I left the hospital a few minutes after Bobby-Lee left the ward carrying his basin, sponge, and towel. He had a spring in his step and looked like a happy guy. He left me with mixed feelings.
I knew better than to think Greg was a perfect catch. I’d need to slow down to catch up with him. I understood by what I’d heard and seen, Greg possessed something other boys wanted. Greg decided long before I came upon the scene, he was just the guy to give it to them.
I don’t know if it was charisma, personality, or some ultimate lust Greg ignited in other guys. Not everyone appreciated his ability to turn the most mundane male to male activities into something sexual. Even the guys who resented what Greg had, or what he did with it, still played the game with him.
The boys didn’t all react the same way to Greg. Some were threatened by his uninhibited approach to the game they played. No one could ignore what Greg brought to the pool table, and yet both players and watchers came.
Ronnie stood out in my mind. He was a stud. The longer he played the more obvious it became Greg was better at pool. Ronnie kept playing. More than that, as Ronnie lost clothes, he became more and more aroused. It was hard to miss his condition inside his underwear.
Why did he stay in the game? What was it about this situation that kept Ronnie there?
Greg and Ronnie went back a long way and Greg hadn’t changed. Their connection had to be sexual. After Ronnie had matured and he no longer saw much of Greg. Why come back to play pool with him?
Greg’s tight circle of friends went back years. Bobby-Lee didn’t fit into that picture. In no time at all the same sexual situation developed between Greg and him. Greg was a captive of his circumstances, calling on his instincts to win the day. Bobby-Lee was there to serve him and he did.
My limited experience did nothing to help me figure out what I felt about these things and what I wanted beyond the obvious. Having Greg give up all his different ways of getting what he wanted, meant he had to want me more. I’d seen no sign of that happening. I hoped we would stay friends.
Each time I sorted through what ran between Greg and me, something more entered the picture. Nothing surprised me this time, nothing did anything to clear up the picture. Staying close to Greg meant doing it on his terms.
The next day when I came onto the ward, Greg was standing by the window with his back to me. He had a big ass cast on his left leg. It had a rubber piece on the bottom so he could walk. Seeing him standing up startled me. He just had the cast put on. He’d been in bed for months.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Me,” he said.
He turned his head to smile at me.
“What’s new,” I said.
“Not that up,” he said. “I’m standing up.”
He turned around, pivoting the big cast by using the leg without a cast to propel the motion.
“I can’t believe you can do that so soon after getting up.”
“You’d be surprised what I can do when I’m up,” he bragged, giving me an evil grin.
“No, nothing surprises me about you,” I said.
“You mad?”
“Mad? You’re up. What’s to be mad at? You’re healing.”
“I am aren’t I. I want to get out of here.”
“I don’t believe you were in traction yesterday and you’re standing today.”
“Cast does all the work. Balance is tricky. I’ll need crutches if I want to go away from the bed. I think I’ll be okay.”
They didn’t give him crutches with the cast for obvious reasons. They didn’t want to be constantly searching the hospital for him. Keeping Greg put was coming to an end. He was ready to spread his wings. What that meant was anybody’s guess.
“What did you think of Bobby-Lee?”
“Nice guy. I gave him my phone number,” I said, making sure he didn’t grab the upper hand.
“You what?” Greg asked, being the one who looked surprised now.
“Poor guy doesn’t know anyone. I told him I’d show him around. He’s not what I’d expect a Texas boy to be.”
“No, he isn’t,” Greg said, “You forget he knows me?”
“No, I wouldn’t forget that. You don’t think he’ll fit in with your pool party boys?”
“Bobby-Lee? He could be the life of the party. You say he’s lonely. He might like a party.”
“I thought you were the life of the party?”
“I am but we could make room for him.”
Greg moved the chair close to the bed. Sliding the cast up on the chair, he sat back on the bed, using his hands to support him. He scooted the cast into the bed, until he had it where he wanted it. He ended up learning back against his pillows. The exercise had him breathing hard.
“That was clever. Did someone show you that technique?”
“No. I don’t have anything to do but figure stuff out. They’re supposed to come down in the morning to show me how to keep from breaking my neck or busting up the cast. When do you plan to see him,” he said, as he found a comfortable spot to settle down into.
“I gave him my phone number. I guess he’ll call when he wants to go out. There was no plan. Under the circumstances, considering going out for a Coke with someone wasn’t on his mind.”
“He asked you for your phone number?”
