"Cam, where's my car?" Kevin asked one morning, several days after he had come home from the hospital.
"It's in the shop."
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's pretty beat up," Cam said. "I'm sure you don't remember. But the Butler boys did a pretty good job on it with their bats after they were finished with you."
"Sheesh! You'd think they were upset about something!" Kevin sipped the glass of orange juice Cam had brought him from the kitchen.
"Must have been. Don't worry about the 'Stang,' though. It's gonna look good as new when they're finished with it."
"It'd better look good if anybody's gonna buy it. I gotta get some money for Heather."
"Don't worry about that right now," Cam said. "We need to concentrate on you."
"I like the way you've been concentrating on me," Kevin leered at his partner, thinking about how innovative and adept Cam had become at getting him off every night so he could sleep.
As Kevin's immediate psychological trauma had subsided, the physical and mental healing process had begun to accelerate. So, in addition to his evening ritual with Kevin, Cam had set up a strict schedule for himself in the morning as well when it came to his boy. He had it down to a science. On school days, he would get up forty-five minutes earlier than he used to, and go in and gently wake Kevin up. Then he'd let his patient relieve himself in the urinal, and empty the vessel into the toilet. After washing his hands, Cam would go down to the kitchen and fix his buddy's breakfast. Sometimes it was hot or cold cereal, or instant waffles, or pop tarts, or bacon and eggs or an omelet with toast. Orange juice. He would take the food upstairs on a tray to his charge, and gently re-awaken him if he'd fallen asleep again. Before Kevin started to eat, Cam would take a knife and cut up anything on his plate that required it, and sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed, see to it that Kevin ate a good meal.
When Kevin was finished, the two of them would talk. The topics were far ranging, sometimes about school and soccer, or what the teachers or kids at school were doing. But Cam always made sure that at least part of the conversation focused on the future--how great it was going to be when they moved to Malibu and were at UCLA, how wonderful (and challenging) it was going to be to raise a little boy or girl together, how much they were going to enjoy living with Alex and John and running on the beach with them. And then, before Kev's nurse arrived for the day, he would sit on the side of the bed for a couple minutes and hug him and kiss him, sort of an abbreviated form of the routine he carried out every night before they conked out. That little investment of time invariably left his partner happy and glowing and looking forward to the day. Even at his young age, Cam knew that the best prescription for anyone facing adversity was hope for himself and for the future.
Catherine had hired a middle-aged, licensed practical nurse by the name of Phyllis Paul to stay with Kevin during the day. Phyllis was very nice, but she had quickly informed her patient that she had three kids of her own, two of them boys, so she wasn't about to put up with any bullshit from him. She would help him clean his teeth, shave with the electric razor Cam had given him, and give him his bath. (No, she didn't wash his privates, Cam's kidding about that notwithstanding. Kevin had to do that himself.) She stood over him while he exercised his unbroken limbs and she massaged them. Then she had him up on one crutch, broken arm resting around her neck, for a few passes up and down the MacKenzies' upper hall before she put him into his wheelchair for a few hours. She also made sure he did some studying, especially on the days when his tutor, Mr. Montgomery, was scheduled to show up. Kevin liked his tutor and especially loved his nurse, but you'd never have known it from the hard time Kevin and Phyllis gave each other. When Kevin took his hour nap during the afternoon, Phyllis would go into Cam's room and watch her favorite soap.
Alex called Cam at school one day between his last class and soccer practice.
"Hi, Cam. It's Dad. How are you?"
"Good," Cam said. "You and John ok?"
"Yes. Things are going well with the shoot, and we'll be wrapping up the movie on schedule and within budget, it looks like. We're happy about that. We miss you and Kevin, though. How's he doing?"
"Really well," Cam said. "His nurse has him up on one crutch walking around at least once a day while she's with him, and I get him up to walk around for a few minutes every night. He misses soccer, but he's keeping up with his classes, and he's in good spirits."
