Part Seventeen
Reston was a good teacher, as Luke predicted. I couldn't understand all the trouble people were having with the stat course. After a couple of weeks Reston made an announcement that he had been notified that a number of complaints said the course was too hard. “I have a suggestion for you. Statistics students fall into two groups: those who see it and see how the numbers only express a flow of data representing the world and those who don't. If statistics is going to be important to your future work, you had better be in the first group. If statistics isn't important, if it's just a check-off on your requirements list, don't waste your time trying to understand it. Just memorize the formulas and know when it's possible apply them. Then in the future you can hire a statistician to do it for you. You are all smart enough for that. You'll probably get a B that way and you'll save yourselves a lot of agony.”
Since I was in the first group I spent the rest of his pep talk looking at the front of his pants, trying to imagine the probability that his dick was longer than seven inches erect. I didn't lust after Reston, but he was easy on the eyes. This was a little distracting during some lectures, but I had it under control.
I wished that were true about Z. He seemed to have arrived at some private accommodation with our unfortunate night of sex and was back to his old charming, sexy, and great-looking self, which was only making my cock drip most of the time I was around him. Constantly replaying that one night in my memory gave me blue balls. Of necessity, I became … I guess slutty is the word. I let some anonymous guy jack me off in a toilet stall at school. I let one of the X-ray techs at the hospital blow me. I even fucked a guy who gave me the eye on the Park Street. His pickup was really uncomfortable, but I was desperate.
I considered spending a night with Luke. I knew he'd let me, but that was too close to home. We had so much fun together on the job, I didn't want to risk that; and he was my best friend. I could tell him anything and if he didn't have an answer he'd at least give me encouragement. Plus, he was always telling me flattering things about myself and who doesn't like that, even when you know they're mostly bullshit. And … well, he didn't hesitate to mess with me, like with the little old lady grabbing me by the balls. He KNEW she was going to do that. And I can laugh just thinking of him laughing.
So one sunny morning I was sitting in the kitchen considering a repeat with the guy in the pickup. He wasn't so bad; he was clean, at least. He lived on Otis and his wife worked predictable hours. I was wondering if maybe we could use his house this time. A phone call from Andrew interrupted my scheme. “Out of the Fog”, a local magazine that mostly promoted restaurants, had seen us in Advertising Age and wanted to do a follow-up.
“How come you always call Duong and Chengyu first?” I demanded.
“Because I know they'll say yes, and then you have to, and Z will do anything you want. This one won't be a bad deal. No nudes, free nights at some local clubs and restaurants, and you'll get paid. You gotta wear the shorts, though; everybody looooves the shorts.”
I wasn't sure what he meant about Z. “The shorts again, Jeez. Have you had any porn offers?”
“Funny you should ask. Nothing Triple X-rated, but Girls Night Out made an offer.”
“No shit. How much?”
“$2,500 for stills, but you have to show an erection.”
“Come on, you'd pay me that much.”
For once Andrew laughed. “That's exactly what I told them,” he said, “but they wouldn't budge.”
“Ok, but I'll have to ask Z. Can we do it in the morning? I have classes most afternoons this term and Z is working lunches almost every day.”
“I don't know; it's always foggy in the mornings at this time of year.”
“Do it over here. You know, the 'sunny' side of the bay.”
“I wonder if we could use your college.”
“Are you kidding? In a minute. You could probably use one of my professors.”
Andrew had a hundred wheels turning before the phone cooled off.
Mark came into the kitchen and was making himself some instant coffee. He made a ritual groan and held his head, but he didn't seem actually hung over. “Twenty-five hundred if you pose for 'Girls Night Out', Mark. But they want the full monty - hard.”
“Really?” His face lit up with his best smile.
“That's what Andrew said. Give him a call if your interested.”
Mark looked both ways, as if there was a crowd in the kitchen, and dropped his jeans. “You think that's good enough?” he asked, turning one way and then the other.
