This is a story about some young gay men and their families, and what they experience learning about gay life. Thanks to Tim Mead for all his help. Comments welcome to Cgard43@hotmail.com
THE OTHER BOYS OF SUMMER
-4-
Things at work were fine. Willie and Pedro remained perfect work partners. We each did our work and when break and lunch times came we enjoyed chatting. They were actually helping me get better at Spanish, but every so often I'd misunderstand a word and it would turn out to be very funny.
One day I mistook a word and thought Pedro was talking about his sister; what he was saying wasn't very nice. I looked quizzically at Willie and he laughed.
"Non, not his sister...his mother-in-law." Well, then, I understood the point, and that indeed cracked me up. Willie explained that it was a regional dialect thing. We all had a great laugh about that.
About a week later, the guys and I were just finishing lunch when Eric drove his truck into the driveway at our office building and climbed down from the truck. I could tell something was wrong by the way he stormed across the yard to the copse of trees where we were having lunch. Seeing his expression, I got up and walked toward him so we'd meet twenty feet or so away from my two work partners.
"What's the matter, Eric?" I asked. He stopped, took a very deep breath and (I could almost see it) counted to twenty twice.
"That little sonofabitch called me a fag," he said.
"What are you talking about?"
"Over in crew #2, that idiot called me a fag!" he said, more loudly than I'd have advised.
"Stop it, Eric," I said, "You're getting carried away. Straight guys say shit like that all the time. It doesn't mean anything. They're just spouting off." I sensed that he was calming down.
"Now, calm down and go and say hello to Willie and Pedro in a cheerful voice. We'll talk in a few minutes." He did as I suggested, shaking hands with both of the guys and, importantly, smiling.
The crew went back to work, and as usual, I was weeding. Eric waited a few minutes then came over to where I was working. He knelt down and started pulling weeds from around the shrubs with me.
"Okay," I said, "Tell me what happened." I could see him tense up again.
"Okay, I stopped over to check up on crew #2 and saw that the guy doing the mowing, a guy named Billy, wasn't cutting the lawn in straight rows. Now you know that's a no-no, so I walked out to where he was mowing and stopped him."
"Sure, that's what I'd have done," I said quietly.
"Well, this nutcase starts shouting at me and called me a faggot."
"Why?" I asked. "Does he even know you? Or about that?
"NO," Eric almost shouted and I was glad the other guys were working far away.
"Okay, then," I said, "It's just one of those stupid things guys do. He called you that because you pointed out that he was screwing up and he reacted as dumb straight guys sometimes do." He laughed then, and so did I.
"What you might have said is that you can at least drive a mower in a straight line," I said with a chuckle, "But I think it's best that you didn't."
"I didn't say anything," Eric said. "I just jumped back in the truck and drove here. I knew you'd understand and tell me what to do."
"Look," I said, "This is our last job for the day, so why don't you go ahead and drive back to the shop and check in. If the asshole has complained you'll be able to explain it quietly; if he hasn't, you might want to tell my uncle that you're having a bit of a problem with this guy. Either way, it works out to your advantage."
"Thanks, Andy," he said, touching me on the shoulder, "I knew you'd know what to do."
As I watched him walk back to his truck, I began to wonder about things. This was simple polite assertiveness stuff I'd learned from my Mom and Dad, especially my Dad. Why hadn't he learned it from his parents? I was very puzzled.
I admit I'd been furious when I figured out what Rafe had said to Eric at Ted and Jim's house. I had indeed called him when I got home from dinner and started to chew him out.
"Whoa, please," Rafe said. "Take a breath and let me explain." That got my attention and I did as I was told.
"Now here's the point," Rafe said, "I knew Eric wouldn't believe that you'd ever been in counseling, being as you're such a well adjusted guy, but I decided to tell him that I had been."
"What?" I asked, "You've never needed counseling in your life."
