Strays and Lovers

by John Inman

  “Yes.”

  Gray took Eddie’s hand and rested it on his thigh, sending a rush of longing through Eddie that almost drove the air from his body. Eddie watched as Gray chewed his lower lip. His eyes skipped away from Eddie’s face again, then slowly slid back.

  “I’ll probably lose my job,” he said. “And the cabin too. I would be leaving in June anyway when the owners come out for the summer, but now I may have to go sooner.”

  “Because of the rent?”

  Gray gave a jerk of his shoulders. “Yeah. No job, no money.”

  “You don’t know about the job. Neither Tommy nor Ruth said they’d let you go, did they?”

  “Not in so many words. But when Tommy was the one who brought me groceries the last time, he didn’t seem too sympathetic. Told me I should have been more careful. Said if he knew I didn’t know how to walk to begin with, he never would have hired me. He also as much as said he couldn’t wait six weeks for me to get this lump of granite off my leg. He has to hire somebody else.”

  “What about disability insurance? Won’t it pay you something while you’re laid up? Did Ruth and Tommy at least take care of the emergency room bill? You were working for them, you know. There’s such a thing as workman’s comp.”

  Eddie gave a sarcastic snort. “At the Spangle Hardware Store? Insurance? You must be kidding. Did you have insurance when you worked there?”

  “Well… no.”

  Eddie slipped his hand from Gray’s and strode to the window. It was open, and a breeze ruffled the curtains around him. He could smell the wildflowers.

  He stood there silently staring out. Then he turned to find Gray watching him.

  “Why are you looking like that?” Gray asked.

  “Like what?”

  “Like you’re angry.”

  “I am angry.”

  “Why do you also have one of those Lucy and Ethel expressions on your face, like you might be cooking up a plan?”

  “Because oddly enough,” Eddie said with a grin, “I think maybe I am.”

  EDDIE TRIED not to stare at the booger dangling from Tommy Wilson’s nose. He, Gray, Tommy, and Ruth were sitting in a circle among stacks of roofing tiles on the loading dock behind Spangle Hardware Store. Tommy had reluctantly locked the store’s front door and hung up a Be Back in 15 Minutes sign, because Eddie had told him the meeting was important.

  At the moment, Tommy was cradling his vast stomach in his two hands as if afraid it might slip out of his lap onto the floor. His suspicious eyes were shooting back and forth between Eddie and Gray like he was watching a tennis match and didn’t much care for either player. Eddie noticed old Tommy trying to ignore the cast on Gray’s ankle, as if it really had nothing to do with him. Eddie was here to disabuse him of that opinion.

  “What do you mean you don’t have workman’s comp?” Eddie asked for the third time.

  Ruth looked increasingly uncomfortable as Tommy stiffened at the accusatory tone in Eddie’s voice.

  “It’s my business,” he said. “I’ll run it any way I choose. Less government the better. That’s my motto.”

  “We’re not talking about government involvement here. It’s already too late for that. What we’re talking about is you doing right by Gray, who was injured on the job working for you. You have to pay the bill for the emergency room, Tommy. There’s no two ways around it.”

  Tommy finally stuck a finger up his nose and removed the offending booger, flipping it into a bin of electrical sockets. It was sort of sticky, so it took him three flips to do it. Eddie decided the next time he had electrical work to do, he’d shop at Walmart.

  “Nope,” Tommy snarled. “I ain’t paying. He should have been more careful.”

  Still, Tommy wouldn’t look at Gray, and Eddie was starting to get mad. Gray was staring at him with an expression that said, “Told you so.” But Eddie wasn’t about to give up.

  Then a light bulb went off inside his head and he began to understand. His eyes traveled from Ruth, who was looking increasingly guilty, then back to Tommy, whose glower could best be described as truculent.

  “Wait a minute,” Eddie said. “You’re not claiming Gray as an employee at all, are you? You’re not even paying taxes on his wages. You’re paying him under the table.”

  Tommy hunkered down like a toad. His eyes were mean little slits. “Why should Washington get a cut? This way Gray gets more and I pay less.”

  Ruth finally appeared to see the light too. “You mean we don’t claim Gray as an employee at all?”

