“Okay.” I nodded with a blissful smile as I slipped on the jumpsuit Billy had given me. He returned a few moments later putting on one just like mine. As I fastened the last few buttons I lifted my eyes to find him staring at me with a smile. The front of his jumpsuit was still unbuttoned. I tilted my head to make out the tattoos that covered his chest and abs.

  “What?” He smirked.

  I pointed, “Cool tattoos! What are they of?”

  “The gears inside of an engine,” he said as he started to button his jumpsuit.

  I turned to the car I had been lying on top of. It was a beautiful machine and looked to be in immaculate condition. I moved around it, carefully taking in all of the details. Billy came up beside me and stared at it nostalgically. I figured it was a good time to ask why it was just sitting in here. “Billy?”

  “Yeah kiddo,” he mumbled.

  “Whose corvette is this?”

  He met my gaze and smiled, “Mine. I was originally restoring it for my late husband, Denny.”

  His lips trembled prompting me to apologize, “Oh Billy, I’m sorry, I forgot.”

  He turned to me and smiled, “Don’t be baby boy. He’s not in pain anymore.”

  Silence lingered between us for a moment before I asked, “How did he die?”

  “Aids,” Billy replied numbly.

  I felt it was a good time for me to give him a hug. Hesitantly, I slipped underneath his arm and cozied up to his chest. He tightened his arms around me and kissed the top of my head before speaking. “It’s past midnight, we better get you home or Martha will worry.”

  I mumbled with a sleepy tone, “She’ll be okay as long as I leave a message.”

  I pulled away enough to look into his eyes. He met my gaze and arched his brow, “Well there’s not any sense in waking her up, what do you think about spending the night at my place?”

  I smiled, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  He reached down and patted my ass, “Get your stuff then and let’s go.”

  I was super excited as I scurried around to the hood of the car and grabbed my clothes. Billy made his way to the office, grabbed his clothes, and turned out the light. As we were leaving he stopped by the front counter to leave a note for his technician saying that he would be late in the morning and not to worry about my car right now.

  It was still raining outside as we ran to his truck. On the way home we held hands and I asked if he thought my car could be fixed. He was skeptical but optimistic. “You smashed it up pretty good when you hit my sign. We’ll have to call your insurance company in the morning and report the accident to see if they’ll pay for it.”

  I slumped a little, “It’s on my parents’ insurance.”

  He grimaced, “That’s not good, it’ll probably raise their rates some.”

  I sighed, “That’ll be a fun call.”

  “Do they live around here?” he asked.

  “Florida,” I replied solemnly.

  Billy glanced at me, “Florida? How are they in Florida and you’re up here?”

  “They retired a couple of years ago. My dad actually used to own the building your shop is in but he sold it to man named William.”

  Billy pulled over to the side of the road and gazed at me with a shocked expression, “Is your dad named Daryl Menke?”

  “Yeah, why?” I replied.

  Billy thumbed his chest proudly and shouted, “I’m William Setliff! The man your dad sold the shop to!”

  The gears in my mind were spinning out of control. How had I never put William and Billy together? Billy quipped, “Your daddy was the man who helped me get back on my feet after my husband Denny passed away! Your daddy is the man who helped me stay off drugs and get my life back together!”

  I slowly finished his statement, “And sold you the shop.”

  We held one another’s gaze for a moment. It was all coming back to me. I remembered my dad talking about a man named William who he had taken under his wing. Even before my dad owned his business I remember going with my mom to take him lunch. She would sometimes fix a couple of extra sandwiches for a man who dad described as down on his luck.

  I stretched out my hand and rested it on the side of Billy’s face. I was trying to picture what he would look like a little younger and with less facial hair. My eyes widened and I quickly pulled away, “You’re him; the man with the five o’clock shadow who used to hang out with my dad all the time.”

  Billy nodded and my hands folded over my mouth. He was starting to look a little worried. “Is everything okay Leo; you’re not freaked out that I was your dad’s buddy are you?”

  I shook my head no and removed my hands before turning back to face him, “Not at all. I used to have such a crush on you when I first realized I was gay and I always felt so guilty because he said you were married.”

  Billy chuckled and glanced down nervously, “How old were you back then?”

  I snickered, “Like fifteen.”

  Billy ran his thumb and index finger down his jawline, rolled his jaw, and grinned, “Shit, I don’t know what to say.”

  I reached out and took his hand, “I do, thank you for helping me figure out who I was.”

  His lip trembled, then he pulled me into his body. I laid on his chest for a moment as he stroked my hair and mumbled, “What a small world.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Goodbye Martha

  It’s funny to think about the fact that I’m dating my best friend’s son. He’s been the change that my life needed to give it some kind of meaning again and he’s been right here all along. I haven’t spoken to Daryl in a while but I’m not sure what I would say. Our lives are so different now and I’m not sure what he’d think about me dating his son since he knows my history.

  Once we got back home, Leo and I took a shower together then retired to my bedroom. I lent him some pajama’s which were too big and sagged but they looked so cute on him. He was exhausted and fell asleep in my arms. I laid awake for a while longer just watching him sleep. It was a dream come true. I’d spent so many nights lying here all alone and crying myself to sleep; wishing, hoping, praying there was someone lying next to me and now that I finally have that, I’ll do anything to keep it that way.

