The Artists - 20. Chapter 20

Almost exactly two years later, Six sat on the porch swing of his uncle’s lodge along the eastside of the Bitterroot Mountains south of Missoula. A soft, early snow was falling and slowly whitening the frozen front lawn. Although his body shivered slightly from the cold, his parka and wool sweater were doing a good job of keeping his upper body warm. The cup of hot coffee helped, too. His bare feet? Well, it was morning and even though it was snowing, why put on boots just to sit on the porch and watch winter arrive.

Casey was upstairs in Euphorbia’s room and, although he wasn’t positively certain, he suspected they’d had sex for most of the night as they’d probably resume this morning. They were thick as thieves since Casey arrived yesterday. He picked up his former classmate at North Park College the previous afternoon from the airport in Missoula, but their ride south to the lodge had been quiet. From what Six had heard from Cheri, Casey was a regular slut on campus. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been asked his opinion on inviting Casey to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with them.

He almost wished he’d accepted the offer to go to Las Vegas from one of his friends in Missoula. It’d certainly be a helluva lot warmer, but there was something special about watching the first snow of the season, even though this was only the second time he’d been privy to this awesome sight. He almost wanted to strip down to nothing and jump into the hot tub, turn his head up to the falling snowflakes, hold his tongue out and just act like a kid again. Maybe, just maybe, it would snow enough for a snowman.

The screen door slapped shut and Six looked over to see Euphorbia approaching him. She was dressed as he was, but still had her fluffy, pink bunny bedroom slippers on, the ones with the blue ribbons, not the lavender ones. Six hadn’t yet figured out the significance of the two pairs, but they appeared downstairs on different days. She hadn’t made up her face for the day and looked almost like the man she really was. Six turned back to watch the snow.

“What’s wrong?” Euphorbia asked.

She sat down at the opposite end of the porch swing and tucked a foot under one thigh. She took a sip of whatever was hot in her cup, more than likely tea as she rarely drank coffee now.

“Casey being here,” Six said, “mostly, I guess. A friend asked me to go to Las Vegas, but I thought being here was more important. You know, family.”

“Was that Jason or Conan?” Euphorbia asked.

“Jason. His parents have a condo down there,” Six said, shivering slightly from the way Euphorbia said Conan. It sounded more like Co-o-o-o-na-a-a-a-an. The boy was a year young than Six, rode a bike almost good enough to ride professionally, spoke with a lisp, and wiggled like a tranny inviting you to spend the night. Unfortunately, he was straighter than most heterosexuals Six knew.

On the other hand, Jason, at twenty-one, was just beginning to become aware of where his feet were on the sexual landscape. They’d made out a couple of times, just kissing, nothing else. Six had no intention of pushing him too fast since he didn’t plan on being in Montana very much longer. He was heading east to get an MFA.

“I thought Conan was the cowboy of your dreams,” Euphorbia said, mockingly.

“You wish,” Six said. “All you want is to get him up in your bedroom so you can make him up into the cowgirl of your dreams.”

“What makes you think that hasn’t already happened?” Euphorbia asked with a slight smile.

“Because he’s straight, that’s why,” Six said. Euphorbia raised an eyebrow when he looked at her. “No! There’s no way he’s been here when I wasn’t. Kevin would’ve said something.”

“Why should Kevin say anything to you about who I see around here?” Euphorbia asked. “You’re not king of the mountain. Besides, you don’t necessarily have to be queer to want to play dress up. Don’t look at me like that! Conan looks rather pretty in a dress and wig.”

“No, you’re shitting me, there’s no way Conan’s going to drive all the way down here so he can put on a dress for you.”

“It isn’t for me and he wasn’t necessarily here. I do have a life outside of this house, you know. I may have to ferry your uncle all over god’s creation because he can’t get a driver’s license, but he still lets me out now and then to be with friends.

“I still can’t believe Conan’s a tranny,” Six said. He stood up and went over to the porch rail where he turned and sat facing the older man. He looked down at his bare feet, which suddenly seemed to be very cold.

“You didn’t hear what I said,” Euphorbia said. “Conan just likes to dress up now and then. He just can’t go to Wal-Mart in drag. There’re not a lot of liberal cowboys around here, if you know what I mean.”

