The Beard - 6. Chapter 6

“Admit it, you had fun today.” Cole teased Dale who was sitting in the passenger seat of Cole’s little sports car. Since he was still smiling, it was hard for Dale to lie and say he had not had fun.

“Okay, I had fun.” Dale said with a big sigh as the wind whipped through his hair. It felt good, especially since it was a very nice, warm day. Not even the freshly clean Darlow’s uniform he was wearing could have dampened his mood as Cole drove him to work.

Mrs. Blochs, Jeremy’s mother had waited three days after Jeremy’s talk with Dale to visit Dale’s mother in the hospital. According to Dale’s Grandmother, the discussion had been tense at first, but the two women quickly began to rebuild their friendship. When it came time for Dale’s mother to come home from the hospital, complete with her new sand-bed that would prevent future bedsores, Mrs. Blochs had offered the use of her mini-van instead of forcing them to use an ambulance. Jeremy had been there too, helping Dale lift his mother into the front passenger seat and then getting the wheelchair situated in the back.

After that, Mrs. Blochs visited at least once a week, and Jeremy usually came over with her just like old times. Jeremy had even gotten Dale to toss the football in the backyard a few times, although there was no mention of the football team in their discussions. Since Cole was over to visit two or three times a week, he usually showed up on the same days, and the two of them would leave Jeremy silent as they argued about something.

Wal-Mart was definitely evil, they’d concluded after a week of arguing. Target and Costco were much better examples of low-cost stores that still managed to treat their employees well, with real wages and real healthcare. Their latest ‘topic’ had been the lack of response to yet another genocide in Africa, and if the United States really did still have a role of ‘world policeman’. China was actually getting involved in this one, although it was generally agreed they had a real economic interest in the region, and they were only helping out the victims because the victims contributed to that economic interest.

“Then why don’t we just invest in the area so we have an interest too?” Jeremy asked as the three of them continued to toss the ball between them. “I mean, couldn’t the Democrats get some big companies to invest over there? Then the Republicans will demand we act to protect the companies?”

“And they say you’re just a dumb football player.” Dale laughed as Cole looked shocked at Jeremy’s intuitive idea. He never even saw the ball Dale had thrown, and it bounced off his hip, exactly where Dale had aimed.

“You’re still thinking about how close you came to hitting me in the balls.” Cole interrupted Dale’s fond remembrance.

“Yes.” Dale said with a little laugh. Cole reached over and squeezed his hand that had been resting on the armrest between them. “Hey! Both hands on the wheel.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cole groused, making the turn into the fast food restaurant. “You know, I really wish you’d get a better job.”

“No, you cannot ‘pull some strings for me’.” Dale growled. Cole had already offered twice and the last time he’d been warned to never mention it again.

“Wow, look at those Cadillacs.” Cole murmured, changing the subject. Dale looked at them as Cole parked and groaned. “What’s wrong?”

“You see the license plates?” Dale asked. “That’s the District Manager’s car and the owner’s car.”

“Do they come here often?” Cole asked him worriedly.

“Not unless something’s wrong.” Dale moaned. “I fucking bet it’s about the drama from last night.”

“What drama?” Cole asked with a frown. “You didn’t mention any drama.”

“Yeah, well Jeremy was around and he still gets uncomfortable when I make mention of anything queer.” Dale reminded him.

“Oh, let me guess.” There was a strong flavor of enjoyment in Cole’s voice. “The shit hit the fan with the lesbian love quadrangle?”

“Yep.” Dale smiled. Well they were a little early so he had a few minutes before he had to go inside and face the music of whatever had gone wrong now. He was working the four-to-nine shift tonight. “I think the last time we talked about them, Kelley was still sniffing around after Kris to see if she was cheating on her, and Kim had started two-timing Kris with Jimmy so the bitch lead manager would give her another raise. Well, Kelley finally hit paydirt.”

“Did she catch them in the act?” Cole asked gleefully.

