Breakfast at Sally's café is a lumberjack's dream
come true. The only question she asked was how I wanted my eggs. A platter with
bacon, sausage, three eggs and a stack of flapjacks was placed before me. I looked
at Charley's platter; he'd been served the same. And as I looked around I saw
that every man who came through the door got the same. If anyone had asked if I
thought I could eat everything on that plate, I would have told them they were
insane. Little was said until our plates were empty. I didn't realize I had
worked up such an appetite. Sal topped off our cups. We thanked her, sipped our
coffee and just smiled at each other, wrapped in our own thoughts, until
Charley looked at his watch. "It's seven-thirty. I've got to go."
I walked out with him, telling Sal I would be
back in a moment. We stood with his Harley between us, eyes locked, feeding
each other unspoken feelings, until he nodded, mounted and started it up. I
stepped back and watched him ride down the street. I grabbed a book out of the
saddlebag and sauntered back inside. The table had been cleared. Sal had a
fresh cup of coffee waiting for me. I smiled my appreciation at her, opened my
book and stared out the window. I wondered about the comfort we felt with each
other, not having to speak to know what each other were feeling. It was
something new to me and something that needed to be explored. I forgot about
the book until Sal broke into my thoughts. "I don't think you've read one
word in that book since you opened it over an hour ago." I looked up at
Sal and then at my watch. She was right. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged.
"May I sit down?" she asked.
"Of course."
"Are you okay, Jake?"
"Sure, I'm fine," I told her, wondering
where Charley was at that exact moment.
"Why don't I believe you? Last night you
came in here looking like a kicked dog. Today you look like a confused kicked
dog."
I must have looked dazed or vague or something. I
did kind of feel like Toto must have felt when he and Dorothy got caught in
that whirlwind and ended up in Oz. I grinned wryly at her."So, do you want
me to sit up and bark, or just roll over and play dead?" I asked
"Jake," she admonished. "I want to
be your friend. You can talk to me. I'm a good listener."
"I walk in off the street and you want to be
my buddy and confidant. Just like that. Why, Sal?"
"Because, Charley has decided you are
someone special, Jake. I could see it in the way he looks at you. And I can see
that you are mixed up, and at odds with his decision."
I studied her for a moment. "So you know
Charley has made a decision." I couldn't keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
She shrugged and grinned. "You're here,
aren't you?"
I nodded, smiled and thought, 'Touché.' After
studying her a moment, I said, "Tell me about Charley. Maybe you can clear
up some of my confusion."
It was her turn to study me. "If Charley
finds out I told you any of this, he'll probably string me up by my
thumbs."
"It's between you and me, Sal."
"Alright." She took a sip of her coffee.
"Like I told you, Charley and I go way back. Grade school. I still live
next door to his parents. Charley and I have always been close friends. In high
school he dated a lot. Seemed like it was a different girl every week. He was a
football jock. Most popular guy in school. Always ebullient. The girls all
worshiped him."
She paused and stared out the window a moment.
"The day after graduation he disappeared for two years. He'd joined the
Marines and told only his parents the morning he left. When he came back he was
different. Subdued. He got a bachelor degree at our local college and then
joined the police. In the last three years I have never seen him with a woman,
or a man for that matter. He'll come in with some of the other cops sometime.
He laughs and jokes with them, but... I get the feeling that his mind is
somewhere else.
"When he's here by himself, he sits at the
end of the counter." She nodded with her head toward the restroom alcove.
I recalled the night before, how he'd looked down at the stool and then at me
before he'd walked over to sit next to me. "I've watched him time after
time," Sal continued. "He checks out each person who comes through
the door. No expression in his face, like he's just doing his cop thing. Once
in a while his eyes linger a moment longer on a man, like maybe he's searching
for more than what the eye can see.
"I was watching him last night when he came
out of the restroom and saw you, Jake. It was like a light turned on in his
eyes when he looked at you. His expression came alive as the two of you talked.
Not since grade school have I seen him as happy as he looked last night when he
came back in and saw you waiting for him."
I listened with a contrite grimace. I'd seen the
look that she described. I just didn't want to recognize it. "I don't want
Charley falling for me. He's got too much to offer to settle for the likes of
me." I muttered.
"And what is wrong with the likes of you,
Jake? I see a big handsome man with the most soulful big brown eyes. You told
me you're on the rebound. It's obvious to me that some jerk has really hurt
you, but..."
