Scratch the Matchmaker

by Austin Daniels

  I looked at him warily for a long moment before answering. "Why do you want to do that? I mean, I haven't been here very long. It just seems kind of early. I'm not complaining, I just want to know."

  "A few years back, I fostered a boy for a few months. We got to be good friends and he started school and seemed very happy here. My contact at social services retired and was replaced. The new lady didn't approve of my fostering a gay kid because I was gay as well. She showed up one day and pulled him. I fought it, but at the time, I didn't have a lot of case law to fight with. I really don't want to have something like that happen again. I can't just keep you because I'd be harboring a run away. Truth is, your family never should have sent you away. There are laws about that. So we have to do this all legally. Besides, it would kill me to see you go back to your old environment or the streets."

  I threw my arms around him and cried.

  "Hey, what's the waterworks for?"

  "You're the first person who ever wanted me that didn't have to." He was the nicest person I'd ever known. He wanted me so much he wanted to be my dad! He was trying to protect me. Except for Robin, I don't think anybody had ever done that.

  Johnny's attorneys got the paperwork signed. I never saw my mom. She apparently didn't want to see me. He told me I could keep my name or change it. I didn't feel right keeping the name of people who didn't want me. "I'd be Jay Davis?"

  "Yes, and Robin would be Robin Davis."

  "How does my changing my name effect Robin?"

  "Your mom said Robin could join you. Your brother Finch moved out the day you left, and Robin is not happy living alone with your mom. Robin wants to come. I talked to him this morning."

  I had another round of tears. Robin was coming. I'd talked to Robin and he'd never mentioned that Finch was gone. Things must have been worse than I thought. Johnny picked up Robin that night. That's how we became Davises.

  On the day Robin arrived, Johnny refurnished my room so we could share a room. "Why are you going to so much trouble to get us to share a room? This place has lots of bedrooms."

  "It's not about having the room. I think it's good for brothers to mingle. Separating you would put a wall between you. Your mom said you boys have shared a room since you were in the crib."

  Looking back, I think it was one of wisest things Johnny did for us. He raised us from that day forward. Now it was Johnny that was footing the bill for my college education. The first thing I was supposed to be working on was getting a roommate. I think Johnny had planned for that roommate to be Robin, but Robin moved out after he graduated. I hadn't been ignoring getting a new roommate; I was just hoping to recruit one of my friends. It didn't look like that was going to happen, so I was just starting to work on getting a guy in here that I could stand to live with.

  Today Johnny was taking me to dinner and I'd hoped to have some news for him. Johnny could afford all of this, but he'd always been careful not to give me so much I'd feel like I was owed it.

  There was a knock at the door to my apartment, and I rushed to answer it, picking up the broom along the way to make it look good. "Johnny, you're early," I said as I opened the door to let him in.

  "I'm right on time and you know it. I'm starved. Where do you want to eat?"

  "Well, I was thinking…"

  "If you are about to suggest that you are going to cook again, forget it. You're a brilliant boy, but cooking isn't your talent." Johnny was a bit outspoken, but he spoke the truth. When I realized he was the best cook in the world, my attempts at learning to cook seemed more like a series of embarrassments. I didn't want to try after the first few times.

  Scratch ran up to Johnny and stood right in front of him, looking up at his green eyes as if he was studying him. Johnny seemed surprised, even shocked. "A dog? Really? Don't you think your studies are keeping you busy enough? How are you going to care for a… cute little boy like this?" Kneeling and patting Scratch on the head, Johnny ran his hand down Scratch's back and grabbed the flag that was his wagging tail. "What an unusual tail." I could almost hear his heart melting as his tone continued to soften from the original outrage to a kind of sticky paternal sweetness.

  "Before we go, I need to talk to the landlord about Scratch. I want him to understand I didn't bring him here. He just arrived yesterday. To tell you the truth, I was really having a bad day when he showed up. He sort of pulled me out of it."

  "Was it over a boy?"

  "Yes, and I'd rather not talk about it. I'm going to put Scratch on a leash and go talk to the landlord. I want him to see the little guy so he'll know he wouldn't be much trouble."

