Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 01:45:51 -0400 From: C. E. Jordan Subject: DENNIS 3 MY DENNIS 3: DEAN It was Friday afternoon and I was collecting Dennis for his usual weekend stay at my place. As I knocked on his door it opened and I started to say, "Hi D..." but I stopped with my mouth open, for standing there was not 'my' Dennis but his doppelganger. I stood there blinking stupidly at the double when the 'real' D popped from behind the door. "Well, are you gonna come inside or not?" Dennis demanded. There was irritation in his voice. I entered but my head still swivelled from one boy to the other. They looked so much alike it was astonishing. The same slim body, the same cute face--they even cocked their head to the side in a similar way, but the new kid was a head shorter and about a year or two younger. A pair of Dennises. Be still my heart. The other boy's smiling face beamed up at me, and I was doing some beaming myself even though I was thoroughly confused. In contrast, Dennis seemed fairly pissed. Hovering behind the new kid like a dark shadow he frowned at me, so I wiped the smile from my face. Since D wasn't introducing us, I mumbled to the young boy, "And whom might you be?" "I'm Dean" he said in a lighter version of D's voice. "He's my brother." Dennis leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "Your brother? I didn't even know you had..." "Well, I didn't know either," interrupted Dennis. With his cherubic smile still in place, Dean was the one now looking from his brother's face to mine. Then I remembered to introduce myself, "Hi Dean, I'm Charles." "I know, Dennis told me." Dennis turned to glare at his brother. But I was flattered that D had talked about me, though I wasn't sure just what he'd told Dean. I already liked this other boy, he seemed sweet, open and outgoing, just like D but without the drama. "Is that Charles out there?" called D's mom. She had a day off from work this Friday. I left the boys and followed her voice toward the kitchen. "Did you meet Dean?" she inquired. "Yes," I said hesitantly. I was unsure how much, if anything I should ask about this odd situation. But she relieved me from having to ask anything as she continued to speak. "Dennis's father wanted the boys to know each other. Dean lives in Atlanta with his mother, so there isn't much opportunity for the kids to meet. But that son-of-a-bitch never even gave me time to prepare Dennis for this, he just showed up with the boy and dumped him here for me to explain." Rosa sighed and spat out something in Spanish. I didn't have to understand that language to know an expletive when I heard one. "Oh well, he's a nice enough kid though...and he looks so much like Dennis......" She shook her head in amazement and her words trailed off just as Dennis shadowed by Dean arrived in the kitchen. Dennis reached for my hand to pull me away with him. "Damn, can't you leave the poor guy alone for five minutes?" His mom asked. He reluctantly let go of my hand but stood there pouting. "But we got to prepare to go..." he said. "Go where? Don't you remember you have a guest for the weekend?" Dennis looked stricken. When his mother turned away to pour the tea she was preparing, his eyes sought mine. Then I realized at least part of the reason for D's misery. If he had to stay home and entertain this new-found brother, then he'd have to miss our usual week-end together at my apartment. I breathed in the lemony fragrance from the cup of hot tea that was deposited in my hand. I cleared my throat, "Um...maybe they can both stay with me this weekend...I could probably take 'em out somewhere..." Dean beamed at me even more brightly, if that was possible, and Dennis blinked in surprise. His mom halted the teacup halfway to her lips and looked at me. "Are you sure you want to do something like that...take on two of these guys? One is trouble enough without taking on a duplicate..." She laughed a little bit as she considered my offer. "Okay, thanks Charles, I do need a break from these little devils, it will give me a chance to attend a wedding I was invited to tomorrow." As we headed back to D's bedroom to help Dean pack, the boy stuck so close to Dennis that they kept bumping into one another. Suddenly D turned and shoved Dean against the wall and sternly warned him, "Stay right here, don't move!" Dean's eyes followed his brother as Dennis pulled me into a corner and tip-toed up to whisper in my ear, "He keeps following me, he won't leave me alone." I kept a straight face but laughed inside. Dennis was accustomed to being by himself, the unchallanged king of his castle, and here suddenly was this other person who looked disturbingly like himself crashing in on his life, and he was feeling a bit crowded. "Be nice, D," I said quietly, "Dean was all alone, now he's found a really cool big brother he can look up to. Try not to hurt his feelings, ok?...he's only gonna be here for a couple of days." I'd just punctuated my little speech by brushing my lips across Dennis's forehead when I looked towards Dean who was still plastered to the wall where Dennis put him. But he wasn't smiling anymore, instead he had a puzzled, curious, look on his face. In that instant, D and I realized we were locked in each other's arms and quickly broke apart. D strode past Dean, "You can move now, let's go pack your bag." The boys hugged Rosa goodbye, and we were on our way to my apartment. ********* The sun was only an orange stain on the darkening horizon when we finally exited the subway to walk the two blocks down the avenue to my building. In the soft shadows D laced his fingers into mine. Dean saw this and quietly moved to my other side to take my hand in his. Dennis pretended not to notice, but I could feel him sqeezing my hand tighter. (...to be continued....) Copyright C. E. Jordan