Date: Sun, 16 May 2010 08:38:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Henry Brooks <hankster1430@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Long Time Companion Chapters two and three

Chapter Two

When the two young men were alone in Evan's room, there was an awkward
silence.  Not really knowing how to proceed, Adam examined the room.  Both
beds were made up with hospital corners.  The desks were full of books, but
they were all neatly stacked.  One of the desks had a portable typewriter
placed in the center.  There was an empty waste basket next to each desk.
There was none of the usual dormitory clutter.  In fact, there was no
stench of dirty socks and underwear.  Adam found out later that the laundry
was placed in a ditty bag, and stowed in the closet.

"This place looks ready for a military inspection," Adam said
incredulously.

"I keep it that way," Evan said.  "Except for when I was in the field, we
had to keep our barracks looking this way."

"You were in combat then?" Adam asked.

"Yes, ETO.  But let's not talk about that.  Let's talk about you.  I can't
believe that I never noticed how hot you are."

"I'm not hot at all," Adam said.  "You're the hot one.  Just look at your
muscles."  Adam reached out to squeeze Evan's arm, but Evan grabbed him,
pulled the younger man to him and began to kiss him passionately.

After awhile Evan pulled away and said, "Let's agree that we are both hot
and hopefully very attracted to each other."  Evan pulled Adam's sweater
off him and started to undo the buttons on his shirt.  Not knowing what
else to do, Adam began to unbutton Evan's shirt.  Like most men of that
time, they both wore undershirts, and Evan pulled Adam's off and then
removed his own.  Now they were naked from the waist up.

Adam gasped.  Evan had a scar running down the center of his chest from his
breasts to his navel.

"I should have warned you," Evan said.  "I was severely wounded in
Normandy.  I took several bullets in my chest, but luckily they all missed
my heart and no major arteries were torn.  The medics were able to patch me
up until I was evacuated to a field hospital where the doctors saved my
life.  There's one bullet very close to my heart that they left in me."

"My God," was all Adam could say.

"Anyway I get a nice monthly pension from The Uncle along with my Purple
Heart.  That and the GI Bill are the only reasons I can afford this
school."

"You're a regular hero," Adam said.  "I feel like a real slacker."

"Nonsense!" Evan said.  "But you do owe me for protecting your liberties.
How would you like to make love to a soldier who fought for you?"  As he
asked this question, Evan removed his penny loafers and dropped his pants
rapidly.  He was not wearing underwear.  Adam quickly followed.

Now they stood at the side of Evan's bed totally naked.  They eyed each
other up and down admiring what they saw.  Finally Adam said, "You're
beautiful."  Not only was Evan as muscular as Adam had deemed him to be, he
was beautifully hung.  He had a good size scrotum, but his uncut cock was
longer and hung below his balls.  Adam wanted to reach out and grab Evan's
cock, but he was frightened.

"Wow! You're an eyeful too, Babe.  Look at that dick.  You gotta be eight
inches."  Adam was fully erect and probably measured a little larger than
that.  Evan wasn't frightened like Adam.  He reached out and began to
caress Adam's cock.  Adam began to purr like a kitten.  Evan pulled him
into bed with him.

The lovers lay in bed facing each other.  Their cocks ground together, and
Adam had to reach down to rearrange things a little because his cock was in
a bad position.  Evan put his hands on Adam's ass cheeks and pulled him
tighter.  "Adam, don't be put off by what I am about to say, but I gotta
say it.  I've fucked lots of guys in my life, but it didn't mean anything.
Right now I feel like my life is fulfilled.  You are what I have been
waiting for.  I think I love you.  No, I know I love you.  Do you believe
in love at first sight?"

"I never thought about it, but it happens in the movies all the time.  It's
OK that I'm five years younger than you?" Adam asked.

"Yeah.  I always wanted a twinkie."

Adam laughed.  "Actually, I think I'm too old to be a twinkie."

"Whatever."

Evan climbed on top of Adam and started to kiss him.  Underneath their
joined bodies, he was caressing Adam's cock.  Little by little he worked
his way down Adam's body, kissing his ears, his nipples, his belly button
and finally his balls.  When Adam's squirming reached a peak, Evan wrapped
his hand around Adam's cock and took as much as he could into his mouth.
His tongue licked Adam's shaft and his lips sucked and pumped as they rode
up and down the length of Adam's cock.  All the while his free hand was
tickling and caressing Adam's balls.

