Forced Out of the Darkness

by Jackson Jr, G. Wayne

  “Wow, you are full of compliments. Thanks man. I am just a cool laid back guy that wants the same in a mate.”

  “Who knows maybe the night will be the start of a good friendship with maybe some extra benefits.” Monti suggested.

  “Time will tell,” Cameron replied. It had been a while since Cameron had some manly relief because he was newly single after a two-year relationship.

  “Where do you want to go eat at?” Monti asked.

  “There is a Logan’s Roadhouse down by Costco.” Cameron answered.

  “Alright, let’s go there. Do you want to ride together or separately?” Monti asked.

  “We can drive separate vehicles.” Cameron said, “so that we don’t have to worry about our vehicles getting a ticket or being towed.”

  They shook hands and got into their vehicles. Monti pulled off first and Cameron followed him onto the expressway towards the restaurant. As he was driving, Cameron’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and decided not to answer it. It was another guy who had been interested in Cameron but had stood him up previously. Cameron did not want to talk to him at that moment, plus he was on a mission to get to this restaurant to find out more about Eric. The traffic was heavy as people were headed home from work. The sun shining into Cameron’s eyes forced him to put on his sunglasses. Once he put on the sunglasses, Cameron could see that Monti was deeply engrossed in a conversation with someone. Monti was animated with his hands while driving. “Who is he talking to?” Cameron asked out loud. “What is he talking about?” Cameron questioned.

  Chapter Three

  W hat’s in a Name?

  “Dee, man you got to see this kat I just met.” Monti said.

  “Monti, who are you talking about? What does he look like?” Dee responded. From the first time they met, Dee always called him Monti. He told him that he doesn’t call ‘no bourgeois road construction dude’ Montague. They had been very close friends for many years.

  “This guy is named Cameron and his name tells you to how sexy his ass is. He got hazel green eyes that are sexy as fuck. I had to shift my shit when I got out the Jeep because he was sexy as shit. He seems different man. He looked at me like he was looking through me instead of looking at me.” explained Monti. “Something about him makes me want to let down my guard and get to know him more.” Monti continued.

  “Don’t go falling for no piece of ass you just met because you found you a lil sexy dude, you don’t know what kind of crazy stuff he has going on.” Dee replied.

  “What you saying that for man, my hoe days are over…I am a new man. I am not falling for anyone right now. You know my ex-wife still acting crazy and turning my kids away from me. I am done with that bitch. I need some ass and I am going to take this one tonight.”

  “Just be careful, Monti, you know how hard you fall. I don’t want to have to get you out of jail like I had to do last time you tripped out on your boyfriend. You are still on probation remember; and you don’t need any more problems if you plan on getting this expunged in 5 years,” instructed Dee.

  “I got this man…I will be alright. Look, let me go I will call you later when we are done eating. I am about to park the jeep and go look at this sexy kat some more. Holler back.” Monti said as he disconnected the phone call. They parked next to each other in the parking lot of the restaurant. Monti wanted to make sure he saw every bit of Cameron’s body when he got out of the shiny Honda.

  Cameron had made sure that he was dressed to impress. He picked this particular selection of clothing because the blue and brown would ensure the best reflection of his eyes. He had on a pair of brown brushed Guess jeans with blue hues in the distressed seat and legs and to match a blue vintage Guess shirt that had asymmetrical opaque buttons. Cameron opted to roll the sleeves up to display his beautiful light reddish-brown skin. His shoes were bone colored dress shoes he purchased on one of his many excursions to Europe while working. He opted to wear his brown-banned silver faced Guess watch to accentuate and complete his look. He never left the house without his three silver hoop earrings that shined just as bright as his eyes.

  Cameron’s smile was flawless and he knew how to use it. As a young boy growing up in the black church, Cameron mastered wearing the mask. He was taught only to allow people to see what you wanted them to see. What happened at home, stayed at home. Cameron’s mother drilled it into his head for years. It was hard for him because he was the only child and didn’t have many people with whom he could confide in when he was younger.

