“I’m gay,” Kaleo cuts him off, still staring at the floor.
“What?” Parker, still in his towel, is shocked and finds himself frozen. He had no idea. Kaleo looks up at him and looks Parker straight in the eyes without saying anything. “Sorry, I heard you. I just thought I, uh, misheard you.” Parker struggles to find something to say.
Kaleo grabs his backpack and walks out of the locker room, passing Parker on the way. Parker changes into some clean clothes, still trying to process what just happened. He puts his shoes on, locks his locker and heads out the door to look for Kaleo.
By this time, the sun has gone down and it’s only getting darker. The campus lights have come on and the last of the other student athletes are finally getting picked up by their parents. Parker walks toward his car looking for Kaleo on the way, but doesn’t see him. In the student parking lot, his Toyota Corolla is the last car left. From afar, Parker sees Kaleo sitting on the curb next to his car staring blankly at the ground. He walks up to him and sits ride beside him.
“Well, there’s some news for ya,” Parker tries to joke to lighten the mood. Kaleo doesn’t budge. He remains silent and continues to look at the ground. Parker stops, exhales deeply and looks at the ground too. They sit in silence for a minute until Parker decides to get real.
“Gay, huh?” He starts. “I’ve never met a gay person before or at least I never knew that they were gay when I met them. Actually, your dad is gay, right? I met him a couple times. Maybe it runs in the family?” Realizing it’s probably a silly thing to say, he continues “Look man, I’m not good at this, ok? I don’t really know what to say. You kinda gotta help me out.” He pauses and waits for a response from Kaleo, but Kaleo is still silent. “So… are you, like, gay for me?”
“No! I mean, yeah I was kinda… shit, I don’t know.” Kaleo breaks his silence. “Can we just drop it?” He gets up and tries to open the passenger door, but it’s locked.
Parker unlocks the car and Kaleo gets in and closes the door quickly. Parker walks around to the driver’s side and gets in. They sit in the car looking out at the dark sky, avoiding looking at each other.
“You were kinda what?” Parker asks curiously.
“What?” Kaleo looks at Parker confused.
“Yeah, you said ‘I was kinda…’ dot dot dot. You gotta finish what you started. That’s the rules, remember?” Parker presses.
“Nothing. I mean… I was just… I don’t know.” Kaleo pauses and sighs a very deep sigh. “I was kinda checking you out.”
“I knew it! You like what you saw, huh?” Parker jokes and tries to use this info to lighten the mood. “Were you checking out… this face?” Parker puts his thumb and index finger in the shape of a check mark under his chin, puckers his lips and tilts his head up at Kaleo.
Kaleo chuckles under his breath. “Shut up, will you?”
“Were you checking out… these guns?” Parker flexes his arms in a muscle man pose and kisses his bicep to be funny. Kaleo rolls his eyes, but with a smirk on his face. “Were you checking out… these abs?” Parker lifts up his shirt and displays his washboard abs. He grabs Kaleo’s hand and makes him rub his six-pack. Kaleo retracts his hand quickly, but Parker grabs his hand again and places it back on his stomach muscles.
With his left hand on Parker’s rock-hard abs, Kaleo looks at Parker shocked. Having always fantasized about feeling his best friend’s body and thinking that this is all part of a joke anyway, he doesn’t pull away. Is this really happening? He thinks to himself and goes with it.
With a smile on his face, Parker is now having fun with the whole situation. He realizes that he is literally, and figuratively, in the driver’s seat. Finally, he asks “Were you… checking out.. this?” He guides Kaleo’s hand down into his pants revealing that he’s been concealing an erection the entire time.
Kaleo, now with his hand around his best friend’s cock, is shaking with every emotion: nervousness, fear, confusion, but mostly excitement. He looks Parker in the eyes as to say What now?
Parker, with a sly smile, looks at Kaleo and then down at his crotch and nods. “Guess you gotta finish what you started.”
* * *
10. B-52
- 1/3 oz Kahlua
- 1/3 oz Baileys
- 1/3 oz Gran Marnier
*Layered in this order and served as a shot
Back at Violet, the bar and door staff are still locked outside. Having had this happen before, and with no one really wanting to work anyway, the group of friends welcome the delay. Parker, having just texted Kaleo, chuckles to himself and then rejoins chatting with the group. “Kaleo says he’s gonna be late,” Parker announces to the group, flashing his phone to imply that he just received a text.