"Good. Anything new on the Butler boys?"
"They were arrested right away, and their dad bonded them out. So, as far as I know, there're back in class at the junior college."
"Well, I hope Kevin doesn't live to regret having been lenient with them," Alex said.
"Me, too."
"Listen, Cam, the reason I called is, I want to know where they towed Kevin's car."
"It's at the Ford dealer here in town. Why?"
"Well, I know Kevin's going to sell it to get money for Heather's expenses. I want him to do that so he understands that sometimes our actions require us to make sacrifices. But I'm going to buy it back through the dealer so Kevin doesn't know about it, and have it waiting down here for him when you guys move to Malibu. Don't you tell him, now! I want to surprise him."
"That's really generous of you, Dad. That'll make him so-o-o happy! He loves that car. He'll never forget you for doing this, and neither will I."
"Well, he's going through a rough time right now. He's a good boy, and I don't think this will spoil him, so..."
"Thank you so much. Is there any chance you and John can come up here anytime soon?"
"I don't think so. Our schedules are pretty tight until the picture's in the can. But we'll be talking to you guys."
"All right," Cam said. "I love you, and give John my love."
"I love you, too, son. Thank you for accepting John the way you have. It means a lot to me. And to him."
"Anybody that can make you as happy as he has, is good in my book."
"All right. Talk to you soon."
The phone went dead.
Alex followed through on his plan, and the Ford dealer in San Rafael called Kevin within a few days and said that a buyer had offered a good price, better than blue book, for the Mustang. Kevin took 24 hours to think about it, and then called them back to accept the offer. He signed over the title, counter-signed by Catherine, and it was a done deal. When the check from the dealer came, Kevin had Catherine put it into a savings account for Heather.
Cam watched Kevin for any signs that giving up his car had depressed him, but he didn't see anything worrisome. He kept up his "Project Kevin" activities to keep his partner postive about things.
Within three weeks of coming
home, though, Kevin
began a campaign aimed at Catherine and Cam to let him go back to
school.
Catherine thought it was too soon, but she talked to Kevin's doctor
about
it. He said that if Kevin could sit up in his wheelchair for four
hours with his leg down without incurring any swelling, and could walk
using both crutches without hurting his arm, he could go back to
classes
part time. Phyllis, his nurse, was charged with checking that
out,
and began to put Kevin in his chair for extended periods of time and
had him walk up and down the hall using both crutches. Within a
week, Kevin had proven to her
he could handle it.
Phyllis told Mrs. MacKenzie at that point that
she thought her job was done, and a week later the family threw her a
little farewell dinner party. Kevin was really sad to see her go,
but he was happy that he had reached another milestone in his recovery.
Rather than take any chances on Kevin stumbling on the stairs at home and falling, Catherine had a medical supply store come and install a chair lift on the front stairs between the first and second floors.
"Piece o' cake," Kevin said after he used the lift for the first time. All you had to do was sit in the seat, push a button, and up (or down) you went. Kevin began to get dressed with Cam's help and eat his supper downstairs now with Catherine and Cam and with his soccer buddies, who were still daily visitors.
"I don't think I like all this new mobility you have," Cam kidded Kevin during their love-in on the bed the last night before the latter started back to school.
"Why not?"
"Because you need a lot of supervision, boy," Cam said, grinning. "I've liked knowing just where you were at all times and what you were doing."
"You're the one who needs supervision, you dick. That's why I want to get back to school," Kevin said. "You're not to be trusted on your own, even at school. No one knows that better than I do."
"Just because you're horny twenty-four hours a day no matter what I do for ya, doesn't mean everybody is. I'm perfectly trustworthy."
"Yeah, right!" Kevin reached over and fondled Cam's penis through his Levi's as they lay together on Kevin's bed together, thus waking the beast. "Who knows what this bad boy is doing when I'm not around to supervise."
