Before And After the Divorce - 25. More Colton, Some Dave, and a Conflict

As usual, Colton and I sat with the regular Casey's crowd for a while before we split off to be alone. While we were sitting with them, the topic of interest was an article in the local paper that day. I don't know how I missed it, but all the guys were surprised I did. I had to pull it up on my phone.

***

HARRISBURG, PA: The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) yesterday released its findings in their investigation into the two apparent suicides last fall at the Mercer County Jail. Jackson Trevon, 30, was found dead in his cell on October 17th. The DOC concluded that the death was a homicide. No further details were given.

In the case of Zach Washington, 29, his death on November 1st was also ruled a homicide. A source at the jail, who requested to remain anonymous, indicated Washington suffered multiple injuries while in the infirmary, including a fatal one. The same source indicated two inmates have been implicated in his death.

Both men were awaiting trial on child pornography charges.

***

My jaw hit the floor. "Holy fuck!"

"What's the matter Dyl?" Justin asked.

"I can’t believe what I just read.”

"Hey, they deserved it."

"Oh, yeah, not arguing that. Hearing they killed themselves screwed my head up. Finding out someone killed them?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don't know what to think."

I got up and walked to the bar for a hit of liquid painkiller.

Back at the table Justin turned to Colton. "Do you know what that was all about, Colt?"

"Yes. Dylan dated both of those men. His father and son were instrumental in their arrests. I cannot imagine that he is feeling guilty, though."

"Shit. I guess holy fuck was dead on.” A few minutes later, Justin looked over at where I was leaning against the bar. “I think he just downed his third shot. You'd better go stop him."

Colton blew out a big breath. "Yes. That’s a good idea." He approached the bar cautiously.

I leaned against him unsteadily. "Have a drink wiff me, bubby."

Colton pushed the shot glass away. "You have had enough to drink, Dylan.” He beckoned to the bartender. “Will you please get him a black coffee, Len?"

"Coming right up."

I tried shaking my head and wobbled to the side before Colton grabbed my arm. "I need another Jack and coat. Hold the cloke."

Colton resorted to a white lie, "This is an Irish coffee. It will be good for you."

"Now yer tawkin."

"Dylan, please sit down before you fall."

"Whoa, I'm dizzy. I'd butter sift down."

"Drink your coffee, please."

Colton later told me he pushed the coffee for an hour before I was a tiny bit more myself again. I'm guessing he drove me home, and one of the other guys made sure my truck got there safely.

When we entered the apartment Dad looked at Colton and then frowned at me. "What happened to you?"

Embarrassed, I hesitated. Or maybe I just didn't immediately understand the question. Your guess is as good as mine.

Colton replied, "He discovered the two men in prison were murdered. I believe he felt some guilt and drank too much."

"Well, thanks for helping him, Colton." Dad clapped my boyfriend’s shoulder and I jumped at the sound.

"You are very welcome. He is still a little tipsy. I should help him into bed."

"I'll wait until he's asleep before I leave."

"Yes, that would be best. I am sure he will be alright after a good sleep."

Colton led me to my bedroom, helped me undress, peeling off my pants and leaving my boxer briefs. He helped me into bed, and after a short kiss goodnight, I fell asleep quickly.

Friday

I woke up with a headache, surprise, surprise. Fortunately, a few aspirins made me functional enough to start the day. We had another light dusting overnight. I was hoping the weather would hold out for Dave's trip. We were close enough to Lake Erie to get dumped on heavily by lake effect snow a few times a year. When I checked my weather app, the temperature showed forty-one degrees. Downright balmy for this time of year. It can get really frigid here in early February. At least there was no snow in the forecast for the next few days, anyway. I got Dominic off to school and myself off to work. I tried not to think about yesterday's news. Hopefully, I'll be okay until I see Dr. Aslers again on Tuesday.

Saturday

I was up early, preparing the guest room for Dave and Patty. I put fresh linens on the bed and dusted. After Dominic woke up, I changed the sheets on his top bunk. Everything appeared to be ready for our guests. Having them here will hopefully keep my mind off things better not considered.

Dave, Patty, and Sal arrived close to his estimate, just a few minutes after one. After helping them with their bags, we ate some sandwiches from the cold cuts I picked up yesterday. Dominic took Sal into his room to show him where he could put his clothes. Meanwhile, Patty went to unpack her and Dave's things. I took that opportunity to interrogate my brother.

"So, what's the deal with Patty not liking Dad?"

