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smackenzieIt didn't occur to Laurie until almost eight that night that he'd never asked Parrish where he lived, and Parrish had never told him. Their brains had clearly been fried by the dirty talk. Well, he'd just have to call the guy in the morning.
The rest of the day and night passed without incident. Laurie did the dishes, went grocery shopping, practiced a little bit, showered, shaved, and went off to work, and the only strange thing that happened there was when he ducked into the break room to see if anyone (namely Danny) had called his cell, and he walked in on two girls making out on the couch. They sprang apart immediately. One of them was a waitress named Pilar, who blushed and couldn't look Laurie in the face, but the other girl was a total stranger - he guessed from her dressy clothes that she was either a diner or on her way to or from a party. The other girl, who was wearing a red cocktail dress and strappy shoes, looked at Laurie and grinned coyly, the kind of grin you gave someone who caught you doing something in public that people usually did in private. Like he'd caught her with her panties around her ankles and her dress hiked up above her hips, her body pressed against the wall of a building and her lover pressed against her, when her whole motive for having sex outside was so someone could catch her doing it.
"Want to join us?" she purred, licking her lips suggestively. Pilar ducked her head, trying to hide her face in the other girl's shoulder.
"Uh... no," Laurie said. "I don't think Pilar wants to share." Pilar shook her head.
"Mmmm."
"I just wanted to check my voice mail." Laurie scooted past them to the locker where he'd put his stuff. He unlocked it, dug around in his jacket pockets until he found his cell phone, and punched in the numbers to listen to his voice mail. There were two messages, one from Parrish with another apology ("I really don't have phone sex often, although maybe I should") and directions to his house, and one from Danny, who sounded a little baffled and only slightly worried that he still couldn't remember how last night ended.
Shit, Laurie thought. He had some explaining to do. Tomorrow.
He went back to the dining room without a second look at the girls on the couch and managed to push Danny's problem to the back of his mind. He couldn't really concentrate on it and serving people at the same time. He'd thought Danny knew he was working the dinner shift tonight, and so wouldn't expect a reply right away anyway.
It started spitting rain on the way home but cleared by the time Laurie got to his apartment. He had one message on his answering machine, this one from Lea - "So? When are you going to see him? I want details, Laurence." Uh-huh. Right. She'd get them eventually.
Laurie wrote himself a note reminding himself to get a bottle of white wine and to call Danny, and then he went into the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth, stripped out of his clothes, and climbed into bed. He fell asleep in about three minutes, and if he dreamed about anyone he didn't remember in the morning.
Thursday was a lot like Wednesday had been, except without the lingering Blind Pig drama and without the phone call to Parrish of the beautiful voice. Laurie went to see his mom because he hadn't seen her in almost a week. He gave her the smoking report - thirteen months, two weeks, three days since his last cigarette - and she gave him the Danny report - one soccer practice, no girlfriend, he thought he might want to go to the University of Vermont for college.
"Vermont?" Laurie said. "Why?"
"I don't know." His mom poured more milk in her coffee. "He wants to go visit it now."
"Better do it soon. Oh, I don't know if he told you, we got a gig at the last minute. It's Monday. Yeah, I know it's a school night, but we're on first, we're the support band. It's at Underworld and I'm pretty sure that on a weeknight they'll let him in. He'll just get a stamp on his hand so he can't drink."
And I'm gonna make damn sure no one BUYS him a drink, Laurie mentally added.
"We go on at eight," he went on. "I think we get an hour and a half, so even with breakdown I can get him home by ten-thirty or eleven at the latest." His mom looked like she was about to protest, so he added "You're the one who wanted me to try and get him into our next show."
"You're right, I did," she conceded. "Do you know why he and Briana broke up?"
"I don't know." Laurie hoped the truth didn't show on his face. "I think they just didn't want to go out any more. Sometimes you just kind of drift."
"It's too bad. I liked her."
"I think he still wants to be friends."
His mom didn't say anything, just finished her coffee and asked if he wanted another bagel or something. He said no, thanks, one was fine.
"What are you up to today?" she asked. "I gather you're not working lunch."
"Nope, I have the whole day free. I should practice and work on some songs." He didn't tell her he had a date, although he wasn't sure why. Maybe because he didn't know if it would lead to anything, and he knew how much his mom hated his one night stands. Even if this was a one night stand with a cute, cultured, apparently sophisticated boy, not to mention one who could make him come over the phone.
On second thought, that was a very good reason to NOT mention the date to Mom. She wanted him to be happy and she wanted to know what was going on in his life, but she didn't need to hear all about the sex. She didn't want to hear about the sex.
