by Viola Grace
Benny Leonard was an unusual guy, even by island standards. He was Chinese by birth, but had been adopted by an Orthodox Jewish couple and he remained devout to the faith and close to his parents, observing the Sabbath. I checked my cell phone for the time. It was noon and I did not want to risk missing Benny who would be racing home well before sundown and therefore unavailable to me until Monday.
“That was fast.” He came on the phone after an impressive barricade of female voices finally let me through to him.
We chit chatted minimally. “I’d like to come by and pick up the case files, if that’s okay.”
“Sure. The office closes at three.”
“I’ll walk over, I’ll be there twenty minutes, tops.” He was about to disconnect and I cut in again. “Benny, how did Kaolin pay you the retainer?”
He paused. “Erm…cash, I think.”
“You wouldn’t happen to remember the denominations of it, would you?”
“Of course not.”
“And you wouldn’t still have it in the office, would you?”
“No. Long gone, I’m afraid.”
“Who processes your incoming cash?”
“My sister,” he admitted, sounding reluctant.
“Do you mind asking her about the retainer?”
“I’m sure she doesn’t remember.” He was talking to somebody else and it sounded like Yiddish. “Gotta go, Mingo. See you when you get here.” He ended the call. So much for my efforts at respectability. I would never be able to get anybody to call me Michael. I was Mingo. Like it or not.
Benny’s office was in the stunning Pioneer Plaza on Fort Street Mall. This historic area is home to some of the most significant legal and regal buildings in the islands and the United States as a whole. Iolani Palace, the only palace on American soil, the Ali’iolani Hale, home of the Supreme Court and the rousing statue of King Kamehameha the Great, all sit in emerald splendor in one of the prettiest city parks you’ll ever see. The grounds are immaculately kept and even men in business suits will sit on the grass to eat their lunch, their socks and shoes carefully lined up beside them. A big sign in the middle reads Have Fun. Anyplace else it would be Keep off the Grass.
I stood outside the Pioneer Plaza for a moment, the sound of children’s laughter raising my spirits. The wording across the top of the building read Equal Justice Under Law. A sobering reminder that it wasn’t always so for the gentle people of our island heritage. I took the elevator to the fifteenth floor and remained impressed even after I was granted entry through the pneumatically-sealed door. Benny came toward me, his yarmulke on his head, his prayer threads poking from under his suit coat.
We shook hands and he passed me the files in a legal box. He tapped the envelope on top. “You’ll never guess. I asked my sister and she did remember the money. It was all one thousand dollar bills. The bank said they were legit, but she photocopied them because she said they made her nervous. She’d never seen one before.”
I put the box down, unsnapped the envelope and grinned. The photocopy was dated and time stamped. I would be able to trace how old the bills were easily enough via their serial numbers.
“You look happy, Mingo.”
“I’m very happy. You just did big things for our case.” We shook hands. Two men betrayed. Two men anxious to save the man who’d thrown us both under fast moving buses.
“Shabbat Shalom, Benny.”
He nodded appreciatively. “We’ll talk on Monday. You’ll let me know about a retainer, we’ll work out our game plan. He’s due in court in two weeks.”
“No problem.”
He leaned toward me. “In case he didn’t tell you, his wife left him. For the cop who started all this.” Benny’s brows wiggled in an expressive way. “He’s gonna be on the prowl.”
I was surprised that Benny would say this. I had no intention of letting Kaolin anywhere near me…then I was aware how desolate that thought made me feel. “He come after you, did he?” I couldn’t resist the words, even though they were mean.
“No.” His lips curled into a strange smile. “I’m not the one that got away. I have no idea how his marriage lasted as long as it did with three of you in the bed.” I tried to protest, but he held up his hand. “The worst thing in this world is to be without the love of your life. Love is like hula, you know. It’s the perfect dance, the perfect form of self-expression until you make one wrong step. Sometimes you get it back and it’s this beautiful, sublime thing. Like the bad misstep never happened.” He looked at me. “Sometimes you just don’t.”
