The Families in Rossford

Oh, my friends, we've come to that time again! The last chapter of our Rossford adventure. But don't worry, it's a big juicy chapter, and all will be resolved in the end.

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JONAH HAD GONE TO Keith’s Friday night. It had been strange because Sean was there, and since Sean had returned he’d been thinking about him, worried about falling into bed with him. And now Keith wanted the three of them to travel to his home in Maryland together. Jonah had seriously thought of sitting Sean down and having a serious talk, of saying that he could not simply be safe with him. But then when he was in Keith’s presence everything changed. When he was actually before Keith any feeling for anyone else disappeared. There wasn’t much of a contest. And when he knew it was time to go to bed, he didn’t think of anyone else. If Keith said, as he had on Friday night, “I’m getting sleepy,” and he stretched, and then made his meandering way to bed, resetting the coffee pot and brushing his teeth, changing into boxers and whatever; and if Jonah nodded his head and came ten or twenty minutes later, still the whole time he thought of what it would be to come to the bedroom, to undress, to climb into bed, to be held by Keith, to be in Keith’s arms, to sleep beside his friend and put his head to the beating of his heart, to smell, at three in the morning ,the gentle bread and milk scent of his breath. All of these things preceded the thought of making love.

On Saturday he and Sean and Keith left Michigan, traveling south for the Ohio Turnpike.  They left at ten in the morning and only stopped twice. Early the next day they passed through Washington and Keith said, “Don’t worry, I promise we’ll come back.”

Washington appeared on the horizon among cords and bands of concrete floating highways. It appeared as a surprise among roads cut deep into hills behind which red barns and tribes of cows peeked occasionally, and then they were driving away from this, back into country, and on their way to Phanariot, Maryland and Keith Redmond’s family home.

THIRTEEN

FAMILY

Chay came out to the porch and stood beside Logan.

“It’s warmer than usual, but it’s still not warm," he said, looking over the little yard beneath them.

“I don’t really feel it,” Logan said, puffing on his cigarette, and then exhaling in the opposite direction of Chay.

“You know Casey’s going to give you that job, right? And that’ll be just the thing you need.”

“That’s great.”

“You don’t sound like it’s great.”

“No,” Logan turned to him. “It absolutely is.”

“Then what’s bugging you?”

“I don’t know,” Logan said.

“You know,” he said to Chay, “I honestly didn’t think I would be bothered to see Sheridan with Brendan. Brendan’s a nice guy. I mean he really is a great guy. That’s the worst part. He’s good looking and smart and talented and a good man for Sher. I mean, you look at him and you know he’ll take care of him and that they’re right for each other.”

“But you just wish that you were right for him.”

“Yeah,” Logan said, in a lower voice.

“I felt the same way,” Chay reminded him, “when he left me for you.”

“Ouch.”

“No ouch about it,” Chay said. “It was just how things should have been. I needed to go through Sheridan and he needed to go through me.”

“And then through me.”

“Clearly.  To get to Brendan.”

“But how many people do I have to go through to find my one?”

“You had your one,” Chay said.

Logan looked at him, puzzled.

“All that one true forever stuff? I think that’s bullshit. You had Sheridan. And maybe you’ll have someone else. I loved Sheridan with all my heart and he broke my heart. A few times. And then Casey was always there, and there was a time when Casey slept with other people, for work, but he always came back to me. The same arrangement you had with Sheridan. He couldn’t take it. I could. And now Casey only sleeps with me. Even if he didn’t, I couldn’t leave him, and he couldn’t leave me. That’s how it is. And who’s to say you won’t find that too. Only… I didn’t know you wanted to.”

“I didn’t know either,” Logan said.

“Do you want it?” Chay asked him.

Logan thrust out his lip and thought.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

“I guess you guys will leave after we light candles?”

“Yes,” Laurel said, looking out of the window. “Then we’ll go up and join my uncle.”

“I’d like to meet him.”

“He’s gay.”

“And?”

Laurel looked at him.

“Look, maybe we’re Orthodox, but… Well my aunt is gay and… people are people.”

“I knew I liked you.”

“I’d like to think you love me.”

“I probably do,” Laurel admitted. “A little.”

Moshe grinned and shrugged. “I’ll take it.”

“So, Layla is going to officially be Jewish.”

“Wonderful!” Moshe was saying as the day went toward evening. “It really will be like you’re in the family.”

He told Laurel, “I already feel like you are.”

“Wouldn’t that make what you’re trying to do incest?”

“I’m going to ignore that,” Moshe gave her small smile.

“Is that Alex guy so great?”

“I think he is,” Laurel said.

“Greater than me?”

“Well see, now I’m going to ignore that.”

“Laurel Houghton, I’m not going to give up on us.”

“That’s good,” she said, “I like a man with perseverance.”

“Well,” Fenn said, putting the phone down. “They’ll be here soon.”

“Weren’t you going to tell me something?” Dylan reminded him.

Fenn looked at him.

“This morning, when I was in the shower,” Dylan sat down on the other side of the sofa. “You said that it was about that Meg Callan and why she mattered? How it was something about my family I didn’t know?”

“Yes,” Fenn said. He looked like he genuinely had forgotten, not as if he were trying to pull Dylan along.

“That’s right,” Fenn remembered. “Now, how to tell you?”

“Tell me straight.”

“There isn’t a lot that’s straight in this world, though,” Fenn said.

“I’ll tell it like this,” he decided. “As long as you’ve known us we’ve been well off. Not rich. But well off.”

Dylan nodded.

“We own the theatre and the house. A few other things. We’ve never worried for money.”

“Because of the theatre.”

“No,” Fenn said. “In fact, it’s the other way around. And this all goes into how we know Bennett and Elias’s parents and how we know Noah and James and Chay. You know a long time ago what Noah and Paul used to do.”