"Yeah, I don't want to go through that
again." I muttered and stared out the window.
Sal changed directions on me. She caught me
wounded and bleeding and yanked out the thorn by pulling of me the story out of
what I'd gone through with Jim and how his callous shunning had hurt me. When I
finished we both sat quietly for a minute or so. "So you left him, you
were feeling that your love.....the love you offered him..... was worthless."
She paused and I glanced up at her. "Therefore, you're not worthy of
anyone else's love," she said staring into my eyes. I turned and stared
out the window again. How could she know that was what I was feeling? I frowned
at her. But before I could say anything she asked, "Jake, what color are
Jim's eyes?"
I thought a moment, realizing I couldn't
remember. Or maybe I never knew. "Blue? No, brown. Hell, I don't
know." I sputtered.
"Can you tell me what color eyes Charley
has?" she asked.
Without a pause I answered, "Sure. They're
kind of blue and green at the same time. Like looking into a deep clear pool of
water."
At that moment her first customers for lunch came
in. Sal slid out of the booth. She laid a hand over mine. "Just some food
for thought, Jake," she said as she left to wait no them.
"Yeah, a whole big platter full," I
mumble after she'd walked away. But as I sat there thinking about it all I
realized that I felt healed.
~~~
Soon the café started filling up. I closed my
book and went to the cash register. "You're not staying for lunch?"
Sal asked as she took my money.
I grinned and shook my head. "After that
huge breakfast I may not eat again until tomorrow."
"Maybe, I'm hurting my own business,"
she conjectured.
"Nah, a working man can work that off in a
matter of hours. If Charley comes in tell him I'm following his orders."
She raised her eyebrows in inquiry. I laughed and said, "Just tell
him," as I strode out the door.
~~~
I went to the hotel packed up my duffle and
stopped at the desk to turn in my key. The wizen little man behind the desk
looked askance at me. "Expensive storage just for a duffle." He
commented.
I smirked at him. "Yeah, but worth every
penny." I hoisted it to my shoulder and strode out the door. I went back
to Charley's.
Without thinking about the other bedroom, I
walked into his with my stuff. His scent filled my nostrils. I sprawled on the
unmade bed. It smelled of our coupling. I lay there with a hardon and relived
the few hours we had spent together. Had I really only known Charley since
yesterday? It seemed like I had known him my whole life. I considered what I
was doing. Did I really want to get into a relationship with him? Would it be
just a momentary affair? No, it would never just be a momentary affair. With
Charley it would be for a lifetime affair. Was I ready to commit my life to
him? Was I insane to even think these thoughts?
Forty-eight hours ago I was flying low on my
Indian, fleeing from rejection. As I thought about those last moments with Jim
I could see the steely glint of his hard expression and I wondered again what
color his eyes were. I decided they must be grey, no other color seemed right.
I consciously superimposed Charley's face. His beautiful deep liquid eyes
filled me with warmth. No, I decided, I'm not insane, not where Charley is
concerned anyway.
With that decision I glanced at the bedside alarm
clock and saw that I still had nearly four hours until Charley would get home. I
pulled the messed sheets off the bed and stuck them in the washer. I found some
clean ones and made the bed. There were a few dirty dishes in the sink. Rather
than just stick them in the dishwasher, I hand washed and dried them. And then
in cleaning mode, I wiped the whole kitchen down, mopped the floor and started
on the living room.
The living room was clearly a man's room. Bare of
all the little knickknacks that women seem to take pleasure in. Real landscape
oil paintings and water colors hung on the walls. I was impressed. In college I
had taken a couple of art appreciation courses, and from what little I knew, I
figured these were mostly
The furniture was all wood and leather. One big
area rug made up of rectangles in shades of green covered the hardwood floor in
front of the fireplace. On the mantel there were several framed pictures. As I
cleaned the glass on each I studied each person in them. Most of them were of
his family. There were some obviously taken in his high school days with
friends. But there was one that stood out. The guy in the photo with him was
obviously a Marine. His hair was cut high and tight. He was barefoot, wearing
jeans, no shirt. He had his arm around Charley who was dressed the same.
Charley was grinning into the camera, but the guy was looking at him when the
picture was taken.