"We'll talk about that later," Rafe said, "But what I did was to get him to tell me about Dr. X and then I could get in my point which was that Dr. X doesn't know shit and is a bad influence. I urged him to ask his parents for another counselor. That's all I was trying to do."
"That's great," I countered, "Since he told me tonight that his Mother is a heavy duty Baptist. Who's she going to send him to now?" [I mentioned someone by name but I won't repeat it here.] Then I remembered something and stopped.
"Wait a minute," I said, "Eric told me that he totally trusts his father when the father is not under his wife's influence. Maybe we can make this work if I can talk Eric into asking his Dad to make the change instead." Rafe laughed his sweet and sexy laugh.
"See, my friend, it's all going to work out just fine."
"Yes, you wonderful guy," I said, "But you're going to have to help me with this one again since you brought us to this point. Let me find out when Eric's dad is coming home and then I want you to reinforce this notion."
"How?" he asked. I laughed.
"Simple, my friend, you run into Eric at some convenient place just at the right time." Now it was his turn to chuckle.
"Okay, tell me what and when and I'll do it. You know I'm only doing this because I love you, right?"
"Yep, and I'm only asking because I love you right back. Thanks, Rafe."
When Eric stopped by the jobsite the next day I inquired when his father was coming home. He said he thought that it would be Wednesday evening because of meetings in his office on Thursday and then he would drive back to the lake early Friday morning. In other words, that gave us a two evening 'window.'
Eric and I went out for a beer after work that evening.
"So, are you going to fix your Dad a nice dinner when he comes home on Wednesday?" I ask, smiling at him.
"Yeah, sure," he said with a laugh. "The only thing I know how to make really is breakfast. That's the only time I've ever cooked."
"So," I countered, "Fix breakfast for dinner. It's been done." He looked thoughtful and then smiled again.
"Actually I could," he said. "I make darn good omelets and my Dad loves them.
"Great idea," I said, "Just add in some bacon, ham or sausage on the side and maybe some fruit and you've got a breakfast/dinner deluxe. Your Dad would probably love it that you fixed it for him." Now, Eric grinned.
"Yes," he said making a fist in the air, "I can do that. I know I can."
"So, all you have to do is stop at the grocery store to make sure you have eggs and whatever else you need on Wednesday afternoon, right?"
"Yes," he said again, and I saw a determination in him that I'd not seen before. I led the conversation back to our discussion yesterday about the guy on crew #2.
"Oh, that was very interesting," he said with a smile. "When I mentioned it to your uncle he said they'd had a couple of complaints from that client about the lawn. He asked me if I had a problem talking to the guy.
"Yes I did, sir," Eric reported saying, "He became quite angry and nasty with me."
"Fine," my uncle said, "We'll transfer him to another crew and give you a mower who can cut a straight line." I'm sure my uncle chuckled when he made that remark.
"So what's going to happen?" I asked. Eric laughed.
"He moved him over to one of Stan's crews. You know how tough Stan is, don't you?" Then I laughed.
"Oh yes, we've all heard those stories. I bet he won't call Stan a 'fag.'"
Eric shook his head and almost looked like he was going to cry. When our eyes met I could see tears.
"What would I ever have done without you?" he asked.
"I'm sure you would have figured it out," I said, "But let's not worry about that right now. Let's think about you having a delightful visit with your Dad. That's the most important thing going on this week."
"Right," he said. "I'll go shopping after work on Wednesday and get everything I need. I think I might even talk to him about letting me stop seeing the counselor. He might agree." I nodded along and made my own plan.
I got Rafe on the phone as soon as I got home that night.
"Okay, my man, here's the plan. You...at the grocery at about 4:30 on Wednesday, got it?" There was absolute silence on the other end of the phone.
"I told you that I need you to reinforce with Eric your suggestion about changing counselors. His Dad's coming home on Wednesday and Eric will be at the store buying groceries for dinner. That's when you go to work." He howled.