“Worse.” Dale laughed out loud. “Kim caught them last night when she came back after forgetting her purse. It was like two hours after she left, and they’d stuck me on drive-thru again, like always so they could go at it in the office. Well, Jimmy’s a vindictive bitch and Kim had told her she’d left Kris, so Jimmy, she takes out her cell phone, snaps a pick and sends it to Kelley. Then Kelley arrives a half-hour later and breaks up with Kris in this big showdown right in the middle of the restaurant.”

“And you waited until now to tell me?” Cole gasped out through his laughter. “So what happened then?”

“Kim quit, so did Kris and they left together.” Dale laughed again. He’d been stuck on drive-thru for the rest of the night while Jimmy found herself having to run the late shift instead of going back home. He’d stayed out of her way though, and barely got caught up in any of the flack from a pissed off Jimmy.

“So you think the big bosses are here ‘cause of that?” Cole asked.

“Probably.” Dale shrugged.

“You’re not going to be blamed for any of this, are you?” Cole asked worriedly.

“I don’t know.” Dale answered. “I guess we’ll find out when I go in.”

“I’ll stay here until I know everything’s okay.” Cole said reassuringly.

“You don’t have to do that.” Dale said quietly, although he was glad for the offer. It felt good to have friends again. He knew he could call off the impending ‘charade’ of being Cole’s gay beard and they’d still be friends. It felt good to know that.

“You’re right, I don’t.” Cole said as Dale whispered the now-predictable words. “I will be here though. If everything’s fine, just poke your head out the door and wave.”

“Okay, and thanks.” Dale said as he opened the door and got out. By the car’s clock he still had five minutes before his shift started, and he entered the fast-food restaurant with a big smile pasted on his face. He knew how to smile even when he could feel nervous butterflies twittering in his stomach.

“There you are!” Norman, the restaurant’s third manager was waiting for Dale just a few feet from the entrance. He had been pacing nervously and his gray-streaked black hair looked as frazzled as the expression on his face. “Where have you been?”

“I still have five minutes before my shift starts.” Dale protested automatically.

“Well, Mr. Ortiz and Mr. Heathrow need to speak to you immediately.” Norman said in a huffy tone. “Don’t bother clocking in, they’re sitting over there.”

“I see them.” Dale said quietly, looking in the direction Norman pointed to see the two older men sitting next to each other in a booth. From their position they could see nearly everything going on in the restaurant, which was fairly empty at that time. There was such a negative aura around them that none of the customers were sitting close to the two men in business suits who had the table in front of them cluttered with binders and papers.

“Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Heathrow, you want to see me?” Dale asked timidly as he approached. He was even more nervous as he looked at the two men. Mr. Ortiz was huge, and didn’t look the least bit Hispanic from his bald head to his big six-four build. Mr. Heathrow was about Dale’s height, emaciated and in his sixties.

“Yes, please sit down Mr. Andrews.” Mr. Ortiz, the District Manager for the owner said with a frown on his face. Lines creased his forehead, made prominent by his bald head.

“What can I do for you, sirs?” Dale asked as he took the seat across from them. Neither of them focused their attention solely on him. They’d look at him, and then their eyes would flit towards the kitchen.

“We have some questions about certain… ah… events that happened last night.” Mr. Ortiz said with disdain clear in his voice. “We’ve already interviewed all the other employees on duty last night, and there are quite a number of unanswered questions that we have for you to answer.”

“Okay.” Dale said nervously. It was all he could do to keep his knees from knocking together as they shook.

“How long were you aware of the illicit relationship between Kim Darlen and Kris Night?” Mr. Ortiz asked as he clicked his pen and pulled a fresh legal pad in front of him.

“Excuse me?” Dale asked. “What does that have to do with last night?”

“We have a fairly good picture of what happened last night.” Mr. Ortiz answered. “What we are trying to determine is your involvement in the issue.”

“I was working drive thru!” Dale countered. “I had nothing to do with it! I wasn’t doing anything with any of them. They’re lesbians and I’m gay!”

“So you were friends with them, but not involved in any sexual activity?” Mr. Ortiz asked as he made a note. “How long were you aware of their illicit activities on these premises?”

