by Tinnean
“You will find Father Adoni quite understanding and modern in his outlook.” She smiled and kissed his cheek.
I looked down at my hands, which were knotted at my side. I didn’t tell her that no matter how “understanding and modern” Father Adoni was, the church would still look upon my relationship with Wills as sinful and a failure.
Wills reached over and closed his hand on mine, so much understanding in his eyes. The tension eased out of me, and I turned my hand over to grip his.
“Now, come.” Ma was nodding in approval. “Sit. Dinner will be ready in a little while.”
“It smells very good, Mrs. Bascopolis.”
“I am making stifado. Acacia told me that Teodore made this dish when she and her Poppa presented themselves on your doorstep. You must tell me how it compares to my son’s.”
“I’m looking forward to trying it.” He gave my hand a final, reassuring squeeze before letting it go. “If I might wash my hands?”
“Certainly. The bathroom is right through there and to your right.” She waited until he left the room. “You understand I had nothing to do with that, don’t you, Teo? With your poppa showing up like that? I didn’t even know he was going to do that.”
“It was okay, Ma.”
“No, it was not okay. After what he did, what he said….” The thin, tight line of her lips indicated her unhappiness with the whole situation. But still, Poppa was head of the household, and she wouldn’t have—hadn’t—challenged him. “Teo, you are… you are happy in this life you chose?”
“Momma, I didn’t choose it. It’s just the way I am. But, yes, I am happy.”
“And this William, he is good to you?”
I fingered the garnet-and-diamond heart in my ear. “He’s very good to me.”
“And he… he loves you?”
“Yes.” He told me so often enough, in spite of the fact that I so rarely said it.
“A mother cannot ask for more than that her children are happy and loved.”
“Thanks, Ma. That means a lot to me. I….” I was startled when a big black-and-white cat strolled into the room, his tail held high, and wove in and out of my legs. “Faster!” He purred, sounding as much like a rusty saw as he had when I’d first brought him home and told Ma he’d followed me. Because it was only a couple of days until my thirteenth birthday, she’d talked Poppa into letting me keep him, but she’d shaken her head when I’d named him Faster Pussycat, after the hard-rock band, not the movie.
I bent and scooped him up, and rubbed my chin over the fur on his head.
“He missed you.”
“I missed him too.” Although to tell the truth, I hadn’t let myself think about him, because I’d been afraid Poppa had thrown him out as well. I flexed my fingers in the fur on his neck.
“Now come, Teo. Tell me everything.”
I opened my mouth but then closed it, at a loss as to how to respond. Faster bumped my hand, wanting to be stroked more. He’d always been an affectionate cat, and I ran the backs of my fingers under his chin.
“Oh, I know what you have been doing over the years,” she said. “Acacia has shared your letters with me. What I want to know is how you met, how you fell in love.”
I put Faster down and draped my arm around her shoulders, then led her to the sofa in the living room. It was so tiny three of them could fit in my living room at home. “Well, you see, Ma. A friend of mine was beat up, and….”
“KALÍ ÓREKSI!” Ma exclaimed as we sat down to eat.
“Kalí óreksi,” I responded reflexively, my voice joining Poppa’s and Acacia’s. “It means eat well,” I murmured to Wills, who was sitting to my right.
He reached for my hand underneath the cover of the tablecloth, squeezed it, and repeated, “Kalí óreksi.”
Poppa took a portion of the stifado and passed the tureen to Wills. Then he poured himself a glass of red wine and did the same for Ma. “Wine, William? Teodore?”
I nodded, and he filled my glass.
“Thank you, no. I don’t drink when I’ll be driving.”
Ma frowned. “Then you should stay here the night.”
“Thank you for the kind offer, Mrs. Bascopolis, but we’ll need to leave early in the morning, and this way we won’t disturb anyone. Thank you, Acacia.” He smiled at my sister, who’d put a glass of iced tea before him, then offered the tureen to Ma.
