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"BRIARWOOD"
aka "Whence Cometh My Help"
Revised Version
A dramatic saga
by
Ritch Christopher
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BOOK THREE
"BRIARWOOD LOST"
Chapter Twenty-Nine
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"...and a little child shall lead them."
The Holy Bible
Isaiah 11:6
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"Dad, don't tell me you're buying Jeff's sincerity. To me he's vying for next year's Academy Award for Best Bullshit Artist!" Alex blurted out.
"Alex, I realize that to believe Jeff takes a rather wide stretch of the imagination, but until we learn otherwise, we can only take him at his word." Walter replied.
"Dad, how could someone be 'taken' so suddenly by religion? You know as well as I, he got the hots for Jason and Tony, and becoming an acolyte was the quickest way to get his hands under their robes." Alex said, suspiciously.
"We both know that your brother is the master of connivance, but I'm sure if his interests were solely prurient, he would have found a way to achieve his goal without going to the trouble of being baptized and learning all that catechism," his dad said, trying again to make an excuse.
"That just shows the artistry of his demonic ways getting what he wants at any cost." Alex said.
"Would you have gone to the same extreme to go after Ted?" Walter asked.
"I'm not sure. I love Ted, but I wouldn't risk my mortal soul for the wrong reason. Did you talk to him about his intentions at length?"
"I not only asked him '20 questions', I even asked him a second round of twenty more. He had an honest answer for every one of them. Tell me, Alex, weren't you moved at all in Father Cliff's church?"
"I like Father Cliff as a man. I like what he has to say in his sermons but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to accept religion as a way of life. You prayed and prayed when Mom was sick, and what good did it do? She died anyway. What kind of God causes a woman to suffer so much for no apparent reason and then takes her away from a husband and two young sons that loved and needed her? The only reason anyone will tell me is that we're not to question the mysterious ways of God's doings. To me that's a catch-all phrase for people to use when they don't have a good reason. It's like when someone asks why the Bible is true and the answer is because the Bible says so. I believe in the past and the present. I can't buy that heaven and hell malarkey." Alex said.
"What did Cliff want to talk to you, Kyle, and Ryan about, if you don't mind telling me?" Walter asked.
"Oh, that! Somehow in one of Jeff's little private talks with the Father, he blabbed about the three of us attending Dr, Hughes suicide group sessions. The little idiot never knows when to keep his mouth shut. Well, anyway, at first, the three of us were afraid to meet with him for fear we'd hear the usual religious bullshit of how all people who commit suicide burn eternally in a lake of fire...only he didn't do that. He took us by surprise and wanted to know if we would use our experiences to help other guys our age. He wanted to know if he opened a St. Genesius' Crisis Center, if we would be interested in working there and running it...for pay."
"That sounds like a good idea. How do you and the other guys feel about it?"
"Ryan went for it more than Kyle at first. Kyle wasn't ready to take on counseling other people with AIDS. He kept sitting there waiting for Father Cliff to tell him that maybe the reason he contracted AIDS was so that he could help other people. You know, like...'You've been punished by God for a reason'. But once again, Father Cliff fooled us...he didn't say anything at all like that."
"Well, what was the final outcome? Did you accept his proposal or not?"
"I told him I'd have to wait and see if I could sell Ted on the idea. I wanted to include him as well. First of all, I didn't know how agreeable Ted would be to talk to teens about their problems over the phone...anonymously, at that." Alex said.
"Alex, I don't want to influence your decision, but I think you'd be awfully good at that work. You're mature, far beyond your years. You relate to people well. Besides, think of all the kids you'd be helping...who knows, maybe even saving their lives? I don't mean to pry in the monetary offer in taking this position, but would it pay enough for Ryan to quit his job at the music store?"
"Are you kidding? He'd be making twice as much as he is now. It's just a little scary for him to think he might be holding someone's life in the balance while talking to them on the phone as opposed to telling someone what the songs are on the latest U-2 CD."
"I see what you mean," Walter replied. "Would it be just the four of you?"
"Six. He wants to include Jay and Troy...and put Jay and Kyle in charge of the HIV calls." Alex replied.
"Do you know how Jay and Troy feel about it?"
"Dad, Jay and Troy would walk into a blazing furnace if Father Cliff asked them to. They love him that much."
"Well, are you asking my permission or looking for my approval? Because if you are, my answer is 'YES'. I think the whole idea sounds wonderful."