  The next morning when I woke up, last night’s storms had subsided and the sun was shining brightly through the curtains. Leo whimpered and twitched, I could tell he was dreaming. I pulled him in and kissed his forehead. He smiled and hummed with delight. It felt so good to feel the warmth coming from the other side of the bed. I was supposed to be getting ready for work but I’d waited too long for this to let it end so soon.

  We’d get up later, have some breakfast, and I‘d drop him off on my way to the garage.

  **

  It was around 10 a.m. when I got back to the house. I would have been home sooner but Billy didn’t want to let me go. I was feeling kind of melancholy as I made my way up the steps and stepped inside. I wasn’t a virgin anymore. I didn’t have any regrets, but I couldn’t help the unexplainable sadness that lingered over me.

  “Martha, I’m home!” I shouted as I walked down the hall that led to the kitchen.

  There was no answer. There was no sound at all. Normally, I’d hear the morning game shows playing on the TV in her room. As I approached her door I noticed it ajar. She always closed and locked it when she went to bed. I pushed it open but she wasn’t inside. “Martha,” I shouted again.

  I was starting to get worried as I checked the kitchen and didn’t find her. Then as I turned the corner, I saw her bedroom shoes in the doorway to the bathroom. “Martha!” I shouted as I ran to where she was. My hand folded to my mouth. She was clutching her chest with a bottle of aspirin in her hand. My nurses training kicked in and I fell to my knees beside her; she had no pulse. I pulled away and tears erupted from my eyes as I pulled my phone out to dial 911.

  So many thoughts raced through my mind as I paced the hallways waited for the paramedics to arrive. What was I going to do without her? She had become like a mother to me. What was going to happen to me? She owned this house and we’d never talked about plans for if something happened to her; then the guilt creeped in. I couldn’t shake the thought that if I would have been here then maybe I could have done something to help her.

  A knock at the door brought me back to reality. I could see the uniformed men with a gurney through the screen door and rushed to let them in. “She’s at the end of the hallway on the bathroom floor.”

  An officer followed them in and began to ask me questions, “Son, are you related?”

  I shook my head no, “I just rent a room upstairs but she’s like a grandmother to me.”

  The officer nodded and wrote down the information, “Does she have any relations that live nearby.”

  I had to think for a moment before replying. Then I remembered her daughter in San Francisco, “Her husband is deceased, but she has a daughter in San Francisco.”

  “Do you know her name?”

  In my distress I couldn’t remember anything but she kept all of her important numbers written down in a pad next to the phone on an antique gossip bench in the hallway. I rushed to it and flipped through the book. I tried to hold back my tears as I noticed that I was the first number. Below me she had written the name Charlene (Cell number). I promptly handed the book to the officer and pointed, “This is her daughter.”

  The officer thanked me and pulled out his phone. I was feeling overwhelmed trying to hear the officer’s conversation with Charlene and what the paramedics were doing to Martha. A few moments later, one emerged with a solemn expression and approached me. I already knew what he was going to say and prepared myself. I was standing against the wall to keep me from collapsing; my hand trembled as I cupped it over my mouth.

  His tone was sweet and empathetic, “Son, it appears your grandmother had a massive heart attack but we won’t know for sure until they perform an autopsy.”

  I whimpered and slid down the wall, trying to hide my face from the strangers. The paramedic stooped to one knee and placed his hand on my shoulder, “Were you and the deceased the only ones living here?”

  I shouted in reply, “She has a name! Her name is Martha!”

  The man looked empathetic as he continued, “What I meant to say was do you have any family you could stay with for a few days.”

  I cried out, “All of my family lives in Florida.”

  He persisted, “A neighbor, girlfriend?”

  I froze and gazed at him through tear clouded eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was hit Billy with all of this with our relationship being so new. Technically, we’d only been on one date so could I still call him my boyfriend? I wept, “I have a boyfriend. His name is Billy and he owns the auto repair shop on the other side of town.”

  The paramedic nodded, “Very good, now do you think you can manage to call him or would you like me to do it for you.”

  I whispered, “I have to do it, I have no choice.”

  The paramedic stood and extended his hand, “Let’s get you out of the floor son.”

  I reluctantly took his hand and he helped me walk to the gossip bench to sit down. My hands were still trembling as I tapped Billy’s name and the phone started to ring.

  **

  I was on cloud nine as I waited on customers and directed my crew on what to do. When I arrived at work, my assistant manager Buck teased me for being late, “Get lucky last night did ya?”

  I smirked at him; he was the only member of my crew who knew I was gay. He’s bisexual himself but he leans more towards girls instead of guys. I wasn’t about to dish the details with all the work that needed to be done today so I quickly changed the subject. “I need you guys to check out that little hatchback with the smashed in bumper. I got a call last night that someone hit the sign out front.”

  He replied, “Right on it, boss.”

  I was shifting through papers and returning calls to customers whose vehicles were ready when the phone rang. “Billy’s Auto Repair; this is Billy.”

