by Natasha Kent
“What?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter that there are cameras on us if you’re trying to keep things quiet, or private,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because, if I talk to Amanda about stuff, which I do, the cameras are getting it from my perspective.”
“Oh shit. Duh!” He started to laugh pretty good at this. “I never thought about that.”
“I know.” I smiled at him. “How’s that?” I tapped him on the shoulders, signaling that I was done rubbing his head.
“Is that all?” he asked me, eyes raised.
“Yep. For now.”
“I’ll take that answer,” he smiled.
“And you have perfect teeth!”
“Do what?” he laughed a bit.
“You have beautiful teeth. I’m tellin’ you, man, there ain’t nothin’ about you that I don’t like.”
“Awwww,” he said, being goofy. “I fart a lot,” trying to be serious.
I died laughing at this and reached out and pinched his nipple. “Yikes!” he said. We locked eyes and looked at each other for a moment.
“God, I wanna do so much more,” he said, rubbing up and down my arms with his hands.
“Tell me about it,” I said hungrily. “But you know,” I leaned back a bit, “there are six other people in the house, and I’ve never been all that comfortable with p.d.a.’s.” He looked kinda hurt at this. “No, no, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind playing grab-ass or quick kisses or whatever—cuddling’s cool, just no full-blown making out in front of people. I never understood why people did that, straight or gay. Who wants to see that shit?”
He laughed at this.
“Seriously! It’s rude.” He laughed even harder. “Plus I don’t really wanna give the camera guys a show. You’re right in that aspect, but I do have a question for you.”
“Shoot,” he smiled.
“Why the frig do you care what the cameras are catching?” I asked, puzzled. “Whose opinion do you care that much about?”
He thought about this for a moment and then said quietly, “You know? Fuck it.” He took my head in his hands and pulled my face towards his. I thought I was gonna die but then we heard the sound of keys in the door and we stopped mid-approach.
I sat back and rolled my eyes back. “Ugg!” I said as Amanda and the other girls walked in. They spied us on the couch, me leaning up on one elbow and Matt stretched out. Well, actually his feet were propped up on the couch, knees in the air and the blanket was covering his legs. I still couldn’t see anything. Fuck!
“Howdy boys!” she said.
We both grunted in return.
“Oopsie! Did we interrupt something?” she said with a shit-eating grin on her face.
“Whatever,” Matt said.
“What he said,” I pointed to him. “Obviously you had no problem shopping,” I pointed to the multitude of bags in her hands. She smiled really big.
“Either of y’all want a drink?” she asked as the other girls went into their room to drop off their purchases.
“Nahh,” I said. “I’m about ready to hit the hay.” I sat up and put my feet on the floor, elbows on my knees. I was hoping to squeeze the blood out of my dick so I could stand up again. It was taking a minute. Finally I stood up and walked towards the guys’ room. “G’night to y’all.”
Amanda said, nice and loud, “Doesn’t he have a great ass?”
“Yep, ya gotta love that ass!” Matt said.
“Ha! Crazy bitches,” I said and they laughed. Time for a trip to the bathroom to relieve myself.
* * * *
P
art 7
Finally, the day had come for the rest of the families to visit the studio. Well, mine and the other three. I was really excited to see them. Especially Grandma. I should give some background on her. She moved in with us when I was twelve, right after my grandfather passed away. All those geeky, gawky years that I spent at home (you know—because my fucking friends wouldn’t hang out with me after school) was actually better spent with her. Mom and Dad both worked, or at least my mom started working part time when I turned thirteen, so Grandma and I were kinda like Frick and Frack, or Heckle and Jeckle. She actually used to be a singer when she was younger and would sing in various night clubs in and around St. Louis during World War II. She had three other kids besides my father; he was the youngest and was 22 when I was born, so he’s still a young dad. He was only 49 during the reunion show and Grandma was 79.
Anyway, I think that Grandma was actually my saving grace, my guardian angel, in high school. Definitely she was my third parent. She’d sit in her rocking chair and crochet her afghans and I’d lay on her bed, together we’d watch crap-t.v. like Oprah or Sally Jesse Raphe-A-hole. I got to learn so much about what she was like growing up, her family, everything in her life. It was truly a blessing from God that she moved in with us. The fact that she, my father and I all shared the same dopey sense of humor was a plus. When you got the three of us together we were like a bunch of mag-pies, as Dad used to say.
The evening of the visit Mom, Dad and Grandma were the last to arrive. The other three sets of parents were gathered around in the kitchen and the living room yentering and eating some more catered food. Yummy! Matt pretty much hung out near me the whole time. He did seem sort of nervous, though, or discombobulated. Now there’s a word for ya!
Finally, the Family Martin showed up. “Mom, Dad!” I gave them a big hug. “Granny” I said, mainly because she hates it.
