All rights reserved. Copyright held by the author. This is a work of fiction containing explicit sex and graphic language. If you are offended by such, underage, or live in a state or territory where literature of this nature is unlawful, please exit now and read no farther....R.C.
"HALF PAST SUNSET, AN HOUR BEFORE DAWN"
by
Ritch Christopher
Chapter Six
"There is no way under God's sun that I'm gonna do it!" Del said, firmly.
"Aw, come on, spoil sport! Where's your sense of adventure?" I kidded him.
"My forefathers must've lost it in on their way over from the Old Country." he remarked.
"You wouldn't do it just for me?" I said, using baby talk. "Pretty please...with lots of sugary cum on it?"
"I wouldn't do it if you gave me Brad Pitt, naked, covered in whipped cream and strawberries, for the whole night!"
"I wouldn't let you have Brad Pitt for any reason...Shit, Del, it'll just be one night for five hours at the most. No one in New York knows you. What do you have to lose?", I insisted.
"Just my pride, my dignity, my self-respect...how's that for starters?" he said.
"You won't believe it, but I think you'd look beautiful in drag."
"I said 'NO', and that's final!!" he announced.
"But it's the Tinker Bell Ball! It's only one night a year. It's a lotta fun. Charlene thinks she's gonna be crowned Miss Never Never Land."
"That's where I would have to be to dress up...Never Never Land. What if one of my clients saw me?"
"Then he'd have a lot of explaining to do to you...because if one of your clients was there, he'd be dressed in drag, too."
"Bullshit."
"All right, will you do me one little favor?"
"I'm not promising anything."
"Sit down and let me make your face up...put on a wig and take one look at yourself in the mirror...No one's gonna see you except me...And I swear to you, on my love, that I won't tell a soul!...Whaddya say?"
"Maybe, but I'd have to have a couple of stiff drinks first!"
"OK, you go to the bar and have yourself a couple of doubles while I go back to my apartment and get my bag of tricks." I said.
"You seem to have a lot of surprises in that bag of tricks. apparently."
"Huh uhn!...Don't ask...don't tell."
"I must be insane...You ask the goddamnedest things of me."
"Only because I do the goddamnedest things to you in bed."
"Oh, shut up and go get your wizardry."
"Thanks," I said, giving him a quick goodbye kiss. "I'll be back in a flash...Oh, yeah...I love you."
I rushed out the door, down the elevator, and was out on the street in a matter of seconds. I was laughing to myself because I didn't believe I'd ever get him to go that far. I decided to jog the three blocks back to my place instead of taking a cab. I ran down 85th Street heading for West End Avenue. As I turned the corner quickly to go toward 83rd, I ran squarely into a guy and knocked him down on the sidewalk. I was more embarrassed than hurt as I immediately began to administer to my fallen prey. I took one look at his face and recognized him. He was the "Man Who Wears The Star", my Texaco guy, only he wasn't wearing his uniform.
"My God, I'm sorry!" I said to him, helping him to his feet. "Are you all right?"
"Lucky for me you weren't driving your car." he said, smiling while dusting the seat of his trousers .
It must have been a involuntary reflexible response because I began helping him dusting the front of his pants. I took a good swipe across his crotch before I caught myself. Now I was really embarrassed.
"Oh...I'm sorry for that too." I said, avoiding his eyes.
"That's all right! May I be so bold as to say, that felt much better than being knocked down."
Was he trying to hit on me? I knew that I was attracted to him when he had serviced my car. I didn't get the usual gay "eye-lock" from him that day. I had assumed he was straight although my hopes were high that he wasn't. I didn't know his name, we hadn't introduced ourselves at the Texaco station.
"If you're hurt or your clothes need dry-cleaning or anything. I'll be happy to pay for any damage."
"I don't think there's any harm done." he said, trying to minimize the situation.
"OK, but just in case you find out later that you have a stiff neck or anything, I want to give you my name and phone number...Oh, by the way, I don't believe we've met officially...I'm Chris."
"Hi, Chris...I'm Brian...Nice to meet you." He said, shaking my hand. "I've been expecting you to drop by for that tune-up we talked about."
"I've been meaning to. I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to it." I always carried a ballpoint pen in my shirt breast pocket. I looked in my wallet for a card or something to write on.
"You...uh...want my phone number too?" he asked.
"I don't think I'll need it...but maybe...YES!...Please give yours to me...just in case I want to call you for an appointment for that auto work."
"In that case, I'll give you the number at the service station, in addition to my home phone. You might get stuck in the suburbs some night and need to call someone to help you...Call me at home...if you need me."
