by Cooper West
Gary nodded, unsure of how he would handle things in Chuck’s shoes. The benefit of being from a small, dying branch of the family tree was the comfortable lack of family responsibility, and while Gary knew he would gladly take on that weight to have his parents back, he did not exactly envy Chuck’s role in Cornerstone. Gary had not been by there yet, but he imagined from all he heard that Chuck held the lives of hundreds ofpeople inhis hands, business-wise.
Gary started when Chuck’s hand landed on his thigh. “I’mdone with family talk for the day, Gary. I’m here to be with you.” Chuck’s hand rubbed his leg lazily, warmand intimate. Garygrinned.
“So, we talk about music, then.”
Chuck laughed, but he played along, and they got in and out of Braedon over the course of a long, rambling conversation about music, music history, instruments they had known, and bands they played with. The equipment pick up went smoothly and quickly, which was more than Gary had hoped for, so they were back in Holden before the dinner rush. Chuck pulled up to the alley entrance, rolled up the large garage door, and walked in, yelling.
“Elba! Elba!” Chuck walked through the store, but there was no response. “Well, damn it, ifshe closed early just because she thought I wasn’t here to check on her.” Chuck stood by the register, his hands on his hips, lookingpissed.
“Let’s just get this unloaded. Store normally closes in twenty minutes anyway. Not like you’re beatingthe hordes back.”
“She could have at least turned off the damn lights,” Chuck snarled, reaching behind the counter to flick the front store lights off.
“Well, be gratefulshe locked the door.”
Chuck shook his head, still displeased, but followed Gary into the rear area of the store where he had backed up the truck.
It only took about thirty minutes to get everything unloaded and laid out. Gary was not up to testing the equipment after the long trip, so they laid out the wires and put the amps and microphones in the approximate areas theyneeded themwithout plugginganythingin. As Gary bent over to shove a heavy amp out of the way, he felt a hot bodypressingagainst himfrombehind.
“Hey.”
“C’mere,” Chuck said, pulling him up and spinning him around, grinning at Gary with obvious, lecherous intent. “It’s been murder all day sitting in the truck right next to you.” He wrapped his arms around Gary’s waist and squeezed until Gary laughed, then kissed him.
Gary responded, despite the open loading door, because they were angled just out of sight fromanyone who might walk by. Chuck’s kisses were always surprisingly gentle, for how much he enjoyed manhandling Gary around, so Gary leaned forward on Chuck and kissed back. It was as far as they could go, inthe circumstances, and Garywanted to make it good, lettinghis hands roam.
“Oh!”
Chuck snapped back as if slapped at the sound of Elba’s shocked, breathy voice. She stood inside the door, holding a take-out bag of Chinese from the Imperial Wok down the road. Distantly, Gary realized that the reason the lights had been left on was that Elba locked the door as she ran out for dinner, planning to come back.
“The lights were off, I thought… I just came ’round back instead….”She looked genuinelyhorrified, and for a second Gary hoped that she was just sorry to have interrupted them. He lost that hope when he saw the expressiononChuck’s face.
“You’re too damn nosey, Elba,” Chuck said viciously. Gary reached out to calm him, because even he could see that was not the tack to take withthe older woman. Her face reddened and turned toward a scowl.
“You… you unnatural, filthy, sinful thing! Your father was right about you!”
“Elba, you keep your fucking mouth shut.” Chuck advanced threateningly. Elba fled, and Gary grabbed for Chuck before he ranoffto beat his cousinsenseless. He felt Chuck vibrating under his touch, his skin hot withrage.
“Hey, hey! Chuck! Listen, what’s she gonna do? Who’s goingto listento her? Come on, calmdown. It’ll be fine. We’ll—”
Chuck jerked away fromhim. “I’mdropping you off home.” He went about closing up the shop completely, so Gary grabbed his backpack and dove for the passenger seat of the truck. It was a long, cold, and quiet ride to Gary’s house, Chuck seething the whole way. Gary tried to talk about it a few times, but Chuck shook his head. As they pulled up to the house and Gary got out, feeling shocky and scared, Chuck leaned across the seat.