"I'm cumming, Ev," Adam yelled.  Evan had no intention of stopping and Adam
began to squirt generously into Evan's mouth as he emitted a banshee wail.
Evan held Adam's cock in his mouth until he felt it softening.  Only then
did he release his younger lover and crawl back up to lie beside him.  Adam
leaned over and began to kiss Evan,

"Guess what?  I think I love you too," Adam said.  "Now just tell me if you
want me to suck you off or if you want to fuck me.  I'll do whatever you
want me to do.

"Suck me, honey.  We'll fuck each other in the morning."

The following morning was Saturday.  They woke up clinging to each other.
"I've got to get to my room and grab a towel and my toothbrush," Adam said.
"Boy, I really have to pee."  He jumped out of bed and dressed rapidly.  He
opened the door.  Nobody was in the hall, probably due to the early hour.
Adam ran to the bathroom to relieve himself.  As he left, Evan came in.  He
put his military toiletry kit on a chair and took the same urinal Adam had
just vacated.  Adam patted him on the rump.  "I'll be right back," he said.
"After we shower, we can continue what we started last night."

"Yes sir, Captain," Evan quipped back.

They were alone in the four stall shower, but they refrained from touching.
However, they kept looking longingly at each other and mouthing the words,
"I love you!"  They did what they always did in the morning.  They shit,
showered and shaved.  Then they returned to their respective rooms.  Adam's
room mate was snoring away.  Even though he knew that in a few minutes he
would be naked, Adam dressed fully.  He was about to leave when he heard
his room mate stir.

"Hey what time did you get in, stud?  I got home at one and you weren't
here yet."

"I probably got in a little later than that.  Listen, I'll be out all day
today and tomorrow.  I'll see you tomorrow night."

"She must be one hot chick," Marty said.  He rolled over and fell asleep
again.

Seconds later, Adam was back in Evan's room.  He locked the door behind
him.  Evan was lying naked in his bed.  He beckoned to Adam and pointed to
his nightstand.  There was an open jar of Vaseline on the stand.  As soon
as Evan was satisfied that Adam had seen the Vaseline, he rolled over on
his back and put a pillow under his buttocks.  He spread his legs and said,
"Grease me up good, buddy.  This is our honeymoon."

Adam took a generous amount of the grease and shoved it gently up Evan's
ass.  He rubbed it in good as Evan moaned with pleasure.  Then he greased
his stiff cock and stood between Evan's legs.  He lined himself up and
placed his cock head on Evan's love hole.

"Don't be afraid to go right in, babe," Evan said.  "It's a well stretched
canal."  He wasn't kidding.  Adam slipped in almost too easily, and he
wasn't small either."  After Adam entered Evan he did nothing.  He wanted
to savor the warm moist feeling.

"Gawd," he said.  "This is even better than a blow job.  I'm so glad I'm
queer.  No woman would let me do this."

"Fuck me," Evan ordered.  "I want you to gush inside of me."

"I won't disobey such a delicious order," Adam said, as he started to
stroke.  On the in stroke Evan contracted the muscles in his anus, and he
released them on the out stroke.  Adam was going crazy and came way too
fast.  Well, maybe not too fast for an 18 year old.  His body collapsed on
Evan's and they began to kiss madly.  Whenever they came up for air they
whispered to each other I love you.

After they recovered, Adam said, "Fuck me now baby, but remember I'm a
virgin, or at least, my ass is virtually a virgin."

"Lie on your stomach, honey," Evan said.  Adam rolled over and soon felt
the cold Vaseline going up his ass.  Evan inserted one finger and began to
ream Adam's ass, trying to stretch it.  When Adam was comfortable and
enjoying the ass massage, Evan added a second finger and reamed some more.
After the third finger was added and Adam's ass was well reamed, Evan
removed the three fingers.  He inserted his cock up to Adam's sphincter.
Adam winced, but Evan proceeded to enter him slowly.  Adam was in great
pain.  When Evan was all the way in, he lay perfectly still.

Evan could tell when Adam was relaxed.  "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes Ev, the pain is going away.  You can fuck me now."

Evan was glad to do as instructed.  He fucked Adam doggie style, but he
also instructed Adam on how to contract his ass muscles.  Adam learned
quickly, and pushed Evan over the top.  When Adam felt Evan's juices inside
of him, he began to cry tears of joy.

"What's the matter, sweet?" Evan asked.

"Nothing.  I'm just so damned happy."

They stayed in bed, hugging, cuddling and fondling each other for some time
until finally Adam said.  "I think I'm hungry.  Let's go eat off campus.  I
don't want my room mate to see me.  I told him I would be gone until
tomorrow night."