“They were in porn with Casey, right?”

“More or less. Yes. Though we don’t talk about it now. But when I met them they were working for Guy McClintock. If you know who that is.”

“I know who that is,” Dylan said, knowingly.

Fenn sighed.

“Of course you do. Anyway, he contacted Todd to ask him to do a documentary about his business, the life of a porn director and so on. Todd went to his house for a few weekends and once I went with him. But before we could get there the house was raided by the police. Paul had escaped the house before the raid, and he came to us and told us Noah was there… sick. Well, hell, fucked up on drugs. This was a long time ago, don’t repeat it. We went into the house to get him before the police found him, but I found money. I mean a hell of a lot of money. And I took it.”

“Okay,” Dylan said, still waiting.

“Later I found more money behind that money.”

“Are you telling me that this is where all of our money comes from?” Dylan said.

“Yes,” Fenn said.

“Holy shit!”

“Dylan.”

“I mean holy crap. But Dad, you gotta admit, that’s kind of worth a holy shit.”

Fenn nodded.

“You are always telling me something balls tripping about you, Dad.”

“Well, not always.”

“What about when you told me the reason I exist is because you jacked Dad off and sold his semen to my mother?”

“Well, yes,” Fenn said. “But in all fairness, that’s not always. I told you that three years ago. And as I recall, you were telling me balls tripping things too. Anyway, this story is about you as well.”

“Oh great!”

“So just listen.

“Anyway, this money was drug money, and the man looking for it eventually came after Noah, tracked him to our house. He had Noah at gunpoint. He would have killed us all. Barb Affren was there too.”

“Meredith’s grandmother?”  

“Yes. With her gun.”

“Her gun?” Dylan sat up, “What the hell? Was this a showdown?”

“Sort of, but shut up and let me finish. That gangster is gone now.”

“Dead.”

“Yes.”

“Did you… did someone kill him?”

“He is gone,” Fenn said more firmly. “And no, I did not kill him. But how he left this world… well, I am sitting on top of that. At any rate, Meg Callan came to town looking for that man.”

“Was he her boyfriend?” Dylan said. “And what does this have to do with me?”

“His name, the name of the drug lord who’s money we took, whose money paid for the house, the theatre, much of your education, whose money we invested until it did us very well, was Ed Callan. And he was Meg Callan’s father.”

Dylan thought about this a moment, and then he tilted his head, and then he scowled at Fenn and said, “Are you trying to tell me that some drug lord you all bumped off cause he tried to bump you off and sold his drugs to porn stars was my grandfather?”

“Yes, Dylan,” Fenn said. “I don’t think I could have put it better myself.”

In the background the drums snared and Dave Matthews sang from the stereo behind the glass case.

You've got your ball

You've got your chain

Tied to me tight tie me up again

Who's got their claws

In you my friend

Into your heart I'll beat again

Sweet like candy to my soul

Sweet you rock

And sweet you roll

Lost for you I'm so lost for you

You come crash into me

And I come into you...

 

    The remains of their party, the empty beer bottles, the large bowled empty wine glasses Chay drank from, stood on the table, and Logan took a hit from the joint. It had been so long and the smell was so pungent and the taste was just what he wanted. He wasn’t exactly high, because when one had been away from the stuff so long it was harder. Chay sat on the sofa, his hair a tumbled mess, looking like a more Mediterranean, more delicate version of his father back when Noah had been at his height. He held his hand out for the joint and Logan shook his head, but passed it to him. Chay coughed on it and Logan chuckled a little and then took it back. Chay took it this time, holding the smoke in his mouth now. He put down the joint and beckoned to Logan with his little finger.

Logan bent forward and Chay pulled his face toward him. He planted his mouth on Logan’s and blew the smoke into it. High on Chay’s mouth, Logan fell deeper into the kiss.

“Wha?” Logan began. Casey was in the next room and, now Logan was sure that though he’d been with Casey and Sheridan, he had never been with Chay.

“Shush,” Chay murmured, wrapping his arms around Logan and bringing him down on top of him.

So buzzed he was a little numb and his head swam, Logan shrugged a little and fell into the kiss. He felt Chay’s small hands in his hair, and then Chay kissing the back of his neck.

But what? How could Chay be at the back of his…?

He turned around a little and Casey, glasses off so that those grey blue eyes were beautifully half focused on him, was kissing up and down his neck, lifting up his shirt. Go with it. Go with it! He lay on the couch, making out with Noah, and over them both, Casey kissed him up and down. Logan felt Casey pulling up his shirt now, and why make it difficult for him? Logan stood up now, lifting Chay with him. He looked to the large window that looked over State Park but heavy curtains were drawn over it. Chay was down to his underwear now and Casey to his pants. He turned around and kissed Casey’s throat while Chay moved up and down his back. He felt Chay’s fingers on his belt, pulling down his pants. He stepped out of them. Chay’s hands were on the band of his underwear, pulling the trunks down, running hands over his sides, kissing his buns, darting a tongue between them, shocking him while, what was this? His cock was taken in Casey’s mouth. They were both making love to him down there, and then coming back up, now going down. Logan stood eyes closed, penis hard like an exclamation point, swallowed by Casey’s tight mouth while Chay’s tongue darted inside of him. Logan’s hands opened and unopened in shock, and the two men, the slight blond one approaching middle age, the little brunette, gently guided him through the hall, to their bedroom.

In the living room, Dave Matthews taunted

I’m the king of the castle, you’re the dirty rascal!

  Crash into me!

And even though he’d never much cared for Dave, as Casey and Chay stretched him out on the bed, and Chay’s body covered him, while Casey lay under him, he liked the singer now.