The following week, a weary Kyle
returned home from a very long, hard day at work. Within five minutes of
arriving home there was a knock on the door. Wonderful he said to himself just
what I needed, someone going door-to-door trying to sell stuff or get money for
some cause. All attempts to get the school board to reinstate his club were
in vain. He pointed out to them that some of the students’ grades had dropped
since the cancellation of the club. A member of the school board even had the
audacity to blame him for the decline in grades, inferring that he was a
totally incompetent teacher. But that wasn’t the only thing on his mind. It
would be the first time in five years that nobody was waiting for him at home
to wish him a happy birthday. He never felt so alone in his life. He pictured
is thirtieth birthday to be a fun-filled evening, ending with a night of really
hot sex with Jay. Irritated, he stormed over to the door and threw it open.
“HAPPY
BIRTHDAY” the crowd of people outside his house screamed. Tommy and Andy
stood in the doorway, holding out a large, brightly wrapped package, both with
shit-eating grins on their faces. “Well, aren’t you going to let us in?” Andy
asked the stunned man.
“O-of course” Kyle stammered in shock
as he stood aside. Party guests flowed into his house, bearing food, drink,
presents and decorations. Up went the decorations. Food and drink were spread
out on the dining room table along with paper plates, cups and plastic
utensils. Within a half-hour the party was in full swing. The cloud of
depression that hung over him since the day he caught his boyfriend with
another man lifted and he was able to enjoy himself fully. The loneliness
abated, even if it was just for a few hours. Several hours later, all of the
guests had departed and the house was once again immaculate. Outside of a
refrigerator crammed full of food, various flavors of Pepsi and the unconsumed
remains of a huge birthday cake, there was no evidence that a party had ever
taken place. The only guests remaining were Tommy and Andy. He stretched out on
the couch, tired but happy. “I can’t thank you guys enough for the party. I
really needed it. Are you guys coming to the opening of my exhibit in two weeks?”
“We
wouldn’t miss it. You know, you never did open our present.”
“Hmm, I thought I opened them all.”
Kyle responded, confused. He sat up and began searching the mountain of gifts
on the coffee table for an unopened package.
“We hid it on you. We wanted to be
alone with you when you opened it.” Tommy went over to the dining room table,
reached under it and pulled out the present. He returned to the living room and
handed it to Kyle, who raised his eyebrows questioningly.
He opened the package and looked in.
“Wow!” He exclaimed in astonished delight “Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the
Magic Carrot[1].
My students talk about it all the time like it's the greatest game on earth.
I've wanted to try it, but I haven't been able to find it."
“I found
it in a comic book store. Every Saturday night they play, and the owner said
they’d be more than happy to have us join them and teach us how to play.”
“That would be awesome. Let’s do it
this Saturday. We can get the whole gang to go.” Andy said, enthusiastically.
“Sounds like a plan.” The three
friends spend the rest of the evening reading the rules, opening all of the
expansion sets and looking through all of the cards.
Somewhere around eleven Andy yawned
and stretched. “I really hate to do this, but we should get going. You must
have a ton of shit to do to get ready for the exhibit.”
“Not really. Everything is being
taken care of by the art gallery. All I have to do is show up and look pretty.
Again, I can’t thank you guys enough for the party and the wonderful present.
This would have been the first time in over five years that I would have spent
my birthday alone.” The tears started flowing. Tommy moved to the couch,
gathered Kyle into his arms and let him cry.
“Shh. It
will be okay. You will never be alone as long as Andy and I are around.”
Kyle tightened his grip around
Tommy’s neck and cried hard. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t handle being
alone.” He sobbed.
Tommy looked at Andy helplessly. Andy
walked over to the couch and squatted down. He placed a gentle hand on Kyle’s
knee. “Would you like us to stay here with you tonight?”
Kyle sniffled then wiped his eyes.
“I’m sorry to break down like that.” He said, ashamed. “I can’t ask you guys to
do that. It’s too much of an imposition.”
“Bullshit!” Andy exclaimed. “It’s
settled. We’re staying. If the situation was reversed, you’d do the same,
wouldn’t you?”
Kyle sighed deeply. “Yeah, I would.
You guys mean everything to me.” He shuddered and sighed again.
Tommy helped him up. “Let’s get you
into bed. He helped Kyle to the master bedroom. Giving him a fierce hug he said
goodnight.
Kyle performed his nightly rituals
then came back into the living room to set the security alarm clad only in a
pair of old gym shorts, which drew wolf-whistles from Tommy and Andy. He
stopped, noticing his two closest friends trying to get comfortable on the
couch. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re
trying to get comfortable.”
“Hello?
There is the guest room.”
“I know.
We didn’t want to mess it up by sleeping in the bed.”
“Shit. I don’t care if you have a
wild orgy and leave cum and lubricant all over the sheets. It’s a guest room.
It’s for guests to sleep in. Get your asses up there. Just please keep the
moaning and groaning down to a dull roar!” He winked at them then set the
alarm. Seeing that neither man had moved off of the couch, he grabbed them both
by the ears and dragged them up the stairs to the guest room laughing. “Good
night and thanks.” He gave each of them a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Good
night, Kyle. Sleep well.” Tommy and Andy chorused.
“Good night, my friends.”
Two days later, on a Saturday, Kyle
was awakened from his nap by the doorbell. He glanced at his watch. Five
o’clock. I wonder who that could be. It’s
almost dinner time. He dragged himself off the couch and opened the door to
reveal Andy. Looking past him he spotted Tommy sitting in his car.
