The LeFleur-Winfield Men V: Boys Meets Boy 4
by John Michael
In this chapter:
John: 21 -- 22, Sophomore -- Senior at McNeese
Dustin: 20 -- 21, Sophomore -- Junior at McNeese
Part Five: Boy Meets Boy -- Chapter 4
Spring 2007
One Year Later
"Why are you home so late," Dustin asked as John walked into their apartment, concern filling his voice.
"Constance and those stupid bitches made me work courtesy. I told them I couldn't do it because I had a lot of homework to do, but I just got in trouble. I fuckin' hate that place! Excuse my language, but those people have no souls, so they need to steal it from others."
"It's this new store bull. Everything just went downhill when we moved to this new location," Dustin said, taking John's books into the living room. "C'mon; I made dinner."
John walked into the kitchen to find his second favorite meal on the stove. "Ah; you cooked one of my favorites, Dusty," John exclaimed, fixing a plate of turkey sausage and red gravy with a side of French-style, sliced green beans over rice.
John smiled and hugged his boyfriend before fixing himself a plate. "I love you, Dustin."
"I love you too, babe."
"So this thing's supposed to float," Dustin asked looking at John's CAD model of this year's concrete canoe.
"That's the idea," John replied.
"Even though it's made out of cement."
"Concrete; it's made of concrete."
"That's pretty crazy that this is a-"
Dustin was stopped in mid-sentence when John said calmly, "I'm having a seizure."
"Oh, God."
"Honey, I need you to stay calm. I'm going to go lay on the floor; just aid me as much as possible. When it's over, call my mom. And please, don't bring me to another hospital."
Dustin was surprised at John's calmness about the situation. John took his mouth guard out of his pocket, laid on the living room floor, and bit down on the guard. Dustin walked over to his boyfriend, knelt before John, and took John into his arms.
When John started convulsing, Dustin felt that he was losing control, so he pulled John closer to his chest. Dustin was so preoccupied with John that he did not feel the tears streaming down his own face. When John started vomiting from the convulsions, Dustin started stroking the back of John's neck in an effort to calm him. When John's episode finished, Dustin was rocking his boyfriend and chanting, "I love you, I love you."
Dustin laid John down on the floor and removed Dustin's shirt and pants. Dustin then started undressing John. After Dustin cleaned John up, he cleaned himself up. Before cleaning the floor, he decided it was a good time to call John's mother.
Dustin listened as the phone rang. "Hello," Glenda's voice said through the receiver.
"Mrs. Glenda; it's Dustin," he said into the phone, stifling his sobs. "John had another seizure."
Wasting no time after John shut the door to Dustin's truck, Dustin asked, "Well; how did it go?"
"It went great. My dad wasn't too happy about me cutting my hours to zero while I'm in school, but I think this is exactly what I need right now."
"Good. I don't want to see something like this happen to you, again!"
"Dustin; what are we going to do about finances?"
"Don't worry about that. My parents will cover the utilities."
"Okay; but won't this put an extra burden on them?"
"No; they had offered to pay more than what they were already paying, but I declined. Don't worry about things that are out of your control, John. Worrying is what led to your stress, which led to your seizures."
"Okay, Dustin. Let's go to Walgreens; I need to pick up a prescription that's supposed to raise my seizure threshold."
"Okay; let's!"
John walked into the apartment and sat down next to his boyfriend on the porch balcony. Looking straight ahead into the swimming pool, John said, "I really hate this current administration! They're draggin' their feet and their asses and wasting time and money...donated money, yet show no results."
"Okay; you sound pissed."
"I am. This is horse crap!"
"Let's go out. On me."
"I was hoping it would be, `cause I don't have any money to spend on eating out," John said, laughing.
***
John and Dustin sat outside at Luna waiting for their appetizers to arrive. "Okay; spill it," Dustin said.
"Huh...oh! The concrete canoe got tabled this year. We wasted too much time. The current admin not only wasted time, but they also just kept all the donated money and supplies without putting them to proper use. We could lose the support of our sponsors if they keep this shit up!"
"Why don't you run for office?"
"I'm not ready for that, yet. I need to get my grades in order, first."
"Did you talk to your parents about support for your bills?"
"Yeah; they agreed to keep paying for my prescriptions and my monthly doctor appointments. They also are going to pay my car insurance, which takes a huge load off. I'm only responsible for my text books and my phone bill."
