Out of the Closet
 by: Hankster

© 2012 by the author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 4 

Brian and Tuck had enough time to tell Doug everything.  He was all sympathy, but he had no words of comfort to offer them.  He suggested that they talk to their pastor. 

“After we’ve loaded the car, maybe we’ll drop by,” Brian said.  “You’re right.  He’s the best one to talk to.  I don’t think I can face the crew yet.”  Tuck nodded in agreement.

It was 8 AM, and Doug saw the bay doors, which led to the service area, slowly roll open.  His car was first in line.  “I’ll see you after I check my car in.  Sales won’t open for another hour.”  He ran off and Brian started to cry again.  Doug returned in less than fifteen minutes.

“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.  Up to now Tuck had done all the narration, so Doug was surprised when Brian answered his question.

“Well, we are going to buy one full sized car, go back to our homes and load up the car with our clothing, toiletries and any personal belongings we can take with us.  Then we’ll go to Jeff’s condo in Phoenix, if he’ll have us.”

“What do you mean, if he’ll have you?  Of, course he will.”

“His mother might tell him he would be disloyal to put me up,” Tuck continued, “especially with Brian there.  At any rate we’ll stay there, or in a hotel, until we find a place of our own in Phoenix.”

When Tuck said, a place of our own, Brian smiled for the first time since he heard his wife slam the front door of Jeff’s condo.  He took hold of Tuck’s hand and squeezed it.

“I’ll be sorry to see you leave Lake Henry,” Doug said sincerely.

“Well, the crew has a bedroom for us.  Maybe we can come out for a weekend occasionally.  We’ll have to see how it all plays out.” 

“It’s almost nine now,” Doug said.  “You can get into the showroom through the service area.  There must be a salesman, or Dave, there by now.  My car will be ready by 9:30 so I’ll head for the waiting room, and I’ll see you guys before you leave for Phoenix.

By 11 AM, they drove off in a two year old Honda Odyssey.   It had temporary plates registered in both their names.  Insurance would be covered by the dealership for seven days.  Tuck gave Dave his cell phone number to call when the permanent plates arrived.

They were starving, and stopped at Rosie’s diner for brunch.  Rosie was happy to see them, and wasn’t at all surprised to see them without wives.  By 12:30 they were at Tuck’s place.  It took them less than an hour to load his stuff into the car.  They both realized that almost every closet in the house had Maryann’s belongings.  It was true of Colleen and Brian as well.

The van was fully loaded by 3 PM.  They put their keys under the welcome mats and headed for Paul and Doug.

Doug had already filled Paul in on what happened.  He greeted them with nourishing arms, and told them to stay over for the night and return to Phoenix in the morning.

“It sounds like a good idea,” Tuck said, but let me check with Jeff.  If we can stay at his place, I’d rather get to Phoenix tonight.”  He took out his cell phone to call Jeff.

“Shit,” he said.  “I turned my phone off when Brian and I started to make love last night, and I never turned it back on.”  He had several messages.

Brian whipped out his phone and groaned also.  It too was shut off.  He had several messages also.

All the messages were from Jeff, and each one got more frantic.  He had called his mother to say hello when he arrived in Lake Henry late Friday afternoon, but she didn’t answer, so he tried Colleen with the same result.  He tried the ladies several times, and was now really worried.  Finally he started to call his father and Brian in Phoenix, also to no avail. 

“I better call Jeff quickly,” Tucker said, but his voice was shaking.

“Where have the four of you been,” Jeff yelled into the phone.  “I’ve been worried sick.  I even called Mackenzie and now she’s worried too.”

“Jeff, we’re all alive and well, but could you please come over to Paul and Doug.  Brian and I need to talk to you.  Please come alone.  Don’t bring Jim along.”

Now Jeff was really scared.  He told Jim and his house mates that he had to go help his dad on an urgent matter.  He ran out of the house to his van and flew to Paul’s place.

He was surprised to see a strange car in the driveway.  It was loaded with clothes.  He had a terrible foreboding and rushed into the house.  He saw his father and Brian first.  Their eyes were red and swollen.

“Mama and Colleen,” he cried.  “Something’s happened to them.”  He hadn’t called Maryann, Mama, since he was five year’s old. 

“Something has happened to them, but not what you think.  They found out about us and kicked us out.”  Jeff slumped into a chair.  He was speechless.  Tuck related the whole story to him before he had regained his power of speech, and couldn’t ask questions.”

“Wow,” was all Jeff could say eventually. I can’t believe it after all these years.”

“We just wondered if we could crash in your guest bedroom for a few days,” Brian asked.  “We’ll get a place of our own as quickly as possible, maybe even before you get home Sunday night.”