“No, no, you are our guest. I wish you could stay longer.”
“So do I.” He gave her a charming smile. How could any woman resist it? How could any man?
“Unfortunately,” I lied, “Wills could only get a couple of days off, and we have to be back in DC tomorrow.”
Poppa didn’t say anything, but he was probably just as relieved as I was that we wouldn’t be staying.
“Tell me about this job of yours, William.”
Ma and Wills kept the conversation moving along, with assists from Casey, but I said little and Poppa even less, his brooding gaze going from me to Wills to his food, no doubt wondering what he’d done to deserve a son like me, who was gay and a disgrace and….
The piece of bread in my hand became a crushed mass of dough. What had I been thinking to hope I could go home?
“Teodore?”
“I’m sorry, Ma. What did you say?”
“I was wondering how you came to choose to be an accountant.”
“A friend suggested I’d be good at it. I always liked math.”
“Yes. I remember. So was this friend the one who you two met over in the hospital?” She tsked and shook her head. “Being mugged over a few dollars. Such a shameful thing, the crime rate in this country.”
Wills was raising his glass to his lips, and he continued smoothly. He knew Paul had been beaten not for money, not even because he was gay, but because he was Vince’s friend, but he would never say anything about it.
“No. Paul was the one in the hospital. Tim said I should get my GED and go on to college.”
Silence fell over the table as she and my father realized why I’d had to get a GED instead of graduating from high school with my class.
“What are you majoring in, Casey?” Wills asked, lightening the mood, and the conversation picked up again.
DINNER WAS finally drawing to a close.
“I like to see a young man who enjoys his food,” Ma said, beaming at Wills. “Would you care for another helping, William? There’s more in the kitchen.”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Bascopolis. This was delicious, but if I eat any more, Theo will have to roll me out to the car.”
“So tell me, how does it compare to my son’s?”
“There is no comparison, Mrs. B.” Wills sent me an apologetic glance. “It’s wonderful, and….”
Poppa nodded proudly. “Dianthe’s rabbit stifado is the best in the neighborhood.”
“Rabbit?” Wills turned a little pale and swallowed.
“Yes. Did you not recognize it?”
“I’ve never had… um—” He swallowed again. “—rabbit.”
“But now that you have, you will have it again, yes?” Poppa didn’t pick up on my lover’s expression, but then he hadn’t been living with Wills for the past few months.
“Our butcher shop doesn’t supply it, Poppa.”
He frowned at me. “There is not a Greek butcher in Washington, Teodore?”
“Not in our neighborhood.”
“Well, I am sure rabbit can be special ordered.” He nodded as if that solved everything.
“And now we will have coffee and flogheres,” Ma announced.
Wills sent me a slightly panicked look. “Almond pipes, babe,” I whispered. “Cookies,” and I was amused by the relief that flooded his features.
“My flogheres are the best in the family,” she assured him. “Eryx, you go and make the coffee.”
Poppa had loosened his belt, but now he rose to obey her. He’d always made the coffee, and when I’d been about ten, he’d shown me how to grind freshly roasted bean
s, add sugar and water, and heat it until it frothed.
“Uh… Ma….” That meant we’d be here at least another three hours.
“No, my son. You tell me you will not stay the night here, and this I understand, but you must at least spend as much time with your family as you can. Is that not right, Eryx?”
Poppa grunted and went into the kitchen. Faster, who’d been confined there, slipped out into the dining room. Faster loved rabbit and would beg for tidbits, so Ma insisted he stay in the kitchen while we ate. She wasn’t worried about him jumping onto the counter or getting into the pots—he was a very well-behaved cat.
He jumped onto Wills’s lap and settled himself on the firm thigh.
“Acacia, help me to clean off the table.”
“We’ll help too, Mrs. Bascopolis.”
“No, sit.” She smiled at him, and if I didn’t love him so much myself, I would have been jealous of how fond that smile was, of how quickly she’d fallen under his spell. “This is woman’s work.”
