The Gus Diaries

Part 136

Prom Season II
 

“Wow, Gus, that was totally hot!” I knew I had impressed Jeff, but he rarely verbalized it with such enthusiasm. “The way your tongue teased me from top to bottom, literally, was amazing. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to breathe normally again.”

Chuckling, I stood up to get us a warm washcloth. Both of us were a sticky combination of spunk and sweat, but that’s the consequence of three rounds, and three orgasms each. I felt like I could go again, but decided it probably wasn’t the best plan since both of us were still panting heavily.

Memories of that weekend with Jeff still get me hard. We spent the weekend, studying, fucking, at his basketball practice, fucking, talking, and fucking. It was perfect!

I still remember one of our last conversations before I left.

“Newbie, I’ll be home for the summer in just a few days. It’s one of the benefits of college life. We finish the semester before the end of May.”

“Then we can plan for prom weekend.”

“You bet, Gus!” Jeff locked his lips with mine.

“Mmm.”

“Glad you still like a good kiss.”

“I’ll never tire of your kisses.” I know I sounded overly romantic, but that’s how Jeff makes me feel.

“Do you think your dads will spring for a limo on prom night?”

“I think they might. They may even let us stay at the loft in Pittsburgh. That way we can stay out later and we can double with Marci and her date.”

“Is she still going out with Drew Boyd’s brother?” Despite having met him several times at Britin over the years, Jeff was still a big fan of Uncle Drew.

“Rick and Marci are still hot and horny for each other.”

“Hey, Newbie, you usually don’t talk about Marci like that.”

“What are you talking about?” I stood up from the bed, threw on my sweatpants, and grabbed a towel, getting ready to take a shower.

“I mean, you usually talk about who Marci is dating or how she’s doing. You never talk about her and her boyfriend having the hots for each other.”

“Whenever I see them at Grandma Deb’s they always seem to be clinging to one another. I guess it’s my reaction to having to watch them in action when you’re nowhere to be found.”

“Whoa!” Jeff practically jumped out of bed and placed his hands squarely on my shoulders. “You always know exactly where to find me.”

Lowering my head, I bit my lip. I had no idea why I’d snapped at Jeff. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just anxious to be with you more than just on the weekends.”

“Like I said, Gus, it’ll just be a few more days and then all this separation crap will be over.”

“I know. I was just overreacting. Besides, Marci deserves to be happy and Rick is a really nice guy.”

“Not to mention a great catch.” Jeff chuckled.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I wasn’t sure why I was sounding so defensive or threatened, or whatever the fuck it was.

“Calm down, Gus. Why are you so agitated? You have been this whole weekend. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I guess it’s just the end of school, finally being with you, and actually getting to go to my senior prom with my boyfriend and no drama at St. James. I still can’t believe all the shit Pop went through when he was a kid.”

“Your Pop really did have it bad when he was in high school. I’m glad we haven’t really had to deal with any of that crap.”

I nodded. It was still hard to imagine how someone could ever hate Pop enough to try and kill him for dancing with Dad and kissing him. “I’m heading to the shower. Are you coming?”

Jeff raised an eyebrow. “We’re still at the dorm. No private showers until we’re home.”

“Right. Solo showering with only one purpose.” I stared at Jeff and licked my lips. “What a waste! So are you coming to clean up?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

After I left the room, something inside told me to hold back outside the door for a minute. Jeff must have pressed one of the buttons on his cell phone because the next thing I heard was, “Hi, Justin. I think you’re right. Gus is a little off this weekend but I can’t figure out why.”

....

“No, I don’t think it’s anything serious. We had a great time together and got a lot of studying done for finals.”

....

“Okay, if you say so. I’ll see you in a few. Bye.”

What the hell was Pop worried about? I was bringing home great grades and meeting all my responsibilities ahead of time. No wonder Dad sometimes accuses Pop of borrowing trouble. He’s such a worrier.

 

*~*~*
 

Two days later I turned in my next assignment at the Pittsburgh Gazette. The editor loved it. It was great making money in my chosen field. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell Dad and Pop.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen at Britin, the first thing I noticed was Dad sitting at the kitchen table. He was still in his suit from work.

“Hi, Dad, did you just get home from work?”

“No, Sonny Boy, I just got home from Michael’s store. He said you’d made a commitment to helping him uncrate a few boxes and never showed up.” Dad glared at me and I could feel a bead of sweat forming on my forehead. “Michael knows you don’t work at the shop consistently anymore, but when he was counting on your help in advance of a big release, you should have shown him the courtesy of honoring your commitment.”