“Granny my ass!” she said. “Now where’s that boyfriend of yours, I hear he’s pretty hot.”
“Oh my God,” I mumbled, putting my head in my hands and shaking it back and forth. Matt, who was taking a drink just then…well, you know what happened. Amanda was standing there and died laughing.
“Hi, I’m Amanda,” she said, introducing herself to everyone.
“We’re Kim and Troy Martin.”
“And you can just call me Grandma,” my grandmother said.
“The man you’re looking for is on the floor wiping up his mess,” Amanda said.
Matt was on his knees, bending over while cleaning up his drink. At this he looked up and waved. “Hello” he said.
“Hmmm,” Grandma said to Amanda. “He is pretty hot. Gotta great back porch, too!” she whispered loudly.
“Grandma!” Mom, Dad and I exclaimed at the same time.
Matt just turned back to look at Grandma and smiled. When he was done cleaning his mess he stood up and shook my parents’ hands. “Nice meeting y’all. Martin’s told me so much about y’all.” He had a beautiful smile. I don’t think I had to tell anyone I had flipped out over this guy. I probably was looking at him like a bug-eyed school girl.
“Well Mike,” Grandma said, “don’t just stare at him like some silly-eyed school girl.”
See. I told you.
Amanda burst out laughing. “Grandma,” she said, “you and I are gonna get along just fine.”
“Why?” Grandma said. “Do you have an extra boyfriend you can share?” I just rolled my eyes. You never knew if Grandma was actually being serious or not.
“Someone pour cold water on her, please. Dad?” I said.
“Come on Mother, you’re embarrassing Mikey.” Matt had to laugh at Dad calling me Mikey.
“Well, I’m glad that we’re all having a great time at my expense,” I said, smiling.
“Hey, what’s your name again honey?” Grandma asked.
“I’m Matt.”
“Matt, is your step dad here again? ‘Cause I brought my gun with me,” and she reached into her bag and pulled out her Beretta.
“Oh my God!” Amanda laughed.
Dad and I hollered “Grandma”/”Mom” at the same time. I took her gun from her and put it into one of the kitchen cabinets.
“What? I heard that he attacked Matt and Mike?” she said to my dad.
“Actually, ma’am,” Matt said, “I’m the one he hurt. Mike here beat the
crud out of him.”
“Him?” She turned to look at me. “Well hon, I guess you’re not a wuss anymore,” and she busted out laughing. I did too and grabbed her in a big hug. That’s my grandma!
“Oh man,” Amanda said, “you should have seen him in action. He was all over him like white on rice—“
“Really kicked his ass, huh?” Grandma said. Matt and Amanda both died laughing.
“Alright, alright, enough happy talk. Yeesh!” I turned to Mom. “Wanna talk about Christmas?” Everyone laughed, because this was my way of saying ‘let’s change the subject.’
“So Mike,” my dad said, “y’all been to any place interesting lately?” I thought that this sounded really odd, even coming from Dad. It was just really out of place.
“Um, I don’t think so, why?”
“Just conversation,” he said. Yeah, right.
“Hey,” Matt jumped in, “we actually got to hear Mike sing a couple of weeks or so ago.”
“Really?” Mom said. This all sounded scripted to me.
“Well,” I said, “we went to this place—“
“Rhett’s” Amanda interjected.
“Rhett’s, that had karaoke,” I continued.
“Oh, I love karaoke,” Grandma said. This time we all just looked at her. “My poker ladies and I like to go.” I laughed at this.
“I’ve never heard of Rhett’s,” my dad said.
“I don’t think you would’ve, Dad.”
“Oh. Ohhhh,” he said, it dawning on him, “is that one of those gay bars?”
Matt and I laughed. “Yes,” I said.
“Do guys wear chaps there?” Two guesses who asked this.
“Stop, Grandma,” I laughed. She just chuckled.
“Do y’all want to head over there?” Matt asked.
Too quickly, everyone said “Yeah, sure” blah blah blah. This was getting strange. My birthday was a few months away so there was nothing going on with that. “Ok,” I said, unsure. Matt just looked at me and smiled. I turned to Amanda. “Something’s up, isn’t it.”
“Now why would you say that.”
“Bitch” I whispered. She snorted at that.
“Anyone else want to go to Rhett’s with us?” Matt asked the rest of the guests. They all declined so we contacted the cameramen and headed out to the bar. It had been raining most of the day and a cold front had blown through, so the temperature had dropped down into the 70’s. Normally that would have been great but it was also a little breezy and made it feel cooler. I was glad I had jeans on. I was glad that Matt did, too, for purely prurient reasons.
Matt, Deana, my parents, Grandma and I got to Rhett’s and found a table. Matt was still acting jittery.
“Dude,” I said to him, “what’s up with you? You’re nervous as a cat.”
He snorted at me. “Nervous? I’m not nervous.”