“Yeah! I thought I mentioned that.”
“Why? I’ll be out of here by the time he calls you,” he said. “You’re going to leave me on my own? What if I fall and break my neck? Won’t that make you feel bad? It would make me feel bad.”
“You won’t and so I won’t need to. How long will it take me to show him around. It isn’t like there’s anything to see. The guy doesn’t know anyone. Won’t you be at home. Your parents will keep an eye on your neck,” I said.
“Not so much. Look at me. I was living at home when this happened. You don’t think I trust them to keep me out of trouble. I was depending on you for that and to keep me company. I depend on you, Martin. My parents don’t stay home. When Bobby-Lee gets shown around, he’ll want a good look at your backseat, you know. He’s from Texas.”
“Come on, Greg. I don’t have anything he wants. He’s lonely. He wants a friend. You have tons of friends.”
“He wants a friend to show him the backseat of his car. He knows there’s nothing to see around here. He’s a horn dog. Got a feel of my dick and couldn’t leave it alone. You saw him. Boy’s been around. Not a bad cocksucker either. Mine wasn’t the first one.”
“That doesn’t interest me all that much,” I said. “I’m not interested in numbers, Greg. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with you. I’m not interested in Bobby-Lee.”
“Be careful with that chew talk. Makes me nervous. He’ll want to see me, you know,” Greg said. “He might like you, but he’ll want to see me again.”
“He doesn’t have a car. I guess he could walk. Depends on how bad he wants to see you.”
“You can bring him over,” Greg said.
“I probably could but I won’t. I’ve already seen that show. I’d heard you talk about it. I’ve seen your pool table. I’ve seen your party and the boys who attend. Bobby-Lee gave me a view of what happens after the pool playing is done.”
“Not so much. Some guys hang around to drink. Most go home before someone comes looking for them.”
“Then there is Ronnie. I’m still working on where Ronnie fits into the picture. Everyone else I can see playing Bobby-Lee in whatever you have planned. Ronnie more resembles you in this cast of characters. He’s no Bobby-Lee.”
“I told you he was a late bloomer. Ronnie just wanted to play the game while he waited for puberty to strike. He was a pipsqueak until he was sixteen. He grew hair and his voice changed in about a week and a half. You’re early,” Greg said, changing the subject.
“They were using some chemicals in our building. Sent us home for safety sake. They’ll finish by tonight and it’ll be fine by the start of business tomorrow.”
I sat down noticing his color was better. He didn’t look as peaked to me. He was coming back to life and that was fine with me. Having the device that made him a captive of his bed disappear, created better esthetics.
“How does it feel to be able to get out of bed?”
“Wears me out. Took me an hour to get up and stand by the window. I wasn’t expecting you. I was regaining my strength to get back in bed. Don’t think I’m going to get far at this rate.”
“You’ve been flat on your back for months. It’ll take a few days for you to get accustomed to the cast and being able to drag it around. Won’t they give you crutches?”
“They say so. I’m not so sure. They didn’t sound too anxious to make me mobile,” Greg said.
“Can’t imagine why. Must be letting you adjust for a few days,” I said, glad I didn’t have to go looking for him.
We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and French fries, because Greg didn’t eat mashed potatoes, and peas. The food was surprisingly good, even when it was something I didn’t like all that much. The chicken lacked real flavor but it did taste like chicken.
Greg polished his off fairly fast and wanted a piece of my chicken, which I gave up without a fight. He traded me the pile of mashed potatoes with a puddle of gravy in the center.
I mixed it up with the peas he gave me. I gave up what was left of my French fries.
Greg fell asleep after he ate. He put his hand next to mine so our hands were touching as he blinked a few times and began the slow breathing that told me he was asleep. I sat with him for another hour and it was getting close to last call, so I slipped out and headed for the parking lot.
As I came down the stairs, Bobby-Lee was standing in the corridor near the front doors.
“Oh, Bobby-lee,” I said surprised.
“Figured you’d be coming along pretty soon. I’m on my lunch break. I come on duty at four and work until midnight.”
“How long do you get for lunch?” I asked.
“As long as I want. I don’t have a patient until nine. I’m always there, so when I go out for lunch, I can stay until nine if I want. How are you?”
“Fine. Do you bathe Greg tonight?”
“Not officially. I have time between my ten o’clock and eleven o’clock and I usually drop by to see him on the nights he isn’t on my patient list. I’m supposed to be company and look after his needs. Some patients are low key and others are high maintenance.”