"He's saying, 'Where's Kevin?' That's all he ever says."
Kevin laughed. "He talks to ya, huh?"
"Yep. He seems to have a one-track mind, though. It's sex, sex, sex for him. He never asks me about my classes or quotes poetry or anything. 'Where's Kevin?'" Cam whined as if imitating his dick's imaginary voice. "I'm tired of it," he added in his own baritone.
Kevin laughed again. "You're seriously sick, you know that?"
"I used to be well, until you groped me that first time. It was an attack, really. Now I'm warped like you. Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"Commere, shithead." Kevin moved his face over and kissed Cam, leaving his lips on his friend's lips for a long moment. "Why don't you lock up?" he said suggestively, wagging his eyebrows and nodding toward the bedroom door.
"My dick just said, 'Oh, boy!' Did you hear him?"
"No. Just hurry up, willya?"
Cam grinned broadly, and
sliding off the bed,
complied, locking both Kevin's and his own bedroom doors. Going
back over to the bed, he began to help his partner strip off his
sneakers and clothes.
"Lift that manly ass of yours," Cam instructed as he gently pulled Kevin's jeans down off his legs, followed by his boxers.
Kevin's dick started to firm up as he watched Cam strip off his own clothes, and naked, climb into bed beside him.
"It's time you gave me real sex, don't you think?" Kevin asked.
"Whaddaya call what we've been doing for each other?"
"I mean I want you in me, man."
"Are you sure, Kev? I don't want to
hurt that cute little ass of yours, let alone your arm or leg. We
don't wanna to be too vigorous, y'know."
"Just do it, stud," Kevin insisted. "I've been thinking about it for days."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Cam
said, getting up and heading to his room for lube and a rubber.
"Don't change your mind while I'm away, willya?"
Kevin grabbed his now rigid dick and held
it as he watched Cam's body retreat toward his bedroom. Cam came
back with the stuff, and climbed into bed with his lover. He
began to kiss Kevin with lots of tongue, roll his nips between his
fingers and lick them and nibble on them, and gently stroke his boy's
entire body until Kevin was on fire with anticipation. Then Cam
licked his partner's hard dick, sucking the head of it only enough to
glean the sweet pre-cum which had begun to leak from the slit.
Cam's ultimate foreplay was to bend Kevin's legs back over his body and
push his face into Kevin's crack, thrusting hungrily into his
hole. Kevin smelled clean and male. Cam gave his boy a good
reaming before gently lowering his legs. Kevin's breath was
irregular by that time; he was panting.
"I wish we could bareback," Cam said as
he opened the lube and squeezed some on to his fingers. "When are
you gonna get tested?"
"That depends on how well you perform tonight," Kevin gasped with an evil grin.
Cam laughed, and bending down, sucked on his nips again. "I'll be brilliant," he said. "This is gonna be the
best experience of your young life."
"I know it will be," Kevin panted, suddenly serious, "because I love you so much. Just take it slow, and it'll be good."
Cam raised Kevin's nearest leg, and putting a glob of lube on his partner's hole, tentatively pushed a finger into him.
"You're tight, man. I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't." Kevin put his head down on his pillow and smiled. He was still breathing hard.
Cam began to open him up gradually, eventually adding two additional fingers as he stretched and pleasured his friend.
"Yeah, dude," Kevin encouraged him as
Cam's fingers slowly explored new territory. "That feels so-o-o
good. I'm only gonna have a virgin ass this once, y'know, so enjoy it
while you got it."
"Oh yeah," Cam agreed, watching Kevin's face closely for any signs of discomfort as he probed.
Scant moments later, as Kevin watched,
Cam lubed his own penis, rolled on the rubber, lubed it, and moved into
position at Kevin's butt, the latter's legs up on his shoulders.
"Remember, you can change your mind at
any
time," Cam said as he put the tip of his dick at Kevin's portal.