They chatted a little about things in their lives and then Laurie left, after making his mom promise to let Danny go to the Underworld show on Monday. Laurie would make sure he got home by eleven.
Later that day - when Laurie was in the liquor store, in fact, looking for a nice pinot grigio or a sauvignon blanc to go with Parrish's risotto - Danny called him on his cell, this time sounding a little more worried than before that part of Tuesday night was a blank. Danny usually had a better memory than that, especially when he knew part of what he couldn't remember involved a hot boy who could kiss.
"I'm in the liquor store," Laurie said, "can I call you when I get home?"
"How long's that gonna take?" Danny asked.
"Ok, hold on." Laurie put the bottle he'd picked up back on the shelf and went outside and around to the back of the store. There was a small parking lot back there, but mostly it was pretty private, for being outside. He wasn't worried about people overhearing this conversation. "Now what's the problem?"
"What happened Tuesday night?"
"We went to the Blind Pig, met Lea, I met a boy, you met a boy. You danced. You figured you were probably gay. You weren't wigged." He shrugged, as if Danny could see him. "That's it."
"So why don't I remember how I got back to your apartment? I remember dancing with that guy, Dave, and I remember kissing him and liking it. And then it gets kind of fuzzy. I had one beer, Laurie, I'm not that big a lightweight." To Danny's credit, he didn't sound like he was panicking yet. Maybe he wouldn't. Laurie wasn't sure what to say to him, though.
"Do you normally go out and remember every single detail of your night?"
"Well, no, but this is like I know something happened and I just can't remember it. Like you don't really remember your dreams in the morning, you just get kind of a feeling what they were about. So I have kind of a feeling."
"What kind of a feeling?"
"I think I remember Dave feeling me up in a hallway."
"He did."
"He did? And I stopped him? I didn't like it?"
"No, I stopped him." Laurie leaned against the back wall of the liquor store. He could see what was coming.
"Why?" Danny's voice had an edge of annoyance. He was generally too zen of a kid to get really pissed off, but annoyance wasn't good either.
"Because I didn't like him, ok? I didn't like how he looked like he was going to take advantage of you." He could practically hear Danny blinking disbelievingly over the phone. It was a little like talking to Lea that way. "I thought he'd figured out you were a little confused and he was going to get you wasted and... I don't know, force you or something. Take advantage." Now would be a good time for some of Parrish's words, Laurie thought. This wasn't going so well.
"You pulled a guy off me because you thought he was gonna molest me? What, you don't think I can take care of myself? You don't think I knew what I wanted?"
"You didn't! Shit, Danny, the only reason we were there was so you could figure out what you liked and didn't like. If you knew you wanted a boy we would've gone somewhere else."
"I liked him. I remember that much. It wasn't true love and I don't think I'd wanna fuck him, but come on, Laurie, I'm pretty sure I was having a good time."
"It was also time to go home."
"Yeah, why'd we go back to your house, and why'd I wake up in my clothes?"
"Because you were pretty much asleep by the time we got there and it was just easier."
"Why didn't you take me home?"
"Because. Trust me, Danny-boy, ok? Dave was bad news. There'll be other boys."
"What don't I remember? It keeps not being clear and it's kind of freaking me out."
"You don't remember some dancing, some kissing, and yeah, he had you flat against a wall and was rubbing up against you, and yeah, you were both hard." Laurie took a breath, and before Danny could say anything else he rushed in with "I'm pretty sure he put something in your beer. That's why you don't remember."
"Like, what, that date-rape drug?" Now Laurie knew Danny didn't believe him.
"Maybe. I don't know, I didn't take it to a lab for testing. I just know I found you guys in the back hall by the bathrooms and if I hadn't known better I'd've thought you were stoned. You couldn't stand up, that's why we went back to my house and not Mom and Jeremy's."
"...Fuck."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"That fucking asshole. That shit happens to trashed sorority girls. I wasn't even buzzed."
Laurie sighed. But at least Danny was pissed at the right person.
"Tell me you didn't know that kind of thing happens at the Blind Pig," Danny said.
"I didn't know. I swear. Do you think I'd take you anywhere I thought some little prick was going to drag you off and molest you? Think about it. I was just as freaked out as you are. Lea bitched out the club manager. I got Parrish to take you back to my apartment and I called Mom and said you'd had a bad fish or something and you weren't feeling well. Danny, listen to me, ok? I didn't know. I'm really sorry." He let his head thunk back against the brick of the wall. It was kind of cold and damp. "I'm glad I didn't get there any later. I'm kind of glad you don't remember."