“They’re just fucking comic books. No one really gives a shit anyway.” The minute the words came out of my mouth I wished I could retrieve them.

“So no one gives a shit about Rage, but it nearly became a feature film?” He stood up and stepped right in front of me. It felt like the walls were closing in. “No one gives a shit about Spiderman but they made a Broadway show out of it. Oh yeah, and that little nothing called Superman spearheaded the careers of several major Hollywood actors.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. I screwed up and shouldn’t have blown off Uncle Michael. I’ll go there tomorrow and apologize.” I spun around on my heel, deciding I’d tell Dad about the article at dinner after he had time to cool off.

“Gus Taylor Kinney, you’re not fooling us at all, believe me!”

Turning around slowly, my eyes narrowed.

“I’ve unfortunately partaken of far too many illegal pharmaceuticals in my younger days to miss the signs. Justin isn’t too far behind me.”

I kept my mouth shut, not willing to incriminate myself. Unfortunately, I actually snorted, imagining taking the Fifth on a stool at Red Cape.

“Talk, Sonny Boy. What are you taking?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Dad. I just have a lot of energy. School’s finally almost done and I’m getting great grades.”

“I’m not falling for it, Gus. Justin and I have noticed significant changes in your behavior over the past couple of weeks.” He rolled his lips inward. “So have your friends. We asked.”

“So you’ve been bugging, or even worse, interrogating Jeff?” I was getting really pissed off.

“And Marci, but neither thought we were bugging or interrogating them, as you so charmingly put it. They’re worried about you too.”

“I suppose Marci told you about the pills I’ve been taking at lunch time.”

Dad’s eyes widened. Damn! Marci hadn’t said a word -- I did it, myself.

“They’re perfectly legal. It’s not like I’m using crack or crystal.”

“Gus, if you’re taking prescription medications while not under a doctor’s care, that is illegal, and probably fucking up your entire system unnaturally from top to bottom.” I smirked at his choice of words. “The fact that you’re picking up on my phrasing and focusing on that, rather than the real problem, says it all. What the fuck are you putting in your formerly healthy and stable body?”

“Stop yelling!”

“He’s not yelling, but I sure as shit will if you’re screwing up your health for a little added lift during finals season!” The look on Pop’s face was one I hadn’t seen since his last interaction with his father.

“I don’t know what the big deal is. You both smoked dope, and snorted shit all the time when you were my age.”

“First of all, all the time is a huge exaggeration. And when we discussed it with you, we also told you about other poor choices we made and I don’t see you repeating those.” Pop was gripping the edge of the kitchen island. I saw his knuckles turning white then red.

“Oh, you mean like Dad throwing you away, or you walking away all the time because neither of you could get it right.” Another sentence I wished I could take back the moment I let it loose in the room. If only I had some duct tape to seal my lips shut. My thoughts were running ten steps ahead of me and I started feeling dizzy.

“Your Dad and I screwed up, and screwed each other over, a few times. It was part of the mistakes we made as we grew up, and grew more in love. But neither of us has had any illegal shit since I left for New York.”

“What about drinking?” I wasn’t sure why I was still arguing, but something inside kept pushing me to fight back. The pills were doing their job and I didn’t want to stop taking them.

Dad brushed his hand over his face and stared at me. “Drinking is legal when you’re over twenty-one.” Dad moved closer to me and the room started spinning. “Gus, what’s wrong.”

I waved my hand in the air. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

The rest of the day is a blur of words and lights. I probably shouldn’t have increased the dose of the pills. It must have made me sick, but I was getting so much accomplished I couldn’t just take one... or two... each day. I had the money, so I treated myself to a few extras. I still remember Jeremy saying, “No more, Gus. Too much of this stuff may really fuck you up.” He actually wanted to cut me off.

“I’ll report you to the school and the police if you don’t get me more.” With that one phrase I had Jeremy exactly where I wanted him and I was able to increase my dose to four pills a day.

The room seemed to fall into shadows and light. Beautiful waves passed before my eyes. In the background I heard Pop yelling, “Call 911!”

“I am! What the fuck do you think I’m doing?”

Too much yelling. I did need some sleep and the kitchen floor felt cool under my cheek. Couldn’t help wondering what I was doing on the floor though. Then it all went black.

[TBC]

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