Porcupines - 35. Chapter 35 - Dewayne

Chapter 35 - Dewayne

When Dylan got home from work, he expected Chuck to be in bed asleep. Instead, Chuck was sitting on the couch reading an old mystery novel Dylan had on his bookshelf. Since starting at Nora’s, he’d been working day shifts training with the kitchen manager, Dan. The gruff fifty nine year old cousin of Lynora’s had been keeping Dylan updated on how his boyfriend was doing. Chuck had taken to the kitchen like a duck to water. He’d learned the recipes, ran the grill and salad stations, and done line service. Dan was pretty impressed with his young charge and had been pleased with how it was going.

“Don’t you work tomorrow morning?” Dylan asked giving him a kiss.

“No, I graduated today. They need me on a night shift, so starting tomorrow I’m working the grill all by myself,” Chuck grinned. He was so much happier at the restaurant than when he’d been working security. It was good to see him so upbeat, not like a week ago. Dylan shivered at that thought. He was still mad at Abby.

“That’s great. Are you nervous?”

“Not about working the grill,” Chuck had a strained look now. “I want to tell you about Dewayne.”

“You don’t have to,” Dylan said. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the story. He knew only tiny bits and pieces of it. The whole thing might be too much for Chuck.

“No, I need to tell you the story. Just please don’t think less of me when you’ve heard it.”

“I could never do that. I love you,” Dylan said giving Chuck a hug. “Let me get a beer and I’ll be ready to listen.”

Dylan settled down on the couch facing Chuck. Chuck began, “The first time I saw Dewayne, I was taken by his devilish brown eyes…”

**********************

Four years ago and almost 90 miles south…

“I’m so sorry about your grandma. Had she been sick?” Cara asked rubbing Chuck’s arm sympathetically.

“She died in her sleep. She’d been so sad since my grandpa died a couple of months ago. I think she just gave up,” Chuck said taking a sip of his margarita. It was a hot day in July and after going to the lawyer’s office, he was ready to relax and unwind. His coworker, Cara, had joined him at Rumbles, a downtown Mankato pub. The Embers they worked at was just up the street. It was where everybody working at the family establishment went there after work.

“So, what did you do today?” she asked Chuck. “Wasn’t the funeral a couple of weeks ago?”

“Yeah, my family went to the lawyer’s office to hear about the will. I was surprised. I didn’t think Grandma Dennis had anything to leave.”

“Are you rich now?” she laughed.

“Yeah, I’m loaded now. I can quit my job and start living a lifestyle I’ll soon become accustomed to,” Chuck laughed as well. “Actually, it was a lot more than I thought.”

“That’s nice. It was good of her to leave you something,” Cara took a drink of her wine.

“Yeah, that was sweet of her.”

Cara excused herself and went to the ladies room. In the meantime, Chuck was watching the television above the bar. The Twins game was getting more exciting. They’d tied it up with two runners on base.

“Haven’t seen you here before,” he heard beside him. Chuck looked over and a handsome guy with jet black hair, more wavy than curly, and chocolate brown eyes was smiling at him.

“I come by here once in a while,” Chuck said smiling back. It was hard not to stare at the guy. He had a dark tan, was pretty well built, and about six foot tall and in one big paw had a Rolling Rock. The most remarkable thing about the guy was those shining eyes, full of life and mirth.

“Well, I would have noticed you. You’ve got a great body,” he said to Chuck and he could feel the heat and hunger in those eyes. Chuck wasn’t in the closet by any means, but he wasn’t flamboyant either. Being hit on by a guy in Mankato for heaven’s sake was a huge surprise.

“Checking out my body?” Chuck teased. “What if I took that wrong and decked you?”

“I’m a man who isn’t afraid to take chances,” he said looking him directly in the eye without a hint of embarrassment. “When I see something I want, I try to take it.”

“Luckily, I’m more likely to flirt back than punch you,” Chuck said and felt the blood rush to his face. This guy was so hot. He liked what he saw and openly checked him out. If this guy could be that forward, why couldn’t he?

The man with the devilish eyes shifted. His crotch thrust forward as he leaned his back against the bar rail. “I’d like more than flirting, if you catch my drift.”

“Hi,” Cara said, appearing on the other side of Chuck. “Who’s your new friend?”