"Asshole," Danny muttered, but Laurie wasn't sure any more who he meant.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, ok. I gotta go. At least I know now, I guess."
"You asked," Laurie reminded him.
"Thanks, Mom, I know."
"Call me tomorrow, ok? You can bitch at me all you want. I didn't want you to be all traumatized by your first gay boy. Oh, shit, I'm working dinner. So leave me a pissed-off message if you want."
"I'm not mad at you. I don't think."
"It wasn't supposed to happen like that."
"I figured." Laurie thought he heard Danny sigh. "This is more complicated than I thought. Great. I'll talk to you later." And he hung up.
Laurie didn't think it had gone that badly, but he wasn't sure what would be good, under the circumstances. Danny wasn't pissed off at him, apparently, although if Laurie had had his way, his half brother never would've learned what that kid Dave had tried to do to him. Laurie didn't want Danny thinking that the only reason he liked the boy was because he was drugged.
But the kid was right - it was a lot more complicated than either of them had expected. Laurie's sexual awakening, or whatever you wanted to call it, was relatively easy, in the sense that he never thought to question who he was. He'd always liked boys. It was just a fact, like the fact that his hair was brown and he was right-handed. He'd always accepted it. Danny hadn't, so of course he'd run into some twists as he tried to redefine himself. Laurie had just hoped that the twists would be a little more benign.
Well, there wasn't a lot he could do about it now, was there? Danny had to work it through himself. Laurie would keep trying to help if Danny wanted him to, although maybe next time his "help" wouldn't involve abandoning his half brother to a stranger on the dance floor. He'd just keep a closer eye out next time, that was all. Or they'd go somewhere besides the Blind Pig.
He went back inside the liquor store and eventually found a nice sauvignon blanc, a $15 bottle from a winery in Australia. That should do just fine. He'd learned that while you could go wrong with Australian wines (just like you could go wrong with South African wines or Californian wines or even French and Italian wines), the middle-range stuff was usually pretty good. And he'd heard of the vineyard - the restaurant sold a pinot grigio and a merlot from the same label - and the sauvignon blanc was generally regarded as a good crisp white. He wasn't much of a wine drinker himself, but he listened to other waiters and chefs and diners when they talked grapes.
And if Parrish didn't like it, or it turned out to be a bad year, or something else, well, Laurie would just have to make it up to him somehow. He was pretty sure he'd be able to think of something.
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total words: 34,316
The rest of the day and night passed without incident. Laurie did the dishes, went grocery shopping, practiced a little bit, showered, shaved, and went off to work, and the only strange thing that happened there was when he ducked into the break room to see if anyone (namely Danny) had called his cell, and he walked in on two girls making out on the couch. They sprang apart immediately. One of them was a waitress named Pilar, who blushed and couldn't look Laurie in the face, but the other girl was a total stranger - he guessed from her dressy clothes that she was either a diner or on her way to or from a party. The other girl, who was wearing a red cocktail dress and strappy shoes, looked at Laurie and grinned coyly, the kind of grin you gave someone who caught you doing something in public that people usually did in private. Like he'd caught her with her panties around her ankles and her dress hiked up above her hips, her body pressed against the wall of a building and her lover pressed against her, when her whole motive for having sex outside was so someone could catch her doing it.
"Want to join us?" she purred, licking her lips suggestively. Pilar ducked her head, trying to hide her face in the other girl's shoulder.
"Uh... no," Laurie said. "I don't think Pilar wants to share." Pilar shook her head.
"Mmmm."
"I just wanted to check my voice mail." Laurie scooted past them to the locker where he'd put his stuff. He unlocked it, dug around in his jacket pockets until he found his cell phone, and punched in the numbers to listen to his voice mail. There were two messages, one from Parrish with another apology ("I really don't have phone sex often, although maybe I should") and directions to his house, and one from Danny, who sounded a little baffled and only slightly worried that he still couldn't remember how last night ended.
Shit, Laurie thought. He had some explaining to do. Tomorrow.
He went back to the dining room without a second look at the girls on the couch and managed to push Danny's problem to the back of his mind. He couldn't really concentrate on it and serving people at the same time. He'd thought Danny knew he was working the dinner shift tonight, and so wouldn't expect a reply right away anyway.
It started spitting rain on the way home but cleared by the time Laurie got to his apartment. He had one message on his answering machine, this one from Lea - "So? When are you going to see him? I want details, Laurence." Uh-huh. Right. She'd get them eventually.
Laurie wrote himself a note reminding himself to get a bottle of white wine and to call Danny, and then he went into the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth, stripped out of his clothes, and climbed into bed. He fell asleep in about three minutes, and if he dreamed about anyone he didn't remember in the morning.
