Sand-Man's Family

by CJane Elliott

  “You got me, babe. Out and proud, and I can’t wait to show you off to all of Portland.”

  Color rose in Jade’s face, and he leaned up to kiss Sandy, eyes moist.

  “Phinney’s right,” he whispered. “Love is a fucking miracle.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Walking up the steps was hard when you were texting the whole time.

  Sandy finished off his last sweet nothing to Jade, whom he’d left in Seattle mere hours ago, and put his hand on the doorknob while he fished for his house key. When the doorknob twisted, he realized it was unlocked. That’s odd. Dare knew to keep it locked, especially in their neighborhood.

  As soon as Sandy stepped in the foyer, he could tell something was wrong. The first thing that hit him was the smell: the odors of cigarettes, pot, and sex hung in the air. His blood pressure rising, Sandy walked into the living room and came to a halt, regarding the disgusting tableau before him of Cat, criminal gang leader, buck naked and sprawled on Uncle Phinney’s sofa with a naked younger guy under his arm. Both had their eyes closed, thank God. Before backing out of the room, Sandy spied needles on the end table and bottles of liquor scattered around the floor.

  He walked back outside, shut the door behind him, and called Blaine, body shaking at the violation of his home. Not Uncle Phinney’s condo! Oh God, Uncle Phinney, I’m so sorry.

  “Yo, Sand-Man.”

  “I need help.” He explained the situation, then hung up and walked down the steps to the sidewalk where he paced back and forth, as much to quiet his frantic mind as to keep himself warm in the winter rain.

  Fifteen minutes later, Blaine pulled up in the Da Beat van, tires screeching, with Dude-Man, Da Beat’s big badass keys player, in the passenger seat. The side doors opened, and four of Dude-Man’s big badass homies from the ’hood poured out. Dude-Man and his posse gave Sandy a nod as they passed by, faces grim, on their way into the condo.

  Sandy sank onto the porch step, and Blaine sat beside him, putting his arm around him as Sandy sagged on his shoulder and tried not to cry. “It’s okay, Sands,” Blaine murmured. “It’s all gonna be okay.”

  A short time later, Cat and his trick came running out, pulling clothes on as they went. Scurrying after them were three other guys and one chick, all of whom were older than the skaters who usually hung out at Burnside.

  Dude-Man and his crew came outside and stood on the porch, arms folded, expressions implacable. It was like watching cockroaches scatter in the light.

  “Where’s Dare?” Sandy asked, anger burning at Dare’s incredible betrayal. “He needs to leave too.”

  Dude-Man knew Dare from when Sandy and Dare had frequented Da Beat rehearsals and concerts. “Inside. Wasn’t him.”

  Dare came to the door, and Sandy gasped when he saw his bloodied and bruised face. He swung his head to stare at Dude-Man, who stared back.

  “Not us. The creeps did it to him.”

  Blaine jumped up and went to Dare, helping him back inside. Sandy put his face in his hands as Jade’s words cut through him: “Have you ever been so happy that you’re scared to death it won’t last, because how could you deserve such happiness?” Jade. He needed him now.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder and raised his head to see Dude-Man, the other guys behind him. Sandy struggled to his feet. “Thank you, all of you.”

  “No problem, my man. Better get those locks changed. Tell Blaine we see him later.”

  Dude-Man and the others took off walking, and Sandy gathered himself to go inside and confront whatever horrors awaited. But first he got out his phone and pushed Jade’s speed dial.

  “Hi, honey. Miss me already?”

  “I….” Sandy tried to control the tears that threatened at the sound of Jade’s voice.

  “Sandy? What is it?”

  “It’s Dare. They beat him up and trashed Uncle Phinney’s condo.”

  “I’m coming down. Be there in three hours.”

  “You don’t have—”

  “I do have to. I love you. Hang in there. Do you have help? Are you safe?”

  “Yes, Blaine’s here, and Dude-Man and his guys cleared out the creeps.”

  “Dude-Man?”

  “Blaine’s bandmate. He’s built like a tank, and so are his friends.”

  “Well, hallelujah for that!”

  “But the condo… and Uncle Phinney trusted me. I… fuck.”