They dressed reluctantly.  It was a tedious job.  They kept grabbing at
each other and pulling off articles of clothing as soon as they were
donned. Their game was accompanied by lots of giggling, like two young
school girls.  They weren't even aware of how silly they were being.  Adam
left the room first.  He looked up and down the hall cautiously until it
was safe to leave.  He waited at the front entrance until Evan joined him a
few moments later.

Just as they met, another student entered the dorm.  Evan put on an act.
"Hi Adam.  Long time no see.  How are you doing?"

By now the student was gone and Adam began to laugh.  "Come on.  Let's get
out of here.  I'm starving."

After that weekend, they made love at every opportunity, but opportunities
were rare.  They even paid for a room at the YMCA a couple of times.  Adam
had always thought of the YMCA as being a very religious organization and
the facility as a retreat of some kind.  He was shocked at how much overt
action was going on between the guests.  Evan also introduced him to the
baths where they could rent a private room for the night.  They were often
approached by other men who wanted to join them.  They always said no,
except for one time.

Evan recognized a scared little virgin when he saw one.  The boy said that
he was nineteen, but Evan put him at sixteen, maybe even fifteen.  They
took the boy (never got his name) to their room and broke him in properly.
He left about 1 AM thanking Adam and Evan profusely for making his dreams
come true.

At the end of the first semester, Evan's room mate announced that he was
transferring to UCSD.  He had been in San Diego when he was in the navy and
decided that he really wanted to move there after the war.  Evan ran to the
Housing Office even before his roomie made the announcement, and he
arranged for Adam to transfer in with him.  From the time Adam moved in
with Evan, they were together almost every night until the night Evan
passed away.

There were some minor exceptions, of course, like business trips, and
family times before they came out, and each had to attend these events
alone.  The first break of the spring semester came at Easter.  The men
spent the school break with their respective families.  They had not yet
determined how and when to come out, or if they ever would.  In the future
if they were ever questioned as to why two grown men were living together
they would say that they were half brothers.  They would say that their
mother had remarried after Evan's father died.

The story that they were brothers became more believable as time
progressed.  From the time they met, Adam began to work out with Evan.
Adam grew another inch, and his skinny body began to fill out until he was
a bulky hunk.  Evan kidded him that he was like an ad for Charles Atlas.
The bottom line was that they were both buff and looked more like brothers,
in spite of the fact that Evan was so dark and Adam was so fair.

More important than Adam's physical transformation was the fact that with
each day they grew more and more in love.  When class schedules parted them
even for a few short hours, they felt as if a part of their body had been
removed.  They skipped meals often, because they would hold so tight to one
another, that they couldn't let go in order to get to the dining hall.
They weren't even having sex.  When they did have sex, it was always like
the first time.  Fireworks exploded as they both had amazing orgasms.

By the time they were juniors it was becoming more and more obvious that it
was getting impossible to hide their feelings from their families.  They
wanted desperately to announce their union, come what may.  In those days
being homosexual was tantamount to a career death unless you were a dress
designer or a hair stylist.  Adam's biggest fear was being disowned by his
parents, and he desperately wanted to graduate from college.  He had no GI
Bill to help him like Evan did.

They discussed what course of action to take and finally decided that they
would keep their secret until after graduation.  Then they would both seek
employment as far from New York as possible, and they would move to the
city where the first one of them gained employment.  It might be possible
never to come out to their parents

Once they had made a firm decision as to their future plans, they relaxed
quite a bit.  Their love making became more daring, adventuresome and more
than a little kinky.  They discovered that they both loved rimming a clean
pink ass.  They found a little footstool in a second hand furniture store
and cut a hole in the middle.  One of them would lie on his back on the
floor.  The other would place the stool over his partner's face and then
sit on it.  His ass would protrude invitingly right onto his partner's face
and the rimming would begin and sometimes last for hours.  Adam smiled in
his sleep remembering the ever ready footstool.

***

There was a quiet knock on Adam's apartment door, which did not stir him
from his reveries.  The knocking got louder and more insistent.  Finally
Adam was brought back to reality and he was in his little apartment in The
Sunnydale House.  He rushed to answer the door, this time forgetting his
nudity.

"Hey man," Jamie said, rushing in and closing the door.  "You don't want
those horny old ladies out there to see that massive schlong of yours, now
do you?"

Adam turned red as a beet, and quickly grabbed his robe.  "I'm really sorry
Jamie," he said.  I always sleep nude and I forgot myself."

"It's dinner time," Jamie reminded Adam.  Do you want to pick me up or
should I wait for you while you dress?"

"Please wait," Adam said.  "I'll just be a moment."  He went into the
bathroom and washed the sleep from his eyes.  The clothes he had worn
earlier in the day were still on a boudoir chair in his bedroom, and he
slipped into them in record time.