"You may not remember, but shortly after Sal was born, I lost my job. Even though I knew he couldn't do anything, Patty insisted I ask Dad for a job where he worked. He put out some feelers and got me a few job posts. He’s a programmer. Granted a damn good one, but he had absolutely no influence. He wasn’t part of any hiring teams. Patty felt he could have done more and has held a grudge ever since. It was so bad, she even considered changing Sal's name."

I felt my eyes bug out. "Wow! Overreact much?"

"Yeah. But it's the hill she’s chosen to die on and I know I'll never get her to budge, so I just let it go. I talk to Dad often enough while I'm 'working' from home. I'll go see him a few times while we're here, but I'm not rocking the boat."

His confession threw my sister-in-law into a new light. "Damn. And what about your old boss?"

"Old being relative, since he was only forty-five, three years older than me. He died in a car accident. It's just the fact that he died so young---well, it smacked me in the face with my own mortality. Nobody thinks they're going to die young. Shit, you're the first person that would agree with that statement. When it happens to someone relatively close to your age…” He shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you know."

Patty came back into the kitchen without a hint of humor, saying, "Okay, you can stop talking about me now."

Wow, what a bitch.

Dave ignored her rudeness. "No, we were talking about Max, how him dying so young shook me up."

Her concerned expression looked fake. "That was so sad. You're right, but like I've told you, it's not like it started a three-year timer for you."

"Yeah, I know. At least the rational me knows that. It still scared me."

Dave looked depressed. It was time to change the subject. "So, Patty, will you get a job while you’re here?"

"No. Dave and I talked about that. His raise is big enough that if we're conservative on what house we buy, we'll easily get by on just his salary."

"By conservative, she means less than ten bedrooms, hehe."

"Funny, David Salvatore Pastore. No more than four, Dylan."

"Uh oh. Full name. Well, I am in the right field for my initials."

I looked at him, like huh?

"DSP. Digital Signal Processing."

Patty rolled her eyes. "My husband, geek comedian."

How about that? She's not a bitch all the time. Just when she thinks she's being gossiped about, or apparently, our father enters the conversation. The boys came out of Dominic's room.

Sal said, "Hey, Dad! You're not going to believe this. Dom's reading a book I read last year, and he's not even eight yet. It's like a tween/teen book."

"Yes, he is a smart little cookie. Maybe he'll help you with your homework sometime. You know, get it done on time?" Dave put Sal in a headlock and mussed his hair.

Sal squirmed his way free. "Hey! I get it done on time. It's not always right if I have to rush it." Adding a frown, "Like usually happens."

"I know. You try your hardest. No offense, Dylan, but he got your brains, not mine."

Dominic rushed to my defense and curled his hands. "My dad's smart!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dom, but he's right. I wasn't the very best student. Thankfully, you take after your mom in that respect."

Sal diffused the situation by saying, "Anyway, when we pack up all of our stuff, I'm going to let him have the rest of the series."

I looked at Dominic, but he held up a hand.

"I already told him thanks."

Sal looked at his parents. "Do you know how far away we're going to live? It'd be cool if we're pretty close. He could be like a little brother. I can teach him all sorts of sh... stuff."

"No, Dave replied. “We haven't even thought about looking yet. But this area is pretty much the same distance to my new job as my old commute. I was thinking maybe Amsterdam or Plain Grove, the next two towns south. And we may have to talk more about what you can and can't teach him."

Sal was snickering. His sense of humor was as sick as his father's, "I know. He's not even eight yet. I'll wait at least a year on that stuff."

Dave nudged me with his elbow. "See what you get to look forward to in six years or so, bro?"

I chuckled. "I'm afraid it'll be a lot less than that, but we'll see."

Dominic motions Sal down toward his face and whispers something in his ear. Sal couldn't help but laugh. Dominic didn't mind, and he joined right in.

I sighed. "Yeah, a year may be too conservative."

"Don't worry, Uncle Dylan, Dad and I already talked about, um..." He glanced at his mother, turning a less white shade of pale. But not nearly as dark as a beet.

"I get it, Sal. Thanks."

Patty jumped into the sarcasm pool with us, "Boy, if I thought two against one was bad, will I survive four on one? Maybe I should have stayed in Ohio."

"That'd never happen, Patty. God knows what kind of house Dave would pick out if left to his own poor judgment."

She gave an exaggerated shudder. "Yeah, just the thought of that makes me shiver."

Dave had enough ribbing, "Okay, okay. Who haven't we picked on yet? Or we'll talk about politics. Even that'll be less uncomfortable."

I'm thinking it might Dave had enough ribbing, be fun having them here. Not permanently, of course. That feeling didn’t last very long, though.

"I guess we can't go back to the spa while they're here, Dad?" Dominic commented.

"I..."

Patty’s ears perked up. "There's a spa nearby? Oh, that sounds lovely."