“This isn’t about you. Won’t no one say a word to you. But don’t call me. Don’t ask about me. You need to get a message, go throughFran.”
“What? This is fucked up.”
“Yeah, it is. Just… for me, please. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and until I do, I can’t be worried about you.”
“Worried about me? Are you fucking kidding? Is your familygoingto, what? Hunt me down?”
Chuck growled. “No! Just… it’s awkward. And youcanmake it worse for me. Let me handle this.”
Beyond fury and fear, Gary snarled back. “Yeah, I know. I’m fucking awkward. I’m used to that.” He slammed the door shut before Chuck could reply and marched up the steps to the porch. He heard the truck roar off but refused to turn around and watch. He was so wound up he did not even consider getting practice in, so instead pulled out his laptop and played solitaire and drank beer until he woke up with a hangover the next morning.
ChapterFourteen
Fortwo days after their “discovery”byElba, Garydid
not hear anything from Chuck, or anyone else, for that matter. Not that he expected to, since he stayed on the farm and did not venture out for anything other than short trips to the closest small grocery, which was dangerous enough with the onset of the deep winter snowfalls. His temper cooled about the whole thing by then, though, so he called the rental place to let them know they would be keeping the equipment for at least anextra week, possiblythroughthe NewYear. He was still pissed at Chuck, but he knew what the stakes were, and whyChuck reacted so badly.
It was not as if he had a reputation to lose, like
Chuck did, and Gary did not care what anyone thought of him. Fran and Jamie already knew he was gay, and Gary figured Fred George would just pretend he did not know, like any Southern gentleman who had a business agreement onthe line would do.
The real curve in all of this, the unknown (at least to Gary) was Chuck and Chuck’s family. Gary’s usual practice time with his band was set for the following day, and Gary thought things would be laid out pretty clearly depending on whether Chuck showed up for it or not. He hoped he would, as it would be the fourth day with no word, and Gary began harboring the horrible fear that Chuck’s family had murdered him.
What he did not expect was for Chuck’s truck to pull up near sundown, both vehicle and man bristling with angry energy. Gary stood on the porch as Chuck got out, holding the door open as if he was prepared to leap back inside. Snow fell gently on him, but nothing softened the hard, bitter expressiononhis face. “Need a place to stay.”
Gary was hit with shock at that and wanted to
ask what the hellwas goingon, but Chuck looked like a man walking the razor edge ofhis controland sanity, so Gary nodded. “Got the other guest roomset up a while back when Tally was here. You’re welcome to stay longas youneed.”
Chuck visibly relaxed, taking off his sunglasses and throwing them on the dash. He reached into the back of the truck and pulled out his fiddle case and an old duffle bag that might have been red once, but was now dusty and battered far beyond any sense of fashion.
Gary led him to the spare room, grateful that he had washed the sheets Tally used and folded them up onthe mattress. “Sorryit’s not quite ready….”
“No bother. I know how to make a bed.” Chuck tossed his duffle baginto a corner ofthe roomso hard it slammed into the wall. Both men flinched, but Chuck did not apologize.
“So, uhhhh… dinner?” Gary floundered for a safe topic. Chuck nodded, stillrefusingto look at him. “Oh-kay. I’ll leave to you get comfortable here. Just sandwiches, noth
ing fancy. Come down when you’re ready,”Garysaid and fled the room.
He set the beers out first, figuring they were more than called for and needed to be at the ready, then got to work making sandwiches and trying not to speculate about Chuck’s situation in coming out there. He was so focused onnot rippingthe bagofchips apart that he did not hear Chuck walk in.
“Daddythrew me out.” Gary stopped, confused. “Don’t you have your ownhouse over there?”
Chuck rolled his eyes. “Threw me out of Cornerstone.”
“He threw you out of the whole town?” Gary asked, not sure if he was getting it right because it was so crazy.
“Yes.”
“You’re thirty-something, president of the family business, a father, and a homeowner. And he threw you out?”
Chuck snarled, grabbing one of the beers on the table. He drained halfofit inone go. “Yes.”