  “I’ll help you, babe. I’m throwing things in a bag as we speak and hitting the road in five minutes. Hang on. I’ll be there soon.”

  “I love you, you miracle.”

  “You too, Miracle Man. See you soon.”

  Blaine came out as Sandy hung up. “I just got off the phone with the locksmith. He’ll be over soon to change the locks.”

  “Is the house… is it totally trashed?”

  “No. Dare tried to keep them from coming in, to fight them off. He couldn’t. Doesn’t look like they got as far as the bedrooms, though. Cat stuck to the living room to have sex with his twink, and the others sat around the kitchen smoking pot and drinking themselves into a stupor. And some of them were shooting up, from the looks of it.”

  “Jesus. Was Dare…?”

  “He told me he hid out in the den. I guess he was too freaked to call the police. They hadn’t been there all that long when you got there. Maybe two hours.”

  “Thank God.” Sandy trembled—from the cold rain, but also from the images arising from Blaine’s words.

  “And the saints preserve us.” Blaine clapped a hand on his shoulder.

  “Gemma is coming over to take you two to our house for the night. I’ll stay here until the locks are changed.”

  “Jade’s coming down to help.”

  “Jade?”

  “My boyfriend. He’s from Rockford too. He goes to school in Seattle.”

  “Aha. Another Rockford ex-pat! Awesome!” Blaine glanced at the house. “So you and Dare are no more?”

  “Right. We’re friends but nothing else.”

  Blaine leaned closer. “Probably for the best,” he murmured. “The poor guy’s got some serious issues.”

  “I know.”

  “But I think we can help. For now, though, let’s get you and him ready to go over to our house. And why don’t you text your honey our address? We’ll have a regular slumber party tonight.”

  “What about the condo? Cleaning it up? And Uncle Phinney… oh God.”

  “Here’s what we’re going to do about that. First of all, don’t tell Phineas anything yet. You know he’ll freak right out and cut his visit short. I want him and Cody to have this time together with Cody’s people. There’s nothing Phinney can do here that we can’t do ourselves. So let’s not tell him until right before he comes home. We’ll have the condo all back together good as new by then. Deal?”

  “Deal.” He hugged Blaine, so grateful to have him as part of his Portland family.

  “Sandy?” Dare stood at the door, beaten up and bedraggled, peering out anxiously.

  Sandy clenched his jaw in sympathy. Dare didn’t deserve all this crap.

  No one did. He got up and walked over. “Hey. Don’t worry about it, okay? We’ll handle it.” Dare’s lip trembled, and Sandy looked away to give him some space to have an emotion. God knows Sandy had been having enough of them lately. “Oh, hey, guess what?” He smiled back at Dare.

  Dare cleared his throat. “What?”

  “Jade’s coming down to help. He’ll be here in a couple hours.”

  “Dude. Guess that all went well, huh?”

  “Totally.”

  Dare’s bloodied lips curved into a smile, and they gave each other a high five.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gemma handed Sandy a mug of mint tea, then prepared one for Dare.

  They sat huddled on Gemma and Blaine’s sofa, Dare with an ice pack on his swollen lip and cheek.

  “Here.” Gemma handed Dare some aspirin and a glass of water. “For the pain. If it gets any worse, we can ta
ke you to urgent care and get you something stronger.”

  “Thanks.” Dare put down the ice pack, swallowed the aspirin, and drank some water, his eyes blinking rapidly.

  Sandy was about to ask him if he’d gotten something in them when Gemma sat between them and put her arms around Dare.

  “It’s okay, sugar. You’re safe here.”

  Oh, no. That sound was a sob tearing its way out of Dare’s throat. Dare set his glass down with a clatter and buried his face in Gemma’s shoulder.

  “That’s okay, honey.” She patted his back. “You’ve had a hard time. We’ll take care of you.”

  Dare’s sobs increased, and the whole scene was so pitiful that Sandy almost cried himself. “Is… is there anything I can do?”

  “You’ve already done a lot, Sand-Man. You concentrate on getting Phinney’s condo put back together, and we’ll take care of Dare now.”

  Gemma put out her other arm and pulled Sandy close. “We love you boys. You know that?”

  “Yeah. Love you too, Gem.” They sat in silence as Dare slowly pulled himself together.