"Oh; that's good. I worry when you worry."
"Well, stop worrying because I have a lot less to worry about right now."
When the food arrived, John reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, upon which, the words "Louisiana Purchase" were written. "And I have food stamps," John announced to his boyfriend.
"Was that really needed," Dustin asked.
"Yeah; if we plan to move after we graduate, I'm going to need capital with which to do that."
"True. Just don't keep it after you don't need it."
John smiled at his boyfriend and said, "Of course I won't, Dustin."
While waiting for desert, John looked at his boyfriend and said, "I want you to come to conference with me."
"It's at LaTech this year, right," Dustin asked.
"Yeah."
"I don't know. I have class."
"You'll be gone that Thursday and Friday, as well as the remainder of the weekend. We'll be back home Sunday afternoon. C'mon; I go to all of your games, even the away ones!"
"That's true. Okay; I'll go."
"Thanks, Dustin!"
"Anything for you, babe." Dustin paused, at then added, "I may have an internship this summer!"
"That's wonderful! I have an interview in a week for the internship with Meyers and Associates in Sulphur. So, is it Barbe, or Moss Bluff?"
"Barbe."
"Great; that's right down the street!"
"Meyers' isn't, though."
"Yeah; I know. Driving across that bridge every morning and evening is going to suck!"
"If I get this internship, I'm thinking about getting that new iPhone thing."
"You mean the phone with no buttons. That is going to be strange; good luck with that."
Dustin shrugged and said, "It's the phone of the future."
"That's a little scary. I like my buttons; I can text and drive at the same time. I can also text in class without having to look at my phone!"
"Texting and driving is illegal, anyways, John."
"Yeah, so. Doesn't stop the cops from doing it. The Mustang cop is a notorious texting driver."
"Just keep that to yourself. I don't want you to have a target on your back."
The desert came just as Dustin said this. Dustin smiled at his boyfriend and was answered back with an equally, beaming smile. John leaned across the table; Dustin met him in the middle. Their lips locked as they shared a kiss.
As soon as John saw LaTech's campus over the Ruston hills, John was instantly envious. After playing a drinking game, which involved taking a shot whenever they passed a road sign, with his boyfriend and everyone in the back of the van, John, in a buzzed state said, "Damn; this place is awesome!" John, for some reason, could hold his liquor really well and could easily drink many of his friends under the table. Because the road they had to drive along was under construction, many shots were taken. Jeff parked the van and everyone filed out, relieved to stretch their legs and breath some fresh air. This was John's first year at conference and he was excited to be on the concrete Frisbee team with his classmate, Dane, with whom he had a slight crush. Dane, who was from Grand Lake, Louisiana, reminded John of a California surfer. Dane had long hair, and sounded like the male version of a valley girl; John also thought Dane was very pretty and even caught himself flirting with Dane.
Matt, the McNeese ASCE president, was very disappointed and the rest of the organization soon found out why. The hotel that the McNeese students were staying this year was not the Howard Johnson at which the other schools were staying, but another hotel further down the highway. This meant that in order to mingle with other schools, they would have to pile into the van and drive to the other hotel.
***
The drive from their hotel to the Howard Johnson was not bad and all of the major businesses were along the corridor highway, so finding their way would be easy. Jeff parked the van in the parking lot next to the other vans and concrete canoes. Again, everyone filed out of the van. John was ready to mingle. There was liquor of every kind everywhere in the parking lot, probably the most amassed outside of a bar in this dry parish. The lot behind the hotel had become a huge college party with students from thirteen colleges out of Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
The night went on smoothly as everyone got to know each other. John and his other classmates especially liked the students from Southern University, Ole Miss, and Arkansas State, who were all at the Deep South Conference for the first time in their school's history. John and Dustin left to grab another beer and when the returned, they noticed a student getting confrontational with Dane. When John and Dustin returned, the student went back to his classmates near the Mississippi State canoe.
"What was that about," John asked Dane as he walked toward him.
"Man, I don't know," Dane said, in his usual upbeat mood. "He has problems with my hair and my clothes, or some shit. I really don't care."