“Of course, you can, but how are the ladies?”

“Well,” Tuck said, “they aren’t spreading ashes all over themselves and tearing their clothing.  They went to Phoenix on a shopping spree to spend our money.”

Jeff giggled.  “I’m sorry to laugh,” he said.  “I really don’t feel like laughing, but it is typical of the female species.  If life gets tough, go shopping.”  Everyone felt like laughing at that observation, but nobody did.

“Look guys,” Brian said to Paul and Doug.  “We appreciate your offer to stay over, but I think it best that we get out of Dodge as quickly as possible.  Maryann might even resent it if we stayed with the crew, so if you all don’t mind, I’d like to get to Phoenix ASAP.”

“Jim and I should go home and help you unload,” Jeff said.

“You’ll do no such thing.  We have a lot of toiletries and stuff at your place already, and we’ll only take just what we need out of the car.  We don’t have to unload everything until we have a place of our own.  Besides, when your mother gets home, she’ll need you to lean on, Jeff.  Obviously the ladies know nothing of our relationship with any of you guys or with your friends.”

“I should hope not.”

“Now you go join your friends, and we’ll head out for Phoenix.” 

Jeff left the house.  He needed to confide in his friends quickly and seek their wisdom.

“It’s almost dinner time,” Paul said.  Won’t you stay for dinner?”

“No thanks,” Brian said.  “We’ve imposed enough.  It’s true what I said about getting out of Dodge; the quicker the better.  I’m sorry we won’t be to church this Sunday, Paul, but we’ll continue to help you out on the expansion as much as possible.”

“All the site development and the engineering are done and you won’t need my spare room to make love anymore so we’re all good.”

The four men embraced and kissed.  “I’ll never forget what you guys did for me,” Paul intoned.  “God bless you.”  It was now his turn to cry.

“Don’t cry,” Tuck said.  “We aren’t disappearing.  We’ll see you soon.”  He and Brian ran to their new car, and headed for the highway.  The trip to Phoenix was polar opposite from the trip to Lake Henry.  They talked non stop.

Brian started off by saying, “You know that wasn’t as bad as I expected.”

“I know.  I’m so relieved.”

“There are three home games in a row next week, and we can sit through all three in their entirety,” Brian was still laughing.

“And we can make love all the rest of the weekend and even after the boys get home.”

“No we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“We have to look for an apartment,” Brian reminded Tuck.

“That’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“A lot of stress, I think.”

They grew silent, not talking for a few miles.  Finally Brian broke the silence.  “I love you, Tuck,” he said, “but I’m scared shitless.”

“Remember how scared you were when we returned from our honeymoons?  You were apprehensive about taking on a new wife and a new job all at once.  I told you then and I’ll tell you now, you don’t have to worry with me at your side.”

Brian started to cry again, but it was no longer a cry of pain.  It was a cry of love.  They reached their destination, and Tuck parked in Jeff’s parking spot, because it was closer to the entrance than any of the guest spots.  He could move it the next day before the boys came home.  They removed what they needed from the car and went upstairs.

“Are you hungry?”  Brian asked once they were settled in the apartment.  It was almost 8 PM.

“Yeah!  I’m hungry for you.”

“How can you think of sex at a time like this?” Brian asked incredulously. 

“That’s all I can think about.  Now, for the first time in our lives, we can make love without any fears.  We can enjoy each other as much as we want, and the boys won’t be home until tomorrow evening.  We have all night and all day tomorrow to make loud, noisy, crazy love.  Are you with me, Brian?”

Brian answered by smacking a wet one on Tuck’s lips.

They had fucked each other one time each in the shower, and were just climbing into bed for some oral action, when the house phone rang.  They didn’t know if they should answer it, but Tuck saw that the caller ID said that it was Jeff.

“I just wanted to make sure you had arrived safely and everything is all right,” he said.

“Everything is fine.  Don’t worry about us Jeff.  Have you spoken to your mother and Colleen?  How are they doing?”

“As good as can be expected.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“They’re strong women.  They’ll be fine.  Jim and I took them out to dinner.  They wanted to know if we knew about you two.  We lied and said no.  We told them that none of the guys knew.”

“I guess it’s best that way.  I don’t want to make it worse than it is.  Well, good night Jeff.  We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tuck turned to Brian.  “Now where did we leave off last night?” he asked. 

The next morning was Sunday, and Brian and Tucker felt the need to go to church.  They went to their old catholic church and were treated to the usual diatribe condemning homosexuality.  They left during the communion service, never to enter a catholic church again.

To be continued...

Posted: 09/07/12