We exchanged phone numbers. My focus was on his good looks and his well-developed body. Jesus! I was attracted to him...in broad daylight...Damn! What it would be like to spend an evening with him...only until 4:00 AM like in old times. Old times??? I had just left the most important man in my life in his apartment...the one I had sworn fidelity to...and now...fifteen minutes and two blocks later, I'm standing on the corner wanting to make a date with a guy I'd only seen twice in my life. Being a creature of habit, I took the card containing his phone number and placed it in the secret compartment of my billfold. Save it for a rainy night??? Then I caught myself before I misbehaved and decided to end Brian's and my encounter before it began.
"Oh, uh, Brian...if you should call and I'm not there...just leave word with my wife where I can reach you."
Brian squinted his eyes slightly not knowing whether or not I was joking or lying. So he wanted to finalize his suspicion with an answer."
"You're married?" he asked.
"Might as well be," I lied. "I've been living with the same girl for almost three years." God! How I hated saying that!!!
"Oh, well," he said disappointed, "Bring her with you to the station some time."
"I will...and I AM sorry for running into you the way I did.."
"Don't mention it. It was nothing." He said, leaving, not wanting to continue our conversation.
I couldn't believe what I had just done. Who knows? Maybe I had actually changed. Maybe Del meant as much to me as I hoped he did. I hadn't bothered to look at my clothes after my accident with Brian, but I had torn a hole in the knee of the sweats I was wearing. Shit! My favorite pair, too! I ran into my apartment long enough to change pants and grab my make-up box and a huge zip-up bag of wigs...all sizes, styles, and colors. The wigs were practically brand new. The only reason I had them was that Charlene had left them one afternoon as she was going to Fifth Avenue to buy all new ones.
When I returned to Del's, he had had his stiff drink...and then some. He wasn't drunk, but if I had decided to paint a face on his glans he would've laughed. I thought he would surely object when I took the liberty of reshaping his eyebrows with arches. Hell, they looked better that way! For days I had stared at his face trying to find a flaw...but to no avail. He was perfect and that's all there was to it! I sampled several shades of blush and eyeshadow on the inside of my arm before I applied the "right one" to his face. I dabbed, rubbed, brushed every way I could to create a masterpiece. Slowly, I was transforming him into one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. Since he was complexion was light, I chose a blonde wig, about the same shade as his real hair. I centered it on his head and fluffed up the edges and couldn't believe what or who I was looking at. He was gorgeous. I didn't know if Charlene should see Del made up like this, she would be in therapy for a month for withdrawal. Before I took Del to his bathroom to see what I had done to him. I grabbed a blue silk dressing robe of his and asked him to put it one. It was a facsimile of an evening gown. For the piece d'resistance, I glued false eyelashes on him. Now he looked like the Queen of the Stardust Ballroom..only younger and better...much better!
I took him by the hand to lead him into the bathroom just as the doorbell rang.
"Stay here, I'll get it." I told him.
I opened the door and couldn't believe what I was looking at. The man standing there was the spitting image of Del!
"Is Del here?" he asked.
From across the room, Del replied, "Eric?...Is that you?"
"Del?", the stranger asked as he pushed back the door to get a better look from the direction he'd heard the voice. "JESUS CHRIST!!!...DEL!!!???"
"Eric! My God! What are you doing in New York?
"I could ask you the same thing, bro." Eric remarked.
I knew there were no cracks in the floor of Del's luxurious pad, but I looked for one anyway...something I could crawl in or hide under.
"I suppose you would like an explanation..." Del said to his brother.
"Well...er...no, not really, if that's the style New York is wearing this year, I guess I should say you look damned good." Eric said smiling.
"Do I get a hug or not?" Del said, opening his arms to embrace Eric.
"Is your make-up waterproof? This is a brand new suit I'm wearing...and well...you know..." Eric said.
"Shut up and get over here." Del ordered.
Eric went to Del and gave him a tremendous brotherly hug.
"God, it's good to see you." Del said to him.
"You, too. I've missed you." Eric replied.
"I don't understand why you're here. Is everything all right at home?...Mom?...Pop?...Bjorn and his family?"
"Everyone's fine...I noticed you didn't ask me about Francine."
"Sorry, bro," Del said, "How is she?"
"Everyone tells me she's great...especially everyone who's sleeping with her."
"Oh, my God."
"No, no, no...it's all right. She claims it's for the good of the company, and who am I to disagree? She and I don't sleep together anymore, so as long as we're married, she might as well use her pussy to full advantage. You and I can benefit from her bedroom indiscretions. It's making us, and our stockholders, very rich men."
"You don't sound like you're very upset about her."
"I'm not. I'm only upset when I'm with her."
"Have you two talked of divorce?"
"For what...to kill the fatted cow?"
"My God, Eric, we're standing here talking like we were the only ones in the room. I want you to meet my...my..uh..best friend, Chris...Chris, this is my "almost" twin brother, Eric."
