In bed that night, Joey didn't go into "spoon mode." He needed to talk to Bill. "I don't like Nate Sir. And who's Dmitri?"
Bill sighed. He ran his hand through Joey's hair and gave him a kiss. "You're entitled to know about Dmitri, for sure. I'd like to say I meant to tell you, but I didn't. That's on me. But I'll tell you a little tonight, because we both gotta work tomorrow, and we'll talk more."
He paused. "You're not the first boy from college who came to live with me Joey. Dmitri was a wrestler. A foreign exchange student, recruited. Half Greek, half Russian. His English wasn't great but he was learning. Beautiful boy, in a different way from you. Very curly hair. VERY hairy. Stubborn as a mule - hmm - maybe you two do have some things in common. He was a superb wrestler - probably could have been state champion, maybe gone to Olympic trials. Then they found that he was doing steroids, and God knows what else. As fast as you could say 'full nelson,' he was off the team, and without a scholarship. They probably should have expelled him, but apparently, your school code says that they have to catch you USING, or with it in your system for that."
"That's right Sir." Bill smiled. "Well, they never could prove that. But they DID find the stuff in his dorm room. That was enough for the suspension. Well, to cut to the chase, I was fooled. I thought he deserved a chance, and I gambled. " Another pause. "It was about four months of absolute bliss. In retrospect, I should have wondered why his muscles were always so relaxed, and why he never seemed to be able to get an erection even though he seemed to enjoy the sex. " Bill almost cried. Then, one day I caught him in our bed, with another man. Dmitri was fucking him with a dildo. He apologized, swore it was a slip, and he'd never do it again. I should have been more skeptical. One day, I came home early. I found him in the bathroom, with a tube around his arm, and a needle in his bicep. He had OD'd. He wasn't dead, but he needed ER treatment. I sent him to recover and it seemed to be working. He had a checkout day, and I drove to pick him up. The receptionist told me that he had called a car and had left. No note, no nothing. Just a clean room. Six months later, I got a call. He had been arrested for breaking into a jewelry store. " Bill was struggling not to cry. "Joey, the hardest thing I ever did was tell him no. And since he wasn't a citizen, he was deported back to Greece. I've not heard form him since then." Joey listened, and grabbed Bill's hand and held it tight.
"The boy broke my heart, Joey. I took time off from work, didn't go out, didn't see anyone, and I was a total wreck for six months. That's what MIGHT have made me sick, but who knows? " Joey looked at him, and now HE ran his hand through Bill's hair. "I'm sorry about all of this, Bill. You could've told me, but I respect you for not . Will you believe me if I say I'll never do that to you?" Bill smiled. "Angel boy, I've become a MUCH better judge of character now. I believe you. You wouldn't be here if I didn't." He gave Joey another kiss.
"Now Nate. Ok, you should know everything Joey, especially since, well, you're now the beneficiary on my will." Joey's eyes got wide. "HUH? What does that mean? " "It means that if something happens, this house belongs to you Joey. That's why I was in the law office the other day. I was changing my will." "I... I don't know what to say Bill, except... you didn't need to do that." Bill smiled. "There's very little I need to do anymore Joey. This is something I wanted to do. Now, about Nate. What I haven't told you is, after the whole thing with Dmitri, I developed really severe pains in my side. My doctor thought it was kidney stones, and the pain passed. Then it came back. It went away, and came back, over and over. There was exploratory surgery and they found that part of one of my kidneys had atrophied." "Atrophied?" "Dried up and died is a good way to put it Joey." "OH. OH MY GOD. Do you need a transplant?" Bill laughed. "You'd give me yours I know. But no, a transplant isn't in order. I don't qualify because, technically, the kidney still functions. It's just one part of it. And it only acts up from time to time. They inserted a small filtering device in my kidney to "give it some help," and when it's fine, I'm fine. It's not perfect. The ducts get blocked up, and then, I hurt. " He saw the concern on Joey's face. "Please don't worry. That's where Nate comes in. Nate wanted to go to nursing school. Desperately. But his parents, when they were alive, thought that "nursing was for girls," and wouldn't pay for it. " "So Uncle Bill stepped in, right ?" Bill laughed. "I told Nate you were smart. Yup, I did. And in gratitude, when he found out what had happened to my kidney, he specialized in dialysis. " "Unfortunately, Nate has a few 'issues', and he can't really keep a job. He gets stressed out. BIG TIME. And when he stresses, he has been known to hit people. He also doesn't like taking no for an answer. Gets him enraged. "Doesn't sound like good nursing material to me, Sir." Bill laughed. "I agree. Except the thing is... he's an excellent nurse. His patients all love him. But he can't keep a job. Right now, he's 'between jobs' as they say. Seems like things worked out as they should, because my implant is acting up. He knows how to handle my occasional attacks, and to clean the ducts, etc. It's not pretty or pleasant, but if you want to be there when he makes the incision, takes out the implant and cleans it, you can be there." Joey was silent, and Bill took another deep breath. "I was going to get him an apartment Joey, but then you came into my life." "I don't understand Sir." Bill formed a tight smile. "Angel boy, let me be as honest with you as I can. I'm 50 something. You'll be 21 soon. You have a stronger sex drive than I do." "Your sex drive seems pretty strong Sir." "JOEY. I do the laundry too. I find a lot of stained jocks and hankies." Joey blushed. "It's okay Angel boy. I WAS 20 once. It was a while ago, but I was. And I thought, since Nate is gay, and he likes what I like, perhaps if you needed some 'relief' other than your right hand, the two of you..." Joey sat up a bit. "Bill, from anyone else, I'd say you were whoring me out. " When he saw Bill's face, he went on. "I'm not saying that. I think it's so typically you. You were thinking "Joey's not satisfied," and you did something to fix it, because it's something you can't fix yourself." "I'm sorry Joey. I should've talked to you about it before this, but Nate was going to come to town anyway." Joey paused. "How about this Sir? I really don't WANT anyone else but you, but you're right. Sometimes I know you're tired, or you haven't recovered, and I take care of myself. I'd rather it were you, in me, but that doesn't happen all the time. Let's see if it works. Now kiss me Sir. And climb up on me. Let me know who's in charge."