Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2021 11:02:45 -0600 From: Billy Wright Subject: Us, For You (Chapter 17) This story is fiction, based on real events, but fiction. This is the final part of the series that includes five chapters so... you are in for a final ride, a final boy and a final everything. (I'm a college student so you'll have to forgive me if I don't upload that often). If you'd like to talk to me about anything, here is my email: billy.alexander.wright@gmail.com ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ *** Characters *** *Alex - Me (16) *Chris - My brother and friend (2 years older) *Minakami - Japanese boy, kind, daring and helpful (same age as me) *Ekrem - Turkish boy, warm, caring and sweet (2 years older) *Baruk - Ekrem's boyfriend (1 year older) *James - The golden-haired boy (same age as me) ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ *** Part 4, Finale *** Skyscraper Constellations 4 (New York) The sun shined glorious over the city. My dreams, in spite of everything, were filled with Hamilton. I couldn't believe that James had showed me a musical I've actually liked. It was bonkers. I asked myself, what else could James do? That day, however, things weren't about James but, just as Chris had told me the day before, they were about my brother and his "brother's day" with me. I wasn't sure I understood what that was about and even though I knew it wasn't something bad, a part of me was nervous. I texted Minakami, telling him about James and thanking him, explaining him that it had been the birthday party he had organized for me what inspired me to have an amazing second date. Minakami said he was happy for me. I told him James could be something serious. I smiled at the thought of that. I went to my parent's hotel room. "Are you ready to go with your brother?" My mother asked as soon as I entered her room, she was very aware of his intentions. "Today is you day together." "What will you do?" My father approached me. "We are going to seize our days without kids, of course. We are going to have a date, romantic dinner, Broadway, everything, son." "Broadway?" "Weren't you telling us yesterday how good Hamilton is? Well, today we are going to see if you were right or if we just spent 600 dollars for nothing." I opened my mouth to protest but I had nothing to fear. Sometimes I forgot that my parents were humans too, that they were in love too. I remembered their smiles when we were at Central Station and we saw that couple of newlyweds. My parents were more than my parents, they were, of course, also husband and wife. "Try to enjoy your day with your brother, okay?" As soon as my parents left Chris and I went to have breakfast. I wasn't sure what would happen but my brother took control of the conversation. He told me about his girlfriend, for a change. It was weird, I had never seen Chris as the kind of person who wanted to share what was happening in his life. He told me that she had caught her eye since before Prague but it hadn't been until the trip that they actually tried something. He told me he and she didn't do anything romantic, they just met at night. Oddly enough, it turns out that it was Chris who wanted to try something more but she didn't take him seriously. It wasn't until Chris interrupted one of his visits to pick me up from Alexjei's that she started to take him seriously. "I think it was because she realized there were things that I cared more about than just sleeping with her," my brother mentioned. "So the fact that she even considered becoming my girlfriend was, in part, thanks to you." "Maybe I should do stupid stuff more often." Chris laughed. "Don't even think about it." That day we kept talking, we got on one of those buses that carried tourists around and we got to see the city. It wasn't unpleasant, on the contrary. However, I didn't feel we were doing anything particularly special to justify a day together. It was then that we decided to have lunch at a pizza place. The love that city had for their pizza was unbelievable. Chris ordered for me. I should've noticed it. I don't know why I didn't noticed but I should have. Chris ordered three whole pizzas and, looking at the sides, the table we sat at was too big for two. The signs were there but I didn't see them. I kept talking and talking but to no avail. It wasn't until the pizzas arrived that I noticed something was wrong. "Chris..." I asked. "Did you ordered three pizzas?" "Yeah, why?" "Why?" I was puzzled. "We can't eat three just the two of us. We will..." It was then that, behind the waiter I saw someone standing there. I took me a while to recognize him but yeah, there he was, standing in front of us, a few steps away, a Japanese boy was looking at us. My mouth opened, astonished, frozen until the boy smiled and, God. I could recognize that smile anywhere. "Alex," that was all he said and, standing up, I ran towards him, wrapping him with my arms. "Woah, are you this happy to see me?" "What are you doing here?" I asked too loudly, you could notice the excitement in my voice. After all, it had been two years since we last saw each other. "I'm not the only one," Minakami said pointing at his back. I looked over his shoulder only to find two silhouettes behind, holding hands, smiling at us. "Alex!" They greeted us at once. "Ekrem, Baruk!" I gave them a brief hug to each one. I couldn't breathe, the excitement had taken care of drowning my lungs. I took a step back. In front of me was everyone: Minakami, Ekrem, Baruk and Chris. The Japanese