  “Nope,” Tommy grumped, now avoiding his wife’s gaze too. “Why should we?”

  Eddie leaped back into the fray. Knowing he suddenly might have Ruth on his side, he was starting to enjoy himself. “Because it’s the law, Tommy. Just like workman’s comp is the law.”

  “Then he’s fired,” Tommy said. “He can’t work anyway. We’ll have to find somebody else.”

  At that, Ruth rose up to her full height of five foot one and stomped her foot. “You fool!” she bellowed, while glaring at her husband with eyes that screamed bloody murder. She did a bit of Lamaze breathing to calm herself down, then turned to Gray, who was sitting quietly, watching in amazement while Eddie worked his magic.

  Ruth laid a hand on Gray’s arm. “How much do you owe the hospital?”

  Gray took a long deep breath and sighed, “Thirty-five hundred dollars.”

  “What!” Tommy cried. “For a broken foot?”

  Ruth barely glanced at her husband. She patted Gray’s hand. “Don’t worry, honey, we’ll pay the bill.”

  “Like hell we will!” Tommy bellowed.

  Ruth gave Tommy a glare that would have smoked a ham. “Hush up, old man. You’re no longer in this conversation.”

  Tommy reared back like a rattlesnake ready to strike. “You can’t talk to me like that!”

  Unperturbed, Ruth said, “Just did.”

  Little puffs of steam shot out of Tommy Wilson’s hairy old ears, or Eddie imagined they did. He was trying mightily not to laugh out loud at the horrified expression on Tommy’s face as he thought of all the money he was about to piss down the drain. He didn’t look too pleased about his wife telling him to hush up either.

  Anyway, Eddie was more interested in seeing the look of gratitude in Gray’s eyes as they burrowed into his.

  When Gray silently mouthed the words “Thank you,” Eddie’s heart soared, but since he was trying to appear nonchalant, he simply gave a businesslike nod.

  Clearly feeling put-upon from all sides and not liking it one little bit, Tommy tried to assert his authority one last time. “You’re still fired,” he snapped at Gray.

  Eddie had been expecting that.

  Trying not to gloat, he laid out the worst news for poor old Tommy yet. “When the injury is work-related, workman’s comp pays an income while the injured party is laid up. Since you didn’t offer Gray the workman’s comp he was legally entitled to, that responsibility now falls on you. In other words, not only can you not fire him, and not only do you have to pay his hospital bill, you also have to be the one to pay his wages while he recuperates.”

  This was too much for Tommy. Sputtering and cussing, he rose up on his spindly old legs and stormed off. They heard something crash inside the store, and Eddie figured whatever it was, Tommy had kicked it.

  Ruth chuckled and shook her head. “Old fool.” She turned to Eddie with a twinkle in her eye. “If I ever get in trouble, I want you on my side.”

  Eddie grinned. “I’d be happy to help you out.” He turned to Gray. “Are you satisfied? Did we solve your problem?”

  Gray had a bemused look on his face, as if he still could not believe things had worked out as well as they had. “Everything’s great,” he said, first to Eddie, with a warmth in his eyes that made Eddie blush, then to Ruth, with a little less warmth but just as much gratitude. “Thank you both.”

  But Ruth hadn’t finished yet. “Everything isn’t great,” she said, looking cagey all
of a sudden. “The Spangle Hardware Store still doesn’t have a man to work the loading dock, and we durn tootin’ can’t afford to pay two wages for the same job.” She turned to Eddie and casually added, “You’ll have to do it yourself. For nothing.”

  Eddie blinked, realizing immediately that Gray was no longer the only one looking bemused. Eddie was probably looking pretty befuddled himself. “Say what?”

  Ruth was smiling. It was the same sort of smile Madam Ovary wore when she had a poor dead bird clamped in her jaws. “You’ll have to fill in for Gray until he’s able to work.”

  “But—but what about the refuge?”

  Ruth shrugged. “You’ll have to get somebody else to work that.”

  “I’ll do it,” Gray announced. “I won’t be lifting anything heavy. Even with a cast on my leg, I can work the refuge. I’ll fill in for Eddie while he fills in for me. He won’t have to pay me because the hardware store is footing the bill. Ruth gets an employee, the refuge gets a clerk to fill in for Eddie at no cost. Everybody wins.”