I stumbled into daylight, hefting the box back to my office. What had I done coming back here? What had I done accepting this job? What if I allowed my emotions to goof up my case for him? I was unaware of little except my breathing until I unlocked my office door. I put the box on my desk and went to the chair Kaolin had used during our meeting. I stretched a hand toward the seat and touched it. Christ. He still had a sickening hold on me.
I glanced out the window, wanting to be a part of the nature out there. I wanted to be outdoors where the world was a beautiful place, not alone in my office with misery, pain and corruption. I knew of a place that would allow me the freedom to relax and read and still enjoy the lush green mountains and the feel of wet grass under my feet.
My mom was home when I drove up. “What are you doing here?” she glanced in my backseat, saw the box and her expression brightened. “You got a job already?”
“Yep, Kaolin Grace.”
“Oh…he called here…” Her voice trailed away. “You know his mama’s plenty worried about that boy.” Boy. I had to grin. Kaolin and I were both thirty-five, but we were still our mamas’ boys. “I gotta run, sugar. I’m late for my shift.”
My mom worked in the dialysis unit at Queen’s Hospital. It was her calling in life to care for the truly sick and her loving patience had poured over into her kids. I gave her a hug and she drove off in her old BMW with the rainbow hand-painted license plate the cops never stopped her for and I headed to the backyard with my bento box lunch. I worked through the afternoon, into the evening, certain there was something in the files I’d missed, some clue that would help me unravel the case.
Around eight o’clock, as I was heading back to my apartment, my phone rang. It was Kaolin.
“Meet me for a drink.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” My hand gripped the wheel. Sweat began beading on my forehead and the back of my neck.
“But I want to talk to you, discuss my case.”
“We can do that over coffee on Monday.”
He chuckled. “I don’t want to wait until Monday.”
“You’re being watched you know. You shouldn’t be meeting other men for cocktails. It might affect your case.”
“I’m not meeting other men, I’m meeting you and you’re my accountant. That’s respectable, right?”
Not if we do the things I keep picturing in my mind.
“Meet me at Louie’s. I’ll leave your name at the door.” He ended the call. Christ. Louie’s. A very private, invitation only gay club where members were long on standing and short on gossip. A lot went on in those secret, private rooms of Louie’s, but it all stayed at Louie’s. Christ. Did I want to crucify my feelings again? I drove home, took my case box inside, showered and changed. I was on the road in my favorite jeans and Aloha shirt, heading for Louie’s, wrestling with my conscience. I was meeting Kaolin in a place that had been a playhouse for us. It would guarantee serious sexual contact.
The private, unmarked door next to the Thai restaurant in the strip mall in Hawaii Kai hadn’t changed at all and neither had I, according to Louie who manned the entrance like a cross between an overripe mango and an angry drill sergeant. He had a cute blond twink lounging with him just inside the door on a pair of high stools. The twink was wearing a white cotton top— brief—and no bottoms. I knew then he was one of the wait staff. Louie’s big, meaty hand lay across the twink’s lap, but they were very wel
l behaved in front of me. After we exchanged pleasantries, I walked down the long corridor that led to three different sets of moving walkways.
I stole a look over my shoulder and Louie had his mouth and hands all over the twink’s cock. The young man’s eyes were closed as the voracious old queen gave him head. If Louie was dining on me, I wouldn’t want to watch either.
It was not until the third walkway I could hear the laughter, music and I could smell the sexual heat. There were two bars, upper and lower and both featured bottomless waiters, but the top bar allowed the waiters to those tiny tops. It was a smoky blue haze I walked into and guys were paired off, there was some dancing, a lot of making out. Kaolin must have been watching for me because I saw him raise his arm and I made way to him at the bar. He kissed both my cheeks. God, I wanted his mouth on me.
He had a seat at the bar and he squeezed me in beside him He turned sideways, placing me between his open legs, one arm around my lower back.
“What do you want to drink?” His hand moved to my ass, his lips grazing my ear. My cock started to throb in my underpants. I should have run right then, but my body was too enthralled at being finely tuned by its favorite mechanic. “You want a mai tai, baby?”