He was more excited about what they were preparing to do than
he let on. After a moment of pressure and discomfort for Kevin,
the head of Cam's penis was inside. He could feel Kevin relax.
With Kevin's legs down in the crooks of his arms, Cam stretched down on to his partner and kissed him.
"You ok?" Cam asked.
"Better than ok," Kevin said, looking up into Cam's face. "Much better."
Patiently, Cam began moving up into his
friend with infinitesimal slowness, watching the boy's face
intently. When he was finally home, he relaxed on to Kevin's body without stroking. They had both begun to sweat.
"Yes!" Kevin told Cam. "Yeah, man!" He chuckled. "Is it good for you?"
"Uh huh," Cam gasped out. "It's fantastic." That was his only answer.
"I think I was born to bottom for you,"
Kevin speculated in a broken whisper, reaching up and touching Cam's
face, caressing him.
"Hmmm."
Cam began moving in and out of Kevin with
short strokes, deliberately passing over his partner's prostate again
and again, causing Kevin's eyes to open wide.
"Holy shit!" Kevin exclaimed, clasping
Cam's sweaty back with his good hand and rubbing him. Kevin's
dick was now leaking a pulsing stream of pre-cum.
"Am I hurting you?" Cam demanded, halting what he was doing momentarily.
"No, but you sure have my attention!"
Cam resumed his gentle thrusting,
gradually elongating his strokes and changing his angle over several minutes as Kevin began to
arch his back and really get into it. Sweat began dripping off
Cam's body and down on to his partner.
"Oh, yeah!" Kevin said, confirming
his pleasure at this new experience. He pulled Cam's head down to
his own and kissed him passionately, exploring his mouth as Cam moved
his hips more and more vigorously. As he thrusted into his
lover's body, Cam scooped a finger into
the puddle of pre-cum now forming on Kevin's abs, and
brought it to his own lips.
"Good...stuff," Cam said between breaths. "You...taste...so...good!"
"Oh-h-h," Kevin responded. "You're..."
Before he could finish his words, cum
began spurting out of his untouched dick, squirting up between his pecs, the
rich stream gradually abating until it was just oozing out of his cockhead
on to his treasure trail. Kevin's sphincter had spasmed around Cam's
penis as Kevin had ejaculated, triggering his partner's orgasm as well.
"Oh, fuck yes, Kev!" Cam said as he
emptied himself into his lover. He collapsed down on to Kevin's
body then, their sweat and Kevin's splooge commingling. Neither
of them moved for a good ten minutes as they explored that perfect
world of spent passion they had created for one another. Eyes
closed, the two boys were oblivious to all else. Kevin's chest
rose and fell as his breathing began to slow, Cam's torso rising and
falling with his partner's every breath.
When they finally stirred, the two of them looked deeply into one another's eyes, at first saying nothing.
"I'm spoiled now," Cam whispered
into Kevin's ear. "Totally. From now on, anything that
ever happens to me in life is going to be measured
by what we just did." He kissed his partner's lips and added with
a grin, "You've ruined
me for new experiences, you dumb fuck!"
Kevin smiled, and putting his hands on either side of Cam's head, pulled his face down to his for another kiss.
"I sincerely hope so!" Kevin said.
Cam slowly pulled out of Kevin and moved
his weight off of him so he could lie on his side beside him in the
narrow bed. He took off his rubber, the reservoir full of thick, white semen, wrapped it in a kleenex,
then threw it on the floor.
"Don't go," Kevin protested, thinking Cam was preparing to leave.
"I'm not going anywhere. I don't
ever want to be separated from you again. Ever!" He studied
his partner's face, and then rubbed noses with him. "Do you think we can sleep together in my bed
tonight without hurting your arm and leg? I promise not to roll on you. I've missed having you
beside me at night."
"Yes."
"Cool." Cam continued to look into
his partner's face as they lay there together, completely relaxed, lost
in their love for one another.