  Cameron exited his vehicle and saw that Eric was checking him out. He knew that this was going to be interesting. In the car, Cameron shifted his semi-erect endowment because he did not want to show the evidence of his arousal when he walked into the restaurant, as well as his physical attraction to Eric. Cameron was blessed with a decent sized endowment that was apparent when he became aroused. Cameron did not like wearing underwear all the time. Plus he liked the attention he got when he went out the house commando. This helped him to know that he was still attractive even though when he looked in the mirror he saw the fat boy of his youth. Tonight, Cameron knew he was looking flawless and he intended to ensure that Mr. Eric had a lasting impression.

  They walked to the door of the restaurant and were greeted by the hostess. She was welcoming and friendly. Cameron knew that the service would be great because this was one of his favorite restaurants despite the peanut shells scattered all over the floor. The rolls were to die for. Cameron knew that his food would be right. They were seated at a round table, in the front portion of the restaurant, not too far from the bar. The server came over and introduced herself. Cameron did not even notice her name because he was busy studying Monti’s face. He noticed the dimples Monti had and how his skin was smooth and dark. He thought of how their skin would contrast each other in bed.

  Cameron was color struck since he was a kid. When he would go to family events all he saw was light skin and the fine hair his family inherited from their Irish and Native American blood. He never dated a darker skinned man, so the thought of this possibility was consuming his mind.

  Cameron came back to reality when Monti asked, “Are you ok?”

  “Oh I am fine, Eric. I am sorry what did you ask me, again?” said Cameron coming out of his daydream.

  “She asked what you wanted to drink.”

  “I’ll have a light beer, thank you.”

  The server left and then the conversation began. “Tell me more about you.”

  “What do you want to know, Cameron?”

  “I don’t know tell me more about what you do, your dreams and aspirations, and what you are looking for.”

  “I am just a guy that is looking for a good time, not really looking for a relationship, but I am open to it if one presents itself. I work for a hospital off Jefferson as an EMS manager. I am only doing this right now because I am in school finishing my Bachelor degree in Marketing. I want to continue my education and get my Ph.D.” Monti said proudly. “What about you, Mr. Sexy ass?”

  “I am a flight attendant for a major airline. I plan to start my grad program in the fall. I only started going to school to be closer to my best friend. I don’t really know what I want to do in the future. I do know that it would be good to be in a relationship. I am a little cautious about jumping in another relationship because my last relationship just ended about two months ago. My ex and I didn’t argue that much but the relationship was definitely strained. We talked about this before, remember?” said Cameron.

  “Oh yeah, I do remember.” Monti recalled some of their previous conversations. He also remembered telling Cameron how he liked his supervisory role at his job. He recalled that he had to write-up a couple of his problem employees. He told Cameron that he could not stand some of his lazy employees and how they got on his nerves. He was reminded of the employees he caught in the cleaning closet earlier today. They were mature employees. The male had a prosthetic leg.

  Monti laughed to himself as he r
emembered the sight of opening up the closet door and seeing the two of them going at it with the man’s prosthetic leg propped on the side of the wall. He was so shocked initially, that he just stood there before he realized what they were doing. They going for broke trying to reach climax, only to have all sense of arousal snatched away by their supervisor. Monti was so enthralled in his thoughts that he could not hear Cameron calling him by the fictitious name he gave.

  “Eric…can you hear me? Hello. Come back to the table.” Cameron spoke. “Where did you go? I kept calling you and you didn’t answer. The drinks and the salads are here.”

  “Oh my bad, I was just thinking about something that happened today at work. I thought about how crazy it was to catch the two employees that I have been trying to get rid. Now, they gave me the reason to write them up and potentially terminate them.” said Monti.

  “What happened?” Cameron asked.