"See," he announced, "I'm ready."  Jamie crooked his arm and Adam put his
arm through Jamie's as they left the room and started to walk to the dining
room.  Jamie found them a table for two in a quiet corner.  After they were
comfortably seated and had placed their orders, Jamie asked, "How did you
and Evan meet?  I don't think you ever told me.  I'd like to know, if it
isn't too painful for you."

"Talking about Evan can never be too painful.  We met at the beginning of
our college careers.  We were both majoring in business administration.  As
lower freshman, our rooms were a few doors apart.  We managed to get a room
together for our upper freshman year.  After that, we rented a studio
apartment in Greenwich Village.  Those were heavenly days.  We worked hard
and life was like an extended honeymoon.  We were too much in love to
realize how hard our lives would be living as a gay couple, especially at
work, where we were very closeted.  Things are much better these days for
the young people.  There are plenty of bigots still around, but for the
most part, people have become more understanding and tolerant."

The waitress interrupted Adam's narrative.  She served their fruit cocktail
appetizers and asked if she could get them anything else.  Jamie smiled and
said that they were just fine.

"In our senior year we began to apply for jobs in distant cities.  Evan's
age and experience may have been influential in his getting a job before
me.  He was interviewed in New York for an up and coming electronics firm
located in Miami.  We had no idea at the time what a great field
electronics would turn out to be.  I lied to my family and told them that I
had landed a job in Miami and was moving down there.  My mother wept and
carried on.  I had to remind her that I wasn't going off to war, and I was
only a phone call away.  Evan bought an old pre-war jalopy and we drove
down to Miami with only our clothes.  We didn't want to spend money on
hotels so we spelled each other driving and drove straight through.  In
Miami we stayed in a motel for a week or so until we were able to rent a
furnished apartment.  I have to tell you that without Evan's pension we
couldn't have made it."

The waitress came by to pick up their empty fruit dishes.  "Your steaks
will be ready in a few minutes," she said, smiling as she left the table.

"In those days," Adam continued, "air conditioning was sparse, and Miami
had a reputation of being a place you went to on the way to the cemetery.
There weren't a lot of young folks rushing to settle here.  I had no
trouble getting a job as office manager/ controller for a growing legal
firm.  They specialized in immigration law.  A few years later, when the
Cubans started to come in droves, I ended up with a staff of twenty people.
Half of them were bilingual and I studied Spanish in night school myself.

"In the meantime, Evan's firm landed a small contract to manufacture
computer microchips.  When I say, a small contract, I don't exaggerate.
Most people had no idea what a computer was at that time.  Needless to say,
it didn't take many more years and the firm was swamped with microchip
orders.  Financially, we were both doing well.  I feel sorry for young men
and women today.  There are no more ground floors to get in on."

The waitress came by with their steaks.  Adam hadn't realized how hungry he
was, and he stopped talking while they ate their entrees and the ice cream
they ordered for dessert.  After dinner, Adam asked Jamie to forgive him,
but he wanted to go to bed.  He was so tired.

"I can find my own way," Adam said.  "Don't worry about me."  Jamie gave
Adam a manly hug and then went to the card room to see if he could get into
a game.

Adam returned to his apartment and stripped.  He usually showered in the
morning, but he felt achy all over and decided to take a nice hot bath.  He
filled the tub with the hottest water the taps would yield.  It was a
little too hot to get into so he let some water out and added some cold
water.  Now it was perfect.

He settled down in the tub and slouched until the water line was at his
neck.  It felt so good.  He closed his eyes and his thoughts took him back
to a happier time.

***

He and Evan had just purchased their first home.  They avoided the growing
congestion in Miami and found a beautiful three bedroom home with a
swimming pool in Hollywood, Florida.  They both had a bit of a commute, but
gas was cheap in those days and the highways were not congested.  They each
had new cars provided by their companies as an added perk.  Life was
treating them well.

They had worked hard all day, opening cartons and stowing their worldly
goods neatly into places where it all belonged.  "Let's take a bath and
soak our aching muscles," Evan suggested.  They drew the bath and got in
facing each other.  Evan's big toe began to play with Adam's cock so Adam
did the same to Evan.

"I've got an idea," Evan said.  He crawled up the tub until his buttocks
was situated over Adam's cock.  He lowered himself slowly until Adam's cock
began to slip into Evan's ass.

"I knew we wouldn't need lubricant in the water, "Evan said.  He began to
bob up and down.  The kinkiness of the situation turned Adam on and he came
quickly.