“Ladies and Gentlemen… Captain Obvious,” Beau states sarcastically, trying to insult Parker, but Parker just laughs. He puts his phone back in his pocket.
“Why is he always late?” Tisha asks genuinely.
“He’s lucky he can’t get fired,” Yuki proclaims.
“He’s lucky I don’t beat him up for making us wait!” Malu says aggressively.
“Oh, here he goes…” Momi says as she rolls her eyes at Malu’s comment.
“All talk,” Sam pokes fun at his own friend.
“Nah, nah. I wouldn’t hurt him, you guys. I’m a lover, not a fighter.” Malu puts his arm around Ashley to imply that he’s a loving boyfriend.
“Hoooo Her Gaaawwdd!” Momi cries out loud and rolls her eyes even harder this time.
Ashley smokes a cigarette while she waits. With Malu all of a sudden cozied up next to her, she looks straight ahead with no emotion on her face. “You see what I have to deal with?”
Seeing someone coming from the corner of his eye, Chico turns his head and expects to see Kaleo. Instead, it’s a three-part army with an angry female leader. “Uh-oh. Incoming,” Chico alerts the group.
Robin walks toward the group hastily, with Chyna and Lopaka a few paces behind. “Why are you all outside?” Robin says loudly and sternly from afar. The group braces for impact.
Finally reaching the group of her employees, Robin asks again “What’s going on? What’s the hold up?” Everyone avoids eye contact, not wanting to be the one to get Kaleo into trouble.
“We don’t have a key,” Malu speaks up for the group.
Robin scans the group and realizes that Kaleo is absent. “AGAIN?!” Robin yells. “Oh, that boy! I swear.” By this time, Chyna and Lopaka have reached the group, but decide to hang back a few steps while Robin goes on one of her ‘ty-rants.’ She looks back over to Malu and says in a quiet, but assertive tone “Call your brother and tell him to get his ass to work NOW!”
Robin parts her staff like the Red Sea, walks up to the entrance of Violet and unlocks the front door. She holds the door open and ushers everyone in, giving each of them assignments as they pass her. “Yuki, sweep the floors. Tisha, restock the bar. Beau, you’re on ice. Sam, take those boxes to my office…” Robin is taking no prisoners.
As the last of the crew enter the club, Chyna walks up to Robin. “Ok sis, I’m gonna hele (hele is a Hawaiian word implying the action “to go” or “to come”). I’m gonna go make me some coin tonight.” Chyna kisses her friend on the cheek and heads to her usual spot for business.
“Be safe, bitch!” Robin lectures her friend as if she is one of her employees.
While Robin and Chyna say their goodbyes, Malu greets Lopaka, not with a bro-hug, but with a real hug this time. “Guess he’s late again, huh?” Lopaka asks already knowing the answer.
“That’s your brother for you,” Malu says matter-of-factly.
“He’s your brother, too!” Lopaka comes back with quickly. “Must be the middle child syndrome.”
Malu laughs, “Must be.”
Lopaka, Kaleo and Malu are brothers and were born in that order. With a year between Lopaka and Kaleo and two years between Kaleo and Malu, the three brothers have always been close. That is, until recently.
>
In the past couple of months, Kaleo has distanced himself from his brothers. Having done this a few times before, Lopaka and Malu are expecting Kaleo to come out of his funk and revert back to his normal self like in the past. However, this time seems to be lasting longer than usual.
“HURRY UP, YOU TWO!” Robin yells at the two brothers. “Malu, you're on trash duty and Lopaka, help Yuki sweep.”
“But I don’t even start gogo-ing ‘til 11pm.” Lopaka tries to get out of doing any extra work.
“What are you gonna do? Go home and be depressed? Sit by your phone like a little puppy waiting for Ryan to call you? No! You get in here and you help out!” Robin orders.
The two brothers look at each other and smirk before heading in the club, passing Robin at the entrance. “Come on! You guys are already late!” Robin scolds.
