by Gerald Lopez
“What’s up?” I said to Charity.
“Hang on a second, Linus,” Charity said. “Let me tell the others what you’ve found.”
Alex turned around in his seat, clearly he’d been following the conversation, too.
Charity addressed us now. “Linus has found a possible replacement for the dining room table at the court that Veronica’s ghost destroyed. It’s round and enormous.” She went back to her phone. “Yes, Linus, I’ll tell them. Linus said to tell you that the table was used at a medieval fair and—”
“The Knights of Camelot round table?” Forrest said. “Rory told me the group that puts the medieval fair on was having a sale. And that table was magnificent—made of hardwoods and—”
“It’s that table,” Charity said. “Mrs. Carson is with Linus, so is Rory. The table is being sold for a very fair price.”
“Well if everyone likes it, who are Layton and I to say no?” Alex said.
“Ditto,” I said. “Tell Linus to buy it, and we’ll put in our share when we meet up.”
“Do it, baby,” Charity said, then giggled. “I’ll tell them. Be careful getting it in the house… Yes, yes, I know. I’ll be careful too. Love you, kiss-kiss, bye.”
“Kiss-kiss,” I said into Charity’s phone then laughed.
Charity ended the call then looked my way. “Linus said kiss-kiss back.”
“The table sounds intriguing,” I said.
“It’s really cool,” Chip said. “When Daddy took me to the fair a whole bunch of knights were sitting around it. And everything was even-steven. Nobody could take charge or be bossy cause it was a round table.”
“Perfect table for us then—Daddy Alex and Charity can be really bossy sometimes,” I said, then chuckled.
“Layton, you’re in a silly mood today,” Forrest said.
“He’s probably had too much sugar,” Alex said. “He and Chip already had a huge cookie each.”
“Tattletale,” I said. “I’m just trying real damn hard to keep my mind off what is bound to be a crazy time at the key.”
Chapter 2
Surprise!
TRAFFIC GOT SIGNIFICANTLY heavier as we neared the two-lane road into Shiloh Key. In fact, vehicles on the road had come to almost a standstill.
“Is Diesel’s van still behind us?” Forrest said.
“Y’up,” I said.
“OK, folks, hang on to your panties,” Forrest said. He lowered the driver’s side window, then reached for something on his right side.
“Cool,” I said, as I saw what Forrest was doing.
There was now a flashing, blue police light on the top of The Beast. It was bright and noisy. Chip giggled and I couldn’t help but chuckle as Forrest drove in the left—exiting the key—lane speeding past still cars.
“This is awesome,” Alex said.
“Normally I wouldn’t do this, but I did agree to lightly patrol the beach area, so I am sort of on duty,” Forrest said.
“Works for me,” I said.
“Yahoo!” Chip said.
“Yeah, buddy!” I said.
The road was long, and there was only the occasional house on high stilts to the side. Most of the land on the right side of the road was swamp, like Charity had said earlier.
“Wow, this really is the boonies,” I said.
The Beast raced down the lane free from obstacles such as other cars. Following closely behind was Diesel’s van. Swamplands disappeared, and more houses began to appear. We stopped at a guarded entry point in front of a small bridge over water. I looked on as Forrest exited The Beast and spoke to the armed guards. Mere moments later Forrest was back inside with us.
“That was quick,” Alex said, echoing my thoughts.
“They were expecting us and Diesel,” Forrest said. “Remember, Sassy’s dad’s people are helping out—so they knew about us coming.”
Forrest continued driving, and I kept a close eye on the surroundings. We were on a narrow strip of land with water on both sides. The land was wide enough to have one row of small hotels and shops but not much more. In front of us the road was somewhat congested, but the guards were clearly controlling how many cars or vehicles got in, and at what pace.
“I love all these bridges we’re crossing,” Alex said.
“Yeah,” I said. “But there’s no way we can make a quick exit out of here if needed.”
