mean us personally. He means the Ronnie House."
Cameron cocked his head. "The Ronnie House?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jay said. "That's the name I've given Alma's safe home in my head. That okay with you, putting your name on it?"
"I love it. Ronnie isn't my name; it's who I was. And Livvie will be furious."
"This calls for a toast," Baron said, signaling their server. "Champagne, the best you have, and four flutes."
"Does champagne go with barbecued ribs and collard greens?" Ed asked.
"Champagne," Cameron said decisively, "is the one wine that goes with everything."
They pushed their beers to side and toasted the Ronnie House.
"You're right about the champagne, Cameron," Ed said. "I vote we order a second bottle, this time on us."
"You're forgetting we have to drive home after this," Baron said. "You two can walk back to your hotel."
"But not in a straight line if they split another bottle," Jay chimed in.
They ordered coffees instead. Beer after champagne somehow seemed very, very wrong.
When the check came, Cameron pulled two twenties out of his wallet, plunked them down for a tip, then got up and headed toward the restroom. "Do you always leave thirty percent tips?" Baron asked.
"Isn't one of those a ten? Ed, if you have a ten on you, could you switch it with one of the twenties?"
"Which twenty?" Ed asked.
"Leave her the crisp one."
"I get the impression there's something going on here Jay and I aren't in on," Baron said.
"And you don't want to know," Cameron shot back before he hurried off.
"Don't believe him," Ed told them. "You want to know, all right, but I'm not telling."
* * * *
Ed taking the twenty-dollar bill meant that Cameron would be getting a blowjob from him that night. It was what Cameron had charged during his years as a street kid. When he and Ed started dating, the first time they had sex, Ed swore that Cameron had just given him "the best fucking blowjob in the galaxy," and Cameron said, "That's because I'm a pro. If we're going to take this relationship seriously, there're a few things you'll have to know about my past."
In Ed's opinion, Cameron's blowjobs were worth a lot more. "What'd you charge for anal?" he asked.
"I didn't bottom. Not for strangers."
"Does that mean I won't have to pay you to fuck me?"
"Yeah, just for the blowjob. Everything else is on the house."
Since then, as an inside joke, they'd been passing the same old, wrinkled twenty-dollar bill back and forth when one of them wanted to be sucked off. Everything else they played by ear and came free of charge. Ed bottomed most of the time, which was fine with both of them. Once in a blue moon, Cameron would ask to be fucked, but he readily obliged if Ed was in the mood to be on top.
Lovers
The Lambda lawyer agreed to meet at the coffee shop of Ed and Cameron's hotel an hour before they were scheduled to go to Evan Marker's office. Much as he would have enjoyed seeing Mrs. Redding's face when she learned who Cameron was, at the last moment, Jay opted not to go to the meeting. The whole affair upset him too much. He simply couldn't cope with the emotional rollercoaster ride of, on the one hand, the hurt and panic brought to the surface by all-too-vivid memories, and on the other, the rage he felt that anyone would oppose using that dear old lady's house as a shelter.
After Baron left, Jay sat down with a magazine and tried to relax but found it impossible to concentrate. He got up and stood in front of the window, looking out, and let his mind wander, thinking about what Cameron had told them, comparing his experience with what he'd been through himself, daydreaming, wondering what his life would be like now if things had been different.
As bad as Jay had had it, Cameron had been through worse—not days or even weeks on the streets, but years! Jay would never have made it; the man was clearly a survivor. And now, a quarter-century later, to have to deal with the turmoil of conflicting emotions that must be tearing
Cameron cocked his head. "The Ronnie House?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jay said. "That's the name I've given Alma's safe home in my head. That okay with you, putting your name on it?"
"I love it. Ronnie isn't my name; it's who I was. And Livvie will be furious."
"This calls for a toast," Baron said, signaling their server. "Champagne, the best you have, and four flutes."
"Does champagne go with barbecued ribs and collard greens?" Ed asked.
"Champagne," Cameron said decisively, "is the one wine that goes with everything."
They pushed their beers to side and toasted the Ronnie House.
"You're right about the champagne, Cameron," Ed said. "I vote we order a second bottle, this time on us."
"You're forgetting we have to drive home after this," Baron said. "You two can walk back to your hotel."
"But not in a straight line if they split another bottle," Jay chimed in.
They ordered coffees instead. Beer after champagne somehow seemed very, very wrong.
When the check came, Cameron pulled two twenties out of his wallet, plunked them down for a tip, then got up and headed toward the restroom. "Do you always leave thirty percent tips?" Baron asked.
"Isn't one of those a ten? Ed, if you have a ten on you, could you switch it with one of the twenties?"
"Which twenty?" Ed asked.
"Leave her the crisp one."
"I get the impression there's something going on here Jay and I aren't in on," Baron said.
"And you don't want to know," Cameron shot back before he hurried off.
"Don't believe him," Ed told them. "You want to know, all right, but I'm not telling."
* * * *
Ed taking the twenty-dollar bill meant that Cameron would be getting a blowjob from him that night. It was what Cameron had charged during his years as a street kid. When he and Ed started dating, the first time they had sex, Ed swore that Cameron had just given him "the best fucking blowjob in the galaxy," and Cameron said, "That's because I'm a pro. If we're going to take this relationship seriously, there're a few things you'll have to know about my past."
In Ed's opinion, Cameron's blowjobs were worth a lot more. "What'd you charge for anal?" he asked.
"I didn't bottom. Not for strangers."
"Does that mean I won't have to pay you to fuck me?"
"Yeah, just for the blowjob. Everything else is on the house."
Since then, as an inside joke, they'd been passing the same old, wrinkled twenty-dollar bill back and forth when one of them wanted to be sucked off. Everything else they played by ear and came free of charge. Ed bottomed most of the time, which was fine with both of them. Once in a blue moon, Cameron would ask to be fucked, but he readily obliged if Ed was in the mood to be on top.
Lovers
The Lambda lawyer agreed to meet at the coffee shop of Ed and Cameron's hotel an hour before they were scheduled to go to Evan Marker's office. Much as he would have enjoyed seeing Mrs. Redding's face when she learned who Cameron was, at the last moment, Jay opted not to go to the meeting. The whole affair upset him too much. He simply couldn't cope with the emotional rollercoaster ride of, on the one hand, the hurt and panic brought to the surface by all-too-vivid memories, and on the other, the rage he felt that anyone would oppose using that dear old lady's house as a shelter.
After Baron left, Jay sat down with a magazine and tried to relax but found it impossible to concentrate. He got up and stood in front of the window, looking out, and let his mind wander, thinking about what Cameron had told them, comparing his experience with what he'd been through himself, daydreaming, wondering what his life would be like now if things had been different.
As bad as Jay had had it, Cameron had been through worse—not days or even weeks on the streets, but years! Jay would never have made it; the man was clearly a survivor. And now, a quarter-century later, to have to deal with the turmoil of conflicting emotions that must be tearing
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