  "I'm going with you. Oh, don't give me that look. I'm going to come along for moral support. I'll be quiet, I promise."

  I thought, Johnny being quiet? That'd be something to see.

  We walked out of the apartment and headed out to the sidewalk. The landlord lived in the end unit opposite mine. His name was Devron Diego. He was Hispanic and about my size if not a little smaller. He was a nice guy and personally took care of everything. He mowed the lawns and blew away all the dust. He cleaned all of the front windows of the units to ensure the apartments always looked nice. He could often be found working around the grounds, but today was nowhere to be seen. Knocking at his door, I waited. After a few seconds, I could hear someone coming down the stairs inside.

  An eye appeared in the fish-hole lens in the door and then it opened. "Jay, what can I do for you? Is this your dad? Is anything wrong?" Mr. Diego met Johnny the day I moved in. Since I was a student, he'd required a responsible party to co-sign the lease.

  "Yes, this is John." Only Robin and I called him Johnny. "No, nothing is wrong, except I wanted to tell you about Scratch here. He showed up at my front door yesterday and if nobody claims him, I'd like to keep him. I thought I better run it by you."

  "Well, the lease says…"

  Johnny interrupted him, kneeling down to show him the dog. "Look at this cute little creature. Just touch him." Amazed it had taken this long for Johnny to interrupt, I watched as Mr. Diego squatted down and ran his hand along Scratch's back. As his hand ran the length of Scratch's coat, it brushed against Johnny's hand. I stood back, thoroughly expecting Johnny to jump up when my landlord touched him, but to my surprise, he didn't move. I watched in fascination, never having seen anything like this. Both of them looked up at one another when their hands touched, but neither one pulled away. They held the look between them way too long. It reminded me of the moment Richard pushed my hand down onto Scratches accident.

  Slowly they rose to their feet at the same time. "Mr. Diego, I was just about to go to dinner. I'd love it if you could join me. I just hate eating alone. We could talk more about Scratch staying here with my son."

  Eating alone! What the…?

  "Oh." Mr. Diego sounded surprised, but pleasantly so. "I'd be honored," he said. "Let me get my keys." With that, he disappeared a moment into the apartment.

  Johnny gave me a sidelong glance and said, "Get out of here. We'll do dinner another night. I met this guy before right? I didn't notice he was that hot before. I'll call you in the morning and tell you all about it."

  I was shocked. Johnny just picked up my landlord and was kicking me out of our dinner. I gave him a hug and took off with Scratch, heading back to my apartment. I figured what the hell, my job was done. Mr. Diego knew about Scratch now. He was going to dinner with Johnny. What could be better? "Quite the little matchmaker, aren't you boy?"

  Sitting at home, I munched on another bologna wrap. Johnny was right, I thought. I have no idea how to cook. I washed the little burrito down with milk, which was almost still okay to drink, and thought about calling Richard. As I reached for the telephone, it rang.

  "Jay? Hi, this is Richard. How are you doing?"

  "I was just about to call you," I said "I'm sitting in my apartment missing dinner with Johnny, my adoptive father, because he picked up my landlord."

  "Wait, you mean to tell me you were adopted by a man wh
o just picked up your landlord? Didn't you say your landlord was a guy? Is your dad gay?"

  "Oh, didn't I mention that? I'll tell you all about that later. For now back to my story. The strangest thing is, at first I thought he might just be trying to convince him to let me keep Scratch, but not now. Johnny thought Mr. Diego was hot. He might really like the guy. He's not bad looking for a guy his age—and he's single. "I'm going to call him later and see what happened. Johnny isn't the kind of person to do something like that. At least, I don't think he is."

  "Bad move, Jay. I wouldn't call him too soon. If he likes the guy, he might just be there with him in the morning. Know what I mean?"

  "Oh, he wouldn't! Not Johnny."

  "Jay… Your dad is a gay man and he isn't an old man and he isn't a monk. He just took action to meet a man and kicked you out of your dinner. You do the math."