"I'm just hoping we're not being hypocritical by taking our weaknesses and turning them into positive pretensions, thinking we have the ability to help anyone with the same kinds of problems that were almost our downfalls."
"Alex, the older you get, the more you'll learn that the best things in life happen after some form of adversity."
"You sound just like Father Cliff talking now."
"If I do, I take that as a high compliment." Walter said.
"You've grown rather fond of Father Cliff, haven't you?"
"If you mean romantically, the answer is 'No'. But in terms of friendship, I'm glad his and my paths crossed. He's one of the greatest people I've ever met. I can see why everyone he comes in contact with is captivated by him."
In spite of his dad's denial, Alex still thought there was something more than friendship brewing between him and Father Cliff. In many ways, Alex hoped there was. For in Alex's opinion, his Dad was getting the shaft from Uncle Bruce as he seemed to ignore Walter all the time...even Bruce's evening phone calls had stopped. Alex worried that Ted might want to begin spending more time with his mom. After all, Bruce was waiting on Jane hand and foot. She didn't need Ted to do the same thing as his dad.
Jeff came in to ask his Dad for a new suit for his baptism.
"For what?" Alex interjected. "It'll only get wet. Why don't you wear a wet suit and a snorkel?"
"Alex, you're being unfair." Walter retorted back at Alex. "But I do think you have a point. Jeff, aren't you going to be confirmed right after you're baptized?"
"Yep, I studied real hard and I learned all the catechism." Jeff said.
"I don't think you know just how proud I am of you, son. Your mother would be well pleased with the changes you've made in yourself over the past few weeks."
"Thanks, Dad. I was hopin' you'd noticed." Jeff said.
Alex had a load of things stored up he wanted to say to his brother, but he thought it best to save them until he and Jeff were alone. If possible, Alex wanted Jeff to admit that his newly found religion was a hoax and he was going through the whole ordeal with an ulterior motive. After supper Alex got the chance to see Jeff in his room. Usually the two walked in on each other's privacy, unannounced, but for some reason Alex knocked on Jeff's door this time before entering.
"Yeah, who is it?"
"It's me, Jeff. Can I come in?"
"Sure, you never asked before." Jeff said, opening the door.
"I know."
"Well come on in for heaven's sake!...What gives?"
Alex went in, closing the door behind him. What he had to say Alex didn't want his dad to hear.
"Jeff, I want to ask you a couple of things and I want STRAIGHT ANSWERS...NO BULLSHIT!...All right?"
"Shoot!...Go to it!"
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? I know you too well and I don't believe your sincerity about this church business, not one bit! I wanna know what's going on." Alex asked pointedly at his brother.
"Just because you think YOU can't change doesn't mean I can't." Jeff blurted out in anger.
"I don't doubt people can change, I'm just suspicious of the reason or reasons that brought about the change in you." Alex said.
"Whaddya mean?"
"OK, I'll show my hand on the table. I got this sneaky feeling that it isn't God, or church, or religion that has perked your interests as much as two young men that help Father Cliff serve mass. You aren't going through all this cataclysm shit just to get under their cassocks, are you?"
"It's catechism, dummy, not cataclysm."
"I'm well aware of the difference and I used the word that best suited you, you little hypocrite."
"What if I told you I've already been under their cassocks and that was not the real reason I wanted to be confirmed?"
"I wouldn't doubt it if you'd screwed, blew, and tattooed both of them. I just doubt your swallowing all that religion shit."
"I can see right now that my first challenge is gonna be to work on my big brother." Jeff said.
"Don't go quoting Bible verses to me. I'm immune."
"Alex, let me ask you something. How can you go on living life without a purpose or a reason?"
"I don't need one." Alex said.
"Yes, you do. I would've thought when you tried to kill yourself and later saw how you could help other guys with the same kind of problem you were having, you might have found a purpose."
"That was different. I wanted to help them because I could. It had nothing to do with religion."
"Look at the difference you made in some of those guys' lives. You could do a lot more. You don't know it yet, but it's a gift you've got...a gift from God."
"Bullshit! Any trait, or 'gift' as you call it, that I've got, I got from Mom or Dad."
"I'll pray for you, bro."
"GODDAMMIT, JEFF! NOW CUT THAT OUT!!! I don't want you praying for me."
"I will, anyway." Jeff said.
