“I promise. We’ll see you soon.”
*****
The man who confronted Danny earlier leaned over to his buddy and grumbled his annoyance about all the queer activity being flaunted in their vicinity.
TJ felt the hateful eyes staring at him. He put his hands on the bar top and leaned in their direction. “Got a problem?”
The man looked away. Bidding his time, he waited for the tall black man to leave before shoving his way through the crowd and knocking into TJ.
The drink TJ was holding went flying from his hands, spilling down the shirt of a burly man in front of him.
“Sonofabitch!”
“It’s those flaming queers again!”
Within seconds, TJ and Ricky were surrounded by a hostile mob ready for a tumble. TJ quickly evaluated his best option and made a swing for a drunken man with a bad weave and a potbelly. His fist landed in the center of his gut, and the man heaved over, puking up chicken wings and bad whisky.
In the distraction, Ricky slipped away shouting, “Let’s get outta here!”
“You better listen to your little princess.”
It was the voice of the same man who antagonized Danny and just shoved past TJ. Tired of cowering to bullies, Ricky decided to confront him. “Do you have something you want to say to my face?”
“I’ll knock your fucking teeth out homo. It’ll be easier for you to give head.”
TJ jumped in front of him and grabbed the bastard by the shirt. He was getting ready to knock his teeth out when the man’s buddy came up behind him raising a bar stool above his head.
In a blink, Ricky leapt on the man, tackling him from the side.
They went crashing to the floor to chants around the bar of “FIGHT! FIGHT!”
In the shuffle to get up, the boys were getting hit and giving it back with equal vigor.
“Ricky, are you okay? Ricky! Where are you?”
Ricky could hear TJ calling for him somewhere in the commotion. All the members of the band ran over to join in. With the additional support, TJ scrambled away in search of the man he really wanted to get at.
The bouncer on the floor whipped out his phone and hit the call button for the police. The small tussle had quickly erupted into a full-blown brawl. There was no way he was getting in there without reinforcements.
Ricky was ducking punches when he felt himself being lifted off the ground. Someone had a strong hold of him from behind. He flared back to take a swing as he was being dragged away. Ricky felt the back of his fist connect to the side of the man’s jaw. He was dropped to the floor and swiftly turned around. To his horror, Ricky came to the realization that he just struck his beloved partner in the face. “Oh, Antonio, oh, man, I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, boy, you will be.” Antonio called over to Marcus. “Quick, get him in your car before the cops get here! I’ll be out shortly with TJ.”
“Wait! My sax!” Ricky ran off in the direction of the stage.
“Ricky! Don’t you dare!”
“Don’t worry, I got him!” Marcus yelled to his cousin.
Antonio didn’t stop worrying until he saw Ricky being hauled away under his arm.
“Nooo!” Ricky cried. “Not without my sax!”
“It’s already packed away wid da otta’ equipment so it wouldn’t get damaged.”
“Oh, thank God!”
“No, thank Louis. He started loading shit da minute he saw a fight break out.”
With a little effort, Antonio located his oldest troublemaker not long after. TJ was in the process of landing a third punch to the swollen face of the man who instigated the ruckus when Antonio grabbed him. “Hurry up, the police were called!” he shouted as TJ fought to get his bearings. “We’ll go out the back door where my cousin is waiting for us.”
By the time they caught up to Marcus and Ricky, several squad cars were blocking their egress. Luckily, Marcus was leaning against one of the cruisers chatting casually to a young officer.
Antonio was relieved to see it was a nephew of theirs. “Hey, kid, you’re a sight for sore eyes. I hope you can get us out of this mess.”
“No problem. Uncle Mars was just filling me in ‘bout da riot in dere. As soon as my partner gets out, I’ll lead ya away so ya’ll can avoid da bottleneck.”
“That’d be great. Thank you, Tyrell.”