  Eddie’s heart gave a thud inside his chest. An epiphany hit him like a ton of bricks. He tried really hard not to let himself look cagey too. But inside, he was doing a little tap dance.

  “You can also give up the cabin,” he said, “and move into the farmhouse while you’re working there. I mean, you can’t walk the trail on that cast. And this way you won’t have to pay your final month of rent and you can save your paychecks. Later you’ll need money to move to a new place, and this is the perfect way to set it aside.”

  Eddie stared in wonder as Gray’s steel-colored eyes misted over. Eddie didn’t have to ask if Gray accepted his offer. He could see on his young face, and in those grateful, misty eyes, that he did.

  Ruth’s gaze trailed from Eddie to Gray, as if analyzing the looks they were giving each other. And all the while she studied them, the more benignly self-satisfied her own expression became.

  “You boys have become friends, I think,” she said. “Just like I hoped you would.”

  A secretive glance passed between Eddie and Gray.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Eddie said softly.

  Ruth turned away, mumbling quietly—but not so quietly Eddie failed to hear it—“You have no idea what an old woman knows.” That cagey little smile was back on her face when she said it.

  Chapter Six

  “YOU’RE CRAZY. Why are you doing this?”

  “It makes sense. That’s why. It’s good for me, it’s good for you, it’s good for cheapass Tommy Wilson. I got the impression Ruth was pretty happy about it too. I think she sees us as something of a project.”

  Gray obviously didn’t care what Ruth or Tommy thought. He was clearly more concerned with Eddie’s feelings on the matter. “And you’re willing to share your house with me, Eddie? Take me into your home like one of your stray cats?”

  Eddie stopped what he was doing, which was building two bologna and cheese sandwiches. He turned to face Gray, who was sitting at the kitchen table with his broken ankle and his ten pounds of plaster cast propped up on an extra chair.

  Eddie leaned his back against the counter with his knife in one hand and a slice of cheese flopping around in the other. He gazed fondly down at Gray, who was absentmindedly stroking Madame Ovary as she lay sound asleep in his lap.

  “Ruth was right, Gray. With me working for you at the store and you working for me here, we can get through this.” Then came a tick of silence while Eddie shuffled his feet. “Plus, I may have an ulterior motive,” he softly growled.

  The throaty way Eddie uttered the words must have made it pretty clear what he referred to.

  “Oh,” Gray said. “You mean….” And his pale eyes shifted to the staircase leading up to the bedroom. It was only a fleeting glance, but Eddie caught it and smiled.

  “Now you’re getting the picture,” he said.

  Gray smiled back, even as his ears turned pink. “Do I get my own room?” he asked with a teasing lilt to his voice. “Or do you plan on chaining me to your bed?”

  Eddie shrugged, trying to hide his vast disappointment. “I hadn’t planned on chaining you anywhere. But if you want your own room, sure. There’s an extra bedroom downstairs off the parlor.”

  Gray’s gaze once again trailed up the stairs. When he eventually turned back to face Eddie, the foggy color of his eyes had darkened to steel. There was a heat in them that Eddie remembered from the night they’d spent together.

  “Funny thing, Eddie, but I’ve always preferred high ground. I think I’d rather stay in the bedroom upstairs. With you.”

  Eddie’s pulse quickened. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “You can even chain me up now and then if you get the urge.”

  Eddie licked his lips. “Good to know. Because frankly, I’ve been so hungry for you I can hardly stand it.”

  They studied each other for a long, quiet moment while the only sound in the room was Madame Ovary purring on Gray’s lap. Gray set her gently on the floor, eliciting a growl, which caused both men to laugh. Gray awkwardly swung his broken ankle off the chair and rose to his feet. His crutch wasn’t close, so he hopped on his good leg straight into Eddie’s arms. Eddie hooked an arm around his waist and caught him with a smile.

  Gray laid his head against Eddie’s chest. They stood like that in silence, watching Madame Ovary stalk from the room. She clearly wasn’t pleased to have lost Gray’s lap.

