Shade was waiting for me when I entered the small bedroom. He was lying on the bed in only his underwear. He looked over and told me I had better lock the door.
I removed my underwear and lay next to him. He asked almost in a whisper, “Have you ever done it before?”
I nodded and said, “Yeah.” Rollie and I had experimented, but we were too afraid to do it completely. With Shade, it was experimentation. We made love for two hours. When it was over, we had both lost our virginity.
Shade laughed uncontrollably when I yelled into the air, "Hey, Mrs. Shade. I'm not doing anything to your son."
"She won't care," he laughed. "They're probably doing the same thing right now." He grabbed his mouth and pretended to throw up. "I think I made myself sick."
I kissed him and said, "You didn't get sick a few minutes ago when we did it."
"True," he replied as he kissed me."
I looked over at the clock. It was past midnight. “They should all be asleep. We’ll just take a quick shower, and then we’ll get back in bed. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we don’t have to worry about getting up and going to school.”
It was anything but a quick shower.
We were awakened in the morning by someone knocking softly on the door. I was spooned against Shade with my arm wrapped around his waist. He moved slightly when the rapping continued. He muttered sleepily, “You going to get that?”
“I wasn’t,” I moaned as I pulled back the cover. As I climbed out of bed, I stopped to admire Shade’s naked body curled up on the bed. I still couldn’t believe the incredible feelings we had experienced just hours earlier. I never imagined that I could be so much in love with someone else.
I pulled the sheet over Shade to cover his nakedness, just in case it was Karen at the door. I pulled on my underwear and cautiously opened the door. Curtis peeked inside and asked, “You guys asleep?”
I opened the door wider and answered sarcastically, “We were. What do you want?”
He pointed over to the exercise equipment. “I need to work out,” he said. He looked down at the cast on his arm. “I haven’t done anything since I broke my hand.”
I asked, “Can’t you do it another time?”
He looked disappointed and replied, “Yeah. I guess. I’ll come back down this afternoon.”
I moved away from the door. “No” I said. “Go ahead. We were going to get up anyway.” I looked over at Shade, and he rolled his eyes.
“You sure?” asked Curtis. “I don’t want to interfere if you guys want to do something.”
It suddenly dawned on me that Curtis had perhaps planned to come down to see if we were doing something. He had on a couple of occasions asked me if I wanted to mess around with him. I was beginning to wonder if he thought he could join in a threesome with us. I walked over and sat down protectively beside Shade. I had no desire to have sex with Curtis. As I told Shade, I was a one guy guy. I was hoping Shade felt the same way. However, I wasn’t sure after he had seen Curtis naked.
Shade pointed to the floor and asked me to hand him his underwear. I looked over to see if Curtis watched as he put them on, but he didn’t. He was lying on the weight bench lifting a set of barbells with one hand.
Suddenly, someone else knocked on the door. It was Rodney. He looked over at Curtis and then at me. “You guys care if I come in? I wanted to work out for a little while.”
I laughed and replied, “You might as well. We’re awake now.” Rodney looked down at Shade and me sitting in our underwear. The remainder of our clothes were strewn all over the floor.
Rodney grinned and said, “Looks like you guys had fun.”
My face reddened as I stood and headed toward the door. I announced nervously, “I have to go to the bathroom.” Rodney laughed and slapped me on my back on the way out.
After using the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I went back to my room. I was surprised that Shade was lying on the bench lifting weights as Rodney spotted him. Curtis was walking on the treadmill watching them.
Rodney gave me a sly glance and said, “I figured you might like him with a little more muscle.”
I walked over and looked down at Shade. “I like him just the way he is,” I said.
Curtis giggled and said, “I bet you do.”
It surprised me when Rodney told Curtis, “Your boyfriend could use a little more muscle, too. He’s too skinny.”
By the look on Curtis’s face, it appeared he had seen a ghost. His face whitened before turning a scarlet red. He turned off the treadmill and stammered nervously, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Rodney continued to spot Shade who looked like he would rather be anywhere other than between Curtis and his brother. “I’m talking about Joshua,” replied Rodney nonchalantly. “He’s kind of soft.”
Curtis headed for the door, but Rodney stepped in front of him to block his way. Curtis attempted to step around him, but Rodney put his hand on his chest. He looked sympathetically at his brother and said almost in a whisper, “You need to talk about it, Curtis.” He looked over at me and down at Shade. “If you can’t do it now, you’ll never be able to do it.”
Curtis asked defensively, “Talk about what?”
I stepped in front of Curtis and faced Rodney. “This isn’t a good idea,” I said.
“Sure it is,” insisted Rodney. “Curtis needs to talk about it. He needs to know that we don’t care if he’s gay.”
“I’m not gay,” replied Curtis as he stared defiantly at his brother.
Rodney responded, “Come on, Curtis.” He stepped around me and stood in front of his brother. I walked over and sat down beside Shade on the bench. I felt we should leave so they could discuss the issue, but Rodney wouldn’t have started talking about it if he didn’t want Shade and me present. I think he thought that since we were gay, it would give Curtis more confidence to come out to him.
Curtis walked over and sat on the bed. He buried his hands in his head and muttered, “I ain’t gay.”
Rodney sat down beside him and patted his leg. “I’ve known for a few years now.”
Curtis glanced over at me and then told Rodney, “I’m bi.”
Rodney laughed slightly and said, “Gay, bi. What difference does it make?” He put his hand on Curtis’s shoulder and said softly, “You’re my little brother. I don’t care if you like guys, girls or sheep.” He started laughing and added, “Well, maybe sheep is going a little bit too far.”