I shook his hand and my gaze went deeply into his eyes. I couldn't believe it wasn't Del I was meeting.
"I guess I should be the one to explain Del's masquerade since it was I who made him up to look that way. We're invited to a...a..costume party." I lied.
"What's the matter? Did the costume shop run out of Winnie the Pooh's?" Eric asked. "Del, if I do say so myself, you make a beautiful woman. I used to wonder what it would be like to have a sister...and now I know."
"Chris, would you get some make-up remover or something and get this shit off me?"
"Sure," I said, reaching for a can of Albolene."
"Albolene..."Eric remarked. "That's what my wife, Francine, used to use for a lubricant when we had sex...many moons ago."
"Oh?" I sloughed off casually.
"May I ask if you two are MORE than best friends?" Eric asked.
"Why do you ask?" Del said.
"Oh, come off it, Del. You and I sucked each other's dicks enough while we were growing up, for me not to know you moved to New York so that you could be gay...the way you always were and wanted to be. You were afraid to let me or Mom and Pop know, but who did you think you were kidding? We ALL knew...Just because I fucked you and went straight, didn't mean that you'd go straight, too."
"Did Bjorn know about me. too?" Del asked.
"He's your brother, isn't he? Brothers know everything there is to know about one another."
"Why didn't any of you ever "let on" that you knew about me?"
"Why should we? You chose the way you wanted to live and so did the rest of the family. I only wish that I had learned to like cock more than pussy and I'd be happier today."
"You weren't meant to be gay." Del told him. "Sure we might have played around while we were kids but that was just prepubescent adolescence you were going through...and you outgrew it."
"Did I?" Eric said, while Del and I stopped and stared at him."Just kidding, guys. I still prefer my holes in the front...as I remember...it's been so long ago."
"Did you and Francine really stop having sex?" Del asked him.
"Yep, I'm afraid if I tried to enter her vagina now, I'd find a barbed wire fence blocking me."
"Are you seeing anyone? What do you do when you want to get off?"
"It's not very often that I get an urge but I still keep company with Rosy Palms. I probably have the most extensive porno movie collection in Wisconsin."
"Sorry to hear that, bro."
"Well, at least if Rosy wants to divorce me, I won't have to worry about paying her alimony...Now, what about you two? Are you lovers or what?"
"Let's say we have an arrangement...involving fidelity."
"Hmmm. You mean there's no love between you?"
"Oh, there's love all right. We're just going through a period of adjustment to see if it will work out." Del said.
"What do you do, Chris? Do you work on Wall Street, too?"
"No, I, uh, work in the New York City Department of Education." I said. dodging his bullets.
"You're a schoolteacher, aren't you?"
"...Yes, sixth grade...public school."
"Good, at least one of you has the sense to hold down a steady job."
I didn't know if he meant it or was he ridiculing me for being on a lower level than his brother.
"You still haven't told me why you're in New York...unannounced."
"I checked my calendar, had the secretary rearrange my schedule and my appointments, and decided to take off two weeks and come visit my brother... or my sister, depending on how he, or she is, dressed," he said, chuckling.
"Oh, that...Chris, do me a favor and show Eric around the apartment while I go wash my face and get some clothes on."
"Sure thing."
Del went into the bathroom and closed the door, leaving me alone with his clone.
"You can skip the tour if you want to and fix me a drink, please." Eric said.
"Sure, what's your pleasure?"
"Brandy?"
"Fine...any particular year?" I offered.
"Jesus, he has vintage liquor in categories?"
"Doesn't everybody?" I attempted a joke.
"Do you live here with Del and share expenses?"
"Hell, no!...Remember I'm a schoolteacher. On my salary I might be able to rent a dresser drawer."
"That's the way Del and I grew up, in case he's never told you. All this newfangled wealth is alien to him. We lived on a farm where we froze our asses off most of the year. We had little heat, except to go bed early and wrap yourself in a dozen quilts."
"Couvoissier be OK?"
"Yeah, fine."
I poured a snifter of brandy and handed it to him while I poured myself a glass of straight tomato juice over ice.
"This your first time to New York?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"Chris, this is my first time anywhere."
"Whaddya mean?"
"I was raised on the farm in Wisconsin. I was the son that was chosen to help my dad with all the dairy work and that was 52 weeks a year. A cow doesn't take a vacation from giving milk. She gets pregnant almost before she gives birth to her last calf. She has a continuous cycle of giving birth and producing milk...which sorta kept me busy. My life was attached to her cycle. I used to get up at 3:30 every morning to begin milking. Then I'd have breakfast and walk two miles in the snow to get to school...hurry home when school was out and make sure there was plenty of feed and fodder in the cattle stalls. By that time it was dark, so I did whatever homework I could, ate supper and went to bed to get ready to do the same thing the next day. I kept this up all the way through high school...never had a date, went to a party, a movie, or anyhing. My pop had a TV but Del, Bjorn, and I never got to watch it. We only heard the sound of it coming from the living room after we had gone to bed." He paused long enough to sip his brandy. "My God, what are all those buttons and doodads?"
