Chapter 28 #3
I looked back at his face, but placed two fingers with his, rubbing his pucker which was flexing at the touch.
“You are closing. That’s the feeling you are probably experiencing.
You are not as open as you were last night.
It just takes some time, depending on how rough and how often you partake in this activity.
” I leaned down and took my first real kiss of the day.
I pushed one of my fingers against his hole, letting just the tip breach the outer rim making Charlie moan into my mouth, his tongue stilled, flat against mine from the sensation. I sucked on it, humming.
“Hey you two! I said no funny business,” David’s voice echoed up the stairs. We broke apart and laughed. I gave him one more peck before he finished getting ready to separate for the day.
We made a plan for him to sneak back over after dark with his work stuff.
In the morning, David was going to walk with him there, even though Charlie was against it, saying he didn’t need an escort.
But I gave him some dopey eyes, called him ‘Honey’ and he caved, with a ‘I hate you’.
David teased my endearment, which I shot back, ‘because he tastes so sweet’, making him seize up in shock from how forward my response was, making Charlie turn red again.
This will be the longest we have been apart since Tuesday, and I can already tell I was having withdrawals from my honey.
David and I decided on taking the trek over to Forbes Field in Oakland for the afternoon Pirates Baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals. There were a lot of trolley transfers to get there after the Incline ride down the mountain side.
It was David’s idea to go to the game because he said we could sit and relax and not really have to pay attention to the game since the Pirates were having a shitty season. Except for this new player apparently that seemed to be getting a lot of attention. Some guy named Clemante.
David was quiet for most of the journey there. I could tell he was thinking about that bomb of information that exploded on him this morning. I didn’t want to question his thinking or push him to open up, fearing what may come out if he wasn’t ready to express his thoughts yet.
We were sitting up high in the outfield all alone, with most people sitting closer to home base.
The stadium had one long curved wing along the first base line, with the other side ended short, like they ran out of materials to continue building the structure.
The backside of the diamond field was only separated with a brick wall and hedges.
I was snacking on cracker jacks, trying not to let my own mind run too wild, my thoughts constantly going to Charlie and what he and his father could be doing today.
It was crazy how much I missed him.
A crack of a bat brought me quickly back to reality with the ball getting popped foul in our direction. That’s when David finally broke his silence, taking my attention.
“Can you tell me? Um,” he gulped nervously.
“David, I will tell you anything you want to know,” I stated calmly. “If you have questions, just ask. I promise, I won’t get mad. I may not be able to answer everything, but I will try.”
“Your family? It’s been awhile but I met them,” he looked out into the field, and licked his lips. “They seemed like nice people. You got along with everyone seemingly without a problem.”
I nodded, understanding where he was going. “Yes. There were no problems. Until one showed itself.” I blew air out of my nose, remembering Theodore. It seemed so long ago.
Another ball got smacked out into left field with the player making it to first base. David placed his hand on my shoulder, making me look at him. “Jim, if it’s too much, you don’t have to talk about it. It just seemed like a good place to start. I just want to understand.”
I had never seen so much sympathy in David’s eyes, but I knew what he met. It’s technically my origin story. “Five years ago, I was seeing a man named Theodore. He was a banker at Mellon National Bank in the city.”
“I don’t remember anything different during that time,” his eyes rolling up to the corners in thought.
“No, you wouldn’t,” I snorted, amused. “I was very stealthy with him. He never came to the mountain. I went to him for dinners in the city or on the weekends when I went to visit my family in Bellevue, I’d also go and see him because he lived four blocks away.”
“What happened then? Between the two of you? I mean, I want to know about your family too, but let’s do the love stuff first.” Then he realised what he said and practically yelled, “Without the details!”
I laughed, “I promise, I won’t tell you anything you can’t handle unless you ask.” I’m just imagining him getting visuals of what I deeply enjoy.
After taking a moment for the mood to somber, I continued, “Theodore was a good man.
He had goals and was working toward them.
He was a college graduate, worked hard at the bank, wanting to prove himself.
But our lifestyles were just too different.
He couldn't understand my job and it was hard to see each other with his schedule, while keeping it a secret. So, the coffin was practically already sealed on our relationship when he met my family. That just so happened to be the final nail.”
“The reaction from your family was so bad, he broke it off,” David asked in shock.
“No, I mean, yes,” I shook my head, and rolled my eyes. “He isn’t the bad guy. My family’s reaction did have a hand in us breaking it off, but it was mutual. We went our separate ways. I moved on quickly since we hadn’t been together for that long.”
“How did all this happen with your family then? You said they knew about you before they met Theodore,” David said, popping some cracker jack into his mouth with a crunch.
“I had told them maybe two months prior. I was worried they may see me with him in the neighborhood since they lived so close together, and was worried about trying to cover it up on a whim. And, I didn’t think they would have a problem with it,” I shrugged my shoulders.
“At the time, they didn’t seem to. I told them without a big reaction and because they seemed okay, I told two of my childhood friends that still lived down the street, too. Same thing.”
“Then they actually met Theodore,” David plainly stated.
“Family gathering for my father’s birthday. I brought Theodore, promising him everything would be okay. The air shifted the moment we walked in. I introduced him to everyone, then it all fell apart.”
I looked up into the bright sky, following a bird that was flying by in the breeze. If only life could be as gentle as a bird’s glide, but the only gentle glide I felt was the wetness of a tear caressing my cheek.
I wasn’t expecting to still be emotional about this.
It’s been five goddamn years. I wiped my face, “They didn’t want my kind in their home except for me.
Theodore was not welcome. To them, it was fine to do what I wanted away from them, but I wasn’t allowed to flaunt it in their home.
Which meant I could never bring Theodore around with me. ”
“My God,” David growled.
“I asked Theodore to wait for me outside while I tried to reason with them.” I wiped my face again and huffed a breath of air. I had held myself together until this point, and I was finally breaking. “It ended with an ultimatum. Accept me and Theodore or I leave,” I finished in a quiet sob.
David’s hand wrapped around the back of my neck, and squeezed. I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I was afraid I would completely shatter.
“It was the last time I saw my family and friends. I left them, my dad glaring at me while holding my crying mother, like I was breaking her heart and not the other way around.” I sniffed, finally caving and pulled out my hanky to wipe my nose which was also now leaking.
“It might have been my ultimatum, but it was their say on our relationship.”
I hung my head, remembering walking out the door and seeing Theodore standing there with a blank expression. “It was also the last time I saw Theodore too. I walked him home in silence. Neither of us said a word, knowing this was it.”
I finally looked up at David, his figure was blurry. “In one swoop, I lost everyone important to me,” I placed my hand on David’s knee, “except for you. It was why I didn’t tell you. I was going to, but then all that happened and I couldn’t risk it for multiple reasons.”
David nodded his head in understanding, processing my history. He never let go of my neck, keeping our connection strong, like he knew I needed his powerful electrical current to stay lit.
We sat there for a while like that until without warning David broke contact and stood up. “Okay. Let’s go.” He motioned me up. “Up. I need a beer after all that, and you probably do too.”
“It’s only the bottom of the fourth inning,” I stated in confusion.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think this through.
I didn’t realize I was going to need to drink to deal with the after effects of you revealing your history.
It was brutal,” he huffed. “And since they refuse to serve damn beer during a game here, we have to go.” David waved his hands in my direction again, “So, Up up!”
So up I went.