I picked up a magnifying glass from the coffee
table and studied the fellow. The expression on his face told how he felt
towards Charley. I felt a twinge of jealousy, no, not jealousy, it was more
just envy that I wasn't the fellow in the picture sharing that moment in
Charley's life. I wiped the glass covering the photo and set it back in its
place, wondering where the fellow was now. After dusting the whole room I stood
in the kitchen doorway and looked the room over. Yes, it was definitely a man's
room.
~~~
I'm not a great cook, but I can put together a
mean Beef or Lamb Stew. I searched the kitchen cabinets and found a Crock pot.
I headed out to the grocery that I had seen earlier. After gathering the meat
and vegetables, I picked up salad fixings. A pint of French vanilla ice cream,
a bag of frozen strawberries and a jar of chocolate fudge sauce would make a
fine frozen bombe for dessert.
Back at Charley's I got the meat browned, the
veggies cut up and all of it simmering in the pot. I'd made a point of browning
a bit of onion just to fill the house with the aroma. The salad was made and
being refrigerated. The ice cream and strawberries had been stirred, molded
into a dome and put back into the freezer. I set the table for two. All was
ready for Charley. It was after
Since the television set was in the bedroom and I
wanted to be in the living room to greet Charley as he came through the door, I
dug out the book I was reading and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs by
the fireplace. It looked like it was a place Charley spent time. The side table
had a pair of reading glasses and a couple of books. The bridge lamp was
perfect for reading. I opened my book and stared at the door.
By eight-thirty I was getting aggravated. I
turned off the crock pot, grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat glowering at
the door. The anger didn't last long. I began to imagine all the things that
could keep him from at least calling. At nine I turned out the lights, locked
up and headed for the café, praying that Sal would still be there. The closed
sign was in the window, but she was inside. The moment she saw me she knew
something had happened to Charley. She picked up the phone and called the
police station. I watched her blanch and she listened.
I knew it. I knew with my rotten luck I should've stayed away from him. Then
he'd still be alive. When she hung up she looked at me with the tenderness of a
mother. I didn't want to interpret the look. I tried to ask. "He's...
He's....." I bit my lip to keep the emotion from overwhelming me.
"He's been shot. He's in intensive care."
It took a moment for that information to
penetrate. "He's alive? The son of a bitch is alive?" I yelled and
grabbed Sal around the waist and swung her into the air. "Oh God, I'm
going to kill him when he gets better."
Sal laughed hardily. After I set her back on her
feet, she became solemn. She walked to the cash register stand muttering under
her breath, "Now you know why I'm not married,"
"What do you mean?"
She shook her head, grabbed her sweater and
handbag and turned out the lights. She grabbed my arm pulling me out the door
so she could lock it. "You want to ride with me?" she asked.
That confused me. "Where are we going?"
She looked exasperated and said pedantically,
"Jake, I'm going to get you into see Charley."
"You can do that? Wait a minute. Is he
awake? He can have visitors? Why didn't he call me? But... but you said he's in
intensive care."
"Slow down and back up. I'm sorry, I should
have told you. He's under sedation right now."
"I'd still like to see him."
"So do you want to ride with me?" she
asked again.
"I'd better follow. I don't want to leave my
cycle here."
I followed her for about fifteen blocks and
parked beside her in the hospital parking lot. The moment she got out of the
car she started talking. "He stopped by during lunch," she told me as
we hurried inside. "He told me he had found his soul mate in you. I'd
never seen him so happy." We went directly to the elevators. When the
doors closed, she said, "Let me do the talking. You just follow my lead."
A pert little redhead looked up as we approached
the Nurse's station. "Sally! What brings you up here?" she asked and
shifted her gaze to me. "And who is this handsome man with you?"
"Hi
"Sal, you know hospital rules. Family only
up here."
"What I'm trying to tell you,
"They told me that it was a lone sniper that
shot him and that they had arrested him. Why the guard?" Sal asked.
"Bub Collins?"
~~~
"So what happened, Bub?" Sal asked.
"Fortunately, there was an eyewitness. As
the sniper was aiming, he called 911. He was on an overcrossing, aiming into
the street below. The witness said he shot three fast rounds. One hit Charley
at the base of his neck, went through the muscles. One blew his front tire. The
motorcycle flipped and landed on his leg. He lost a lot of blood."
"So can we go in and see him?" Sal
asked.