I wanted to say something, but I figured this was a conversation that Curtis would have to deal with himself. Besides, if he couldn’t discuss it with Rodney, he would never be able to discuss it with anyone.
We watched as Curtis fidgeted on the bed. It was obvious that he was facing a turning point in his life. Rodney had given him the opportunity to open up. Looking at him, I wasn’t sure he would take it.
Finally, he said softly, “Okay, maybe I do like guys a little bit.”
Rodney smiled and said, “Thanks.” He then patted Curtis on the back.
Curtis asked, “So you’re not mad?”
Rodney laughed, “Why should I be mad?” He shoved Curtis’s shoulder. “Now maybe you’ll stop being such a douche.”
Curtis laughed and replied, “Yeah, I guess I have been lately.”
Rodney playfully shoved Curtis again. “I was ready to kick your ass.”
Curtis shook his head sorrowfully. “Man,” he said, all this stuff builds up inside your head and you don’t know what to do with it.” He looked over at me and smiled. “If it hadn’t been for Casey, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Shade put his arm around me and pulled me toward him. “We all need to face ourselves,” I said. “Once you get past the all the mess, you realize that things aren’t as bad as they seem.” Curtis nodded his head.
Rodney playfully shoved him again. “But does it have to be Joshua?"
Curtis shoved Rodney back. “But he’s cute.”
Rodney laughed and replied, “I wouldn’t know.” He stood and held his hand out to Curtis. After helping him up, he put his hand on his shoulder and started leading him from the room. “We got some talking to do.”
On the way out, Curtis looked at me and mouthed, “Thanks.”
After they left, Shade commented, “That went well.”
“Yeah,” I said. I kissed him and added, “But you know what is better?” He giggled when I reached down.
When I kissed him again, he moaned and said, “I think I’m getting ready to find out.” I went over and locked the door.
Shade left around noon. He was anxious to get home and spend time with his father. He had called him earlier, and they made plans to go bowling. He invited me to go, but I knew they needed time alone. There was a lot to catch up on.
I was lying on the sofa with Lane watching an old Star Wars movie. I had seen it before, but Lane hadn’t. He was fascinated with R2-D2 and C-3PO. He would jump up and imitate them every time they appeared. He had me laughing several times with his antics.
He was pretending to be a robot when we heard someone coming downstairs. Lane frowned and then ran over and sat down beside me. I looked up as Curtis entered, followed by Mike.
Mike took a seat in one of the recliners while Curtis sat down beside Lane, grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the channel to ESPN.
“Hey!” shouted Lane. “We was watching Star Wars!”
Curtis replied, “So?”
It surprised me when Mike glanced quickly at me and then told Curtis, “Turn it back to the movie. I haven’t seen Star Wars in years.” Reluctantly, Curtis changed the channel. He then put his feet on the coffee table, stretched out and watched the movie. Mike did too, but occasionally I noticed him glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
I couldn’t understand why Curtis had invited him home. His arm was still in a cast from their altercation in the hall. Yet, they had come downstairs like friends. Occasionally, Curtis would look over at Mike and make a comment about something funny in the movie.
I stood to get a soda from the kitchen. I asked Lane if he wanted something, and he told me to bring him a glass of orange juice. “I’ll take a Coke,” replied Curtis, even though I hadn’t asked. He looked over at Mike and asked, “What about you?” Mike shook his head and said he didn’t want anything.
As I was pouring Lane’s juice into a glass, Mike entered the kitchen. I positioned myself in case he wanted to start trouble. Instead, he went over to the refrigerator, opened it and took out two Cokes. When he turned, we were standing face to face. He asked nervously, “How’s things going, Casey?”
I put the cap on the juice and placed the container back into the refrigerator. “All right, I guess,” I replied coldly. I walked over and took a Coke and a Mountain Dew from the refrigerator.
When I turned to go downstairs, Mike stepped in front of me. He stared me in the eyes and said, “Look, Casey. I’m sorry about all that stuff we went through.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I replied as I tried to step around him. I had no intention of ever being friends with Mike again. There was very little he could say or do that would change my mind.
Curtis gave me a weird look when I plopped down on the sofa and handed him a Coke and Lane his juice. Mike hadn’t come back down yet. He looked over and asked, “Did you and Mike talk?”
I rolled my eyes and replied, “Nope. He has nothing to say I want to hear.”
“Come on, Casey,” pleaded Curtis. “He’s trying to make up.”
Lane took a swig of his juice, and then said, “Mike’s a douche.” He looked over at me and giggled, “Ain’t he, Casey?”
Before I could agree, Mike came back downstairs and sat in the recliner. He didn’t look over the rest of the movie.
When the movie ended, Curtis grabbed the remote and turned it to Sports Center. He then took out his phone and called someone. He asked them, “You ready?” He then looked over at Mike and said, “Yeah, he’s here.” The person on the other end spoke for a minute before Curtis ended the call with “We’re on our way.”
He looked over at Mike and asked, “You ready to go get Joshua?”
Mike glanced quickly at me. He shrugged his shoulders and shrugged, “Yeah. I’m ready.”
Lane asked, “You’re not bringing him back here, are you?” I was curious as well. It was bad enough to spend my afternoon with Mike in the same room. I certainly didn’t want to spend the evening with him and Joshua.
“Naw,” replied Curtis as he and Mike stood. “We’re going to go get him, then we’re going to Mike’s to play some video games.” He looked down, grinned and then wiggled his eyebrows.
When they left the room, I shook my head. I wasn’t sure if Joshua was aware of what he was getting into. But then again, he probably did. By the conversation that he had with Curtis, he seemed to know that the three of them would be together.