"Let me try that now," Adam said and they switched positions.  That night
they slept well and happily in their new home.

The next morning, they had coffee and an English muffin for breakfast.
They left the house together to go their separate ways.  When they closed
the front door, they both froze in their tracks.  Painted in red across the
white front door was the following warning.

FAGGOTS GO AWAY OR ELSE




Chapter Three

The first thing they did was to go back into the house and call the police.
The police came out and took pictures of the front door, but admitted
honestly that there was little they could do.  They promised to patrol the
street and keep an eye on the house.  In the mean time, the presence of the
police cars attracted all the neighbors, who got a good look at the front
door.  Well, there was no need to pretend to be half brothers anymore.
They were definitely out of the lavender closet.  If this hate crime had
happened today it would have been plastered all over the newspaper.
Fortunately for Adam and Evan the event remained on their street.

They were too shook up to go to work and so they called in sick.  They
couldn't explain the real reason they couldn't come in, because at work
they were in the closet.  Evan went out and bought a can of paint.  They
repainted the door and spent most of the day unpacking the rest of the
boxes and getting everything put in place.  By mid afternoon, it looked
like they had been there forever.  Figuring that it was safe to leave the
house in broad daylight, they took a trip to the supermarket and stocked
the fridge and the pantry.

About 5 PM there was a knock at the door.  A good looking, young couple
stood at the door with a towhead little boy clutching his daddy's knee.
The woman held a covered tray and the man stuck his hand out.  "Hi," he
said.  "We live next door, on your right, and we want you to know that the
filth you found on your door does not represent the sentiments of the
neighborhood.  We're here to welcome you."

Adam was speechless, but Evan said, "Please come in and sit down."

Evan took them into the living room.  "I'm Evan and this is my partner
Adam."  (There, he said it.)

"We're Jack and Ellie Bingham, and this little rascal who won't let go of
my knee is Billy.  Say `hello' Billy."  Billy was mute.

"Here's a batch of cookies I whipped up for the occasion," Ellie said.

Evan took the covered tray and asked, "Can I get you something to drink and
we can have some cookies with it?"

"Not tonight," Ellie said, "but I want you to know that we have a block
party on the last Sunday evening of every month, weather permitting, and it
usually does.  It's bring your own food and drink.  We block traffic off at
both ends of the street, and set up bridge tables at the north corner.  It
get's going about 4:30 so you guys be sure to be there."

Little Billy found his voice.  "Can I have a cookie?" he asked politely.
Adam looked at Ellie who nodded.  He uncovered the tray which was full of
chocolate chip cookies, and held it out to Billy.  "Thank you, sir," the
little boy said politely.

The adults made small talk for a little while and filled themselves in on
their work, how long they had lived in Florida (nobody was a native) and
where they had come from.  When the Bingham's got up to leave, little Billy
said, "I like them Mommy.  They're nice."  Everyone laughed.  Just as they
started down the front walk another couple came up the walk.  The woman was
carrying a casserole dish.  They appeared to be in their late thirties,
somewhat older than the Binghams.  The two couples chatted for a minute.
The lady with the casserole leaned down and kissed Billy on his head as the
Bingham's left.  Adam and Evan waited for the new comers at the front door.

"Hello," the man said to them.  "I'm Ben Richter and this is my wife Sarah.
We want to welcome you to the neighborhood.  We live next door on your
left."  Ben spoke with a heavy German accent.

"Please come in," Adam said.  He was beginning to feel much better.  "I'm
Adam and my partner's name is Evan."  He was proud of himself when he said
`my partner.'

"I've got a tuna casserole here for you two boys.  I hope you like tuna,"
Sarah said.

"We love it," Evan said.  "Thank you so much.  I'll put it in the fridge
and be back in a minute." Adam took the Richters into the living room and
motioned for them to be seated.  Evan returned and sat down.

Ben started the conversation.  "About that garbage on your front door," he
said and rolled his eyes, "you find hatred all over the world.  At least
you could remove the hate, but we can never remove these."  Ben held out
his arm and turned it palm up.  He was wearing a short sleeve shirt, and
Adam and Evan could clearly see some numbers tattooed in blue on his
forearm.  "We survived the camps.  We survived the holocaust," he said.

"My God," Adam said.

"Were you both in the service during the war?" Ben asked.

"I was too young, but Evan was nearly killed in the war," Adam informed
them.

"Then we owe you our lives," Ben said.  "I will be forever in your debt for
having liberated us."

"You owe us nothing," Evan said.  "We fought for our own liberties as
well."