“Same as anyone else in the restaurant who worked the same time as them.” Dale answered, a sense of outrage building in him. He wasn’t sure where they were going with this, but he wasn’t liking it at all.

“So you don’t deny having knowledge of their violations of company policies regarding illicit relationships with other employees, and prohibiting sexual activity while on the premises?” Mr. Ortiz asked.

“Everyone knew Kris and Kim were doing it, and I heard from Linda on the day shift that Kim and Jimmy were doing it to, so no, I don’t deny knowing they were screwing around when they shouldn’t.” Dale snapped at them angrily.

“Ah, that was what I feared.” Mr. Ortiz made a clucking sound in the back of his throat as he shook his head. “You are, of course, aware of company policy, we have your signature here saying you’ve read it, so you know that it was your responsibility to report these activities. You failed to do so, and that is cause for your immediate termination.”

“Wait, you’re firing everyone in the restaurant that knew about what was going on?” Dale snapped, looking back towards the kitchen. “If you’re doing that, what’s Geraldo doing back there, or Mika? They both knew and you said you already talked to them. Hell, Norman knew about it as well.”

“What we do with other employees is none of your concern.” Mr. Ortiz said as he took a piece of paper out of a binder and handed to Dale. “You will find here you are being terminated for failing to inform your superiors of numerous violations of company policy. Please sign it now. You may go home and return in three days with your uniforms properly cleaned. We will then give you your final paycheck.”

“You can’t do this.” Dale murmured, feeling totally lost. “I need this job! Mom’s bills…”

“You should have thought of that before covering for your deviant friends.” Mr. Heathrow spoke for the first time, his voice filled with disgust. “If I had my way, none of you queers would ever work for me.”

“So you’re firing me because I am gay.” Dale said with sudden understanding.

“No, you are being terminated for failing to follow company policy and allowing a harassing environment to persist for your coworkers.” Mr. Ortiz stated. “We have numerous statements from your coworkers that you were friendly with the subjects, and that they felt constrained to not report what was occurring out of fear for retaliation.”

“Retaliation?” Dale was dumbfounded. “How could I retaliate against them? I am not a manager. I’m just another employee.”

“Look, you little queer, you’re not wanted here, and you’re fired!” Mr. Heathrow snarled as he leaned forward and jabbed a finger in Dale’s direction. “Those other idiots may have known about it, but they didn’t help it happen like I know you did. You’re just another queer like them and I want my restaurant free of your type!”

“Now that is an interesting thing to hear.” Cole’s voice made Dale jump slightly in his seat, and he turned to stare up at Cole with wide eyes. Somehow Cole had managed to come into the restaurant and get a chocolate shake before he walked over to where Dale was sitting with the two men. Now he leaned against the booth siding closest to Dale and sucked on his shake. He looked extremely handsome in his brown leather jacket and designer jeans.

“We are having an important meeting here, young man.” Mr. Ortiz said as he put a hand on the owner’s wrist to calm him down. “While we welcome your patronage, please seat yourself elsewhere.”

“Oh, I’m not really a patron.” Cole said as he sat the shake down on the table and slid into the booth next to Dale. “You see, I like my shakes made with real chocolate, not that cheap crap you use.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Mr. Heathrow growled angrily, his eyes squinting at Cole. “You look familiar.”

“I should.” Cole said with an artful toss of his hair. “You had dinner at our house last month, and spent half the time telling my father how another increase in the minimum wage would drive you out of business. We also noted how your donation to Mr. Headley’s campaign was rejected by them. They wouldn’t even give you a phone conversation with their candidate, much less have dinner with you.”

“Congressman Pritchard’s son, Cole!” Heathrow snapped and then he frowned, piercing Dale with a hard look. “You friends with this pervert?”