* * *
San Rafael High
was to be closed the following Friday for a teacher institute day, and
Cam had a bright idea. Alex's cabin in the Big Sur was just begging
to be used, so Cam called his mother at St. Francis from home to ask if he and
Kevin could plan a long weekend down there.
"It's fine with
me, sweetheart," Catherine said, "but you really need to ask your
dad. It's his cabin. I don't want you to put Kevin at risk,
though. I'll really be angry with you if he gets hurt.
There could be some snow down there."
"That hardly ever happens, but I hope there
is. Don't worry about Kev, Mom. I'll take go-o-od care of
him. Heh. If there's any snow at all, I'm gonna put him on skis at the top of a hill
and give him a little shove."
"Take that back, or I'm going down there with you," Catherine said, smiling.
"Just kidding, Ma," Cam said. "You don't need to chaperone."
"All right."
"What are you doing this weekend?" Cam asked.
"I have a Swinburne seminar here at school on Saturday morning. That'll keep me busy."
"OK. By
the way, when are you going to bring another guy around the house for the
special treatment Kevin and I always give your dates?"
"Trial by fire, you mean?"
"We wanna weed out the weak and unworthy. And the cowardly, of course."
"You're such a good son."
"I know it."
"Humble, too."
"You know me so well."
Catherine laughed. "When are you guys leaving for the Sur?"
"Thursday after school, if that's OK, and if Dad says it's all right."
"That's fine. Just remember to call me when you get there."
"We will.
Thanks, Mom. Love ya." Cam made a kissing noise into the phone, hung up, and then headed upstairs to talk to Kevin.
He burst into
Kevin's room, where he found found his boy on his weight bench doing
curls with his good arm, using a baby barbell.
"Dude!"
"What?" Kevin sat up.
"You have cabin fever!"
"I do?"
"Yeah!"
"And you have the cure, of course?"
"Never doubt me. We're going down to Alex's cabin in the Big Sur."
"You're taking
me to the cabin to cure cabin fever? You wanna 'splain that to
me, Scooby?" Kevin had been to the cabin before.
"We need some time alone."
"I agree with
that, dude. But make sure we have some playing cards to fill
those empty hours, will ya?" Kevin said. "We don't want to get
bored."
"Oh, do I have plans for you! There won't be any empty hours! This'll be a trip you'll never forget."
"Will I need clothes?"
"Just those you
wear down and back in the car," Cam said. "We need to let your skin
breathe in that pristine air in the Sur as part of the healing process."
"I like the way you think! You should become a doctor instead of making movies."
"You don't need to be a doctor to play doctor. I'm gonna prove that to you when we get down there."
"I'm counting on it, bud. Bring it on!"
Cam called
Alex, and received his assent. Alex said he would telephone Mr.
Anderson, caretaker for the approximately thirty cabins in the vicinity of their
spacious, wooded enclave in the Sur, and have him get the MacKenzie
cabin cleaned up, and stocked with firewood and food.
"Don't let Kevin do anything crazy, now," Alex warned Cam, just as Catherine had. "He isn't healed up yet."
"Don't you worry about that, Dad, I'm gonna take good care of Kevin."
"All right." I just know you will, Alex thought to himself, smiling, but he said nothing.
The remainder
of the week passed quickly because the guys had something to look
forward to, and Thursday after school Cam packed a bag for himself and
one for Kevin, and they headed south in the Camaro. It was slow
going once they hit San Francisco, but Cam was a patient driver.
Once they crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, traffic gradually thinned out
as time passed, and they racked up the miles. They stopped and
ate at a little diner along the road outside of Seaside, and then
continued south. On the other side of Monterey, Cam put the pedal
to the metal, and before long they were driving down a back road headed toward
the ocean and pulled up to the MacKenzie cabin.
Mr. Anderson
had left the yard light and porch light on for the boys. Cam made
short work of unloading the car and carrying their bags inside as Kevin
crutched his way carefully over the gravel where they parked and up the
short flight of wooden stairs on to the porch deck. Cam came back
outside and threw his arms around Kevin.
