Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
Ker
Ker wasn’t actually upset that they’d not been able to see each other or even talk during the week, but he really wanted to see Ash sooner rather than later. “I’m not sure. Are you gonna have another crazy week?” Ker tried to keep his tone light.
“Well, I hope this coming week isn’t too crazy. Unfortunately, I never really know, but I have an idea. Let’s keep this week kind of flexible since work has been rather crazy lately. That doesn’t mean we won’t get together, but I just can’t plan anything definite right now.”
“That’s fair,” Ker agreed.
“But I do want to plan something for Friday night, in two weeks if that’s okay. The coffee shop in town is having an open mic night, and there’s usually some great talent there. There’s a woman who lives down on the cape that I’ve heard before. Her name’s Kim Moberg. She’s very good.”
“At Cuppa Joe’s?” Ker asked, referring to the coffee shop in Hawthorne Bluff. “That sounds like fun. I’d love to go with you,” he enthused. “We can talk closer in, but should we just plan on meeting there?”
“Yeah, that’s probably best. It starts at seven, and I should have time to go home and change before meeting you, but just in case I’m running late, you can grab a table for us, okay?”
“That works. I’ll try to get there no later than six thirty,” Ker said, sipping at his coffee.
“Cool. So what else has been going on?”
They chatted for a while, each sharing more details about their week. At some point during the conversation, Ker realized that he liked having a friend—yes, it was clear he could call Ash a friend—like this. He hadn’t really had someone like Ash in his life for quite a while, but it felt good to just be able to chat about stuff in general with someone who got him.
As their conversation lagged, Ash said, “As much as I hate to end this, I really need to jump in the shower. It’s Sunday, and that means dinner with my family at Mom’s house. I won’t put you on the spot now, but at some point, I’m gonna invite you to join me some Sunday, okay?”
“I’d like that,” Ker said quietly. “Have a good time with your family. I’ll talk to you soon.”
After Ker got off the phone with Ash, he puttered around the house a bit, not entirely sure what to do. After straightening up the living room and cleaning the bathroom, the restless feeling still lingered, so he put on his jacket and went for a walk. Perhaps the fresh air would help clear his head.
At the end of his street, he took a right, heading toward the water. When he had moved to Plymouth almost ten years before, he had soon realized how much he loved being near the ocean. Okay, technically it was Plymouth Harbor and the Gulf of Maine, but it was part of the North Atlantic, so it was still the ocean. So different from where he grew up. Sure, there had been an occasional pond or lake nearby, but the ocean was different. He loved listening to the waves roll in, especially in areas where the surf battered craggy rocks as the sea met the land. He could listen to that all day. It soothed something deep inside him. Of course, here in the harbor the waters were calmer, allowing boats to dock safely, but it was still relaxing for Ker to hear the water lapping against the rocks at the water’s edge.
He strolled out onto the town wharf and sat, closing his eyes and turning his face to the sun to absorb its warmth. He remembered the dinner with Ash just across the street at the Tavern on the Wharf a couple of weeks before and smiled. That was the beginning of what was proving to be a great friendship. Truth be told, he would occasionally wonder why Ash wanted to be friends with someone like him, but most of the time he just accepted it since he really liked Ash a lot and needed a friend like him in his life.
When his stomach growled, he shook himself out of his daydreaming and headed home, trying to figure out what he had to eat. He remembered buying a can of beef stew and a couple of cans of soup. Yeah, soup and a grilled cheese. He could manage that. His mom had never really taught him how to cook even basic stuff, and he had just gotten lazy and never taken the time to learn anything more than the absolute necessities so that he didn’t burn the house down. Oh, well, he’d managed this long, right? But still, knowing how to do more than make a grilled cheese sandwich or a burger or fry an egg and heat up canned soup would be nice. Ash seemed to know his way around a kitchen that first week when he showed up at A Helping Hand. Maybe I could ask him for some pointers in the kitchen.
Ker woke smiling as he replayed yesterday’s phone conversation in his head. He couldn’t understand why just hearing Ash’s voice made him so happy. Never had he experienced something like that in any past relationship. Not that he’d had many.
It was the summer after his senior year of high school, and he’d thought it all through and knew he was gay. Not that he’d done anything with a guy yet. But he’d been surreptitiously checking out the boys in the locker room after gym class, and he knew what he knew. Then there was that kid Jonas, who was visiting his aunt and uncle for part of the summer. He’d come into the store one day while Ker was working behind the customer service counter, and Ker had helped him find some weird, dried herb his aunt had sent him in for. Ker couldn’t keep his eyes off him. A bit taller than Ker, Jonas had broad shoulders and a narrow waist and wore cut-off denim shorts that revealed lots of dark-blond hair on his muscular thighs and calves. His dad almost caught him staring at Jonas’s ass as he walked out the door.
A couple of weeks later, after Jonas had visited the store a few more times, and they had become summer friends, they drove down to Leominster State Forest one day and hiked a few trails, then took a dip in Crow Hill Pond. It was then that Ker got to see the areas of matching hair around Jonas’s navel and under his arms. After swimming for a while, they stretched out on a patch of grass to dry off, and Ker couldn’t stop staring at Jonas’s chest.
“See something you like?” Jonas teased.
“I, um …” Ker stammered.
“It’s okay, I think you’re pretty cute too.”
“You do?” Ker swallowed, not believing he was actually having a conversation like this.
“Yeah, I do.” And with that, Jonas leaned over and kissed Ker on the mouth. It was sweet and wonderful, and Ker didn’t want the kiss to end.
Ker snapped out of his reverie, realizing he hadn’t thought about Jonas in such a long time. But it was that fateful summer that Ker had finally come out to his sister, knowing that she’d be supportive. It was much longer before he’d had that conversation with his folks.
Okay, enough reminiscing — time to get ready for work.