A Trip to the Local YMCA with Drew

1989 or summer of 1990

Anytown, USA. And in the South

“You said you had a ‘Y’ membership, right?” Drew asks Bill, as they stand in Bill’s shared apartment.

“Yeah, I do.” Bill answers. “Why?”

“Would you be up to going there for a workout?” Drew asks. “Today?”

“When?” Bill asks.

“How ‘bout right now?” Drews says as he shrugs his shoulders. “I ain’t doing nothing.”

“I guess so. Let me get me up some shorts and stuff to work out in.” Bill says. “You know they have a hot tub, sauna and steam room in the Men’s locker room, here, doncha?”

“No. I didn’t know that. The one north of here, where I usually go to does not have that.” Drew says. “I better go to my apartment and get some of my stuff too.”

Bill leaves the room and heads to his back bedroom.

As Drew turns to leave. He is nearly hit in the face as he grabs for the handle of the front door. It is Larry and Carter, Bill’s two other roommate’s, who have come in a whirlwind of noise to the three-bedroom college apartments.

“Where you off too in such a hurry, brother?” Larry asks.

“Bill and me are off to the gym.” Drew says. “You a member of the ‘Y’ by any chance? You wanna go with us.”

Larry and Carter both shake their heads, “no.” Carter heads to his room leaving Larry standing there with Drew in the small living room of the college-centric apartment.

“Okay. Tell Bill, I’ll be back in a second.” Drew tells the remaining roommate named Larry.

Drew walks out of the apartment. The door slams behind him. While Bill comes out of his bedroom.

“I guess Drew ain’t back, yet.”

“No, he said he’d be back in a second.” Larry says as he trudges off to his bedroom. While Bill walks out the front door with his small blue and red gym duffle bag clutched tight in his right hand.

He walks to his truck. Not sure which vehicle they are taking. Drew’s truck is a few spaces over in the Common’s parking lot behind the unit. “The Commons” is the name of this off-campus college student housing complex. Neither Bill nor Drew are college students but rent rooms with other guys who are enrolled at the college in town. Drew lives in another unit.

Bill lives in the one closest to where he is waiting. Drew has a 5-year-old daughter from a now defunct 3-year marriage. And Bill is currently engaged to a girl he met again, from his former college days. This is the first time he has spent any time with Drew, outside of being with Larry and Carter in the group. He was surprised by Drew’s mentioning of going to the gym. It was only yesterday that he had told Larry he had a membership at the local ‘Y’ on the other side of the interstate. He has been a member for about 6 months when he moved in with Larry and Carter. He must have told Drew about it.

Drew comes out of his unit.

“Which vehicle you wanna take?” Bill asks as Drew nears him.

“We can go in mine.” Drew says, “It ain’t that far. Since I suggested it. We’ll use my gas.”

And it is not. Less than 5 miles or less from where they are standing, maybe not even that much as the crow flies.

In his hand, Drew has one of those brown plastic grocery store bags with some of his things in it.

“I have a locker.” Bill tells Drew.

“You mind if I double up with you?” Drew asks. “I have a locker at my gym north of here. I know you can use other gyms. You just hafta show your I.D. I have mine. If I like it here, I may transfer my membership.”

Drew flashes his membership card which he is holding with the plastic grocery bag.

“Me too.” Bill shows him his key ring with his I.D. on it. “Well, you aren’t living there anymore. You are here.”

“But when I pick up little Renee I can always go.” Drew says.

“That’s true.”

They pile into Drew’s truck. Once it is cranked up, blaring country music blasts them across the face. Bill is not a fan of all this Yee-Haw crap, despite being a southern country boy. But Drew is. Which he knew already, you can always hear when Drew pulls into the lot.

“Sorry ‘bout that. It is usually only me and my daughter in here. And she likes to play with the volume.” Drew says. “Let’s get going.”

The music is always blaring even when his daughter is not in the truck with him. It is even louder when he had the little girl with him on his weekends.

