Chapter 3

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Brian

"I told you," I sit up from the weight bench where I've been trying to work out, and look at Mikey. "I'm not going to the muncher's brunch. And that's final."

Mikey definitely looks out of place sitting in the gym in his suit and tie. "It's not for them. It's for your son."

I choose another weight and begin to lift it. "My son, he's only my son when they want my money."

"So, why punish him by not going?"

"Look, it's not as if he's gonna know I'm not there."

"Can't be sure, I read somewhere…"

"Where, Marvel Comics?" I interrupt.

He ignores me and continues. "That infants respond to things even while still in the womb. Like, for instance, tension and discord affect them adversely and playing Mozart and stuff like that makes them super smart."

I consider that for a second and laugh. "Well, how do you think the sound of two dykes going down on each other for the last nine months has affected him?" I drop my weight and stand up. "Christ, he'll probably grow up to be straight."

"All the more reason why he needs his dad." Mikey follows me into the locker room and continues to yammer at me as I undress, wrap a towel around my waist and head into the steam room. I do my level best to ignore him. "Stop acting like a…" I hear his voice, still behind me, but lost in the steam. "Where the hell are you?" I'm hoping I lost him.

"Like a child and…Brian?" Damn, no such luck, he's still here. "Jesus Christ, it's like a hundred and fifty fucking degrees in here!"

Well, you're not supposed to wear a suit in here, twat. Unless it's your birthday suit. Hmm, what's this? I stumble upon a guy sitting on a bench all by his lonesome, hand resting suggestively on his crotch. I reach under my towel and begin to stroke myself when fuck it if Mikey hasn't found me. His timing is impeccable, as usual.

"There you are.”

I turn and give him the evil eye. "What?!"

He glances at the guy and then back at me, then sighs. "Well, I was just about to say that you should rise to the occasion, you know, be bigger than they are. That is, if you can take your mind and your hand off your dick long enough."

The truth is, he's probably right. I should be there for Gus. For the first time, there's someone else in my life that I need to think about, but I'm not ready for that. I have a lifestyle and I'm fucking not ready to give it up. "I…I've got more important things to do." I'm pissed that I sound so hesitant, like I'm almost admitting he's right. I regain my composure quickly. "Now, why don't you get out of here before your mousse melts?"

"And if anybody should ask where you are?" he pants out.

"Just tell them the usual." I pull off my towel, toss it at Mikey's face and smile at my trick. "Something came up."

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Justin

Daphne and I are sitting on the diving board of her swimming pool, watching as she steers a remote control boat idly around in the water.

I swirl my legs in the water. "He said that's all I was to him. Just a fuck."

"That's a shitty thing to say."

"And that he doesn't want to see me anymore."

Daphne sets down her remote. "When my last boyfriend dumped me, I didn't hang around feeling sorry for myself. I went out and got a new one."

"When did you have a boyfriend?" I pass my cigarette to her. "Third grade?"

She takes a drag. "Last summer," she answers, obviously annoyed.

What the fuck? I don't remember any boyfriend. I thought we told each other everything. "You never told me," I accuse.

"I'm telling you now," she says, throwing my own words back in my face. Touché, Daph. "You should have seen how jealous he got. You can do the same thing. Show that Brian. Go back down there tonight; pick up some hot, hunky guy. You're not exactly a troll, you know." She lowers her lashes a bit, almost like she's embarrassed. Women are so fucking weird.

"Would you come with me?"

She furrows her brows. "What if some lesbo tries to pick me up? I wouldn't know what to do. Although, I like Melissa Etheridge a lot." She looks back at me. "Do you think that means anything?"

I laugh at her. "Maybe."

"Jesus!" she yells as she proceeds to shove me into the pool.

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Brian

I've just finished my very satisfying time with steam room guy and gotten dressed when my cell rings. I look at the ID and see that it's Mikey. He never fucking gives up. "How's the party?" I ask.

"You better get your ass over here. Fast!" He sounds pissed.

"Why? With all those bull dykes around, is there a shortage of bottoms?"

"Remember Lindsay and Melanie's invitations? The part that was in Hebrew? I just found out what that means."

I turn off my phone after Mikey finishes informing me of the muncher’s intentions and practically throw it in my bag. Fuck! How can they even think of mutilating my son like that? He's just a baby. I run out to my Jeep and take off for Dykeville.

I tear up to the house and slam up the steps. Thank God, I'm not too late, but Rabbi Guy is just now going for Gus with his little torture device. "Excuse me, Rabbi?" The man stops and looks up. I ignore him and go for the two responsible for this fiasco. "You two." I say to Lindsay and Melanie. "In the kitchen. Now!"