“Momma.” Casey rolled her eyes. Still, that was how it was in most Greek households.
“Please let us help, Mrs. B.”
“Please, Ma?”
“Very well. But, Acacia, you are not to expect your Alexander to do this.”
“No, Momma.”
Ma went into the kitchen to fill the sink with water. After all these years, Poppa still hadn’t bought her a dishwasher.
Casey winked at us and whispered, “Alexander may be Greek, but he knows what will happen if he won’t help.” For the past six months, she had been seeing a young man who was a TA at her college. Her grin was saucy as she stacked the dinner plates and took them into the kitchen.
As soon as we were alone, Wills murmured, “Rabbit? You could have warned me, babe.”
“I’m sorry.” I rubbed his upper arm. “I didn’t even think about it. Are you okay? We can leave early if you like. If you’re not feeling well.”
“I’m okay. It just threw me. I’ve always loved Bugs Bunny, and the idea of having him as the main course for dinner takes a bit of getting used to.”
“Did you really like it?”
“Yeah. It tasted kind of like chicken.”
“No, it didn’t.”
He bit back a snicker. “No, it didn’t.”
“Do you want me to make it for you?” While I liked rabbit well enough, it wasn’t my favorite meat. However, if he liked it, I’d make the sacrifice for him.
“I’d rather you didn’t, if you don’t mind?”
“Not a problem, babe. Believe me.”
He took my hand and twined his fingers with mine. “I hope you didn’t mind me telling your mother there was no comparison between her stifado and yours.”
“Of course not.”
“There really isn’t, you know. She’s a wonderful cook—”
“I know that, Wills. You don’t have to explain.”
“—but you’re even better.” He brought my hand to his mouth.
“I’m…. Really?”
“Really.”
“Y’know something, babe?” I took the tureen that held the remains of dinner—a few button onions and a bit of the liquid the rabbit had been stewed in. “You’re the best.”
He flushed. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Theo?”
“Yeah?”
“I know we can’t do anything, but…. Consider yourself kissed.”
“Wills….”
“Let’s get this table cleared off before your mother thinks we’re up to something.” His grin told me what he’d like to be up to, and it was a good thing I’d chosen to wear trousers that had a loose cut. He encouraged Faster to leap off his lap, rose, and gathered up the silverware and the empty bread basket.
I cleared my throat and nodded toward the swinging door that separated the dining room from the kitchen. It opened before I could push against it with my shoulder, an unconscious action from my childhood, and Acacia came in, carrying a tray with water glasses. Wills’s eyebrow rose.
“I’d better give you a few pointers about drinking Greek coffee, Wills.”
Chapter 29
I’D TOLD Wills to use one of the credit cards I’d given him to charge our trip to Key West, and he booked our stay for the second week in August at Davis House, a clothing-optional hotel on gay “Guesthouse Row.”
“I got us a great deal, babe. Because it’s off-season,” he told me as we were getting ready for bed.
“And what does that include?” I knew what the rates at Davis House were, even off-season, but he was worth it.
“A deluxe room with a king bed, seating area with a plasma TV, and a fully stocked wet bar.” The bed dipped as he knelt behind me. I relaxed against him, enjoying the feel of his torso against my back. “Small problem, though.” He nuzzled my ear. “Our flight leaves at seven forty-five.”
“In the morning?” I straightened abruptly. “Wills….”
“I know it’s kind of early for you, but—”
“Kind of early?” We’d have to get to the airport two hours in advance, which meant we’d probably have to get up at o-dark-thirty, if not earlier! He knew I wasn’t a morning person.
“It shouldn’t take us more than fifteen minutes to get to National, babe.”
I shivered as he dipped his tongue into my ear, but I was determined not to let him distract me. “How long does the flight take?”
“Two and a half hours—”
“Geez, Wills.”
“—but that’s just to Miami. It’s another four hours to Key West.”