"Those go with Del's automated apartment." I said. "I have no idea what half of them do. Del hired some contractor and interior designer to install all these gadgets although Del had no idea that it would be this extreme. There are remote controls that lift walls, move furniture, create lighting schemes, play music, even make rain."
"Jesus! And I thought I was living on the high side! When Del left to come to New York, he coaxed me into taking his place as head of the association's enterprises. That's when I moved out of the farm and into the fanciest place I'd ever seen...but it doesn't compare to this labyrinth."
"What does?" I joked.
Without a warning, Eric turned and spoke to me directly.
"Chris, do you love my brother?"
"Well...yes." I was almost afraid how to answer him.
"Does he love you?"
"I think so." I replied, remembering Del's and my 'arrangement'.
"Let me say to you that I love him, too. We grew up as one person. That's why I'm telling you NOT to hurt him."
I was taken back by Eric's warning. I became paranoid as if he had run a check on my private life and knew about all my one night stands. But I remained in check. There was no way he could possibly know anything about me. We had just met. Still...the way he looked at me set me on guard.
"Eric, Del knows I'm not the perfect lover. That's why we don't live together. What we have is a 'trial' relationship...a time period we set between us to gain each other's trust. I know that I'm not in Del's league. Hell, with his looks, connections, and money...he has no reason to settle with a guy like myself. I suppose I have to learn first if I can trust myself before I concentrate on trusting him."
"I appreciate your candor and honesty." Eric said. "Del disapproved when I married Francine. I should've listened to my brother and not my dick. Now that its my turn, I guess I want him to choose more wisely than I did and not have to go through the pangs of heartbreaks and disappointments."
Jesus, had he seen me talking with Brian on the street corner?
"What kind of party were you two going to?"
"Aw, it was just an annual affair at one of the local gay bars. All the guys dress in drag for one night. Del had never been there and to be honest, he had refused to go with me. I sorta made a bet with him that I could make him up and he'd like the way he looked so much, he'd change his mind and go. Believe me, this is the first time either of us has tried anything like this."
Goddammit! Everything Eric said to me put me on the defensive...a place I've seldom been in my life. I didn't feel as if I were talking to Eric, so much as I was constantly apologizing to him. I'd learned from my many experiences that a person who puts you on the defense is one who is hiding something by coming on so strong with an offense. I had to strategize my conversation with him and try to turn the tide.
"I'm curious, Eric, have you ever dressed in drag?"
"Good God, no!...In Wisconsin? You've gotta be kidding."
"I don't mean recently, but maybe when you and Del were boys...on the farm...did you ever dress each other up in your mother's clothes?...Most guys do." Just saying that made me feel better.
"Hell, no. We knew better than to do something that crazy!" I didn't know how long it would take Del to "clean up" but I wanted to get a few more jabs at Eric, before Del returned.
"Del told me how close the two of you were while growing up." I lied...well, not really...I just sorta stretched the truth a little.
"Yeah, I was only nine months older and we were in the same grades at school. Everyone thought we were twins."
"I know, he told me." I said, "He said the two of you were inseparable, day and night."
"Not really. Del didn't help much with the chores that I did with the cows...but, yes, we were together all the rest of the time. Bjorn was older and there were no other kids for miles around, so all Del and I had to play with were each other."
I went in for the kill.
"Now, don't go telling secrets. He hinted at how the two of you played around in bed every night."
"What?..He told you that?"
"Just bits and pieces...I filled in all the cracks with my imagination...I had a cousin who taught me about sex and what two men could do together when a girl wasn't handy."
"Hell, all boys experiment, you now that!" He said, finishing the last of his brandy.
"Can I get you another?" I asked, pointing to his snifter.
"Yes, please...I wonder what's keeping Del so long. What the fuck did you use, waterproof make-up?"
"Ha!...Come to think of it, I believe it was. Jesus, I hope it wears off before he has to go back to Wall Street," I kidded. I poured a second snifter of brandy and handed it to him.
"Yeah, a stunt like that could cost clients and megabucks!!"
"Relax, Eric, cold cream will take it all off." I said to him. "Pardon my being blunt, but I have the feeling you don't like me or am I imagining things?"
"That's ridiculous! Of course I like you. You're sleeping with my brother, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am...and maybe that's why I get the feeling that you don't like me. You just don't seem to understand that Del can be gay and be satisfied with himself, do you?"