  Monti shared the story with Cameron. Cameron was listening to the story and when he got to the place in the story where Monti had opened the door, he said that the employee with the prosthetic leg looked over his shoulder and said, “Mr. Monti, what are you doing?” Then he realized what he said and went back to correct it to say, “Mr. Eric, what are you doing?”

  Cameron was attentive and immediately caught Monti’s Freudian slip. “Why would the employee call him Monti when his name was Eric?” Cameron asked himself. The statement caught Cameron’s attention. Cameron was not about to let it slide, but he needed to figure out the appropriate way to address it.

  The two shared more conversation as they ate their food. The meal was coming to an end and the server came back to ask if they needed anything else. Both Monti and Cameron shook their heads no and requested the check. Monti was adamant about paying for the bill and requested that the server bring one check. When the check arrived, he quickly handed his credit card to the server before Cameron was able to get his wallet out his back pocket.

  Monti was trying to figure out how he was going to ask to spend more time with this sexy man. The date was going well and he wanted to get to know Cameron sexually. He did know that Cameron was a flight attendant and knew that sometimes he was gone from the city for days at a time. It was cool because he would be a good guy for a ‘friends with benefits’ situation. Monti thought Cameron had some other guys he was seeing anyway, so Cameron was a challenge. Monti wanted to win this challenge. Monti knew that he was not seeing anyone of substance after all the drama that he just went through with his ex. Monti would remember hearing the closing of his jail cell doors and the feeling of cold steel on his wrists when he thought about the situation with his ex.

  “Montag…Montagu…Mr. Burroughs, how do you pronounce your first name?” The server blew his cover. Cameron raised his eyebrows hearing this information.

  “It is pronounced Montague, but I go by Monti.” He said as he nervously took the check and filled out the totals and a two-dollar tip.

  Cameron was observant due to his time spent in the United States Marine Corps and in his career as a flight attendant. He was trained to be aware of his surroundings and pay attention to details. And two details in this picture were not adding up.

  “Montague? That is your name?” Cameron asked not trying to make a scene.

  “Err…umm, yes that is my name. People call me Monti for short.” He replied.

  “You told me your name was Eric. All this time I have been calling you Eric. Why would you feel it was necessary to lie about your name? Were you wanting something more substantial than just a date with a guy?” Cameron asked.

  “Yes, I think you are a good guy and I want to get to know you better. I just said Eric because we just met and I did not know if you were some crazy dude.” Monti explained.

  “But we have talked for some time and I have shared some pretty personal stuff…. why did you feel that you should lie about who you were when we would meet eventually?” Cameron asked. “What else are you not being truthful about?” Cameron asked.

  “Nothing, that’s it. Everything else we talked about was straight up truth.” Monti said.

  Monti knew that he had messed up. He knew that he should have come clean before they met in person. He knew that Cameron did not like to deal with dishonest people based on their previous conversations. In a slight panic, a bead of sweat formed on Monti’s temple while he was telling his brain to think and find a way out of this situation. He knew that he had to do something to salvage this date because he had a burning in his pants that he wanted Cameron to take away. They had deep and sexy conversations together and Monti wanted to play out some of those verbal scenes physically with Cameron. Monti reached under the table and took Cameron’s hand. “Hey Cameron, I want to tell you that I am sorry for not being upfront and honest with you about my name.”

  “It makes me feel uneasy that you would keep up this charade for so long.” Cameron said.

  “I didn’t know who ‘Cameron’ was about or anything, but after dinner and conversation, I knew you were a good guy and I wanted more with you. I was honestly going to tell you tonight.” Monti paused looking for some sign of forgiveness from Cameron. “Cameron, can you find it in your heart to forgive me and get to know me better. Make the decision to move forward or not, after you get to know me better. Ok?” Monti smiled trying to let Cameron see the sincerity of his request.