This was getting ridiculous. Alex couldn't catch Jeff with any ploy Alex tried. Jeff kept coming back to him with what seemed like total sincerity...but Alex knew his kid brother better than that. Alex didn't care how long it took, he was going to expose Jeff's feelings as fraud. So Alex decided to try a different approach.
"Hey, Jeff, how's about a quick jerk-off together before we go to bed?"
"Is that what you want?" he asked, looking hurt and puzzled.
"Sure...you know, for old time's sake, like we used to."
"If that's what you really want, it's OK with me." he said.
Was Jeff calling Alex's bluff or did he mean it? Alex decided to press on just to see how far Jeff would go.
"Won't sex interfere with your new way of thinking?" Alex asked.
"No."
"You sure God won't mind?...I mean, you know He can see you."
"I know, but there's nothing wrong with having sex."
"Not even a little gay sex...with your brother?"
"Nope...not even a little gay sex with my brother. People always have the idea that the church and God frowns on two people having sex...but it's natural. That's why He created it."
"And you're sure that God doesn't punish guys for having homosexual sex?"
"I'm positive...Now do you want to drop your pants and get in my bed so I can prove it to you?"
"Not really. To be honest, I'm not in the mood. I guess I was just testing you to see what you'd say."
"Did my reaction surprise you?"
"A bit." Alex confessed.
"Alex, if you just had a little faith, you'd know that it's men, not God, that put taboos on nature. It's like Father Cliff said to me, 'We're living in a time where man made God, not the other way around!' I imagine half the guys you knew at the suicide meetings were there because of some of the things they'd heard people like Jerry Falwell say."
Jeff was sounding more and more like a minister. Had Father Cliff's doctrines rubbed off that much on Jeff in such a short time? Alex suddenly felt guilty that he had doubted Jeff's faith or intentions. The kid was serious and meant what he said. Alex began to wonder who the older brother was now...Jeff or him?
Maybe Jeff was right. Maybe Alex COULD help some guys like himself. The crisis clinic Father Cliff had spoken to Alex about...maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Kyle and Ryan had been in the same dilemma as Alex and they were all for it now...and then, too, even though it would be under the auspices of St. Genesius', it wouldn't necessarily have to have a religious sanction...just guys helping guys OR girls for that matter. They wouldn't discriminate genders. That should be left up to the right-wing radicals.
Jeff, without hardly saying a word, had won Alex over and opened his eyes. Alex felt hope springing up inside himself. His kid brother was right. Maybe Alex DID have a purpose or reason in life and had closed his eyes to it. He was getting extremely excited and wanted to tell Ted what he was thinking and try to influence him with some of Alex's newly found enthusiasm.
He kept trying to think of a name for the center. If he were religious, it would be fitting to call it, `Heaven on Earth'...but Alex still wasn't ready to go that far. It was only fair to include Ryan and Kyle in on the planning...along with Ted of course.
Several days later Alex, Ted, Walter, Ryan, and Kyle watched Father Cliff baptize Jeff. Alex stood there watching, fighting back tears filling up his eyes. In spite of all his negativity, Alex was proud of his little brother. He only wished his mom had been there to see the service. Who knows, maybe she WAS there?
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"I'll face the unknown,
I'll build a world of my own..."
"By Myself"
from "Bandwagon"
Dietz and Schwartz
copyright 1931.
Cliff's long days and nights without Roger grew shorter as he became more wrapped up in his work at church. Wherever Roger was, Cliff had the comfort of feeling Roger missed him as much as he missed Roger. Roger had gone about his life without being with Cliff physically and Cliff must do the same until Roger returned and they were united again, as one.
Whether it was the new drugs the FDA had approved or the love he was receiving from Troy, Jay looked wonderful. His latest counts and blood profile were normal. Cliff prayed to God that maybe Jay had been cured. That goddamned plague couldn't go on forever as it began getting worse and taking more lives. The cure was inevitable. Sometime, in some lab, like the piece of molded bread accidentally created penicillin, some doctor or lab technician would stumble across the key to the cure and they would all stand back thinking how stupid he'd been when what he had been searching for had been right in front of his eyes the whole time.
Rob and Timmy had been acting a bit strange around Cliff as if they wanted to say something to him, but were afraid to approach him. Cliff decided to make it easier by approaching them.
"Is something troubling, you guys?" Cliff asked Rob.
At first both of them hemmed and hawed avoiding to give Cliff a direct answer, but the more Cliff pushed the envelope, the weaker their resistance became until they finally broke down and revealed what they were trying to keep from him.