"I've never criticized him in the past because we had different sexual preferences, so why should I start now?"
"Good question!" I said. "Why SHOULD you start now?"
"I'm not."
"You've made it clear that you don't really like me."
"Del, I don't know you that well, but for God's sake, quit being so paranoid."
"I'm sorry, but somehow talking with you brings the paranoia out in me."
Del opened the bathroom door and came out spiffy and clean, wearing a maroon gabardine robe.
"Well, I hope the two men in my life know got to know each other better!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, bro, you've got yourself quite a guy! He's very impressive!"
I felt an urge to throw up but I kept my cool and didn't indicate that Eric's and my conversation had been most edgy. I thought if Eric could lie, I'd better follow suit.
"The longer I talked with your brother, I felt more like I was talking with you, Del. I almost took him into the bedroom to give him a blow job."
Eric choked and spewed brandy all over his suit and Del's carpet.
"Are you OK, Eric?" I asked, faking concern. God, I would've given a week's salary to have Charlene with me now. I chuckled to myself at the thought of her trying to handle a jealous brother.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Eric replied, covering his exasperated surprise at my remark.
"My God, you seem to have gotten to know each other too well. Maybe it's a good thing that I got back as soon as I did."
"Sorry, Eric, I was only joking." I added.
"Oh, it wasn't what YOU said, I...just swallowed the wrong way...a sip of the brandy must've gone down my wind pipe. I'm fine, believe me."
"Liar!" I thought, as I pretended to be genuinely concerned.
"Have you eaten yet?" Del asked.
"Just one of those air line frozen dinners." he replied.
"Shit, you shouldn't be drinking on a half empty stomach. Whaddya say the three of us hop in a cab and go get some dinner?"
"Aw, no," I said, "You two go on. I'm sure you have lots to talk about...things, perhaps, I shouldn't hear."
"Are you sure?" Del asked me.
"Yeah, I...uh have to write out a test I'm giving to my students tomorrow...on sibling attachments."
"You teach that in sixth grade?" Eric asked, surprise.
"No, but I'm gonna start, first thing Monday morning." I replied.
Del was beginning to catch on that his brother's and my conversation had not gone as well as we had reported.
"You'll be back later?" Del asked.
"Only if you want me to." I answered. "You might want to spend the evening with Eric on his first night in the big city."
"Hell, I don't know New York all that well. I was hoping you'd go with us and show both of us the sights." he invited.
"OK, you two go eat. I'll go home and do my schoolwork and meet you back here, say around nine. OK?"
"Super."
I got up to leave.
"Wait!" Del stopped me. "Don't I get a goodbye kiss or something."
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." I said crossing in front of the brother. "Excuse us, Eric."
I didn't just give Del a "goodbye" kiss. I plowed one on him...a long, passionate, "deep-throater". Even though my back was turned away from Eric, I could feel his emotions beaming at us...from surprise to disgust.
"How was that, baby?" I asked Del, ending the kiss.
"More than I expected." Del said, surprised.
As I passed Eric the second time, on the way to the front door. I stopped and kissed Eric on the cheek. "Goodbye, bro. See you soon."
Eric was still rubbing his cheek after I went out the door. I laughed all the way down in the elevator.
I did feel guilty over my behavior. I don't know why Eric and I seemed to bring the worst out in each other. It wasn't as if we were both vying for Del's love. There's a far cry between being a lover and being a brother...or was there? Surely to God, he had not renewed his childhood feelings from the times he and Del used to fool around. Eric admitted that he had been celibate for a long time by being incompatible with his wife...but did he fly over a thousand miles to reunite with his brother just to get his blue balls, red again? Since I'd never had a brother, I wasn't too well versed in the bond of "twins".
As I walked home for the second time, I felt my mood changing from humor to jealousy to anger. It was for the best that I didn't go back to Del's later in the evening. I didn't feel like being the Lavender-Line tour guide. Fuck them both! I still couldn't account for my onslaught of rage, but perhaps, if I spent a night alone, I would get over what was causing my dislike of the brother of the man I professed to love.
I also remembered I had nothing in the refrigerator at home for supper. I could either walk over to the grocery store on Amsterdam or take a cab down to The Dorky Duck for some fast food. I opted for the latter. The "Dork" as everyone referred to it didn't actually serve duck, their main sandwiches or entrees consisted of poultry which according to some, were pigeons killed in Central Park by twelve year old safari hunters using high-gauge slingshots. I never questioned the source of their dark meat I always ordered the day's coq-de-jour and ate it without giving it much thought what I was eating. I was positive I'd had much worse things in my mouth that were uncooked.
