Love Is Where You Find It Chapter Eight
"Stop it! You're both acting like fools," Carl yelled at Brad and me. "Who the fuck says I want to sleep with either one of you? Aaron you are acting like a simpering love sick teen ager, which you are by the way. And you Brad, you're acting like sex was some kind of sacred cow. Sex is for fun; love is a commitment. A commitment doesn't mean you can't stop having fun."
Brad and I were speechless. Instinctively he took my hand. It was an unconscious act to try to protect me from the hurt he knew that I must be feeling. Carl sat down on a chair and he buried his head in his hands.
"I'm impotent," I thought I heard him say.
"What?" Brad asked.
"I'm impotent," Carl said louder. He looked up at me and reached his hand out. I took it in mine.
"I lied to you," he said. "I didn't lose everything because of gambling. It was drugs. Jorge knew a dealer and we got high just about every night. At first sex was glorious in that condition. The high was just that, a high! My orgasms were so heightened I could barely stand it. But as we fell deeper and deeper into the abyss, neither of us could even get an erection. The only thing that rose up was our debts.
"One night, in some seedy boarding house where we rented a room, we both overdosed. The owner of the house didn't find us for about eighteen hours. Jorge was dead and I was rushed to the hospital." He stopped and looked at me.
"Ironically it was the same hospital where we recuperated from the accident. I wasn't there very long. They couldn't do much for me, and they wanted me to go to a rehab. I had no money and no insurance. I was diagnosed as being HIV positive and a drug addict, so they arranged to send me to some state run facility. It was the pits, but at least they got me sober. The only way I can stay that way, is to keep on taking the drugs they prescribed for me, but the meds continue to leave me impotent. I'll have to be on those drugs forever. Who knows if I'll ever have sex again, protected sex or not."
He was silent and then he started sobbing. His chest began to heave and he could hardly breathe. None of us could say anything. I got him a glass of water, and he drank it slowly.
"I'm sorry," he said to both of us. "Please just let me stay the night and I'll find a place tomorrow, I promise. I still have about $350 of the $1000 you gave me, Aaron, so I can make a security deposit."
"Brad said, "Why don't you stay until you have a couple of pay checks under your belt. You don't need to strap yourself. I have a feeling that Aaron is finally ready to move in with me. If you stay we can keep an eye on you and make sure you're fit to start work. When do you start by the way?"
"I'll go to the office tomorrow and get things rolling. I feel better already."
"We go to work very early," I said. "I'm just going to take work clothes for tomorrow and we'll see you when we get home. You can use my car to get to the Burger King office. The keys to the apartment and the car are on the front hall table. We get home about 4:30 so try to be here by then so you can fill us in on the events of the day.
I went into the bedroom, and took some fresh clothes for the next day. I already kept a supply of toiletries in Brad's apartment, as he did in mine. We both gave Carl a hug and left him.
The elevator was too slow for us and we bounded up the stairs. When we got to Brad's apartment, I hugged him as hard as I could. "I've been an idiot," I said.
"I know." he said, "but I love you too much to care right now."
"Fuck me, fuck me senseless," I implored Brad. I need you inside of me so I know that we are truly one body."
Brad kissed me in the special way that melted my soul and eliminated any inhibitions that might reside in me. "My pleasure," he purred in my ear.
That night as we made love, I no longer yearned for Carl. I didn't even think of him once. All uncertainty had abandoned me, and I knew that Brad and I were bonded forever. I didn't need drugs to achieve an orgasm that left me screaming from the joy of it. After we made love we fell into a peaceful sleep wrapped up in each other's arms. When the alarm went off at 4:30 AM, we were still in that position.
We stayed like that until the last possible moment. Then we did our morning necessities and showered together. It was also tough getting out of the shower. We didn't need to consider breakfast. We could always have breakfast at work.
During the day, we were oblivious to customers and staff. Every time we brushed by each other, we kissed. I think my jaw was fixed in a permanent grin. At lunch time we both ran over to the bank and asked one of the customer service reps to please interrupt Larry, who was with a client. It was really important and we needed his time for just a moment. As quickly as we could we told him about last night.
"Come over to the house this evening," he said. "I want to hear all the gory details. I love you both, my sons," he said with a slight sob in his throat.
As an afterthought, he added. "Don't bring Carl. I want us all to be able to talk freely. We'll meet him another time."
I noticed that whether Chuck was around or not, Larry always spoke in the plural. He had just said, "We'll meet him another time." I would have expected him to say "I'll meet him another time." Larry and Chuck were truly coupled. They always thought of each other in the plural. I hadn't achieved that with Brad yet, but at that second I knew it would happen.