Thursday was a lot like Wednesday had been, except without the lingering Blind Pig drama and without the phone call to Parrish of the beautiful voice. Laurie went to see his mom because he hadn't seen her in almost a week. He gave her the smoking report - thirteen months, two weeks, three days since his last cigarette - and she gave him the Danny report - one soccer practice, no girlfriend, he thought he might want to go to the University of Vermont for college.
"Vermont?" Laurie said. "Why?"
"I don't know." His mom poured more milk in her coffee. "He wants to go visit it now."
"Better do it soon. Oh, I don't know if he told you, we got a gig at the last minute. It's Monday. Yeah, I know it's a school night, but we're on first, we're the support band. It's at Underworld and I'm pretty sure that on a weeknight they'll let him in. He'll just get a stamp on his hand so he can't drink."
And I'm gonna make damn sure no one BUYS him a drink, Laurie mentally added.
"We go on at eight," he went on. "I think we get an hour and a half, so even with breakdown I can get him home by ten-thirty or eleven at the latest." His mom looked like she was about to protest, so he added "You're the one who wanted me to try and get him into our next show."
"You're right, I did," she conceded. "Do you know why he and Briana broke up?"
"I don't know." Laurie hoped the truth didn't show on his face. "I think they just didn't want to go out any more. Sometimes you just kind of drift."
"It's too bad. I liked her."
"I think he still wants to be friends."
His mom didn't say anything, just finished her coffee and asked if he wanted another bagel or something. He said no, thanks, one was fine.
"What are you up to today?" she asked. "I gather you're not working lunch."
"Nope, I have the whole day free. I should practice and work on some songs." He didn't tell her he had a date, although he wasn't sure why. Maybe because he didn't know if it would lead to anything, and he knew how much his mom hated his one night stands. Even if this was a one night stand with a cute, cultured, apparently sophisticated boy, not to mention one who could make him come over the phone.
On second thought, that was a very good reason to NOT mention the date to Mom. She wanted him to be happy and she wanted to know what was going on in his life, but she didn't need to hear all about the sex. She didn't want to hear about the sex.
They chatted a little about things in their lives and then Laurie left, after making his mom promise to let Danny go to the Underworld show on Monday. Laurie would make sure he got home by eleven.
Later that day - when Laurie was in the liquor store, in fact, looking for a nice pinot grigio or a sauvignon blanc to go with Parrish's risotto - Danny called him on his cell, this time sounding a little more worried than before that part of Tuesday night was a blank. Danny usually had a better memory than that, especially when he knew part of what he couldn't remember involved a hot boy who could kiss.
"I'm in the liquor store," Laurie said, "can I call you when I get home?"
"How long's that gonna take?" Danny asked.
"Ok, hold on." Laurie put the bottle he'd picked up back on the shelf and went outside and around to the back of the store. There was a small parking lot back there, but mostly it was pretty private, for being outside. He wasn't worried about people overhearing this conversation. "Now what's the problem?"
"What happened Tuesday night?"
"We went to the Blind Pig, met Lea, I met a boy, you met a boy. You danced. You figured you were probably gay. You weren't wigged." He shrugged, as if Danny could see him. "That's it."
"So why don't I remember how I got back to your apartment? I remember dancing with that guy, Dave, and I remember kissing him and liking it. And then it gets kind of fuzzy. I had one beer, Laurie, I'm not that big a lightweight." To Danny's credit, he didn't sound like he was panicking yet. Maybe he wouldn't. Laurie wasn't sure what to say to him, though.
"Do you normally go out and remember every single detail of your night?"
"Well, no, but this is like I know something happened and I just can't remember it. Like you don't really remember your dreams in the morning, you just get kind of a feeling what they were about. So I have kind of a feeling."
"What kind of a feeling?"
"I think I remember Dave feeling me up in a hallway."
"He did."
"He did? And I stopped him? I didn't like it?"
"No, I stopped him." Laurie leaned against the back wall of the liquor store. He could see what was coming.
"Why?" Danny's voice had an edge of annoyance. He was generally too zen of a kid to get really pissed off, but annoyance wasn't good either.
"Because I didn't like him, ok? I didn't like how he looked like he was going to take advantage of you." He could practically hear Danny blinking disbelievingly over the phone. It was a little like talking to Lea that way. "I thought he'd figured out you were a little confused and he was going to get you wasted and... I don't know, force you or something. Take advantage." Now would be a good time for some of Parrish's words, Laurie thought. This wasn't going so well.
