“Ah, I love New York!” Teddy declared.
With their luggage safely stowed in the spacious trunk of Alistair’s charcoal Lincoln Continental, and his passengers safely ensconced in the back seat, Geoffrey maneuvered his way through the massive airport complex as Teddy maneuvered his way through the bar in the back of the car. Jeremy was plastered to the window on the right side of the back seat, opposite Teddy, with Rafael in the middle.
“I love everything about New York,” the man continued as the car merged onto the Van Wyck Expressway. “I love the special hatefulness of the New Yorker in the morning, the special way garbage collects on the corners when the sanitation workers go on strike, the fragrance of fresh urine in the subway…”
“Oh, come on, Teddy,” Rafael exclaimed. “You don’t expect us to believe that you’ve ever actually ridden the subway, do you?”
“I do and I have,” Teddy replied with wounded pride. “It was the spring of 1949 and I was a freshman at Columbia University. I had ridden a cab down to Times Square one Saturday night in search of some exciting and stimulating abominations when I met the most delightful Jewish Communist from NYU, who promptly invited me to share his bed down in the Village. Well, being the well-bred Cochran than I am, I offered to pay for the cab, but Victor would have none of it. He insisted we ride the subway because that was how The Workers travel. Besides, he said it would be an eye-opening experience and broaden my horizons. Well, it certainly did, I can tell you! I was groped by a pervert from Thirty-Fourth Street to Washington Square, which I quite enjoyed. Unfortunately, my wallet was also lifted, which I did not enjoy as it contained what was left of my monthly allowance from Mummy. Fortunately, my subsequent hunger pains were assuaged by the pleasant memories of Victor’s deliciously brutal, Trotskyite fuck!”
Rafael stared blankly at his uncle for several seconds before he said, “You do take medication for your condition, I hope.”
“That’s what I tell Mummy,” Teddy replied with a placid smile.
Rafael slowly shook his head as he turned toward Jeremy and asked, “Is this your first time in New York?”
“Oh, no!” Jeremy replied as he continued to stare out the window at the retreating airport complex. “My parents brought me and Brian here to see the World’s Fair in ’65, but I was just a little kid then.”
“What did you see?”
“Besides the World’s Fair?” Jeremy asked. “Well, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, you know. All the touristy stuff. We also saw a Broadway musical, too.”
“Which one?”
“Tea and Hemlock,” the boy replied. “My parents wanted to see Fiddler on the Roof, but they couldn’t get tickets.”
Rafael nodded and said, “You’ll probably get to meet Jonathan Durham sometime. He wrote Tea and Hemlock and he’s a good friend of Alistair Mountjoy. He’s written the music for a couple of Alistair’s ballets—Olympia and Atlantis.”
“Really? That’s so cool!” Jeremy replied. “I can’t believe I’m actually here and this is actually happening.”
“Hey, Jeremy,” Geoffrey asked from the front seat. “Would you like to see Ballet Centre tonight? It’s kind of on the way to Teddy’s place.”
“Really? Can we?”
Teddy smiled and nodded, replying, “I think it would be a wonderful thing for Jeremy to see the place he has dreamt of these many years.”
“So, Geoffrey,” Rafael asked as he looked toward the front seat, “just out of curiosity, how did you score this gig letting Alistair rampage through your rectum every night.”
“Oh, it was quite easy,” Geoffrey replied, to which Teddy added sotto voce, “It usually is with Alistair.”
Geoffrey chuckled and said, “I was stoning my way through my second freshman year at Columbia when my parents decided their dwindling fortune could be better invested in my father’s addiction to fast women and loose cars and my mother’s addictions to Pierre Cardin and Yves St. Laurent instead of my addiction for cannabis and zuckerschticken. So, I left Columbia in June. Then, I was at a party a week after class ended and my old art teacher introduced me to Alistair and after that, it was just serendipity.”
“In my day, they called it sodomy,” Teddy declared.
“In your day,” Rafael replied, “the Lord turned people into pillars of salt.”
Jeremy smiled at the older boy and Rafael grinned and wrapped his arms around him. “Let’s make a baby.”
“Huh?”