“We haven’t formally met,” Chuck said. He reached over and extended a hand, “My name is Chuck.”

“I’m Dewayne,” the other guy grabbed his hand and instead of shaking it, held it. “Nice to meet cha.”

“Well, I guess I walked in on something,” Cara said. Chuck and Dewayne couldn’t stop looking at each other and the other man still had Chuck’s hand. “I’m Cara by the way,” she gave a little salute.

“Sorry, nice to meet you too Cara. I just can’t get over how smoking hot your friend is,” he said, still staring at him.

“Well, don’t I feel like a third wheel all of a sudden,” Cara said laughing.

“I just saw him and I knew he was the one for me,” Dewayne said. His devilish brown eyes danced in the light. Chuck was smitten. He felt warmth begin to rise from his face to his head. He had to sit down.

When Cara left, the two guys were chatting it up something fierce. She’d never seen Chuck so animated and alive. The other guy seemed pretty nice, though there was something she couldn’t put her finger on. Maybe it was because he’d been so forward, so brash with Chuck. Maybe it was the barrage of compliments he’d plied her friend with, compliments that didn’t really sound like they were about Chuck. ‘Whatever,’ she thought. ‘Gay men are weird.’

**************************

Back to the present…

Chuck paused. That had been much harder to tell than he’d thought. Thinking about what happened over two and a half years ago, so much was evident. If only he’d known and not fallen for those damn eyes.

“I’m beginning to feel a little jealous,” Dylan said breaking the silence. “He sounds like a dream come true so far.”

“It was like that at the beginning. For the first month, he was sweet, loving, affectionate, and so nice to me. Dewayne told me he was a realtor, that’s why he was all dressed up. He told me his condo was being remodeled and he was staying at a hotel until it was finished. He also said he loved me with all his heart. Every single thing he told me was a lie.”

“Holy shit,” Dylan said. “Everything?”

“Yeah. I introduced him to Kelli, you know, to honor The Vow. She thought he was great too. At least, that’s what she said at the time. It was after he moved into my apartment that things started getting strange. Like when I found him at home and when he disappeared.”

************************

Flashback four years ago…

Chuck was so sick they’d sent him home from work. He’d felt fine in the morning but by eleven o’clock, he was vomiting and his head pounded. He drove home expecting to find it empty. It wasn’t.

Sitting in just his underwear, Dewayne was watching a movie and drinking a beer. He jumped when Chuck came in the living room.

“What the hell?” Dewayne said, surprised at Chuck’s sudden appearance.

“What are you doing home? You told me this morning you had four clients to bring around to houses.” It was a Saturday, which was when people looked at and bought houses. Here Dewayne was, watching cable without a care in the world.

“I had a couple of cancellations,” Dewayne said turning off the television and looking, well guilty. “Thought I’d just relax this morning.”

“Don’t you need to be at the office?” Chuck asked. His stomach was roiling from his illness but now his gut was doing flips over his boyfriend’s presence. It felt wrong, odd for some reason, and he knew something was up.

“I’m just chilling, getting ready to go in,” Dewayne said. “Why are you home?”

“I’m sick. I came home to sleep it off. They don’t want someone puking their guts out cooking.” Chuck paused and then shrugged off Dewayne’s strange look. “Don’t mind me.”

Chuck headed to the bathroom to throw up again. He climbed into bed after cleaning up the mess. He heard Dewayne go into the bathroom. A half an hour later, Chuck heard the front door slam. Apparently, Dewayne was going to the office after all. Good, they had bills to pay and Dewayne’s rent check was late again.

That evening, Dewayne was back home and was very solicitous of Chuck’s ailment. He heated up soup, got him crackers and ginger ale. He even gently rubbed Chuck’s back. Chuck’s confusion over Dewayne’s earlier behavior eased. The real estate market was pretty soft. He’d just been surprised at Dewayne’s slacking off. It wasn’t like he was doing anything horrible.

Chuck fell asleep at about nine o’clock that night. He felt Dewayne get into bed about an hour later. “Goodnight, sugar,” Dewayne whispered to his boyfriend. Chuck fell asleep again.