“What, are we rowing the whole way?”
“Ass. The hotel is sending a shuttle.” He rolled me over, skinned my shorts down over my hips and off my legs, and settled himself on top of me. “You don’t want to spend the whole day traveling, do you? Especially when we could be doing other things?” He humped against me lightly, giving me an idea of what those “other things” might be.
“Well, no.”
“There you go. So we’ll get to Miami just after ten, and the shuttle should be there around ten thirty. We’ll miss rush-hour traffic, and barring anything unexpected cropping up, get to Davis House between two and three.”
“Okay. Uh….”
“Something else, Theo?”
I rocked my hips up, nudging his groin with my erection.
“Ah. If we’re done with this discussion, then?”
I grabbed his ass and pulled him down hard.
He grinned at me. “I’ll just see to that, shall I?”
And he wriggled his way down my body and did.
THE SUMMER drifted along, and although Wills had to go out of town again on numerous trips, none lasted longer than a day or two, nor did he come home exhausted.
And then it was the second week in August. Wills set the alarm for four forty-five and got up to make breakfast himself while he let me sleep until the last minute.
“Not hungry,” I mumbled as I brought my coffee cup to my mouth automatically, since my eyes were still closed.
“Have a granola bar, babe.”
I opened my eyes to find the oatmeal and raisin bar in front of me but Wills nowhere to be seen. “Babe?” I tore off the wrapper, nibbled on the bar even though I really wasn’t hungry, and washed it down with my coffee.
“Okay, Theo. All set?”
“Where were you?”
“I brought the suitcases down to the car.” He took the coffee cup from my hand and dumped what was left in it into the sink.
“Hey!”
“Gotta get going.” He rinsed the cup and put it in the dishwasher. “Go take a piss. We need to leave in two minutes.”
“Okay, okay.” I shuffled to the bathroom, pissed, and washed my hands.
A single light was on, illuminating the hallway to the front door.
“I told the ladies downstairs we’d be away for a week, and I gave them the phone number for Davis House. I’m keeping my phone turned off all
week.”
“Good idea,” I mumbled as he locked the door and caught my arm. “Huh?”
“I don’t want you falling down the stairs.”
“Thanks, babe.”
He kissed my cheek. The next thing I knew, we were in the car, on our way to Reagan National to catch our flight to Miami.
Once our flight landed at Miami International Airport, I was more awake. “Do we have time for breakfast?” I asked after we’d retrieved our luggage.
“Sure thing. There’s a little coffee shop right over here.”
“You take good care of me.”
“It’s what I live for, babe.” He winked at me, and I bumped my shoulder against his.
THE SHUTTLE picked us up as scheduled, and four hours later, we arrived on Key West.
Wills’s eyes widened when we entered Davis House to check in and a couple strolled by, hand in hand. What surprised him was that they were completely naked.
“Did you think ‘clothing optional’ meant only by the pool?” I couldn’t help laughing as he blushed.
“Your suite is ready now, Mr. Matheson.” The desk clerk smiled and handed us our key cards. “It has a lovely view. It overlooks the pool and the Jacuzzi. You can go right on up if you like, and get unpacked. Here are some brochures about the attractions of our little island.”
“Thanks. Ready, babe?”
“You bet.” I smirked at the desk clerk. Wills had completely missed the way the man had been checking him out.
It had been warm in DC, but not as warm as here. We went up to our room and took a shower. It was supposed to be quick and it was supposed to help us cool down, but Wills grinned and ran his palms up and down my chest, toyed with my nipple, then touched my ear.
“Next time I go out of town, I think I’ll bring you back a nipple ring to match your stud.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Shut up, Theo.” He kissed me, kissed a path down my body, and nuzzled my cock. I was already hard—his kisses alone tended to do that to me—and he swallowed me down. In a matter of minutes I was coming.
He was still kneeling at my feet when I caught my breath. I blinked the water out of my eyes, stroked his cheek, and smiled down at him.