Instead of explaining his remark, Rafael simply leaned over to kiss the boy. Jeremy, however, pulled back and pushed him away, exclaiming once again, “Rah-fay-el!”
“What? I couldn’t make out with you on the plane. Now, I can’t make out with you in the car?”
Jeremy blushed deeply and said, “What about Teddy and Geoffrey?”
“What? You want to make out with them?”
“No, dummy!” Jeremy exclaimed. “What if they see us?”
Rafael grinned as Geoffrey chuckled in the front seat. “Sweetheart,” the older boy replied, “if Geoffrey’s worked for Alistair for more than a week, he’s probably seen worse in this car than two boys making out. And, I know for a fact Teddy’s done worse!”
Teddy held up his drink in a toast, replying, “Up yours.”
Geoffrey chuckled again and said, “If you need it, Rafael, there’s a tube of K-Y next to the Scotch.”
“Is that what this is?” Teddy asked as he lifted a white tube into the air. “I thought this looked a little too clinical to be a mixer.”
Rafael cocked his head and asked, “Just how many of those have you had to drink?”
“Never you mind how much I’ve had,” Teddy replied defensively. “You’ve got your hands full molesting young Master Fenwick over there.”
Rafael grinned at Jeremy and answered, “Yes, I do. Now, where were we?”
“I believe,” Teddy responded, “you were about to insert your snake-like tongue down Jeremy’s throat.”
The younger boy blushed as Rafael leaned forward. When their mouths came in contact, Jeremy struggled for a second, but quickly surrendered and, after a few more seconds, seemed to become enthusiastic in his participation in the kiss. Teddy leaned back in the seat and smiled as he gazed out the window at the passing landscape of trees along the Van Wyck Expressway.
As the car neared the turn-off to Manhattan, however, Teddy turned his head toward the still kissing boys and said, “Rafael, if you will permit Jeremy to come up for air, he can see where the World’s Fair was held.”
“I’ve been there,” Jeremy replied around Rafael’s tongue.
“Oh. Well, then, if you look over there,” Teddy countered, “you get a delightful view of Queens.”
Rafael snorted and, his lips still connected to Jeremy’s, replied, “I get a delightful view of queens every time the Things come over.”
Teddy huffed and declared, “Well, if you’re going to be that way, I’ll just sit here and degenerate. Don’t mind me; I’ll just be awaiting the Angel of Death.”
Rafael sighed and pulled away from Jeremy, who looked around in confusion as he tried to regain his composure.
“What is the matter, Teddy?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
Rafael gave him a look and demanded, “Haven’t you ever been in love?”
“Countless times,” Teddy replied. “Just last week, the Things and I were walking past the Winter Garden Theater and there was the most delicious-looking midnight cowboy posing….”
“And, weren’t you fifteen at least once or twice?”
“Briefly. It was during the war, if I remember correctly. New York had been invaded by an army of young, virile, corn-fed farm boys from the Midwest all looking for vaginae in which to plunge their virile, corn-fed, Midwestern penises. And when there were none to be found, they would turn to obliging fifteen year-old boys eager to perform their patriotic duty and offer up their tight asses for the war effort. Ah, it was a glorious time.”
Rafael stared at his uncle for several seconds and then said, “I’m surprised the doctors let you out on the streets.”
“They say that as long as I take my medication, I’m not a threat to myself or to anyone else.”
Rafael shook his head and demanded, “OK. You’ve been in love and you’ve been fifteen. So, what’s the problem?”
“I’m jealous,” Teddy pouted. “I want to be fifteen and in love again.”
Rafael rolled his eyes and said, “Would you feel better if I let you make out with Jeremy for a while?”
“Hey!” Jeremy exclaimed.
Teddy smiled and said, “Not to worry, Little One. Your virtue will remain unsullied tonight—at least by me. Besides, I have my sights set on young Geoffrey With a G.”
“Oh, drat the luck!” Geoffrey replied with a grin. “Wouldn’t you know it? Alistair has ordered me to be home by ten.”
“The slave driver,” Teddy spat. “Even I can’t operate that fast.”
“Well, we could always say you forgot to set your watch ahead when you landed,” Geoffrey replied. “Besides, he didn’t specify if that was ten Eastern or Central time.”