“The package seems to be complete if that's what you mean.”
“You know what I mean, Eric. How do I look to you? Porn quality?”
“It's a chick magazine. I'm not a hundred percent tuned into their idea of a hottie, but you look ok to me.”
“Just ok? Would you do me?”
“Haven't we had this conversation before? I absolutely would not do you, but not because of your looks. You look fine.”
“So you would do me! I knew it!” In a burst of energy, he pulled up his jeans, grabbed his coffee, bent down and kissed me on the top of my head. “Thanks, Eric. I'll call Andrew from my room. Z, I'm gonna be a porn star!”
Z came in looking charmingly bewildered by Mark and I wanted to hug him; of course I always wanted to hug him. “What?” he asked. I told him about Andrew's twin offers and he said, “Sure, I'll do it.” I asked if he meant both offers and he said, “Yes, if you're doing it.”
“They'll pay five thousand if we have sex.”
Z turned red and stammered.
“Kidding. I'm not doing the Girls thing. Do one of those spreads and ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you're finished. That's what Maddie said. The regular work will pay off better; and if it doesn't, well, then maybe … I don't know; but I'm not taking the Girls offer.”
“Ok.” And that was all he said for a few minutes. “When is the Fog shoot?”
“Andrew's gonna work it out. I asked for a morning somewhere local.”
“Good idea.” Z's blush was still evident when I left the room.
I had a couple of hours to kill so I messed with Tony's mystery box and gave up again. I grabbed my school stuff and walked over to Duong's boat. Z with the advantage of a car was already there talking to him. We all agreed on asking that the shoot be local. Duong said, “The big guys would tell us to get stuffed, but I think we can get away with bossing Fog around.”
“I hope Chengyu has a lifetime supply of those shorts; everybody loves 'em,” Z said. The sun hit him and he looked breathtaking.
Duong saw it, too. “You guys are so great to look at; you're crazy for each other. You want me to take a walk? You can have a good forty minutes on the boat.” Duong got up and moved toward the dock.
“Duong, big mistake. There's nothing going on,” I said. Z just nodded.
Duong looked at us skeptically. “You sure had me fooled. The way you two look at each other ... Chengyu said the same thing.”
“Nothing going on,” I repeated.
“Wow. Shit. And I told Xuefei you had moved on.”
“I have moved on. But not with anybody.”
Z was bothered by the conversation and left early for work.
“I put my foot in it, huh?” Duong asked after Z left.
“He's straight, Duong.”
“Bullshit. Nobody, especially nobody our age is all the time in every circumstance straight. You, Eric, are Z's exception. And don't bullshit me that you aren't nuts about him.”
“Nothing's going on, D.”
“Well, ok, if you say so.” He felt my erection and opened my jeans. “So that leaves forty minutes for us.” He looked at me with a question in his expression and reminded me what a sucker I am for an earnest young Asian. I slid my jeans down and he went to work. He gave me a thorough and unhurried blowjob that turned into a sixty-nine. I don't need forty minutes to come and neither did Duong; I think we were finished in thirty-eight.
That afternoon I asked Reston if he'd like to be in a photo shoot. He agreed immediately if he could get a plug in for his company. All I could tell him was maybe and he still said yes. Everybody wanted to be famous, even a little.
Later at the hospital, I asked Luke, “If the opportunity came up, would you be in a photo shoot with me?”
“Fuck, no. I'd kill the sales of whatever you were pushing.”
“No, you wouldn't.”
“Truth is, if I was ever in a single ad my ex-wife would see it and find me. She'd pester me forever.”
“I never knew you were married.”
“You thought I spent all my life waiting for you?”
“No, no. You have never said anything about it, that's all.”
Luke shrugged, “She tried. I tried. It worked for a few years and then it didn't work. She wanted a lot of money and all that kind of thing and I wanted a quiet life not trying too hard. I got the quiet life, I just didn't think it would be alone.”