I head to the kitchen and of course, Melanie is right on my tail. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Barging in here? Interrupting a religious ceremony?"

"You should have asked my permission first!"

"For what?" asks Mel.

What do you think bitch? "To circumcise my son!"

"We don't have to ask your permission. We're the parents!"

"And I'm the biological father and that gives me more right than you." That ought to be a direct hit to her little lawyer heart.

Mel is livid now. "Oh, ho, ho, I see someone's been studying his law!"

Lindsay steps in. "This is no time to be having this conversation with a houseful of guests."

Mel ignores her. "Yeah, and since when did you start caring about your son? Since you haven't been to see him once since he was born!"

Well, gee, Mel, there was the time you called me over to sign a fucking million dollar life insurance policy. I decide to not even go there with her. "Well, I'm not exactly welcome."

"Bullshit! You've been too busy fuckin' everything that moves!"

Well, okay, ouch on that one.

Lindsay finally gets in Mel's face. "Can we please stop this?" Then she turns to me. "Why does it matter to you if Gus is circumcised?"

"It matters that he's been in this world for less than a week and already there are people who won't accept him for the way he is. Who would even mutilate him rather than let him be the way he is! The way he was born! Well, I'm not going to let that happen."

The Rabbi pokes his head into the kitchen. "Excuse me? Shall we proceed?"

Mel and I both turn and look at Lindsay and I almost feel sorry for her because Mel is going to be a real bitch to live with for awhile. I know I have won.

Later, we're all in the diner getting ready to begin our traditional trek to Woody's, then Babylon. I'm sitting in the booth with Emmett and his latest boyfriend, which I don't get at all because the guy doesn't even appear to speak English. Whatever. Ted and Mikey are sitting across from us.

"You really showed those dykes who's got the low hangers," Emmett comments to me.

"And for once, it was us," adds Mikey.

Debbie rushes by us carrying a full tray of food. "Deb," I call out, "can we get some service?"

"Keep your pants on," she retorts, "at least until you've had dinner." She chuckles.

"I've always said there are only two reasons to be friends with lesbians," Ted begins. "They'll never try to convince you that the only reason you're gay is because you haven't met the right woman, and, uh, they know how to change a flat."

I'll give it to Ted; sometimes he can be pretty witty. Too bad he's such a fucking loser the rest of the time. "It wasn't about them," I respond. "It was about my son. If I don't look out for him, who will?" Obviously not the fucking munchers, that's for sure.

"Wow," comments Mikey, "if you're not careful, you might turn out to be an okay dad in spite of yourself." He raises his water glass. "To Brian."

The others raise their glasses too. "Brian." Good Christ.

Finally, Deb makes it back to our table. "Okay, boys, what'll it be?"

"Nothing for me, thanks," says Emmett.

"Em, honey," Deb responds, "you should try to eat some of your protein off a plate."

"I read," retorts Emmett, "that for every thirty pounds you lose, you gain an entire inch of cock."

"So if you drop another ninety pounds, you'll have a four inch pecker," Deb cackles and we all crack up. "What about the rest of you boys?"

Everyone declines to order anything except Emmett's Asian boy. "Cheeseburger, French fry, chocolate shake, apple pie." He smiles up at Deb and we all stare at him in shock.

Well, apparently food is the universal language for all young twinks.

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Justin

"Oh, my God!" exclaims Daphne, "Look at that! Is it a girl or a boy?" She's pointing at a drag queen walking by.

We are together on Liberty Avenue and I can tell she's having the same reaction I did when I was here for the first time just a few nights ago. She's just being a bit more verbal about it. "Don't point," I push her hand down. "No matter what you see. Guys kissing guys, girls kissing girls."

"Well, what if I see a guy and girl kissing? That'd be something different down here." I stand there trying to look cool, but Daphne calls me on by bullshit. "Stop acting like you're so experienced."

I bump her shoulder. "More than you." We make our way across the street to Woody's, the bar I found Brian and his friends in the other night. "Remember what I said," I lecture Daph.

"If I see him, pretend I didn't," she says.

"Don't even look! That is if he's there, which he's probably not, but if he is, don't look." Fuck, I don't know why I let her talk me into this. We head into the bar. Here goes nothing.

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Brian

I lean over to make my pool shot and feel a hand run across my back. I look up to see a totally hot guy. He makes eye contact and then moves away. "Okay," I say as I move over to where the guys are standing. "Well, I know what I'm doing tonight. What about the rest of you?"

"Oh shit!" Michael suddenly exclaims.

"What's wrong, honey?" asks Emmett.

