Before the child could sit, the mother stood and placed an arm around his shoulders. “I too want to tell Mr. Moreau thanks. You see, these teachers see our kids sometimes more often than we do, and so we need teachers who care about them the way we do. It’s clear this teacher cares about the students who he comes in contact with, and I do not support the school trying to get rid of him.”
“In light of this,” Charlie said, picking up where the others left off. “I took it upon myself, along with a few other students, to go around and collect signatures of the students who are against the school’s decision to get rid of our teacher.”
My mouth dropped open. She did what? I couldn’t believe the students had been organizing this behind my back. Even if the school ended up firing me, I felt like today was an exercise well done. The students, the future of Lacovia weren’t blind to what was going on. They were not letting their own viewpoints be stifled by the adults who should know better, and I was happy to have been a part of this.
“Not only do we have three hundred and fifty signatures from students,” she continued. “But the parents of these students further endorsed Mr. Moreau by signing alongside their children.”
I was overwhelmed by the support. I was glad to be sitting, or I would have needed a chair badly. How did they get so many signatures if Mr. McLean had declared parents were clamoring for me to resign? I stared at his ruddy complexion, and the way he refused to meet my eyes and I knew the truth. The parents weren’t the ones with the problem. He was the one who didn't want a gay teacher in the school.
Since he was struggling for what to say next, Mr. Gayle addressed everyone. “In light of everything that was said today, we ask you for some time to deliberate and make a decision on Mr. Moreau. We shall be back shortly.”
The members of the board and principal McLean headed from the conference room to discuss amongst themselves. No sooner had they left the room when the parent came up to me and enveloped me in a hug. She thanked me before claiming she had to get back to work but wanted me to know how grateful she was.
“When did you do this?” I asked Charlie and the other students who remained in the room.
“It was Charlie’s idea,” Adam replied. “She’s a very determined person. She organized a group of us to go around and get signatures. You should have heard her speaking to the group of students in the cafeteria yesterday about gay rights.”
“Wow. We underestimated you, Charlie,” I told her, wanting to give her a hug but refraining. “Thank you, everyone. Thank you.”
Behind me Gordon approached us, his eyes shining with love and pride. “Atta girl, Charlie.”
Chapter 35
Gordon
“Mom, please. Stop trying to make my boyfriend fat. I like him lean just the way he is.” My mother’s cheeks turned crimson at the way I spoke about Beau, but since he wasn’t going anywhere, she would have to get used to it. Had Charlie not finished her meal before the rest of us and asked to be excused to complete some assignments, she would have heard the words too. I thought every one of us should get used to me saying it.
Beau’s mouth dropped open in horror. “When did I downgrade to a like?” The way he said the word with scorn, one would have thought I had said hate.
With a grin, I reached up to smack a kiss on his frowning lips. Startled by my open affection for him in front of my mom, I quickly glanced her way to find her watching us with a smile on her face.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she said, forking another slice of apple pie in her mouth. “I’ve not seen you this happy in a long time. As your mother, that makes me very content.”
I sat back in my seat but with my hand around the back of Beau’s chair. The past couple days had been draining, and I was glad to be in this atmosphere where I was loved and accepted by my family. Now that the school had dismissed all recommendations by the principal to fire Beau, and had instead surprised everyone by extending his contract to a total of five years, half of our worries were gone.
The other would remain until Ollie was home. We had laughed and relaxed throughout dinner. It had been my mother’s idea to have Beau over. I could still feel the unease and sadness that lurked at the edge of my mind. I wanted my son back home. Even with Beau in my life, that hole in my heart could not be filled by him.
“I’ll be right back,” I announced, startling both my mom and Beau locked in a conversation about France. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think my mom wanted me to hook up with Beau because she thought it cool I was going steady with a sexy French guy. She loved to hear Beau talk because of his accent. Both her and Beau had hit it off, and once he walked through the door, she had plastered one of her awkward kiss on his cheeks, and declared herself his American ma.
Having excused myself, I temporarily stepped outside onto the porch to make my routine nightly call. I punched in the speed dial for Ollie’s number, clinging to the hope that maybe this time he would answer. The phone rang off to voicemail just as it had all the other times I had called him before. I’d left over a dozen voicemails, and each went unanswered. I had no idea if he listened to them or just deleted them, but I still had to try and make some form of contact with him. Drew had warned me that I couldn’t go barging into Eric’s home like I wanted to and drag Ollie back home. Legally, Ollie was able to live where he wanted, and he had made it clear he had chosen to stay with Eric.
“Ollie, it’s me again,” I said the words that were beginning to sound repetitive. “It’s your father, and I don’t give a damn what Eric has been telling you. You’ll always be my son.” I waited a few seconds before continuing. “I know you’re mad at me which is the reason you chose to leave but listen, Eric isn’t your friend. He’s a dangerous man who went as far as to lock up Beau on phony charges just to physically abuse him. Whatever you do, don’t let him know you’re gay. Don’t talk to him about it. Better yet, if you want to find somewhere else to stay, do it. Just get away from him. If you call me, I’ll come pick you up.”