“Hot dang, Geoffrey With a G!” Teddy declared happily. “I like the way you think! Devious and cunning! I may have a place in my company for a boy with your lack of integrity.”
Rafael shook his head and turned back to Jeremy, who smiled eagerly, ready to resume the kissing. However, as Rafael leaned down, Teddy grabbed his collar and pulled him away.
“We will have no more osculating adolescents, at least until you are behind your bedroom door,” the man declared. “Poor Jeremy deserves to see more of Manhattan tonight than the sight of your revolting nostrils.”
“Well,” Rafael pouted as he crossed his arms. Jeremy giggled with embarrassment and resumed gazing out the window at the sights along the expressway.
The car emerged from the Midtown Tunnel under the East River and headed west along Thirty-Fourth Street. Jeremy was so excited when they crossed Park Avenue and could see the Pan Am Building to the north that he pointed and cried, “Look!”
Rafael chuckled and wrapped his arms around him again. He started to kiss the boy again, but Teddy exclaimed, “Oh, for God’s sake. Do we have to stop and get the two of you a room at the Waldorf?”
Rafael turned his head and sniped, “You wouldn’t have to if you had the decency to avert your eyes.”
“That’s it,” Teddy declared as he pulled Rafael off the younger boy again and started fanning himself. “No more trading spit until we get home. All the testosterone and male reproductive pheromones floating around in this car are about to give me the vapors!”
“Oh, all right,” Rafael replied wearily. “I suppose we can wait. What do you think, Jerm? Can we wait until we get home?”
Jeremy shyly crossed his legs and rested his hands carefully in his lap as he muttered, “Um, yeah. I, um, suppose so.”
Teddy grinned as he looked up the street and said, “We’ll be passing the Empire State Building in a minute.”
Jeremy leaned over and asked softly, “Will we have any time to practice tonight?”
“Oh, no way,” Rafael replied. “They close Ballet Academy at seven when school’s out and the company’s on hiatus.”
“Well, can’t we practice at home?”
Rafael shook his head and replied, “No room. We can do stretches and stuff, but no real dancing.”
A look of panic came over Jeremy’s face as he asked, “But, Rafael! What do we do when we need extra practice?”
Rafael raised an eyebrow and replied, “We do what everybody does. We wait until Ballet Academy’s open and we go there.”
“But, Rafael!”
The teenager grinned and said, “Calm down, Jeremy. It’ll be okay. After all, even with my deprived living conditions, I’ve still managed to be a halfway decent dancer. I got the gold at last year’s competition. Besides, you’re training at one of the most rigorous ballet schools in the world. Trust me. You will get all the time you need to dance and practice.”
Jeremy sighed and nodded, though he didn’t look entirely convinced.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Geoffrey suddenly said from the front seat. “Alistair wants the three of you to come out to the house this week. He wants to work with Jeremy and then he’s having a small get-together Friday night and he wants the two of you to dance for everyone. ”
“Cool!” Rafael said. “I love going out to Alistair’s.”
“Yes,” Teddy agreed. “I could use a few days of lying beside Alistair’s pool and drinking his Scotch.”
Rafael turned to Jeremy and was about to ask him a question, but stopped when he saw the look of panic on the boy’s face. “What’s the matter, Jeremy?” he asked.
“I can’t dance for Alistair Mountjoy yet! I’m not ready! I won’t be ready by Friday! I can’t!”
“What are you talking about?” Rafael replied. “Of course, you can dance for Alistair. You’re a great dancer, Jeremy.”
“But, I haven’t danced all summer!”
“What are you talking about?” Rafael replied again. “We’ve been doing nothing but dance since Thursday. Besides, Alistair knows you haven’t danced most of the summer. He’ll be cool. Don’t worry. Besides, he’s going to want to work with you. Alistair loves to work one-on-one with his students.”
Teddy snorted and said, “Is that what he calls it?”
Rafael ignored him and continued, “We’re probably going up early, aren’t we, Geoffrey?”
Geoffrey nodded and answered, “He wants you to come Wednesday morning.”
“Oh, God,” Jeremy muttered.