“Anything for my uncles. If it weren’t fo’ dem n' Auntie C, I never woulda made an honest man outta of myself. I’ll tell ya what, it’d probably woulda been me bein’ one of dem rabble rousers in dere–who’ll no doubt be spending a night or two in lockup.”
Antonio cleared his throat and turned to order his two shamefaced malcontents to the backseat of his cousin’s car. Waiting for what felt like an eternity, they didn’t dare say a word. They were at least smart enough not to risk tipping the constraint threatening to topple over in Antonio.
Once they were home, Antonio ordered them upstairs to their shared room. He needed time to cool down, and speak with Mitch.
Danny snuck to the top of the stairs to listen. Hearing what happened he crept back to join TJ and Ricky. Without much persuading, they were soon sharing their night’s escapades while the men downstairs discussed their punishment.
“I can’t believe you guys got into a fight! NO FAIR!”
“What do you mean no fair? Trust me, we’ll be getting it just as soon as Mitch and Antonio are finished discussing how badly they want to beat our ass.”
“No, I mean it’s no fair that you guys get to have all the fun. I was home watching reruns of Murder, She Wrote with Mama C while you and Ricky are tearing up the bar.”
“We’re lucky we didn’t go to jail. If it wasn’t for Antonio’s cousin being on the police force we woulda been hauled off in handcuffs.”
“Damn,” Danny said in awe. “How cool is that?”
TJ laughed. “Pretty damn cool.” He added a wink after lifting the ice pack from his eye. He elbowed Ricky. ”You shoulda seen this one…”
“Shh,” Ricky said under his breath.
“Why you shushing…Oh, hi Mitch.”
Mitch didn’t respond to his greeting, other than to glare at his boy’s brazenness. “I’ll tell what’s not going to be cool, is the both of your backsides when we get through with them!”
Antonio came up behind him. “Please excuse us, Danny.”
Danny was too enthralled to move.
“Daniel! Go back to bed.”
Danny jumped. It was clear Mitch was not playing around. He snatched up his puppy and quickly left the room, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of any discipline.
Ricky was literally shaking in his boots when Antonio marched over to him. “I’ll take this one. You handle the blond rabble-rouser over there.”
Mitch crossed his arms, reigning in his anger. “Pants down, hands on the back of your heads, and find a corner while we discuss adequate punishment for almost getting yourselves arrested, racking up thousands of dollars in damage, and last, but certainly not least, nearly getting yourselves killed!”
“Sorry, Mitch. Please don’t be mad at Ricky. It was my fault.”
“I have no doubt you were behind much of the mischief. However, I would have thought the days of getting arrested were long over with,” Mitch accentuated his comment with a hard smack to TJ’s bottom.
“Ricky, on the other hand, is more than capable of making his own decisions. And, I certainly would have thought he’d have made better decisions than he did tonight!” Antonio followed up with a stinging slap to Ricky’s thigh.
“Move!” Mitch ordered.
The boys shuffled as fast as they could with their pants around their ankles to opposite corners.
Facing the wall, TJ tried to make another plea for his partner. “Can I just say…”
“Do you have permission to speak?”
TJ wisely shook his head no.
“Then zip it! NOT one word until I say so. How do you want to start this Antonio?”
&
nbsp; “I’ll see if I can resurrect the rug beater my mom would give to my uncles to sort me out.”
At those words, the youthful buttocks facing the room, clenched in trepidation. Seeing the naked backsides of his youthful partners tighten made Mitch’s scrotum leap. Confident the boys weren’t watching, he shoved his hands down his pants to squelch its interest.
Reminding himself of the dangers the boys had just put themselves in gave him his sharp edged voice back. “Pretty damn cool, huh? Do have any idea how close the two of you were to being locked up?”
Silence.
“Speak!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you really think that’s what we need in our lives right now?”
“No, sir.”
“No, sir.”
Antonio returned with the old teardrop shaped rattan carpet beater in one hand, and the largest wooden spoon he could find in the other.