I heard the front door open. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Beau walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He pulled me against him, and I sagged against him, drawing from his strength.
“I love you, son,” I said ending the call and leaning my head back into Beau. He nuzzled me with his nose.
“I’m so sorry you have to go through this.”
I reached behind me to hook my arm behind his head while I tilted mine back to kiss him. I only meant for it to be a quick kiss but should have known better. His lips against mine captivated me, and I could do nothing but kiss him back. Our lips intertwined, making up for lost time.
“I’m glad you’re here to help me go through this,” I told him, breaking the kiss.
“Yeah but if not for me you wouldn’t be in this situation. So, in a way, it’s my fault.”
I squeezed his hand around my waist. “Don’t say that. The fact that I can’t force him to come home shows he’s no longer a child. He’s a young adult capable of making his choices. I just hope he makes the right one soon.”
“Hmm. He will. Poor kid’s just messed up a bit.” He sighed and loosened his arms around me. “Ready to take me home?”
“Am I staying the night?” I asked him. “My mom’s here with Charlie.”
“I don’t know. Are you?”
I smiled at him. “Let’s say goodnight to my mom. I can’t believe how much she likes you.”
I led him back inside the house where we told mom goodnight. To give her credit, she didn’t bat an eye although she must have had an idea why we wanted to be alone. I ran up the stairs to bid Charlie goodnight as well, and then drove Beau home.
We kissed from the elevator to his apartment, and once inside, I had him up against the door, his legs wrapped around my waist. He pulled at my shirt, almost ripping the material in his haste.
"Oh baby, I missed you so much," he groaned, kissing my face. "I can't be without you like that again."
&
nbsp; I walked him to the bedroom where I lowered him to the bed. We continued kissing which made undressing difficult, but we bore it to remain close to each other. When we were both finally naked, I lay on top of him, our limbs tangled.
"I love you so much," I told him, desperate to feel myself sliding into his body, even at the same time I wanted him inside me as well.
"Yes," he gasped, as on fire as I was. "I love you too."
Though we were drunk on passion, I believed his heart felt our desire to have sex with each other wasn't the inspiration for his confession.
He crouched on his knees to reach for the lube in the drawer, and once he had it firmly in his grasp, I grabbed him by the legs and dragged him on his belly to me. I kissed the indenture of his back, right above the swell of his ass. He moaned and raised his ass, his torso flat on the bed.
"Fuck, Beau," I grunted, my cock pulsating with the need to be inside him. He reached behind him and fingered his hole while I worked the lube on my cock.
"Gordon," he moaned. "I want you now. Fuck me, please."
I cracked my palms across his ass, surprised at myself. I jerked back almost afraid I would trigger an unfavorable reaction from him.
"Again," he moaned, twitching his ass.
I spanked his cheeks again, and he went wild, loving every minute of it.
"Aren't you full of delicious surprises," I gasped cracking my palm against his butt cheeks again and watched it redden. I caressed and squeezed his cheeks to comfort the area.
As much as I enjoyed our fun, the prize was right there between his cheeks, begging me to plunder him. With one hand lightly holding my cock, I guided the head to his opening. He spread under me, and I slid deep inside his body.
"Shiiiiit!" He cried out, his torso raising from the bed.
I slipped a hand under his body and pulled him upright, so his back aligned to my chest. His hands crept behind me to grab my hips as I moved inside him. I undulated my hips with each thrust, kissing the back of his neck. With a hand firmly banded about his stomach to keep his steady, I welcomed his weight as he leaned back into me.
"Yes, Gordon," he moaned and purred. His hot French accent turned me on. I thrust hard inside him, my pelvis slapping into his ass.
"Yes! Yes!" I cried with each thrust, my eyes closing as I concentrated on how good he felt. He reached behind me to clip my neck and brought my head forward, so we could kiss. My horny lover that he was, he threw his ass back into my thrusts, circling his hips from side to side like a belly dancer. When he moved like that with my cock buried inside him, I could almost weep from the pleasure of it.
To stall my orgasm, I clutched him to me, buried inside him but no longer moving. I closed my eyes, trying to get a grip on my emotions.
"Beau," I said his name and that was all I needed to say. He understood perfectly well without me having to ask. We changed positions, me crouched on all fours for him. He slicked the lube over his cock, leaning forward to trail kisses over my ass while he did so. I expelled deep breaths to control my runaway emotions. I desired him filling me up with his length before I at least climaxed.
With a hand planted in my lower back, he pressed his cock against the ribbed edges of my anus. The fit was still so fucking tight despite how frequently we had sex. He took his time with me, and when he was entirely inside, he rocked into me with ever so gentle movements. With every thrust, he owned every cracked piece of my heart. With deliberate jabs, he gentled me like a rider taking care of his prized stallion, soothing me when I would have wanted to canter headlong into our passion. I had already been on the verge of a climax when I had been inside him so, it wasn't too long, my cock in my hand, I was spilling cum all over the bedsheets. He continued thrusting inside me with a slow rhythm.
"Oh fuck yes!" Beau swore on a grunt just before he stiffened. Clinging to my hips, he emptied himself inside of me.