So much for my theory of everybody wanting to be famous; but maybe it has to do with age. Even in the time I'd known Luke he had mellowed. The crazy stuff at the Tiki used to wind him up when I first knew him; now he just watches it and laughs. Or mostly laughs.
We got a call from the Tiki and it seemed one guy had fallen down the stairs. Luke didn't laugh. “I think his roommate pushed him. I bet there's some abuse going on.” Both roommates swore it was an accident. “Weren't you in the ER a month ago with a bruised arm?” Luke asked the uninjured man. He said yes and Luke let it drop until we were alone. “Something isn't right there.”
“To change the subject completely, what do the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G men to you?”
“Nothing. Why?” Luke asked and I told him I was working on a puzzle.
I got home and Mark was still wired. “Eric, they want me. I'm not going to be the main guy with my own spread, but I'm going to have a bunch of pictures in a Men of Northern California feature. Andrew says my dick's good and ...”
“Andrew would like a dog's dick.”
“Come on, he's not that bad. And he said he would do me, uh-hem, Eric, HE would do me.”
“What is your obsession? You want to get fucked, Mark? Bend over. I'll do it right here. Right now.”
“I thought we had agreed on a blow job. I'm not ready for that ass-fucking stuff.”
I gave him noogies on the noggin. “We haven't agreed on anything, numb nuts.”
All I got for my trouble was a beatific smile. “At least four pix, Eric.” Shit, the asshole was kind of cute when he tried.
Z and Laurie were still out and I went to bed. The house was quiet, although I could hear Mark messing around. Then he came into my room. “Hey, Eric,” he said. He wasn't sitting at the foot of my bed as usual, he was lying alongside me, fairly close. “I'm not dealing any more, did you know that?”
“I do know the police haven't been around in a while. Thanks for that, Mark.”
“I'm kind of doing finance deals for other people. But it doesn't pay so much right away. I kind of need to do this nude shoot.”
“That's ok, Mark. None of us is going hold it against you. Z and I, we were nude in the last shoot. And Laurie … well, you know.”
“Yeah, but you and Z were 'arty' nude. I'm gonna be 'porn' nude, balls ass naked as they say. And Andrew said even my grandmother will hear about it.”
“At least he warned you. Maybe he's not a complete asshole.” Mark was quiet, so I continued, “You don't have to do it. It's not too late.”
It was a poignant moment and then I felt something on the sheet covering my thigh.
“Is that your cock on my leg?”
“Oh, sorry. I'm getting a bit of a chubby.” He made no move to remove himself and I felt his cock harden more, sliding upward over my thigh. He put his hand on my arm and said, “Seriously, you wouldn't want to mess around a little?” He felt my cock. “You're hard too. Jeez, you're big.”
I moved his hand away and discovered he was completely naked. “Mark, I don't get it. You are straight. I truly believe that. But you keep throwing yourself at me. What's going on?”
“Girls Night Out isn't the first offer I've had. At Iron Island I got an offer to do porn, a lot of money; but I don't know what that's like, gay porn, I mean. I thought you could show me. I'm afraid to try it with somebody I don't trust. You can fuck me; just not right away, ok? Can we work up to it?”
He put my hand on his cock and I felt something wet; it was on my arm, though, not in my hand.
“Are you crying?” A sob wracked his body.
“I'm scared to death, Eric. Chinese gangs; Mexican gangs; black gangs. If they don't get me, I'm headed for jail. Porn seems like a way out. At least it's legal. Everything's a mess and I can't go home. And I'm trying to have sex with the one guy I trust and I know you don't want to. I just don't know what else to do.”
I put my arms around him and let him cry a little. “Tomorrow, I promise you is going to be fix up Mark day. No porn. No unwanted sex. No drugs. No gangs. No police. We are going to reinvent you.”
He pulled himself together and before leaving for his own bed gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. “You're the best man I know.”
“I'm going to introduce you to a better one.”