boy, the two Turkish boys and my brother, all in the same city, the same restaurant, the same table. We all took a seat, Baruk was the first one to take a slice of pizza from the table. Everyone else ordered drinks. I stayed there with my mouth open, still unable to believe they were there with me. "How?" I asked then, unable to stop smiling. "How are you all here? How...?" "Oh come on, it's not that hard. Think about it." Baruk moved in his chair. "Think about what has happened in the last month, all the clues are there." They gave me a moment. I tried to think but the shock was such that I wasn't able to concentrate, nothing in the last month stood out as suspicious or that was what I thought until my eyes landed on Chris. "You said this was a brothers' day." I pointed out. "But you... you knew about this?" "Oh, he didn't just know about it," Ekrem laid his hand on my brother's shoulder. "Chris was the one who made this possible." "My father has a meeting here," Minakami explained. "A round of conferences. I told Chris I was coming to New York and well, he didn't make me come to see you, he made all of you, Ekrem, Baruk, himself and you, come see me. I got here yesterday." I looked at my brother. "He had made me and all our family come to New York just to see Minakami?" I thought, it seemed stupid, surreal, and unthinkable but then I remembered. "The vote," I said. "You were the one who put New York in the vote with my parents. You voted to come here." I even remembered that I had complained with Minakami about that. "I thought you wanted to come here because of your girlfriend." Chris moved his head to the sides. "I figured you were thinking something like that but no, it wasn't because of that." I did remember but then I noticed more. "We were supposed to come to New York at the beginning of the summer but you convinced our parents to come in the middle of the summer instead." Minakami smiled at me. "Even if you came to New York like me, it was of no use if the dates didn't match." "But it took you all afternoon to convince my parents. I thought you had been that insistent because you wanted to be with your girlfriend not because of me..." Chris smiled with that. "It was because of you. The fact that my girlfriend happened to be here was, honestly, a happy coincidence." "It was the universe paying you back," mentioned Ekrem. I let myself fall on the chair, impressed. Then I looked at Ekrem and Baruk. "And how did you get here?" "Ekrem invited me," said Baruk. "I came with my brother but we just adjusted our vacations to yours. Actually the plan with my brother was to go to Canada and the Niagara Falls but we took a detour for the weekend." That made me smile. I had never thought that I could be able to see them all there, together, laughing in the same room, eating the same pizza. From the very beginning, all the boys of my life: Minakami, Ekrem, Baruk and Chris. For a moment I thought about Alexjei but judging by the way things had gone down, it was clear he wasn't coming. Maybe that was for the best. As soon as the drinks arrived we all joined in a group conversation. Chris said he could go if I wanted him to so I could be alone with them but I told him to say. After all, he had made all this possible. "Wait, wait," Baruk paused the conversation half an hour later. "I have a question. Chris organized all this, right? But do you, Chris, do you... know we all met Alex? How we became friends?" "From where do you know each other?" "Yeah," Baruk clarified. "I mean, do you know where we met and what happened between us?" We all looked at Chris with excitement, only I was nervous. Chris looked at the three of them. "Well, no one has told me about what you did but I can imagine it. The only one I recognized at first was you, Ekrem, because you were our tour guide in Turkey, right?" "Me and my brother, yeah." Ekrem nodded. "Well, when I contacted you all to do this, well... let's say I understood why Alex disappeared on every vacation." "I never disappeared!" I complained and for some reason that made everyone laugh. "But, how did you know they even existed?" Chris smiled as if he had a secret, something no one else knew. "Do you really want to know?" "Of course, I want to know how you did it." "Okay," Chris raised his shoulders. "Just remember that you asked." Looking at all the others, he put his elbows on the table. "You know I sent you all a message but I didn't tell you how I knew who you were or how I got your numbers, right?" Minakami, Ekrem and Baruk nodded. "Well," Chris continued. "You see. One day, my parents weren't home so I decided to go out with my friends, I didn't have permission but I didn't care. Alex said I shouldn't go out but I ignored him and left. Well, halfway there I decided to listen to Alex and went back home. I stayed on the first floor for a while but, when I walked up the stairs... you won't believe the show I saw." The color of my face slowly started disappearing. He was telling them THAT story. "Oh, look at him" Chris interrupted himself, looking at me. "He looks so worried, he knows the moment I'm talking about. Don't worry, we are among friends. Besides, it's nothing they haven't seen already." I opened my mouth but the words refused to come out. "Nothing we haven't seen already? What do you mean?" "As I said," Chris continued. "I saw a show. When I was in the hallway I was about to go to my room but I stopped to open the window in the hallway and then I saw the inside of Alex's room and, well. It turns out that my little brother was wearing