Special Forces - 19. Chapter 19

“Uh...Sam’s at work right now. But...uh...come in. I’m Nick, Sam’s...uh...husband.”

“Hi Nick. Forgive me for just barging in. I’m Serena, and this is David, and this is Sarah.

“This is our son Jorge, and his friend Gregory. This is Maria. Come in. Oh you have bags too. Well, just drop them here by the door.”

As you can imagine the whole scene was pretty bizarre. But Serena wasn’t quite the ice maiden I thought she might be. She bent down and said hello to Jorge saying she was his aunt Serena and was so glad to meet him. I shuffled everybody into the house and had them sit down. Jorge and Gregory were wide-eyed and quiet. Serena’s kids were mute.

Maria, bless her heart, offered everyone refreshments. She took the kids to the kitchen island to feed them leaving Serena and I alone, or at least as alone as the great room would allow.

“Um...you’re from Oklahoma City?” Nick, the great conversationalist.

At least got the ball rolling and Serena explained that they’d been travelling most of the day. They’d just arrived in San Diego and took a taxi directly here from the airport.

“I’ll explain why I’m here, but I’d rather wait until Sam’s here....”

“Oh! Certainly. I’ll call him right now.”

I summoned Sam, and luckily he could get away and would be home in just a few minutes. His surprise and puzzlement over the unexpected visit exceeded even mine.

Serena accepted a coffee from Maria saying she hadn’t had a caffeinated drink in years. She added cream, took a sip, rolled her eyes in pleasure and declared it to be heavenly.

We made small talk, which gave me a chance to observe Serena closely. There was a definite family resemblance to Sam. Same blue eyes, cheekbones (albeit one was bruised) and smile. Her nose was narrower, and her chin was more pointed making her very pretty. I noticed she was dressed chicly in dark wool slacks and cranberry colored sweater. Her hair was streaked and well cut. Certainly not the look I would have expected from the religious tone of her messages.

She didn’t offer any explanation for her black eye or for David’s cast, and I didn’t ask.

Sam burst through the door. “Sis! Is that really you?”

Serena jumped up and threw herself at Sam hugging him tightly. “Oh Sam! I’ve missed you so much!” Then she pushed away slightly to look at him. “Sammy, you’re all grown up. So big!” And then they hugged warmly and at length again.

“What happened to your eye?” asked Sam, his own eyes narrowing.

Serena waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, that’s nothing! I’ll explain later.”

Introductions were made again. Sam declared David and Sarah to be beautiful. Serena, the proud parent, glowed. She told Sam his little boy was absolutely gorgeous, and it was Sam’s turn to glow.

Sam noticed David’s cast and he looked from David to Serena, his face darkening. Obviously drawing the same conclusion I had.

If I wasn’t mistaken, Mike Harmon was in big, big trouble.

Maria took Gregory home, then it was pizza and salad for dinner.

Dinner went smoothly. Serena, Sam and I covered the basics of our lives. David and Sarah were vivacious and intelligent. And very polite. Sarah claimed Jorge in that precocious way little girls do, slipping into a mothering role which Jorge was cautiously accepting. David wanted to hear about Sam’s military experience and was hanging on his every word. Imagine a ten year old discovering his uncle was a Navy SEAL. The kid was going to have major bragging rights when he got back to school.

It came out that David was proud of his broken arm, which apparently came from a soccer injury

Serena’s black eye resulted from an out-of-control schizophrenic patient at her office.

Okaaay.... Apparently not spousal abuse. But if she wasn’t seeking refuge, what was the reason for Serena’s sudden, unexpected visit?

Once the kids were settled into bed, Sam and I grabbed beers and Serena accepted a glass of white wine. She took a sip and sighed with pleasure explaining that that was the first alcoholic drink she’d taken in almost fifteen years.

Then she apologized for the text she’d sent, quickly polishing off her glass of wine and accepting a second. The remorse she felt about its wording had resulted in her having an epiphany. She found ‘truth’ suddenly, the way some people find Jesus. She could no longer live a lie! She’d ‘come out’ to Mike the day before.

She’s a lesbian!?