"My mom's here with my Uncle Vic. She didn't tell me she was going to come here."

Sometimes he doesn't get how lucky he really is having Deb for a mom. "Hey," I tell him, "not every boy is lucky enough to have a mother who is as equally at home in the kitchen as she is in a gay bar." I pinch his cheek. "Now, you behave yourself." I move away so I can continue my pursuit of hot guy.

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Justin

Daph and I scan the inside of the bar as we walk in. I spot a familiar face and head over to talk to her. "Remember me?" I say to the red headed waitress from the diner the other night. Michael's mom.

She eyes me. "Turn around," she motions. Okay. "I never forget a butt," she explains. "Especially a cute one," she cackles as she lifts my shirttail and eyes my ass. She shares a laugh with the older guy that's sitting at her table before turning back to me. "I met you in the diner with Michael last week."

"Yeah, I'm Justin and this is Daphne." I point to my friend.

"Hi, Daphne," she replies, nodding as she chomps her gum.

"Hi," replies Daphne, looking a little shell shocked by the woman. I know the feeling.

Suddenly, she spots Michael and yells, "woo!" while waving wildly at him. I almost feel sorry for the poor guy. Almost.

I try to get Deb back on track. "You know, I'm actually looking for a friend of Michael's. His name's Brian."

"Could have guessed that," remarks the other guy into his beer.

Debbie looks at me a tad sympathetically. "Honey, everybody's looking for Brian."

"Have you seen him?" I ask.

She points her finger straight ahead and makes a clicking sound. And there he is leaning against the bar in a shiny black shirt, looking just as perfect as I remembered.

"That's Brian?" Daphne breaks me out of my thoughts. "God, he's so old! And skinny! God, you could do way better than that."

Fuck you very much, Daph. "Shut up!" I tell her.

"Five bucks says he nails him before midnight," Deb says to her companion.

"You're on," he answers back.

I follow their line of sight and can see Brian making eyes at a hot guy at the other end of the bar. Fuck! I don't have a lot of time.

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Brian

I'm just about to make my move on hot guy when I hear the whiny voice of my best friend in my ear. "I am not babysitting him again! This time he's all yours!"

I turn and look at him. "What?"

"He's over there talking to my mother! The little prick!"

I look over where Deb is and fuck me if it isn't my stalker again. This time he's got a friend. They are dressed in these funky outfits that look like Ken and Barbie go clubbing. It's kind of cute really. "Leave him alone," I say to Mikey. "He's all right." Unlike the night I kicked him out of my apartment, I am in a much better mood tonight. It's kind of flattering, in a way, to be the object of such teenage devotion. As long as it's from afar and doesn't get in the way of my action.

"Excuse me?" bitches Mikey. "The noise is so loud in here I thought I heard you say he's all right."

"In fact," I say purely for Mikey's benefit. "He's kind of sweet."

"Sweet? I thought we got rid of him! I thought he was out of our lives."

Jesus, this kid really gets to him. I put my hand on his shoulder to say something and glance back briefly to hot guy. Oh shit, he's gone. "Where'd he go?"

"Who?" Michael asks.

"Who do you think? Shit, he's gone. This is all your fault. You made me look away! Fuck you, Michael!" I turn and leave, intent on finding hot guy.

I head down the steps of Woody's and out into the street. I run across and a car slams on its brakes as I stand and stare it down. I move off to the other side of the street, but I've lost him. "Fuck me!" I exclaim.

"Love to!" says a guy who's passing by. Not tonight dear. I've already got someone in mind and I will find him.

I head back towards Woody's and spot Michael standing out in front talking to some girl. "I lost him. Fuck!"

Michael ignores me. "This is my friend," he says to the girl. "Brian, this Tracey," I shake her outstretched hand and Mikey continues. "You know, uh, from the store," he says pointedly.

Ah, I get it. It's his little hetero date from a few nights ago. "Tracey, of course, from the store." Now he's going to get it for making me lose hot guy and for trying to pretend he's something he's not. "He talks about you all the time," I continue, feeling Mikey tense up in surprise.

"He does?"

"I mean, all the time," I go on.

"Okay, time to go," Mikey laughs nervously as he tries to grab my arm and pull me away.

"What's the rush?" I ask. "She's even prettier than you said, Mike. You know, he'd never tell you this himself, he's far too shy. He likes you. A lot."

"Well, uh, I think it's time we took off." Mikey smiles as he's dragging me down the street. "Bye, Trace, I'll see you Monday!"

"Yeah," she yells, "I'll see you Monday!"

He turns around and turns on me. "What the fuck did you do that for? You practically got us engaged!"

