Deliver Me by Faith Gibson

Henrikson, and
you have a beautiful voice. How about you sing me a song?”
    Erik
felt himself blushing. He didn’t sing in public. Sure, he sang to the babies
who came in his office, but they didn’t care when he got off key. Erik loved to
sing, loved music. It was probably one of the reasons he’d learned the words to
Lee’s songs so quickly, even if the music wasn’t what he would normally listen
to. He figured Lee was joking anyway, so he just winked and said, “I’ll leave
that to the professional. Where did you come up with 7’s Mistress for the
band’s name?” he asked, changing the subject.
    Lee
smiled. “When we first started the band, we shared a one bedroom shit hole. It was always crowded, but we didn’t care. We were
together. One night, we were sitting around, smoking weed. Cade was standing in
front of the mirror messing with his hair while hogging a bag of Cheetohs.
Pauly tried to take them away when Cade wasn’t looking, but Cade caught him.
Pauly said, ‘You know, gluttony’s a sin. So is vanity. You got two out the
seven deadly ones going on.’  Cade shot back with, ‘Yeah, I got your seven sins
right here’ while grabbing his junk. Sloane passed Pauly a joint and said, ‘More
like seven’s bitch.’ Of course Cade always thought highly of himself and said,
‘I’m too classy to be seven’s bitch. I’m more like seven’s mistress.’ The
lightbulb went off, and the name stuck.” Erik laughed at the story, but he
could see a younger version of the band sitting around doing exactly what Lee
described.
    Erik continued to rub his fingers on Lee’s arm as they sat
there enjoying the quiet. Just
like in the lyrics Lee had sung, the sun gave way to the moonlight, only it
wasn’t eerie. It cast a beautiful, golden glow across the front yard. The faint
light was accompanied by frogs and crickets talking to each other in the trees.
Erik loved the sound. It was one reason he spent so much time outside on his
porch swing.  When Delilah began to fuss, Erik took her from Lee. “I bet
somebody’s hungry.” He stood with the baby and waited on Lee to stand.
    Lee
looked up at Erik and asked, “Do you mind if I stay out here a few more
minutes? It’s really peaceful.”
    Erik
figured Lee’s heart was still heavy after their talk. “Of course not.” He took
Delilah in the house and gave her a bottle before giving her a bath. When he
laid her down to go to sleep, he dimmed the lights and started singing Hey
There Delilah while rubbing her back. Before he got to the chorus, she was
asleep. He turned to find Lee standing propped against the doorway.
    Lee
walked over to the bed and watched the sleeping baby for a few minutes before
leaving the room. When they reached the living room, he said, “I don’t know
that song.”
    Erik
went to the refrigerator and asked Lee, “Beer?” When he nodded, Erik took two
bottles out and opened both before passing one to Lee. “I’m not surprised. The
Plain White T’s aren’t exactly a hard rock band.”
    “I’ll
have to look them up. Is that the type of music you usually listen to?” Lee
leaned his hip against the counter, keeping his distance. Erik couldn’t help
but stare. The man really was a god. Even if he wasn’t wearing his signature
leather pants with sevens cut out of the sides, he wore faded jeans like a
second skin. Erik had cyberstalked Lee and downloaded picture after picture of
the man in numerous stages of dress. He was dying to see all the ink on his
body. Before he looked him up on the internet, Erik hadn’t realized Lee’s back
was practically covered in tattoos, not just his arms.
    “I
listen to a lot of genres; it just depends on my mood.” The only music Erik had
been listening to lately was 7’s Mistress, but he wouldn’t tell Lee that.
    Lee
put his beer down on the counter and stepped closer to Erik. He grabbed hold of
Erik’s belt loops like he’d done in the men’s room of the restaurant. Standing
chest to chest,