along. It would do him good to get out into nature for a couple days.”
I didn’t know if he had any real idea of what he was suggesting. The guys were all used to being around Joshua for relatively short periods of time, but for an entire weekend? And the prospect of eight guys being cooped up with a hell-on-wheels five-year-old…
“We’ll think about it,” I said.
The conversation segued into Mario and Bob telling bar stories, and Mario—I’m sure without thinking—brought up the subject of the rumors.
“What do you think of the latest about the Male Call?” he asked.
“What’s that?” Jared asked. “We haven’t been out in a while, both of us have been so damned busy.”
“About Cal Hysong getting eighty-sixed.”
I was glad he caught himself before adding “for spreading AIDS.”
I shot a quick glance at Jake and saw just the flicker of something I definitely did not like.
I decided I’d better jump in before we started down the slippery slope.
“I suspect this particular rumor is Carl Brewer’s attempt at damage control. Rumors have been killing him and to eighty-six someone for being behind them, whether it’s true or not, is a good way of saying ‘Okay, guys, you can all come back now. The bogeyman’s gone away.’”
“But why Hysong?” Phil asked.
Having set off on a little journey of evasions and half-truths, I thought I’d better just keep on going.
“Probably because the guy is an arrogant prick and has always been something of a recruiting poster for the Male Call. I’d imagine he’s probably the first person anyone thinks of when they think of the place.”
“What’s an ‘arrogant prick’?” Joshua, who I hadn’t seen come up behind me for a refill of lemonade, asked.
“That’s a not-nice man,” Jonathan said as he shot me a dirty look. “And you should never call anyone that, okay?”
“Uncle Dick did,” Joshua pointed out logically.
“Well,” Jonathan said, reaching for the pitcher of lemonade, “grown-ups sometimes say things they shouldn’t.”
“Okay.” Joshua held out his glass.
*
To counterbalance the great weather of the weekend, we had three solid days of unrelenting drizzle with a downright chill wind. Wednesday night, just as we were getting ready for bed, the phone rang. I do not like telephone calls at that hour of the night. Nine times out of ten, they portend bad news.
The minute I heard Jared’s voice, my heart sank.
“Jake’s in the hospital again,” he said. “And if Stan hadn’t called me, I never would have known. I’m so fucking mad at Jake I could kill him! He never fucking learns! He went to work every single day this week, in all this rain. He knew damned well what was going to happen and then acts surprised that it did.”
“Jeez, Jared, I’m sorry,” I said. “I can understand your being worried, but…”
Jonathan had come over to stand beside me, and I tipped the phone so we could both hear what was being said.
“That’s not the worst part,” Jared said.
“What do you mean?”
There was a very long, almost palpable pause.
“He had sex with Cal Hysong.”
Chapter 11
Jeezus!
“When?”
“A couple of months ago. You know our arrangement—we can screw around with anyone we want to and I knew he was hot for Cal, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised.”
“How do you know for sure?” I asked.
“He told me. After Bob and Mario’s barbecue. He hadn’t heard about Cal being eighty-sixed, and he swore he had no idea Cal was a carrier.”
“And Cal didn’t use a condom.”
“No. The good thing—if it’s possible for there to be a ‘good thing’ in all this—is that Jake wouldn’t let Cal screw him without one. But he blew him.”
I was mildly ill. Not by picturing what went on—jeez, no gay man would find that the least bit strange. On the contrary, it would be a turn-on for most. What disturbed me was knowing what Cal might have passed on to Jake in the course of it.
I didn’t know if he had any real idea of what he was suggesting. The guys were all used to being around Joshua for relatively short periods of time, but for an entire weekend? And the prospect of eight guys being cooped up with a hell-on-wheels five-year-old…
“We’ll think about it,” I said.
The conversation segued into Mario and Bob telling bar stories, and Mario—I’m sure without thinking—brought up the subject of the rumors.
“What do you think of the latest about the Male Call?” he asked.
“What’s that?” Jared asked. “We haven’t been out in a while, both of us have been so damned busy.”
“About Cal Hysong getting eighty-sixed.”
I was glad he caught himself before adding “for spreading AIDS.”
I shot a quick glance at Jake and saw just the flicker of something I definitely did not like.
I decided I’d better jump in before we started down the slippery slope.
“I suspect this particular rumor is Carl Brewer’s attempt at damage control. Rumors have been killing him and to eighty-six someone for being behind them, whether it’s true or not, is a good way of saying ‘Okay, guys, you can all come back now. The bogeyman’s gone away.’”
“But why Hysong?” Phil asked.
Having set off on a little journey of evasions and half-truths, I thought I’d better just keep on going.
“Probably because the guy is an arrogant prick and has always been something of a recruiting poster for the Male Call. I’d imagine he’s probably the first person anyone thinks of when they think of the place.”
“What’s an ‘arrogant prick’?” Joshua, who I hadn’t seen come up behind me for a refill of lemonade, asked.
“That’s a not-nice man,” Jonathan said as he shot me a dirty look. “And you should never call anyone that, okay?”
“Uncle Dick did,” Joshua pointed out logically.
“Well,” Jonathan said, reaching for the pitcher of lemonade, “grown-ups sometimes say things they shouldn’t.”
“Okay.” Joshua held out his glass.
*
To counterbalance the great weather of the weekend, we had three solid days of unrelenting drizzle with a downright chill wind. Wednesday night, just as we were getting ready for bed, the phone rang. I do not like telephone calls at that hour of the night. Nine times out of ten, they portend bad news.
The minute I heard Jared’s voice, my heart sank.
“Jake’s in the hospital again,” he said. “And if Stan hadn’t called me, I never would have known. I’m so fucking mad at Jake I could kill him! He never fucking learns! He went to work every single day this week, in all this rain. He knew damned well what was going to happen and then acts surprised that it did.”
“Jeez, Jared, I’m sorry,” I said. “I can understand your being worried, but…”
Jonathan had come over to stand beside me, and I tipped the phone so we could both hear what was being said.
“That’s not the worst part,” Jared said.
“What do you mean?”
There was a very long, almost palpable pause.
“He had sex with Cal Hysong.”
Chapter 11
Jeezus!
“When?”
“A couple of months ago. You know our arrangement—we can screw around with anyone we want to and I knew he was hot for Cal, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised.”
“How do you know for sure?” I asked.
“He told me. After Bob and Mario’s barbecue. He hadn’t heard about Cal being eighty-sixed, and he swore he had no idea Cal was a carrier.”
“And Cal didn’t use a condom.”
“No. The good thing—if it’s possible for there to be a ‘good thing’ in all this—is that Jake wouldn’t let Cal screw him without one. But he blew him.”
I was mildly ill. Not by picturing what went on—jeez, no gay man would find that the least bit strange. On the contrary, it would be a turn-on for most. What disturbed me was knowing what Cal might have passed on to Jake in the course of it.
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