  Leo’s sad voice came over the line, “Billy, it’s Leo. Um, my land lady Martha had a heart attack and died last night. The police and paramedics don’t think I should be here by myself. I tried to think of someone else I could call but you and Martha are the only people I know.”

  I sprang into action, “Are you at home baby boy?”

  “Mm-hmm,” he replied meekly.

  “You stay right there and go up to your room. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

  Leo sobbed, “But your shop, you probably have a lot of work to do?”

  I tried to sound happy even though my heart was breaking for him, “That’s what I pay a crew for. I’ll just get my Asst. Manager Buck to take care of things.”

  “Are you sure?” He whimpered.

  “Stop it!” I barked. I said I’ll be right there.

  **

  As I hung up the phone with Billy, I tried not to watch as the medics wheeled Martha down the hall and out the front door. The officer who was on the phone with her daughter approached, “Martha’s daughter Charlene is on the way; she should arrive later this evening.”

  I nodded but I could care less. Martha never spoke too highly of her anyway. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the officer sighed, “She is requesting that any tenants leave the premises. She’s afraid someone might try to take advantage of the situation and steal from her mother.”

  My sadness had turned to anger and panic as I shouted, “But I live here. I’ve lived here for a couple of years now and I can count the times Martha spoke to her on one hand.”

  The officer’s eyes were heavy and sad, “I’m so sorry kid. I tried to tell her that you were the only tenant now and that you were a decent looking boy, but she was hearing none of it.”

  Just as I was about to erupt in tears again Billy came marching through the front door. I perked up at the sound of his voice, and his boots shuffling across the hardwood floors, “Leo?” he shouted authoritatively.

  I stepped around the officer and emerged at the end of the hallway. He smiled warmly and growled, “There’s my baby boy, come here.”

  I ran to him and buried my face in his chest. The officer I was speaking to followed behind and asked Billy, “Who are you?”

  Billy held me under his arm protectively. I could tell from his tone and stance that he did not like police officers, “I’m his boyfriend.”

  The officer nodded respectively, “I was just explaining to Leo here that Martha’s daughter is requesting all tenants leave the premises until she arrives.”

  Billy snarled, “How come, he has a lease doesn’t he?”

  The officer replied, “I’m sure he does, but with the property owner having passed, the family has the right to make any tenants who are not blood relatives vacate the property.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Billy snapped.

  The officer nodded, “Yes, personally I think it’s a very cruel thing to do under the circumstances, but I cannot leave the property until the heir’s wishes are fulfilled.”

  Billy squinted angrily at him, then turned to me. “I’ll help you pack your stuff.”

  Billy took my hand, led me down the hallway, and up the stairs. I hadn’t even had the chance to go in my room since getting back from Billy’s last night. I didn’t have a lot of stuff but I didn’t have anything to pack it in with such short notice. Thankfully, all the furniture belonged to Martha so I just needed to focus on getting my clothes and a few personal things.

  Billy glanced around, “What’s all yours?”

  I was trying not to freak out as I glanced around the room and tried to determine how to pack everything. Billy could tell I was panicking as I frantically started to empty the drawers of the dresser and dump them in the middle of the bed. When I get upset I get clumsy and just as I tripped over the corner of the area rug, he swooped in and caught me. I was hugging a teddy bear my parents had given me as a child close to me as I gazed up into his eyes.

  He smiled that same clever smile he did the first day we met. His hands shifted to the sides of my face and as he held my head he spoke softly, “Breathe baby boy, Billy’s got you now and he’s not going to let anything hurt you ever again.”

  I took a deep breath. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I buried my face in his chest and wept. “Why does everything bad always happen to me?”

  He wrapped his arms tightly around me, stroked my hair, and whispered, “Shh.”

  He held me for a moment before separating. As he did, he gripped my shoulders and said, “Now, I have a whole roll of industrial trash bags in the truck. We’re going to load them up with your stuff, put them in the truck, and you’re going to stay with me as long you want to.”

  I nodded silently as he rushed down the stairs. He returned a few moments later, tore one off the roll, and opened it. “You load them up, and I’ll carry them for you.”

  I couldn’t believe how good he was to me. Over the past few weeks, he’s been the constant in my life; appearing out of nowhere just when I needed someone the most. It’s as if the universe had picked him out just for me and was determined that we were going to be together.

  I was never close to my actual father, even though I desperately wanted to be. All I ever really needed was a daddy; someone to chase away my fears when I get scared, someone to hold and comfort me when the world gets too cruel to bear, someone to care.

  Today, I found that man; he had always been here, even before I was born. He was just waiting for me to grow old enough to appreciate all the love he had to offer and come hell or high water I’ll spend the rest of my life repaying him for everything he’s done for me.

  **

  My heart was breaking having to watch my boy pack up the life he had come to know. I had the oddest flashback of myself at that age when the cops used to run me off from my little campsite. I can’t tell you how many times I had to leave everything behind but a backpack full of stuff and start over again. I used to think getting HIV was a punishment for my sins but over time it’s taught me that every day is a gift. People fall on hard times, people hurt, and if I can use my experiences to help someone then I will.

 

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