Palouse - 13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Mendelssohn – Early March 1989

Six Months Later

Micah was in Spokane to play Poppa M’s beloved Mendelssohn violin concerto with the Spokane Youth Symphony Orchestra. It was his and the orchestra’s last regular performance for the season. He had arrived on Friday at the Stirlings, having been ferried from Colfax by Rudy Schmidt, who couldn’t stay but a few minutes. As usual, the Stirlings would feed Micah dinner that night and lunch the next day after practice and would deliver him to the concert hall Sunday evening.

In the meantime, he had an evening with David. “I got a new computer game,” David announced. He booted up the computer and loaded the game’s tutorial. He handed Micah a joystick, and they both watched the tutorial for the game. Micah put his hand on the joystick and David put his on top of Micah’s, something that Micah didn’t even notice, engrossed as he already was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What Micah was oblivious to was the sexual electricity that David felt merely from putting his hand on top of Micah’s. David knew he had to let go, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to bring that hand to his lips and kiss it.

David knew then without question that he was gay. He had been attracted to other boys before, but his feelings for Micah were something beyond just a stirring in the groin. He wanted to touch Micah, he wanted to press his lips to Micah’s, he wanted to lie beside him in bed and wake up beside him in the morning. This was beyond mere physical sexual attraction. To David, this was a major realization – and an awakening.

“It’s one a.m., boys. Time to go to bed,” came the voice from down the hall. “You’ve got a performance tomorrow.”

Micah and David snickered guiltily, not realizing how quickly the time had gone by.

“I guess we need to close this down,” David said, as he saved the game they were playing. “Do you want to sleep in here tonight?” he asked, with some trepidation.

“Sure,” Micah said. “Let me go get my pajamas on.” Micah went to the room where his luggage was, stripped, and put on his pale-blue pajamas. By the time he got back, David had changed into his, had turned off all the lights except the bed lamp and was lying on the far side of his bed. He patted the sheet right next to him as an invitation to Micah.

For Micah there was nothing awkward about the sleeping arrangement. He was used to having a brother in the same bedroom, and David was like his brother that night. For David, though, his erection had to be hidden behind the waistband of his pajamas; he knew that Micah didn’t feel the same about him as he did about Micah. The two boys continued to chat after the light was turned off, but Micah quickly slipped into sleep. After he heard Micah’s regular breathing, David relieved himself quietly in the socks that had been tossed on the floor beside his bed.

He did the same in the morning, thinking that Micah was still asleep, but the shaking of the bed wakened Micah, who grinned to himself as he tried to simulate sleep until David finished. Micah hid his own morning erection as he left David’s bed and went to his room to get clean underwear. He relieved himself in the shower while thinking of the movement of the bed a few minutes earlier.

At breakfast, Katherine Stirling treated the boys to orange juice, French toast and bacon before they went back to the bumping and pushing of their computer game.

After a light lunch they were taken to the concert hall, decked out in formal clothes. To David, Micah looked handsome, stirring further sexual feelings. On his part, Micah was totally absorbed in what he was going to play.

The concert was another triumph. Micah played a technically impeccable and emotionally electrifying Mendelssohn, and the orchestra, inspired by the emotion Micah was putting into his performance, provided much more than a simply adequate backup, playing the best they had all season. The applause at the end, after a moment of almost stunned silence from the enrapt audience, seemed unending to Micah and to grow louder as it lasted; he took bow after bow as the applause, whistling and shouting continued.

Micah met his mother at the reception for the soloists and the orchestra that followed the concert. “You were wonderful, Micah. I’m so proud of you, and you looked so handsome.” Micah’s face turned red from embarrassment.

“Did you thank the Stirlings?” Betty asked.

“Mom,” Micah answered, saying the word as if it had two syllables, “what do you think?”

“Did you have fun with David?”

“Yes. We played video games till late and then we went to bed. David asked me if we could room together when I join the orchestra when it’s on tour, and I said yes. So, I had fun with David.” Micah didn’t feel it was necessary to tell his mother everything that 13-year-old boys did besides staying up late.

At the end of the reception, Betty sought out the Stirlings and thanked them once again for hosting Micah.

“He’s welcome anytime,” David Stirling, Sr., said. “David really enjoyed having him. In fact, David wants him to come up for a weekend sometime just to visit and relax, if that would be okay.”

“We’ll see,” Betty said. “I think Micah would enjoy that,” she then added more positively, but the Stirlings felt a forced politeness in the comment. Betty really felt that Micah could not afford to take off a whole weekend from a busy practice and performance schedule that was so important for his career.