"Of course I will," he said, "I've even got a few names to suggest. I have not been idle, buddy." Then he laughed again.
"Besides, I probably need a few groceries myself." That made me chuckle.
Having been set to argue my point I was taken aback.
"You are wonderful," I said. "Thank you so much."
"One of these days I'll collect...or you'll collect. Either way, I'm glad to help."
On Wednesday morning I found a message on the phone in my room when I came back from the bathroom. It was from Rafe.
"Do not call me at work today, please; I've got a very hectic day ahead of me and if you expect me to get to the grocery, don't bother calling me." I just smiled as I pushed 'delete' on the machine.
My workday was ordinary...well, except for one thing. We were working at this large office building as we did every week and the guy who'd asked me about lawn care before, Drew was his name as I remembered, walked over to where I was weeding and re-arranging the mulch. My mulch, not his mulch, although I'm sure his is very nice. He's a very attractive guy. Oh, where was I?
"Excuse me," he said quietly and, I thought, very politely; "I'm really not trying to get free advice and in fact your landscape people have helped me a lot. But I want to know about the guy who seems to be your foreman."
I'm sure I looked very puzzled (that's the look I was going for) and kept silent.
"You see, it's just that I think I used to know him. Is his name Eric?" Well, that I could answer.
"Yes, our foreman's name is Eric. Why?"
"As I said," he answered. "I used to know him some time ago. I just wondered if you'd tell him that Drew said hello." I chuckled.
"Of course I will," I said, "I'm sure he'll be glad to get the message. I probably won't see him until tomorrow, but I promise I'll remember." So, that was that and Drew walked back toward the big building. I was struck again by what a handsome young man he is. I mean, not necessarily my type but very good-looking.
It also made me think about how unsure I was about a career. I'm not sure what I want to do in life, but I don't think I want to work in a large office building, even one with lots of windows. It just seemed too stifling to be confined all day.
Of course I wasn't at the grocery store. That would have been too transparent, but Rafe called to report just after five o'clock and sounded ebullient.
"It went fine, my hero," he said with a chuckle in his voice. "Eric was glad to see me and I of course acted the same. We had a coffee at their mini-bar or whatever they call those places, and I laid it on him about some other counselors. I gave him a list, but suggested that if he was going to ask to change he shouldn't let anyone see that he had a list. He was cool with that."
"Did he mention his Dad?" I asked.
"Only that his Dad was coming home that evening and he was making, in his cute words, a 'Breakfast for Dinner' meal. He seemed very enthused about it. I told him it sounded delicious and I think he was pleased."
"God, I hope this goes well; it could really be a turning point."
"I know, Babe, but don't get yourself too tied into this. He really is a nice guy, but I don't want to see you get hurt." How sweet was that?
"I promise, Rafe, I'm keeping myself well in control."
"I hope so...so I can collect, you know." He laughed like crazy. I couldn't help but chuckle too.
I didn't see Eric on Thursday, but he arrived at our first jobsite early on Friday. He made it a point to say hello to Willie and Pedro in a very professional way and waiting until they'd grabbed their equipment (Willie climbing aboard as usual) before he spoke privately to me.
"It was fantastic on Wednesday night, Andy," he said. "I don't think my Dad and I have ever bonded together like that before."
"Wonderful," I said.
"Yeah, and there's some real progress too. He told me that he would personally call the doctor and insist on a change of counselors. I'd picked one from the list Rafe gave me and my Dad said fine."
"Rafe?" I was getting pretty good at this acting stuff.
"Yeah, it happened that I ran into him at the market on Wednesday and he'd put together a list of counselors he thought might be better for me than that guy I was seeing."
"How nice of him," I said.
"Yeah, he's really a great guy."
"No doubt about that."
"But the best part was that while my Dad and I were out to dinner last night, he said he thought that if I felt sure that I was gay it would be wrong to do anything to try to change that. He also told me he was glad to see me happier and then again reminded me that they both love me no matter what.
