Cleats in Clay (8 page)

Odis chuckled and released his grip to punch the button to turn off the water. “Green one is ‘on’ or ‘off’, depending.” He looked up at Bobby.
“Island?” Bobby asked.
Odis got towels from the little cabinet by the shower door and handed one to Bobby. “Oh, well, the art world is kind of a circus in its own way. When I built this place, I thought of it as my own private island, away from it all.”
“Well, it’s a nice island,” Bobby said as they dried off. It seemed kind of lame, but that was all he could think of to say. He followed Odis back toward the bed.
“Sorry the water got cold so fast. It’s only a thirty-gallon tank. With that many jets running, it doesn’t stay warm long.” He took Bobby’s towel and threw both of them into the laundry basket. “Was planning to put in one of those on-demand-type heaters, just haven’t done it yet.”
Bobby stretched out on the bed. “Well, you should put that on your to-do list.” He hugged Odis when he lay down next to him. “I can imagine all kinds of interesting things with a lot of hot water.”
Odis smiled. “I bet you can.” He ran his fingers through Bobby’s wet hair, watching how the short chestnut-colored locks wanted to curl around his fingers. “You ever grow your hair out longer?”
Bobby grinned playfully. “Trying to imagine me as a woman now?”
“No, of course not,” Odis defended. “If I wanted a woman,
you
wouldn’t be here in my bed.” He leaned in and lightly kissed Bobby’s lips.
Bobby pulled him closer, opening his mouth and going deeper. They enjoyed the taste of each other and that fuzzy-blanket feeling a moment before separating. “I don’t let it grow longer. It turns into an unruly mess like a dirty old mop.”
“I doubt it. That sounds like something a mom would say….”
Bobby dropped his gaze. “Anyway, I keep it short.”
Watching Bobby’s face, Odis prodded, “Tell me about your momma.” He saw a brief hint of pain before Bobby pulled on a poker face.
“Nothing much to tell.”
Odis studied him, knowing that was far from the truth. But Bobby still wouldn’t meet his gaze, so he let it drop.
Without looking up, Bobby asked, “Roll over?”
Odis rolled onto his back. “Like this?”
Bobby put his hand on Odis’s hip and nudged him to keep rolling. Odis rolled over onto his other side. Bobby spooned in behind him, sighing as he wrapped his arm around Odis and clutched at his chest.
Odis settled in against Bobby. He’d never been on the inside of a spoon and found it strangely comforting. He could feel Bobby’s knees right behind his, his butt fit right into the fold of Bobby’s lap, and he could feel Bobby’s breath right behind his ear. Odis was surprised at how well they seemed to fit together. He relaxed into the embrace.
“This feels so great,” Bobby whispered sleepily in Odis’s ear.
“Yeah, it sure does.” Odis felt the drowsiness and didn’t fight it. He let Bobby’s slow breathing rhythm lull him into sleep.

A
S
B
OBBY
slowly awoke, he was aware of lying on his back sandwiched between two warm bodies.
Wait
, he thought.
Two bodies
? He opened his eyes and tried to rise, but a weight on the sheet kept him pinned down. On his left was Odis, curled up next to him. On his right, a dark mass of fur snored away. Heimdalla was on top of the sheet, effectively trapping him. After managing to wriggle his arm out of the bedcovers, he reached down and patted her. “Morning.”

She replied with a slurp from her square tongue across his upper forearm and then lay back down.
Not thinking of anything better to do, Bobby settled back in and watched Odis sleep.
Bobby wasn’t even sure what time it was when he heard his cell phone ringing. “Shit,” he groaned, trying to sit up. “Where’s my pants?”
Heim looked up at him, then jumped off the bed and rooted around on the floor. As Bobby crawled to the edge of the bed, she ran back and dropped a pair of blue boxers in his lap just as the phone stopped ringing.
Bobby chuckled. “Thanks, but I meant
my
pants, not Odis’s.” He gave her a pat on the head for trying to be helpful.
