Las Vegas, Baby!

June 2007

Eddie checked flights to Las Vegas through American Airlines for Jacin, George, Josh and himself; he’d heard the airline was offering a rate of under $100 each way. Of course, there had to be a catch: No direct flights from Salt Lake City — the airline forced passengers to connect in places like Dallas and Minneapolis, making the travel time a minimum of 14 hours.
Yes, vacationing in Las Vegas in June was ballsy, if not just plain stupid. They once went to Cancun, Mexico during hurricane season and were holed-up in the hotel for five days; during a vacation in Yellowstone they snowmobiled at night without water and not adequately dressed, and so, of course, Eddie fell behind the rest of the group, eventually running out of fuel. The others had called search-and-rescue to find him, which took more than an hour.
But they liked being adventurous vacationers.
Bagging a flight they rented a black Ford Explorer and set out on the 465-mile trek to the balmy mecca. Eddie insisted he’d drive — much to the others’ chagrin; none of them were comfortable with Eddie’s aggressive and furious driving. Eddie noticed though that they stopped complaining when they rolled into Sin City in under five hours. They easily found their way to Paris Las Vegas hotel, which was a delightful hop, skip and minuet from the Flamingo Road exit.
They had to wait for their room to be cleaned (Eddie’s lead-foot forced them to arrive too early for check-in), So they decided to purchase a cocktail served in a large, neon plastic Eiffel Tower-shaped souvenir cup. They perused the specialty shops that line Le Boulevard and ogled the eye-candy lounging at the pool located on the second floor roof.
When their room was released, they ordered another fruity cocktail and jumped on an elevator to the eighth floor. The deluxe room was exquisitely furnished with two queen-sized beds overflowing with pillows, a delicate sofa, an armoire with plenty of closet space and, of course, a fully stocked mini bar. The bathroom was spacious and had his-and-her sinks, a whirlpool bath and separate shower.
For their first night, Josh had made reservations at Lucky Cheng’s, a “five-star” interactive drag cabaret which offers a three-course Pan-Asian menu, exotic drinks and what Josh monikered “a whole lot of snap-snap, girlfriend.”
Jacin rang the hotel’s front desk for a taxi and 15 minutes later they piled into a yellow cab littered with sexual fantasy paraphenalia. Unfortunately, neither Josh nor the cabbie knew that Lucky Cheng’s had moved its location from the opposite end of The Strip to within walking distance of their hotel. Sufficed to say the $40 taxi tour of The Strip left them all a little less than in a chipper mood.
But after the dinner show, especially the Tina Turner act, and a few more cocktails, the boys were again in a celebratory mood. They walked a few doors down to Krave, a gay dance club that offers nightly events. Tonight was Naked Student Night, with a wet T-shirt/wet boxers contest. The club’s large dance floor and stage held dozens of sexy men dancing and gyrating in soaked undergarments.
The next evening the boys went to Cirque de Soliel’s Ka, which was showing at the MGM Grand hotel. The auditorium was lined with near 100-seat rows, and their seats were in the center of one of them. Josh’s inebriation told him to hop the back of his seat instead of sliding through the aisle, and which garnered him a tongue-lashing from an usher.
The following morning at the sinful hour of seven, they were all rudely awakened by the malicious bedside alarm. Jacin, George and Eddie — Josh stayed behind nursing a grinding hangover — journeyed to the Hacienda Hotel located near Lake Mead. There, they filed onto a Black Canyon River Adventures tour bus and traveled along a steep, winding dirt road to the Colorado River just below Hoover Dam.
There they boarded a large motorized raft and relaxed during the 12-mile trip down the Colorado River. They learned some history on the dam, were privy to some hidden hot springs spouting from the canyon walls, witnessed several species of wild fowl and, Jacin especially, “ooohed-and-aaahed” over some baby big horn sheep.
That night took them to New York-New York for the sensual side of Cirque Du Soliel with its erotic Zumanity. From topless women in a large fishbowl to an astonishing contortionist to a buff dwarf aerialist to a boisterous drag emcee, the boys enjoyed an uproarious sexual journey unlike any other. So much so that Josh and Eddie were itching to get laid.
After the show they decided to hit Krave again. The club was hosting a SNAPI event; they each received free porn as they walked through the door and three hot, shirtless porn stars were on-hand to sign them.
After several kamikazis and many more pitchers of beer, Eddie, Jacin and George walked back to the hotel, leaving Josh behind — who was still scoping out a date ... possibly one of the porn stars.
Nearing five o’clock in the morning, Josh threw open the door and stumbled inside. Once George calmed him down enough to speak coherently, they learned that he lost his key and was pounding on the hotel room door. And when nobody answered, he found a housekeeper who he coerced into letting him inside.
Jacin, George and Eddie stole confused glances.
“I was knocking on the wrong door and when she let me inside, I immediately passed out on the bed. I don’t know how long I was in there before the couple whose room it actually belonged to came in and found me half-naked in the bed.”
Hysterical laughter broke out.
During the ride home Josh incessantly complained how the hotel made him pay for a night in that room. All that Eddie could think was: “Our vacations always are an adventure.”

The Domino Effect

Gabe,
Congratulations on turning 35!
I know how bummed you are about me moving to Boston so I bought an open-ended plane ticket for you to use when you’re ready to come see me. Also, I want to say that these past few years have been some of the best. I’m glad you came up to me at the bar that night and asked me to play pool. I enjoy your friendship more than I ever thought possible. You’ve made me a fuller and better person and I love you for it.
Please go see your parents as a favor to me, share your wisdom with them like you did with me.
Always,
Kyle
PS – Take care of my little sister, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.