That was not, however, the case. Her ‘truth’ was that she simply didn’t believe in the teachings of the church and, in fact, had never truly bought into it. She’d been ‘pretending’ for the last fifteen years. She even questioned the existence of God, and certainly didn’t believe all the ‘crap’ about Jesus. “Oh, I have no doubt he existed, and I have no doubt his teachings were revolutionary. But ‘Son of God?’ Give me a break!”

Note to self: Don’t offer Serena anymore wine, she’s pretty tipsy on a glass and a half!

After leaving home, Sarah had arrived in Oklahoma City alone and confused. Mike, whom she described as an angel, offered a level of safety and security she’d never dreamed existed. His family, and the extended church family, ‘adopted’ her and gave her a sense of belonging. And the price of admission was just a little white lie about ‘believing.’ She’d also thought if she followed along, eventually she would come to the faith that those surrounding her had.

It was easy to bury her doubts with the joy of marriage and motherhood. She had reveled in the bridal showers. Her wedding day was the happiest day of her life up to that point. Later the baby showers came and when David was born—a perfect little boy—that was the closest she’d come to believing in God. She loved Mike, she loved his family, and she loved her friends from the church. She’d reconciled herself to keeping her mouth shut going with the flow.

Then Sam’s text arrived tumbling her carefully crafted house of cards.

“Well, I told poor Mike all this yesterday and he’s a little shocked, to say the least! And what’s all the crap about homosexuality being a sin? God! I’m a trained psychologist, I know better than that!

“So here I am with the kids because they deserved to know what a wonderful man their uncle is.

“And now I’ve upset poor Mike, and he’s such a sweet man! I love him so much! I’ve been more or less lying to him, his family and all our friends for forever! What a nightmare!” She guzzled the rest of her wine and burst into tears.

Definitely no more wine for Serena.

Sam is a sweet, caring man, and he moved swiftly to comfort his sister with a gentle hugs, pats on the back and reassuring words. He handed her a box of kleenex.

After she composed herself, Serena said, “What am I going to do? I can’t give you up, Sammy, and I don’t want to hurt Mike, but the church...with them you’re either in or out. There’s no half way.”

“What exactly did Mike say when you told him all this?”

“Um...he said we needed to think about all this. He agreed I should come and see you, although it was me that wanted to bring the kids. But he agreed to that. Um...he also says he has nothing personal against gay people because he works with a lot of them in the hospitality industry, and they just seem like normal folks to him.”

“Serena, honey, Mike sounds like a good guy to me. Why don’t we invite him out here, and maybe you two can talk through this. Yeah? Nicky, would that be alright with you?”

I readily agreed, and Serena thought that, maybe, it might be a good idea.

She phoned Mike and put the idea to him, then she passed the phone to Sam. And we all know how Sam can charm the skin right off a snake, so Mike agreed to take emergency family leave and fly out the next day. “That’s great, buddy! Lookin’ forward to meetin’ ya! Oh, and bring the kids’ swimsuits, it’s hotter ‘n Hades here, and they can use the pool.”

We said our goodnights, and Serena staggered into the guest room after checking her kids.

Really, my beliefs align pretty much with Serena’s, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Mike. He was a religious guy, and suddenly his significant other is at odds with his beliefs. One of the important cornerstones of his marriage was suddenly exposed as a lie. Can a relationship survive that kind of shock? Relationships are about compromise, but was a compromise even possible in this situation?

Unfortunately Sam couldn’t skip work the next day. He was working with an important client who was ordering a custom build yacht, and he couldn’t break his appointments. So I chauffeured Serena and her kids to the airport around noon to meet Mike who had caught an early flight.

I was expecting Mike to be angry, at the very least passive aggressive, but what I saw was a happy family reunion. Mike was delighted to see his children and wife and vice versa.

My first impression of Mike was of an ordinary, good natured guy. He was about my height with a full head of blond hair cut short and parted. He was the right weight and for his height, but his body wasn’t chiselled. His handsome face had a young look common to blonds. He shook my hand warmly, and if there was any homophobia inside his head it wasn’t evident.