  "Maybe you're right. I'll let him call me and see what he wants to tell me. Or I'll wait to see if Mr. Diego knocks on my door and kicks Scratch out."

  "Sounds like a plan. So when will you and I be able to get together again so we can learn more about each other?"

  "How's tomorrow? I have the whole day."

  "Okay, do you think you can find a babysitter for Scratch? I'd take him along, but this is a day for you and me to get to know each other."

  "Let me call my friend Logan."

  "If he can pick him up in the morning, I can pick you up around ten and we'll go for a hike and chat." Apparently hiking was a thing Richard was into. This was Arizona and part of the year it was hot as hell, but this was monsoon season and the clouds cooled things off a bit. The desert was beautiful from the rains that came through in July and August and all in all, it sounded like a great way to get to know Richard.

  "Sounds good. See you at ten."

  Chapter Seven

  Jay

  Picking up my phone, I tried to call Logan again. He was on speed dial, but I was so excited, I kept making mistakes. Finally, I saw his picture and telephone number appear on the screen and I hit the little telephone to call him.

  "Hello."

  "Logan, this is Jay. I'm going on a day-date tomorrow with Richard, and I need a babysitter for Scratch. I haven't gotten his doggie door yet, and we're going to be gone a long time. I hate to leave him all cooped up on his own. Can you watch him?" Scratch was standing next to me as though he knew I was talking about him.

  "Sure, but you owe me. I'll be collecting, so be prepared. Oh, and Jay, you'll have to resolve this pretty soon. I'm happy to do it, but sometimes I'll be busy. What are you going to do about that? I'd hate to see the little guy stuck in the house too long."

  "Thanks, Logan. I'm getting a doggie door soon, so I won't have to worry about leaving him alone too long. I think they make them for sliding glass doors."

  "Aren't you worried your place will get broken into?"

  "To steal what? You've been in my apartment. Do you want anything? Besides, I'd put a bar in the tracks to keep anyone from opening the door and with Scratch the wonder dog here…."

  "That little dog couldn't fight his way out of a paper sack. Are you kidding?" Looking at Scratch standing there, it was obvious he didn't have a mean bone in his body, but I think he'd bark his head off if someone tried to crawl through the doggie door."

  "Well, actually, yeah, I was kidding, but after the door is up I can put a bar in to keep the door from opening. Nobody's going to break in here for my used furniture and outdated laptop. So… Do you want us to drop him off?"

  "Well, that would be nice." Logan had a hint of irritation in his voice.

  "Okay. That gives me an excuse to call Richard anyway. So I guess this'll be bye then. I'll see you tomorrow."

  "No, this isn't goodbye yet, Jay. Tell me what time I can expect my little guest to be dropped off. I don't want to wait around here all day."

  We were getting to a point where I needed to calm down and stick to details. I didn't want to irritate him, especially since he was helping me. "Oh, I'm sorry, I should be able to drop him off about 9:30."

  "Okay, that's good. See you tomorrow."

  "G-bye."

  Without wasting any time, I called Richard, and he was cool with dropping Scratch off, but it meant we had to use my car because Scratch was not going on the motorcycle. We talked about what to wear and just to get started, I began to tell him about my family.

  "I grew up over on the northwest side of Phoenix. Johnny lived over that way too. When he comes out to Tempe, he has a hell of a drive. I don't see him a lot, but we talk on the phone. If he starts to date my landlord, that could all change. It'll be interesting to see what happens."

  "Yeah, he could be your neighbor. But Johnny has a big place, doesn't he? Maybe your landlord will go there? Not to change the subject, but didn't you say you never had a dog?"

  "Yeah, Johnny thought he was allergic to animal hair. I always wanted a pet, but the best we could do was a few toads or turtles. They don't make great pets, but Johnny isn't allergic to them. Scratch will be my first mammal."

  "He thought he was allergic?"

  "Yeah, turns out he was allergic to lots of things, but animal hair wasn't one of them. He takes pills now."