"You pulled a guy off me because you thought he was gonna molest me? What, you don't think I can take care of myself? You don't think I knew what I wanted?"
"You didn't! Shit, Danny, the only reason we were there was so you could figure out what you liked and didn't like. If you knew you wanted a boy we would've gone somewhere else."
"I liked him. I remember that much. It wasn't true love and I don't think I'd wanna fuck him, but come on, Laurie, I'm pretty sure I was having a good time."
"It was also time to go home."
"Yeah, why'd we go back to your house, and why'd I wake up in my clothes?"
"Because you were pretty much asleep by the time we got there and it was just easier."
"Why didn't you take me home?"
"Because. Trust me, Danny-boy, ok? Dave was bad news. There'll be other boys."
"What don't I remember? It keeps not being clear and it's kind of freaking me out."
"You don't remember some dancing, some kissing, and yeah, he had you flat against a wall and was rubbing up against you, and yeah, you were both hard." Laurie took a breath, and before Danny could say anything else he rushed in with "I'm pretty sure he put something in your beer. That's why you don't remember."
"Like, what, that date-rape drug?" Now Laurie knew Danny didn't believe him.
"Maybe. I don't know, I didn't take it to a lab for testing. I just know I found you guys in the back hall by the bathrooms and if I hadn't known better I'd've thought you were stoned. You couldn't stand up, that's why we went back to my house and not Mom and Jeremy's."
"...Fuck."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"That fucking asshole. That shit happens to trashed sorority girls. I wasn't even buzzed."
Laurie sighed. But at least Danny was pissed at the right person.
"Tell me you didn't know that kind of thing happens at the Blind Pig," Danny said.
"I didn't know. I swear. Do you think I'd take you anywhere I thought some little prick was going to drag you off and molest you? Think about it. I was just as freaked out as you are. Lea bitched out the club manager. I got Parrish to take you back to my apartment and I called Mom and said you'd had a bad fish or something and you weren't feeling well. Danny, listen to me, ok? I didn't know. I'm really sorry." He let his head thunk back against the brick of the wall. It was kind of cold and damp. "I'm glad I didn't get there any later. I'm kind of glad you don't remember."
"Asshole," Danny muttered, but Laurie wasn't sure any more who he meant.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, ok. I gotta go. At least I know now, I guess."
"You asked," Laurie reminded him.
"Thanks, Mom, I know."
"Call me tomorrow, ok? You can bitch at me all you want. I didn't want you to be all traumatized by your first gay boy. Oh, shit, I'm working dinner. So leave me a pissed-off message if you want."
"I'm not mad at you. I don't think."
"It wasn't supposed to happen like that."
"I figured." Laurie thought he heard Danny sigh. "This is more complicated than I thought. Great. I'll talk to you later." And he hung up.
Laurie didn't think it had gone that badly, but he wasn't sure what would be good, under the circumstances. Danny wasn't pissed off at him, apparently, although if Laurie had had his way, his half brother never would've learned what that kid Dave had tried to do to him. Laurie didn't want Danny thinking that the only reason he liked the boy was because he was drugged.
But the kid was right - it was a lot more complicated than either of them had expected. Laurie's sexual awakening, or whatever you wanted to call it, was relatively easy, in the sense that he never thought to question who he was. He'd always liked boys. It was just a fact, like the fact that his hair was brown and he was right-handed. He'd always accepted it. Danny hadn't, so of course he'd run into some twists as he tried to redefine himself. Laurie had just hoped that the twists would be a little more benign.
Well, there wasn't a lot he could do about it now, was there? Danny had to work it through himself. Laurie would keep trying to help if Danny wanted him to, although maybe next time his "help" wouldn't involve abandoning his half brother to a stranger on the dance floor. He'd just keep a closer eye out next time, that was all. Or they'd go somewhere besides the Blind Pig.
He went back inside the liquor store and eventually found a nice sauvignon blanc, a $15 bottle from a winery in Australia. That should do just fine. He'd learned that while you could go wrong with Australian wines (just like you could go wrong with South African wines or Californian wines or even French and Italian wines), the middle-range stuff was usually pretty good. And he'd heard of the vineyard - the restaurant sold a pinot grigio and a merlot from the same label - and the sauvignon blanc was generally regarded as a good crisp white. He wasn't much of a wine drinker himself, but he listened to other waiters and chefs and diners when they talked grapes.
And if Parrish didn't like it, or it turned out to be a bad year, or something else, well, Laurie would just have to make it up to him somehow. He was pretty sure he'd be able to think of something.
words: 2523
total words: 34,316
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Date: 2003-11-14 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-15 02:17 pm (UTC)