Chapter Twenty – Roy
I soooo don't want to be here – stuck, like marooned on the Disney Wonder for six more days of torture with a couple hundred ten-year-olds. No, I don't want to be photographed with Goofy. No, I don't want to play slip and slide on the Fantasy Deck. No, I don't want to make my own mac-'n'-cheese on a bun. I just want to lie in my cabin and jerk off while I think about sucking Mike's dick.
This was my father's idea, originally. Instead of messing with turkeys and all that stuff - see, he knew my Momma wasn't too swift in the kitchen - we'd all go on a cruise for Thanksgiving, which was fine when we were ten, my sister and me. Actually she's a year and a half older and is hating this more than I am. I wonder who she thinks about when she … whatever it is girls do to get off. Anyway, for a few years it was fun until we had figured out that all those islands look alike, all the cruise ships are the same, and most of the chefs aren't a whole lot better than Momma. My dad, however, likes order. Everything calm and predictable and the same every year. So here we are AGAIN on this cruise that nobody enjoys any more, not even my dad. “It gives your mother some time off.” That's his latest excuse.
I wanted to be home. It seems like forever since that Halloween weekend that started out like a horror movie and ended like nothing I'd ever been part of before. I couldn't believe how shitty Mrs. Smith was to Mike and he just took it. The stuff she said about his family was … I mean even if it was true, nobody should say those things. A person can't help what his family is – or was. Mike never said a word back to her. He just walked away. Vicky was pissed when I went with him, but he needed help more than she did. Besides, my clothes were all at Mike's house. I gotta say he drove scary-fast to get there.
“You want to change and then I can take you home,” he half-asked and half-told me when we got to his house.
“I thought we'd be spending the night at Vicky's. Nobody's expecting me home. I don't even know if they're there.”
He looked at me and shrugged. “You can stay here, I guess. The couch is pretty comfortable. I used to sleep on it before I bought the bed.”
“Sure,” I gulped.
“And it's been a long day. So, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna check the chickens and go to bed.”
“Let me get into real clothes and I'll help you … if you want.”
“Sure. The coop is to the right.” He didn't need to tell me that. I had seen the chickens before and even now, in the dark, I could hear them cackle. I changed into my normal clothes and followed him. It turned out I couldn't help. There wasn't much to do.
“I just need to make sure they're safe, that nothing can get at them,” Mike explained as he checked the gate to the yard and the exposed sides of the coop. “We thought about putting a chicken wire top over the yard, but nothing gets in very often. I guess they know if they get in they can't get out.”
“Who are they?”
“Critters ...” he said without enumerating 'them'.
After helping not a lick, I followed him back to the house. He got me a sheet and a blanket. “If you get cold, there's another blanket in bottom of that cupboard. I'm going to bed.”
We took turns in the bathroom and turned in for the night. I tossed and turned. The couch wasn't quite as comfortable as Mike had said, plus, over and over I replayed the evening in my mind. What a bitch Mrs. Smith was! So what if Mike's family was poor. Mine wasn't all that rich, not like some others around here. Not like the Smiths or the Perrys or even the La Gerbilles. That wasn't Mike's fault. And getting married or not … how important was that? His parents took care of him the best they could, I guess. And he was doing ok now, as far as I knew. And … JESUS! WHAT was THAT? A long mournful howl was followed by barking.
I hurried and opened the bedroom door. “Mike! What was that?” I couldn't tell if I woke him or not.
“Oh, just some critter. Maybe a dog. Maybe a fox checking out the chickens. Nothing to worry about.”
I returned to the living room couch and got as comfortable as I could. The blanket had a nice smell, like pine and something else. Then I heard the porch boards creak. And creak again. What was that? A scratching on the door! Jesus!
“Mike, something's trying to get in the door.”
A chuckle came from the darkness of Mike's bedroom. “One of them critters … don't worry, it can't get in.”
“Are you sure?”
He turned on a bedside light and held back the blanket. “You can sleep in here if you want.”
I closed the bedroom door and got a little talkative in my nervousness. “Don't know what I'm worried about. If you're not, I mean … You sure you're ok with this? Me sleeping with you?”
“It's a big bed. God knows we've been in bed together before.”
He was so calm, so self-assured, the way I used to think I was. The blanket smelled the same as the one in the living room. It was a nice smell. I wiggled around getting comfortable. “Mike?” I began.