Gabe folded the letter and returned it to the green velvet diary.
Gabe had asked Eddie to move in with him over a week ago. Yet day after day Eddie dodged Gabe’s attempts to inspire an answer, just as he also was dodging questions about Kyle.
Eddie’s persistence the last few weeks was beginning to alienate their relationship; Gabe thought if he asked Eddie to move in with him the questions and suspicion would end, and memories from his past would again subside, allowing Gabe to sleep at night.
The memories were once distant shadows that had crept back into his head, and stood poised in single file like disciplined soldiers ready for battle. Determined and ambitious, they’d patiently wait for that inevitable touch that would heavily topple them over in quick succession, like watching the travels of a bicycle through a picket fence.
Unfortunately, Gabe’s plan had misfired: Not only was he still riddled with those dark memories, his anxiety was now coupled with the disappointment and sadness he felt over Eddie’s reluctance to share a life with him.
Gabe languidly entered the bar and ordered a Sapphire gin martini from a tall, mustached bartender who winked at him. He left a dollar tip — would’ve been more but the wink annoyed him.
Then it happened; his mouth dropped open and his heart raced to his stomach. Perfection was in the bar. Perfection had thick, dark hair tufting behind the ears, and a tanned neck with blue-gray veins racing underneath a white-ribbed crewneck. Gabe watched Perfection’s back muscles pulse underneath the shirt. He sauntered past and shot Perfection a smile.
“That guy just checked me out,” Perfection commented to the blonde sitting next to him.
“What did you expect,” the girl replied rhetorically. “This is a gay bar!”
“Excuse me,” Gabe interrupted, then asked Perfection, “Do you want to shoot pool?”
“I’m not gay!” Perfection blurted out.
Gabe took a step back, “Sorry. I didn’t mean ... I just need a partner to play doubles.”
“No. I’m sorry man. Yeah, sure I’ll play.”
“I’m Gabe,” he said.
They shook hands, “Kyle.”
Perfection’s name is Kyle. Gabe noticed the blue-gray veins also branched out along smooth, tanned, robust arms and hands.
“Uh, this is my sister Ronnie,” Kyle said, indicating the blonde.
“Hi,” said Gabe, taking her hand.
“Hello,” she returned.
“So what brings you here,” Gabe asked.
“I come here with my girlfriend, but she’s in Arizona visiting her parents. So I made my apparent homophobic brother come with me,” Ronnie jabbed.
“I’m not homophobic,” Kyle retorted, flustered. “I thought you were trying to pick me up ... I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed.”
“So bellowing, ‘I’m not gay!’ was saving me from being embarrassed,” Gabe said playfully.
Kyle dropped his head, giving up, “Yeah, really, I’m sorry. Not my finest moment.”
“Come on, let’s play pool,” Gabe dragged Kyle off.
That night, a friendship started that was as close as any gay-straight men could have. Kyle taught Gabe to fish; Gabe taught Kyle to make hobo dinners. They went to the movies weekly and shared a jumbo salted popcorn and a large Sprite. They occasionally went to nightclubs – Gabe introduced Kyle to the Electric Slide, and Kyle introduced Gabe to Mudslides.
Then one night, their friendship took a tragic turn. It was Gabe’s 34th birthday and Kyle threw him a bash in his home. After hours of dancing, games of Twister, countless tequila shots and eventually pushing Ronnie and her girlfriend out the door, a highly inebriated Kyle suggested Gabe join him in his bedroom.
“You want to watch porn,” he asked Gabe.
“I’m not really into straight porn, but thanks.”
“Come on, I have one that has some man-on-man action in it.” Kyle slung his arm around Gabe’s neck, toppling them over.
Kyle finally coaxed Gabe into his room, where he drunkenly stripped off his shirt and pants. He popped in a DVD and pounced on the bed like a dog. He patted the mattress, inviting Gabe to join him.
Gabe reluctantly joined him, fully clothed.
Kyle fast-forwarded the film to the male-male-female scene. Within seconds Gabe noticed Kyle’s boxers rise, and found it amazing that as drunk as Kyle was, he could still get hard.
Gabe peeled his eyes off what he estimated was at least a 9-inch hard-on and looked at Kyle. Kyle’s green eyes, lined with a golden speckle, stared back at him, longingly.
Gabe hesitated for a moment then slipped his hand under Kyle’s boxers. He started to stroke him.
Kyle turned his head back to the film. His breathing gained momentum into a near-inaudible moan. His bare chest heaved, and he climaxed in Gabe’s hand.
Suddenly Kyle jumped off the bed as if he realized he was lying in toxic waste, causing Gabe to fly off the bed too.
“What the hell was that,” Kyle demanded.
Gabe was so stunned he couldn’t even respond.
Instantly Kyle was within inches of Gabe; intense pain surged through Gabe left cheekbone. Suddenly he was balled up on the carpet shielding Kyle’s swift kicks.

Coming Out

Mom smirked at Dad’s story and retaliated, “Let me tell you an even better story about Dad.”
“Jacin was about 16, I think,” she started. “And one night Dad started having chest pains, and as they worsened we decided we should take him to the hospital.”
Immediately Jacin thought discouragingly, “Another time I don’t remember.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Mom continued the story. She said that the doctor told her that he needed a heart stint as soon as possible. After the surgery, the doctor said it went well, but that Dad should lie still for at least two hours, to move as little as possible. However, this was made more difficult since the remote to the television in his room wasn’t working properly and the channel it was turned on to was fuzzy.
When the doctor finally allowed Jacin and Mom into Dad’s hospital room, after the two-hour period, they had found Dad on his knees on the floor — the opening of his hospital gown revealing his bare butt — wrestling with an octopus of cords, trying to fix the TV.
“After fiddling with all those cords,” Mom continued. “He got up and walked over to the TV, rolling his IV stand with him. “And then, you know Dad’s a fairly short man, and the TV was bolted high on the wall, so he literally started jumping up and down, pushing the channel buttons with his finger.”
Mom and Dad began laughing at the memory, and Mom continued, “And we all just stood there stunned by the fact that two hours ago he had just had heart surgery, and he was jumping around like a 6-year-old.”
Suddenly, a memory from that day vividly illuminated in Jacin’s mind. He turned to George.
“I’m ready to marry you,” he said behind an enormous smile.
“Really?” asked George a little stunned, but mostly with enthusiasm.
“Yes,” replied Jacin. “Completely.”
“Not to sound negative,” George continued. “But why all of sudden?”
Jacin smiled and leaned into George and gave him a peck on the lips. “ There’s something important that I remember about that day in the hospital ... I was scared that Dad was going to die.” Jacin glanced at Dad and quickly averted his eyes in a flash of guilt.
“For a long time I wanted to tell Mom and Dad about who I was, what was going on with me,” he continued. “I’d been fooling around with my best friend Ben for a while and I felt so much guilt about not telling you guys,” Jacin directed to his parents.
His mother, who was sitting on his left, reached over and gently took his hand in hers.
“So once we got Dad back into the hospital bed, I just blurted it out, ‘I’m gay!’ It was kind of funny at first because Dad just sort of giggled, but Mom looked like I had slapped her across the face. She then asked me, rather coldly, did Ben talk you into it?”
He chuckled at the thought and his mother took back her hand.
“You were so young,” she started to explain.
Jacin grabbed her hand back, “Dad didn’t say anything, I don’t think he really even understood what I’d said. But a few days after we took him home from the hospital, I heard them arguing in the bedroom.
“Dad yelled ‘how could you let this happen?’ Then I remember Mom went on a tangent: ‘This isn’t my fault, it’s nobody’s fault; this is who he is and I want him to be happy. I know it’s not the life either of us hoped he’d have, and he probably won’t give us grandchildren, which is a shame because he’d make a great father. But he’ll be happy ... hopefully, and if we support him, that happiness is going to be more likely to happen. I don’t want our son to be alone, I want him to find someone to love and be with, I don’t care with who anymore, do you?’ Then I heard a loud thud. I came to find out later that Dad had punched a hole in the wall.”
A brief moment passed then Mom asked with tears building up, “I didn’t know you had heard all of that.”
Jacin looked at his mother, and their smiles hugged. Jacin said, “It was that moment that I knew I’d be okay.”
Jacin’s father suddenly spoke, “It was many years until I finally let my anger ... my disappointment go.” He hesitated for a second before continuing, “Not until I saw how you look at George, and how he treats you and makes you happy that I realized your mom was right all those years ago. I’m sorry son.”
“It’s OK, Dad,” Jacin cracked a whisper.
“For what it’s worth, you have my blessing,” Dad finished, then promptly stood and strolled off to bed.
The campfire popped and crackled in the sudden cool night’s silence. 
To be continued ...

