Author's Note:

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Preacher's Son VII: Eli

"Dag?" We had been in that wolf cave for...man, who knows? Coupl'a days? An hour? And Dagwood, his head on my shoulder, was sleepin' away.

"Hey, Dagwood? Wake up, bab—Dag." I don't know what to call him when we we're not fuckin'.

He sat up straight, a small smile on his face as he looked right into my eyes. I couldn't resist kissin' him. Kissin' him is the best. It's better than...winnin'. You know how you feel like you could conquer the damn world after you win a football game or a wrestling bout? That rush. That's what I am talkin' `bout. Though, the last time I felt like that (aside from kissin' him) was finishin' a trig test. Don't know if I passed or not, but I finished it. No answers left blank. That's progress, okay?

"What was that for?" Dagwood laughed after that kiss broke.

"Clarity," I said. "I am always happy to be around ya, Dag, but now I know where we are. That feels...right."

"Why, Eli Remington," Dagwood said, eyes lowered. "Who knew you were such a romantic?"

"Whose fault is that?"

The best word to describe Dagwood's face at that is "dismayed." Dismay, which happens when you hear something that knocks you off your horse. Not enough that you fall, but it ain't a fun ride anymore. I knew what this was about.

"We don't need any one word to describe what we are right now, Dagwood. That's not a today problem. It ain't a tomorrow problem neither."

He didn't say anything,

"And you can be as romantic or not as you like. Not expectin' you to...do anything, Dagwood, except just bein' here."

"I don't know if your stoicism is bravery or foolhardiness."

"Shit don't have to be binary all the time, Dagwood."

He laughed. "I do that a lot, don't I?"

"Yeah, you do."

I gathered him in my arms. "Don't worry."

"I wish," he said after a long silence. "I knew who you were before me. Before this town. We've barely met, but I already feel like I lost so much time not knowing you."

"Wanna time travel?"

He laughed. I was not kiddin', though.

****************

 

"You are home." My daddy, your preacher declared.

"Yessir. I was out takin' a walk." Shit. Don't know why I said that. Wasn't asked. Shit!

"In the rain." Oh, okay, we're not doin' questions today. Cool.

"Yessir."

"Eli, I often wonder what the bigger sin is: your lies or me being so afraid of the truth that I simply don't investigate."

Shit ain't gotta be binary all the time, daddy...

"May I be excused, sir? These wet clothes..."

He shut his eyes.

"I'm praying for you."

I didn't say nothin'. Rebellion don't always have to be loud. He probably expected me to thank him, but his prayers would put me in a pulpit. Even if he don't know it, his prayers would take Dagwood away from me. Can't thank him for that.

****************

Back in my room, I changed into dry clothes and texted Harry.

Hey Hardon! You around?

I didn't hear nothin', and an hour in, I thought, well, I guess that's that. I didn't text the guy since we moved. But that was stupid. People have lives. And sure enough:

Rimmington, you sonuvabitch!

I could hear him in my ear. This dude always sounded excited. Don't know how he did it.

Sup man?

Was at the movies. Working on some homework and coffee now. This dude at this Starbucks is so hot for my dick...free refills, bro!

So you save 56 cents and get sucked off? Charmed life, man.

Stfu. What do you want?

There's a guy.

There's lots of guys. You're a guy. I'm a guy.

Okay, settle...We met at school. We're fuckin'.

I'm supposed to be jealous?

I ignored that.

He said somethin' today that kinda had me fucked up. He was like "I wish I knew who you were before me," and I kinda want to show him that.

You wanna bring him here? Resilience?

Yeah. Need your help.

You can stay with me. We got too many rooms. Ol' Hiram's in Rome and mama fuckin' loves you, so even if old Roderick Usher comes back, mama's got the majority vote.

Really?

The magic of fuckin' sertraline.

Need to think of something to take the trip.

There's a game comin' up with those Jaybird pieces of shit. You could say guys from the team asked you to come back. Your daddy' s a holy roller, but even he doesn't think that hating those fuckers is sin.

Oh, man, facts!

You've fallen hard, haven't you, Remington? For this dude?

Calm down.

Nah, man, knowing you, you're not letting someone in that easy. The world of Eli Remington is surprisingly not boring, but as your own bouncer, you're kind of an asshole.

No shame in bein' guarded, Hardon.
You should try it some time.

Guarded don't get free refills at Starbucks. Let me know when your plans are actually plans.

****************

"A false witness will not go unpunished!" My daddy roared. "And he that speaketh lies will perish!"

Proverbs. I like Proverbs a lot. Not sure what The Lord has to say about picking favourites from the good book, but if I had one...Anyway, Proverbs is for straight shooters. It can be a little black and white, sometimes, but not everything in life needs a think piece. Some shit can be binary, just not all. I looked over at Dagwood to see how he was takin' this. He sat in a pew with his daddy—scary fuckin' dude—his sister, also scary in the way Dagwood could be scary by talking circles around you. Dagwood has his listenin' face on: I know it from English. It's a great mask, in a way: he looks like he's listenin', but if you looked close enough you could see them wheels turnin'.