“Which is Greg?” I asked.
“You’re kidding, right? He’s the highest maintenance patient I’ve ever had, not that I’ve been at this that long. I’m sure there are others like him but most of my patients are officers. A few hands of pinochle with an officer or hearts with an NCO keeps them happy soldiers.
“None needs my services to relieve stress more than Greg. The nurses’ stress, not his. They love seeing me because I keep him quiet for a few minutes. Can we talk in your car?”
“Bobby-Lee,” I said, wanting to get out of there without him.
“Lee. Please call me Lee. Bobby-Lee is my Texas identity. I’m happy to get shed of it. Please, Martin, call me Lee. I’ve always wanted to be called Lee.”
“Okay, Lee. My cars in the back lot. I like to walk. The time I once spent exercising is now spend beside Greg’s bed.”
“He doesn’t give you any exercise?” Lee asked.
“No, he doesn’t. I don’t do that and especially I don’t do it here.”
“You don’t? You do like him. That’s obvious. You look at him like you might be in love with the guy,” Lee said.
“I do not. What do you know about love?”
“Honey, I got stories I can tell you. I live in Denton, Texas. That’s between Dallas and Oklahoma City. I worked at the truck stop in Denton. I use to stay in dorm rooms at the college in Norman. I started that when I was fourteen. I didn’t go to work until I was sixteen. Let me tell you, I was in love every weekend.”
“Am I the only gay guy that has never done anything?”
“I was a well-developed motivated Texas teenager. Norman is buttoned down and up tight, until Friday night when everyone goes there for a concert. Then you can get anything you want and you’d be surprised what guys want when it’s time to go home and get naked.”
“Jesus! Greg was right. He said you’d been around.”
“I suppose I qualify,” he said as we walked. “Is the car in Maryland?”
“That’s it all by itself,” I said.
“It’s new,” Lee said. “You in the chips or what?”
“No. Got my first job a couple of months ago. Decided it was time to give daddy’s car back to him.”
“First job and first car, that’s a start. We’re the same age. I’m nineteen,” he said, checking me closely.
“I just turned eighteen,” I said. “I graduated in May.”
“Close to the same age,” he said. “I worked at the truck stop in Denton. That was an education. Almost all the truck drivers are married and half of them wanted to date me. It shocked me the first time one asked me to go back to his sleeper with him.”
“Did you go?”
“I worked in the restaurant. They come off the road and want to talk to someone. I was more popular than most of the woman. I was better looking than most of the women. At sixteen I was smooth, hairless, and easy to talk to. Waitresses, the women, were crude, rude, and played hard to get. Which would you date?”
“I’m gay,” I said.
“So are a lot of truckers, or so I found out. At least they didn’t mind going gay to get a bit of affection and some relief from the long grind of constantly being on the road.”
“What happened to the college?”
“That was on weekends. I worked during the week at the truck stop and partied on the weekend at the college.”
“With so much activity why join the military?”
“I wanted to be a doctor. It cost about a million bucks. I joined up for the education. Corpsman is as close to doctor as I’m going to get. It’s okay and I might get to work with doctors if I play my cards right.”
“I haven’t been anywhere or done anything,” I said.
“You live in tiny town. Nothing happens in tiny town. You’ve got to go where the action is. Any colleges around where you live?”
“Not really. There’s a high school and a junior high and the base.”
“Tiny town,” he said, as we sat in the front seat of my car.
“Doesn’t give me much to show you,” I said.
“Who do you go out with?” he asked.
“No one. I know Greg, but everyone knows Greg. He attracts people. I’m one of them.”
“Yes, he does. He’s smooth. All he had to do was watch my eyes and he knew all he needed to know the first time I bathed him. He’s the youngest guy I’ve ever been with, but Greg knows what he wants and he let me know.”
“That’s Greg, always willing to be taken advantage of.”
“You’re a good sport to stand watch while we did that last night,” Lee said. “I figured you liked him.”
“I’m not going to do it. Not in there. He’s been after me to do something forever. Seeing someone do it to him that knows how to do it was okay. Don’t want the guy to die of horniness. He makes no secret of doing stuff with guys, although all the graphic stuff happened in Germany, or so he says, but the kids he was in Germany with are all here.”
“A guy like him doesn’t just stop. I’ve got to be crazy for doing that to him, but it just happened the first time. I went in there as a professional, doing his duty, and left feeling like I did after I got out of one of those trucks at the truck stop. Greg didn’t waste any time getting what he wanted.”