  Dare raised his head, eyes all red and snot coming out of his nose. “Sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about, sweetie. Sandy, can you hand me that Kleenex box? Thanks.”

  “Yeah, dude, clean up,” Sandy said, trying to inject some levity into the situation. “Ya look gross.”

  He was rewarded by Dare cracking a small smile. “Eh, up yours, dude.”

  Sandy’s phone buzzed, and he got it out of his pocket. “Oh, good. Jade is a half-hour away.”

  Gemma brightened. “Great. I’ve heard about him from Cody, and I can’t wait to meet him. Dare, would you like to lie down? You look done in.”

  “Yeah, okay. Wake me up if anything exciting happens.”

  Gemma laughed and hauled herself to her feet, then held out a hand to Dare. “How about we wake you up when the pizza gets here?”

  “Cool.” Dare stood, then turned to Sandy. “I’m so sorry, dude.”

  Sandy hopped up and bopped Dare on the arm. “Are you still on that? Forget it. And go lie down, ya look like crap.”

  “Hand me the broom.”

  Sandy gave the broom to Jade. He looked delicious with his hair tied up in a scarf, an apron protecting his shirt, and the cuffs of his jeans turned up. All Sandy wanted to do was drag him into his bedroom. But they had cleaning to do.

  They stood in Sandy’s living room, having already picked up the kitchen and mopped the kitchen floor. Sandy shivered. Every window in the house had been thrown open to get out the smell of pot and cigarettes. And sex. Ugh. Sandy stared down at Uncle Phinney’s violated couch.

  “We need to get some cleaner for the couch.”

  Jade gave it a once-over with a critical eye. “Hmm. We can remove the cushion covers and send them to the dry cleaners. We can even find someone to clean the cushions themselves if we need to.” He shuffled nearer to Sandy with the broom, leaned over, and kissed him. “Don’t worry, pumpkin. It’ll be good as new by the time Phineas and Cody get home.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Thank God they never got as far as the bedrooms. Can you imagine?”

  Jade shuddered.

  “They must have used up all their energy beating Dare up. The fuckers. I’m glad Gemma and Blaine are helping Dare out. He, like, broke down with Gemma yesterday.”

  “Did he?” Jade frowned in sympathy. “It’s so pitiful.”

  “I’ve never seen him cry before, and he was flat-out bawling his eyes out.”

  “Awww. Give me a hug, honey. Now I’m sad for him.”

  Sandy pulled Jade to him and encircled him with his arms. “You’re a softie.”

  “Yeah, I am. What are Blaine and Gemma gonna do for him?” Jade nuzzled Sandy’s earlobe, which made it hard for him to concentrate on the question.

  “They know of a shelter for queer kids. Kind of a halfway house that has programs and stuff to help homeless kids get back on their feet. They’re also going to talk to Frank, Dare’s old boss, about giving him some hours at the record store.”

  “That’s good. Dare’s not a bad guy. Even though he’s so totally not right for you.”

  Sandy smiled into Jade’s hair. “Hmm. I wonder who is.”

  “Standing right here, pumpkin.”

  Jade raised his face to Sandy’s, and their lips met in a kiss that soon grew heated. Sandy was on the brink of suggesting they move it into the bedroom when they heard the front door open.

  “Yoo-hoo!”

  “Yo! Sand-Man!”

  In trooped Clarice and Oscar, two of the members of Da Beat.

  “What’re you guys doing here?”

  Clarice came over to give him a hug. “Blaine let us know what happened, and we came over to help you clean up.”

  “Wow, thanks. Uh, Clarice, Oscar—this is my boyfriend, Jade.”

  Jade gave them a brilliant smile. “My Lord, Sandy has so much family here. I love it!”

  “Well, we love the Sand-Man. Right, dude?” Oscar threw a fake punch. “When’re ya gonna sit in and help me out on the bongos again?”

  “Bongos?” Jade’s eyes were huge and wondering. “You mean my man has rhythm? He’s got… da funk?”

  Sandy burst out laughing. “Stop!”

  “Totally.” Oscar started beatboxing a Latin beat.

  Clarice crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Guys? You ready to clean? Any day now….”