When we got home, we went straight to my apartment. I knocked on the door and was not happy that there was no answer. Brad let us in with his key. He entered the apartment first and I heard him gasp. "Oh my God," he yelled.
I walked in behind him and cried out in pain. The apartment was in shambles. Every drawer in the kitchen had been turned inside out and the contents were on the floor. We went into the bedroom, and I flew to the top drawer in my dresser. I always kept about fifty dollars of mad money there and it was gone. My closet and my dresser drawers were cleaned out. Most everything I owned was gone. I ran to my bedroom window. I was able to see the parking lot and my car from there. Of course, the car was gone too. Also gone were several beautiful living room accessories that Daryl had purchased for me. I figured that the only reason he would take more than clothes was for drug money. I sat down on my bed and started to cry.
Thank God Brad took charge. He called the police and my insurance company. He also called a locksmith's emergency number. Then he called Larry and Chuck and told them what had happened and cancelled our date. They said that they would be right over.
The locksmith was actually the first to arrive. He changed the locks and gave me two keys. I gave one to Brad and asked him to please make a duplicate for the management office.
The police arrived as the locksmith was finishing up. They were in the apartment for a long time taking my statement, and pictures of the appearance of the apartment. They looked for fingerprints even though we were able to identify the perp. Before they arrived, Brad had already taken pictures for the insurance company. He especially took pictures of the empty closets and empty drawers. He assured me that Daryl could get invoices to prove the value of the missing accessories.
Larry and Chuck arrived just as the police were leaving. The sweethearts had brought us dinner. I didn't think I could eat anything but once I tasted the food, I ate it all.
To his credit, Brad never said `I told you so.' But I said, "Brad honey, you were so right. I should never have answered his letter. What a fool I am."
Brad put his arms around me and pushed my head down on his shoulder. "Well, don't take this wrong," he said. "I'm kind of glad this happened. Now you can get him out of your system and love me as fully as I love you."
"Here, here," I heard Chuck say.
"I got him out of my system last night," I said to Brad. "Couldn't you tell that when you were fucking me?"
"TMI boys," Larry warned us and started laughing.
We all went about replacing all the kitchen stuff that Carl had thrown on the floor. When the kitchen was looking normal we straightened out the other rooms. That was easier. The living room had gaps where the stolen accessories had been and the bedroom looked normal until you opened the closets and drawers.
Brad helped me change the linen on the bed. I didn't know if Carl had slept on my bed at all, but I didn't want to risk sleeping on sheets that he had slept on.
When they saw that there was nothing more that they could do, Chuck and Larry took their empty dishes with them and went home. Brad said that he would stay with me. We didn't want to leave the apartment in case the police had something to report to us.
They did. At about 11 PM, the detective who had taken my statement called. He told me a hair raising story.
At about 9:30 PM a highway patrolman spotted the stolen car coming off the Oakland Bay Bridge. He put his flashers on, but the car didn't stop. Instead the driver increased his speed. He was driving way too fast and very erratically. At one point, he had reached a speed of 110 mph. He lost control of the car at an over pass. He hit the railing and flipped over. The car fell 25 feet onto the road below and burst into flames. It was a miracle that he didn't hit another car, and that all the other cars on the road were able to avoid the conflagration. The detective noted that it was fortunate that it was way past rush hour.
The driver was killed outright, the car was totaled and the contents of the car were destroyed. It was almost impossible to tell if my belongings had been fenced prior to the accident or not. At any rate, nothing could be salvaged. An autopsy was being performed to determine if alcohol or drugs was a factor. "Confidentially," the detective said, "he was so badly burned, I don't think that they will be able to determine anything."
"How ironic," I said to Brad. "He survived the bus accident only to end up like this. The money he received in settlement directly led to his death. What a waste."
Brad said, "Thank God you were wiser and more mature about how to handle the settlement money."
I thought I should be having some feelings about the death of someone I thought I loved, but strangely, I didn't feel anything. I was emotionless. I felt nothing at all until Brad put his arms around me, and then I felt comforted, safe and protected.
The next day, Brad insisted that I take the day off to start replacing my stolen goods and to get my insurance claims going. I may have had money in the bank, but I was still in the habit of being frugal. I went to a nearby Chevrolet dealership and purchased a late model, low mileage used car. It was fuel efficient and serviceable. I had to call Larry to help me figure out how I was to pay for this.
When he arrived at the dealer, he told me that he took the rest of the day off to help me get back to some sort of normalcy. He handled the finances with the car salesman while I called the insurance company to get the car insured and to remove the demolished car from the policy. I told the insurance agent that I was coming over to fill out the claim forms. They had already started a numbered file based on Brad's call from the day before.
The dealership said I could pick up the car in three or four hours. They wanted to spiff it up for me.