I nodded. I was like a fly trapped in bitter honey. I was a sucker for him and the killer mai tais they made here. Nowhere else did they make them with the secret ingredient of orgeat—a tiny touch of almond syrup.
It was hard to think or talk with the loud music and the blazing heat between us. I hadn’t even finished the first drink when he ordered a second. We barely talked. He told me I looked good, about seven times until I finally heard him. I was halfway through the second cocktail when his mouth fell on mine. I didn’t resist. I, the fly, quit trying to scramble out of the consuming, syrupy fire. I realized I’d been silently calling to him all day and now, nothing and no one mattered. He kissed me for long moments, his tongue weaving in and out of my mouth, across my lips and chin. The kiss left us both shaky yet momentarily replete. He finished his drink, turned to me, his hooded gaze on my shirt, which he unbuttoned in swift motions, removing it from my body.
“Not here,” I gasped, scanning the crowd frantically, but we were not the only men loving each other. The music reached a fever pitch. Donna Summer’s Love to Love You, Baby. Somebody had a droll sense of humor. Kaolin and I took another sip of our drinks and, as as soon as my glass found its unsettled way back to the bar, he kissed me again and his mouth moved down my throat and chest and glued itself to my right nipple. I almost screamed. Nipple play had been big for both of us and he moved from one nipple to the other, pleased with how hard and puffy mine became.
“They still belong to me,” he murmured and I had no trouble hearing him this time. He ordered another round for us and guys shoved around us trying to reach the bar, but nobody bothered us. Kaolin’s mouth latched onto my nipple again and I ground out a thank you to the bartender who nodded as Kaolin’s insistent fingers started unbuttoning my fly.
“No, Kaolin. Not here.”
“Fuck you,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m gonna fuck you.” He picked up our drinks with one hand, had his other hand down my front and led me away from the bar.
“I’m not doing this with you.”
He slammed me against the wall, his tongue back in my mouth. God, his cock was so hard and Donna Summer was having an orgasm over the music track as she sang. His mouth moved down to my throat and nipples and men were moving around us. I was dimly aware of people slipping into rooms, of soft sighs and moans, of doors closing and opening. Two guys stopped beside us and I opened my eyes, blinking against the lust-induced blur. Twinks. Kaolin handed them our cocktails, picked me up like I was a paper doll left out of the toy box and threw me into an open room. One of the twinks was the blond from the front door and he was draped over an Asian pretty boy. Kaolin took his mouth off me, kissing the blond and I was ready to leave the drowning honey.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Kaolin’s eyes sparkled with mischief and with need. He pushed me to the plush, black carpeted floor. He was all over me and the twinks were all over us. He pulled down my jeans, picked me up again and propped me on his lap on the edge of a big squishy sofa. The Asian twink took hold of my cock and started sucking. He knew what he was doing. Kaolin’s fingers strummed my belly and he held my head to his, kissing me in the frenzied way men in ménages always do. This was his last meal on earth.
The blond twink eased my running shoes and socks off my feet, tugged my jeans off and pushed back one of my legs.
“Suck his ass for me,” Kaolin took his mouth off me to bark at the twink. The first one was still bobbing for cock and Kaolin nudged his mouth away from me. I looked down as Kaolin grabbed my balls— hard—my stiff cock banging against his hand as the two twinks took turns eating my ass.
“Oh…oh that’s good.” I couldn’t believe the simultaneous feelings of heaven and hell. Kaolin squeezed my balls a little tighter and I almost screamed. He dipped his head down and began massaging my cock with his tongue. He released his very tight grip, keeping just a snug hold on my balls as he took my cock into his mouth and pulled on it with his lips and tongue. One of the twinks had two fingers in my ass now and, when he hit the magic spot, I felt engulfed by fire. Flames shot from my cock, through to my ass and flooded my belly. I came in a rush of emotion.
“Very nice,” Kaolin murmured against my ear. He put me on my back on the floor, the twinks racing to pull down Kaolin’s pants. It was a job I preferred to do alone, but I stared into his eyes, knowing his need was great.