Star-Belly Sneetch

May 2007
Jacin’s tongue had loosened up after three mojitos, and what had started out as an intimate party for Jody’s 35th birthday now had turned into a roast.
“I’ve known Jody for like 17 years,” Jacin raised his freshened glass. “I think 17 ... is that right Jody?”
“Something like that,” she answered with a smile.
“And yes, she’s been married a few times,” Jacin continued. “To several girls ... and a few boys. But I’m honestly happy that she has met Kat, someone to look after her when she forgets to take a shower, or leaves the toilet seat up ... no, no just kidding.”
Kat, who was sitting beside Jody, only chuckled while Jody was in hysterics.
Kat had driven down from Pocatello, Idaho just for this party, and well, because she couldn’t stand to be away from Jody for more than a blink of an eye.
The two had met three weekends ago at Charleys, Pocatello’s one-and-only gay bar. That weekend Jody, Eddie and Josh got a wild hair up their butts to go party in Kat’s little town. Unfortunately, the first night at the bar, Kat and Jody had played staring games with each other much too long and by the time they finally spoke words to each other, which were, “You’re new” and “Yeah ... hold on I gotta pee,” the blood in their veins was as thin as Lara Flynn Boyle.
Sufficed to say, they spent the night together; though Jody had kept insisting “no sex” the entire cab ride to Kat’s apartment, but she then immediately tore Kat’s clothes off as soon as the screen door buoyed shut behind them.
The following morning Kat drove Jody back to the hotel to meet Eddie and Josh – plans were made to tube the river in Lava Hot Springs. Jody informed Kat that she’d probably get the third degree from the boys.
“They’re very protective of me,” she warned before sliding the keycard in the lock. “Which I think is pretty fabulous,” she added.
Horrified, Kat said as if her ears were burning, “Fabulous?”
“Sorry, I was raised by gay men.”
“Well I sort of figured since you wear makeup and carry a purse and wear bedazzled sandals.”
They entered the room. Josh and Eddie were in bed together, their bodies snaked around each other – a perk they agreed to anytime they vacationed together.
“Hey guys, you remember ...” Jody felt like melting butter. “Ummm ... Kelly.”
Kat stood silently, watching Jody struggle, a thin smile drawn across her face. A few seconds later Kat finally gave in, “Hi, I’m Kat.”
George stood up from the table and directed at Jacin, “Okay honey, sit down. Let me give the next toast to the birthday girl.”
“I haven’t known Jody as long as Jacin,” he started. “But what I do know about her, because of having her over for dinner as often as we do, is that it’s no wonder she’s as short and thin as she is since she doesn’t like any foods that are green, red, black, yellow or white ... and, well, any fish.”
George looked at the spread on the table, “That is why we’re having plain pork chops with a side of wheat toast for dinner and blue Otter Pops for dessert. Bon appétit!”
“Wait, wait!” Eddie insisted, placing his napkin on the table when he stood. “My turn. I’ll start off by saying something nice about Jody, unlike the rest of you mean old trolls.”
Eddie cleared his throat, “I’m really, truly happy for Jody ... to see that her hair has finally grown back after letting me cut out the roller bush that was tangled in it.”
Eddie raised his mojito to Jody and said, “Stop thinking so hard Jody, your tongue’s hanging out.”
“It’s my turn to say ...”
“No, no Nanette,” Kat interrupted Jody. “My turn to get in on this action.”
“So, Eddie and Josh,” she began. “You remember the night Jody and I met and she went home with me, right?
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Well there’s something I left out,” Kat put her hand on Jody’s shoulder, while Jody bowed her head in shame. “We didn’t even get a chance to turn on the lights when we got inside, she was all over me ... to quote George, ‘like a badger in heat.’” So we were climbing all over each other on my bed and all of sudden Jody just sort of flung off the bed. She was on top of me one second, on the floor the next.
So I turned on the bedside lamp, and there she was, on her back giggling, her stomach beating like a heart, and there were these two Sneetches facing each other and dancing on her stomach. It took me a second but then realized they were tattoos. And then I saw that her bellybutton was pierced with a starred stud – it was right then that I knew I was in love.”
“Oh Lord!” quipped Eddie.
“But wait, there’s more,” Kat said. “The first time I came to Salt Lake to see Jody, she showed me the room that she had turned into a Dr. Seuss shrine. There are Horten slippers laid out on the floor, a huge cardboard cutout of Cat in the Hat, a Star-Belly Sneetches wall clock, posters of biffer-baums and flummox, rows of Dr. Seuss books and dozens of porcelain figurines like Cat in the Hat carrying a tray of green eggs and ham, and goldfish and several Cindy Lou Whos, and there’s even a remote-control car driven by the Grinch ... it’s kind of creepy.”
Stunned, Jody stood up, her head tilted back some so she could look kat in the eyes. “Really?” she asked peevishly, as the red Thing One and Thing Two T-shirt she was wearing screamed at the entire dinner table.
To be continued ...

