Behind the Stick

by K. Evan Coles

  Luka groaned and Kyle laughed against his lips.

  “He’s so gross.” Luka squeezed Kyle again before he turned away. “Let me just make some coffee.”

  They gorged on food and chatted about their weekend plans while Robbie prowled around the apartment, stopping in the kitchen at regular intervals to wind around their ankles and nip at their toes under the table. Naturally, talk turned to the upcoming holiday and the various kinds of cooking each of them would be doing.

  “All anyone ever expects from me is booze,” Kyle said. “I’m staying over with Carter and Riley though, and they’ve always been into breakfast. Maybe I’ll make this scramble.” He considered the eggs that remained on his plate. “I know you used fresh tomatoes, but have you ever cooked this with canned?” he asked Matías.

  “Sure,” Matías replied. “Don’t always have fresh on hand, and there’s usually a couple of cans in the pantry. Salsa works too and tastes bomb. You just have to drain it a bit.”

  “What about canned beans or corn?” Kyle asked. “Like if you wanted to stretch it out for a couple of people or maybe have it for dinner instead?”

  “Ooh, like a funky huevos rancheros.” Matías nodded. “I approve. Rice would be good, too, though maybe nicer on the side. I’ve never done any of that but you’re making it sound damned good.”

  Luka chuckled, his expression bemused. “Where are you going with this?”

  “Oh, well, I do some volunteer work at a shelter for LGBTQ youth. Carter, Riley, Malcolm and Will, too.” Kyle shrugged. “Carter and Malcolm asked me to help out with a project for the shelter, and it involves food.”

  Luka furrowed his brow. “Like donating money?”

  “No, though we do that as well. See, a lot of the kids in the shelter are young enough they’ve never lived on their own. When they end up alone, it’s sudden and overwhelming, so the shelter staff do their best to teach them some life skills and help them function independently.”

  “Things parents would normally teach their kids,” Luka said in a quiet voice.

  Kyle nodded. Of course, Luka got it. “Carter and Malcolm had an idea to put together some practical resources the kids can use after they leave the shelter,” he said. “Information like how to buy and cook food on a budget.” Kyle waved at his plate. “A meal with eggs like this is filling and nutritious and can cost just a couple of dollars to make. Plus, it tastes really fucking good, so bonus points.”

  Matías’ eyes lit up. “I love this idea. I just thought of at least six other things that might work for you, too. Are you guys writing a cookbook?”

  “Oh, no, nothing like that,” Kyle said. “Malcolm found a couple of existing cookbooks written expressly for people on tight budgets, and we’re adding to those, so there’s some variety, you know? We’re making buying guides, too, because one thing no one ever tells you is how to buy cheap food that’s better for you than frozen pizza and ramen. Both things I enjoy eating, by the way.”

  “I have some great instant ramen recipes,” Luka said, “and I swear, there are fresh vegetables involved.”

  The genuine, eager pleasure in his and Matías’ faces warmed Kyle’s insides. “Excellent. We’re all going over to the shelter early on Thanksgiving Day to help prepare dinner for everyone and to talk with the staff about the buying and food guides. I’ll add anything you guys suggest if you’re into it.”

  “I am totally in.” Matías stood and headed for the kitchen door before Kyle could even blink. “We need paper so we can write stuff down!”

  “No, bring your tablet so we can look up the ingredients and calculate cost,” Luka called after him. “What’s cheap to you might not be cheap to the masses! Besides, your handwriting is garbage!”

  The muffled swearing that followed in reply made Kyle laugh until Luka planted a kiss on him. Luka gave him a devilish grin when they came back up for air.

  “Much as I enjoy hanging out with Matías, I can’t wait until he leaves so I can return the favor and give you a back rub.”

  Kyle hummed. “I like the sound of that. Fair warning though—he said he wants to try out some new product on my face before he goes to work. Which means I might mess up your sheets.”

  “I’m counting on that regardless.” Luka waggled his eyebrows like a cartoon villain. “But what kind of product are we talking about?”

  “I’m not sure.” Kyle rested his forehead against Luka’s. “There was talk of moisturizer, decent lip balm and eyeliner, at the very least.”