The scene all seemed a little unreal to me. Hadn’t Serena just thrown a nuclear bomb into their life? Shouldn’t I be observing a level of awkwardness; contriteness on Serena’s part, acrimony on Mike’s? It occurred to me that this was a marriage of consummate actors in which troubles were swept under the rug. Would Sam and I be able help them get past the denial to the truth, and would that truth set them free or destroy them?

We spent a relaxing afternoon around the pool watching the kids swim. (David’s cast being sealed in a duct taped kitchen garbage bag.) Mike drank nothing stronger than fruit juice and Serena followed suit. Maria had left when we’d gotten back from the airport, then later I left the family to themselves and took Jorge to the store to get provisions for dinner.

Sam got home early again, and he and Mike seemed to hit it off well. Sam told funny stories about being in the SEALs. Like the time a porta-johnny got ‘accidentally’ tipped over when it was stuck by a forklift. The poor guy inside was covered with ‘pretty messy stuff,’ and it took the whole team to stop the guy from shooting the forklift driver. And Sam drew out Mike, getting him to tell some hotel stories, like the time the police busted through a door and arrested the wrong (and very shocked) couple—the court clerk had transposed the room number on the search warrant.

Everyone was playing their part in the little ‘happy’ charade until the kids went to bed. Then Sam cut to the chase and told Serena and Mike that they, “Need to bloody well work out their differences!” And to that end he was lending them his truck the next day so they could get away spend the day by themselves. “You can’t let this thing simmer. Talk!”

Sam had to work the next day, but after that he was on days off. We told them we’d take them out for the day in Budweiser before they had to head home on Tuesday. I volunteered to take the kids to the zoo the next day. Jorge and Gregory love the zoo, and David and Sarah were at an age to really appreciate it.

I was looking forward to a full day away from my studio. I was having some creative block over the fifth of the commission paintings for that collector in Los Angeles. My idea was to base it on that charming picture of Joseph and Tyler with their big mobile, but I was struggling with the composition and colors. Not only did I want the painting to be aesthetically pleasing, I wanted to capture the warmth of the boys’ newly defined relationship. A day at the zoo would allow my subconscious to ruminate on the problem.

Sarah continued to mother Jorge, and I laughed at one point when he asked me, “Why is Sarah always so bossy, Papi?”

I arrived home with the kids, and shortly after Sam arrived. Serena and Mike came in a little later. He had his arm around her shoulders, and she was leaning into him. But they both seemed a little sad, a little subdued.

“Good day?” asked Sam, raising his eyebrows.

Serena and Mike both smiled wanly and shrugged. Serena gave a little ‘so-so’ wave of her hand.

We took them to a fairly authentic Mexican restaurant in Old Town. Jorge turned the tables on Sarah by speaking Spanish to the wait staff. She asked him to teach her some words, which he did, correcting her pronunciation.

A day out on the boat was pretty special for the landlubbers from Oklahoma. The kids crashed early that night from the effects of sun and swimming.

Serena and Mike told us they were addressing their problem, and they hoped they could work things out. For now they decided not share Serena’s admissions with Mike’s family or their church associates, but they had a couple of ideas that they were discussing. They asked Sam and me if we minded being their support network, and we readily agreed to play that role.

We were all up early the next day to get the Harmons to the airport. Afterwards, Sam and Jorge worked on a little project in the basement, and I sketched a few ideas for the painting while sitting at the dining table.

Jorge was tired and needed a nap after lunch, so Sam and I took all our clothes off and climbed into our own bed. We had a nice hour of bonding time. I love looking at Sam’s body—every little nook and cranny. I spent a few minutes with my face in the V of his legs just looking at his junk. (One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, right?) I love the way his balls dance when I tickle his sack. And I love the little pulses of his cock that produce drops of pre-cum when I lick its length. Sam was in the middle of giving me a sensuous blowjob when Jorge knocked on our bedroom door calling out to us. That left us unrelieved but feeling wonderfully mellow nonetheless.

The Williams entourage had departed for the Philippines and we got a text from Joseph when their plane touched down in Manila after a fifteen hour flight. “Asia is soooooo AWESOME!”