“Matt, your hands are shaking.” He looked down.
“Just a little chilly, I guess.”
I didn’t believe him. But whatever. Maybe he’d feel better if I’d fellated him, who knows. Being a weekday the bar wasn’t as busy as the last time we were here, though it was still crowded; Stan came over and took our order himself. “How’s everyone tonight?” he asked. We all greeted him back as Matt excused himself. Stan left to mix our drinks and Matt returned.
“Where’d you go?” I asked.
“What are you, my mom?” he laughed nervously. “I just had to do something.”
I looked at everyone. They were just watching me. “What?” I asked them.
“Nothing, nothing,” came the response. Our drinks came and we just talked for a little while about the studio, the rest of the people living there, daily life, etc. Matt tossed back his Jack and Coke and ordered another.
“Damn, son, ya thirsty?” I said. He just smiled and shook his head a bit. I looked over at Amanda, who was still smiling like a moron. “What is goin’ on?” I demanded. More “nothing, nothing, what are you talking about.”
As Matt’s second drink order came the karaoke dj called out his name. “Did he just say Matt?” I asked. Matt tossed back his drink and seemed to steel himself. He stood up and, as he passed me, leaned over into my ear and said, “Time for me to be brave.” Then he walked up to the stage.
Finally it dawned on me. He was going to sing a song. Oh man, I remember thinking; I didn’t know he could sing. Amanda cleared it up for me. “He used to sing in a barbershop quartet.”
“No shit,” I said. “I didn’t even know he could sing. I guess he’s got lots of secrets,” I said.
He was on stage saying something, but the mike wasn’t working. They finally got it on and you could tell he was nervous. “Howdy everyone,” he said. “Y’all know Mike Martin, right?” and he pointed back to where I was sitting. I shook my head and smiled as a bunch of guys started changing “Mar-tin, Mar-tin, Mar-tin.” Mom and Dad laughed too.
“Well, he’s got his family here with him tonight and I think you’ll remember that he came out to his folks a while ago?” Everyone cheered. Ya gotta love gay guys. “Well, Mike and I just met a couple of weeks ago and I’ve always told him that he was a really brave guy. Now it’s my turn to be brave, so I want to dedicate this song to Martin—“
“Just sing, baby!” someone in the crowd hollered. We laughed at that.
“Ok.” He turned to the dj who started the music, which I instantly recognized from “Showboat.” He was nervous but it was sooooo cute!
“Oh listen sister, I love my mister man,
And I can’t tell you why.
There is no reason, why I should love that man.
It must be somethin’ that the angels done planned.”
His eyes were shut tight.
“Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly,
I gotta love one man ‘til I die.
Can’t help lovin’ that man of mine.”
Now they opened.
“Tell me he’s lazy, tell me he’s slow.
Tell me I’m crazy, maybe I know.
Can’t help lovin’ that man of mine.”
The song builds…
“When he goes away, that’s a rainy day,
But when he comes back that day is fine,
The sun will shine!”
Softer now.
“He can come home as late as can be.
Home without him, ain’t no home to me.
Can’t help lovin’ that man of mine.”
Oh my God! Dynamite couldn’t remove the smile from my face! Everyone was clapping and cheering. I was red as an apple. My parents and grandmother were just laughing happily. I put my face in my hands and laughed. I looked back up as he jumped off the stage and made his way back to our table. I laughed nervously to chants of “Mar-tin, Mar-tin, Mar-tin!”
Matt walked up to me and pulled me off of my bar stool. He held me by the shoulders and, looking into my eyes, said “It’s time for me to start being brave, Martin.” Then he leaned in and kissed me. Oh, the fuckin’ romance of it all! It felt so goddamned good to have his mouth on mine. I held onto his head and didn’t want to let go. I couldn’t believe it! This could not be a dream. He gave me several strong, eager kisses, and I wanted more but figured I might not just stop at kissing. Oh God I was in heaven. He hugged me tight and I could feel his chest muscles against mine. This was the man, I thought.
He released me and I sat back down on the stool. “Whew!” I said.
“You’re telling me,” Grandma said. “I haven’t been kissed like that in ages.”
“Oh Mom, stop it,” Dad laughed.
“Umm, well, it looks like I’m out of the closet!” Matt said.
“Honey,” Amanda said, “you just busted down that friggin’ door.” Everyone laughed at her comment.
I was sort of embarrassed to be kissing like that in front of my folks. Let’s face it, gay or straight, they’re still my parents for cryin’ out loud. Who makes out in front of their own parents? Dad knew what I was thinking.
/> “Don’t fret it Mikey.”
Matt had his arm around my shoulders. I looked at him and said, “Dude, I had no idea you could sing like that! That was amazing.” This made him blush.
“Oh, I used to sing from time to time.”
“In a quartet, Amanda told us. Any other secrets you’d like to share,” I said smiling at him.