For a long time, my heart had been shattered, culminating in Ollie leaving. But at that moment, in my brokenness, Beau picked up every single piece of my shattered heart, and he made me whole again. Right then, I knew true love. Not the kind born out of allegiance of family ties, but that which was a complete meeting of minds, and the understanding that though separate individuals, ties bound us, covering a multitude of differences.
After cleaning up, we collapsed in bed and pressed to each other fell asleep.
Though I wasn’t sure how much time passed by my sluggish response to the ringing of my phone, I would have guessed not very long. I would have ignored the ringing, but beside me, Beau was still snoring softly, and I didn’t want to wake him. Lethargic, I stretched across the bed, and without glancing at the phone screen, tapped the screen to answer the call and raised the phone to my ear.
I said nothing into the phone because I was still pretty much asleep and just going through the motions. With the phone perched at my ear, I started drifting back into sleep. And then I heard it.
“Dad?”
Disguised in a sound akin to pain, I didn’t understand the implication of the call immediately. I heard coughing and grunting and what sounded like a sob. The rest of the sleep fled.
“Ollie?”
He didn’t respond, but I heard his sniffles. He sounded like he was crying. I scrambled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind me so I didn’t disturb Beau’s sleep.
“Ollie if that’s you, please say something.”
“Da-ad, I’m sorry.” He was crying now, sobs harsh and loud. He gave a hacking cough that alarmed me.
“Ollie, are you okay? Where are you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said on a sniffle. “I don’t care what happens to me anymore. I just want you to know I’m sorry.”
Alarm ran through me at his words. “No, no it matters, son. I’ll come get you.”
“Noooo. Stay away.” He started another bout of coughing and wheezing on the line. I winced at the sound of it.
Beau knocked on the bathroom door a second before he pushed it open. “Gordon, everything okay?” he asked, appearing in front of me.
I glanced at him. “It’s Ollie. He sounds sick or something.”
“You’re with him?” Ollie asked, his voice full of pain. “I guess it’s you, him and Charlie, now.”
“And you,” I hastened to add. “We’re not complete without you.”
“I’ve to go.”
“Ollie, please don’t hang up. Don’t go.”
“I love you, dad. I’m sorry.”
“Ollie! Ollie!” It was useless. He had already hung up the phone. “Son of a bitch!” I cried and threw my fist into the glass door of the medicine chest. The pain that exploded in my hand was nothing compared to what was going on inside me.
“Jesus, Gordon. Don’t move.”
Beau entered the room and reached for my hand to examine it. Some splinters were stuck into my flesh, and my hand was bleeding. “Let me get these out and put antiseptic on the wound.”
“I’ll be fine.”
He grasped my hand. “Don’t be stubborn. It will only take a minute.”
He took tweezers from the chest and pulled out the few splinters broken off into my flesh. While he busied himself, fussing over me, I frowned going over the conversation I just had with Ollie. Something wasn’t right. His tone didn’t sit well with me, and what was with all his coughing? Was he sick and not getting the medical attention he needed?
I jerked to my feet before Beau could finish.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Ollie’s in trouble,” I told him, pacing the confined space of his bathroom. “He hasn’t called me in all this time, and the one time he does, he tells me he is sorry and that he loves me? Something is up, Beau and I intend to find out what.”
I stalked from the bathroom, Beau trailing me. I reached for my jeans on the bed and noticed he reached for his as well.
“What do you plan to do?” he asked me. “I can’t let you go alone. Do you want me to call the police?”
I shook my head, a chill running down my spine. “Eric is the police. I don’t want him knowing I’m heading for his place.”
“Then let me at least call Drew,” he insisted. “You know he’s on our side. He’s been supportive, Gordon.”
“We’ll call him on the way.”
Although Beau didn’t try to talk me out of this, I could sense how tense he was as we piled into my truck. He was true to his word and punched in Drew’s number as I barreled down the street. Ollie’s phone call kept running through my mind and the more I thought about it, the more disturbed I was. I didn’t want to speculate that my son would hurt himself, but given the death of his mother by her own hand, I was worried his words meant he was thinking of copying her method of dying. By eliminating himself from the equation.
I wasn’t a man who was particularly religious, but prayed I was wrong.
Chapter 36
Beau
One way or another, tonight was going to end in a disaster. I felt it in my bones even as I wished I would be proven wrong. Gordon hadn’t recounted his phone call with his son to me, but whatever had transpired between them, had been enough for him to fly off the handle. He was gripping the steering wheel as though it was the only thing keeping him in control. Seeing him like this made me a little uneasy, not because I believed he would lash out at me, but at what a confrontation between him and Eric would be like.
Gordon never quite laid to rest what his friend had done to us. He still felt betrayed by it and thought his friend should have had his back.
“I’ve heard him speak homophobic slurs before,” he had told me once when we were in bed. “I never did pay them particular mind. If you’ve lived around here as long as I have, you’d know how common it was. You learn to ignore it. I never knew how he seriously felt about this and I can’t think why he feels so serious about it.”
Easy Does It Twice Page 26