From there the entourage, now including the Williams’ son and his family, we headed to a rented villa on the coast facing the South China Sea.

Slide had taught the boys the names of the guitar strings: Edward, Andrew, David, Grant, Bob and Earl. And he had them working on little song exercises. To assist them getting the emphasis and rhythm correct he used little phrases like, MAC-Donalds HAM-burgers. The boys ate this up (pun intended) and when they weren’t holding their breath underwater in the pool (learning to be SEALs) they strummed their guitars. They seemed pretty well matched in ability and it was fun to hear them help each other. “No, Jorge, like this....” or “Gregory, I think you gotta hit Andrew harder. It’s HAM-burger.”

Slide was shaking a lot less than when he’d first started with the boys. He’d been sober for a few weeks and the improvements to his physical health and mood were noticeable. He still smoked like a chimney and stank of cigarettes, but one step at a time.... I don’t know what his magic was, but he had the boys enraptured, and they’d work their little fingers to the bones to please him.

Also, there was a certain synergy between the boys. They were doing so much better, worked harder and improved much more rapidly than they would have working individually. I was fascinated with this phenomenon and never tired of watching or listening to them at work.

Joseph emailed several photos from their holiday house. It seemed large and open, surrounded by palms, and had a gorgeous view of a sandy beach and the ocean beyond. He attached several group photos, and everyone looked to be having a wonderful time.

After the Harmons left, our household settled down. It was sad that Sam had to work through August, but at least he didn’t have to leave home under mysterious circumstances as he’d had to in his previous life. We’d started discussing holiday plans. Sam would be taking off a month over the Christmas period and we were thinking of taking Jorge skiing. Knowing how things book up I’d begun to research condo rentals up at Whistler Mountain in British Columbia.

After two weeks in the Philippines the Williams and the two boys flew over to Ho Chi Minh City to visit Amy’s relatives. Wendy and her husband had flown back to the US, and the son went back to his base.

Joseph’s emails were even more enthusiastic about Vietnam, although he confided that he mostly didn’t like ‘real’ Vietnamese food. Amy was spending time with her family while the Colonel and the boys went exploring. The Colonel had been there several times, even after the war, so he knew his way around.

Serena and Sam kept in touch by phone regularly. Sam said it was going to take a long time to repair the rift between them after fifteen years of estrangement. They were virtual strangers, but they did share common roots, albeit roots they’d rather not talk about. At least Sam could be her confidant concerning her and Mike’s journey. She was returning to university in the fall to work full time on her masters in clinical psychology and on the related clinical internship. Mike was stepping back from many of his church duties to ‘support’ his wife. The more traditional church members didn’t agree with his choice, but he said that family was more important than church. They still hadn’t shared the secret of Serena’s heathenism, but they were working on a long range plan. Everything from divorce to relocating to another city was on the table.

Joseph and Tyler got back the day before school started. They were pretty wound up about the trip, and a little jet-lagged from the long plane ride. Hopefully it wouldn’t take them long to settle back into the routine of their sophomore year.

Jorge and Gregory began full-time kindergarten. Because their birthdays were just after the ‘cut off’ they were a little older than most of their classmates. And once their teacher discovered their language and musical skills she suggested they skip kindergarten and go straight into first grade. That would make them slightly younger than their peers, but the teacher was adamant that they displayed the appropriate level of maturity to fit in.

Sam was talking to Sandy on the phone and said, “My boy’s been skipped ahead a grade. The kid’s smart as a whip. Takes after his dad!” I didn’t hear Sandy’s response, but it must have been a particularly creative put-down, because Sam howled with laughter.

One afternoon, shortly after Jorge was back at school, I was just finishing up a French lesson with him and Gregory when the doorbell chimed. Standing there was our neighbor from a few doors down. I didn’t know her name, but I’d seen her out walking her little dog several times. When I opened the door, she introduced herself, “Hello, I’m Suzanne Carlisle. I live just down the street. Um...a few of us are starting a Neighborhood Watch program. There have been...um...a few break-ins lately.” She thrust a pamphlet into my hands. “We’re having a meeting at our house on Wednesday evening. Would you be able to come?”