“Not by car anyway,” Forrest said. “It would have to be an exit by boat.”
“Do we have a boat?” I said.
“Not that I know of,” Forrest said.
As we drove onward, the streets got wider and there were even small hills. And, unfortunately, it was also more crowded with people walking or bicycling by. The parking lots were full, and cars were parked on the side of the road. I was surprised when we passed several beautiful, restored Victorian homes.
“Pretty, aren’t they?” Charity said.
“Yes,” I said.
Forrest pulled off into a side street, lowered his window, then waved for Diesel to pass him and go on ahead.
“This is where Chip and I get out,” Forrest said.
“Glitter Beach,” Charity said. “Forrest, maybe you should keep The Beast, you have a tent and supplies in the back end. We can walk to the hotel from here, and I could stand to stretch my legs a bit. “I’ll make a call and arrange for a ride back here, so that Layton and Alex can get their things.”
“That works for me,” Forrest said.
Alex, Charity, and I got out of The Beast. I spoke with Forrest while Charity made her call.
“Are you two gonna be alright out here?” I said.
“Chip’s classmates and their parents will be on the beach,” Forrest said. “We’ll be fine. You guys be sure to watch out for pickpockets and such.”
“Bye, Daddies,” Chip said from inside the car.
“Bye,” Alex and I said.
“I’m ready,” Charity said, after putting her phone away.
“Are you sure you’re up for the walk?” I said.
“Yeah, my legs really can use the stretch,” Charity said, then pulled her long, straight, blonde hair back into a ponytail.
Forrest got back in The Beast, and Alex and I walked with Charity. We were surrounded by people on the sidewalk heading in the same direction as we were.
“There’s a beach nicknamed Glitter Beach at the end of the street Forrest turned into,” Charity said. “That’s where Chip’s class is camping out. It’s not too far from some folks I know so I told Forrest to park The Beast at my friends’ compound.”
Alex was busily snapping pictures with his ever present camera as we walked.
“Oh, this is nice,” I said, while looking toward a small downtown area. There were a few freestanding old cottages at the start of downtown.
We passed a couple historic buildings housing shops and some restaurants. In the center of the area to the left side were two-story wood buildings with expansive balconies. The panhandlers were out in full force, and we’d passed a young, handsome, blond guitar player slash singer. I actually put two dollars in his open guitar case and he smiled my way. Farther down the road we heard a fairly good female singer. After taking a right turn, I could see the road went up over the water. There was a building complex that included hotels and restaurants, as well as a dock overlooking the water.
“The hotel at the end of the street is where we’re meeting Sassy,” Charity said. “She’s so pretty with her pale skin, jet black hair and the 1950s pinup look she has going on.” That whole look is too much work for me. Natural—nature girl hippie is more my style.”
“The straight men love Sassy’s pinup look,” I said. “Guys are so taken with her that they don’t even seem to notice she’s a little person. That’s nice I think.”
“It takes a lot of work to get Sassy’s look—the hair and makeup,” Charity said. “Way too much work for me. Luckily Linus seems to like my look.”
“What’s not to like?” Alex said. “You
’re tan and pretty, like Layton’s tan and blond and handsome.”
“Meaning we’ll be having blond triplets who can tan,” I said, then chuckled. “You know, Alex, you’re a blond too. Lighter blond than me, but the point is the kids will probably look a lot like you too.”
“He’s right, you know,” Charity said. “And with all that supernatural stuff that was going on that night—who knows?”
“That’s true,” I said. “You were fucking me while I was with Charity. Maybe those statues made extra use of your sperm—you did cum inside me while I was cumming inside Charity. Pardon my crude way of explaining the situation.”
“You’re just stating what happened,” Charity said. “Alex, if you’re feeling left out, we’ll let you do all the diaper changes when the babies finally make their appearance.”
“I’m not felling that left out,” Alex said, then chuckled. “I want this whole family thing to work out since I have no family anymore.”