She disappeared again, then brought back Bobby’s jogging shorts as he stood up.
“Much better,” Bobby praised her with a smile, taking the shorts and patting her head again. He slipped on the shorts as he tried to remember where he left the duffel bag that held his jeans and cell phone. He recalled leaving the duffel by the dining table and started that way. The phone call was probably from Sharon, so he wasn’t in a hurry.
He dug the phone out of the bag to check the messages. She’d probably just leave a terse note about calling her back. But the missed call wasn’t Sharon’s number, and the caller didn’t leave a voice mail.
Bobby was debating whether to do a star-callback, when the phone rang in his hand. “Hello?”
A professional female voice pattered in his ear. “I’m with Schmitt and Murdock, and I’m trying to reach Robert Lane. Is this Robert I am speaking with?”
“Yeah, I’m Robert—”
“Glad to finally reach you, Mr. Lane. I’m calling in regards to the settlement offer. A conference meeting has been slotted for 2:00 p.m. at our Boston satellite office.”
“Wait, what settlement? Two o’clock today? I can’t make that.”
She clicked her tongue in his ear. “You haven’t been informed of the commission’s settlement arrangements?”
“No, I’ve been traveling. I’m actually in Texas right now.”
“I see,” she said very crisply. “Hold one moment, please.”
Bobby held the phone away from his ear, not wanting to listen to the supposedly soothing John Lennon remix. He glanced over at the phone and saw it showed 7:02 a.m.
A strong baritone male voice ended the awful music. “Mr. Lane?”
“Yes.”
“This is Ted Humphrey from the law offices of Schmitt and Murdock. We’re representing the commission, and they are reaching out to offer a settlement. You weren’t apprised of this?”
“No. And I can’t do anything today. I’m out of town.”
Bobby heard the rustling of papers. “No, I don’t see in your file a record of initial contact. So, Mr. Lane, consider
this
your initial contact. You have seventy-two hours to secure legal representation, then we can make our settlement offer. I’ll pencil it in for….” More papers rustled. “Thursday 11:00 a.m. Our office will contact you Wednesday to confirm. This is the cell phone number we are speaking on?”
“Yes. What kind of settlement is this?”
“I’m not allowed to divulge that information at this time, Mr. Lane. We will go over everything in recorded session on Thursday.”
“Okay, I guess Thursday will work.”
“Fine. Have a good day.”
The phone went dead in Bobby’s ear.
So much for hanging out awhile in Texas
.
Odis got up, pulled on his boxers, and then crossed the room to him. “G’mornin’. Who’s that?”
“Oh, a law office. The commission wants to give me a settlement. They wanted me there at two o’clock this afternoon.”
“Yeah, I kinda heard most of it. Let’s get some food in ya, stud. PBJ sandwich?”
Bobby laughed. “I suppose that’s fine.”
Odis chuckled as he walked to the kitchen area. “I hate to cook, if ya hadn’t noticed.”
“I did sorta notice that.”
“So,” Odis said as he started the coffee maker, “you should prob’ly head back today, then.”
“You’re kicking me out again?” Bobby tried to sound teasing. “I don’t have to be there until Thursday.”
Odis looked hurt, and then glared at him as he put the bread in the toaster and gathered up sandwich supplies. “Please stop saying that. I’m not ‘kicking you out’, and ya should know that. But you’ll need time to get your corn in a row a’fore you go in that meetin’.”
“What corn?” Bobby chuckled at the strange expression.
“Get your own lawyer and shit, is what I mean. Those people on the phone aren’t on
your
side. You go in there without your own lawyer, they’ll eat ya alive.”
Bobby watched Odis make the sandwiches. “But what if I just wanna take the settlement and get this all over with?” Bobby followed as Odis took the plates of sandwiches to the patio table.
“Well, that is one way to go….”
They sat and bit their sandwiches. “What would
you
do?”