"Um, yeah, Patty. It’s not the type of spa you’re accustomed to. It’s a Korean sauna/spa. Pool, sauna, steam room, all sorts of pampering."

She looked confused. "It sounds like my spa back home. Why am I hearing some unpleasant undertones?"

I blushed. "Well, a Korean sauna's pool has some specific requirements."

I hesitated, not knowing exactly how Patty, or Dave will take it. Dominic, however, hasn't fully developed all his verbal filters yet.

"Ya gotta be naked in the pool."

Patty turned fire engine-red.

I was quick to add, "It's not what you think, Patty. There are separate sections for men and women, so the men swim together, and the women have their own pool."

"Well, I think I can put up with a little nudity for all the possible pampering I could get."

With a big smile, Dave said, "There goes this month's pay increase."

She ignored his quip. "Have you been there many times?"

I looked at Dominic and let him answer. "No. Just once last week with my dad's... friend and his son. Jiho is only a little more than a year older than me."

"Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah. It was fun. When we were in the pool, they threw a guy out."

Patty’s eyebrows went up. "Oh? Why?"

I interrupted. “He showed a little too much interest in the boys, Patty."

"He didn't, you know?"

"No, just looked a bit longer than the ownership would like."

"Oh. Well, we can talk more about this later. What are the nearby areas like, Dylan?"

Dominic pushed Sal toward the hall. "We're going back to my room now."

"Okay, see you later,” I said, and then looked at Patty. “Mostly middle to upper-middle class. Being about halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie, there are a lot of professionals."

"I can't wait to start looking."

"I'll dig up the realtor's contact information that Lacy used to buy the condo."

"You have a condo too?"

"Yeah, well, technically, I guess it’s Dominic’s. Lacy left pretty much everything to him, with me as trustee.” Glancing toward Dave, I continued, “Our dad's living there. He helps me out a lot with Dominic by coming over mid-afternoon to be here when he gets out of school. He watches him when I go out. Things like that. We've gotten a lot closer."

Her tone went from pleasant to snarky, "Well, that's very nice of him, helping you out so much."

I didn’t know when to shut up. "Well, it's kind of like his rental payment. He's taking care of the taxes and utilities, but I don't charge him rent. I'm probably helping him more than he's helping me."

She looked like the cat who swallowed the canary. "Well, it's nice of you to help him so much."

The hidden meaning behind those words was obviously so we won't have to.

"Yeah, I guess."

Patty changed the subject. "Can we go back to the spa conversation? I need to ask a question before I permit Sal to go."

"Go ahead, but if it's what I think you're asking, that's not an issue."

"I just don't want to subject Sal to that kind of element."

I was confused. Dave knew what she meant, "People who enjoy pampering themselves?"

"No, Dave.” She looked down her nose at me and sniffed. “Those places are probably just loaded with gay men looking to pick each other up."

I crossed my arms over my chest and stood with my legs shoulder-width apart. "Like I said, Patty, that's not an issue. It's a very professionally run place. The man they escorted from the premises didn't do anything but look at the boys a little too long. The ownership would have done the same thing if his focus was that closely directed to another man."

"But you can't know that for sure, having been there only once." Her ignorance was getting on my last nerve.

"I can, and I do. The people that run it, well, not to throw out a stereotype, are very polite. My boyfriend is Korean and has been there many times with his nine-year-old son. There's no way he'd subject Jiho to that kind of environment. And to be honest, I'm not sure I appreciate what you're insinuating."

Dave put one hand on top of the other’s fingers to form a ‘T’ and stepped between us. "Okay, okay. Time out. We must get along, or this will be a very unpleasant week or two. Patty, I'm sure Dylan will agree with me on this, if not show you a world of proof, but very few pedophiles are gay men."

"Fine.” She huffed. “I'll give you that, but what about two gay men? I wouldn't want Sal to see what goes on between homosexuals. It might influence him."

I felt the heat rise and my face flush. I'm getting very close to kicking her ass out of here. Dave holds up his hand to me, saying he'll take this one, too.

"Patty, if they kicked someone out for just 'looking' at someone, what do you think they'll do about any sexual contact?"

"Probably turn on the cameras."

I felt my internal bomb explode and gritted my teeth. "That's it. I'm not listening to this anymore. If you can't set aside your gay-bashing attitudes, you’ll have to leave. I'm sorry, Dave, I won’t put up with something like that in my home. I'll be in my room. Let me know how this works out."

I got up and stormed off to my room. The whole incident left a bitter taste in my mouth. I looked at the liquor cabinet as I walked past. Nope, not going there.

Next up - "More Digs, and Compromise"