11. Key Lime Pie
- 1 oz Whipped Cream Vodka
- 1/2 oz Rumchata
- 1/2 oz Key Lime Juice
*Rim shot glass with lime juice and crushed up graham crackers, shake and serve as a shot
Inside the club, the majority of pre-shift tasks have already been done. Knowing that the club doesn’t really get busy until about 10 or 11pm, the bartenders and door staff try to find things to keep themselves busy. With enough space in Violet for a stage, a large dance floor, and two separate bars (the front bar and the back bar), the staff find themselves spread out and often don’t see each other ‘til the end of the night. Parker, Beau and Chico man the front bar, while Momi and Tisha wo-man the back bar, making it a battle of the sexes for tonight’s set up.
“We got everything we need?” Momi asks Tisha while checking out her body.
“We’re all set up and ready to go, boo,” Tisha responds with a smile.
“Good. Let’s show these boys the power of a push-up bra,” Momi jests. The two girls adjust their boobs and fix their hair. They know that sex sells. With every night being friendly competition, the bartenders tend to split up into teams and see which of the two bars can have the highest sales.
At the front bar, Parker and Chico are still cutting lemons and limes for service. Beau, however, is already on his phone, checking his social media.
“Dude!” Parker says to get Beau’s attention.
Disappointed with his Instagram post from earlier that’s only received 8 ‘likes,’ Beau looks up at Parker. “What?”
“You gonna help out or what?” Parker asks, thinking that it’s something he shouldn’t have to ask.
“There’s nothing left to do,” Beau defends himself.
Parker and Chico look at each other as to non-verbally say Seriously? Both with knives in their hands, they look at Beau like two murders ready for their next victim. “Wipe down the bar,” Parker asserts.
“Alright, alright,” Beau throws his hands in the air and then walks away mumbling profanities under his breath.
As Beau is wiping down the bar top near the entrance, Kaleo opens the door and walks in. “Whoaaa, somebody finally decided to show up. Thank you for blessing us with your royal presence, your majesty,” Beau says sarcastically and bows on one knee.
“Shut up, Beau. And why are you working the front bar?” Kaleo questions.
“Queen Robin assigned our positions,” Beau continues his sarcasm.
Parker and Chico come around the bar and greet Kaleo. “Good morning babe.” Chico kisses Kaleo on the cheek and hugs him.
Parker and Kaleo look at each other and then do their ‘secret handshake’ that they’ve done since high school. “Suh dude,” Parker mocks the ever-popular ‘Sup Dude.’
“Suh dude,” Kaleo jokes back.
“You smell like shit,” Parker tells his best friend.
“I feel like shit,” Kaleo responds.
“Well, you’re about to feel a lot shittier…” Parker warns. “Robin wants to see you in her office.”
“Shit,” Kaleo mutters.
On his way to Robin’s office, Kaleo stops by the back bar and kisses Momi and Tisha hello. “Looking good, girls,” he compliments.
“Thank you!” The girls say in unison. “You’re with us in the back tonight.” Tisha scrunches her face insinuating that she feels bad for Kaleo.
“Yeah, I heard,” Kaleo responds slightly disgusted. “Nah, but it will be fun,” he quickly tries to cover, hoping the girls didn’t take offense. Usually, Kaleo works the main register at the front bar. Being the lead bartender and the fastest at making drinks, it only makes sense that he is placed at the busiest part of the club, but tonight is a different story.
“Now we’ll definitely have the higher sales!” Momi says all excited.
He leaves the girls and sighs deeply to rid his nerves. He knows he’s about to get his ass handed to him.
Once he reaches Robin’s office, he knocks on the already open door. Robin, in the middle of replying to some emails, looks up from her computer.
“You wanted to see me?” Kaleo opens the conversation.
Robin looks at her watch. “You’re an hour and fifteen minutes late,” she says stoically.
“Yeah, sorry. I woke up late and then there was traffic because of the construction on the freeway. Then, as I was texting the crew to let them know I was gonna be late, I got pulled over by a cop for being on my phone. Of course, since I was rushing out the door, I forgot my wallet at home. Which means, I didn’t have my driver’s license, so I got a ticket for that too. Not to mention I wasn’t wearing a seat belt. I meant to call you, but I—”
Robin throws up her hand as to say Enough. “This is the third time this month, Kaleo.” She pauses. “It’s the 18th. Do you know what that means? That means, that you’ve been late three times in less than three weeks.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” Kaleo apologizes.