“No, no! It’ll be great, Jeremy!” Rafael said encouragingly. “You’re going to get personalized training from one of the greatest ballet teachers in the world. There are kids who would shoot their mothers for this chance. You can’t pay for this kind of training.”
Teddy snorted again and said, “Well, you can…”
This time, Rafael turned and glared at his uncle. Teddy frowned and turned his head.
Looking back at Jeremy, the older boy said, “Really, Jeremy, you’re going to look back on this week as the best in your life. You are going to learn so much and have so much fun! Really. You’re going to love it.”
Jeremy frowned and pressed his lips tightly together before he replied uncertainly, “Are you sure?”
“Jeremy, think about it. You and Alistair together. You, dancing with the greatest dancer of the last twenty years. Can you think of anything more wonderful?”
Jeremy grinned bashfully and replied, “Maybe.”
Rafael pretended to slap the boy as he grinned back at him.
It was not long before the car turned left on Sixth Avenue and headed north. Jeremy’s excitement grew with each block of skyscrapers and hotels. When they passed Rockefeller Center, Rafael pointed upward and said, “That’s the RCA Building where NBC is and there’s Radio City Music Hall.”
A moment later he said, “This is Fifty-Second Street where a lot of the great jazz clubs used to be. City Center is over there and Carnegie Hall is a few blocks north and…”
The car turned left and then, halfway down the block, pulled over to the curb. Jeremy’s mouth opened and he softly whispered, “This is it?”
Rafael nodded and said, “Ballet Centre.”
He reached across Jeremy and opened the door. The two boys climbed from the car and stood on the wet sidewalk as Jeremy gazed up at the marquee on an old, elegant theater. In glittering letters, he read, “Ballet Centre, The Schuyler Theater. Ballet of America.” Beneath that had been posted, “September Spotlight Sept 18, Le Corsair Oct 2-11.”
“I’m here,” Jeremy breathed as he gazed up at the building with awe. “I’m here.”
Rafael nodded and said, “Think of all the great dancers who have stood just where you are now, looking up at that marquee, imagining their names on it, and who then appeared on that stage. And, now, Jeremy, here you are, and you will, too.”
The younger boy’s eyes grew moist and as a tear trickled down his freckled cheek, Rafael gently turned him to the right and toward an art-deco office-like building with a large window in the front. Beside the entrance was a bronze plaque which read, “Ballet Academy of America. Founded 1934, Lionel Mountjoy.”
“I can’t believe I’m here,” Jeremy whispered. He looked up at Rafael and said, “It’s all because of you, Rafael.”
“No, it’s because of you,” Rafael replied. “You worked hard for four years. You practiced, you sacrificed. You did it.”
Jeremy’s gaze shifted between the academy and the theater. He spoke softly, his voice choked with emotion. “A week ago, I almost killed myself and now…here I am. You saved me, Rafael. You brought me here.”
“And, one day, Jeremy, you’re going to dance on that stage and the people of New York are going to rise to their feet and cheer for you.”
Jeremy nodded and whispered, “Yes. They are.”
Suddenly, he turned to Rafael and wrapped his arms around the teenager as he began to sob. He turned his face toward the school and the theater, clinging tightly to the older boy as he gazed at the buildings that represented his goals and dreams. Rafael buried his face in Jeremy’s bright red hair and squeezed the boy tightly.
After a long moment, as Jeremy gazed with emotion at Ballet Centre, Teddy leaned forward and said, “Boys, we should be going.”
Rafael nodded and gently nudged Jeremy toward the car. Slowly, they crawled back in and as they drove away, Jeremy gazing out the back window until Ballet Centre was no longer in view. Only then did he sit back and lay his head against Rafael’s shoulder. The older boy held him tightly. Softly, Jeremy whispered, “I love you, Rafael.”
“I love you, too.”
—o-0-o—
“Adieu, dear boy! Adieu!”
Teddy stood in the elevator and waved a handkerchief moistened by tears at Geoffrey as the young man stood in the lobby of The Finchley and grinned. Rafael and Jeremy stood behind him, surrounded by their suitcases. As the doors closed, Teddy wailed, “Oh, Rafi! Will I ever see him again?”
“Yes, Wednesday morning,” his nephew replied dryly. “He’s driving us to Amagansett. Remember?”