It was fairly cool outside, I had worn a pullover sweater and a raincoat. When I found a seat at the "Dork", I sat at a table across from a daring hunk dressed only in a tank top...no sleeves and no top coat. He was a fairly nice looking dude, around 25 years old, with a patch of dark brown hair trying to escape from the neckband of his skivvy. He saw me and asked, "You alone?" I nodded "Yes", to which he replied, "Wanna join me". I said to my self, "What the fuck!" and to the hunk I said, "Sure, why not?" Hell, I'd already turned down Brian earlier in the evening. It was the bottom of the seventh. If I refused, that would be my second strike out, which only left me one at bat in the ninth before the evening's game was over.
I moved to his table and said, "Chris" and stuck out my hand.
"Max," he replied, taking my hand and shaking it. "You eat here often?" he asked.
"Only when I'm constipated and need a good case of the runs to clean my digestive track." I replied.
"God, what do you order? I eat here all the time and have never had any problem with the food."
"I was just kidding." I said, "I've had a sorta bad night and was trying to work it off by cracking a bad joke."
"You have a fight with your girlfriend?"
"Not really, my friend's brother from out of town." I said,
"You said 'friend'...not 'girlfriend'. Was that a signal you were giving me?"
"Only if you caught my drift." I said.
"I got it...the BOYfriend's brother..."
"Score one for you...Now it's my turn at bat."
"What do you like?...A curve or a fast ball?"
"Fast ball...I've always been partial to them."
"Me, too...No long term commitments for me, either." he said, putting the menu between the catsup and the napkin holder.
"Are you here for the food or the entertainment?" I asked. "I see you have no long sleeves or jacket in sight."
"I jogged down here. I just live around the corner from here...on 79th."
"Eighty-fifth," I replied, pointing uptown.
"How would you like to grab a bite and come to my apartment for dessert?"
Jesus, that was fast! His moves were faster than the ones I used on my victims. Before I gave him my answer, the waiter came and Max ordered some kind of chicken sandwich. I ordered a lettuce salad topped with strips of turkey and cheese and a diet coke.
"You didn't order cake or pie, does that mean you wanna take me up on my offer?" He pressed me for an answer.
I was only a few days into mine and Del's fidelity arrangement and this was the second time I was tempted in a few hours. I tossed my decision back and forth in my mind before replying, "Do you serve plum pudding at your place?"
"Sure, with a nice hot creamy hard sauce." he added.
"Good, that's my favorite. I haven't tasted that in some time."
"Let's eat and go?" was his response.
"Why don't we go and eat?" I added.
I paid my check first. While he was paying his, I noticed a miniature phone booth around the corner of the wall behind the cash register. My best best instinct urged me to call Del, but my better judgment told me to resist. I was in no mood for barhopping. I'd given all that up. Who the fuck was I kidding...myself?? Bullshit! I was going home with a kid I'd just met thirty minutes before. Did I honestly think I could change? I'd never admitted it before but I was a fucking addict...both figuratively and literally. Did I truthfully believe I could find ONE person to fill my constant need and desire for many tricks? I asked myself if I broke off Del's and my arrangement, would he be hurt? And if so, would I have to be on the lookout for Eric's vengeful wrath each time I turned a corner? I'd gotten myself into a fuckin' mess. This was one of the times I wished I weren't a tee-totaler...Fuck! I didn't even do drugs or anything. In the past when I'd gotten in some kind of jittery mood, my best therapy was four or five hours of hard fucking and sucking. Max didn't know it but he was in for a wild ride trying to calm this savage beast!!!
Since Max was shirtless and the wind was blowing a billowy 41 degrees. the two of us jogged, well, he jogged and I ran all the way to 79th between Columbus and Amsterdam. He lived in a renovated brown stone on the 2nd floor. His entire apartment consisted mostly of one large room which housed a kitchenette on one side. Leading off from the kitchen area was a tiny bathroom with no tub, just a shower stall. The opposite wall from the kitchen had a triple pane bay window overlooking 79th street...Wow!..a room with a view...but that was about all. Off to the right was a bedroom large enough for a three-quarter sized bed to fit in longways. You could only enter the bed from one side. The other was flush against the wall. He did have two closets which is a luxury in a New York apartment as small as Max's.
It was eight o'clock and his place was nice and warm. In these older apartments there was always some kind of agreement between the tenant and landlord that the steam heat would be turned off at midnight and not restarted until 6:00AM. So the best thing to do between the cold hours was to, 1. Buy an electric blanket, 2. Get a roommate you wanted to get to know very well, 3. Learn how to pick up tricks easy...or, 4. Freeze your ass off alone. I hoped that Max didn't expect me to stay until six, because true to form, I had to be gone by four. Oh well, if I fucked his brains out, maybe he'd get tired, fall asleep and not be aware of what time I left.