“Give me your key,” Robin commands.
“What?” Kaleo is caught off guard.
Robin extends her hand without repeating herself.
Shocked, Kaleo realizes she’s being serious and obediently reaches for his keys. He takes the club’s key off of his key ring and hands it to Robin.
“Tell Ashley I want to talk to her,” Robin says before going back to her emails. Her silence insinuates that he’s allowed to leave.
Kaleo, understanding that the conversation is done, walks out of the office. He runs straight to the bathroom and closes the door behind him. Feeling mad at himself and frustrated with the situation, he paces back and forth before stopping in front of the mirror. With both hands on the sink, he looks at his own reflection with disgust. He yells one big “FUCK!” loud enough for everyone to hear.
After calming himself down, he leaves the bathroom and B-lines for outside. The girls at the back bar watch him quietly as he passes. As he passes the front bar, Parker asks “You alright?” to show concern, but without coming off as invasive. He looks over in Parker’s direction and just shakes his head in disbelief, while continuing his pace toward the door.
As he exits the club, he sees Lopaka, Malu and Sam joking with each other on the left and Ashley and Yuki sharing in a smoke break on the right. He turns to the right and walks up to Ashley. “Can I have a cigarette?” He asks.
“I thought you quit smoking?” Yuki questions.
“Can I please have a cigarette?” Kaleo reiterates, ignoring the last remark from Yuki.
Ashley hands him a smoke and lights it for him. It’s the first time he’s taken a hit off a cigarette in months. He starts to remember the amazing feeling of ease that smoking gives him and he wonders why he ever decided to quit in the first place. As he starts to relax into each puff, Ashley gently asks, “What’s the matter, babe?”
Kaleo shakes his head and just wants to enjoy his cigarette while it lasts. Ashley doesn’t push any further and just stands next to him, letting him know that she’s ready to listen whenever he’s ready to share.
Yuki, having finished his cigarette and never doing well with silence, decides it’s his time to go. “Ok, well… I’ll see
you both inside,” he awkwardly delivers and slips away. On his way into the club, Yuki looks at the group of boys to the left and just shrugs his shoulders as to say I don’t know what’s going on over there. The three boys take that as their signal to head over.
As Kaleo finishes his cigarette, Lopaka, Malu and Sam approach the smoking duo. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Alright, what’s going on around here? Who do I need to 86?” Malu comes in strong hoping that joking will break the tension and get Kaleo to loosen up. Ashley gives Malu the eyes that say Cut it out!
“You wanna talk about it?” Lopaka takes his turn. Kaleo shakes his head ‘no’ as he throws his cigarette on the ground and stomps it out. “Well, too bad.” Lopaka doesn’t give his younger brother a choice. “What’s up?”
“Are you fired?” Malu asks.
Kaleo scoffs, “No, but I might as well be. She demoted me to the back bar.”
It’s probably just for tonight, Leo.” Ashley shortcuts Kaleo’s name.
“Oh and she wanted to talk to you,” Kaleo says to Ashley.
“Me? Why me? What did I do?” Ashley’s mind starts to race. “Did you get me into trouble too?”
Kaleo chuckles. “If I’m going down, I’m taking every single one of you bitches with me!”
Ashley, realizing that Robin is probably waiting, puts her cigarette out and starts to head inside. Sam, realizing that he should probably leave the three brothers to talk in private, turns around and walks with Ashley into the club.
“So you’re in the back bar for awhile, that’s not so bad,” Lopaka offers positively.
“And she took away my key,” Kaleo informs his brothers. “She basically took away my lead server position.”
“Damn,” Malu says slightly stunned. “Well, you can always work the door with us. We could use another bouncer. Actually, we need another bouncer. I’ve been telling her. This place is too big for just Sam and I. Too many dummies and not enough dummy-removers.”
“Well, at this rate, I’ll probably be demoted to doorman by the end of the night,” Kaleo says negatively.
On the Rocks Page 4