  Luka leaned back and away from Kyle. “Eyeliner?” He uttered a growly laugh that made Kyle’s cock twitch. “You’ll both be lucky if I let him leave before I start peeling your clothes off.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The scent of roast turkey hit Luka when he opened the kitchen door to the house in Riverdale, followed by a wave of heat and noise.

  “Marcus, will you check the appetizers and see if anything needs to be refilled?” Lydia called out over a babble of voices.

  “Sure, just give me a minute,” Marcus answered from the other room. “We’re seconds from kickoff.”

  Luka smiled at the controlled chaos and stepped inside. Regina was cutting the ends off beans while Ruby sliced carrots, and both were chattering about something.

  “I made it,” Luka said, shutting the door behind him.

  Lydia faced him and her face lit up as usual. “Hey, baby.”

  Several others called out greetings, including Tomas, who was helping one of Daniela’s sons, Elias, stir something on the stove. He waved rather than leave Elias alone.

  “You look tired.” Lydia brushed her fingertips across Luka’s face, and he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

  He’d worked the night before and slept as late as possible but had still gotten up earlier than he would have liked. No way would Luka miss dinner unless he had to though. He’d worked plenty of holiday shifts over the years and gotten lucky this year, and that was one thing to be thankful for.

  “I’ll be fine with more coffee in me,” he said and shrugged out of his coat, draping it over a nearby chair.

  “I just put a fresh pot on,” Lydia said. “Help yourself.”

  “I’ll grab it as soon as I say hi to everyone. Unless you need my help?”

  “No, we’ve got it under control.”

  “Oh, here’s the butter you asked for,” Luka said, handing the package to her. He set the bottles of wine he’d bought on the counter, too.

  “Thank you. I don’t know how we went through so much so quickly!” Lydia sounded miffed. “Just wait, I’ll find some tucked behind the mixer or in the vegetable drawer tomorrow. There’s too much going on to tell.”

  Luka chuckled. Controlled chaos indeed.

  “Is Kyle spending Thanksgiving with his family?” Lydia sounded casual, though Luka knew the topic was anything but. Clearly, his mother wanted to try being pleasant about Kyle.

  “No. Kyle’s father died when he was in college and his mother isn’t around for him,” Luka explained.

  Sympathy flickered across Lydia’s face. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is it because he’s gay?”

  “Doesn’t sound like it.” Luka chose his words carefully. “From what I know, Kyle’s mother didn’t want to have kids. She’s…not interested in Kyle or his brother.”

  “Oh.” Lydia’s voice was soft. “I can’t imagine that’s been easy for him.”

  “He doesn’t talk about it much. Kyle is close to his brother. Oliver lives out of state, but they get together whenever they can. I met him the last time he came to town.”

  “Well, I’m glad Kyle has some family.”

  “He does. They’re just not his biological relatives.” Luka leaned against the counter. “The guys from the speakeasy are his family now. A lot of them lost their own when they came out or for various other reasons. So, they’re one another’s family now.”

  Lydia nodded. “I’m glad Kyle has people, then.”

  “They’re good people, too. They’re
spending the day volunteering at the LGBTQ youth shelter, in fact.”

  “I’m guessing it’s not for a photo op either.”

  “It’s not,” Luka said. “I think they all do as much to avoid the spotlight as possible, except when Senator Mori needs to be in it for his career.” Luka bumped one of the wine bottles with his elbow and he straightened. “Is there room for the white in the refrigerator?”

  “No, but there’s a bucket of ice in the dining room on the sideboard.”

  “I’ll take care of that now then.”

  Luka plucked two bottles and headed out of the kitchen but stopped to give Tomas a one-armed hug and kiss Elias on top of his head. “Hey there, Eli. Whatever you’re cooking smells good!”

  “We’re cooking plantains for tostones, Uncle Luka!” Eli said with a big grin. “Pop is showing me how.”

  “Yum. I can’t wait to try them.”

  “I made empanadas yesterday,” Tomas told Luka.

  “Mmm. I hoped you would.”