"I want to tell you a story," Ben said.  "There were homosexuals in our
camp along with us Jews.  One night a young boy, no more than sixteen, came
into our barracks.  He was a young homosexual, a Christian boy.  He was
crying and he begged us to harbor him as a Jew.  The homosexuals were
treated worse than we were, and to make matters worse, although the German
soldiers pretended to despise them, young Hans told us that he was raped by
them almost every night.  We had extra yellow armbands from dead comrades
and we substituted one of them for his pink one.  When Hans came to us, the
war was winding down.  One day we woke and found the camp deserted.  The
Germans had all fled during the night.  I rushed to the women's barracks
and found Sarah still alive.  She was very weak.  The Germans had
experimented on her and we will never have children.  Sarah, Hans and I had
managed to survive.  All we needed to do was to wait for the
 Americans to arrive.  I had relatives in Miami, who brought us here.  We
pretended that Hans was my little brother and got him here too."

"Where is Hans?" Adam asked.  There were tears in his eyes.

"He's well." Ben said.  "He and his partner live and work in Ft Lauderdale.
Barry is all American.  He was born in Detroit," Ben announced proudly.
"Friday night they will come for Sabbath dinner.  Would you also honor us
with your presence and you can meet Hans and Barry."

Evan and Adam looked at each other.  Evan said, "It will be our honor, and
I can't wait to meet your kid brothers."

Ben and Sophie got up to leave.  Ben put one arm on Adam's shoulder and the
other on Evan's.  "You and we," he said, "we must always be vigilant.  We
can't allow hate to prevail here in America like it infested Germany."

When they were gone, Adam began to cry and Evan took him in his arms.  "I'm
OK," Adam said.  "Whoever those bastards are, the whole neighborhood is
against them.  I'm very happy we moved to this street, Evan.  I was
thinking that we could gauge everyone's reaction to meeting us at the block
party next week.  We might even figure out who painted our door.  Maybe we
can urge Hans and Barry to come to the party."

***

Bright sunlight poured into Adam's bedroom waking him up.  It was 6:45 AM
on the day before Evan's funeral.  Evan's funeral!  Adam still couldn't
believe that Evan had left him.  It was too much for him to bear.  He
busied himself by getting ready for the day.  In less than an hour he would
meet Jamie for breakfast.

He felt so all alone. His dear friends, Hans Richter and Barry Stern, had
passed away a decade ago.  Barry went first.  Hans followed him by just a
few months.  Adam was certain that Hans could not survive this life without
Barry.  He knew it was wrong, but he wished for the same fate as Hans, and
quickly.

At breakfast Jamie asked him if he would like to do anything today.  "Do
you need to shop or anything?"

"No, my dear boy.  You have taken care of everything."  Jamie had arranged
for food to be served in the dining room after the funeral.  Outside of The
Sunnydale House residents, Adam did not expect more than a few
acquaintances.  Most of his and Evan's friends were dead.  Adam was a sole
survivor.

After breakfast Adam excused himself from Jamie, and found a seat on the
front veranda.  The sun felt good on his old bones.  He turned his face to
greet the warming orb, and he thought he heard laughter.  Yes, he clearly
heard Hans and Barry laughing.  Then Ben and Sarah joined in.  Finally he
could hear Evan's distinctive laugh louder than all the rest.  They were
all having such a good time.

***

It was the first Friday night in their new home.  Adam and Evan were
walking across their front lawn to the Richters.  Adam carried Sarah's
empty casserole dish and Evan carried a bottle of red wine.  There was a
strange car in the Richter's driveway.  "I guess the young queers are here
already," Evan said jokingly.

"Please Evan.  You know how I hate that word."

"I would never use derogatory words in public.  It was just a joke between
us girls."

"You are incorrigible!  I don't know why I put up with you," Adam said.

"You put up with me because you love me."

"Yeah, I guess that's the reason," Adam smiled at Evan.

They rang the doorbell and the door was opened by a drop dead gorgeous
young man about Adam's age.  He was nearly six feet tall.  His eyes were
blue and his hair was platinum blond.  He was smiling broadly and he could
dazzle you with that smile.

"Adam and Evan?" he asked quizzically.  He had no trace of an accent and
Evan wondered if he might not be Barry, and that maybe he had jumped to a
stereotypical conclusion.

"I'm Hans," the young man said and held out his hand, "I am always so
pleased to meet a liberator.  Please come in."

"You people are going to embarrass me to death," Evan said.  "I did nothing
more than my duty."

Hans introduced them to Barry, who did not hold out his hand at all.
Instead he gave each of them a good strong hug.  He said something similar
to what Hans had said, but completely different.  "I'm always glad to meet
a brother who isn't ashamed to be what he is, and let people know it."