"Hey, if Nurse
I noted first off that he did have his left arm
bound to his torso so he couldn't move the shoulder muscles, his neck was in a
padded metal brace and his left leg was in an open cast from his foot to just
above his knee. The tube going into his arm was dark. I glanced up at the bag.
He was still being fed blood. He also had an aspirator in his mouth and an
oxygen tube in his nose. He was pale.
I took his chart hanging on the end of the bed
and glanced through it.
Sal was looking around my arm at the chart.
"Can you decipher that mumbo jumbo?"
she asked.
"Yeah, I can, see this is his blood pressure
reading. It's still a little below normal as is his temperature. He was in
surgery two and a half hours. Both his tibia and fibula were broken; those are
the two bones in the lower leg." I pointed at the cast. "They put
spikes and pins in both." I said, pointing to the nearly indecipherable
scrawl and then briefly I told her about my Army days. I shuddered, recalling
my days during Desert Storm. I'd been a field medic and had to prep many badly
injured men for surgery. I wondered briefly if Charley had been over there,
too.
I moved up to the side of the bed and took
Charley's hand and gently squeezed it. His eyes opened, but didn't seem to
focus.
"Hey, Charley," I said.
"Jake, you came to see me?" he muttered
around the aspirator.
"Of course, I did."
"That's so good." His eyes had closed
and he fazed out again. I leaned down and touch my lips to his forehead. He
smiled.
"What the hell!!" someone behind me
yelled.
'Uh oh,' I thought as I straightened up and
turned to see who had let out the explicative, and looked into the face of a
shorter, little older version of Charley. He was a a bit overweight and dressed
like country club, light blue Polo shirt, grey slacks, shiny black narrow
leather belt and matching shoes. 'Versace' I thought. I smiled at him. He
ignored it and turned to Sal.
"Who is this guy, Sal, and why did you
finagle him in here?"
"Robert this is Jake Shipman. As to who he
is you'll have to ask your brother when he wakes up. I brought him here because
that's what Charley wanted."
"You both need to leave. Charles needs his
rest to recuperate." He still ignored me as he held the door open for us
to exit. As soon as we were out of the door, Robert started haranguing Bub for
letting us go in.
"Robert, stop being a stick. It's what
Charley wants."
"Charley is under sedation. How could you
people know what he wants?"
"If you don't believe me," Bub yelled,
"ask Charley when he wakes up."
"I will!" Robert yelled back as he
strode to the Nurse's desk. "And you,
"Robert calm down before I have to call a
guard to remove you."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Don't bet on it, Brother-in-law of
mine."
Sal took my arm and we headed for the elevator.
"Thanks a million,
"Oh, fuck off, you damned faggot." He
muttered.
Three things happened at once.
I guess that brought him to his senses. He looked
contritely at each of us. "I'm sorry. I apologize. It just upsets me when
Charley gets hurt." He turned to me. "And it surprised me to see you
kiss him."
"I kissed him on the forehead. He's a
friend."
"I-I can see that. I'll make sure the rest
of the family will be okay with you coming to visit. Again, I'm sorry."
"And I apologize, too. Let's start
over." I held out my hand. "I'm Jake Shipman, a friend of your
brother."
His smile was sheepish. He took my hand in a firm
grip. "It's good to meet you. I'm Robert, Charley's brother."
~~~
I called the Hospital the next morning to see how
Charley was doing. I expected a referral to his parents, not a young nurse
gushing, "Oh, Mr. Shipman, Charley's doing great. I heard him asking if
you had returned." Ah. The friendliness of a small town hospital.
"Could you tell him I'll be there in about
an hour?"
"Yes, Mr. Shipman, I certainly would be
happy to tell him. Thank you."
"And thank you. Miss .....?"
"Oh, you can call me Kathy."
"Well, thank you Kathy."
~~~
A little over an hour later Nurse Kathy swooned
when I introduced myself and asked if I could go in to see Charley. As I pushed
open his door a tall stately woman stood to greet me. I knew she was Charley's
mother. Her hair was a mixture of silver and pale gold. She had Charley's
heartwarming smile.
"You must be Jake," she said offering
her hand. I'm Gloria Hill. Charley was asking for you earlier."
"It's nice to meet you, Ma'am."
"Please, just Gloria."
I smiled and nodded. "How is he?"