  "Not to change the subject, but you do understand Scratch is a big responsibility. He's more than a turtle. He'll be like family. A turtle doesn't go out on walks or eat much. They don't need human affection and approval. You're still a college student. Scratch will be around for easily another 13 years. He's a young dog. Think about it. In 13 years you'll be 36 years old. It means thinking of him when you choose a place to live. You also have to consider him when you choose employment. For instance, a position requiring a lot of travel is pretty much out. He comes first. Are you prepared for a commitment?"

  Was this a trick question? I wondered. When he said commitment, did he mean more than keeping Scratch? "Yeah, he's a great little guy, and I owe it to him. You know if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have met you."

  The phone was silent for a bit, making me wonder if he was thinking I was pushing a little too much. "Good answer. I'll see you in the morning about 10?"

  I realized we had a scheduling conflict. "I told Logan we'd drop off Scratch at 9:30. Is that okay?"

  "Sure, sounds great."

  That night I felt like it was Christmas Eve and I was seven years old again. It took forever to get to sleep, but when I did, I dreamed about Scratch. I wanted so much to dream about Richard, who for some reason felt just out of reach in my dreams.

  Nine o'clock came slowly, but when it did, there was a knock at the door. Scratch gave a little yip and looked at me to make sure I was coming, then he ran to the door, trying to look through the frosted glass on the side and scratching on the framework.

  I picked him up and opened the door. Standing before me was Richard in a pair of shorts with hiking boots and a belt holding water bottles. I felt so unprepared. I was wearing a pair of cut off blue jeans and old tennis shoes. I wore an old ASU t-shirt I'd had since I was a freshman. I just figured if we were going hiking outside and sitting on dirt and rocks that wearing something old was the thing to do. "Should I change?"

  "You look fabulous," he said, stepping inside. He got a little too close, and looking at me with those penetrating grey eyes, he reached around and pulled me up against him for a hello kiss. His 'hello' kiss melted into an 'I've missed you' kiss, which soon felt more like an 'I want you' kiss. I was like putty. For a moment, I couldn't function, and the smile on his face made it perfectly clear that he knew damn well the effect he was having on me. He obviously thought it was funny. I thought it was wonderful.

  I was ready to chuck the entire hike and head upstairs when he pulled away, leaving me wondering what was next. "We've got a deal here, so we better stop." Richard said this without looking at me, which gave me the impression that stopping like this was just as difficult for him as it was for me. I knew he was doing this for me and it was touching.

  Thinking I'd better change the su
bject, I thought the best way was to just get going. "I'll get his leash and we can go."

  Richard looked at me again, but this time he seemed to be thinking more about leaving as he started to look around to see where the leash might be. I reached in the closet, grabbed the leash, and we headed out.

  In five minutes we were dropping Scratch off at Logan's apartment. Logan was thrilled to have the opportunity to put a face to the name and finally see what all the fuss was about. "So you're Richard—the new boyfriend!" Logan had a big grin on his face as he looked up and down, checking Richard out from top to bottom. I could see he approved by the grin on his face. I was going to hear all about this later. But for now, I was starting to die inside. What is he trying to do? Is he having fun at my expense? Is he already getting back at me for ditching him when Richard came over?

  Offering his hand to Logan, Richard was his normal charming self. Reaching around Logan like they'd known each other for decades, he said, "That would be me. You must be the best friend, Logan, who would do anything for Jay."

  Oh, my God, I thought. They're in this together! They're trying to embarrass me.

  Logan looked up at me with a sneaky expression on his face before he and Richard started heading down the walkway toward the car. Logan turned his head, catching my eye as he spoke to Richard. "Well, Richard, Jay was right when he told me you were absolutely dreamy."

  This is getting out of hand. I need to put an end to this, I thought. I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt like I was meeting my prom date's dad.

  "Richard and I need to go. Thank you, Logan, and silence, please, both of you."

  They both laughed as Richard and I continued down the walkway from Logan's apartment and back to my car parked at the street.

  I was secretly kind of happy that Logan said I'd used the word dreamy. It was exactly the way I felt, and this way Richard would know what I thought of him without me ever having said it. It's not like Logan had said anything that wasn't true.