"This was a great idea. I'm likin' it already," Kevin said as Cam held him and kissed his face.
"Me, too," Cam
said. There was a cold wind blowing off the ocean. "Come on
inside, and let's build a fire and relax."
"Good idea," Kevin said. "Don't forget to call Catherine."
"Yeah.
Right now, if I can get a signal." He pulled out his phone and
flipped it open. There were signal bars showing, and he hit speed
dial. The phone at home began to ring.
"Hello," Catherine's voice said.
"Hi, Mom. We're here. Kevin can hardly breathe, the air's so pure, but there's no snow."
"Uh, huh," Catherine said. "Did Mr. Anderson open up the cabin for you."
"Everything's all set for us. We're just gonna start a fire to take the chill off."
"All right, sweetheart. Have a good time."
"Love ya, Mom."
"I love you, Cameron. Tell Kevin I love him. Bye, dear." The signal went dead.
"Mom said she
loves you," Cam told Kevin as he snapped the phone shut. "I still
don't understand that at all, but that's what she said."
"She recognizes
quality when she sees it, you dumb shit. She's only made one
mistake, and that mistake is standing right in front of me.
You're cute, but you're a cute mistake. She needs my prayers for
consolation on that score all the damn time."
"Humph! You talk a good game on prayer, but you're hardly on speaking terms with You Know Who." Cam pointed upward.
"'Speaking terms', you say? We're bosom buddies."
"You better start showing some quick ass respect to Him and to me, Mister," Cam said, grinning, "or this won't be the fun-filled weekend you were hoping for."
"Yeah, right. Don't you have the fire lighted yet?"
"No."
"Well, why not? Get on it, willya? The doctor doesn't want me to get chilled." Kevin grinned.
Cam ground his
teeth in mock frustration, and went inside, leaving Kevin to look
around appreciatively at the surroundings and listen to the deep
silence. Not even a bird was chirping in the dusk. The
stars that they hardly ever saw in the city were
starting to twinkle. Kevin felt his body relax as he leaned on
the porch railing and began to enjoy his new environment. Finally
he
crutched his way in the door and into the gigantic main room of the log
cabin, filled with comfortable, rustic furniture and the ceiling open
to the roof. He moved
toward the huge, stone fireplace. Cam was on his knees there nurturing
a
flame, adding little pieces of kindling as the fire caught.
"Did you open the flue?" Kevin demanded just to annoy Cam. He could already see the smoke going up the chimney.
"Yes, I opened the flue," Cam responded, mimicking Kevin's voice.
"I'm just trying to help! But do you appreciate that? No-o-o-o."
"Keep it up,"
Cam threatened, "and you're gonna go home with more broken bones than
you came with. Or maybe I'll just hide your crutches in the woods
and leave you here."
"Your lips are moving, but can your body make it happen?"
"You have good
reason to know it can!" Cam said. "Both in bed, and out of
it." The fire had caught, and he stood up and dusted off his
hands, turning to Kevin.
"See, you only
have one thing on your mind, boy," Kevin told him. "I was hoping
that this trip would make you more spiritual."
"Speaking of
spiritual, we gotta find a place for you to go to Mass on Sunday before
the Good Shepherd--you vaguely remember Him, doncha?--comes looking for
ya."
"Father Andy? What would he be doing down here in the Big Sur?"
Cam growled in frustration, and stepped over to Kevin and pulled him into his arms.
"There's only one way to shut you up, I guess!" He planted a deep, lingering kiss on Kevin's lips.
"I'm really
glad to be here with you," Kevin said seriously as he pulled his head back after
the kiss and looked into Cam's eyes. "Coming down here was a
great idea."
"I know it. Whaddaya wanna do?" Cam asked.
