now, I only came up to say goodbye. Rest well." He kissed the tips of his fingers and pressed them to the cold, unresponsive stone. After a moment's silence I helped him stand and we walked back over the hill to the gates of the cemetery. Once we had vaulted them successfully and were sitting in the car with the heater on he looked shyly at me.
"I guess you think that was pretty dumb, huh?" He asked quietly.
"No. I think it was beautiful." I answered with absolute honesty. I had been touched by the whole scene. I could see why he might wonder, but knowing what I did about him, it had seemed strangely poignant.
"I knew I had a good reason for loving you." He leant across and we kissed fleetingly. "Let's get back, this place gives me the creeps." I had to laugh. Well, wouldn't you?
TO BE CONTINUED... ==================