Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 19:39:44 +0000
From: Ben nobody <ben_sc@hotmail.com>
Subject: Berto" Roses XXXXVI-Beginnings

Berto's Roses

By Ben

Part XXXVI

	My son called me at the hotel and asked if he could bring two of
his buddies with him. Neither of them had a family member coming for the
graduation and he wanted to share his Dad with them. Of course, I agreed,
although I wasn't in any kind of mood to celebrate anything.

	I picked the guys up at the appointed time and place and we went
out to dinner. My son wanted Taco Bell, a place he practically lived during
his adolescence, but I vetoed that idea. After having eaten real Mexican
food for the past few months, I was not about to sit down to fast food
grease and salt. Also, I wanted to take them to some place nice.

I had asked at the hotel lobby and the recommended a great place. The food
was excellent and the atmosphere was tasteful but not too stuffy for the
three young sailors. They ate like a pack of hyenas and chattered the whole
time. Of course, the inside jokes and ribbing were lost on me, but they
took the time to fill me in and we all had a good time.

After dinner, I asked them what they would like to do. They asked if we
could go to the mall. While this was not my favorite activity in which to
engage, I relented and asked directions from the restaurant manager. I
guess it goes without saying that the malls in the Chicago area are much
bigger than those in greater Charleston. Never the less, they had the same
basic stores and they headed for their favorites.

My son found" Hot Topic" and they spent a lot of time in there. They sure
looked out of place in the store.  Here they were, three clean cut young
men in Navy uniforms rubbing elbows with the freaks and punks. I sat in the
mall just outside the store and waited while they blew their first liberty
money. There were certainly worse things they could have spent it on.

I think we hit every music store in the place and they walked away with
stacks of new CD's.  I invited my son's friends to stay the night at the
hotel suite and suggested that they might want to buy some civilian clothes
and something to sleep in. I could have the hotel laundry service clean and
press their uniforms the next day. This resulted in another buying frenzy
and we closed the mall, then headed for the hotel.

I had picked up some sodas and snacks on my way to pick then up. We carried
all of our stuff up to the room, then I went and filled up the ice
bucket. I turned over the remote control and the phone to them and just let
them do what they wanted.

As I expected, the first call my son made was to his girlfriend. Only my
reminder that he needed to call his mother and that the other guys had
calls to make kept this call to under forty five minutes. I got to talk to
the other two guys and found them to be friendly and smart. Nether of them
was designated to go to submarines, as my son was, but they seemed to be
heading for some decent training and duty afterwards.

I got a chance to catch up with my son. We had sent emails back and forth
and even talked on the phone a few time, but I hadn't had been face to face
with him since before I left Charleston. He, of course, knew about the
divorce and about my being gay. I filled him in an all the details of the
bed and breakfast and invited him to come down whenever he could make it.

 I didn't think he would be comfortable bringing one of his buddies to a
gay bed and breakfast, but he could surely bring his girlfriend if she
wanted to come. They had wanted to marry before he joined the Navy, but I
had sort of talked him into waiting for awhile. She had a pretty good job
and I thought it would be best if they waited until he finished his
training and knew where he would be stationed for awhile.

It had been a long, taxing day for me. It started out with closing up the
house in Santa Rosalia and packing my car with all of Jake's stuff and the
stuff I was brining to Chicago. I was miserable and still pissed with
Jake. He had not witnessed the scene with Berto, and I was in no mood to
discuss it with him. Jake knew I was hugely upset, but his ego told him it
was about him and Ricky. I didn't offer an explanation.

We rode in silence all the way to the Military terminal I San Diego. The
weather was horrible and it seemed to take forever as I plowed through the
rain, windshield wipers working furiously. As I passed the road to San
Augustin, I wanted so badly to stop there and explain things to Berto.

It must have been quite a shock for him to come in and see me kissing his
best friend. I Still didn't know if Berto had more than friendly feelings
for him or not. And the way he felt about the way Mack had fondled him a
few years ago had me worried that he thought I was the same kind of guy.

As attracted as I was to Berto I had never laid a hand on him. He was much
to dear to me to risk alienating him that way. I longed to touch him, hold
him, kiss him and, yes, make love with him, but I would never have
initiated anything that would make him resent me in any way.

Now it seemed that none of it mattered. Everything was fucked up and there
wasn't a thing in the world I could do about it, except wait. Mack and
Nathan were at odds. Not that it bothered me too much that Mack was in the
shits. But Nathan was a really good guy and I hated the way Mack treated
their relationship so callously.

	Ricky and Jose were on the verge of breaking up and this bothered
the hell out of me. Rarely had I seen two people so much in love. They had
their problems, just like any other couple, but they had both shown me that
they loved each other wholly and completely.