"Let's see what kind of snacks we have in the cupboard, and go sit on the deck for a few."
"You got it,
dude!" Cam said, and went over to the kitchen, open to the large room,
and began opening cupboards and drawers. Pulling out some
crackers, he went over to the refrigerator and found a package of swiss
cheese, some salami and a squeeze jar of honey mustard, along with some
bottled water.
"Let's go. I'll get some chairs and a couple of long sleeve shirts for us in a minute."
"OK." Kevin crutched his way outside.
Cam put the
goodies on the porch rail, and then ducked back inside, getting the
shirts, turning on a
table lamp and turning out the porch light and driveway light. He
brought out two folding lawn chairs and set them up. Putting on
his own flannel shirt, he helped Kevin into his. It was
now windless and totally dark, and silent except for the sound of the
ocean breaking softly on to the beach far below them. He and
Kevin sat down
and Cam opened the crackers and the cheese and the salami.
"You want one?" Cam asked.
"Yes, please."
Cam put folded
slices of cheese and salami on a big cracker, squeezed some mustard on his
creation, put another cracker on top, and gave it to Kevin.
"Thanks," Kevin said, taking a huge bite.
Cam fixed himself a cracker sandwich, and the two of them sat there munching
away, occasionally sharing some water from the same bottle.
"Kev?" Crunch, crunch.
"Yeah?"
"Have you talked to your dad lately?"
"Nope."
"You gonna?"
"Probably." Kevin adjusted his broken leg further out in front of himself. "Why?"
"Just
wondered. I know you were disappointed when he didn't come out
from New York to see you when you were injured. But I imagine
he'll be showing up out here one of these days."
"Maybe."
"How mad at him are you?"
"I think you used the right word--I'm 'disappointed.'"
"Yeah. I
know. But sometimes we forget that even our parents have lives of
their own and problems of their own. We'd like to be the only
things on their minds all the time, but it doesn't always work that
way."
"I can't believe you're sticking up for him," Kevin said.
"I'm not,
really. He should have been out here right away, but he
wasn't. Look at how I felt for a long time about Alex and what he
did. But there were reasons for what he did. I guess what
I'm trying to say is, we're probably all gonna have to live a lot of years in this world together, so I hope you try to preserve some kind of relationship with Michael even if your heart isn't in it right now."
"When it comes to things you can count on, dude, my love for you would be at the top of the list."
"You don't have to convince me," Kevin said.
They sat there companionably for a while, listening to the deep silence of the night.
"The senior prom's coming up pretty soon," Kevin said.
"Yeah," Cam said.
"Are you still taking Teri?"
"Yes, unless your leg and arm heal up by then."
Kevin laughed.
"Man, would
that be a bombshell, or what?" he asked. "We'd be famous if we went as each others date.
Or would that be 'infamous?' Or 'notorious.'"
"Yeah, we'd be
on everybody's mind for about ten minutes or so," Cam said.
"That'd be about it. Although the guys on the soccer team might
take a little longer to get over it than that."
"Can't you just see their faces if you and I had ourselves a slow dance out on the floor, and then we kissed."
Cam
chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Vargis"--referring to their
goalie--"wouldn't know whether to shit or go blind. He hates
fags, as he says so often. It makes ya wonder what he's so scared
of."
"Don't it just!" Kevin said. "Is Teri looking forward to the prom?"
"Yes, I think so. She's bought a new dress and everything."
"Ae you still planning to wear your kilt?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you making a big thing out of it, I don't have much choice."
"I get to help you dress. I wanna reach up under that kilt and give you a good fondling."
"Any time you fondle me, it's good," Cam said, smiling.
"Thanks. How long has it been since you and Teri have been out on a date?" Kevin asked.
"Not since you got beat up.""Is she pissed about that?"
"She doesn't
seem to be. I just told her that you required a lot of
care. Of course, now that you're back in school, that excuse is
blown. Y'know, I really like her. She's a very nice
person. A good person. I just happen to be in love with
you, though, and I'm stuck with you now whether I like it or not.