"He's doing fine. The doctor said he could
be moved to a regular room tomorrow morning."
As she spoke I took his wrist, put my fingers on
his pulsing artery, and looked at my watch, counting. Gloria asked if I was a
doctor. I smiled and shook my head, "Army Medic."
"Charley was in the Marines during Desert
Storm. Is that where you met?"
"No, Ma'am. Although, I was there,
too."
"Where did you meet?" She asked.
"Here. In
"Really. Have you known each other
long?"
"No, not very long." I knew she was
sniffing something fishy. I covertly squeezed Charley's hand, willing him to
wake up.
"Charley has never mentioned you until this
morning. When did you two meet?"
"Jake, you're here. I'm so happy you came
back." Charley's hand tightened on mine as he spoke.
I turned my attention to him, thankful I hadn't
had to answer his mother's last question, even though it seemed to hang in the
air. "Yeah, Big Guy, I'm here. How are feeling?"
"Achy. Achy numb. I'm not really feeling
much. I guess I spoiled dinner last night." They had taken the tube out of
his mouth, and his words weren't slurred by the drugs anymore.
"How did you know I was fixing dinner?"
"Just hoping." He grinned at me and all
my doubts fled. I knew at that moment I was staying in
"It was only a stew. I stuck it in your
freezer. We can thaw and eat it when you get home."
"I like the sound of that. We."
His smiled wrapped itself around my heart. I
momentarily forgot Gloria was sitting there watching us. "Yeah, it does
have a warm ring, doesn't it?"
"I'm having a hard time staying awake. Will
you still be here when this stuff wears off?"
I glanced at his mother who gave me a nod.
"Sure, Charley, I'll be right here."
I watched him, his smile slowly fading as he
slipped back into a peaceful sleep. His grip on my hand relaxed. I laid it back
to his side, sighed, and turned toward Gloria. She had settled back into the
only chair in the room. It was a military looking club chair, metal and green
Naugahyde. It didn't look particularly comfortable. "There's a straight
chair outside the door. Bring it in and sit down,"she said.
I brought it in, set it next to the bed, the back
towards her, and straddled it, resting my arms on the back, my chin on my arms.
I was ready to be grilled or do battle if I must.
Gloria studied her folded hands. "Chess, my
husband, and I have several times discussed the possibility of Charley being
Gay. I guess that what I just heard confirms it."
I didn't respond. I just raised and dropped my
eyebrows. She looked up at me. "How long have you two been together?"
"We're not together." I dissembled.
Until Charley told his parents about himself and us I wasn't saying anything.
"I'm just a guest in his home at the moment. I'm from UniCity. Just
visiting your fair city."
"So you're just a-what is that word? A trick
that he picked up?" She was studying her hands again.
The audacity of her question angered me. "Is
assumption a family trait?" I asked. She glanced up, startled. I kept my
chin on my arms, my voice level, and my expression emotionless. "Last
night, your son, Robert, called me a faggot and worse for kissing Charley on
the forehead. Now you're accusing me of being a faggot whore, because that's
what a trick is."
"I would never..." She'd turned a deep
crimson.
I cut her short. "At least not without
softening it by using a euphemism. He does have a guest room, you know? What
makes you think that I've been in Charley's bed? Because I was preparing dinner
for him? He was working and I was just knocking around the house. I fixed a
meal, so you assume I'm bedding your son. That's another nice little euphemism
to take the bite out of what you're imagining about your own son, bedding with
me."
She washed her hands in her lap and then looked
up at me again.” I apologize, Mr. Shipman. I was in the wrong. I shouldn't have
said what I just said. Please, forgive me."
"Forgiven and forgotten" I said as I
thought to myself, 'Like hell I do.' She still didn't look up at me. After a
few moments of silence. I asked, "I'm curious, Mrs. Hill, if it turns out
that your assumption about Charley is true will you disown him?"
Her head shot up. Her eyes were big. They were a
light blue, not deep like Charley's. "Good Heavens, no! He's our son. All
we want is for him to find happiness." She looked over at Charley lying
asleep on the hospital bed. Her voice took on a note of tender caring that only
a mother could have for her child. "He hasn't ever seemed very happy. Even
in high school when he was the most popular boy in school, he had an air of
sadness about him. I could see it in his eyes. But he would never talk about
why."