I brushed their hands away from his massive prick as he hovered between my legs. The hands moved insistently back and he stared into me, willing me to let them prepare him for me and then the hands were placing him right at my ass. The man who possessed me in every possible way moved inside me, the twinks moving around and between us, their hands like hot, moist feathers.
“Not now,” he gasped. “I belong to him.”
The twinks ignored him, their hands moving all over us.
“Oh, God.” Kaolin’s eyes flew shut and I heard lapping sounds. One of them was licking his ass. Oh, man. They were licking his cock as he came in and out of me and the tongues swirled over my ass and his cock. They teased my nipples with their fingers and Kaolin wanted to kiss me as he came, but the twinks’ heads were in the way so I lifted my face to his and his tongue met mine as we came together.
The twinks drifted from us then, Kaolin remaining inside me for a long moment.
“I am never letting you leave me again.” His mouth clamped down on mine again and, when he pulled out of me, he licked my come from my belly and chest, swiping his fingers at the smears on his own body and licking them.
“I’m going to fuck one of them to thank them for playing with us…then I’m taking you home with me. Okay?”
“No. It’s not okay.” I wanted to crawl out of my skin and die.
“Baby….” Kaolin’s mouth moved across mine again. He moved over to the waiting twinks, but I lay on the floor and wished he wanted only me. Would it always be this way between us? Concern invaded the gleam of desire in his eyes. The twinks were pawing at him, but he shrugged them off.
The twinks moved into a sixty-nine, two other guys trotting into the room to join them, but Kaolin kept his body over mine, his mouth moving against my ear.
“Home, baby.” Those were the sweetest words I ever heard. We dressed with difficulty, our cocks still hard and outside the darkened strip mall hid a multitude of sins. I followed his truck up the hill to his home across the street from the beach. He parked in the garage and I parked out front, scanning for parked cars, some sleazy private investigator watching him for nefarious activity.
Kaolin squeezed himself out of the garage. I almost laughed. That space was small. I couldn’t believe how many times a day he had to…
“Wait!”
He jumped. “What is it?”
“We need to go to my place.”
> “Why, baby? She’s been gone for months. It’s over. I should have told you. I—”
“No…no…it’s not that. I think I have something…in the case files. We need to leave your truck here. We’ll go in my car.” He was mystified, but he obeyed. At my place, I threw open the box and sorted through files.
“Couldn’t this wait until the morning? I really need to fuck you, Mingo. I need to be inside you.” He lunged at me, the papers falling to the floor, but I wanted to wash the twinks off me and the man I loved.
We showered quickly, falling into bed wet, continuing the exploration of one another’s bodies. It was like I never left. He remembered all the things I liked and I also found myriad joys in making his sexual and emotional release mine for the taking.
I rolled on top of him and he lay against the rumpled sheets.
“God…can it still really be this hot?” he asked me and I took his cock in one hand, my thumb sliding into his ass. He writhed against my open mouth, taking his cock away, giving it back. “I dream this. I dream this every day,” he whispered, shuddering to an orgasm. He screamed my name as he pulsed his seed down my throat.
His hands grasped my cock, a mournful look on his face. “You didn’t come. Get those twinks out of your mind. I’m sorry I let them play with us now.” He lifted me to his face, kissing me, winning me slowly with long wet kisses, his fire dancing cock and fingers reaching for all their favorite hot spots again. I was on my knees, begging for him when he slammed into me, our bodies quivering with need.
“I could come inside you fifty times a day.” His hands stroked and lightly slapped my ass. “You ready to show me how much you love me?”
“Yes,” I sobbed, my head banging against the nightstand, not that I cared. I needed to come. I wanted to come. I wanted him to see what he did to me and then the flames caught again, words flooded by white spots blinding my eyes.
He cried out when he felt my come fly over his fingers, his own seeding my anxious body. We fell asleep on the bed, my lover still lying across my back, his hands covering mine. When we roused each other at daybreak, we separated reluctantly. I opened my door, just in time to see my decrepit landlord crawling on his knees to steal my neighbor’s newspaper. One mystery solved. Another one was about to join it.