The drive is uneventful. Out the entranceway. Over the overpass of the interstate, east bound. Turn left onto Garner Road. Drive pass what passes in this town for a “mall.” Bill had been going there since it opened when he was a sophomore in high school. Pass a nationwide grocery store chain and a few forgettable hotels. Several ones that he had visited on occasion since he graduated from high school. His high school was also in the area, too. Through a light, around a curve or two. And they were there. Barely time to get into a long-drawn out conversation.

“I’m glad the other guys did not have a membership. Larry is kinda of a blow heart.” Drew says as they walk up to the entrance of the local YMCA.

“True. But that is how he was in high school. You had to take what he said with a grain of salt. He tends to exaggerate everything about his life.”

Bill and Larry had graduated together back in 1986. They were friends then. But Bill did not know him well. But they did speak. He had a few classes with him from his freshman year until they graduated.

But when they stumbled upon each other a few months back, Larry said he needed a 3rd for a roommate and asked him, if he was game. He said, “yes.” He needed a place where he and Lisa could have some privacy. Lisa lived downtown with her three other roommates, so there was no privacy at her place. She shared a room with another girl. He hoped they would have some privacy with Larry and Carter at the apartment. So far, they did have some moments alone. The only thing was Larry tended to stop Lisa when she came over. He wanted to talk. This was alright until he started asking her if there were too many pictures on his wall.

Larry has plastered cut-out pictures of naked girls from porn magazines all-over one of his walls and said it was “art.” Nobody bought that excuse. Everyone figured he was too lazy to thumb through a magazine when he wanted something to jack-off too as he laid in bed at night. No one had caught him in the act yet, but they knew it was only a matter of time. It was the running joke between Carter, himself, and Drew and some of the other guys Bill knew in the apartment complex. Lisa had even on occasion mentioned why he had the pictures so prominently displayed. Bill had to remind Lisa that Larry had no girlfriend. He did not think she got it.

“They say the pool is nice here.” Drew says as he walks up the steps to the entranceway with Bill and sees the large expansive pool off to the side of them.

“It is. But there are always a lot of kids in there. But there is the adult lap pool. Did you want to swim?” Bill says. But it appears to be quiet. It is a school day and in the middle of the day.

“Not really. I just want to work out today.” Drew says.

Bill and Drew make it to the front desk. Sign it. Bill flashes his card and has no problem getting in. They know him. Drew was told he could visit this once but since he was a member at a sister gym north of where they are, he had switch over if he decided to return. Drew said “okay.” But he was not sure about that right now.

They walk down the long corridor to the locker room to change. They pass 6 long courts, 3 on either side of the hallway, before they get to the locker room. The sound of balls bouncing would often be heard throughout the gym. But today it was quiet. No one was playing when the pair walked down between the empty courts.

“What is that?” Drew asks.

“That’s the racquetball courts. You play racquetball?” Bill asks.

“No. Can’t say that I have. They don’t have any up there at my ‘Y’ either.” Drew says.

“We can get some balls and racquets from the front desk if you want to play.” Bill says.

“You play?” Drew asks.

“Yeah, I had a Phys Ed class back in college where I learned how to play. It is quite a workout.”

“Not today. I just want to do a regular work out.” Drew says.

They pass through the door marked, MEN, and walk into the locker room. On a table outside the MEN room door are stacked small green gym towels. But Drew does not see them.

“This isn’t big.” Drew says as he looks to the sets of wall lockers lined on either side of two of the four walls of the room. There are a lot of doors with locks upon them.

“I have one of the smaller lockers. Where I keep some deodorant and stuff. But we should be able to fit all of what we have in it today.” Bill explains.

Behind them as they walk to Bill’s locker on the wall next to the corridor, they just walked down, is the bathroom with three urinals and toilets in adjoining three stalls.

And out a door to the left of the sinks and mirrors is the sauna, individual showers with their plastic curtains, steam room and a 6-man hot tub. And the Men’s entrance way into the expansive pool area that they saw when they entered from the parking lot.