True to his word, Max did serve a dessert. He made a pot of coffee and cut a chocolate Entenmann's cake. He went to his CD player and clicked on the last disc he had played. I recognized it and laughed to myself for the music was "a piece of Mahler's" that Elaine Stritch had sung about in Sondheim's "Company". Strangely enough, the symphony was not only relaxing, it had a romantic nuance. Gays knew more about music than any other class of people in the world. He brought the cake and coffee over to join me on his couch.
"Where do you work?" I asked him, making light conversation.
"I..uh..work for the city."
"You're kidding...so do I." I said, without thinking. A schoolteacher never reveals his profession while being picked up to have gay sex. There was NO written rule, but there should be.
"You work down at City Hall with the mayor or something?" he asked. This gave me an opening to lie about myself."
"Yeah, I work for the Department of Education down there...you know, the planning and all that good stuff." I lied. "Whaddabout you?"
"Police Department. I'm a cop!"..Dear God! The way he said it I knew he wasn't lying. Jesus, this was a first for me! I just hoped it wasn't my first bust!
"You're putting me on, aren't you?" I asked.
"Nope, look behind that door there in the bedroom. You'll see my uniform I just finished pressing before I went out to eat...Here, I'll show you."
Max went behind his door and retrieved a policeman's uniform on a wire hanger, complete with tie and badge.
I was like some kid at "show and tell" because without thinking I blurted out, "Where's your hat and your gun?" I had no idea why I asked that...sheer stupidity or nerves being with my first cop. I'd tricked with every kind of man imagineable from delicate fags with shaved crotches to rough leather trade. Surely a cop would fit in somewhere in that spectrum! I'd seen those porno films made with actors and not real cops. There was always a scene involving handcuffs and a long black billy club. I hoped if he had one I would be the user and not the recipient. The thought of having a foot and a half of hard wood and leather shoved up my ass was frightening even to this old whore. I didn't remember chains and whips in the films I'd seen. Hell! This man in blue liked Mahler, not Sting and the Police. Maybe he was a pussycat in disguise. Well, at least I had a will leaving all my worldly possessions to Johnny and Charlene! I wondered what Del and Eric were doing. Were they still waiting for my call or had they decided to brave the mean old New York streets at night, all by themselves? It didn't matter now, the die was cast. In my mind I hummed the first eight bars of "Seems Like Old Times" and I felt good.
I heard Max flush the toilet and he came out of the bathroom.
"Might as well set the house rules. Are you a top or a bottom?", he asked.
"Top...all the way!" I replied.
"Me, too. This may present a problem."
"We don't have to fuck, you know." I said, hoping I had dampened any ideas of rough sex.
"True," he answered. "Are you into foreplay?"
"Sure, as long as it's slow and easy. You know, let's not spoil the mood that Mahler has created for us.
"You know Mahler?"
"I have all of his symphonies by the New York Philharmonic."
"You surprised me. Most guys I bring home can't even spell Mahler, much less recognize his music."
"I dig good music...mostly classical and Broadway shows."
"Have you seen "The Full Monty?", he asked.
"I saw it the first week it was open...great music and staging."
"Yeah, but the guys all had little dicks."
"They're supposed to. That's what makes it so funny."
"Yeah, I know, but for ninety bucks a seat they could have least worn cock extensions or something...like Markey Mark did in that movie. Jesus, what a schlong they put on him!"
"I wonder how he felt exposing himself like that?"
"Aw, he wasn't showing his real Johnson, it was like it had a disguise or a costume covering up the real thing."
"But even still, I bet the next time he had a date, he was a big disappointment."
"Hell, everybody puts too much emphasis on size anyway." I remarked.
"How about you? Is size important to you?"
"Not really, I've learned it doesn't take too much to please me." I said, just in case he lacked something in the big dick department.
Max fumbled with his belt, trousers button, and zipper and pushed his pants down to mid-thigh. He wasn't wearing underwear.
"Whaddya think of this one?" he said, reaching down and bouncing his penis up and down with his hand. My God, they must've made a cast mold of Max's dick for Mark Wahlberg to wear in "Boogie Nights". I was sitting on the couch with Max three feet away and his goddamned cock looked like it was over a foot long. No wonder he was a top! Thank God I had insisted I wasn't a bottom for if he tried to insert that thing in my ass, the tip would have pierced my navel. Jesus, he could've plowed a forty acre field with that thing. My mind was riffling through my archives of my memory bank and out of the thousands of cocks I'd seen or had, Max's was the biggest by far.
"Do you have to register that thing along with your revolver?" I asked him.
"It is a bit much, isn't it. When I was a teenager I had lots of dates...girls and guys who wanted to look at it or touch it. But none of 'em would ever let me fuck 'em." he said.