“Oh, yes! That’s right!” Teddy replied with delight. Clapping his hands, he declared, “I shall have to wear a green carnation in his honor!”
“I doubt Geoffrey knows much about Oscar Wilde,” Rafael replied, “but, I’m sure he’ll appreciate the gesture.”
Teddy shook his head with regret and said, “Rafi, you’re never any fun when you come back from visiting my vile and evil sister. I shall have to whip you extra hard tonight to get you back to your usual cheerful and sunny self.”
“Ah, Teddy, you always know what I need.”
Jeremy shook his head and said, “You two are really insane. I think I want to go home.”
“Too late,” Rafael replied. “Now that we have you in our evil clutches, we shall never you go! Mwahahahaha!”
Jeremy grinned as the doors opened to reveal a hallway lined with doors to various apartments. Teddy picked up his suitcase and marched on. Jeremy and Rafael followed with their luggage and after Teddy unlocked the door, he stepped aside to allow Jeremy to enter.
“Cool!” the boy exclaimed as he walked through the foyer and gazed up at the chandelier above. He set his suitcases down and ran into the formal sitting room.
“This is way cool! All the antiques and fancy furniture! It reminds me of my grandparents’ old home back in Greensburg!”
“Oh, joy,” Teddy replied without enthusiasm. “Just the look I was going for—Old Southern Grandparent.”
Jeremy giggled and replied, “That’s okay. I loved my grandparents. This makes me feel like I’m back home with them.”
Teddy smiled and walked over to the boy. Putting his arms around him, he said, “I’m glad, Little One. I want you to always think of this as your home, for it is, for as long as you’re in New York!”
Jeremy smiled as he looked up at the man and hugged him back. He closed his eyes and let Teddy hold him for a long moment until they heard Rafael call from somewhere else in the apartment, “Hey! Jerm-Boy! Come see where you’ll be sleeping!”
Teddy snorted. “If he lets you.”
Jeremy giggled and Teddy released him. The boy grinned at him and then hurried out of the room to retrieve his suitcases and find Rafael.
Entering a hallway with his luggage, Jeremy paused at the first open door, which revealed a dark room which appeared to contain a desk and walls covered with overflowing bookshelves. He stepped inside and looked around, noticing an old manual typewriter on the desk. Teddy entered behind him and flipped a switch which turned on a lamp in the corner and one on his desk.
“Wow,” Jeremy exclaimed with wonder. “Is this where your write your books, Teddy?”
“It is, indeed, where I put my rambling, alcohol-induced thoughts to paper,” the man replied.
Jeremy stepped toward the desk and pointed to the stack of typed pages beside the typewriter and asked, “Is that your new book?”
Teddy nodded and replied, “God and Random House willing.”
Jeremy lay a hand on the back of the old, leather chair behind the desk and asked, “Is this where you wrote Paradise in Missouri?”
“In that chair, at that desk, on that typewriter.”
“Wow,” Jeremy breathed. “That was my father’s favoritist book of all time!”
Teddy smiled at Jeremy’s boyish use of grammar and placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. Jeremy added, “I remember one Sunday afternoon when it was raining and Dad was sitting on the couch reading Paradise in Missouri and I was sitting next to him with his arm around me and I was reading Wind in the Willows. Of course, I was just a little kid back then, but that’s one of my favorite memories.”
Teddy squeezed the boy’s shoulders and replied, “I’m glad you shared that with me, Jeremy. It means a lot to me to know that my efforts have that kind of effect on my readers. You know, I receive advances and quarterly royalty checks and I can read the sales figures and the bestseller lists, but they mean nothing to me compared to the comments I receive from my readers. Thank you.”
Once again, he hugged Jeremy and the boy closed his eyes and leaned his head back against Teddy’s stomach and chest.
“Hey, Jermy! Where are you?”
Jeremy sighed and Teddy whispered, “You’d better go. You know how Rafael gets when he isn’t the center of attention.”
Jeremy giggled and ran off.
When he carried his suitcases into the next room, he found Rafael standing at the foot of a giant bed, on which he had placed his open suitcases. Jeremy skeptically asked, “A king-size bed?”