“Well, are you ready?” He asked.
“Ready for what” Kyle answered his
question with a question.
“Did you forget we were going to
Alternate Universe Family Game Center tonight for Killer Bunnies? We thought
we’d go early and grab a bite to eat first.
“Thanks, but I’m really not up to it.”
“Kyle, you haven’t set foot out of
this house in weeks except to go to work and the gallery. Don’t you think it’s
time you rejoined the human race?” When he didn’t respond, Andy motioned to
Tommy who shut off the car, got out and walked up the sidewalk. “He’s decided
not to go.” Andy told his boyfriend.
“Not an option. You grab one arm and
leg, I’ll grab the other and we’ll drag his ass there if we have to.” He looked
at Andy, and then they both grabbed Kyle by the arms and legs before he even
realized what was happening and started carrying him to the car.
“Guys, put me down, please. I’m
really not up to it.”
“We agreed, remember? You need to get
out of that house. You can’t stay holed up forever.”
“I get out.”
“Going to work or the art gallery is not
getting out. You need to start having some fun again.” He caught the look in
Kyle’s eyes. “Okay, what are you afraid of?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you hiding? What are you
afraid of?”
“I’m not hiding.”
Andy decided that now would be a good
time to blast him. “Oh, really, is that why you never call us to go out? Every
time we call you to ask to go somewhere with us you don’t return our calls. I’m
beginning to think that you don’t want anything more to do with us, that our
friendship is gone. We’ve done our absolute best to be there for you and this
is how you repay us? By turning your back on us? Let’s go, Tommy. We can still
have fun.” He stormed off towards the car. Tommy just shrugged his shoulders
and followed Andy.
Kyle stood there, stunned by Andy’s
words. Just as Tommy started to pull away from the curb, he ran after them.
“GUYS WAIT” He yelled. Tommy pulled up to the curb. “You guys are right. I’ve
been a total self-absorbed ass and I’m sorry. I’m just not sure how much fun
I’d be.”
“There’s one way to find out. Go lock
up and get in.
Kyle ran back, locked the door and
climbed into the back seat of Tommy’s car. “So where are we going?”
“We’re treating you to Ruby
Tuesday’s. We know how much you love their salad bar.”
“Yeah, I do. Whenever they see me
coming, they close it down. I’ve been known to do serious damage to it.”
“We’ll just have to make sure they
don’t have the chance to.”
“Do we have time? You know how
crowded that place can get on a Saturday night.”
“Relax. I called the store and the
game doesn’t start until seven.
After a wonderful dinner in which
Kyle hit the salad bar three times, they arrived at their destination for the
evening.
“Hi, welcome to Alternate Universe
Family Game Center. How can I help you guys?”
“We’re here for the Killer Bunnies
game.”
“Cool. You’re a little early. It
doesn’t start for another half hour, but you’re welcome to hang out. How long
have you been playing Bunnies?”
“Actually,” Kyle said, “we never
have. I got a set for my birthday and I’ve studied the rules, but they’re a
little confusing.”
“Just the starter set, or did you
read the rules for all of the expansions as well?”
“All of them.” Kyle answered.
“Did you read them in order?”
“There’s an order?”
“Ah, that’s why you’re confused. If
you don’t read them in the right order, it can get confusing. KATIE!” the store
manager yelled.
A tall woman came up to the counter.
“Yes Zack?”
“These three gentlemen are here for Bunnies
tonight.”
“Cool! Welcome. I’m Katie. I’m a
representative of the publisher and I will be hosting the event tonight.” The
boys took turns introducing themselves to Zack and Katie.
Zack reached under the counter and
withdrew a box, handing it to Katie. “Can you take them into the back room and
give them a quick rundown on how to play? They’ve read all of the instructions,
but not in the proper order so they’re a little confused.”
Katie glanced at the time. “Sure.
We’ve got plenty of time for a quick lesson. Guys want to come with me?” She
led them into the back room and quickly taught them how to play. Shortly
thereafter, Kyle was surprised to hear a familiar voice behind him.
“Hey Mr. Matthews, what brings you
here?”
“Hello Sherry, Jamie.” He greeted two
of his students. “I’ve heard you guys talk about Killer Bunnies so much, my
friends and I decided to check it out. This is Tommy and Andy. Guys, these are
two of my students, Sherry and Jamie.” Handshakes followed.
As he took a seat, Jamie asked them
“So what do you think of the game, Mr. Matthews?”
“At school it’s Mr. Matthews. Here
it’s Kyle. I’ve only played a quick learning game, but it seems pretty
awesome.” He gave them a genuine smile, the first one anyone had seen in a long
time. As the evening progressed, Kyle came out of his shell more and more, and
really enjoyed himself. By the end of the evening, he was so hooked on the game
that he became a regular fixture there on Saturday nights, and eventually
started hosting parties for his friends and family on Friday nights. Tommy and
Andy had both become equally hooked on it and bought a complete set for
themselves.
At home later that night, as they
performed their nightly rituals, Tommy gazed upon Andy with a bemused look.
“Who’d have thought a card game would have brought Kyle out of his funk?”
“Yeah, who’da thought it.” Andy
replied, quoting Erica Eleniak as Ellie May Clampett from the Beverly
Hillbillies movie.
“Thank God it did. It’s nice to have
him back.” He said as they crawled into bed and snuggled up to each other.
“Good night, baby.”
“Good night.”
Without even thinking about it, in
unison they both said goodnight to Kyle.
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