John and Dustin continued to drink and mingle until the blond boy from Mississippi State walked over to their side again. This time, his focus was on John. Out of the slurred speech, John made out, "fag," "faggot," "queer," and, "what...fuck...lookin'"; the remaining speech was unintelligible. The blond boy pushed John and then Dustin stepped in, ready to defend John. John grabbed Dustin's arm and said, "It's okay; he's not worth it."
The boy said something else John could not make out; John turned around and said, "Look; I don't know how things work in your bigoted, ass backwards state of Mississippi, but in Louisiana, if you hit me after you what you just said, that's a hate crime and you'll get put away for eight years minimum if convicted." The boy seemed to sober very quickly when his face looked as if a light bulb had gone off. John continued, "I suggest you turn around right now before I report you for biased harassment, which, because of my sexual orientation, is also illegal in the state of Louisiana."
John's classmates started crowding around John and Dustin, ready to fight if necessary. Students from Mississippi State retrieved the blond boy and brought him back to their side. From then on, the rest of the night went smoothly.
***
Back at the hotel, John's classmates were now curious about John and Dustin: how they met and when they came out. John and Dustin were happy to tell everyone about their love for each other, coming out to their parents and friends, and coming to grips with their sexual orientation. After that, everyone decided to go swimming. John felt closer to all of these guys as a result of this night; John was very happy he decided to come to conference this year.
John and Dane figured that they had to be in first or second place after the competition. The Frisbees landed on target and did not break. The judges even commented on the durability of the Frisbees, something that was obtained after testing numerous mixes and stains.
After the competition, John, Jeff, and Dustin sat down at the beach and watched the concrete canoe races while the seniors participated in the mystery competition. "We have to do one of these before we graduate," Jeff said.
"I couldn't agree more," John said.
"I can't believe those things actually float," Dustin exclaimed, to which everyone else laughed.
"We'll never make one putting up with the bullshit from this administration," Dane added.
"It's really not that hard to go over their heads," John said. "We just need to make the idea of the concrete canoe popular again."
Jeff did not say anything, but John could tell he was mulling something over. The canoe just may become reality as soon as next year; John was already excited.
***
"Man, this place is a hole in the wall," Renus, the organization senator said.
John noticed that a people were passing through a door in the back of the steakhouse bar. John walked to the door just as it opened and some college students stepped into the bar. John walked through the door and was astonished; the steakhouse was just a front for the real club in the back. The club had two stages, three bars, and it was built like an enormous deck. The entire deck was actually a large dance floor. John noticed that his friends had followed him into the back. John was ready to have fun and so was everyone else. This time, the girls decided to tag along. The group danced the night away and John danced with Dustin without anyone bothering them. It was truly a great night.
John and his teammate, Dane, and Jeff and the rest of the surveying team posed for pictures for the school paper, The Contraband, the city's paper, the American Press, and the LASCE magazine. John and Dane had placed first for the concrete Frisbee team. Jeff, Ben, and Austin also placed first for the surveying team. John had never been happier than this moment and he was very happy that Dustin was also very excited.
Spring 2008
When John walked into the construction lab, he noticed professors and students from all four disciplines had gathered around the concrete canoe. The concrete was in the process of being removed from its mold, which is better described as the other way around. John was surprised and excited to see Jeff and Dr. Richardson talking about the canoe. Dr. Richardson was never interested in anything the organization did. John continued walking to Dr. Uppot's office.
Dr. Uppot was on the phone, but waved John into his office. John sat down before Dr. Uppot and waited. When Dr. Uppot hung up the phone, he asked John, "Yon, are we all set?"
"Yes, sir. The canoe and the report are coming along just fine; Joe, Dane, and I have been practicing with the surveying equipment, as well. We still need to practice the theodolite, though. We already have enough students pledged to participate in the mystery event and surveying, obviously. We need more people for the canoe races."
"How many races are their going to be?"
John started counting on his fingers as he said, "Men's endurance, men's sprints, women's endurance, women's sprints, and co-ed sprints. Five total."
Dr. Uppot's eyes grew big and he said, "Oh, wow; that is a lot!"
"I was thinking that the extra credit you gave students building the canoe could be extended to the students participating in conference."
"Yeah...yes; I could do that. You just make me the list, no?"
"Of, course; I can do that."
"Okay; are you ready to win first place?"
"I'm practicing, Dr. Uppot."
"It's first place, or nothing," Dr. Uppot said, waving his hand across the air above his desk when he said, `nothing'.