"Proverbs, overall, commands us to seek wisdom," Was Daddy going for a slow-burn today?
"Wisdom begins with the fear of The Lord. Those who lie do not fear God. Those who support lies by bearing false witness are worse, for they have the good sense to see a lie for what it is, and they choose to prop it up. Choose. Lies, brethren are like termites to the soul."

Dagwood's expression did not flicker, but I saw Violet, his, sister smile kinda sadly.

"We can debate the nature of lies till Judgment Day—white, beige, rainbow, these lies come in every color. But a lie is a lie. To say a lie is to be damned and twice-damned if your bear that lie as if it were a cross. It is no cross, you are no martyr: you're a fool addicted to foul indulgence and you are worthy of..." There it is.

"...what are you worthy of? Scorn? Doom? Mercy?"

Dagwood sat up straighter.

"Fear of The Lord leads to wisdom; a wise man knows sin. He recognizes it with ease. A wise man knows what to make of both the sin and the sinner."

****************

"Did he just end the sermon on a cliffhanger?" Dagwood looked confused. The service was over and people were millin' about the lawn outside the way they typically do.

"Yeah, I don't know about that one..."

"Surprisingly not homophobic today."

"Rainbow lies."

"Oh, Jesus, I almost broke character."

"Young Mr. King!" Daddy appeared. "Your father tells me you have your sights set on becoming a War Eagle?"

Dagwood looked confused.

"Auburn." How the fuck does he not know that?

Dagwood blushed. Hard. Seriously, I'd never seen him that red. I'd know, okay? I've dicked that boy down so rough...

"Oh, of course!" Dagwood laughed. "Yes, I'm thinking of studying writing. Maybe a science, too."

"College and those curricula these days..." Daddy began.

"Haven't changed much, really, since your day, I imagine," Dagwood cut him off. "Besides, the God-fearing know wisdom and a wise man recognizes sin, duplicity...all of those things you mentioned in your sermon. Sir."

I know my father and let me tell ya, he did not like being interrupted and then have his own words recited back to him. He looked okay, but he was fuckin' fumin' inside.

"Think you yourself to be wise, Dagwood?" Daddy asked.

"No," Dag said. "That would be foolish. Wisdom must be constantly cultivated; wouldn't you agree? "Therefore, get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.""

"Very good."

Dagwood smiled.

"Boy," Daddy turned to me. Maybe Dag didn't understand that he was dismissed. Or maybe he didn't give a shit. "There are tables that need moving."

"Yessir," I said in my most obedient tone. His ego probably needed it. "I just wanted to speak with Dagwood here about an English..."

"Of course," he said cutting me off. "Be quick about it."

"Dag, you gotta stop provokin' him, man..." I said the moment he was far enough away.

"Me? I was being perfectly pleasant until he started with that college curriculum bullshit..."

"Dagwood, I know you don't care for him much, and, fuck, I don't get him either, but do me a favor and don't shittalk my daddy in front of me."

Dag's lips parted like he was about to start arguin' again, but he just nodded.

"Understood." He looked to the ground. "I'm sorry. I've been insensitive."

"It's cool." He's a talker, but Dagwood King sure got good manners.

"'Kay, so what did you need for class?"

"Jack shit," I answered. "I need to know if you can get out of town for the long weekend."

"Out of town? On my own?" Dagwood laughed. "You're asking for the impossible! Why, though?"

"Time travel," I answered. "Wanna show you my hometown, introduce you to a buddy or two, show you who I was before you..."

Dagwood, eyes lowered and smiling, was...man...never thought I'd say this about a dude: beautiful. If I could kiss him right now, I would. I'd pull him close to me, and...okay, gotta focus. There's tables to be moved, yeah?

"I'll see what I can do." Dagwood said, still not looking up.

"Cool."

"You need help with those tables?" His eyes met mine and I knew he wasn't talking about them tables.

"Yeah. I guess, I do."

****************

The tables needed to go into one of the back rooms of the church. Dag is stronger than he looks, I guess, because he picked one of the five up easily. Maybe that ain't fair to say. Is it a micro-aggression to assume that a skinny dude couldn't lift stuff?

"You actually helpin'?"

"Of course!" Dagwood sounded outraged, but not seriously. "But, I intend to help myself to you after."

"Dag, we ain't fuckin' in the church."

"Of course not! But what if we kissed?"

"Yeah," I couldn't help smilin'. "What if?"

****************

I was on top of Dagwood as he lay on one of the tables that we'd put away. We were kissin' like it was goin' out of style. I loved kissin' him. Sometimes, I think I loved it more than I loved fuckin' him. He had his legs wrapped around my waist, and I stuck a hand between us to rub his hole. He shivered.

"Hey," he said, movin' away from the kiss. "You want me to take it off?"

Oh, fuck, did I. My already hard cock jumped at the idea.

"You have no idea how I much I want ya too," I sighed.

"I may have some idea..."

"But..."

"Yes, you're right, it's unwise."

"Sorry, baby."

"Don't be; we have resilience." He grinned. "And your hometown, too."

I mashed my lips against his. One for the road, I guess.