Gary finally got the bag open without shredding it and poured chips into the bowl in the middle of the table, completely at a loss for words. Chuck seemed to be at the same place, sitting down with his nearly empty beer clutched in his hand. Gary sat down, and they got through half the meal before Chuck bothered to talk again.
“Elba told prettymucheveryone.”
“Bitch!”Garysnapped before he thought about it.
“Cousin Elba isn’t all there, but she thinks she is, and has always been mad at me for not letting her have more responsibilities with the business. Thinks she should be managing the store herself, but the girl could not even finish high school.” Chuck glared at the remnants of his sandwich. “She’s… not a bad person. But she’s petty, and she decided this was a good way to get at me.”
“And your father believed her?”
Chuck licked his lips, his whole demeanor guilty and angry. “There’s historythere. Withme.”
Gary knew better than to ask about the hoops that Chuck may have had to jump through to convince his father that he was not something he was, but obviouslythe issue was not a new one withthe family.
“One reason I went to Atlanta was Momma caught me with a boy one day. I was sixteen, but I got the belt whippingofmylife fromDaddy. Thenhe turned around and told me to go ‘sow myoats’ inthe bigcity.”
Garyhad to finishhis ownbeer at that. “Wow.” “I think he really believed it was some kind of phase. When I came back and married Ellie, well… I think he’s heard rumors since, and it’s bothered him, but he never had anythingto point to.”
“But… it’s just gossip froma jealous old biddy.”
Chuck worked his jaw for a second. “Daddy’s health isn’t good. He’s on meds, and it’s made him… paranoid.”
“Wait, wait… you’re saying, you moved home to help run the business, and now he sees you as what? Competition?”
“He’s got a lot of little birds whispering in his ear. I’ve told you I’ve got several cousins who want to break the business up into smaller businesses, make it into some kind ofconfederation.” Chuck spat the word, which in the South was loaded with a lot of history, most of it unpleasant. Gary knew exactly what Chuck was not saying: to break the business apart like that would likelydestroyeverything, inthe end.
They sat like that for a bit before Gary got up and put two more beers on the table. “Well, you’re welcome here for however long it takes to work things out.”
Chuck nodded gratefully, stillavoidinghis eyes.
“I’m kind of used to turning in early, though. So, youknow, make yourselfat home. I’mgoingup to bed, read a book, and get some sleep. Unless you need anything?”
Chuck shook his head, the deep meaningful conversation part of the night obviously long over. Gary lay in bed awake for a few hours, listening to Chuck move around the house and settle into his own bed. As much as Gary wanted to comfort the man, he was not too sure about where their relationship was and decided to hold back and give Chuck room to deal with this crisis. It was obvious that Chuck never expected something like this to happen, but it was also true that he could have just gone down to the motel by the highway and gotten a room for the night. Gary willed himself to sleep over the conflicting doubts and hopes that stirred inhim.
Theywere both up early and met over toast and
coffee in the kitchen as the bright winter dawn finished cresting over the orchard trees outside. Chuck nodded solemnly in thanks for the food, standing instead of sittingat the dinette.
“I usually practice, do some work on the songs,” Gary said, waving his cup toward the living room, just barelyawake enoughnot to spillit. “I called Fran and Jamie, canceled practice today.” Chuck sipped at his coffee and refused to look directlyat Gary.
“Okay, that’s… okay.” Gary wondered why, exactly, but decided to let Chuck take the lead. It was his life that was in shambles, anyway, so it seemed the least Garycould do.
“I brought my fiddle, but I’m….” Chuck stopped talkingand stared out the window.
“Like I said, I spend mornings piddling around, dinking out tunes. You can just relax and do whatever you need to do. Oh, hey, if you want a book to read, there's a whole bookshelf full in the master bedroom. Mostly classics, I think they were my uncle’s. Anyway, help yourself.” Gary stood up and walked away to give Chuck some peace.
He knew his practicing was halfhearted at best as he kept most of his focus on tracking Chuck, who was even more silent than usual as he wandered through the house. Eventually Chuck ended up secluding himself in the warmth of the kitchen with a musty, dusty book he had taken fromthe bookshelf, but fromwhat little Gary could spyfromthe den, he was not readingit.