“No one in the army fools around?” I asked.
“In the army the guys are hot, but I don’t want to end up in Leavenworth for the next ten years.”
“That would discourage me too. I don’t do anything anyway. I figure I know where things go. I haven’t had a chance to put them there.”
“Greg’s worth it? Good thing too. I’m afraid if I don’t do what he wants, he’ll bust me now that he knows. I’ve got myself up to my ass in overexposure. That’s another reason why I wanted to talk to you. Will he rat me out if he gets pissed off at me?”
“Greg? No. He’s too busy trying to get more of what you’ve already given him. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I thought so, but I wasn’t sure. He’s getting out of here soon. I doubt he’ll remember my name once he does,” Lee said. “I like him but I’m not stupid. He has me right where he wants me and it’s my own fault. I’m a sucker for a big dick.”
“That lets me out,” I said.
“Not necessarily. I’m a sucker for a cutie pie and you definitely qualify. I was looking at you watch me do Greg last night, and I wondered what it would be like doing you.”
“One dick at a time, Lee,” I said, not wanting to start anything.
“Ouch! You’ve got a stinger. You aren’t pissed but you’ll get pissed if I go after your man once he’s out of here I bet. That it?”
“Close enough. I don’t control him. He says he wants me to hang around. I don’t know what that means. I’m good company. I love his ass and he likes that I like him, but he likes a lot of guys. I don’t know how much I’m willing to take to be with him.”
“Ain’t love grand. I fell in love with a college wrestler. Slept in his dorm room one Friday night. He wrestled me all night long. I mean the guy never went soft. He’d roll onto his back and rest a few minutes and he was right back at it again. He gave new meaning to stretching out his muscle. I knew he loved me. He couldn’t get enough and he was gorgeous.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I opened my eyes the next morning and he’s staring at me. ‘Who are you and what are you doing in my bed? I was so drunk last night I don’t remember a thing.’ I told him I didn’t remember anything either, and he said, ‘well you better get along home now. My buddies will want to go out for lunch.’”
“You see him again?” I asked.
“Yeah, I did. He never saw me though. There are games and than there are games. I’ve met all kinds.”
“You’re nineteen. I can’t imagine doing all that stuff in my entire life. Greg and some of his buddies have been with everyone they know, or at least everyone they associate with. I don’t understand why.” I said.
“Horny will do that to you. When boys find their dicks before they find their brain, anything can happen.”
“I can buy that. They don’t seem to be at all hung up on seeing it or being close to other horny guys. I’m gay and I’m more hung up than Greg’s buddies.”
“They must know each other fairly well. You’re from tiny town. Greg’s been around the world, literally and figuratively. You need some experience.”
“You’re just the man to give it to me, I guess,” I said with no kindness in my voice.
“Ouch! No wonder you’ve never had any experience. You can’t lead with your stinger, Martin. Say no, it’s more effective and doesn’t hurt as long. I like people and I like being liked. I like attention. I take it where I can get it.”
“Sorry, Lee. I’m not looking for quantity. You’re a nice guy but I’ve never liked anyone before. Greg is about all I can handle at the moment.”
“Before Greg?”
“Before Greg was a stupid seventeen year old. I went to school and minded my own business.”
“I forgot some guys don’t come out as early as I did. I liked guys in 5th and 6th grade. Nothing came of it but I liked them.”
“When’s he getting out of here?”
“I’d say Friday,” Lee said.
“Friday. How do you figure?”
“He’s not on my schedule Friday. He’s on my schedule Monday. I’m going to be here. That means he won’t be. They notify me when a patient is being discharged. He’s not being discharged, which means he is probably going home.”
“You sure? He hasn’t said anything to me. He knows I’ll come up here and if he isn’t here, the first place I’ll go to look is his house.”
“Schedules don’t lie. Maybe he just wants to take a day off from getting pleasured. It’s the first day he isn’t on my schedule since I started bathing him. I check because I’ve been in the army a year and he’s the only action I’ve seen.”
“What are you going to do once he goes home to stay?”
“He’ll be in serious rehab for at least another month. After that, I’ll call you,” he said.
“I told you…”
“Hush up, Martin. We can be sisters. It’s cool. No sex and I get someone intelligent to talk to. It’s hard talking to Greg with his dick in my mouth. It’ll be a change of pace, and you need someone to give you helpful hints.”