“It will, babe,” I said, then put my arm around Alex and gave his shoulders a squeeze.
“Of course it’ll work out,” Charity said. “We’re all kind of laid back. Well… Forrest maybe not so much. But then every family needs someone to be the strict fatherly type.”
“Forrest is definitely the daddy type,” I said, letting my mind drift to daddies of an altogether different type.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Layton,” Alex said, then smiled my way.
“Our cop is definitely one hunk of a man,” Charity said. “Linus definitely has his strong points as well. And he’s very excited about all of us coming together as a family unit.”
“There’s that word again,” Alex said then chuckled.
“What word?” Charity said.
“Coming or cumming,” Alex said.
We all laughed. After walking down two blocks, we were on a sidewalk running parallel to the water. Alex was completely into taking pictures, and I tried to keep an eye on him. I’d moved my wallet into my front pocket for security reasons, and Alex had done the same. Charity had a small purse with short straps that hung just under her arm and close to her body. As the street and sidewalk started climbing in altitude, I noticed a public bathroom and we all made a pit stop to use the facilities. When we got out, I stretched and felt the Florida heat and sun on my back—it felt good. At that moment I wished I’d worn a tank top instead of a T-shirt. As we continued our walk upward, I noticed a small group of performers in front of several tall banana trees to the side of the sidewalk.
Something stood out about the group of three and I stopped in my tracks.
Chapter 3
Monkey Boy
IN FRONT ON ME, a tall, tan, man in shorts, a tie-dyed T-shirt, and Birkenstock sandals danced around. The strange thing was that he wore a monkey mask. Next to him a black man in colorful, baggy shorts, a tie-dyed shirt, and long, fringed vest played an organ. He had dreads that hung down past his waist, a beard, and mustache.
“Feed the monkey?” a pale, young, slim woman with black hair that had blue streaks in it said, as she held a silver cup out toward me. She was dressed in similar fashion to the dancing monkey boy and the man playing the organ.
The monkey boy danced my way, put his arm around me, then rubbed my stomach. Alex and Charity laughed as Alex took picture after picture. I took a dollar out of my pocket and put it in the silver cup. Hell, the guy deserved it for wearing a monkey mask and dancing around like a fool. Looking down for moment at monkey boy’s nice feet, I was once again struck by something familiar. Monkey boy had let go of me and was skipping around twirling before he hugged Alex then kissed his cheek. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I may not have recognized the face, but when he turned again I definitely recognized something. Being a gay man, I never forgot a nice ass.
“No way in hell can this monkey boy be who I think it is,” I said.
Alex laughed as monkey boy hopped in place and flapped his arms around.
“You look more like a chicken now than a monkey, Bucky boy,” I said.
He responded by holding two thumbs up, then removing his monkey mask.
“It is Buck!” Alex said, then laughed.
Charity laughed as well.
“What the fu… u… lock are you doing here?” I said, after looking at Charity’s tummy and thinking better about using the originally intended F-bomb in front of my future children.
“I’m here on a recovery mission to find a special map that’s supposed to lead to Atlantis,” Buck said, as he pushed back strands of brown, wet hair from his forehead. “It was hot under that mask.”
“I should think,” Charity said.
Buck put his arm around the girl with the silver cup, then spoke.
“This is Ginger… Bread she’s in my recovery mission group that works for Sassy’s dad, who sometimes does work for The Organization.” He laughed. “Did you get it, Layton? Her name is Ginger Bread, as in gingerbread cookies.” Again, he laughed.
I looked toward Ginger, who shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You have my condolences, Ginger,” I said.
“You worked with him too, so I’m sure you get it,” Ginger said. “Buck’s alright. Hell, he actually jumped at the chance to be the monkey.”
“That’s no shocker,” I said, then smiled.
“So, what’re you doing here?” Buck said, and smiled. “Are you on a top secret mission for The Organization?”
“Nope,” Alex said.
“Hey, you aren’t going to get us to reveal all so easily,” I said.