Adam and Evan felt a great pang of guilt.  They had intended to pass
themselves off as brothers, but were accidently outed by the hate patrol.
Ironically, they looked no more like brothers than Hans and Ben.

During the evening Hans and Barry did most of the talking.  They were
exuberant about their jobs, their lives and most of all their love for each
other.  They were not embarrassed to show Ben and Sarah how much they loved
them also.  The best part was that they talked openly about their
homosexual lifestyle.

"There's a section of Ft. Lauderdale where more and more gays are moving
in," Barry said.  This was the first time Evan and Adam had heard the word
`gay.'  "It's becoming a little Mecca.  The best part is that a couple of
gay bars have opened up.  It's great because we can hang out there with our
buddies.  We're having dinner at one of the bars tomorrow.  Why don't you
guys join us?"

"You should go," Ben said.  "Sarah and I had dinner there with the boys a
couple of weeks ago.  The food was wonderful and also I found out that
these two have a lot of nice friends.  I would urge you to go and I would
love it if you would all become friends."

"Enough talk," Sarah said.  "Dinner is ready.  Come to the dining room."

"Have you ever had a traditional Jewish Sabbath dinner?" Hans asked.  Evan
and Adam shook their heads.  "You'll love it," Hans continued.  Your taste
buds will salivate, but you better have plenty of alka seltzer at home.  I
had to wait until we got to the States to savor it, but boy, it was worth
the wait."

"Jewish cuisine was the final step in converting Hans to Judaism," Barry
said.  "It was the food that did it."  That brought much laughter to the
table.

"My conversion isn't kosher however," Hans said.  "Barry wouldn't let me
get circumcised at my age.  I wanted to do it, but he said absolutely no,
so when the rabbi asked, I said I was cut.  I prayed and prayed that he
wouldn't want to look for himself.  But I did study, and I had a Bar
Mitzvah last year.  I wish you guys were here so you could have been at the
party.  We had a blast."

The food was as delicious as Hans had promised and Evan and Adam were
introduced to a couple of new dishes like matzoh ball soup and chopped
liver spread.  Hans and Barry kept everyone in stitches telling tales about
some of their friends, straight and gay.  The evening was almost non stop
laughter.

During dinner, Barry and Hans kept leaning over and kissing each other and
holding hands, right in front of Ben and Sarah.  Adam and Evan had trained
themselves not to show any affection in public and they really didn't know
how to react to this public display of male to male affection.  All of a
sudden, out of the blue, in the middle of a laugh, Hans asked, "Evan, do
you love Adam?  Adam, do you love Evan?"

They both looked at Ben and Sarah thoroughly embarrassed.  "Of course we
do," Evan sputtered.

"You sure don't show it, man," Barry said.  "Kiss each other for God's
sake."

"Yeah," Ben said. "Kiss each other."  Ben, Sarah, Barry and Hans began
tapping on their wine glasses as if they were at a wedding trying to urge
the bride and groom to kiss.  Red faced, Evan leaned into Adam and kissed
him lightly on the lips.

"You call that a kiss?" Hans said.  "You do it like this."  He leaned into
Barry.  Their mouths parted and they began to soul kiss.  The kiss went on
and on.

Finally Ben said, "Enough already.  You two are embarrassing me.  Your old
bedroom is upstairs, Hans.  Go you two, before it's too late."  Everyone
laughed so hard their sides hurt.

***

Sitting on the veranda at The Sunnydale House, Adam could still hear the
laughter.  The laughter reverberated in his ears until he could feel a
headache coming on.  Then he realized that tomorrow was Evan's funeral.
The headache got worse as he buried his head in his hands and wept and wept
and wept.  Suddenly the semi-tropical sun was too much for Adam to bear.
He went upstairs to his apartment and closed the door.  He dialed Jamie's
telephone number even though he knew that Jamie wasn't in his apartment.
Leaving a message on Jamie's answering machine, he politely asked Jamie not
to pick him up for lunch.  He said that he wasn't hungry but that he would
meet him for dinner.

He stripped as he always did before getting into bed.  It was warm in the
room and he lay down on top of the covers.  He could hear birds chirping
outside his window, but everything got really silent as he slipped into a
fretful sleep.

***

He and Evan were standing on the front porch of Hans and Barry's house.
They knocked on the door and Barry let them in.  As soon as they were
inside, they were literally attacked by the homeowners who covered them
with kisses and hugged them tightly.  There was no question that Hans and
Barry were very demonstrative and very kissy, kissy.  Adam and Evan were
just the opposite.  They had made a career out of being in the closet, and
covering up there sexual identity.  Hans and Barry made them feel guilty.