A Wall Built of the Past

A tinny female voice blasted through the cabin, “Please be seated, fasten your seatbelts and put your seats in the upright position, we are making our final descent into St. Paul.”
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” Gabe asked.
“Uumm ... sure,” Eddie replied with stunned hesitation.
Shortly after the fact, Eddie was disappointed with himself for jumping into bed with Gabe after dinner that first night in St. Paul. Eddie doesn’t necessarily want to jump in bed with a guy on the first date, but an exorbitant amount of wine has a strange ability to erase his inhibitions.
Yet, that encounter had led, since returning to Salt Lake City two weeks ago, to them spending all their spare time together, which, for the most part, had turned Eddie into a giddy schoolgirl. But sometimes, and as always, Eddie would be overcome with doubt and suspicion, without any real support — just a stony feeling in his gut.
Fortunately, that feeling is also easily erased each time he and Gabe make love. Gabe’s jade eyes glimmer like tropic waters dancing with the sun’s rays as he stares into Eddie’s eyes while inside him. His breath is always warm and calm like a sip of cognac when they passionately kiss. His fingers are like pen to paper, writing the perfect love story on Eddie’s bare body. They move slowly, deliberately with each other as if they’ve been doing it all their lives. And each time they make love, it seems to last a little longer and with more fervor.
Eventually though, suspicion would creep back in after Gabe would leave for work. Eddie would again feel doubt as he’d sit alone in Gabe’s apartment, which would always lead to irrational behavior like going through his medicine cabinet, cupboards and even trash. These erratic actions had lead Eddie to learn a lot in two weeks about Gabe:
He is a connoisseur of white wines and gourmet coffees; enjoys easy-to-make, white-trash meals like macaroni & cheese, Marie Callender’s frozen entrees and Hormel chili in a can; he uses Right Guard roll-on deodorant ‘Fresh’ scent; the dozens of discarded Q-tips indicate he’s obsessed with clean ears; he uses Lava soap, which is logical since he’s a mechanic; he doesn’t appear to use dental floss or dryer sheets; several crumpled lottery tickets indicate he’s a gambler — a seemingly addicted one at that since he’d have to drive to Idaho or Wyoming to get the tickets; he doesn’t have many books so either he doesn’t read much or he checks them out from the public library — though he does keep a stack of pornographic magazines under his bed, along with several bottles of Gun Oil.
Once, a few days ago, Eddie had found a green velvet-bound diary, the pages full of hand-written poems. He gently fanned through it, stopping occasionally to read. One, entitled ‘Standing on the Beach’ read:

Listen intently to the sea, I said

Hear the faint laughter of his voice?

The joy of a playful young soul

Our son is alive, only fathoms away.

He jumps when a wave takes form

And dances with the rigged cliffs.

He laughs when the ocean sprays

And he dreams endlessly like a sunset.

Take flight, I said to my empty wife

Embrace his enormous soul and cry I love you

For he is listening, and says it to you.

In the deep blue sea, forever lives our boy.

As Eddie’s thoughts wheeled from reading poem after poem with the same theme of death, a folded white paper suddenly slipped out from between the pages of the book. Eddie bent over, retrieved it from the floor and opened it. Inside a hand-written message read:
Gabe,
Congratulations on turning 35!
I know how bummed you are about me moving to Boston so I bought an open-ended plane ticket for you to use when you’re ready to come see me. Also, I want to say that these past few years have been some of the best. I’m glad you came up to me at the bar that night and asked me to play pool. I enjoy your friendship more than I ever thought possible. You’ve made me a fuller and better person and I love you for it.
Please go see your parents as a favor to me, share your wisdom with them like you did with me.
Always,
Kyle
PS – Take care of my little sister, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.
The few days since Eddie found the poetry and the letter from some guy named Kyle, he had been hinting to Gabe about them, saying things like “Hey, we should go to a poetry slam tonight!” and “We should have your parents over for dinner sometime” and “Let’s take a trip to Boston, I’ve always wanted to go.”
But Gabe hadn’t budged, hadn’t offered any insight into what Eddie had found, which was now beginning to make Eddie even more suspicious. 
To be continued ...

A Nair Disaster and the Stintman

“Will you marry me?” George asked, a tear sliding down his cheek.
Jacin just stared at him in disbelief.
After a moment, George laughed and said, “Come on. Say yes. We’ve already paid for the cabin and we’re allowed to have the ceremony anywhere in Yellowstone we choose.”
Still no response.
George prodded, “Eddie pitched in with me for our honeymoon to Cancun.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry,” was all Jacin said before leaving the room.
After the unexpected proposal from George, Jacin had spent three nights at his parents house across the street. On the fourth day he somewhat reluctantly returned home after realizing he couldn’t sleep worth a damn without George by his side.
Jacin, along with his parents, had decided earlier to spend the Fourth of July weekend camping on their property. So Jacin invited George to go along — who somewhat reluctantly accepted. They packed up the truck with camping necessities including their dachsunds Hansel and Gretel, a port-a-potty, fishing gear and enough beer to cure an alcoholic.
A mere hour and 45 minutes later Jacin and George, with Mom and Dad in tow, arrived to one of the largest pinon forests in the nation. Jacin’s family owned five acres of it since the passing of Jacin’s uncle nearly 13 years earlier. Over the years, they had purchased and permanently placed three trailers on a portion of the land; they had dug a firepit the size of Rhode Island and built multi-level shale rock patios around it; they had purchased solar yard lights and placed them along the pathways between the trailers, which were also rocked; they had planted Russian sage, sunflowers and grasses to add variety to the drab natural vegetation (the sunflowers didn’t make it).
Jacin’s parents constantly joked, saying that before long Jacin and George would turn the property into a gated community with a swimming pool, fountains, full plumbing and electricity, and a Redbox.
The foursome quickly unpacked the vehicles and settled into their respective trailers. They then pulled out folding chairs on Mom and Dad’s recently constructed patio and waited out the last two hours before dark. There was a cool breeze that kept the temperature bearable and the swarms of gnats and flies mostly at bay. The few brave pests that buzzed around their ears were quickly shunned by a spray bottle full of Listerine. The breeze also moved large, puffy clouds across the sky like animal-shaped cotton balls on a conveyor belt. Jacin pointed out a jackrabbit, a galloping horse and a hissing cat that metamorphised into a frog right before his eyes.
Eventually night fell, but only after Dad had three white Russians, which loosened up his lips. He told George about back in the day when women still shaved their legs before bearing them to the world. But how Mom used Nair instead; and therefore could easily remove the stubbly hair any time, any where — even once at the drive-in theater. But the funniest time, he said, was when she tried doing it at the beach. While he helped Jacin build a sand castle, Mom sat on a beach towel and smeared Nair along her legs; within seconds she was running and screaming up and down the beach with a swarm of bees circling around her white, foamy legs.
Mom smirked at Dad’s story and retaliated, “Let me tell you an even better story about Dad.”
“Jacin was about 16, I think,” she started. “And one night Dad started having chest pains, and as they worsened we decided we should take him to the hospital.”
Immediately Jacin thought discouragingly, “Another time I don’t remember.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Mom continued the story. She said that the doctor told her that he needed a heart stint as soon as possible. After the surgery, the doctor said it went well, but that Dad should lie still for at least two hours, to move as little as possible. However, this was made more difficult since the remote to the television in his room wasn’t working properly, and the channel it was turned on to was fuzzy.
When the doctor finally allowed Jacin and Mom into Dad’s hospital room, after the two-hour period, they had found Dad on his knees on the floor — the opening of his hospital gown revealing his bare butt — wrestling with an octopus of cords, trying to fix the TV.
“After fiddling with all those cords,” Mom continued. “He got up and walked over to the TV, rolling his IV stand with him. “And then, you know Dad’s a fairly short man, and the TV was bolted high on the wall, so he literally started jumping up and down, pushing the channel buttons with his finger.”
Mom and Dad began laughing at the memory, and Mom continued, “And we all just stood there stunned by the fact that two hours ago he had just had heart surgery, and now he was jumping around like a 6-year-old.”
Suddenly, a memory from that day vividly illuminated in Jacin’s mind. He turned to George.
“I’m ready to marry you,” he said behind an enormous smile. 
To be continued ...

