landed in a row of azalea bushes that had a fresh fertilizer/horse-farm smell, as if they’d been
recently mulched. He knew there wasn’t enough time to find them in the dark, so he ran down to
the dock in his bare feet, stepped in front of the Porsche stark naked, and tried to stop the car
with his hands. The car was in the middle of the dock and it was moving faster.
He pressed hard on the hood and started shouting. “No! Someone help! This can’t be
happening!” His parents had only gone away on a short trip, and in the time they’d been gone
he’d lost his mother’s putto, become tangled with a male prostitute, been threatened by a pimp,
gone on a high-speed chase through midtown Manhattan, and now he was about to sink his
father’s car in the lake. “Fuck, no.”
He pushed the front of the car until his hands ached. But no matter how hard he tried, he
couldn’t get a good enough stance. His bare feet kept sliding on the rough dock, and the car
continued to inch forward. As it reached the end of the dock, he jumped up on the hood and laid
down on his back to avoid being run over.
When the car reached the edge, with less than an inch to spare, it stopped moving. Ricky
remained sprawled across the hood dead still, on his back, his arms and legs spread wide,
exposing his entire body. Everything around him turned silent. His heart pounded in his ears, and
his stomach felt as if it was in his throat. He looked up at the sky and exhaled with relief. Then
he gazed down at the water with his mouth open wide. There was hope; this wasn’t so bad. All he had to do was carefully get up and find the keys in the bushes. It was all good and he still had
time to save the car from ruin.
But as Ricky lifted his shoulders and moved his right leg, he heard a crunch from below
the dock. Then he heard two or three splits and one large crack. The end of the dock collapsed,
there was a sudden jerk, and Ricky’s legs went up. He screamed for help as loud as he could. But
it was too late for anyone to save him. The Porsche rolled forward and slipped into the lake with
a quiet splash, almost as if it had crawled into the water in slow motion. As it sank to the bottom
of the lake nose first, Ricky slid off the hood, tumbled to his side, and landed face first in the ice
cold water.
Chapter Twelve
It was Chad who arrived first. When he saw what happened to the car, then saw Ricky’s
naked body splashing around in the water, he kicked off his shoes and socks, pulled off his shirt,
and jumped into the lake to save him.
Ricky had only fallen in chest deep. He wasn’t going to drown; he was a good swimmer.
If anything, the car was in worse shape than Ricky. But when Chad grabbed him and lifted him
up by his legs, Ricky put his arms around Chad’s shoulders and held him as tightly as he could.
Leyland and Rocco weren’t far behind. Rocco’s zipper was still down and his underwear
was showing. Leyland’s lips were red and puffy and he was wiping his chin.
“What the fuck happened?” Leyland asked, staring at the rear end of the car sticking out
of the water. “What the fuck did you do, man?”
“I forgot to put the brake on,” Ricky said, murmuring into Chad’s bare chest. “It started
to roll and I couldn’t find the keys.” The water had been so cold his gums hurt.
Chad carried Ricky over to a bench and set him down gently. Ricky didn’t even realize
he was still naked. He just bent forward, holding his head in his hands, wondering how he’d
explain this state of affairs to his parents. He’d never get into a decent school now. His entire life
was ruined and he’d never be able to look his father in the eye again.
“Get his clothes and stop staring at him that way,” Chad said to Rocco, then sat down
beside Ricky. He put his arms around him and held him close so he’d stop shivering. “Are you
okay? Are you hurt?” He wiped his forehead and started checking his body for signs of injury. Ricky didn’t even realize he was shivering. He nodded and said, “I’m fine.” Then he
gestured to the car and groaned.
Chad pulled him closer and rubbed his naked back. “It’s okay, Ricky. As long as you
didn’t get hurt and you’re fine, nothing else matters.” His voice was deep and reassuring. The
more he rubbed Ricky’s back, the lower his hand went.
Although Ricky was still in shock, it occurred to him he’d never felt this safe and quite
this secure in his entire life. He even fooled himself into thinking Chad had just saved his life. So
he lifted his legs and inched upward so he could sit on Chad’s wet lap. He put his arms around
Chad’s shoulders again and rested his cheek against Chad’s wet chest. While the other two
gathered his clothes, he thanked Chad for jumping into the water to save him. He didn’t mention
he knew how to swim and that he’d known he wasn’t in any real danger. All he said was, “Thank
you for being there and saving me. I don’t know what I would have done without you. I’m sorry
you had to get wet. You must be freezing, too.”
Chad kissed him on the lips and ran his hand down Ricky’s right side and rested it on the
back of his thigh. “Don’t even think about it. I’m fine. All that matters is that you’re okay,
baby.”
Instinctively, Ricky’s right leg went up higher and he began to caress the back of Chad’s
head. He slipped his tongue into Chad’s mouth and started kissing him with more passion. He
knew he was in the deepest shit he’d ever known in his life. But instead of feeling guilty about
ruining his father’s car, he was more interested lifting his leg higher and feeling Chad’s bicep
with his other hand. He knew the other two guys were somewhere close by, but he wasn’t
concerned about them watching him. At that moment, he and Chad were the only two people in
the world. For one brief instant, he felt absolutely complete in another man’s arms. Then Leyland tossed Ricky’s clothes onto Ricky’s lap and said, “You’d better put your
pretty legs down and put on your pants, lover boy, because you have to figure out what you’re
going to do next.” He gestured to the car sticking out of the lake and frowned.
This brought Ricky back to reality fast. He turned and looked at the car again, then
closed his eyes and said, “I’m a dead man.”