“First off, kinda depends on exactly what the offer is. I’m guessing, though, they’ll just throw a lot of money at ya, maybe even add some kind of gag order so it’ll all quietly go away.”
“Okay. If I don’t take it, though, what would be the point?”
“You mean, what are you fighting for? A public apology? Maybe. Reinstatement? But I know that doesn’t mean much since you wanted to retire anyway….”
They ate in silence until the coffeemaker beeped. Bobby got up and filled the mugs Odis had already set aside, and brought back the two coffees. “I can’t see any real point to that, though. It’ll just stir up the circus again.”
“That it would. But it would show ’em that the gays have teeth. Maybe make ’em think twice about pullin’ this kinda shit again.”
Bobby just nodded as they ate.
“Not that my advice is worth much, but since you’re askin’… I’d say, unless it’s something completely insulting, take their offer, but throw in a condition that they name something after Nathan. You know, like the Nathan Price Memorial Stadium or something, just so they’ll see his name every day and be reminded.”
Bobby chuckled. “I kinda like that. Who knew you were such a vindictive bitch?”
Odis curled the corner of his lip up. “Never been called a bitch before. Don’t know as I like it….”
“It’s a compliment, trust me.”
“Okay, stud,” Odis said with a wink, then laughed.
They sat and gazed at each other over the empty plates, trying to ignore the impending good-bye.
Odis cleared his throat and broke the silence. “Something I’ve been wondering about,” he dangled in the air.
“Oh? What?”
“Why’d you get on a plane and come out here in the first place? You coulda just used the phone and shit, ya know.”
“Well….” Bobby clutched at his coffee mug. “It’s Nate’s fault.”
Odis got up and filled his mug, then brought the carafe over and topped off Bobby’s. “How?” he asked when he got back from returning the carafe to the warmer.
Bobby took in a deep breath. “It all started when I got a postcard in the mail. From Nate.”
“When was this?”
“About two weeks ago. Surprised the fuck out of me at first, but it was sort of his thing. I was always at spring training during my birthday every year, so Nate would send me little notes and cards, kinda hinting about my present, so he could give it to me in person when training broke and I came home. He liked being there when I opened it, thought it was too impersonal just to ship something down.”
“Okay, sounds like a fun guy.” Odis waited but had to prompt Bobby again. “What did the postcard say?”
“To pull out the silverware drawer in the kitchen and check underneath. I did and found a key taped under it.”
“Oh, cool.” Odis grinned. “A scavenger hunt.”
“Yeah, I guess. Didn’t know what the key was for until the next postcard came. It told me to check in the upstairs linen closet. And I found a small lockbox that the key fit. Inside was a pawn ticket.”
“This is sounding very elaborate. Who was sending the cards?”
“Never found out. At first I thought it might be Sharon, but she was at a business thing in Baltimore, and the cards were postmarked from New York. I asked her about it, but she didn’t know. She seemed as surprised as I was, but agreed it was
exactly
the kind of thing Nate would do.”
“So, the pawn ticket?”
“Was for a book,
Woke Up In a Strange Place
. I found a note stuck between pages thirty-eight and thirty-nine.”
“Ah, your age. I admire his cleverness. But I never heard of that book. What’s the story about?”
“It’s about a gay guy who wakes up in the afterlife and the journey he goes through to reconcile with the life he lived.”
“Oh. Well, fuck. That’s almost a kick in the nuts.”
“Exactly.” Bobby drained his mug. “Although it was a
great
book. I sat and read it all that night.”
Odis kept trying to catch Bobby’s gaze, but the other man’s eyes stayed aimed at the table as he sipped his mug.
“Had to go through several more steps before I found your receipt, with a plane ticket and a note to come out here and pick up the sculpture.”
“Humph.” Odis got up and brought the carafe over to fill Bobby’s mug. He set the empty carafe down on the table after topping off his own.
“Yeah, humph. Not only did he set all of
that
up, there’s the thing with preordering the bust too.”