  The voice in Cameron’s head started to speak and say, “Get the hell out of here.” However, it was drowned out by that smile. Though it was not perfect, it had what Cameron needed to put him at ease. “Ok, I will forgive you this time but you can’t ever lie to me, just be honest. I can deal with truth better than I can when I find out a lie.” Cameron said. “And you better add some more money to that tip. Two dollars on a fifty dollar check is not acceptable.”

  Monti added another six dollars to the tip and they stood up from the table. They made their way to the door. Monti held the door for Cameron as he walked through. “What a gentleman he was.” Cameron thought. Yes, Cameron was a guy also but he too appreciated chivalry. It did not diminish Cameron’s manhood by being on the receiving end of Monti’s masculinity. They made small talk on the way back to their vehicles. Once they got to Cameron’s car, Monti stopped and looked Cameron in the eyes.

  “Do you want this to end now or should we extend this night somewhere else?” Monti asked.

  Cameron was caught off guard by Monti’s question.

  Chapter Four

  F lipping the Script

  “Did he just ask what I think he did?” Cameron thought. “Who asks that? Was this chocolate man a different kind from other guys Cameron met?” Cameron was instantly sucked in but there still remained a silent pause in the conversation as Cameron searched for a response. Did he want to seem eager or did he want to play hard to get?

  “Did I say something wrong?” Monti thought as the uneasy silence played on. It was only a few seconds but it seemed like an eternity. Cameron broke through Monti’s uncertainty. “Sure, I would like to extend this night a little longer.” Cameron said.

  Neither knew where they should take this night. Cameron was working through a fresh breakup from a guy who was very good to him. Their separation was not because of a lack of love, but because of circumstance. Guy was a special man who put up with Cameron’s immaturity and loved him in spite of it. Though Cameron was over a decade his junior, he loved Guy because of his fearless embrace of who he was.

  Guy Salinas was a forty-six year old Puerto Rican of African decent. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, he still had slight accent despite the many years living stateside. Most people think he looks like he could be a baseball player at six feet even. He has a distinct narrow nose that fit his face perfectly. He was just beginning to grey when he and Cameron first met, and to Cameron, it was utterly sexy. He embraced everything about himself and his evolution into the gay community. He had warm cocoa brown eyes and skin that was colored by the Puerto Rican sun. His looks were perfect on the screen and he ma
de love to the camera every time he went to work. Being an openly gay newscaster he had to keep a flawless appearance. Everywhere that he and Cameron went, someone knew him. Cameron enjoyed the time they spent together even going to Red Carpet events. Those were the good moments that they shared. Their two and a half year relationship helped Cameron open up and accept his sexuality without regard to what others thought.

  Monti would not admit to most people, but he wanted to love and to be loved. He knew that he had to work on freeing himself from the demons he had but he wanted Cameron tonight. He was going to do what he had to do to get him. He thought if he could sex Cameron up well, he would help him to forget his ex, and he could make Cameron a friend with benefits. He had talked to Cameron on numerous occasions about Guy, who lived the good life in San Diego. He knew of the red carpet events that they went to. He knew how Cameron talked about this man with such love and admiration. Monti longed for someone to talk about him with the same love and passion in their eyes as Cameron did.

  “Why don’t we go to your place and talk some more, it is only 8:45 pm on a Friday night. The night is young.” Monti said. Cameron was all in and Monti knew it. If only he could make sure that the conversation ended in the bedroom he would be able to ensure that Cameron would want a repeat performance.

  “Sure, we can go there. I don’t have anything else planned tonight so that would give us some more time to talk and get to know each other better, Eric.” Cameron winked as he elbowed Monti.

  “Oh you got jokes, I see.”

  “Just follow me and make sure you keep up.”

  They both got in their vehicles and Monti followed Cameron out of the parking lot and onto the expressway. Cameron liked to do the majority of his talking when he was driving from one place to the next and this was the time when he could call his best friend and fill her in on Monti and make sure that she knew his real name and his number in case something went wrong.