"Cliff, would you think of us as being ungrateful to you and Roger if Timmy and I were to leave and go to New York?" Rob asked, mostly staring at the floor while talking to Cliff.
"Good Lord, no! Whatever it takes to make you guys happy, you know I'm all for it, and so is Roger." Cliff said, trying to console their obvious anxiety.
"It's just that this is the best time in New York to audition for the new shows...and if, by some act of God, I got cast in one, I could pay the bills while Timmy found something." Rob said.
"Rob, you know that the last thing you and Timmy ever have to worry about is money. Let me pay your bills until you both can get on your feet financially."
"We couldn't let you do that," Timmy interjected.
"Wait a minute, you both know if Roger were here, he'd insist on it and when he returns and finds out I didn't do the same as he would...well, I'd have a lot to answer to. I want you to go. I want BOTH of you to go. You're wasting your time and talent hanging around here...and besides, I don't know any Broadway stars yet. I need you to fill that vacancy in my life. I would like to sit back and watch you on Letterman or Regis and Kelly or Rosie and say, 'I knew you when'." That's my dream...and Roger's too. Wherever he is, wouldn't you like to see the look on his face when he tunes into 'Rosie' and hears you singing a new Sondheim ballad? Roger will be popping the buttons off his shirt, beaming with pride."
"We both know how much you miss him because we miss him, too." Rob said. "We thought you wouldn't mind if we left you to try our luck on the Great White Way, but we didn't tell you so you could support us." Timmy said.
"I KNOW that," Cliff said, "and that's just exactly why I want to do it. How soon would you like to leave?"
"We were thinking about the first of the month. Is that OK?"
"Of course, you numbskulls, but don't think you're going to go away without Jay planning a big party and send-off for you. He'll be delighted in creating a menu of new dishes for the occasion."
"You know that we both love you and Roger..."
"Now, let's not get maudlin, not just yet...There'll be plenty of time for tears when you do leave, but in the meantime, you two go ahead and make your plans. Go down to the newsstand and get a copy of the Times and look in the want ads for apartments. Look for something in the mid-eighties on both the east and west sides of Manhattan. I've been told that's the safest and best place to live...and DON'T worry about the cost...OK?"
"OK!" The two of them left, smiling with relief.
Cliff wouldn't let Rob or Timmy know it, but the idea of having two more people walk out of his life had left him even more depressed. If he were able to get the start of the AIDS hospital to materialize, Cliff wouldn't be in danger of losing Jay and/or Troy. That would keep the two of them close to him as long as they chose. Cliff didn't want to seem selfish, but he didn't want to be alone either. He wanted to invite Walter out to dinner, but didn't want any of the guys to get the wrong idea. It was just friendship between the two of them, nothing more. If Walter had an empty space in his life left by Bruce, then he might be as willing as Cliff to have a purely platonic affair. Ryan and Kyle had talked favorably about the Crisis Center. Cliff only wish that Alex would get involved too because he had certain qualities about him...his looks, his speech, his mannerisms could be very beneficial in helping young people like himself. Cliff told Walter to contact an architect and contractor so that they could move fast on constructing the center as it was badly needed. The next and biggest project would begin work on the AIDS hospital. Cliff wasn't sure how he was going to manage this and tend to his church flock at the same time. Damn! If only Roger were here to help him!
Cliff was excited for Rob as well as Timmy. He knew that if either of them got their big break, they'd go to the top. Cliff loved show music and not simply because he was gay. It was a true American art form. He treasured Roger's and his collection of original cast recordings. They were captured moments of history...Merman, Martin, Streisand, Peters. One of Roger and Cliff's particular favorites was not that well known, Michael Bennett's 'Ballroom'. The finale that Dorothy Loudon sang, to them, was like a gay anthem. Even though it was written for a woman, having an affair with a married man, to sing, the lyrics rang truer for a gay lifestyle. The song was called 'Fifty Percent' and was written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman who had written so many Streisand songs.
In the evening when day was done, Cliff would go into the den and make a drink for Roger and himself while he put the CD on. They would listen intensely until "that" song started and Roger would take Cliff's hand and hold it and let the lyrics talk for him. Cliff remembered the final part went:
"I don't share his name.
I don't wear his ring.
I have no piece of paper saying he's mine.
But, he says he loves me and I believe it's true.
Doesn't that make someone belong to you?