Mitch took the rug beater and swung it the air, getting the feel of it. “I’ll begin by warming up TJ with this. You can start on Ricky with the spoon. Then, we can switch off.”
The men walked to their designated boy.
“Hands on walls,” Antonio ordered.
The boys stole glimpses of sympathy with each other as they repositioned their hands.
Beginning slowly and building up with momentum, Mitch and Antonio synchronized the corporal punishment with alternating swings so that each boy could hear his partner’s punishing whacks and anticipate what would be coming next for them.
After a thorough warming up session, Antonio and Mitch swapped implements.
“Stick your bottoms out, and keep them there.”
Following Mitch’s command as best they could, the boys jutted their sorry backsides out as far as their trembling legs allowed.
The rattan carpet beater covered a wide surface, leaving bright pink cross work across the naughty bare rumps. The spoon left deeper red marks at smaller targeted areas. Young sexy legs reached up on toes as bottoms were flexed and the boys whimpered and gasped.
When both backsides were sufficiently punished, the men inspected each cheek for damage.
“Keep your hands on your head, no talking, no rubbing,” Mitch instructed.
Mitch and Antonio left the boys struggling not to move as tears dripped down their faces. They took a seat at opposite sides of the twin beds. Antonio called the boys over. “It’s too late to keep you standing for a twenty minute time out, so come to the bed and stand before us.”
Sniffling, the boys waddled toward the men–sore rears and lowered pants making it difficult to move with dignity.
“Ricky, you come to me. TJ, go to Antonio.”
Ricky stood in front of Mitch with his swollen lip out, giving Danny stiff competition.
Mitch supported his chin in the palm of his hand. “What is it?”
“I’m so sorry I hit Antonio.”
Mitch pulled Ricky in between his legs. Ricky collapsed against his chest, heaving heavy sobs. Mitch normally didn’t like to offer comfort during punishment, but Ricky had a way of softening his resolve.
“Nobody is angry about that,” Mitch assured him. “Antonio is a big man, he’ll survive. That was an honest misunderstanding. Your actions leading up to it, however, were not an accident. Do you understand the difference?”
“Yes-s-s sir.”
TJ confessed to Antonio, “I’m not sorry I hit those assholes. They deserved it!”
“What are you telling me? You would do it again?”
TJ was silent.
“What would be the purpose of that?”
“Revenge, I guess.”
“Am I correct then in assuming you were holding a grudge against the man who mouthed off to Danny earlier?”
“Can you blame me? I didn’t go looking for him, but when he showed up...”
“You were seeking any excuse to start a fight. Weren’t you?”
“That asshole had no right to treat him like that.”
“There will always be assholes. Resorting to violence will not change that. Did you ever stop to think that by attacking him you could make him more likely to take his hostility out on someone else less able to defend himself? All you did was stoop to his level. Is it that you admire him so much that you wanted to be an ass like him?”
“No, but…”
“Did you intend to put your lives at risk?”
“No. But I didn’t want those guys to walk all over us either.”
“Are you happy to have racked up bills for us to deal with? Because we intend to send an anonymous payment–which you will work off.”
“No, sir.”
“Would you have been satisfied if the two of you were sitting in a prison cell? Is that the way to protect Ricky?”
TJ lowered his head. “Of course not.”
“When I heard what was going on and came back upstairs, do you know what I saw?”
“A fight?”
“I saw Ricky about ready to get his head bashed in by a beer bottle. I had no idea where in the hell you were. For all I knew, you were passed out under a table, or worse.”
“Crap. I’m sorry.”
“If someone is threatening you or someone you love, then by all means, defend yourself. But, if you can walk away, then walk. It doesn’t make you less of man to use your head. Don’t play by the rules of some juvenile jack off who is strutting around trying to show off.”
TJ nodded his head contritely.
“When Mitch and I are not there, you’re the oldest. We expect you to be setting a good example. I had better not ever catch you bragging to Danny again about how cool it is to get drunk, get into a fight, or have police ready to haul you off.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get over my lap. You earned yourself a little boy spanking.”