About three am, Chuck woke up. He reached out and Dewayne wasn’t there. He sat up. What the hell? Now what? He got out of bed and looked around the apartment. He looked out the front window and could see Dewayne’s car in the parking lot. Where could he have gone? And why now in the middle of the night?

Chuck sat on the couch for a while, eventually falling asleep. He heard the front door open, and saw Dewayne walking past him toward the bathroom. He sat up. “Where have you been?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I went for a walk,” Dewayne said quietly. “I’m just gonna take a shower and get into bed.”

Chuck looked at the clock. It was five in the morning. He got up and followed Dewayne into the bathroom. As he got closer, he could smell something funny on Dewayne. It was a mix of smoke, sweat, and cologne, and not his. Chuck’s heart was throbbing and getting heavier.

“Where were you?” Chuck asked again.

“I told you, I couldn’t sleep. I went for a walk. Don’t you believe me?”

“You smell funny,” Chuck said.

“Huh? I went for a very long walk. You’re sick. I’m just sweaty,” Dewayne said. Chuck was shaking his head in disbelief. Then, Dewayne did something that became a very common way to handle Chuck. He started crying. Chuck couldn’t handle that. He held Dewayne and hushed him. Dewayne’s job wasn’t going well. His boss was asking for too much. It wasn’t like he loved selling real estate anyway. The show tears did the trick. Chuck forgot about the strange disappearance, until the next time.

******************************

Back to the present…

“That sucks,” Dylan said. “He was cheating on you wasn’t he?”

“Yeah. He cheated on me the entire time we were together. It drove me crazy. I’d wake up and he’d be gone. I would pace and worry. I’d drive around and look for him. I’d call people we knew. I couldn’t ever get the truth out of him. Dewayne always said he was just walking around or went for a drive. I became more and more frantic. It was slowly driving me crazy, not knowing what was going on and thinking the worst of him. I told myself he was a good guy. He wouldn’t do that to me and so I just tried to forget about his disappearances.”

“That had to be tough though,” Dylan said stroking Chuck’s arm. “Your gut told you he was cheating but you trusted him. How did you figure it out?”

Chuck shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. After that night, I tried not to think about Dewayne’s disappearance. He was attentive and sweet, but strange things kept happening. Dewayne wouldn’t go to work. He complained they weren’t paying him his commissions. He made excuses why he couldn’t pay rent. But, every time I’d mention it, he’d start crying. Then, suddenly everything changed.

********************

Flashback, almost four years ago…

“Sugar,” Dewayne said brushing the bangs off Chuck’s eyes. They had just made love and Chuck was feeling so great about their relationship. Dewayne had paid his part of the rent and bought groceries, for the first time in weeks. It seemed the agency finally paid him his commissions. To celebrate, Dewayne had taken Chuck out to Outback Steakhouse earlier that evening.

“Yeah,” Chuck said without opening his eyes. “What’s on your mind?”

“When does your grandma’s will get out of probate?” Dewayne asked drawing lazy circles on Chuck’s chest.

“It’s already done. I got the check last week,” Chuck said.

“You did?” Dewayne said, smiling from ear to ear. “When are you done at Embers then?”

“Done with Embers? What are you talking about?” Chuck said craning his neck to look at Dewayne.

“Why are you still working at that dump when you have your grandma’s legacy?” Dewayne smiled lazily.

“What do you think she left me?” Chuck asked.

“I have no idea. I thought since she’d left you money you wouldn’t have to work a crummy job. You said it was gonna change your life.”

“It will. It’s gonna put me through cooking school. I found a Cordon Bleu school in Rochester and I might have just enough for a full year’s course,” Chuck said.

“How much did she leave you?” Dewayne pushed Chuck away.

“She left me about ten grand. That should just about pay for school. That’s why she left it to me,” Chuck said. “It was very generous of her.”

Dewayne got up and began to pace. He was pulling on his hair. “What’s wrong?” Chuck asked, becoming alarmed.

“Nothing. Not a fucking thing,” Dewayne swore and picked up a glass bowl. He threw it at the wall shattering it into millions of pieces.

“What’s gotten into you?” Chuck said becoming angry himself. “What’s your problem?”

“I have to go,” Dewayne said.

Chuck watched as his boyfriend left the apartment. Why would he get so mad about his grandmother’s legacy? Did he think Chuck had won the lottery or something? Dewayne was out for two days and Chuck thought that was it. It was over. He and Dewayne were finished. His outburst had sealed the deal. But it wasn’t.