my varsity jacket. This one, in fact," he said showing the one he was wearing. "He was wearing it but... he had nothing underneath." "Nothing?" "Nothing." Ekrem looked surprised, finally realizing what moment Chris was talking about. Minakami turned to see me, impressed and Baruk started laughing. "I see you all remember that moment," Chris took a slice of pizza. "That day, you were there? Watching?" "He didn't watch," I corrected. "He just saw me and turned around. That's how he found out I was into boys, I figure he also saw your faces on the screen." Chris, not saying a word, moved his head to the sides, slowly. "Who said I didn't stay to watch the whole show?" "You said you didn't!" I replied, suddenly scared. "I never mention how long I stayed but now that it is in the air... yeah, I saw everything. And I mean everything." "Even the grand finale?" Minakami asked, laughing. "You mean the... climax? Of course." They all started to laugh with that. Even I, ashamed, joined to their laughter. I knew Chris had seen me, he had already told me that, but I didn't know he had stayed for the whole show. It was weird but I felt a mixture of shame and excitement. "Stop, stop, stop," Ekrem stretched his hands to the sides as if he was able to stop the conversation. "So, are you saying that you know what Alex did with us?" "If he saw that show I think he is already imagining it," Baruk said in between laughs. Chris nodded. "Oh my God. That means that... every one of us, everyone at this table... has seen Alex naked. Naked and hard I must add." Everyone exchanged looks with that and, once again, started laughing. I looked at the floor, ashamed. It wasn't just true, it was too true. Minakami laid a hand on my shoulder. "I think you should take it as a compliment." "A compliment? Is it a compliment that everyone has seen my mini-Alex? No, thank you, it doesn't sound like a compliment but if my mini-Alex brought us all together then I'm not complaining." "Of course it is a compliment!" Ekrem added. "You know why?" "Because you don't look bad," Baruk completed. That made him laugh again. "In fact, if you are still single, would you like to..." "Don't," Ekrem stopped him, laughing. "We have a rule: not twice with the same person, remember?" "I know," said his boyfriend, Baruk. "But don't tell me you don't want to have a second round? It was one of the bests." "It was," Ekrem agreed. "But it wasn't the best. I'm sorry, Alex, I really, really like you but once we met a performer, an acrobat from a circus and... Don't look at me like that! It's true!" "It's true," Baruk confirmed. "He knew how to move," Ekrem smiled, somewhat ashamed. "But you are the one that's still our friend so I consider it a win." "Well, of course, my dear boyfriend here would maybe reconsider if you gave it another go. Everyone is in..." "Okay," Chris stood up. "This is clearly turning into an orgy so it's best if I go and leave you to it." We all laughed with that, it had been half a joke but it had also been half real. "Are you nervous, Chris?" Minakami asked, playing. "He shouldn't be," Baruk added. "I must say, Chris. Alex isn't the only boy in his family that doesn't look half bad." Chris seemed to blush with that but instead of staying quiet, he replied. "I'll tell my father you send your regards." I couldn't hold it, I laughed harder that I should've with that but it didn't matter, they laughed too. "So," I continued. "If a circus performer was better than me..." "Stop," Baruk intervened. "Ekrem said the performer was the best one for him. Not for me." "Which one was your best?" I asked then. "Well, one time Ekrem and I... okay, before that, don't go thinking that we do it with someone different every three days. Not, it's more like...once every two months or so." "For how long?" Minakami asked. "Three years, give or take." "So that makes it about 18 people." Ekrem and Baruk exchanged looks. "Probably, yeah." Chris leaned towards me, whispering in my ear. "Are they a couple?" I nodded. "I thought so but then... are they in an open relationship or..." I nodded again. "Welcome to the future, I guess," he said with a smile. "Okay, so the best one for me was when we did it with my former coach from high school. I know, sounds bad but hey, he was really tall and had a ton of muscles, and the guy was super ripped. Odd for a gym teacher to be ripped, plus he knew how to do it, if you know what I mean." "What about you?" Ekrem asked Chris. "Since we are talking about our best... moments in bed. Which one was yours?" "Oh, well, see... I haven't been with 18 people. Just a few girls, sorry to disappoint. But the best of them is... I know this will sound cheesy but the best one is my girlfriend. No, she is! I swear. She knows what she is doing and she has a ton of confidence to do it." "So sweet," someone said. I laid a hand on his back. Chris had never been that open with me or anyone else that I knew. "And you, Minakami?" Asked Ekrem. "Which one was your best?" The Japanese boy seemed to blush. "I... I haven't done is as much as you guys either, I am mostly a date person? I mean, usually when I meet someone it doesn't lead to that as fast. But I have done it a few times. The best one, however, has to be, well... Alex, of course." "But we..." "I know! But even though we didn't go all the way, it was the best one. It had something that the others didn't. The best." I smiled with that but the emotion didn't last. Everyone was looking at me now. "No," I said immediately. "I'm not going to tell you." "Oh, come one, why not?" "Because