John chuckled, got out of the chair, and said, "By, Dr. Uppot."
"Yeah...okay, Yon!"
John left Dr. Uppot's office to team up with his friends and classmates, Mauria Caldwell, and Jeff to convince Dr. Richardson to cancel all civil engineering classes during the field trip to LSU.
John walked into the apartment and into his boyfriend.
"Hello," Dustin said, smiling.
"Well, hello," John said, leaning forward to kiss his boyfriend.
John went into the living room and sat down. Dustin watched as John took out his binder, some engineering paper, and a homework assignment. "How much homework do you have," Dustin asked.
"Not much," John said. "Just Construction and Transportation; why?"
"No reason, just wondering. How's the canoe coming?"
"Great! We are really getting that Styrofoam out of the hull. We're thinking about doing a female mold next year to prevent this from happening. It's thick and heavy, too; this is something else a female mold would prevent."
"Do you think it'll float?"
"It's impervious, that's for sure! Yeah; it should float and pass the swamp test."
"My hands are still peeling from that damn concrete, so it'd better float!"
"It will; and thanks again for helping lay it! Are you coming?"
"Hell, yeah! Last year was fun, but we're going to BR this year. And I didn't destroy my hands for nothing; I want to see this!"
John smiled and said, "Cool; we're gonna have fun with you there."
The hot sun was beaming down onto the beach behind LSU's sorority row. It was time to swamp the canoe and Dustin helped get it into the water. John was a little worried because of its weight, but according to his fluid dynamic calculations, it should float.
John watched and took pictures, as the canoe was swamped buckets of water. Finally, once the canoe was more than two-thirds full, everyone around it forced it underwater. Now was the moment of truth. John held his breath as his classmates stepped back away from the canoe. It popped up like a cork. John was excited, as well as relieved. Jeff was beaming, and so were the teammates who were planning to race. Dr. Uppot and Dr. Hill, who the civil engineering students know as Jason Hill because of his age, were beaming when the canoe passed the swamp test.
***
After hours of exhaustive racing, John could determine that they won at least one trophy in the men's sprints. The women's sprints was still up in the air because of how close the race was, and the co-ed team capsized the canoe, so there was no trophy in that category. Tomorrow would be another decisive moment: John, Dane, and Joe battling to keep McNeese's first place winning streak in surveying.
It was four in the evening when one of the judges came into the fitness center near the racquetball courts to tell John, Dane, and Joe that their time had expired. They were very disappointed because they had only finished calculating their angles, which were accurate down to the second. They were also not happy because of the amount of time they had to wait on other teams to finish when they crossed paths with those other teams. John wanted to protest, but he felt that it was already too late because the awards banquet was starting in an hour. John, Dane, and Joe reluctantly followed the judge back into the room where the rest of the panel was to hand in their orange surveyor's notebook.
John went back to the room with Joe and Dane to get ready for the banquet. In the room, Joe and Dane talked John into staying the night and going out with them. John texted Dustin and Dustin agreed, so it was on, even though it meant not being able to stay for the entire banquet.
***
The food at the banquet was terrible, so John was glad he was leaving soon. John fixed whatever looked decent into his plate and then barely touched the items. Ruston had better food; and they're in north Louisiana where the food sucks, John thought.
Joe signaled to John that it was time to go. In unison, John, Dane, Joe, and Dustin rose and exited the banquet hall at the LSU Student Union. The boys climbed into a car with a girl and then left the campus, heading for Dane's car and eventually, downtown Baton Rouge.
***
Once at the bar, John started having beer. After six Shiner's, John was feeling great. Dustin watched as his boyfriend took to the dance floor. Dustin danced with John for a few songs from the live band. After which, John went to the bar and returned with two beers; Dustin was becoming uncomfortable with John's intake. Dustin became especially uncomfortable when John started flirting with Joe and Dane. Joe and Dane acted as if everything was normal, which it was; John flirted with them often, but was never blatant.
After twelve beers and high-fiving, every patron that passed their table John hurried to the bathroom. Just as John walked in, Joe was leaving the stall; John bolted into the stall and puked what felt like his entire gastrointestinal system into the toilet and the floor nearby. John left the bathroom and started to go back to the dance floor, but realized he was still nauseas. John saw a waiter come inside from an alley where it was misting. John walked outside in his drunken state and through up in the alley. He sat on some emergency fire escape steps and allowed the cold mist to coat his body.