"I told him I was concerned about how my Mom would react," he said.
"And?" I asked.
"And he promised me that it's going to be okay. He said he would find a way to convince my Mom," Eric said with a huge smile. In fact I'd never seen a wider smile than that on anyone.
"That's terrific, Eric," I whispered, "I'm so glad and so proud of you." We couldn't hug there and we both knew it, but we did little touchy stuff like slugging my hand against his arm...you know, the macho stuff. Then Eric said he had to go check on the other crews.
"Oh, by the way, a guy named Drew who works in one of our big office buildings, asked me to tell you hello." The look on Eric's face was startling. I was afraid he was going to hyperventilate. He didn't say anything; he just looked stunned.
"What?" I asked, "What?"
"I don't know if it's the same guy, but there was a guy in the first 'conditioning' class I went to named Drew. He left after two days, but in those two days I practically fell in love with him. Oh God, if it could just be him!"
"Calm down, pal," I said, swinging my arm around him as I tried to steer him in the direction of his truck.
"Let's see how this develops, but later on I want to hear all the details about this Drew guy." He climbed into his truck and drove away. I sighed and realized I'd better get busy weeding or the guys were going to be very upset with me.
Actually that didn't happen. When Willie had finished the mowing and Pedro had finished the pruning they came over to help me finish the weeding. I apologized.
"No," Willie said, in Spanish of course, "It's okay. I think we understand. When the boss needs to talk to you, then you need to talk to him." Pedro nodded and in five minutes we'd finished the work. God, they were such good guys, and it was a week later that I realized how much we'd really bonded.
In the meantime, Eric did indeed get some good news. His physician has referred him to another psychotherapist, and it was one that Rafe had recommended.
But I was still puzzled about this Drew guy. I mean was he good for Eric or not?
I called Eric on Friday evening and found he was still high as a kite, buoyed up by the news that Drew had reappeared in his life. He asked me over and I agreed, hoping that he'd explain what this was all about.
"Okay, Eric," I started after he'd found a beer for each of us. "Tell me about Drew and don't leave out any details."
"Whew," he said, "There's so much to tell and yet I have to admit that I didn't really get to know him very well." I'm sure I looked puzzled.
"Look, Andy," he said, "You don't know what these conditioning sessions are like. We were discouraged from really talking to one another except for saying how guilty we were of bad behavior and how much we intended to change and so forth." I tried not to shudder.
"But Drew was different. He has the nicest smile and the kindest eyes and I could see he hated being in that thing just as much as I did. He seemed a gentle guy, if you know what I mean, and I thought maybe we could get to know each other and be friends.
"But, two days later he was gone. I asked one of the nurses there where he'd gone and she said the doctor had told her that Drew had left to 'go to Hell.'
"I knew what that meant; he'd left the program and would be able to go back to being gay," he concluded, "But, I always missed him after he left."
"That's very interesting," I said trying to think of a way not to get Eric's hopes up too high. "Let's hope he's found a good life for himself. Well, I mean he's working in that big building so he's probably doing okay for himself financially."
"I hope he isn't sick," Eric said, a huge frown creasing his brow.
"No, I hardly think so," I said, "He looked very healthy to me. He is a good looking guy, isn't he?" Eric beamed.
"Oh yeah," he said, "Just about the most handsome man I've ever seen." He chuckled.
"Well, except you and Rafe." I grimaced at him.
"Tell you what, next week when we work at that building, if Drew comes out to talk, I'll suggest that we get together at some neutral place. How's that?"
"What do you mean by a neutral place?" he asked.
"Simple. A public place, like a coffee house or something, where we can talk and then I'll politely excuse myself so the two of you can talk by yourselves. But, if it's going to go that way, we're going to have a talk about first dates and such."
"Yes, tutor," he said with a big smile and a laugh.
to be continued.