Bill kicks his white Nike shoes from his feet and sits down on the bench. He drops his tan-brown casual dress shorts; steps out of them before he plants his naked ass on the wooden bench. Drew finds Bill’s hairy ass and crack smack down in front of his face when he sits down on the bench near Bill.

“You don’t where any underwear?” Drew says surprised.

“Not since high school brother.” Bill says. “Me and some of my buds stopped wearing any back when we were on the baseball team.”

“You played baseball?”

“Yeah.” Bill answers.

“What about Larry?”

“No. He was not on the team.” Bill says.

Bill leans over an unzips one side of his blue and red gym duffle bag, his ass still front of Drew’s face, and brings out a pair of his loose and flimsy gray cotton shorts and a raggedy-out tee that he customarily works out in. He pulls the button-up collared green Polo shirt over his head and tosses it in the bag along with the shorts he just took off. He is only dressed in a pair of short footie socks and nothing else. Bill is not hairy except for the center of his chest in between his well-defined pectorals. But there is a trail of hairs that weave down from the small cluster on his chest to a full-blown dark bush around his cock and two dangling low-hangers.

Bill’s right hand goes to his cock and balls and fondles them. He travels the length of his cock with his fingers teasing the tip. Freeing it from the web of hairs wrapped around his sweaty equipment. Not realizing that Drew is right there or caring that he is. This is what he always does, and it does not even phase him. Bill does not get hard, but his fingers felt good on the little touch he gave himself.

Drew stands from his seat on the bench and pulls his shorts down. He is wearing a pair of the standard white tightie-whities briefs. His hand does not go to his crotch. He does not touch himself. He quickly pulls up his gym shorts he had gotten out of his grocery store bag. He keeps on his tee shirt along with his Atlanta Braves baseball cap. Bill usually has a ball cap on too but today he left it back at the apartment.

Bill does not rush to get dressed. He is used to being naked in the locker room. He walks to the bathroom while Drew stays seated on the bench. His 23-year-old firm ass sways with every step he takes to the bathroom. It is not long before the sound of piss hitting the back of the urinal echoes throughout the small locker room. And then the flush of the urinal. Bill walks out the bathroom as a blonde-haired man walks through the entrance of the MEN locker room.

“Chris!” Bill says as he extends a hand to the man who has just entered the locker room. Chris moves the two green gym towels in his right hand to the left so he can shake hands with his former high school classmate.

“How’s it going man?” Chris says as they begin to chat.

Drew is seated on the bench on the other side of the locker room watching the two men chat.

“I came down here to work out with a friend. That’s him over there.” Bill says as he turns towards Drew who is still seated letting Chris know they are not alone in the locker room.

Drew does a gentle wave toward the standing pair. Chris is sweaty from his workout. And Bill shifts his weight from one-leg to the other as he stands there casually naked in the locker room talking to the blonde-haired Chris. Bill’s hand goes to cock and balls as he stands talking to Chris giving them another tug and a yank.

“Let me get myself changed. Ain’t working out when I am standing here gabbing with you. We will talk soon. Okay.” Bill says.

“Sure-thing brother.” Chris says as he walks toward his locker while he pulls his tee over his head and kicks his white Nike shoes from his feet. He drops his shorts. He is naked underneath them too. Like Bill was in his. His hand goes to his crotch, loosening his balls and cock from the tangled mess of hairs encircling his bush. Chris fondles himself. And does grow somewhat hard in the few seconds his hand was touching his cock. Drew notices Chris growing erection but does not say anything. Bill notices it too and licks his lips.

Drew sees this too as Bill walks towards him. Bill grabs his loose and flimsy cotton shorts from where he had put them on the bench and slides them up and over his cock and balls. Bill’s cockhead makes a noticeable impression on the front of his shorts. A visible penis outline as the somewhat snug shorts grab at Bill’s encased equipment. Bill pulls his cut-off tee over his head covering the years of getting that much sought-after six-pack he desperately wanted back in high school. The sleeves are cut way up the shoulder. Cut that way so his biceps are on prominent display when he is lifting the bar. This is one of Bill’s favorite shirts. One from his days on the high school baseball team. He is still able to wear it despite it being snugger on him now than it was back then. He has muscled up since those day he walked down the aisle in June of 1986 to get his diploma.