I've only done it with you, everyone in this table. Oh, not you Chris but all of you. You are my friends, I'm not going to pick." I thought they might insist for a second but they let it go. Nodding. The pizza was amazing although it wasn't about the flavor as much as it was about the fact that I was sharing it with all of them. Maybe that was New York's secret ingredient, the secret to modern magic. The City so Great it was Named Twice. "I'm sorry but I have a girlfriend," I heard Chris tell Baruk while I was standing up. "Well," Baruk continued without giving up. "If someday you and your girlfriend want another couple to try new things. Here we are, Ekrem and I. We've never done it with a couple or a girl so it would be new to all of us. And no, I'm not selling us, I'm just saying." Ekrem, Baruk and Chris stayed at the table. The night was falling over the city, I had no idea how time had flown by so fast. We all agreed to go somewhere to dance later that night but, before leaving, Minakami asked if he could tell me something in private so we both stood up and went out of the restaurant. "I still can't believe you are here," I told him with clear happiness on every inch of my face. "Really, this feels like a dream, almost surreal." "I can't believe it either," Minakami commented, his face lit up by the last rays of sun and the million lights of the buildings shining above. "When I told your brother I was coming, I didn't really think he'd be able to make the rest of you come here too. Chris is a really good brother, Alex. You should know that." I looked at the sky. "I think every day I'm noticing that more and more." Minakami tried to take of the backpack he was carrying but he got stuck. "Can you hold this?" He said giving me his phone and wallet. I took them while he looked for something in his backpack. Just then, his phone vibrated when it got a message and, for an instant, I could see the notification appear on screen. Yet, it wasn't that what drew my eye there, it was the background picture he had in his phone. "Is this..." I said, pointing at his phone. "Is this the photo we took in... what's it called?" Minakami raised his head and, looking at the photo, we both answered at once: "Asakusa." It was the picture we had took on the last day, him and me, looking at the camera with a big red Japanese door behind and a giant paper lamp in the middle. We were smiling. It was incredible, unbelievable to think that two years had gone by since then. "I like that picture," Minakami smiled while he put on his backpack again. "But what I wanted to show you or rather, to give you was this." In his hands was the biggest of all treasures: two bento boxes brought straight from Japan, perfectly ordered, each with rice, dumplings, sushi and mochis. I took them in my hands. Minakami knew that, above else, what I loved the most was being able to try food from other places. "It's a gift." He added then. "It's..." I had no words so I just brought him to my chest and hugged him. "I didn't bought you anything, I'm sorry. It's just that... well, I didn't know I was going to see you today, if not I would've brought something for you." That made him smile. "Don't worry, being with you is enough." That night we danced. Chris and Ekrem found a place where we were all allowed. It was weird, it seemed to be underground. Maybe that was how things worked in New York. The music was danceable and even if I didn't particularly like it, it was worth it because I was with them. Turns out that Baruk and Ekrem had some good moves, even Chris knew his way around a dance floor. Minakami and I were the only ones who moved like rocks but it didn't matter. In the end, we all agreed to meet again. Minakami and his father were in the city for only three days and the first had already gone by. Ekrem and Baruk were staying for the weekend so they were leaving more or less at the same time. Still, we had time for another reunion. When we got back to the hotel our parents hadn't yet arrived. "They went to see Hamilton in Broadway," my brother said while lying on his bed. "It seems like everyone likes it." "And with good reason," I said carefully putting my bento boxes in my suitcase. "It is amazing, really, you should see it. James..." I stopped. There it was, in the middle of the bento boxes, a note. I hadn't seen it before but when I opened it the words inside left me confused. "I remember you liked these. Your fight with Chris started when he threw yours out the window. Maybe it is more adequate for you to have a new pair now that the fight with him is over and, maybe, since you are in the spirit of trying new stuff... I don't know what you'll think when you read this but, would you like to continue what we started in Japan? I'm not taking about the hotel or the hot spring, I'm talking about... well, us. What do you say?" I stood there, speechless. Behind me, Chris was talking but I couldn't comprehend his words. Something in me was confused, mixed. Everything was going wonderfully with James and, just now, two years after, right when we see each other again, Minakami said this to me. "Fuck," I whispered when I realized I had to make a choice. Minakami, the Japanese boy or James, the golden-haired boy. ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ And with this the penultimate chapter of this story is ready. Too dramatic? In the end, there is only one chapter left, the end so... for those of you who got here... I hope it is worth it. Please write me if you can. Also, don't forget to donate to nifty.