“I met them,” Six said remembering the first time he went down to the little town closest to them to buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk. There was an older man in there who actually still had shit on his shit-kickers. He filled out his Wranglers very well, too, to the point where Six caught himself looking not at the man’s boots, but at his ass. The man looked back at him real strange then muttered, “fucking faggot,” before walking out the door.

“You really are in a foul mood,” Euphorbia said as she stood up. “I’m going back in; breakfast will be at seven-thirty.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to talk about sweet Casey,” Six sneered as he returned to his seat on the swing. “Still a good little fuck?”

It was quick. Quicker than Six expected. In three steps Euphorbia was in front of him. The slap stung.

Six knocked on the door of the guest room not expecting anyone to answer, least of all Casey. He knew his former friend was now camped in Euphorbia suite, so why was he bothering with knocking here? For appearances sake? The door opened.

Casey was wearing a bright apple green pocket t-shirt and black sweatpants. He was barefooted and had a bright lavender polish on his toenails.

“What?” Casey asked.

“Euphorbia sent me up,” Six said. “Breakfast is ready, now.”

“I, well, I guess I’d better come down, then.”

“Are you alright?”

Casey turned and walked back to the bed and sat down. Six could tell it had been slept in or, quite likely, ruffled enough to appear it had an occupant during the night.

Casey wasn’t as fat as he was that first year in Charles House. He wasn’t trim and slim—most likely he’d never get that far—yet had lost quite a bit of his bulk.

“Can you stop hating me?” Casey asked in a quiet voice. “Just for this week?”

“I don’t hate you,” Six said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as if he’d walked into the wrong classroom at school and didn’t recognize anyone.

“I know you think Euphorbia and I had sex last night,” Casey said. He was looking at the floor as if embarrassed at the lie he was trying to get across. “I know you wouldn’t believe me if I said we hadn’t. I haven’t had sex with anyone for quite awhile.”

“Strange, the word on the street seems to contradict that statement,” Six said, reinvigorating himself as he felt adrenalin being released for a possible fight.

“Cheri? Yeah, I suppose she would call you, since she’s pretty much told the rest of the world.”

Casey slipped his feet into a pair of dark leather sandals and stood up. Unexpectedly, he sat back down and hung his head between his knees.

Six felt out of place, again. “You okay?” He asked.

“No,” Casey whispered. “One of the meds I take makes me light-headed if I stand up too quickly. I’ll be okay in a minute.”

Six didn’t know what to do, but figured leaving wouldn’t look good. He knew he wasn’t a total jerk, just a prick, sometimes. There was a difference or, at least, suspected so. Swallowing pride, he went over and sat down beside Casey. They’d had sex and a brief remembrance of one of those times flitted across his consciousness.

“I’m HIV positive,” Casey whispered. “It’s one of the bad strains or it’s because I have bad resistant genes, they don’t know and, quite frankly, it really doesn’t matter, does it. A year, maybe two, maybe less. What does it matter? You should get tested, just in case.”

“I was tested last year,” Six said. “Twice, to make sure.”

“Then it wasn’t you,” Casey said as he sat up slowly. He softly placed a hand on Six’s thigh. “Cheri is positive, too, but not as bad. Maybe she has good genes. She has a chance, at least.”

“Want to go Christmas shopping today?” Six asked, trying to change the subject.

“Sure,” Casey said. His hand was having an effect on Six, whether he intended it or not. “Will you sleep with me? You know, just be with me, maybe for old time’s sake.”

Six didn’t know what to do, now. Breakfast seemed unimportant. He stood up and went over to the door and shut it. He flipped the lock.

“I have to eat,” Casey said behind Six’s back. “I have to take some of my meds with food, so I have to eat. We can do this later, okay. Maybe tonight. Would that work?”

“Sure,” Six said opening the door. “That’d be nice.”

“Would you like me to get ready, you know?” Casey whispered. “You know.”

“If you want, only if you want to,” Six said as he thought back to those first few months in Charles House. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Aeons had past, the Sun and her planets had completed numerous circles of the galactic center, time had stopped, and now was another time far into the future. Casey was alive and tonight they would have sex not as a remembrance of times past, but as a celebration of their life together here and now.

END