“You ready?” Bill says to Drew who is still patiently waiting on his spot on the bench.

“Yeah man.” Drew says. “I am.”

This is not the man that Drew expected in Bill. At the apartment complex Bill is quiet and always has a current paperback bestseller in his hand or is watching TV with either Larry or Carter. Or by himself. When Lisa is there, they both disappear into his room. But you do not hear anything when they close the door. He knows they are not in there talking. They are getting married next year, so he knows what they are doing. But this is a different Bill. More confident. Surer of himself. This is not what he expected. He has become the quiet one in this situation. Unlike when they are at The Commons when he is the center of attention.

When they walk out the locker room. Bill leans over and asks Drew a question.

“You know who that was, doncha?”

“Know who?” Drew says.

“That’s that actor’s son. The one with the TV show where the car jumps and the woman with those short-shorts from a few years back. His dad had his own cop show, too, for a while but it only lasted one season before it was canceled, and he went back on the other show.”

“That’s him?” Drew says. “That’s that guys son?”

“Yeah, Chris sat behind me in biology class in high school. All the girls wanted to date him. Some did. We talked but I never considered him a friend back then until I joined here. We have worked out a few times together or he has spotted me when I needed it.”

“And he is his son?” Drew says.

“Yep.”

“He looks nothing like his dad.” Drew says. “He looks like he’d be a model.”

“I think he did some in New York, but he never put in a good-go at it though. Or took it seriously. He is kinda lazy if you ask me. He wasted an opportunity I would like to have had any chance at if I had his looks.”

“He is good looking, though.” Drew says. “I am just a good ole country boy myself, but I would never have the chances he had and blown’em like you say he has.”

“Me either.” Bill says. “Me either.”

The pair trudges off to the gym. Soon the clank of metal on metal. And the huffs and puffs of the two men are heard with the others in the gym part of the local YMCA.

Bill is a college dropout. It was not his intention, but he found he could not cut it in the college classroom despite wanting to. He had trouble in his math class and was on academic probation when he decided to not go anymore. But he had other plans. He is a 6-foot 1-inch-tall man in his early 20s. Lean. But recognizable muscle definition when he is shirtless. Dark black hair parted to the side on his head with a long cowlick that hangs down over his eyes. He has had this style of haircut since middle school. And dark brown eyes thrown in to match his looks. He has worked hard, harder on his body than he ever did in his college classes, but he still prefers the book in his hand. On his bedside table he has a stack of finished books. Still the reader but English and Literature were always his best and favorite subjects in school. Math is just his stumbling block. And where his frustration stemmed from in school. The only good thing from those days is when he and Lisa stumbled on each a year or so back after he had dropped out from his one year of college attendance.

He was expected to get married. As everyone else did in his community. And since she chased him back when they attended together. He decided to ask her out when they chanced on each other over one of the Chinese buffets in town and it proceeded to them eventually getting engaged about three months ago.

Drew on the other hand did not attend college as his high school girlfriend got pregnant from one of their many romps in the back of his pick-up while they were out on a date during their Spring Break in the Senior year of high school. He was not a good student either and had failed a time or two. And now he was a man called “daddy” from his 5-year-old daughter. He had moved from his hometown to 40-miles south where he met Larry and now Bill when he rented an apartment in The Commons. He needed some distance from his ex-wife and another start, but the distance was rough on him being so far from his little girl. He is not sure how long he would stay here.

Bill seemed to be a good guy with a damn good head on his shoulder unlike the flighty Larry. He knew he needed to meet some better people in his life and thought Bill could be one of them. When Larry mentioned Bill worked out at the YMCA, he decided to ask him about going there together. He knew he needed a spotter. And since Bill was a member he might as well ask him.

To be continued in Part 2.