You know, like concrete around my feet."
Kevin laughed,
and then cleared his throat. "Cam, I don't think I've told you
how much I appreciate everything you've done for me. Ever since
I've known you, really. But if it weren't for your love, I don't
think I would have made it through what the Butlers did to me.
Seriously. I really think you brought me out of that coma, and you've
made me want to live since then. I don't say it as often as you
do, or as often as I should, but I love you. Totally. Totally! I wish I were
better with words so I could tell you."
"Well, if
you're gonna get serious on me..." Cam was silent for a
moment. "You're my heart. Yeah, sure, to me your body is
perfect, and that's part of why I feel about you the way I do.
That's probably what started it, anyway. But I love everything
about you. I even love the fact that you're such a wise ass."
Kevin chuckled,
and they fell silent, staring up at the panoply of stars above
them. There was no moon, and they were awed by the beauty and immensity of what they saw.
Eventually, Cam stretched and yawned. "Are you ready for bed?"
"Oh, yeah!" Kevin said.
"Let's hit it, then."
Cam stood and pulled Kevin up on his good leg. Cam took his friend into his arms
and just held him for a long minute, feeling his own crotch tighten as
he did so. Kevin gently rubbed noses with him, and then they let
go of each other.
Cam gathered up
the remnants of their
snack from the porch rail, held the screen door open for Kevin, and
after
visiting the kitchen to drop off the leftovers, eagerly made his way back to
their bedroom with his partner. Cam stripped Kevin and himself down
to their boxers, and retrieved their tooth brushes and tooth paste
from their bags. In the bathroom, they stood side by side as they
relieved themselves into the toilet, flushed, and then they washed up and cleaned their teeth.
Once they were naked and hit
the bed, they didn't make love the usual way. Kevin merely caressed his lover's face
and body gently until they dropped off to sleep. When they
awakened in the morning, having slept through the whole night, they
visited the bathroom and then went back to bed. What began with
lazy kissing, caressing and nipple play ended up in a sixty-nine in which they
brought one another to the brink again and again until finally they
allowed one another to come. Their orgasms were fierce and
powerful, and Cam was so relaxed afterward that he could hardly turn
himself around on the bed to kiss his partner and hold him. They
fell back to sleep until mid-morning.
Cam fixed bacon
and eggs for Kevin and him, and then they sat around on the porch just
talking until noon. Cam went inside and bagged the garbage, and
carried it down the stairs and around the corner of the house to put it
in the garbage bin. That was where he discovered a little border collie bitch
sniffing around the bin for food. She was hungry and looked lost, and she
came to Cam right away. He checked her tags, one of which had a
telephone number on it. Cam coaxed her back up on the porch with
Kevin. He went in and raided the refrigerator for some salami, the only cooked meat they had, and gave it to her with a
bowl of water. While she was eating, Cam used his cell phone, calling the number on the
tag, a San Francisco number according to the area code.
A woman
answered, and when Cam explained why he was calling, she was
overjoyed. The dog had wandered away from her and her husband's
vacation cabin in the Big Sur the week previous, and after looking high and low for
her, the couple had returned to San Francisco, afraid that their pet
was lost for good. She said that if Cam would give her his
address in the Sur, she would start down from the city immediately to
retrieve her.
When Cam looked down, the little collie had finished eating and
was sitting in front of Kevin, getting a good petting.
"Her owner's comin' down from San Francisco to get her," Cam said.
"We gotta get
ourselves a dog, man!" Kevin told his buddy. "I really like these
border collies. They say they're probably the smartest of any of
the breeds."
"I read that
somewhere," Cam said, watching the dog respond to Kevin's
petting. "We might not want to get such an intelligent animal,
though."
"Why not?"
"Well, it would be personally embarrassing for you to have a pet that's smarter than you are."