“He’s no fool like you,” the organ player said.
“Oh my God” I said. “Not again, please tell me you didn’t fool me again.” Not wanting to look the organ player in the eye, I turned their way with my head down.
“That’s right, you better hold that head down, chump! You shoulda recognized me from halfway down the road. Calling yourself a damn detective when you can’t even recognize someone you know.”
Charity gasped. “Miss Lucy, it’s you!”
“Well it sure as hell ain’t the little mermaid of Shiloh Key,” Miss Lucy said. “Hi, Charity, Alex.”
“Hi,” Alex said. “I’m loving the new costume. The beard and mustache are convincing.”
“Thank you, baby,” Miss Lucy said. “It’s a good thing your significant other here had his head held down when he walked up to me. Otherwise I would’ve been tempted to slap him—and good—across the face. As it goes, it’s probably a good thing I didn’t slap him. I have to save up my energy for slapping the white off this dumbass monkey boy for telling all our business at hello.”
“He did spill the beans,” Layton said.
“Hey, don’t sell me out,” Buck said. “We’re on the same team, aren’t we? I figured when I saw you, that you must be after the maps to Atlantis and El Dorado, too.”
Miss Lucy slapped Buck on the side of his head, and Ginger just shook her head.
“He’ll never learn, Miss Lucy,” Ginger said. “It would’ve been better to bring one of the cats along.”
“You told me about those cats,” I said to Miss Lucy, who was in disguise as the organ player. “At least the cats couldn’t spill the beans about your mission.”
“The cats haven’t finished training yet,” Miss Lucy said.
“Why did you decide to dress up as an organ player?” Alex said.
“Because the man hasn’t been born who could get this black woman to put on a monkey mask and act the fool,” Miss Lucy said, before turning to me. “Are we on the same team here, boy? Are you after the maps?”
“I have my own agenda which I’m not spilling,” I said, and smiled.
“Look at that haughty smile on the marine’s face,” Miss Lucy said. “He thinks he’s all that, and a bag of chips. Well, maybe he is.” She smiled. “You’re alright, boy. Are we gonna be in competition here?”
“It’s hard to say,” I said. “But, we’re not after the maps. If we find them, they’re yours.”
“God… bless it!” Miss Lucy said, then stomped her feet and played a loud, noisy chord on her organ. “This damn fool monkey boy in front of me and his crew better find what we’re after so I don’t get tasked with training them again!”
I put my arm around Miss Lucy’s shoulder, and walked her down the sidewalk a bit.
“Why were you given the task of helping Buck’s gang again?” I said.
“Oh, our lovely friend Leticia decided to loan me out to Sassy’s father, since this is the recovery group’s first official mission.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Try not to get your toe run over again like you did the last time you worked with that group.”
“I’ll do my best,” Miss Lucy said. “I already know you’re here with Sassy, so that means her daddy’s after something he doesn’t want The Organization to know about.”
“My lips are sealed,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” Miss Lucy said. “None of that is my business or my concern. I do appreciate the offer of the maps. Who knows, those fools I’m working with do have a whole helluva lot of dumb luck—they might just trip over what we need.”
“You never know,” I said, then we headed back to the others, who were talking while Buck danced around.
“Layton,” Alex said. “Buck’s new man is here with him, so we may get a chance to meet him.”
“You’ll probably meet him tonight,” Buck said. “Right now he and his spy partner Ebony are on the yacht resting. They’ll come out and do their act later.”
“So you’re all staying on the water then,” Charity said. “That must be nice.”
“Oh it is,” Buck said. “The yacht looks old on the outside with wood and junk. But inside it’s got all the latest gadgets—rockets, guns, lasers… even cannons.”
“Buckeye!” Miss Lucy said, then put her hand to her temple. “God give me strength. And I can use another Tylenol, please, Ginger.”
“We’ll see you all later,” I said, then smiled and saluted Miss Lucy.