  The four of them worked on the condo and even cleaned the bedrooms and bathrooms that hadn’t been sullied. Sandy was feeling much more settled by the time they finished.

  When Blaine came by to inspect, Sandy hugged him. “I don’t know what I would have done without you and everyone.”

  “No problem, Sand-Man.” Blaine hugged him back. “That’s what families do.”

  Later, Sandy and Jade sat in Uncle Phinney’s big Jacuzzi tub, candles flickering and wine glasses full. They kissed, taking their time, then moved apart and floated, legs touching.

  Sandy giggled when he felt Jade’s foot tickling his crotch. “I wish you didn’t have to go back tomorrow.”

  “Me too. But finals are calling my name.”

  “Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me. Hey, miracle. Thank you for coming down. You rock.”

  “You’d do the same for me, miracle.” Jade stroked his toes the length of Sandy’s cock.

  “Mm. I guess I can last another week and a half till you come back for Christmas.” The pressure of Jade’s foot on his dick was making him hard.

  “Um, that feels good.”

  “Enjoy. The only thing I don’t like is you being alone here. Even with the locks changed.”

  “Way to be a boner killer. But yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. Blaine said he and Gemma can take turns staying here at night until Phinney gets back. Dare’s going to stay at their place a few more days before he moves to the shelter.”

  “Good idea. Also, Papa said he’ll do a little scouting around when he comes for Christmas and see if he can get Cat and his crew picked up and off the streets.”

  Sandy sighed with contentment. “It’s great having a cop in the family. Is your Uncle Pete gonna come?”

  “No. He’s got a new girlfriend, so he’s staying in Rockford.” Jade scooted closer to him. “Enough talk. Let’s see if I can bring your boner back to life.”

  With a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, Jade replaced his foot with his hand.

  “Alive and kicking.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  When Blaine opened the door and Uncle Phinney appeared behind him with his anxious and beloved face, Sandy hurled himself into his uncle’s arms. They held each other and held each other, and Sandy only realized how much he’d missed him when he was there, with his comforting smell and soft words.

  He felt another set of arms come around him and smiled. Now he was in a Cody-Phinney sandwich, and all was right with the world.

  Phineas finally broke away and gazed ar
ound. “But look at this place! You’ve got it all decorated for Christmas! It looks beautiful.”

  “It really does, Sand-Man.” Cody kept his hand on Sandy’s shoulder and surveyed the room, a grin of contentment on his face.

  A tree stood in the corner, fully trimmed and glinting with lights.

  Boughs of holly adorned the mantel. Gemma had helped Sandy decorate five stockings, which hung over the fireplace with their names: Phineas, Cody, Sandy, Jade, and Jack.

  “Our first Christmas as a family.” Uncle Phinney beamed, and Cody put his arm around him. “It’s a miracle.”

  “Group hug!” Blaine cried and pulled them all together in a tangle of arms and laughter.

  Sandy extricated himself with a laugh. “Now all we need are Gemma, Jade, and Jack, and we’ll be complete.”

  Completion came soon after, with the arrival of Gemma in a flurry of kisses, presents, and opportunities for Phinney and Cody to pat her baby belly. Then Jade and Jack came in, big smiles on their faces as Jade introduced his father to Gemma and Blaine. Jade looked stunning in a black suit and pink satin scarf, eyeliner just so, and mouth curved in such a sexy smile that Sandy had no choice but to kiss him. As they melded together then broke apart, Sandy become aware of a pause in the conversation and turned to find the five others staring at them.

  “You two look beautiful,” Uncle Phinney said.

  “Perfect,” Gemma agreed, while Cody, Blaine, and Jack grinned.

  Then Cody clapped his hands. “This calls for a toast! I hope the champagne is still around.”

  “Although whiskey would hit the spot.” Jack rubbed his palms together. “I’ve got a bottle of the good stuff in my suitcase.”

  Sandy and Blaine exchanged worried glances as Cody disappeared into the kitchen. Had the creeps gotten their hands on the champagne? But there came the welcome sound of a cork being popped.

  After Cody came back and distributed the glasses, he cleared his throat. “To us. To our family. Now and forever.” After everyone raised their glasses and drank, Cody put his down. “Um, one more thing.”