After a few hours spent trying not to be impatient, Gary finally braved the kitchen again, figuring he could use the excuse that it was close to lunchtime, anyway. Chuck sat there with his feet propped up on another chair, looking very “countrified” in his worn jeans and checkered cottonshirt, his longand leanbodystretched out to end at his cowboy boots. Gary figured, with a cowboy hat, he would be something out of the Wild West. He certainly had the “angry loner” persona part down.
Gary handed him a glass of sweet tea. It really was close enoughto lunchthat theycould get awaywith beer, but Gary figured getting drunk and maudlin was the last thing either of them needed right then. Chuck took the glass without looking at him. Gary sat down in the chair next to him, making a mental note to buy a nice new dinette set if he ever actually made some money. It was at the bottomof a very long list of things to buy, though, so he settled into the old creaky rust bucket as best he could.
They sat in silence for a bit, changing positions and sipping their tea as the afternoon began, the sun throughthe kitchenwindows failingto warmanysurface and the quiet winter silence of the orchard saturating Gary’s mood.
“Bill.” “Huh?” Gary startled at the sound of Chuck’s voice, but Chuck kept looking out the windows toward the orchard.
“Bill. In Atlanta. I was with a drummer named Bill. He played traditional Celtic-style instruments… bodhrán, that kind ofthing.”
“Good fit for a bluegrass band.”Garyreached for more to say but could not think of anything, so he sipped his tea again.
“He was a good man. Hardworking, getting his CPA, last I heard.” Garycontinued nodding, at a loss.
Chuck sighed and sat up a bit, leaning forward and looking at the glass in his hands. “We were good together. Not just the music… everything. Lived together my last year of college and after that. It was a realhome for us. We had a dog.”
“Uh… what was her name?”
“Jessie Mae.” Chuck smiled wistfully as Gary coughed, trying not to laugh. “Hey, he named her, not me. She was a squatty fat bulldog,” Chuck laughed. “Sweet dog, though. Allheart.”He was silent for a beat before continuing. “He got her inthe breakup.”
“I’msorry.”
“Thingis, I wasn’t.”
Gary frowned, not sure how to take that, and Chuck shook his head, realizinghow it sounded.
“What I’msaying is… Daddy had a heart att
ack. Ayear after I graduated. My plan, such as it was, was to become successful enough on my own that when time came for Daddy to call me back, I would be too settled to go. I figured I’d help my younger brother Dave take over. But Dave was high schoolquarterback and seventeen when Daddy’s health turned for the worse.”
“Well, crap.”
“Yep. I had to go. I did go. I broke up with the man I loved, broke both our hearts and the dog’s too, probably. Shit.” Chuck set his glass on the table and rubbed his face withbothhands. “I gave up everythingI ever wanted to come back here to this backwater and pick pecans for a fuckingliving.”
“I… I’msorry. I don’t know what to say to that. It sucks?”
“No. That’s what I’msaying:I wasn’t sorry to do it. It was my responsibility to the family. Hell, Bill understood. He stood there… helpingme pack….”
Gary tried not to stare in horror as Chuck lost it, hands over his face, trying not to cry. Desperate to do something that was not out of a chick flick, Gary reached out and put his hand on Chuck’s shoulder, much as Chuck did for himevery time he started having a panic attack. They sat there for a long time, the ice in their tea melting away as Chuck hid his face and took deep breaths.
Chuck went back to rubbing his face for a moment, sucked in another deep breath, and started talking. “It never occurred to me that I could say no. That I could have stayed inAtlanta. Never crossed my mind, not once.”
“Because it’s family, and theyneeded you.”
Chuck sighed inrelief. “Yeah.”
Gary let that sit for a second before asking, “And now?”
“Now I’m fucking pissed off that Daddy doesn’t count that, like it was nothing, that he’s decided I’m a no good fag and bad news for the family. I’ve kept our businesses alive for years now, while he’s whacked out drinking whiskey on top of his meds. Fuck!” Chuck stood up and kicked at his chair, which skittered across the floor.