“No.” Cole said and Dale’s heart sank for a moment. Then he had just a second to open his mouth and try to protest, but it was too late. Cole was speaking again, and he had a big smile on his face, placing his arm around Dale’s shoulder as he spoke. “Dale here is my boyfriend. We were waiting until father comes home next weekend to tell him, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

“YOU’RE A DAMN QUEER TOO?” Heathrow’s roar filled the restaurant, and Dale looked around with blushing cheeks to see several customers that had been eating now rushing towards the exits. The employees were doing their best to see what was going on, while still looking like they were working, and Norman looked like he was about to wring his hands off of his wrists.

“Well, let’s see, if Dale is my boyfriend, then I guess, yes, that would make me a queer too.” Cole said in a mocking tone. “I’m sure my father is going to love hearing about this whole incident. Really! It’s an election year! What are you thinking, firing a gay employee just because he’s gay?”

“That’s not why we’re doing this.” Mr. Ortiz broke into the conversation after giving the owner a hard look. “As I was explaining to Mr. Andrews, and I really shouldn’t even share this with you, he is being terminated for not reporting numerous violations of company policy.”

“I am sure that is what you will tell the courts when Dale sues your ass and we take the whole thing to the papers.” Cole countered firmly. “You see, we’re running against a gay progressive, and this type of issue is just what will either end my father’s re-election bid, or make it happen. He’ll have to come down on the opposite side of Mr. Heathrow. Unless you’re firing everyone in this restaurant who knew about what was happening. Since that is almost all of your staff, if not all, you will have to do some hasty hiring and training. You are firing the non-gay employees who knew as well as the gay one, right? To fire the gay employee without firing the others is discriminatory and against state labor laws.”

“This really is none of your affair.” Mr. Ortiz said smoothly, but Dale could see the tightening of his eyes and the thinning of his lips. A bead of sweat also stood out on his temple.

“Cole, I don’t think I really want to work here after this.” Dale said calmly.

“Good.” Mr. Heathrow said. “You can quit and we won’t put this in your record.”

“Ah, but you’ve already drawn up this really neat explanation of his termination.” Cole said as he grabbed it off the table. “You tried to make him sign it, and now you just want to make him quit and pretend it didn’t happen?”

“What do you suggest?” Mr. Ortiz asked him in a tight voice.

“Well, if I was to be asked by my boyfriend, I would suggest he take this little document here, walk out of the restaurant with me and let me drive him to Fischer & Lansen.” Cole drawled out every word, enjoying his moment. “He can quit after the lawsuit is finished, and walk away with at least a couple hundred thousand. I dare say, though, Mr. Heathrow the way you talked about your profit margin and the effects of raising the minimum wage twenty-five cents, the lawsuit plus legal fees just might break your poor little bank account.”

“You can’t threaten us like that.” Mr. Ortiz said. “I am sure the press would love to hear of a congressman’s son threatening to use ‘pay or play’ politics.”

“But every god damn queer in the district would be screaming and boycotting outside every Darlow’s in the country.” Cole countered easily. “Besides, I wouldn’t get a penny out of this, and neither would my father. The money would go to Dale here, and his poor bed-ridden mother, left paralyzed and financially destitute by her dead husband.”

“Cole.” Dale whispered angrily. He didn’t need Cole speaking for him, and the way he spoke about Dale’s dad made him angry. “I can speak for myself. Look, I needed this job, but as long as I don’t have a negative recommendation, I can get one somewhere else.”

“Why do you need a job so bad, again?” Cole asked.

“Damn it, you know why!” Dale fumed angrily. “Someone has to pay my mother’s medical bills, and buy the groceries my grandparent’s can’t afford.”

“We’ll offer a settlement of five thousand dollars as long as all parties involved sign non-disclosure agreements regarding this whole… matter.” Mr. Ortiz said quickly, not even looking at Heathrow who had a sour expression on his face.

“Ten thousand.” The words slipped out of Dale’s mouth without his even thinking about them. If the man was already offering money, that meant Cole was right, and Dale saw a chance to do good by his mother. With ten thousand they could do some repairs on the house that his grandparents had been putting off.

“That’s less than a tenth of what you would get after going to court.” Cole said with a frown to Dale.