  “Thank you,” Gray finally said, drawing Eddie close, his lips brushing Eddie’s shirt. He leaned back and stared into Eddie’s eyes. He offered a smile that struck Eddie as effortless and open. Eddie thought Gray looked truly happy for one of the first times since he had known him, and that pleased Eddie a lot.

  Gray’s smile faded when he said, “I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. Working with this thing on my leg was out of the question. Being homeless with this thing on my leg wasn’t very appealing either.” To Eddie’s surprise, Gray’s steel-colored eyes grew sad. Their color, as pale as it was, grew even paler. He dropped his head once again to Eddie’s chest and muttered into the very spot behind which Eddie’s heart lay thrumming like a turbine engine. “I’m not used to people being nice to me, Eddie. I’m not used to some of the things I’m feeling either.”

  The rhythm of Eddie’s heartbeat changed. It thumped louder. He could feel the pressure of it in his temples and behind his eyes. “I’ve been feeling things too, Gray. I think about you all the time.”

  That effortless smile returned. The heat in Gray’s stunningly pale eyes ratcheted up a notch. “Use me, then,” he said, his voice deep and tremulous. “Take me to bed and do what you want with me. Trust me, whatever it is, that’s what I want too.”

  Eddie swallowed hard as he drew Gray’s lean frame close against him. He tucked a finger under Gray’s chin and angled his face up to a more kissable position. Closing his eyes, Eddie laid his mouth over Gray’s and lost himself in the young man’s taste, the young man’s heat.

  A hardness touched Eddie’s thigh and a tremor coursed through him.

  “I want you so much,” Eddie mumbled. And with their kiss still lingering, Eddie led Gray up the stairs.

  Careful of his ankle, Eddie lowered Gray to the edge of the bed. He reached out to close the curtains, but Gray said, “Leave them. I want to see you.”

  Knees knocking, Eddie lifted trembling fingers to the buttons on his shirt and popped them open one by one. As he undressed, he watched Gray strip himself naked on the bed. It didn’t take long because he was only wearing two items. His shorts and his T-shirt.

  When Gray was down to nothing but a plaster cast and a hard-on, Eddie collapsed onto the bed beside him. They made love until the sun began to set and the bedroom began to darken around them. Then they made love again.

  Later—much later—once again naked in the kitchen, Eddie fried bacon and scrambled eggs. Turning away from the stove before the eggs were even done, he dropped to his knees in front of the chai
r Gray sat in and laid his head on Gray’s lap.

  They remained motionless like that for a long minute, during which Eddie relished the softness of Gray’s skin and the gentle stroking of Gray’s fingers through his hair.

  It took the stench of burned eggs and the blare of the smoke alarm to eventually tear them apart.

  “THANKS AGAIN for covering for me tomorrow.”

  “Don’t mention it, Gray. I’m happy to do it.”

  Eddie sipped at his third beer and enjoyed the evening breeze wafting over him. It stirred his hair and blew the sweet scent of honeysuckle around him. He and Gray were sitting on the back porch watching the sun sink behind the horizon. Eddie’s cats and dogs were scattered around. All of them were asleep except Louie, who was chasing his tail over by the first dog run. Twelve dogs behind the chicken wire were watching him like they had never seen anything as fascinating in their lives. Louie was so caught up in his own game, he didn’t even seem aware he was being watched.

  It had been a while since the back-to-back thunderstorms, and the desert had returned to normal. Arid and warm, fragrant with sage and wildflowers. Just the way Eddie liked it.

  They had spent the day boxing up Gray’s belongings at the cabin—mostly clothes—and Eddie had made room for it all in one of the downstairs closets. He didn’t have to make up a bed for Gray because Gray would be sleeping with him. If they slept at all.

  In the afternoon, Gray used Eddie’s phone to call the cabin’s owner and tell him he was vacating the premises and that he had cleaned and locked up the cabin before leaving.

  Now they were relaxing after spending their first full day together. It was a day Eddie had enjoyed immensely. Judging by the contented smile on Gray’s handsome face, he had enjoyed the day as well.

  The desert was at rest around them, sleeping peacefully under a bowl of stars. The moon was already up. Being a thumbnail, it was miserly with its light, barely casting shadows on the world below. The silence around them seemed endless.