Then Larry and I went to JC Penney where I always bought my clothes. The salesman must have been glad to see me because I had to buy everything from socks and shoes to shirts, ties and jackets. Larry took particular delight in choosing the sexiest underwear for me, which he insisted was his treat. I whispered in his ear that neither Brad nor I wore underwear. "You will need them for special occasions," he said. I decided not to argue.
Next stop was the police station, where I was given a copy of the burglary report. The investigating detective gave me the report and told me that the corpse was too damaged to autopsy, just as he had suspected. My stomach began to churn and I got out of there quickly.
We had a quick lunch in a coffee shop, and then we went to the insurance company. My agent read the police report and made a copy for his files. The report not only contained the details of the burglary, but the detail of the accident as well. I told him I could get him pictures if he needed them and invoices for the expensive accessories..
"Don't bother," he said. "The maximum claim for lost contents on your renter's insurance is $1,000, so that's all you'll get. It won't be a problem. Your loss was obviously greater than that. As for the car, you'll get blue book value. Even though lots of work had been done on it, we can't reimburse you for that.
On the way out of the insurance office I said to Larry, "Between the uncollectible promissory note, the lost contents of my apartment, and the automobile, Carl managed to cost me plenty of bucks in spite of your best efforts to protect me.
We both laughed ironically. "By the way, son," Larry said. "You're a big boy and a frugal one. Let's go back to our old arrangement. This arrangement is too complicated. I just have to move some money around to minimize your loss, and then we'll go back to normal."
Larry drove me back to the car dealer, and he left me with a kiss. He went home and I went back to Wendy's to wait for Brad. I decided that I wanted to take him out for a celebration dinner. I still had my credit card.
About two weeks later we went to contract on the house of our dreams. We must have seen a zillion houses and I could tell that our agent was getting a wee bit annoyed with us. Too bad! This was a big move for us and we didn't want to settle. Larry had helped us get pre-approved for a mortgage which was greater than we would actually need, so neither we nor the seller had to worry about not being approved.
The house was situated on a corner lot on our dads' street. Our back yard abutted the back yard of a lesbian couple and the house next to us was owned by a gay couple. They were the same age as Chuck and Larry, and they in turn, were separated by two houses. All of this was a selling point, especially when we found out that these couples were good friends of our dads and we would have met them last New Year's Eve had I not so inconveniently collapsed. In fact, the evening we went to contract we were invited to our dads' house, along with Nurse Matt, for dinner. After dinner our new neighbors came in to meet us, and to wish us many years of good health in our new home. Larry and Chuck kept hugging us. They were the two happiest people I had seen in ages, not counting Brad and me of course.
The seller gave us permission to come over with Daryl. We wanted him to help us decorate. He liked what he saw and made copious notes. We had him and George over for dinner a few nights later. After dinner, he toured both of our apartments and suggested what we should take to the new house and what we could sell or give to charity. For sure that was going to make our move a lot easier.
We spent our days off packing, meticulously marking each box as to contents, and what room the box should be put it in. When we took a break we made love to each other. Now that there were no barriers between us, we could not get enough of each other. Strangely, achieving orgasm seemed less important than just touching, caressing, fondling and plain old fashioned cuddling. That's true love.
On the evening before the move, we slept in Brad's bed. We still had my bedroom set. It was slated for bedroom two in the new house. Before going to bed we showered together, making sure that our bodies were nearly antiseptic. Now we were ready to celebrate our last night together before our final commitment to live together.
Our kisses were long and sensuous. Every time I tried to move down Brad's body, he tried to do the same to me and we were making no progress. Finally we had to agree to play sixty-nine. It was not our favorite thing to do, because we both found it distracting. However, this night we were both so aroused that it turned out to be wonderful. I was sucking Brad's cock which I always loved to do, and he was returning the favor.
My orgasm was coming before Brad's and I was too excited to keep on sucking him. I had to stop until he brought me to orgasm. When I calmed down slightly I took him back into me, concentrating only on his pleasure. We both swallowed every bit of our cum, and then hugged so tightly nothing could have come between us. It was a marvelous way to fall asleep.
We were up early to greet the movers. We had been packing for weeks and had brought everything to the new house ourselves. All the movers had to do was to move the big pieces of furniture. By noon of moving day, all the furniture they had brought was set up properly in the new house. Previously, we had unpacked and gotten rid of all the boxes that we had moved over to the new house. The contents of the boxes were all stowed where they should be, including all our clothes.
Brad took my hand and walked us into the master bedroom.
"Behold OUR bedroom," he said. Then he leaned into me and kissed me, taking my breath away.
"Welcome to our new life," he said.
To be continued...