“Fifteen, that’s the most I’ll pay the queer.” Mr. Heathrow murmured angrily and he fixed Cole with a glare. “Your old man better not expect a dime of donations from me this cycle.”

“You better hope my old man wins the primary, Mr. Heathrow.” Dale laughed at the man to his face. “If he doesn’t, you know Headley will wipe the floor with that idiot Republican in the general election and Headley hates you more than all your former employees combined.”

“Get the boy his check and get him out of my damn restaurant.” Heathrow growled at Ortiz, who blanched but nodded. Dale started to open his mouth to protest that he hadn’t agreed on the dollar amount, but Cole nudged him in the ribs.

“I’ll take Dale home and he can change out of his uniform into real clothes.” Cole said with a smile on his face. “You can get the uniform cleaned at your convenience.”

“We’ll have the paperwork ready in a half-hour.” Mr. Ortiz said grimly. “I expect both of you to be here to sign it.”

“We will be.” Dale said firmly before letting Cole lead him outside. Cole’s arm was around his shoulder the entire time, and he was surprised when Cole stopped just short of the doors. He turned to face Dale with a smile on his face.

“That was fun.” Cole whispered as he leaned forward and his lips gently brushed Dale’s. It was like an electric spark went off between them, and Dale jerked slightly at the contact, and then felt something building in his throat as Cole’s lips lingered, putting a little more pressure on his, and he could almost taste the musky scent of Cole’s cologne. His body was reacting to this far too quickly, and he felt dizzy as the kiss ended.

It wasn’t his first kiss ever, but it was his first kiss with Cole, and he blushed at the people staring at him while Cole smiled and pulled him out of the restaurant. Cole was laughing as they got into the car, and he burned more rubber peeling out onto the main street. He was still laughing as they barely made it through a red light.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Dale asked him when Cole finally stopped laughing.

“What?” Cole asked him.

“Our first kiss took place in the entrance of Darlow’s.” Dale answered with a wide grin.

“Fuck.” Cole spat. “C’mon, I said you were my boyfriend already, so can’t you like, tell people we kissed somewhere else?”

“Nope.” Dale said smugly. He was enjoying this. For some reason he felt free, and while he did resent Cole’s intrusion, he also welcomed it. Cole had done it because he cared, Dale knew that, and that was the only reason he wasn’t yelling at Cole for getting involved at all.

“I’m sorry about what I said about your father.” Cole said after they’d gone about half the distance to Dale’s house. “It was totally wrong of me. I was just thinking of how to hit them with it, and how the press would play the angle, and not about you, and I’m sorry.”

“I’m still mad at that.” Dale murmured. It was the most he could do at that moment. Okay, maybe not. “It was the truth, even if it hurts hearing it.”

“I could have phrased it better.” Cole murmured, his hand reaching to find Dale’s and grasping it in a comforting gesture.

“Keep your hands on the wheel, big guy.” Dale laughed as the car started to drift into the other lane. Cole swore and then corrected his driving. There was an easy silence between them as Cole finished the now-familiar drive, pulling up into the driveway next to Dale’s grandparent’s car.

“Oh shit.” Dale started to panic as they got out of the car. “What the hell am I going to tell them? They’re going to ask why I’m home, and why I don’t work at Darlow’s anymore.”

“Tell them you quit.” Cole suggested as they reached the doorway. It was locked as always, and Dale knocked.

“Dale, what are you doing home?” His grandmother asked with a frown, stepping aside to allow them inside. She was just finishing up dinner, and Dale’s mother was in her wheelchair at the table, as was his grandfather.

“I… uh… I quit.” Dale said meekly, suddenly embarrassed. There was no way he wanted to tell his family everything.

“Why did you quit?” Dale’s grandfather wasn’t happy at all.

“He’s got a better job now.” Cole spoke up and Dale had to fight the urge to hit Cole right then and there. Why did he have to keep speaking up?

“Really?” Dale’s mother asked. “What kind of job?”