"Well, I wanna dance with the bride at her wedding." I smack his ass. "And Tracey too." I laugh at him as he swears again and we make our merry gay way to Babylon.

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Justin

I saw Brian leave and now I'm itching to know where he went. "By the way," I say casually to Deb, "where'd Michael go?"

"What time is it?" She looks at her watch. "Eleven o'clock."

"Time for Babylon," says the other guy, "the night's just starting." He takes a sip of his drink.

"Well, that's just where we're going," I say coolly. I think.

"You been there before?" asks the guy.

"Sure," I answer, "a lot."

"Really?" he asks. "I didn't know they had kiddie memberships."

Fuck. I really need to stop lying. I get caught every time. "You have to be a member?" I ask.

"Can't get in without a card," nods Debbie.

Crap. What do we do now? "Here," says the guy. "You can have mine." He hands me the card. "I'm through with it."

"He's paid his dues," Deb says, a little sadly.

I'm too excited to think about why, though. "Thanks!" I say brightly. Daphne and I say our good byes and make our way to the club called Babylon.

We wait in line and then finally get to the front. "ID?" asks the bouncer guy.

I pull out Vic's card. I read his name on it. "Right here," I try to say with confidence that I don't entirely feel.

The guy takes the card and reads it. "Born in 1952? Look damn good for your age, Vic." He hands me back the card and let's us in. Well, that was easy.

We traverse the dark hallways into the main section of the club and oh my God. The music is so loud and the air is thick with smoke and sweat. There are mostly naked dancers up on pedestals and men just fucking everywhere. Dancing, kissing, and even other things. It is exciting. It is fabulous. It is fucking overwhelming and suddenly I am scared shitless. "You want to go?" I ask Daphne, hoping I can blame it on her.

"What for? She eyes all the half-naked men. "We just got here."

"All right." I sigh inwardly. "Come on." We make our way into the sea of writhing bodies.

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Brian

As soon as Mikey and I make it in to the club, I drag him off to the bathroom. I check two stall doors and both are locked, with the obvious sounds of sex coming from inside.

"What would you do if you actually had to go?" comments Mikey.

"I don't know. Find a scat queen," I yell over the top of one of the doors.

"Gross," says Michael.

Finally a guy comes out of the stall. "Didn't your mother teach you to wash your hands?" I yell after him as Mikey and I move into the stall and I slam the door. Talk about gross. I tap the bottle and inhale the drugs, relishing the feel of them flowing through my system. "Careful, it's strong," I warn Mikey as I tap it again, readying it for him.

He inhales and smiles. "Nice."

Our foreheads are touching. "I got it from Tommy Haggert."

"He can get anything. He got me that Superman episode. The one with George Reeves. The only one ever shot in color. It was so ancient; you could even see the strings." Mikey tends to ramble a bit when he's high. "Oh, did I tell you what I got on EBay?"

"Hmm?"

"A vintage, mega Linda Carter Wonder Woman doll. Mint in box. It cost me an entire week's salary, but it was so worth it."

God, he is still such a geek. "Mikey," I snicker at him, "you are so pathetic."

I rub his upper arms a bit, and he starts talking again. "I was looking at the photo. The one of Patrick Swayze with his shirt off." He puts his hand on my arm where it still rests on his shoulder.

"Really?" I ask. "It must be all yellow by now, with come stains all over it."

"He's still beautiful."

"We owe it all to him." I breathe out a laugh, "We should write him a fan letter."

"I did."

I raise my head up. "No." He nods at me. "Really? When?"

He nods again. "A long time ago."

"What did you say?"

He shakes his head. "I don't remember. 'My friend and I think you're so hot.'“ I bump foreheads with him again. "He never wrote back."

"Fuck him. You've still got me."

We just stand there for a second and then we kiss and suddenly I feel his hand wander down my side and over to my crotch. I start to laugh, because hey, not cool, Mikey. This is not us, no matter how much you want it to be. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

He smiles up at me and laughs nervously. "Nothing, it must be the drugs." He rubs his nose.

I decide to play it off too. "Yeah," I agree. "Must be." Time to beat a hasty retreat. "Come on, let's go back." Every so often, Mikey gets like this and I have to shoot him down. Fuck, I know how he thinks he feels about me, but I could never be what he really wants. And I don't want to fuck up our friendship. He and Deb are the closest fucking thing I have to any sort of family. We head back out to the club. "Let's check out the bar. Maybe that guy you made me lose is there." Hopefully that will get things back to normal.

"I didn't make you lose him." Mike smiles and I know we're all right.

I'm scanning the club when Emmett approaches. "Time to organize a search party."

"Who's missing?" asks Michael.