  Luka also stopped to peck his sisters’ cheeks.

  “Glad you finally showed your face,” Ruby said.

  “You’re just happy that, for once, you’re not the last one to arrive,” he said.

  “I’ll take my victories where I can.”

  “Is Wade working?” he asked Regina.

  She frowned. “Yes. He drew the short straw this year.”

  “I was afraid of that. We seem to be on opposite years.”

  Regina shrugged. “Hazard of the job, right?”

  “At least Mom’s not working on Thanksgiving anymore.” When Lydia had been a floor nurse, they’d had to work around her schedule, sometimes celebrating on Friday, sometimes eating early or late when she needed to sleep.

  “Uh-huh,” Regina muttered. “Guess who was up at six to put the turkey into the oven back then?”

  “Oh, right. We had the dry, overcooked birds on those years.”

  Regina swatted at him, but Luka dodged her and disappeared into the dining room with an, “I love you, Queenie!”

  Once he’d put the wine in the ice bucket and carried his coat to the spare bedroom, Luka went back to the kitchen for coffee and searched out the rest of his family. He found Marcus on the couch with a couple of friends, probably guys from out of state who couldn’t make it home for the holidays. They barely looked up from the football game on TV, but Marcus stood and gave Luka a hug.

  “Hey, glad you could be here this year.”

  “Me too.” Luka dropped his voice. “Don’t forget, Mom asked you to top off the appetizers.”

  “Shit.” Marcus’ eyes got big. “I almost did forget. Thanks, man.”

  Luka patted him on the shoulder. “Just looking out for you, brother.”

  A pretty young woman with box braids and deep brown skin stood from her seat. “Good to see you again, Luka.”

  “Hey, Stella.” Luka smiled at Ruby’s close friend. “You too. Glad you could make it today.”

  “My parents are in California with my grandparents, but I couldn’t take the time off work to go, too. Ruby was nice enough to invite me here.”

  “We do have a habit of picking up strays.” He gestured to Marcus’ friends and Stella laughed.

  “I can think of worse things to be called.” She reached out and touched his shoulder. “I can think of better, too.”

  Luka chuckled. He knew for a fact Stella and Ruby had checked out Under last week and that she damn well knew he and Kyle were dating. But she’d always been a flirt.

  Daniela waved at Luka but couldn’t move with a sleeping toddler in her arms. Luka took the seat beside her and kissed her cheek. “Hey, gorgeous. You look tired.”

  “Luka, it is never okay to tell a woman she looks tired!” Daniela scolded, but she winked and Luka could tell she wasn’t serious. “I could say the same to you.”

  “Long shift last night,” he said. “You?”

  She squinted at him. “I’ve been up for about a week, baking like it’s going out of style. We were open this morning from six until noon so people could pick up their orders.”

  Luka had made the mistake of going to Sugar Street before a holiday once and there had been a line out of the door that wrapped halfway around the block.

  “Loved the blackberry pie you sent for dinner a while back,” he said.

  She beamed. “You are going to love the blackberry custard pie I brought today then. I’ve been experimenting with ginger and nutmeg to bring it into fall.”

  “Sounds amazing.” Luka’s mouth watered. “Knowing you, there’s even more.”

  “Oh, I might have brought a few more things. Sweet potato pie and pecan, Dutch apple, chocolate chiffon. You missed the pumpkin sweet rolls I brought earlier, but I might have stashed a few away for you and your man. Oh, and there’s guava cake!”

  “You’ll have to roll me out of here after dinner then. No way I can resist your baking,” Luka teased. “And that reminds me, I need to bring Kyle to the bakery sometime.”

  Daniela smiled. “Ruby said he’s hot as fuck.”

  “I second that,” Stella said with a wink.

  Luka chuckled. “I’m pretty partial to him.”

  Less than an hour later, everyone sat in the dining room. An extender had been added to the table as well as some folding tables to further increase its length, and everything was decorated for the holiday. Tomas said the blessing and carved the turkey, and they passed around more food than any of them could hope to eat in a week. Luka was determined to do his best, however, and piled chorizo and cornbread dressing on his plate next to turkey and collard greens, mashed potatoes with giblet gravy and an empanada.