Chagrined, TJ did as he was ordered.
“I trust you were listening to what Antonio was saying,” Mitch said to Ricky.
“Yes, sir, I was.”
“Good. Over my lap.”
Mitch and Antonio spent the next five minutes reigniting the fire to TJ and Ricky’s naughty rumps with the palms of their scolding hands.
Danny was waiting in the hall listening to the smacks and muffled cries. He was holding his puppy for comfort, not wanting to hear, yet unable to move away.
When Mitch opened the door, he almost bonked him in the nose. “I thought you were told to go to bed.”
“Can I sleep with them tonight?”
“Maybe you should stay with us,” Antonio answered.
“Please.”
“What do you think, Mitch?”
“Well, I suppose it’s fine as long as you realize it’s for sleeping, not fooling around.”
“Yep.” Danny kissed Mitch and Antonio goodnight and stepped through the door of the boys’ room. “Can I come in?”
“Sure, kid, just be careful hopping into bed, our asses are sore,” TJ said.
“Not to mention the rest of our bodies from the stupid bar fight,” Ricky added.
Danny put Nicky down on the bedding Mama C had quilted for him. The puppy closed his sleepy eyes with a wide yawn. Danny kissed him on the head and came over to the bed. He delicately climbed in between his tender lovers. “I bet it was worth it though.” He turned toward Ricky, brushing the hair from his face and the tears from his eyes.
“No, it was the wrong thing to do. I feel like an ass.”
“Ricky is right,” TJ said spooning up against Danny. “It might have felt good at the time, but it ended up causing more problems than it was worth.”
“I still wish I coulda been there for it.”
TJ shook his head and winked at Ricky. “I wish I had an ice pack for my flaming ass.”
The boys giggled and snuggled up for the night.
Once in their bedroom, Mitch and Antonio shed their clothes and got as comfortable as they could on the queen size mattress.
“I can’t believe Ricky g
ot into the mix of a brawl,” Mitch said in amazement.
Antonio thought he detected a glint in Mitch’s eye. “It’s not funny, Mitch. He could have gotten himself seriously hurt, or ruined his playing hands.”
“Still, it’s nice to see a little spunk in him.”
Antonio gave a soft chuckle. “It was quite impressive to see.”
“I didn’t realize he had such fierceness hidden inside.”
“In every lamb there is a lion.”
“Well I hope ours lambs will think twice before bringing themselves to slaughter.”
“Wisdom comes with age. If we’re lucky.”
Mitch gave Antonio a kiss, then settled against the contours of his body. “I’m pretty damn lucky I was wise enough to fall in love with you.”
Chapter 10
Hard Pill to Swallow
It was their last night in New Orleans. The men were relaxing in the living room with Mama Cecelia, half attentive to the ballgame on television. A lot had happened in the short time they were there. Danny never did well with transitions, especially now when it involved leaving someone he loved. Exhausted from stress, he closed his eyes during overtime and fell asleep with his head on TJ’s lap.
Mitch nudged Danny. “Time for bed. Say goodnight to Mama C.”
Danny got up sluggishly and brought his puppy over to Mama Cecelia so they could both get a hug and kiss.
“G’night my dwalin’s. Sleep well. Don’t let dem bed bugs bite.”
“You too, Mama C.”
Too sleepy to make it up the stairs, Mitch carried him to his bedroom. He came back down shortly to prod the rest of the men to bed. “We have an early flight in the morning.”
Ricky yawned. “I’m too tired to care who wins anymore.” He got up and said his goodnight to Mama Cecelia. “Thank you so much for your hospitality. I haven’t felt so spoiled since my gram was alive.”
“Aw, honey, chile it was my pleasure.”
TJ dragged himself away from the game to get in line for a hug. “She’s everyone’s favorite mama for a reason, and it’s not just her bread pudding,” he complimented with a kiss.
“Mothering makes me happy.”
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