Dewayne reappeared two days later and was all apologetic. He cried and begged and Chuck forgave him. They made love and cried together. They laughed and went out dancing. Chuck put the whole episode to one side in his mind.

Dewayne also got better at paying his part of the bills. He also bought himself some new clothes. One Saturday, he took Chuck out to dinner at a really fancy place in the Cities and paid for a hotel room. Things appeared to be getting better for the two of them. It was all a façade.

**********************

Back to the present…

“He stole your money, didn’t he?” Dylan said, he voice quivering. Chuck nodded silently. After a few minutes, he finally said,

“I didn’t know until after I kicked him out he was paying his rent with my money. He paid for our weekend in the Cities with my money.”

“How did he get access to your bank account?”

Chuck wouldn’t look up. He chewed his lip as tears fell down his reddened cheeks. “I gave him my pin number. I was an idiot. I told him just once when we were going out to a movie. He offered to go to the ATM for me when I was in the shower. Like a moron, I just told him the number.”

It was obvious this was a sore spot and Dylan said kind, comforting things, but Chuck was too upset to notice. Chuck continued talking about Dewayne in an even monotone.

“He never had a job. He was getting into drugs too. It only took him three months to go through all ten thousand dollars. That was my money for making my life better and he spent it like it was water. He started coming home pretty stoned and smelling weird again. He met some awfully weird people too.”

“You’re kidding me,” Dylan was watching Chuck closely for signs of strain. Chuck just shook his head at the memory.

“He was buying drugs with my money and getting these other guys high.”

“Gawd, Chuck, that’s terrible,” Dylan said. He thought about what his lover was telling him and it was creepy and uncomfortable. “This guy cheated on you and robbed you. I can’t believe you put up with it for so long.”

“It wasn’t all at once and there were good times, especially at the beginning. But, he did something even worse to me. He took away my mind,” Chuck said and tears were dripping down his cheeks. Dylan tried to stop him but it was no use. Chuck had to say the last part.

**************************************

Flashback, three and a half years ago…

“You fucking smell like sex Dewayne,” Chuck cried and banged his fists on the table. “You smell like other men and smoke and your eyes are freaking me out.”

“Baby, you are losing it. I think the wires popped loose in your head,” Dewayne laughed at him. “Every day, I come home and you are getting nuttier and nuttier.” Since Dewayne came back after finding out about the legacy, he would leave in the middle of the night and come home early in the morning more frequently. He was increasingly belligerent and condescending to Chuck. Regularly, he’d call him names or accuse him of being crazy.

“You’re still high,” Chuck wept. “Your eyes are bloodshot and your breath still smells of it.”

“Your sister told me all about you. You’re crazier than a shithouse rat. You are a fruitcake, extra nuts. I should have you committed,” Dewayne spit out the words. “What did I ever see in you? You are ugly and dumb.”

Chuck would just lower his head and cry. Why did Dewayne do this? How could he say such things? Then, almost as quickly as it happened, Dewayne would be holding Chuck and crying himself. Telling him he was sorry. Sobbing into Chuck shoulder and begging for forgiveness. It was a mind fuck. It was prompted by drugs and mindless sex but mostly it would be triggered by being challenged.

Dewayne loved creating havoc and he was doing so to Chuck.

In those devilish brown eyes, there was a need to make people do things, crazy things. Manipulating Chuck was easier than others. Chuck loved him and Dewayne knew just how to push the buttons. He could make that marionette dance.

In the end, Chuck followed Dewayne to one of his new friend’s house. He caught him smoking something, naked with a couple other guys. Dewayne hadn’t even tried to hide it. He just laughed at Chuck as he stood there sobbing. Dewayne wasn’t even sorry about what he’d done. He told Chuck to get over himself. Chuck was “bringing him down.”

Chuck had finally had enough. He called Kelli and asked if he could move in with her. That’s when the “scary times” got worse.

*******************

Back to the present…

“Why did you tell me this?” Dylan asked with a trembling voice.

“I had to,” Chuck croaked. “I wanted you to know I understand you,” Chuck said holding his head in his hands. “I know about Ron and the cheating. Kenny told me.”