Never A Dull Moment

Eddie ordered a coffee, black, that was much too hot to drink right away. When he returned to his private corner in the terminal, an unexpected passenger had taken over his seat. Eddie immediately noticed how handsome the man was as he clicked away on a laptop. Black curls drooped slightly over his eyes, his thick lips pursed in concentration. The man turned his head. Eddie’s eyes darted as if being chased.
“Hello,” said the handsome man in a low, pleasant voice.
“Uh ... hi,” Eddie scrambled for the word.
The man nodded at the seat next to him, “Please, sit!”
Without a word, Eddie sat down, forgetting the bag slung on his shoulder, which knocked the laptop over.
“Oh crap! Sorry,” Eddie apologized.
The man retrieved the computer from the floor. “No harm,” he assured Eddie and smiled at him. “Where are you headed?”
“St. Paul.”
“Really,” said the man with more enthusiasm than Eddie thought necessary. “Flight 642?”
“Uumm ... Yeah I think so,” replied Eddie.
“Me too,” the man’s smile grew wider.
A tinny female voice echoed through the terminal announcing that passengers on Flight 642 to St. Paul with small children or special needs could board the aircraft. Within three minutes, Eddie and his flying companion (whose name Eddie came to learn is Gabe) were walking down the ramp to the plane. The flight was quite light so the pair were able to deviate from their assigned seats and sit next to each other.
During the flight, Eddie was a Chatty Cathy — mostly due to nerves about flying, but also about Gabe — sharing moments from his life with his friends:
How he and Jacin and George and Josh played canasta at least once a week and how each time they played, they’d bicker over the scoring and the rules — it always irks him when the players would advise each other on which cards to play. Why they all enjoy playing canasta no one will ever know — to an outsider it would look similar to a murder of crows pecking at each other until bloody.
About the time they put on a drag show for their other friend Leticia and their drag names were Juicy Fruit (Eddie), Cajin Spice (Jacin), Tipper Whore (George) and Tipsy Turvy (Josh). And how Tipsy closed the show as an eerily-classic Janis Joplin, singing “Me and Bobby McGee” with an unlit cigarette dangling from her lips and brandishing a half empty bottle of vodka.
How he and Jacin had dated for a couple years, but Jacin and George have been together for eight years now. How Jacin was also once married to their friend Jody — many years ago, Jacin had rushed Jody, his then-roommate, to the hospital after she collapsed on the Gallivan Center ice rink, her knee popped out of its socket. At the time Jody didn’t carry health insurance and because of the doctor’s persistent recommendation for surgery she and Jacin agreed to a shotgun City Hall wedding and an update to Jacin’s health insurance policy.
How Josh is currently dating his co-worker’s husband who also happens to have a daughter whom Jacin recently saved from being run down by a Trax train, but unfortunately he had been clipped by it and had spent several days in a coma. Now he has a somewhat mild form of amnesia, but eventually he should get his complete memory back.
How his friend Cameron had a baby about year ago on Halloween and how everyone was at a costume party when she went into labor. In the waiting room of the hospital, people were giving them strange looks — like they didn’t know it was Halloween — as Joe Dirt, a couple of FBI agents, a hippie and two ugly witches played canasta. Cameron and her son Leonard moved to Idaho Falls shortly after the birth.
About the time Jacin and Josh had taken him to Seattle for his 30th birthday to visit their friend Matthew and how he and Jacin got tattoos — he, a inkwell and quill on his right shoulder, and Jacin, a pair of dancing flamingoes in top hats on his lower back. And how six months later Matthew had passed away from AIDS-related complications. He was cremated and returned to Salt Lake City where they scattered his ashes in the Great Salt Lake.
And how he likes to play mind games with himself. Nearly every day on his drive into work he plays a game in which for him to win, he must reach his destination before the song playing on the radio ends. If he loses to himself, he has to pull over and walk the rest of the way; he’s lost the game a few times, but has actually never pulled the car over. And nearly every morning irrational thoughts of the shower curtain being ripped open and him being murdered forces him into speed-showering. On occasion he’s wondered if it’s a rare phobia, a fear of not being squeaky clean upon death.
This last bit of information created an odd expression on Gabe’s face — a cross between fear and humor.
“Sorry, I’m babbling on,” Eddie quickly admitted. “I shouldn’t have shared so much. You probably want to go sit in your assigned seat now.”
Gabe chuckled then said, “No, no. It’s OK. I liked the stories. There’s just never a dull moment in your life is there?”
“I guess not,” Eddie agreed.
A tinny female voice blasted through the cabin, “Please be seated, fasten your seatbelts and put your seats in the upright position, we are making our final descent into St. Paul.”
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” Gabe asked.
“Uumm ... sure,” Eddie replied with stunned hesitation.
To be continued ...