***
John was suddenly awakened by Dustin, who said, "Honey, I think you need a bed!"
John smiled at his boyfriend and followed him back into the club. It was two and the club was closing when John, Dane, Joe, and Dustin piled into Dane's car and followed their friend to Tigerland Apartments.
***
When John awoke again, he was being motioned out of the car and into an apartment. John found the sofa and laid there until Dustin offered him some food. John took a bite of a McDonald's French fry and then ran to the toilet, puking out much more than he took in. John's puke was pure liquid and smelled of Shiner Bock. John waltzed back into the kitchen and asked for a Sprite. After downing half the soda, John was feeling a lot better. John laid down on the sofa again and watched as Joe came into the room and stripped off his clothes. Joe looked at John and said, "For your eyes only, John."
John smiled and said, "You sexy, fuckin' bastard! Too bad you're straight, `cause you have a huge dick!"
Joe laughed and blushed as Dustin walked into the living room, picking John up, and saying, "Okay, that's enough! It's time for bed and we're not sleeping in the living room."
Dane was already in his underwear as John and Dustin walked down the hallway and into a bedroom. John and Dustin laid down on the bed in their underwear and were both out within minutes.
John had his sunglasses on and was feeling a lot better with breakfast in his stomach and brushed teeth as he road back home with the rest of the guys. Personally, John did not want to go back home; he had fun in Baton Rouge, loved LSU's campus, and wanted to move there. Just as John was thinking this, Joe said, "I like BR."
"Me, too," John said. "I don't want to go back home."
"I was thinking," Joe said, "that we could move here, you and me, and get our MBA's together."
"That sounds like it would be a good idea."
"I mean; we already started taking our business courses, so we'll have a head start," Joe said.
Dustin was looking out his window and fuming at this point. John noticed Dustin's quietness and knew that John was going to get an earful when they got home.
"I will definitely consider it, Joe," John said.
"We could work at Shaw while we're out there; my dad works there and could get us on."
"Wow; lucky you," John said.
"You could benefit, as well."
"Like I said; it sounds like a very enticing offer, so I'll look into it," John said.
***
When Dane dropped off John and Dustin, Dustin was still angry. John closed the door to the apartment and walked up the stairs into the living room. Dustin's anger was tangible as they unpacked their suitcases in silence.
"Okay, get it out," John said.
"What the heck was that last night and this morning," Dustin hissed.
"About last night, I'm sorry I got so drunk. It won't happen again."
"No; not the drunk part, although, that was really embarrassing. I'm talking about the blatant flirting with Joe and Dane. What was that all about?"
"Honey; I flirt with them all the time. Joe is the only one that flirts back. It's like a silly game we play with each other. Nothing serious would ever come of it. You have to admit, though, Joe is hot!"
"And that brings me to my second point. He is hot and he's obviously into you."
John laughed and said, "Honey; Joe's straight!"
"And I believe that. He also seems a little curious."
"Are you suggesting that I would cheat on you for a fling with a straight guy?"
"Not readily; but if you were to move into an apartment two hours away, say in like, Baton Rouge, then yeah, maybe!"
"Fuck you, Dustin, for even considering that!"
Dustin sighed, and turned around. Dustin faced John again and said, "Okay, then what was that about in the car this morning?"
"Dustin; I wouldn't, couldn't, do anything without consulting you first. I expect the same from you."
"And you have it. Everything I do is vetted through you and vice versa; we've always done things this way for a reason."
"And, believe me, I understand. I was just trying to make conversation and not shoot him down immediately."
"But you shot me down in the process, John!"
John looked at the ground, then back at Dustin, and said, "I'm sorry, Dusty."
"I would never do that to you. I sacrifice my pride all the time in front of my buddies to get your permission to do something. I expect the same sacrifice in return."
John swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "I am sorry, Dustin, I really am. That won't happen, again. And I'll stop the flirting."
"Thanks."
After a long pause, Dustin added, "I love you for this, I really do."
"I love you too."
Dustin kissed his boyfriend, ending the argument and sealing the apology.
End of Chapter 4
Thanks for reading!
You can contact me at JohnMichael.Nifty@gmail.com