“Shh. Let's sleep,” he said.
And he did. I heard his regular breathing. There was something good about having him close by. I'm not sure how long it took, but I fell asleep too. There was only one thing that disturbed the night and I wasn't altogether sure about it.
When I woke in the morning, I was alone. The smell of bacon was in the air. A small patch of sunlight high on the wall told me it was early morning. I went to the door.
“There you are,” Mike said cheerfully. He was cooking. He waggled his eyebrows. “We're having eggs, of course.”
I used the bathroom and got dressed as quickly as I could. He put a plate of eggs and ham and bread and something green in front of me and then joined me with his own plate. “Hope you like it,” he said as he took a forkful.
The eggs were amazing and I told him so. “Fresh out of the chicken. It makes a big difference.” We ate in silence for a bit and then I had to ask about the night before.
“Mike ... Last night … Did you kiss me?”
He looked briefly perplexed. “Probably. Butch said I used to kiss him in my sleep all the time.”
“Oh ...”
“Sorry. I mean, if ...”
I leaned over and almost panicked. What am I doing? But I was half into it and went ahead. I kissed him. It tasted of eggs and butter and bacon and Mike. I didn't want it to end, but it did. I pulled away and looked down at my plate. “I liked that,” I said to him referring to this latest kiss and then looked up again.
“So did I,” he said and we both relaxed. Some kind of deal had been struck, a pact between us. I wasn't sure about the terms but I wasn't worried. I smiled. He smiled. And we finished breakfast. I even ate the kale and I hate kale. We cleaned up and went back out to the chicken coop.
“See these marks. Something, probably a 'coon tried to beat us to the eggs.” We went into the yard and the birds clustered around for their feed. “”Now we steal their eggs,” Mike said. He collected half and told me to get the rest. I was standing on the ramp to the hen house ready to stick my head in when I looked at him to see if I was doing the right thing. The ramp made our height the same. I couldn't help it. I kissed him again. And then he put his arms around me and kissed me back. “I think I've been wantin' to do that,” he said more to himself maybe than to me.
We returned to the house with the eggs. Then with our hands free we kissed again in the kitchen, then some more in the living room, and then in the bedroom. Despite all we had done with Vicky, it was different being naked with Mike, just the two of us. It was exciting and new. I was afraid to look at him. I buried my face in his chest and then I gave him another blow job. I think I did ok, maybe better than ok. We didn't stop. He reciprocated and we still didn't stop, touching, exploring, kissing. I was awestruck when he said, “Fuck me.” I was still trembling after I came. I couldn't have got out of bed. I was sure my legs would work. And still we continued touching, kissing, and talking a little.
“Who was Butch?” I asked. I felt nervy asking him such a direct personal question.
“Somebody I loved once,” he answered. “Somebody who lived here with me.” We went back to making out for a while. “He was the first real friend I ever had.” I knew he meant way more than just friend.
The early morning patch of sun had moved down the wall and onto the bed. It made Mike's eyes bright. He looked impossibly handsome to me and I think I could have looked at him all day. I think that vision would have been more than enough for me, but what about Mike? I had already come twice, to his once. I could feel that he was hard again and letting me do anything. It was my turn. “Mike, you want to fuck me? I think I'd like that.”
“Too soon,” he said.
“I've never done it before, but I want to do it for you.”
“Too soon,” he repeated and looked at his alarm clock. “We have been in bed all day. You know that?” I nodded vigorously; it had been the best day of my life. “If you want to go to my cousin's for dinner, we need to get a little cleaned up.”
“Too soon,” I said which made him laugh. The blow job I gave him make him groan; I think I was getting good at it. He told me I was, but he would say that – he's just that nice.
So you can see why I ached to be with Mike instead of stuck on this fucking cruise ship. I went up to the Dumbo Deck and watched the waves roll by. Suddenly I caught a whiff of pot smoke. I looked around and saw a guy smoking furtively. I walked over to him and he offered me a hit. It was skankweed, but at least it was something to do. A way to pass the time. There were other ways. Later in his cabin I fucked him. I'm not sure he liked it much, but it was something to do. A way to pass the time. By the end of the cruise I think he got to like getting fucked. He said he did. And, for sure, it did pass the time.
But he wasn't Mike. Not even close.