	I was pissed at both Bob and Jake for their parts in all of this
fiasco. I couldn't yell at Bob because he was in Mexico City. The other
asshole was slumped against door on the opposite side of my car and I drove
Northward through the storm. I couldn't bring myself to yell at him
either. I was too sad and upset about the rift between Berto and
myself. Man! What a miserable start to long trip!

	I dropped Jake at the Military terminal and didn't even bother to
get out of the car. There were young seamen and petty officers standing by
to take his baggage for him. Such are the perq's of a Navy Commander. He
did come around to my window and shook my hand good-bye.

He told me that he hoped I wouldn't hate him forever and to call or Email
him when I felt better. I told him I didn't hate him, that I was just angry
and upset about a lot of stuff that went on before, during and after the
party.

That damned party. I wish I had never planned the thing, had never brought
all those people together .  What I hoped would be the perfect kick off for
the bed and breakfast, was the biggest personal disaster I could remember.

The guys and finally quieted down and were ready for bed. I gave my room to
my son and the other guys shared the second room. I told my son I would be
in in just a bit, that I wanted to relax and unwind alone for awhile.  I
ended up sitting on the couch all night, feeling helpless.

 I wanted to call Ricky and talk to him, but I needed to give him time to
talk to Jose first. I really wanted to talk to Berto, but I knew he didn't
have a phone in his dorm room. Besides, I was not confident that he would
talk to me anyway. I knew we would eventually have to talk about it. If it
waited until he next came home. Manuella would certainly sense a problem
and want to get to the bottom of it.

I didn't want to talk to Bob or Mack or Jake at this point. I wasn't really
close enough to Nathan to call him and talk, so I just sat and watched the
sun come up over Lake Michigan. I thought about all the hotel and motel
rooms I had stayed in and the people whom I had met and about the events
that took place.

The first had been Jake in Atlanta. That seemed a million years ago, and so
much had happened with him that the memory of that first wonderful time
together had become somewhat tarnished. Then I recalled Randy and
Wade. Their innocence and enthusiasm was a rare and beautiful thing to have
shared. I found myself looking forward to seeing them when they came to
Casa de la Rosa next week.  I remembered, with the first smile that had
found its way to my lips in two days, the day I had met Ricky and Jose at
Don Chavez' hotel. The time we spent playing volley ball and chicken in the
pool. I grew erect thinking about watching Ricky and Jose sharing their
bodies on the terrace below my room in the moonlight.  And, later, the next
morning, of when Ricky had come to my room and we made beautiful love
before I had continued my trip to Mexico.

I let the guys sleep in and when they began stirring, I ordered brunch from
room service. I watched the sun come up over Lake Michigan and by the time
everybody got up, ate, showered and got dressed for the day, it was well
past noon.  I took them downtown and let them do whatever they wanted to do
We made plans to meet later for dinner and a show then I headed for the
museum.

I wandered around looking at everything and found my mood was improving. I
bought souvenirs for Manuella, Berto, Ricky and Jose in the gift shop. I
also found what had to be the biggest and most extensive art supply store
in the world. I roamed the aisle filling my shopping basket full of
brushes, paints, tool, etc. I bought several prepared canvases and frames
and arranged to have them shipped to Santa Rosalia.

I was running a little late when I showed up at the dinner theater with all
my sopping bags. We had a great meal and watched "Cabaret". It was
wonderfully campy and very well performed. My son kept giving me "the look"
whenever anything particularly gay occurred, but I could tell he enjoyed
the show.

Afterwards, we dropped by the hotel and the guys changed into their clean
uniforms. They had to be back on base before midnight. The pass I review
was scheduled for the following morning. I knew my son would not get any
more liberty until he left boot camp for leave and then submarine school in
Groton, Connecticut, so I had made plans to check out of the hotel the
following morning. I would attend the ceremony, have lunch on base with
him, then head for the airport.

After dropping them at the base I decided to stop by a gay club I had found
on the Internet before I left Mexico.  I paid the cover charge and walked
in an upscale establishment with a long oval bar and a large dance
floor. The lights were flashing to the music and there were hot young
dancers clad in tiny g-strings on the bar.

I ordered bottled water and took a seat at a small table near the dance
floor. As I watched the dancers on both the floor and on the floor, I began
to relax a little more. A thirty-something guy walked by my table then
stopped. I looked up and we made eye contact. Dark brown eyes under thick
black lashes and brows. Overall average features but then he gave me a
great smile.

"How ya doin'?" I asked. being always suave and sophisticated, the master
of pick up lines. Honestly I could have come up with something better,
couldn't I?

But it must have done the trick, because he replied, "Alright. Do you want
to dance or something?"  nodding toward the dance floor.

"Honestly, I'm not really in the mood to dance, and I'm not very good at it
anyway. Bit I would like to sit and talk, if that's okay with you."

"Sure", he smiled back at me. "Just let me get a beer and whatever you are
drinking and I'll be right back."