The Consequence

“Will you marry me?” George asked, a tear sliding down his cheek.
Jacin just stared at him in disbelief.
After a moment, George laughed and said, “Come on. Say yes. We’ve already paid for the cabin and we’re allowed to have the ceremony anywhere in Yellowstone we choose.”
Still no response.
George prodded, “Eddie pitched in with me for our honeymoon to Cancun.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry,” was all Jacin said before leaving the room.
Stunned, George just stared at the now empty chair.
“Uumm ... I’ll go talk to him,” volunteered Josh, finishing off his glass of wine.
Behind the closed bedroom door, Jacin laid on the bed, staring through muddled eyes at the ceiling and absently stroking Freddy Kreuger’s belly, his unique purr crackling loudly.
It had been months since the accident, but Jacin still suffered from the amnesia.
‘There’s too many blanks,’ he explained to himself. ‘I can’t marry George ... not yet, anyway.’ ‘Oh, but I really want to ... I think. There are things I don’t remember about him, I’m sure of it, I can feel it in my gut.’
‘Or am I just being a chicken shit?’
He turned his head to the mirror on the dresser and studied himself for a minute. ‘Yeah, I’m just being a chicken shit.’ He sighed, and a moment later, ‘Damn, my hair looks like crap today.’
A quick succesion of raps on the door sent Freddy Krueger flying across the bed into the blinds. He scrambled to hang on, but as many times before, he slipped and crashed to the floor, then zipped under the bed.
“Come in,” Jacin answered.
Josh opened the door and scanned the room, “What was all that noise?”
“Just Freddy wigging out as usual ... and ruining my damn blinds!” Jacin lifted himself upright and leaned against the headboard, “I thought you were George, but I’m relieved it’s you. I don’t know what to say to him.”
“OK, but do you know why you said no?” Josh closed the door behind him.
“I guess I’m scared, just for the sake of being scared ... mostly I guess,” he explained. “But I also haven’t gotten my life completely back since the accident — I want to feel whole first, you know.”
Though it was rhetorical, Josh replied, “Yeah, I get it.”
“The only thing I know with any certainty is that it was your boyfriend’s daughter I saved that day.”
Taken aback, Josh asked, “How do you know that?”
“I recognized him ... well, remembered him that day the two of you helped my parents move in across the street.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Jacin considered that for a minute, “I don’t know why. Maybe I was hoping I was wrong.”
Josh sat down at the foot of the bed, guilt washed over him, “There’s something I should tell you.”
“OK.”
“Mark told me all about it ...” he started.
“When?”
“The night he met you.”
Jacin jerked forward, sweeping his legs underneath him, “So you’ve known for like ... two weeks and haven’t said anything.”
Josh scrambled to find the right words, and came up with, “Sorry.”
“That’s it,” Jacin accused with an edge. “That’s all you have to say?” He leapt off the bed and swung the door open. “Get out of my room ... In fact, get out of my house.”
“Fine,” Josh retorted in his usual knee-jerk defensiveness.
Jacin slammed the door behind Josh as he left, then dropped himself down on the bed, buried his face and his hands, and wept.
Some time later — at least an hour Jacin speculated — as the bedroom had turned a tea rose orange from the dying sunlight, he had made a decision: He was moving out, moving across the street with his parents. Just for a while, enough time to recover some memories. Maybe spending more time with his parents would speed up the process.
He pulled an weathered green vinyl suitcase from the closet and began packing clothes. He realized, as he slipped shirts off their hangers, that he had too many earth tone colors.
‘Why don’t I have any blue shirts,’ he asked himself. ‘I look good in blue.’
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a knock at the door.
It was George, looking hurt.
It pained Jacin seeing George hurt, but not as much as it probably should.
Jacin explained the suitcase full of boring earth tone clothes. George’s eyes widened more in disbelief with each word. Jacin imagined the guinea pig with bugged-out eyes from Bedtime Stories. He was being unnecessarily cruel.
“Sorry, I can’t do this right now,” Jacin stated, then snapped the old suitcase shut. “I’ll see you in a day or two.”
He looked one more time at George, who now appeared to have slipped into a catatonic state.
“I’m just across the street,” Jacin reassured.
With that, he scooted past George and walked out of the house — so quietly George didn’t hear the front door close.
To be continued ...

The Proposal

Chile skins clung to the sides of the double kitchen sink like little green leeches. Jacin and Jody stood over the sink, latex gloves protecting their hands from capsaicin (the chemical that gives chiles their intensity) as they skinned and seeded fire-roasted habenero, cayenne, anaheim and serrano peppers.
“This is always so time-consuming,” Jody commented as she wrestled with her twentieth pepper.
“I know,” agreed Jacin. “It’s a good thing we only make these enchiladas a couple times a year.”
“Sometimes I could kill Eddie’s mom for introducing us to the recipe.”
They both chuckled.
“I wish Eddie didn’t have to go to St. Paul and miss your anniversary,” said Jody.
“He’s the entertainment director, so now what are we going to do to keep ourselves entertained?” Jacin asked rhetorically.
“I don’t know,” replied Jody. “But let’s have a horp off the vodka bottle.”
“OK.”
Jacin pulled the Grey Goose from the freezer. “I don’t know why we use the word horp,” he commented. “I think it’s slang for shit, or something like that.”
“Really?” Jody asked as she flipped her twenty-first pepper into a bowl.
“I think so,” he replied.
Suddenly, Hansel and Gretel, the dachsunds, started yapping and pounced on the back of the living room couch, rustling the window blinds.
“Ah, our ruthless bodyguards have once again detected danger,” quipped Jacin. “It must be my parents.”
A knock at the front door sent the dogs into a tailspin. “Quiet,” Jacin shouted over the high-octave barking.
He opened the door to his parents. They hugged and exchanged the usual pleasantries — “You look tired honey, are you eating right?”, “You’re dogs are so obnoxious,” “I’m a little constipated today.”
Two hours later Jacin and George’s anniversary dinner was served: stacked green-chili chicken enchiladas with a fried egg on top.
“Here you go, Mom,” said Jacin as he set the hot plate in front of her. “You won’t be constipated much longer.”
“You’ll find out later tonight that ‘fire in the hole’ couldn’t be more accurate,” added George. The entire table roared with laughter.
After dinner, when everybody could once again feel their lips and tongue George made an announcement.
“I’m so glad all of you could join us to celebrate our eighth anniversary,” he started. “It means a great deal to both of us to have each of you in our lives ... to be our family.”
George looked lovingly at Jacin.
“But this is a very special anniversary. One I hope you never forget,” George directed to Jacin with a big smile.
“Jody and Kat,” George then turned to them. “Why don’t you go first.”
“OK,” replied Jody.
She slid a large white envelope out of her purse and handed it to Jacin.
He eagerly tore it open and found a brochure for a place called Grandma’s Cabin in Island Park, Idaho, and a confirmation of a four-night stay.
Astonished, Jacin asked, “You rented us a cabin?”
“Well actually it sleeps 13,” Kat answered. “We’re all going.”
“Wow, really.”
“Yeah, and it’s only about 30 miles outside of Yellowstone,” Kat continued.
“Oh my god, thank you so much,” Jacin said enthusiastically. He looked at George, “Did you know about this?”
“No, I had no idea,” George replied with a sly grin Jacin didn’t notice. “Josh, you’re next.”
Josh also handed Jacin an envelope, but smaller and blue, and said, “This is actually from me and Leticia.”
Jacin ripped into and it and extracted two tickets to the closing night performance of a national tour of Wicked at Capitol Theatre.
“These are for second-row seats,” Jacin said to no one in particular. “On the floor.”
“Leticia and I saw it last night,” Josh said. “It’s fabulous. We decided to get you guys tickets, you’re going to love it.”
“This is too much,” Jacin ordered.
“Trust me, someday we do expect reciprocation of the same caliber,” Leticia joked.
“OK,” George interrupted. “I think your parents have something for you, too.”
Another envelope was given to Jacin. Inside was a ‘Happy Anniversary’ card and inside that was a tailor’s business card. Jacin looked at the card, confusion set in his eyes. He then turned the card over and a handwritten date and time was scribbled on it.
“What is this?” He asked his parents.
“It’s an appointment,” said Jacin’s dad.
His mother added, “For a tux fitting.”
“A tux,” Jacin’s voice trailed off in uncertainty. “Why would you buy me a tuxedo?”
“We bought both of you tuxedos,” said his mother.
Jacin turned to look at George who was again sitting next to him. George’s right elbow was rested on the table and placed in his opened palm was a black velvet box. He slowly opened the box. Nestled in it was a platinum and white gold wedding band.
“Will you marry me?” George asked, a tear sliding down his cheek.
Jacin just stared at him in disbelief.
After a moment, George laughed and said, “Come on. Say yes. We’ve already paid for the cabin and we’re allowed to have the ceremony anywhere in Yellowstone we choose.”
Still no response.
George prodded, “And a honeymoon suite in Cancun.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry,” was all Jacin said before rushing from the room. 
To be continued ...