“I’m sorry,” Odis apologized. “Knowing all that now, I might have screwed up another surprise of his. He prob’ly set up another little thing for the anniversary.”
“Well, I’m through with surprises. I’m trying to get past all this, move on, ya know. But Nathan keeps showing up and yanking me back down, it feels like.”
“Humph,” Odis replied. It seemed more like Nathan was kicking Bobby in the butt to get him moving again. It was kind of a harsh thought, though, so he didn’t say it aloud.
Bobby gazed over at him. “We’re out of coffee,” he said, pointing to the table.
Odis stood up and started gathering dishes. “Suppose we should get ya on that plane, then.”
Bobby started to say something about getting kicked out but clamped his mouth. “Can we at least cuddle first?”
“Cuddle? Or do ya just mean that as a starting place?”
Bobby laughed. “Caught me.”
“Well, call Gertie and set up a flight. We’ll see how much time there is ’til you hafta get to the airport.”
“Why Gertie?”
“She has connections with workin’ the B and B. Plus she loves doin’ that kinda stuff.”
“Shit, the B and B. I’ve still got stuff over there.”
“Is it anything you need?”
“Not really, just some clothes and toiletries.”
“Then don’t worry about that. I can fetch it over here next time I’m in town.” Odis pointed at the wall phone by the kitchen area. “Pound key then one will speed-dial Gertie.”
Bobby picked up the phone as Odis disappeared into the bathroom. He updated Gertie on the situation, and she promised to call right back with details.
Odis returned from the bathroom, carrying Bobby’s dirty socks.
“She’ll call back in a few minutes when she’s done.”
Odis walked up to Bobby and gave him the socks and a warm kiss. Bobby thought it tasted too much like minty toothpaste but enjoyed the kiss anyway. Odis pulled away. “You know I don’t want ya to go, right?”
“I know. But you’re right. I’ve been putting this stuff off, and it’s time to deal with it. Once I get it out of the way, we can see where things are….”
Odis’s eyes hardened. “What do you mean? That sounds like a maybe.”
“But….” Bobby looked away. “I’m just—after I’m gone a few days, you might decide this was just a fun, inspiring fling.”
Struggling with a sudden surge of anger, Odis resisted punching him. “You don’t believe me? I’m not some childish flake. I… fuck you.” He spit out the words and turned away, immediately regretting the outburst as he walked into the bedroom area to find the rest of Bobby’s clothes.
Bobby tried to ignore the sting. “You said yourself that you don’t have a frame of reference. How can—”
The phone ringing interrupted him. Bobby answered it immediately. “Hello?”
Odis tidied up the bed area and tried to calm himself as Bobby got his travel details from Gertie.
Bobby hung up the phone. “Flight in three hours.”
“That doesn’t leave any time, since ya hafta drive back to Amarillo first.” Odis searched around the bed and gathered up the rest of his dirty clothes as Bobby went into the bathroom to get ready.
He returned a few minutes later in his clean jeans. “Sorry,” Bobby apologized. “I don’t want to start a fight. I just want to make sure you know what you want.” He sat at the table and pulled on the clean socks.
“I just hate bein’ called a liar.”
Bobby put on his shoes and tied them up. “That’s not at all what I said.”
“Not in so many words, but maybe I’m just bein’ defensive again. I want ya to come back.” Odis went to the kitchen and got a business card from one of the drawers as Bobby pulled on the clean shirt. “This has all my numbers on it,” he said, handing the card to Bobby. “Call me, but keep tryin’ if I don’t answer right away, I might be busy.”
“Busy? With what?” Bobby asked as he slipped on the jean jacket.
“I actually feel like working. I might be in the studio awhile.” Odis gave him a tentative hug.
Bobby squeezed back and kissed his forehead. “All right. I’ll call and keep you updated.” He released Odis, picked up the duffel, then walked out the door before he let himself get distracted by the thought of Odis still wearing nothing but his boxers.
Odis watched him leave, feeling a heavy pit in his gut. At least Bobby said he would call.