"Kat-su-oh," I can only assume he's talking about his Asian friend. "I was talking to Dungeon Master Don, who wants to mummify me. Have you noticed the world is getting weirder? Anyway, I turned around and he was gone."

"I have a feeling he'll be all right," Mikey comments.

"He doesn't speak a word of English," frets Emmett. "And he's so sweet. So innocent. What if some cock hungry queen tries to have his way with him?"

Oh, Lord, I can't resist. "I thought you already did?" Emmett shoots me a dirty look.

"He's around somewhere," interjects Mikey. "I'm sure you'll find him."

"Thanks." Emmett takes off and I continue my scan off the room for hot guy.

Ah ha! There he is and he sees me. He is smiling over his shoulder as he moves into the crowd. "Target sighted. All systems go. See ya later, Mikey." I'm off like a heat seeking missile.

I move onto the crowded dance floor and then I can't see him anymore. I fucking lost him again. "Shit."

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Justin

Fuck, it's so crowded in here, I don't know how I'll ever find him. We decided to stand on the stairs that go up to the catwalks to get a better view. I finally spot him. "Look." I point. "There he is over there. There's Brian." Okay, now what the fuck do I do?

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Brian

Mikey, Emmett and I are standing one of the catwalks overlooking the dance floor. I am fucking determined to find hot guy again.

"You know, it's not that he was unfaithful, or even a slut," Emmett starts in on Asian guy again, who apparently has moved on to greener pastures. "I mean nobody's perfect. It's that he said he loved me. I mean he lied to me."

Christ, he's almost in tears now. And people wonder why I don't do love. "How could he lie to you?" I point out, "He doesn't even speak English."

"Look, I'm the one who told you that," confesses Michael, "I'm sorry."

"It's my own fault," replies Emmett. "Why do I always give my heart away to trash, huh?"

"Because you want to see it in the dumpster," is my comment, for which I get the evil drama queen eye from both men. Oh fucking well, honesty sucks, don't it? I look back down to the dance floor and yes! There is hot guy right there. "He's not getting away this time," I say as I make my way down to him.

We dance for awhile and then I spot another guy. No shirt on, buff, yeah, a threesome could be fun tonight. I motion him over and he starts dancing with the two of us and I lean over and whisper into his ear. I'm not telling what I say to him. I have to keep some secrets.

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Justin

Daphne and I are still watching the action from our spot on the stairs. Brian is dancing with the guy he's been cruising all night and now has invited another to join them.

"Is he going to do it with both of them?" asks Daphne in awe.

"He can do anything he wants," I say without taking my eyes off the threesome. Fuck it, I decide. Like Daphne says, I'm not exactly a troll. I move down the steps and start unbuttoning my shirt.

"What are you doing?" Daphne calls, but I'm not listening.

I make my way across the dance floor, tossing my shirt aside. ‘Let's Hear it for the Boy‘ is playing on the sound system and glitter is falling from the ceiling, sticking to my bare torso. I find Brian and his friends and start dancing close to them, making sure Brian's back is to me. I glance over at hot guy number one from time to time as I show off my best dance moves. Finally, he breaks away from Brian and the other guy and is dancing with me. After a few seconds, the other guy comes over as well and I'm sandwiched in between them. Hmm, what an interesting turn of events.

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Brian

That fucking little twat. I cannot believe him. I stand back and watch him with my tricks and fuck me if it doesn't make me hard as hell watching him writhe in between them. The kid can move, that's for sure. I'm tempted to leave him to it. Let him try to take on both guys and let him learn a lesson, but I can't. There's something burning in the pit of my stomach at the thought of them having Justin. I would maybe say it's jealousy, but I don't do jealousy, so I figure it must be my need to win this little game. And it's obvious now that Justin has turned into the prize.

I dance over and place my arms over both his shoulders, pushing the other two away from him as I take over the dance. Fuck, it comes back to me how hot he really is. I kiss his neck and he throws back his head, then I grab his hip and pull him closer, rubbing our cocks together as we move to the beat. I want to taste more of him, so I lick up his neck and our lips meet and we kiss, and kiss. Fuck, I forgot what a good kisser he is.

Suddenly I lift him up and he smiles down at me and fuck it if I don't smile back at him like some goofy teenager. As I put him back down and we look into each other's eyes, I realize that this kid scares me in more ways than I can count, but I can't seem to let him go. Literally, I realize, as I wrap my arms around him again.

I look up to the big screen and realize they have the roving camera on us. Mikey is still up on the catwalk watching us with our larger than life image up on three screens behind him.

All I can do is look back at him sheepishly, because I'm not even sure what in the hell just happened.