I indicated that I was fine with my water and he elbowed his way to the
bar. When he returned he sat across from me. He extended his hand. "My name
is Calvin. I don't think I've ever seen you in here before."

I shook his hand and introduced myself, then explained to him that it was
my first time there and what I was doing in town.  Calvin was a native
Chicgoan and worked for a CPA downtown. I told him about being from
Charleston and, most recently, Santa Rosalia, Mexico. I told him about the
bed and breakfast there and invited him to come down sometime.

Calvin told me he had recently lost his partner of seven years to stomach
cancer. This prompted me to talk about Bob and his problems. He listened
attentively and we seemed to get along just fine.  He invited me to his
apartment, but I declined. I offered, instead my hotel room, since it was
near the Recruit Training Command and the airport. I explained that I was
checking out in the morning and then going to the ceremony. He agreed to go
with me. He worked near the club and would come and get his car the next
morning. On my way to the base.

Once inside the hotel room, we kicked off our shoes, sat on the couch, and
talked. At one point, Calvin turned to me and I just leaned over and kissed
him lightly on the lips. I've always found it amazing how you could be
talking away one moment, and then the next the only communication was done
with lips, hands and bodies.

We made love, sweetly and tenderly on the couch, then I led him, naked to
my bed. We cuddled and kissed and held each other all night. I could tell
he needed this type of healing as much as I did. We were not in love, but
we were exactly what each other needed that night.  I fell asleep snuggled
up to his back and butt, my arms around him. I slept soundly and woke with
the sun, completely refreshed.

Calvin was still there in my arms. I gently kissed his bare shoulder and he
stirred, reaching his hand back to touch my hair. "Good morning," I
murmured. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, just great. I haven't had much sleep since I've been sleeping
alone. Last night was wonderful, thanks."

I kissed his ear. "No need to thank me. It was great for me too, exactly
what I needed."

We showered together and I got my things together after we dressed. I
checked out of the hotel and we went for breakfast at a small coffee shop
that Calvin recommended. I took him to his car and we said our good-byes.
I did make sure he had my business card and the Internet address of my
website for the bed and breakfast. He promised he would take a look at it
and send me an email. I thought to myself that he sounded sincere and
looked forward to his message.

The graduation ceremony was perfect. The pass in review could not have been
better. It stirred up a lot of memories for me as well. When the band
played "Anchors Aweigh", I could not supress the tears in my eyes nor the
large lump in my throat. I was a proud Papa indeed as I watched my son
follow in my footsteps on the parade ground.

I met my son for lunch and he introduced me to his company commander. He
was a Chief Aviation Electronics Technician, but I couldn't hold that
against him. He kept calling me sir until I reminded him I was a retired
Chief Petty Officer, then we got along fine.

After lunch, I told my son good-bye and that I was proud of him. He would
be heading to Charleston for leave and then up to Submarine School and
further training before getting orders to his first boat. He promised he
would try to get down to see me after he finished training. I looked
forward to seeing him again.

I got to the airport in plenty of time to check my bag. I had bought so
much shit I couldn't carry it all on the plane. I sat at the gate for
eternity and finally we boarded the plane and were on our way.  I wasn't
until I was pulling back into the carport at the casa, that the depression
found me again. The house was dark and, since it was, once again, storming
when I got there, I decided to just unpack later.

I opened the kitchen door and flipped the light switch.  Nothing
happened. "Dammit" I muttered. The electricity had been knocked out by the
storm.  I fumbled around and found some fruit and a coke and went out to
the studio. I pulled off my wet clothes and left them in a soggy pile on
the floor. I sat cross-legged and naked and ate two pears and a banana,
washing them down with Coke.

As I looked out of the big windows toward the garden and the sea. Mother
Nature was putting on a spectacular show for me. The storm raged and
lightening flashed. The thunder boomed so loudly, it rattled the
windows. The wind blew the rain against the glass in great gusts. I worried
what damage was being done to Berto's roses. If and when it blew itself
out, I would survey the garden and repair what I could.

At some point I fell asleep because the next thing I remember, the sun was
in my eyes and the noise of the storm had given way to an eerie silence. I
looked through the window at the cloudless sky. The palm trees in the
garden had taken a beating. They had lost most of their fronds. I went out
the door into the cool clean air and walked, naked, into the garden. What I
saw there made me weep.

Every rosebush had been stripped bare by wind and rain until all of the
bushes were as naked as I was. I stood in the middle of the garden, holding
my hands in the air and openly crying. I was in dispair. The garden was
ruined, Ricky and Jose were ruined, and Berto...


Don't leave me now guys! So much will be happening and soon! Please write
to me at ben_sc@hotmail.com. If you haven't read any of my other stories,
check them out under the "Authors" link. Look for "Lyle Benton".