All About Eddie

Eddie passed through airport security without much waiting; less the time it took to put his shoes and belt back on and suffer through chastising by a short, plump female guard for packing cuticle scissors in his carry-on bag. He paid little attention to her scolding, rather wondering what, if anything, she could do physically in the event of a real threat. Her flushed face and haggard breathing seemed a major hindrance should she need to take down a terrorist.
“You could mail these back to yourself or I could throw them away,” the guard said in a heavy-smokers voice.
A patronizing smile came over Eddie, “No, throw them away.”
Eddie’s neurotic need to be early for every scheduled part of his life — an oddity since he’s incredibly impatient — now stranded him at the departure gate 45 minutes before his flight.
He found a quiet corner to catch up on some work, but quickly reconsidered. This was to be his third business trip to St. Paul overseeing the opening of a new retail outlet for fine home décor and jewelry of the Southwest, and it was becoming more of a headache than Eddie could stand. Instead he withdrew comedian Bob Smith’s novel Selfish & Perverse from his bag and flipped it open to Chapter Four.
Eddie was enjoying the read; he especially liked the main character, Nelson, with whom he relates. They’re both Capricorns, sharing traits of lechery, shyness and clumsiness.
As he read, his mind absently drifted to when he was a child growing up in Texas, and how he had an overt tendency to cause injury upon himself. In his fourth grade classroom a loose desktop slipped out of place when he put his weight on it, causing him to fall neck first into the metal bracket of the desk. Luckily, it wasn’t very sharp and the injury required minimal stitching.
Once, when he was 10 years old, and with great sportsman-like skill, he hit himself in the mouth while practice-swinging a baseball bat, breaking a tooth. And at the age of 15, there was the day he thought it would be fun to race his bicycle against an oncoming car, down a steep road, only to painfully lose when his foot slipped from the peddle and twisted under the back tire, fracturing his ankle. Unfortunately for Eddie, the driver of the car merely swerved around him and his mangled bike to win the race.
In the terminal, Eddie smiled to himself, realizing his apparent need-for-speed was still with him to this day. His friends find his driving too aggressive and his constant cursing at other motorists extremely tense.
Again he reflected, pondering about an unusual need to play games with himself. Nearly every day on his drive into work he plays a game in which for him to win, he must reach his destination before the song playing on the radio ends. If he loses to himself, he has to pull over and walk the rest of the way; he’s lost the game a few times, but has actually never pulled the car over.
And nearly every morning irrational thoughts of the shower curtain being ripped open by a murdering pyschopath forces Eddie into speed-showering. Eddie’s wondered on occasion if it’s a rare phobia, a fear of not being squeaky clean upon death.
Unable to concentrate, he marked the page he was on, slipped the book back into the luggage and decided to get a cup of coffee. On his way to the small deli in the terminal, he wondered if his idiosyncrasies stemmed from his upbringing.
Could it have started when his mother insisted that he sweep away the roller marks from the carpet after vacuuming? Could it have manifested when he was 7, and his father left him and his little sister in the truck for more than an hour while he drank beer with his golfing buddies in the country club lounge? Could it have happened when, at 11, an older kid at school named Dick — whom, Eddie realized a few years later, he had a major crush on — pressured him into having a dip of chewing tobacco? Eddie had accidentally swallowed it, threw up, and then fainted from light-headedness.
Eddie ordered a coffee, black, that was much too hot to drink right away. When he returned to his private corner in the terminal, an unexpected passenger had taken over his seat. Eddie immediately noticed how handsome the man was as he clicked away on a laptop. Black curls drooped slightly over his eyes, his thick lips pursed in concentration. The man turned his head. Eddie’s eyes darted as if being chased.
“Hello,” said the handsome man in a low pleasant voice.
“Uh ... hi,” Eddie scrambled for the word.
The man nodded at the seat next to him, “Please, sit!”
Without a word, Eddie sat down, forgetting the bag slung on his shoulder, which knocked the laptop over.
“Oh crap! Sorry,” Eddie apologized.
The man retrieved the computer from the floor. “No harm,” he assured Eddie and smiled at him. “Where are you headed?”
“St. Paul.”
“Really,” said the man with more enthusiasm than Eddie thought necessary. “Flight 642?”
“Uumm ... Yeah I think so,” replied Eddie.
“Me too,” the man’s smile grew wider. 
To be continued ...