So, I don't share his name.
So, I don't wear his ring.
So, I don't have a piece of paper saying he's mine.
So, we don't have the memories!
I've got enough memories!
I've washed enough mornings!
I've dried enough evenings!
I've had enough birthdays to know what I want!
Life is anyone's guess!
It's a constant surprise.
You don't plan to fall in love,
But when you fall, you fall.
I'd rather have fifty percent of him
Or any percent of him,
Than all of anybody else at all."
That song just about said it all. It was Roger's way of telling Cliff what Roger had with him, but Cliff already knew what they had together.
Friday, as Cliff was leaving for work, a man from Federal Express met him in the driveway and handed him a small package which he promptly signed for. There was no return address. and of course, no postmark. It was addressed to Cliff. Thinking it was nothing more than some useless item Jay was constantly ordering from Home Shoppers Club, Cliff almost pitched it in the back seat of his car to open later, but in spite of almost being late, his curiosity got the best of him and he opened it. It looked like something from the DVD club, but there was no invoice...just two DVD's, 'Seven Years in Tibet' with Brad Pitt, another one directed by Martin Scorcese, "Kundun", and a hard back book, "The Art of Happiness" by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. The mixture of movies and book puzzled Cliff for a second because usually DVD clubs don't stock books and vice versa. Then like the clash of a gong, it hit Cliff. He suddenly knew who had sent them and from where. There was no letter, no note, just these audio-visual hints that Roger had sent him.
Cliff thanked God that Roger, at last, had sent him a message. Cliff knew Roger was well and safe and the book revealed a clue about his search. This package made Cliff so emotional he almost looked around for the white dove that appears at the end of every 'Touched By An Angel' segment. Not only was he touched, Cliff was excited as he ran back into the house and phoned Ben, Cliff's new secretary at church, and told him he wouldn't be in until around noon. Even though Roger hadn't sent a personal letter, the idea gave Cliff a thrill that the three objects were bought by him and had been in his hands. Cliff went to the kitchen and warmed a couple of bagels and spread them with cream cheese, made himself a cup of hot chocolate and went into the den, locking the door behind him. This was a private moment for Cliff, personally... the first of its kind in many weeks. He turned on the TV/DVD and inserted the Brad Pitt movie first. Roger and Cliff had seen it together but this time the plot and the scenery had more meaning. He was seeing sky and mountains that Roger was looking at this very moment. Cliff cried the first time he saw it in a theater and cried even more this time. He hadn't seen 'Kundun' before but it was an amazing film about the choosing of a new High Lama. Afterward, Cliff thumbnailed the book, finding many passages that interested him and decided to read it completely tonight. He thought maybe Roger had highlighted or underlined excerpts for Cliff to dwell on. Maybe there was a hidden meaning in the book and Roger wanted him to find it like a puzzle. Cliff didn't have to read that far into the book to find his answer.
The answer was in the first paragraph of the first chapter. It was a quote from a speech the Dalai Lama had given to an audience in Arizona. "I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is toward happiness..."
Cliff hoped that with these words Roger had found the end of his quest. He'd traveled thousands of miles, been gone for weeks, talking with only God knows how many philosophers, teachers, scholars, ministers, priests, and rabbis, and the greatest answer of all was in the book he sent home to his lover.
Cliff picked up a pad and pen off his desk and began making notes for the next Sunday's sermon...'When one examines the doctrines of different religions, whether their god be Jehovah, Buddha, Allah, etc., no one has ever been able to establish if the one Supreme Being is the same. We put our trust and faith in some higher power and that is the basis for all beliefs. The Christians refer to their creator as 'God'. They don't call him by his name. Man, in turn, creates his own religion by his interpretation of his beliefs. In philosophy, Cliff learned that there were certain numbers that the King James Version of the Bible selected to use...three, seven, twelve, and forty. These numbers are used over and over again in both the New and Old Testaments to signify...a few (three), some (seven), the correct amount (twelve) and many (forty). The extreme fundamentalists take these numbers at face value while others, more unorthodox believe them to be a figure of speech,... Cliff kept dwelling on the Dalai Lama's words...'our purpose in life is to seek happiness'. If everyone could take that as his credo, that could be the end of wars, lawlessness, bigotry, hatred, and discrimination. It wouldn't matter if a person were black, Muslim, or gay...then so what? For everything...a season. For everyman...a reason. Even Charles Schultz spent fifty years of his life letting Charlie Brown tell the world what happiness is'.