“The campaign’s been looking for an assistant to our computer guy.” Cole answered with a smile. “It’s not that hard a job, just scanning stuff into the database, doing research online, and other computer stuff like that. I knew Dale could do it after all the work he did on our project last semester, and I’ve been trying to talk him into it but he kept saying ‘no’.”

“Why did you decide to do it today?” His grandfather asked him and Dale shifted his feet, trying to think of an answer that wasn’t a total lie like this job offer thing.

“Things were just really bad when I got there today.” Dale finally answered. “There’s been some stuff brewing with a few of the managers and an employee, and it kind of blew up and I knew I didn’t want anything to do with the place after that.”

“Well, at least you had other work already lined up, even if this is sort of sudden.” His grandfather gave his grudging approval, and the conversation ended. “You boys going to stay for supper?”

“No sir, but thank you.” Cole answered. “Dale needs to turn in his uniforms and pick up his last check from Darlow’s. Then we really should go to the campaign office. We were about to give up on Dale and put an ad in the paper, so we’ll have to stop that ad and it’d be good for Dale to meet the guy he’s going to be working with.”

“Sounds good.” Dale’s grandfather said and then he stood up. He walked towards them, taking his key ring out of his pocket and pulling one of the keys off. “You might have to be staying late, working on a campaign like this. Here’s the house key so you don’t have to wake us up if you’re real late.”

“Uh, thanks.” Dale said with shock as he took the key. His grandfather just grinned, patted him on the arm and then walked back to the dinner table. Dale’s grandmother and mother just nodded and smiled at him, and he nodded back before going back to his bedroom.

“What was that bullshit about a job?” Dale demanded as soon as they were in his room and the door was shut. He was busy taking off the hated uniform and pulling on a pair of old cargo shorts and a fading green sweatshirt.

“It’s no bullshit, and now you have to take it, don’t you?” Cole said with humor in his voice. “Nice butt, by the way. I don’t normally like tighty whiteys, but your ass looks good in them.”

“Shut up, straight boy.” Dale growled. “Why do I have to take a job that doesn’t exist?”

“It does exist.” Cole said with a sigh. “I kept on trying to figure out how to bring it up to you without you thinking it was me interfering in your life, but I couldn’t so I finally told Jan to go ahead and run the ad in the paper. Now I’ll have to tell her not to do the ad because we’ve found someone. It’s three nights a week, from seven until the latest you can legally work, and at least one day every weekend, probably Sundays. The couple of weeks before the election, it’ll be every night of the week from after school until you can’t work anymore, and both days of the weekend. You can expect to work at least twelve hours on the weekends, if not more, by the way. The job is real, and so is the work.”

“How about the pay?” Dale asked as he finished getting dressed and began folding his old uniform. He had to get the other uniforms out of the closet as well, and he put them all into a plastic shopping bag that was sitting in the closet from his last trip to Target.

“Fourteen an hour.” Cole answered. “It’s one of the reasons we are having problems filling the position. Most people want more than that for this type of work.”

“That’s almost double what I’m making now.” Dale said with a frown.

“Yes, and it’s still below-market wages for the type of work.” Cole pushed. “You’re not getting a sweet-heart deal here. It’s a real job, it’s work I know you can do, and the pay is actually below scale.”

“You mean this?” Dale asked. “I can really get this job?”

“Yes, and not just because you’re my friend… or boyfriend.” Cole answered. “Those types of jobs, the person doesn’t have to do any real work. They’re going to work you just like anyone else that would be hired. You just got the job because we already know you can do the work.”

“Fine.” Dale said with a sigh. He still felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse too much in the mouth. The money from Darlow’s would only last so long, and then he’d need to make more. It was better to just make more from the get-go.

“I was hoping things would work out this way.” Cole said with a warm smile. “If you’re making more money maybe I can talk you into improving your wardrobe. After all, I want my boyfriend looking as good as I look.”

“Geroff.” Dale growled, but he was laughing inside as he left the bedroom, barely escaping the hug Cole was trying to force on him. Sometimes Cole acted too lovey-dovey for a straight guy, even a straight guy who was pretending to be gay in order to get his father re-elected to office.