Imitating Teddy, Rafael placed his fists on his hips and declared, “Well, you never know when you might need the extra room. Besides, you do tend to be rather energetic when you get going.”
“Me?” Jeremy exclaimed as he started forward. Rafael grinned and wrapped his arms around the boy, restraining him from doing anything physical in retaliation for the comment. Jeremy struggled for a moment and then stopped when his eyes fell on several framed ballet posters on the wall above the bed. Two announced the Greensburg Ballet’s 1965 and 1966 productions of The Nutcracker while two more proclaimed the Ballet of America 1968 Midsummer Night’s Dream and 1969 Coppélia. Jeremy took a deep breath and said, “Wow.”
Rafael grinned and said, “You have posters for your performances in Greensburg, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Jeremy replied distractedly, “but they’re in storage.”
Rafael caressed Jeremy’s face and said, “Why don’t you have your Aunt Jane or your brother send them up and we can mount them, too. After all, this is your bedroom, too.”
Jeremy looked up at Rafael and smiled, whispering, “I love you.”
Rafael smiled and hugged the boy tightly. Jeremy turned his head and lay it against the older boy’s sturdy chest. However, as he did, another poster on the wall to the side of the bed caught his attention. It showed a danseur with strong legs and arms, wearing white tights and a brocaded vest, performing a flawless Grand Jeté, his arms and legs perfectly parallel to the stage, his red hair flying about his head, a look of rapturous pride on his face. To the side was printed, “Ballet of America, World Premier, Lionel Mountjoy’s Ode to Life. Sept 30, 1960. Schuyler Theater, Ballet Centre.”
Jeremy stared at the man for several seconds. When Rafael realized what he was doing, he looked at the poster and smiled with resignation.
“Who’s that?” Jeremy whispered.
Rafael took a deep breath and said, “Alistair Mountjoy.”
Jeremy looked up at Rafael in amazement and asked, “That’s Alistair?”
Rafael nodded as Jeremy looked back at the poster. “Yep. He was twenty-nine then. They say that was his most magnificent season, 1960-61. He was acclaimed for his Siegfried in Swan Lake, his Conrad in Le Corsair, and his Adam in Ode to Life.”
“He was… beautiful…” Jeremy breathed in awe.
Rafael nodded and said, “He doesn’t look much different today. He still dances and keeps himself in shape. Now you know one reason why everyone’s in love with him. He’s a god.”
“He is…” Jeremy whispered.
Rafael looked down at the boy and saw a prominent rise in the front of his shorts. “Are you going to be able to dance with him this week, or are you going to act like a love-struck girl meeting Paul McCartney for the first time?”
Jeremy looked up at Rafael with amazement for a moment before he looked back at the poster and replied, “I’m going to be dancing with him this week?”
Rafael nodded and then said, “Jeremy, there’s something I need to tell you, something about what we were talking about earlier when Teddy embarrassed me about Alistair.”
Jeremy looked up at Rafael, waiting, when Teddy suddenly declared from the doorway, “Oh, for Pete’s sake, do I have to get a crowbar and separate the two of you?”
Rafael sighed with resignation as Jeremy looked over his shoulder and smiled as he blushed. Rafael muttered, “Perfect timing, as always, dear Uncle.”
“Of course!” Teddy replied. “I’m going to call Alistair now and thank him for letting us use Geoffrey. Rafi, when you’re finished in here, why don’t you go to the kitchen and prepare a snack for us. And, Jeremy… well, you can do whatever it is Jeremies do.”
“He’d better not!” Rafael declared. “He’s not allowed to do that by himself anymore!”
Jeremy giggled as he stepped away from Rafael and replied, “I’ll try to be good, but you might need to spank me to remind me.”
“Oh, God,” Teddy muttered as he turned around and walked out of the room. “An hour and a half in New York and he’s already turned into a pervert!”
Jeremy giggled and turned to Rafael.
“So, what do you want to tell me?”
Rafael sighed and said, “Maybe later, when we go to bed.”
Jeremy cocked his head and replied, “It’s okay. Whatever it is, I love you, Rafael.”
The teenager smiled at the boy, though on the inside, he was wondering how a boy as sweet as Jeremy could love someone like him.