  “How are things going with Kyle, Luka?” Ruby asked from a few seats down. “He was so sweet when Stella and I scoped his speakeasy out last week. Very welcoming to both of us.”

  Luka tried and failed to hide a smile. Subtlety had never been Ruby’s forte, but he appreciated the support. “Kyle’s great. He’s volunteering at a LGBTQ youth shelter today with some of the guys who hang at Under.”

  Stella whistled. “Your boyfriend’s friends are rich, handsome and socially conscious? Damn.”

  “They’re great guys,” Luka agreed. “Matías and I helped Kyle come up with some recipes and tips for buying and cooking meals on a budget. They’re for kids living on their own for the first time who might not have had parents to teach them those skills.”

  “Ooh. Let me know if you need any more suggestions,” Stella said. “I can come up with a few.”

  “That would be great.”

  Lydia cleared her throat. “Does anyone else need anything? More turkey? Some wine?”

  Ruby shot their mother a look from the other end of the table, and Luka responded with a look of his own, telling his sister with his eyes to cool it. Luka and his mom had already talked about Kyle’s work at the shelter. And provoking a fight at Thanksgiving dinner was no way to win her over.

  The rest of dinner passed without incident, and Luka relaxed into the easy vibe. He wondered what it would have been like to have Kyle there. His sister and mother had been polite to Kyle when they’d met him, if not welcoming. What would it take for them to see how important Kyle had become to Luka? How good he and Kyle were together? Because Kyle was another thing Luka felt grateful for this year. And he hoped Kyle would be around for future Thanksgivings.

  After the meal, Luka felt ready to get horizontal on the couch and not move for a week, but he pushed back from the table and picked up a stack of plates.

  “Mom, Pop, you did so much work. I’ll get the dishes,” he said. “Marcus, you want to help?”

  The long-suffering look Marcus gave him made it very clear he didn’t want to help at all, but he stood and took another stack of plates without complaining. Everyone helped carry things into the kitchen, and Luka rolled up the sleeves of his button-down shirt to get started on things that couldn’t go in the dishwasher.

  “How are things going with you?” Luka asked M
arcus as he swirled soapy water in the gravy boat.

  “They’re going. I’m trying to get ready for finals.” Marcus dried the turkey platter. “I feel like studying’s all I do these days.”

  “It’ll be worth it,” Luka said. “I’m thinking about going back to school.”

  “Fire science, I assume?”

  “Yeah, I think so. I want a backup plan for the future.”

  “Got it. That’s smart.” Marcus elbowed him. “Let me know if you need any tips for studying.”

  “I will. And hey, if I haven’t said this already, thanks for being so cool to Kyle.”

  Marcus scoffed. “He’s great, man. It’s not like it’s a hardship. I want to stop by that bar of his and we talked about grabbing lunch sometime. After I’m done with exams because I don’t have time for anything else.”

  “That means a lot to me that you’re making the effort.”

  “I can see how much you like him.” Marcus dropped his voice. “Besides, I figure I can make up for Mom and Regina giving him the cold shoulder.”

  Luka hummed. “Tell me about it.”

  “Does it bug Kyle? I mean, it would bother me if I stood in his shoes.”

  “He doesn’t talk about it much,” Luka admitted. “But I’ve wondered about that.”

  After the dishes were dried, Luka went in search of his phone, which he’d left in his coat. When he pushed open the door of the spare bedroom, he found Regina in there with May, Daniela’s littlest. May was sound asleep, and Regina pressed a finger to her lips. Regina pulled a blanket over the child and smoothed down May’s hair, a wistful expression crossing her face.

  Luka pocketed his phone and waited for his sister in the hallway. “You okay?” he asked when she’d shut the door behind her.

  “It’s hard sometimes,” Regina said. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Of course.”

  Regina gestured for him to follow her into the room that had once been Luka’s bedroom and now housed Tomas’ office. Luka pulled the door closed after them because he had a feeling this wouldn’t be an easy discussion.

  Regina settled on the window seat and crossed her legs while Luka sat in the desk chair nearby.