"And you couldn't figure out why?", I joked.
"No, I knew why. I guess that's why I learned to like going down on guys. I'd suck them and at the same time, I'd jerk myself off so that they could relax when they thought they wouldn't have to choke on my rocket. Hell, some of the guys I bring home, won't even show me theirs once they've seen mine. Too embarrassed I suppose...What about you? Did I turn you off or are you brave enough to show me what you have?"
"I'm not embarrassed. I know I can't match you inch for inch but I know how to do things with mine to make up the difference." I said, but not bragging. I suddenly felt sorry for him. Most guys would kill to be as well endowed as Max, but somehow, somewhere in his past, he'd been made to feel like a freak.
"You're all right. Do you know that?" he smiled.
"Oh, I've been told that a time or two."
"You trick a lot?"
"A lot," I replied.
"You're not scared to have a go at it?"
"Hell, no!" I said, accepting his challenge. God, when he threw down the gauntlet, he threw down the whole goddamned arm and chain mail attached to it!
"Couch or bed?"
"Bed." I said.
"Come on." he replied, taking my hand to lead me into his small bedroom which seemed even smaller since I had viewed his weapon.
We took turns undressing each other until we were both naked. I lifted my scrotum with my left hand, and with my right, I grabbed his cock and slid it between my closed muscular thighs, gripping it like a vise.
"Tight enough for you?"
"Yeah, plenty," he said. He took my lead and began to fuck my upper legs.
"Hey, man, that feels pretty good." he remarked.
While he continued his rocking motion, I took his face in my hands and planted my mouth on his. He responded by putting his arms around me and drawing me tightly against his body. My penis was standing straight up, lodged between our bellies and his movement caused me to get a friction rubbing against the six pack of his lower torso. I had done this before and always thought of it as "imitation fucking", but it usually got the job done. We completed the whole act and came simultaneously standing up. We never so much as sat on his bed, let alone lie in it.
When we were finished, all he could say was, "Thanks, man. I appreciate what you did for me. I..uh..hope you weren't too disappointed."
"Good God, NO!" I exclaimed. "I like to try different things."
"This was different, all right." he said, almost embarrassed.
"Look! You got your rocks off and so did I. Hell, we got 'em off together. So what's wrong with the way we did it? You're satisfied and so am I."
"Are you...really?"
"Really!"
"I don't suppose you'd ever want to see me again, would you."
"Shit, man! Get off it! Of course I would!" I said, without completing the rest of my sentence..."Just not two times in a row."
"Hey, look! Do you have a car?"
"Sure, why?"
"Well, it's just that...if...if you ever get a ticket or something that you wanna have fixed, just bring it to me. I can fix most anything...the other guys...well, we have this...'arrangement' between us."
Damn! There was that word to haunt me once again. I suppose any kind of arrangement I'd ever thought about having with Del was over now. I'd just proved to myself I couldn't be faithful. It wasn't my nature to be.
"Thanks, I'll remember that. I'll call you if I park on the wrong side of the street sometime."
"Call me before that...if you will. I don't date much. Between the job and the hours I work...I don't get to be with many guys, if you know what I mean."
I really felt sorry for this guy...a big, rugged, muscular specimen of New York's finest and he had a hard time dealing with his loneliness. "There but for the grace of God, go I.", flashed through my mind.
Max and I exchanged phone numbers before I left. I decided I WOULD call him again, but not too soon. I walked back down 79th Street toward Amsterdam and noticed a lighted Ma Bell cubicle. I looked at it for several seconds before I entered it and dialed.
"Hello?" said Del.
"Del, it's me, Chris."
"I know who it is. What the hell happened to you?" he said, sounding angry.
"You're not going to believe this, but I came straight home, shaved and showered and started writing my test...and somehow...I must've dropped off asleep. I just woke up a couple of minutes ago." I lied. "What time is it?"
"Eleven."
"Jesus Christ, man, I'm sorry...Did you and Eric go out?"
"No, after I gave up on you, I made Eric and me an omelet and he went to bed."
"Well, I guess I've got to find some way to make it up to you. He must be pissed. Maybe I can take the two of you to a show tomorrow night...something with lots of girls to give him something to fantasize about."
"We'll see. Something else I want you to do first," he said.
"What's that?"
"Give me your goddamned phone number!" I smiled, knowing that I had his number but I'd never given him mine. I let him chew me out a few more minutes to relieve his anger and frustration. Then I hung up the pay phone and decided to walk home instead of trying to flag a cab at the late hour. I relived the night's events in my mind and halfway home a thought occurred to me and I stopped to laugh out loud. I had chosen to spend an evening with Maximillian over Castor and Pollux. I laughed all the way home.
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(To be continued in Chapter Seven)