Barry opened four beer bottles and handed one to each of them.  "It's a
little early yet," he said.  "Our reservation is for 7:30 and we can walk
over in five minutes, so drink up me hearties."

"How did you two meet?" Evan asked them.

They both broke out laughing.  Did these two ever stop laughing?

"I'll tell." Hans said. "I had a blind date with some guy whose name I
can't remember.  A few days before the date he called to ask me if I would
mind if we double dated.  He said that blind dates could sometimes be
awkward and this way if things started to go south, there would be another
couple there to relieve the pressure.  So my date asked a friend of his to
double date with us.  Well, as luck would have it, the friend also had a
blind date for that night, so a double date suited him just fine also."

Barry picked up the story and continued.  "I was the other guy's blind
date.  To make a long story short, neither of us liked our dates, but we
sure liked each other.  We never even said anything to each other.  We just
seemed to read one another's minds."

"Yeah," Hans said.  "Halfway through dinner I got up to pee and Barry said
he needed to go also.  We slipped out the back door and took off, leaving
those poor guys with four meals to pay for."

Barry and Hans burst into more laughter.  Adam had to wonder how Hans could
laugh so much after what he had been through.  As if he could read his
mind, Hans said, "You know, my life was hell until I somehow got the
courage to hide in Ben's barracks.  Now I am the luckiest guy in the world.
I worshipped Jesus once.  I still do.  But he was never my Messiah.  Ben
and Sarah are my true Messiahs."  Then he smiled at Barry.  "Barry is a
Messiah too, but in a much different way."  He leaned into Barry and they
began to kiss passionately.

It got a little too hot so Evan said, "If you two want to go to bed we can
go to dinner alone."

"Not on your life," Hans said.  "I am going to personally teach you two to
enjoy life and love each other more."  This statement coming from a
holocaust survivor fueled Adam's guilt.

"I don't think I could love Evan more." Adam said.

"Never say never," Barry advised.  "You'll see."

During dinner practically everyone in the restaurant came over to greet
Barry and Hans.  Did these two know everyone in the gay community?
Apparently!  They introduced Adam and Evan to everyone and the general
sentiment was that Adam and Evan should hang out here more often so that
they could all become better friends.

"You should come here more often," Hans said.  "After dinner we'll hang out
at the piano and sing.  You guys must learn to let your hair down, and have
some fun.  I get the feeling that your up tightness comes from hiding who
you are from the world.  Believe me you have nothing to prove.  If you are
vital links at work, it won't make any difference to your bosses."

Adam had his doubts about that and Evan was in full agreement.  They had a
wonderful time with their new friends and hated when it was time to drive
home.  In the car Evan said that he could not believe that Hans was so
upbeat after having been continually raped by German soldiers and having
survived the holocaust.  They agreed that he was an amazing man.

In bed that night as they were cuddling, Adam asked Evan, "How do you think
they would take it at work if you came out?"

"I really don't know, but I'd probably get fired.  What about you?"

"Pretty much the same thing.  I think I need to get laid," Adam said, and
cuddled closer.

Adam pushed his erection against Evan's thigh.  Their lips met in a
passionate embrace.  Their hands groped and found each other's cocks and
each began to stroke the other.

"Suck my cock, please," Evan pleaded and Adam gladly obliged.  They assumed
their favorite fallatio position.  Evan lay on his back and Adam got on his
knees between Evan's legs.  In this position Adam's tongue could slide up
and down the underside of Evan's shaft.  They both found the underside of
the shaft more erogenous than the head or even the balls.  Only the
entrance to their asses was more erogenous than that.  Adam began to stroke
Evan's cock with his tongue and his fingers, just as the phone rang.

"Shit," Evan said as he reached for the phone.  Adam kept on sucking.

"Hi, this is Hans," a cheery voice said.  "I'm just calling to make sure
that you two are making love and going all out.  I hope there are no hang
ups in your bedroom."

Evan started to laugh.  "I assure you that we go all out in private.  We
don't hold back.  It's just that showing affection in public is something
we are going to have to learn."

"Good, because I'm not going to give up my role as mentor.  I intend to get
you two to stop worrying and enjoy life.  Just take into account how good
we've got it, compared to life in a concentration camp.  We are all so
blessed," Hans said wistfully.

"You're right, dear friend," Evan said.  "Now will you please hang up so
Adam can resume sucking my cock?"  They could both hear Hans laughing
hysterically as he hung up the phone.