Won't You Be My Neighbor

Heavy rain pounded the roof and slapped the bedroom windows, which cured another night of insomnia. Jacin fell into a deep sleep similar to when he had is accident several weeks ago.
Jacin is at The Trapp with some friends and a woman he doesn’t know, but that Josh calls Keri. She removes a photograph from her wallet and passes it around. When it makes its way to Jacin, he sees a photo of a young, conservatively dressed man with black wavy hair and shocking green eyes. The strange woman says to the group, "Mark’s a good husband and father…"
Suddenly Jacin’s laying face up on cold concrete, pain searing through his body. He just makes out the same man in the photo standing over him, his eyes now more shocked than shocking, and cradling a small girl with velvety blonde curls – the same girl Jacin just risked his life to saving.
This January marked a change in Utah weather: more precipitation but less snowfall, which led to more days of inversion hovering over valley floors like dirty tube socks.
This, coupled with asthma, prohibited Jacin’s father from being outdoors helping move in boxes and furniture.
Jacin’s father’s built slight, but could hold his own with a pissed-off moose. He used to be one of those gun-totting, Skoal-chewing, narrow-minded types. But when his son’s relationship with George only continued to grow in love, support and security, and because he truly felt George was good guy, he eventually came to terms with Jacin’s homosexuality.
Jacin was thrilled by the change in his father, and over the last few years they’ve bonded more than Jacin would ever have imagined.
But today, this cruddy air-filled winter day, Jacin felt that their bond may have become too tight. From this day forward, he will always notice the little brown-brick duplex through his large living room window. And from this day on Jacin will always be reminded that inside one-half of the little brown-brick duplex — just four doors east of his home — his parents lived. Within a 53-second walk. He checked.
He stood looking out the living room window, his right knee throbbing, and he watched George, Josh and Mark schlep box after box through the west side duplex’s front door, the side closest to his own front door.
On the small square porch stood Jacin’s mother, also slight in stature; yet could easily turn a man to stone with just one look.
Jacin had weathered that look countless times, especially as a child. He and his twin brother Jeff used to cause all sorts of mischief in the neighborhood by pulling pranks, not only on other kids, but on their parents, too.
One evening the twins conspired against their mom after she made them sit at the dinner table until they ate all the nasty chick peas off their plates. (Funny how Jacin grew to love them.) They eventually made it through, but immediately raced to the bathroom to purge, so to speak. While bent over the toilet bowl, Jacin noticed his mom’s Prell shampoo bottle. He sneaked it into his and Jeff’s bedroom and filled it with blue paint from the model World War Two fighter plane his dad had given him last Christmas. He had yet to build the model plane, but was certain he never would, so he used the whole canister of paint.
The next morning, from the bathroom came the Screech Heard Round the World. Unfortunately for Jacin and Jeff they were forced upright the rest of the day from the lashings they received from their mom who used the belt they gave their dad last Christmas. Mom blamed Jeff, which was usually the case, so Jeff received the brunt of the belt, fifteen lashings, while Jacin had to withstand only five.
Jeff has always held true that Jacin is the favorite son because he was the first born, by a mere seven minutes. And Jacin has never voiced his agreement to Jeff.
Their dad arrived home that night to find Mom with a boyish haircut and a soft blue hue to it. Being a prankster himself, he couldn’t help but laugh when she told him what had happened. Years ago, just after they were married, they went fishing on Strawberry reservoir. Actually Jacin’s dad fished and his mom sunbathed. Jacin’s dad finally caught a fish after several hours. His mom paid no attention to his dad’s enthusiasm, so he sneaked up behind her beach chair and dropped the small slimy fish down the front of her swimsuit. Jacin had always wondered if this was why he and his brother weren’t conceived until nearly a year after his parents married.
Jacin watched George, Josh and Mark finish unpacking the moving truck and then walk the 53 seconds back to the house. He looked at George and smiled, feeling the butterflies in his stomach even after all these years together.
Then he focused in on Mark. Jacin, having never met Mark, felt like he’d seen him somewhere before, but couldn’t remember with any certainty. The trio strolled through the front door, welcomed by the dachsunds Hansel and Gretel.
"Hey Jacin," said Josh. "This is Mark, the guy I’ve been telling you about."
Jacin felt a strange sensation, like déjà vu, when he finally had a good look at Mark, but he couldn’t figure out why. And when they shook hands, Jacin could feel the tension in Mark’s grip.
"It’s nice to meet you," offered Jacin.
Mark hesitated and had an expression of sinking in quicksand. He couldn’t believe he was standing in front of the man who saved his little girl.

Last Dance Part 2

It was eight minutes to the New Year, January 1, 2000, or commonly referred to as Y2K. Owen had easily reeled in the short, shirtless black boy and had spent most of the time dancing with him. Through the foggy dance floor, their sweaty bodies nearly touching, one could almost see the current of electricity ricocheting off their naked skin.
Jacin, Eddie and Matthew sat at a tall bar table just off the dance floor, plastic champagne flutes in hand readying for the countdown. Josh was off flirting with random guys, which seemed only to annoy Matthew a small amount. Of course, it had been a year since they had broken up. However, Jacin did notice a flash of jealously in Matthew’s eyes, or maybe it was angered defeat.
Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!
Cheers and kisses were exchanged between hundreds of gay men, most of whom would never share the moment again, including Owen and his mysterious partner — they locked lips, smiled and walked away from each other as if they’re only purpose for each other in the two hours was to have someone to kiss on New Year’s Day. They didn’t even bother exchanging names.
Once the group reeled in Josh, which took nearly half an hour of swimming through a sea of hard-bodied men, they shoved off to The Cuff. As soon as they stepped out of Neighbours, the plummeting temperature cooled their overheated bodies. Along the way they ran into five young men wearing black berets and white sweatshirts emblazoned with ‘Safety Patrol.’ They were volunteers from local schools whose aim was to keep the streets safe for the party-goers.
After spending just enough time in The Cuff for Owen to meet a tall lumberjack-type guy, they decided to go to a bathhouse suggested by Owen’s next prey, Mr. Bunyan. The bathhouse was located on a dark deserted street. Mr. Bunyan pushed open the weathered wood door. There was a long, empty corridor and a barred window was cut out of the wall just to the right of the entrance. A plywood slider door behind the bars slid open and revealed a blond, burly man with an unkempt handlebar mustache. He immediately demanded twenty-five dollars per person to enter. Paul Bunyan whipped out his cash, but Owen complained about the fee. The ornery doorman abruptly slid the slider shut without another word, and Mr. Bunyan gave Owen a "too bad, so sad" look and swaggered down the corridor. Peeved, Owen promptly unzipped his patent leather pants and urinated in the hallway.
After waiting forty-five minutes for the ferry in the frigid night air, the gang finally arrived at Matthew’s house. Owen, drunk and still upset about the bathhouse, adamantly refused to spend another night on the lumpy sofa sleeper and crawled into bed with Matthew.
The following afternoon, the gray sky lingered with scattered patches of blue. Matthew had been awake for a while since he hadn’t drunk much the night before — his body wouldn’t allow it. But once bored he woke everyone else with two Midol and a glass of water.
Matthew suggested they spend the day in Port Townsend. When each had showered and finished complaining about their hangovers, they piled into Matthew’s pickup truck. Jacin and Eddie were forced to sit in the covered bed of the truck where they cuddled underneath a mound of blankets. Not much was said in the truck or on the ferry until they reached Port Townsend, a quiet, sleepy tourist town on the Olympic Peninsula, and inhabited by many writers, musicians and artists.
The group strolled through the quaint boutiques, art galleries and antique shops that line the waterfront.
After lunch Jacin and Eddie decided to stroll along the beach while the rest returned to shopping. Jacin and Eddie walked precariously hand-in-hand through the thick sand. Then they came upon a message that had been carved into the sand fifteen yards twofold. It read:
JAKE MORGAN HAPPY BIRTHDAYMIKE 51 MIKEY PINDER AND JARON
Having just celebrated a birthday the day before, Eddie became overwhelmed with emotion. Sensing some type of loss from the message, or maybe it was intense love, Eddie suddenly felt thankful to Josh, Owen, Matthew and especially Jacin for their friendship and love. Turning thirty years old, experiencing that exact moment on the beach and what would happen in the very near future became pivotal turning points in Eddie’s life.
Jacin and Eddie returned to the truck to find Josh and Owen in a heated argument. Matthew was inside the cab with music blaring and smoking a cigarette. Josh noticed them approaching and immediately cut the argument off.
Six months later Josh received a phone call from Matthew’s aunt Mavis. Matthew had just passed away from AIDS-related complications. Matthew would be cremated and returned to Salt Lake City. Matthew’s wish was to have Josh scatter his ashes in the Great Salt Lake.
The day Josh took Matthew to the lake the air was warm and breezy. He stood angle-deep in the water, removed the top of the urn and tipped it at an angle. The breeze picked Matthew up and he openly danced over the lake.