When Cliff finished the book and completed writing his outline later that night, he thanked God for what he had become and for the family God had surrounded him with. He thought about each of Roger's and his 'Briarwood Boys'. Outside of their all being gay, they were so very different. Each of them had come to Cliff with a need and each of them had brought him a wider spectrum of life. Cliff also thought about Kenny Marsden and the confined world Kitty reared him in. Cliff looked on Kenny as his biggest failure since he had arrived at St. Genesius. If only Kenny had lived. The happiness he'd brought to the world was known by so few people and went unappreciated by most. As the character, Joe, sang in 'Damn Yankees', 'A man doesn't know what he has until he loses it'. Cliff knew, though. He didn't have to lose Roger to know what he had. Most people, as Kitty Marsden, didn't or don't know.
Cliff's thoughts were interrupted when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Cliff?"
"Yes."
"This is Walter."
"Oh, hi, I'm so glad you called."
"I sorry to disturb you, but I was sitting here deep in thought about everything and nothing in particular."
"Same here." Cliff said.
"I was wondering if it would be too presumptuous to ask you to go out to dinner with me and then maybe, take in a show one night?"
"I'd love it." Cliff replied.
"Don't get the wrong idea. It's not a date or anything like that, I just wanted a friend to talk with."
"Why did you have to spoil it by saying it wasn't a date?" Cliff joked. "Do you think that people our age don't go out on dates?"
"Well, not me...and I certainly wouldn't ask a 'married' man to go out with me."
"Why not? Married men have to eat too."
"God, I'm so glad you're taking this lightly. I was so worried about even calling you."
"Walter, Roger and I have always had an understanding of trust between us. So please don't worry or get nervous...How's the new acolyte doing?"
"He's a changed kid. He had become so religious, he won't let any of us sit down to a meal any more unless we give thanks."
"What's the verse...train a child in the way..."
"I know that one. I'm afraid I wasn't training him in the way he's become."
"Maybe not, but he's always been a good kid. I knew that the day he accompanied me to Evening Vespers. You've done a good job with both your kids."
"Thanks, I only hope I do as well with my two adopted ones."
"They're gonna be fine...Now, when and where would you like to go out to eat?"
"How about McCray's, Saturday night and I'll get my secretary to get us a couple of tickets to the road company of 'The Full Monty'?"
"Oh ho! I see you're trying to get me horny." Cliff kidded. "Are you trying to corrupt me or are you plying your wiles on me with dastardly obscene ulterior motives?"
"If only you were single," he joked. "but since you're not, I'll save them for some other victim, some other time."
"Lucky him." Cliff joked.
"OK, I'll call you later in the week to confirm everything."
"I'll expect your call."
"Goodnight...and thanks."
"Goodnight, Walter...and thank you."
Cliff felt very comfortable whenever he talked with Walter. Somewhere deep inside, even though Cliff would never admit it to anyone, if there were no Roger in his life, there would definitely be a Walter. Cliff went outside to stroll around the pool. The echoes of laughter from earlier in the day were still present and loud. The boys got along so well together. Cliff was reminded of what Roger had said one day that he would like to take this estate and build a high wall, surrounded by a moat, all the way around it...just to keep the good inside and keep the bad out. One of the things Roger forgot about was the telephone, the most troublesome invention of all time. Cliff heard HIS ringing from his study where he had left the door open. He was sure one of the guys inside would answer, but on the eight ring, Cliff realized it must be his private line that was ringing. Very few people had the number outside the 'boys' and Walter had called only a few minutes ago...unless he had forgotten to say something. Cliff picked up his pace to a slight jog to see who was calling at this hour. It usually meant trouble.
On the eleventh persistent ring, Cliff answered it.
"Hello?"
(total silence)
"Hello?" he said again.
"Cliff, if that you?" said a voice over a very weak phone connection.
"Yes."
"I can barely hear you." said the voice. This time Cliff heard well enough to recognize the caller.
"ROGER!!!"
"Hi, sweetheart," he replied.
"Is everything all right? Where are you?"
"I just called to say three words to you," he said.
"I know, and I love you, too."
"I love you, but those weren't the three words." he replied.
"Then, tell me!" Cliff almost screamed.
"I'm coming home."
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(To be continued in "Briarwood"---BOOK THREE-"Briarwood Lost"-chapter-thirty)
Copyright Ritchris, 2005.