"So if he says to you, "
She looked up at me with a great sadness in her
expression. "Why are you baiting me, Mr. Shipman? What is it to you?"
I studied the woman for moments before answering.
She was Charley's mother. I decided to be absolutely candid. "I'll be
honest with you, Mrs. Hill," I said. "I think you son is one of the
most beautiful men I have ever met. I'm talking about inside, his essence, if
you will. He's kind, gentle, loving, caring. And if things work out right, I
would be most happy to spend the rest of my life trying to make him
happy."
"Do you really mean that, Jake?" I
don't know which one asked it, Charley or his mom, I think it was probably both.
It didn't matter, I answered. "I mean it. And, Gloria, don't go assuming
anything from what I just said. Wait until he tells you himself. "
"Jake?" Charley murmured.
I turned to look at him. "I love you, Jake.
I feel the same way about you." He took a deep breath, and turned his head
to look at his mother. "
Gloria rose and stood beside me and caressed his
cheek. "Yes, Son?"
"I love this man. He makes me very happy
just by being near."
"I can see that son. So seldom have I seen
this sparkle in your eyes. And that makes me happy, too."
It was then that an older version of Charley came
in. Other than his hair being a lighter blonde mixed with silver, and a few
wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, the man was the image of Charley. I
stepped back so he could approach. He glanced at me with a stern frown. I was
after all a stranger to him and I had no idea if Robert had said anything to
him about me. He had blue-green eyes, not as deep as Charley's. The frown
disappeared when he looked at his wife and an eyebrow rose ever so slightly at
their silent communication and then he looked down at Charley with a broad
smile.
"How's my boy this morning?"
"Better than ever, Pop."
"With a broken leg and a hole in your neck
you're better than ever?" he chuckled.
"Yeah, it's true."
"And this young man behind me has something
to do with that I assume," he said, smiling at me. I could see where
Charley's smile came from. Gloria glanced at me. I grinned at her. She couldn't
help but smile back. I lost my antagonism.
"I want you to meet Jake Shipman. He is my
soul mate, Pop."
The man turned and looked me up and down. He must
have liked what he saw. He continued to smile and held out his hand. "I'm
Chester Hill, Chess. It's good to meet you, Jake. Do you feel the same toward
my son?"
I took his hand and looked at my feet for a
moment and than back up and met his eyes. I had to clear my throat before I
could speak. "Yes. Yes, Sir, I do."
He kept my hand in a firm grip. I held his just
as firmly. "You don't seem as sure about it as Charley," he said.
"It's so overwhelming. It happened so fast,
but, yes, I'm just as sure."
He released my hand, and pulled me into a tight
hug. "Welcome, into our family, Jake." He rubbed my back. My eyes got
leaky. I'd grown up with a loving mother, but I could never remember getting
more that a pat on the back from my father. When he stepped away Gloria
followed his lead and gave me a little hug, too. "Yes, welcome,
Jake." Her voice lacked the warmth of her husband's.
"So tell me about yourself, Jake."
Chess said. "Who is this man my son has fallen in love with?" He
rested one haunch on the foot of the bed.
My face felt hot as the three of them looked at
me. I cleared my throat again. "I'm a free lance writer. Several magazines
have printed articles by me. I published a novel that got some notice, but
didn't make the bestseller list. I do a bit of ghost writing to make ends meet.
And I've almost completed another novel that I hope will be more successful. My
publisher seems to think it will be. He's just given me a big advance on
it." If possible I blushed darker after blurting out my résumé.
"And what brought you to our fair
city?"
"Serendipity, kismet, chance."
"How long have you known each other?"
I grimaced. Charley spoke up. "I met him at
dinner, day before yesterday, Pop."
Mr. And Mrs. Hill looked at each other a little
shocked and then broke into big smiles.
"You're a chip off the ol' block, Son. I
proposed to your mother the night I met her."
"And did she accept, Pop?" Charley
asked.
"I most certainly did. Do you think I was
going to give this wonderful man a chance to get away?"
Gloria had wrapped an arm around her husband's
waist. "But he still had to court me for six months before your granddad
would agree to us getting married," she said.
I was amazed at how casually Charley's parents
had accepted him being gay. Charley reached out and took my hand in his. I knew
at that moment that my life's course was set. I just didn't yet know how tumultuous
it was soon going to get.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End
of Part 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~