* * * *
A tow truck fished the car out of the lake that same night. A big, burly man in plaid
managed to back the truck down the lawn of the yacht club and retrieve the car without attracting
any attention. Of course Ricky had to tip the tow truck operator very well so he’d come out that
late and so he wouldn’t report this incident to the police or the yacht club. Ricky used the money
he’d received when he’d cashed in his bond, not even thinking twice about ruining the dock at
the yacht club. As far as he was concerned, the old dock should have been replaced years ago,
and it was partly their fault it had collapsed for not maintaining it they way they should have.
After all, it could have been a group of people standing on that dock in the summertime when it
gave way.
When the car was up on the flatbed, the tow truck operator opened the driver’s door and a
rush of water spilled out, along with seaweed, a few stray fish, and gobs of thick, auburn mud.
Ricky’s stomach jumped and he pressed his palm to his throat. As he looked inside and saw the
magnitude of the damage, he just stared down at his shoes and shook his head. Then Ricky gave
the tow truck operator another two hundred dollars to drive them home before he dropped the car
off at the Porsche dealership. By the time it was all over and Ricky was home, Chad and Rocco went upstairs to get
their things. Leyland patted his back and said he’d pick him up in the morning so they could talk
to the guys at the Porsche dealership about fixing the car. When Leyland asked if he was okay,
Ricky nodded and said he was fine.
After Leyland left, Chad walked out of the kitchen carrying the aquarium that housed his
iguana, Sparky. He told Ricky he was going back to New York to spend the night at Rocco’s
apartment. He handed Ricky the address and his phone number. Ricky just nodded and smiled,
too weak to lift his arms or move his legs. As the two men went out the front door with their
heads down, Ricky felt a tug in his stomach. But he didn’t hug Chad or kiss him goodbye. He
didn’t run after him and beg him to stay. Now that all the drama and suspense was over, the only
events Ricky had the energy to concentrate on were saving what was left of his life as he knew it.
He had to pull together, get the car fixed, and figure out a way to keep from screwing up his life
any more than he’d already screwed it up. Unfortunately, Chad didn’t fit into the picture.
Evidently Chad knew this and he didn’t put up a fight. He seemed to know Ricky had
more important things to deal with than helping a couple of male prostitutes hide from their pimp,
and he left Ricky’s house quietly, without a scene or any distraction. When he was halfway down
the front walk, he stopped and turned. He looked back at Ricky, adjusted the heavy aquarium to
the left, and waved his right hand.
* * * *
On Wednesday morning, Ricky and Leyland were the first two at the Porsche dealership.
Ricky felt disconnected and separated from the rest of the world. He tapped his foot and chewed his fingernails. The only sleep Ricky had the night before was when he’d dozed off on the living
room sofa for a half hour. When he’d tried to close his eyes, he kept picturing the water rushing
out of the car. Then he would imagine his father’s disappointed expression and a sense of
dizziness would overtake him.
His eyes were heavy that morning, with dark circles, and he was still wearing the same
clothes he’d worn the day before. He hadn’t even showered or bothered to comb his hair. His
skin smelled damp and musty like the lake, and his feet were sore from the dock. While the
mechanics looked over the damage, Ricky and Leyland waited in the showroom with their hands
folded on their laps. Ricky kept repeating, “I still can’t believe this happened,” and Leyland kept
patting his arm and saying, “It’s all good. Don’t worry.”
But when the service manager walked toward them and lifted a clipboard, Ricky gulped
and closed his eyes. When he told Ricky what it would cost to repair the car and get it back to
normal, Ricky clutched the arms of the chair and turned pale white.
Leyland grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
Ricky nodded.
“Do you want an aspirin or anything?” Leyland asked, shrugging his shoulders
Ricky shook his head and stood up. He gestured to the service manager and said, “Just fix
it. I’ll pay for it somehow. I need it by Friday.”
* * * *
At school, Leyland went right to his second class and didn’t bother trying to argue being
marked late that day. “I’ve already been accepted in the school I want to go to. I don’t care if they mark me late. They can go fuck themselves as far as I’m concerned,” he told Ricky. “In a
couple of months I’m out of here forever.” He was going to a local college in northern New
Jersey, not an Ivy League school that required perfection. Leyland wasn’t exactly sure what he
wanted to do with his life, but he was leaning toward becoming a schoolteacher. He said his one
goal in life was to go after all the mean, evil teachers he’d ever had in school. He told everyone it
was easier to get them from the inside than the outside. He even had fantasies of becoming a
school principal so he could really get even where it counted.
But Ricky wanted to get into an Ivy League school, and he had to go to the office and try
to get out of being marked late. Just one blemish on his record could hinder him from being
accepted in the perfect college; just one hint of disobedience could ruin his entire life.
So he walked into the office and moved toward the nurse’s desk. In his school, the nurse
was the one who handled late excuses for students with medical problems and doctor’s
appointments. He frowned when he saw he would have to deal with Nurse Cunt that morning.
Her real name was Nurse Riley, but she looked and behaved so much like conservative television
personality Bill O’Reilly in Halloween drag, everyone called her Nurse Cunt behind her back.
Ricky despised the C word and never used it, but the other students at his school weren’t as kind
as he was.
Ricky stepped up to the desk and smiled. Nurse Cunt was staring down at the counter,
writing something. He leaned on the counter with his elbows and laced his fingers together. With
every ounce of energy he had left, he lifted his voice and said, “Good morning, Nurse Riley. I
