Cleaver swallowed his doughnut and said, “Thanks, buddy.” He waved at him with one hand and scratched his balls with the other.
Cheever walked him to the door and patted his ass. Then he kissed him goodbye and said, “Don’t be a stranger. Stop by any time you want.”
After that, Elroy drove to Boston and went to the Greek restaurant. Then he decided to walk around for a while and look at the shops. By the time he returned to Harvard it was seven in the evening. He found Kyle still in bed wearing the same gray sweatsuit he’d been wearing when Elroy had left earlier that day. He tossed his keys on the bed and smiled at Kyle. He hadn’t felt this satisfied in a long time. “What did you do today?” he asked Kyle.
Kyle sat up and glared at him. “What do you think I did today? I stayed in bed. I’ve never been in such pain in my life.”
Elroy shrugged and said, “That’s too bad, man.” There was nothing he could do about it.
“I waited for you to bring me something for my stomach and finally gave up,” Kyle said. “After two hours, I figured you weren’t coming back so I fell asleep.”
Elroy smacked his forehead and said, “Fuck. I knew I forgot something. You wanted cough drops or something.”
Kyle closed his eyes and shook his head. “I wanted something for my stomach, not cough drops.”
“Oh yeah,” Elroy said. “I remember. I’ll go out now and get something.” He really didn’t remember. He must have been thinking about something else at the time.
“Don’t bother,” Kyle said. “I’m feeling better now.”
Why did Kyle always make him feel guilty? He hated feeling guilty; no one ever had this kind of power over him. “Are you hungry?”
“I was just going to get dressed and get something,” Kyle said.
“Let me take you somewhere,” Elroy said. “I know this great little Greek place in Boston.” He felt so bad now he wanted to hug him. But he knew if he did Kyle would probably kick him in the balls.
“I just want something light, maybe soup and toast,” Kyle said.
“I’ll take you to a diner I know.”
“I should tell you to go fuck yourself,” Kyle said. “You left me here to rot all day alone. I only asked for something for my stomach, not the world. But I don’t feel like walking far and you have a car.”
Elroy walked over and put his arm around him. “I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. I should have remembered. Let me make it up to you now. I’ll take you anywhere you want. I’ll buy you the world if you want it.”
Kyle shrugged and said, “I don’t want the world. I just want soup and toast, you idiot. Let me change my clothes.”
“You don’t need to change,” Elroy said. “You look fine the way you are.” He truly meant this. There was something about seeing him in that old gray sweatsuit that made Elroy feel comfortable and safe.
“I look awful,” Kyle said.
Though Kyle’s arms were at his side and he wasn’t responding to anything Elroy did, Elroy hugged him and said, “I think you look wonderful. In fact, no one has ever looked this good, or will ever look this good again.”
Kyle gave him a gentle shove and he stepped back. But this time he smiled and said, “You are so full of shit.”
Chapter Twelve
In the end of October, there was a huge costume party. A wealthy young gay guy from Newport was throwing it. He’d rented a room in one of the most exclusive hotels in Boston and the guests were all required to attend in costume—preferably drag. Every openly gay man Elroy knew had been invited to this party, including Kyle. They were coming in from as far away as San Francisco. He’d heard two were coming from Berlin.
The only one who hadn’t been invited to this party was Elroy, and he’d been fuming about this for days. The gay guy throwing the party, Edwin Sutton, had been one of Elroy’s classmates at boarding school a few years earlier. Portly bowtied Edwin ate too many carbs, was prematurely bald, stood about five feet two inches in shoes, and spoke with a lisp. He had the smallest feet Elroy had ever seen and his left eye cocked to the right, which gave the impression he could never look anyone in the eye. Whenever he took off his shirt and his man-tits started to flop, Elroy always felt a pain in his gut. The only thing more offensive than all this was when he removed his pants: his dick was so small it looked as if an acorn had been glue-gunned to a set of balls. At certain angles what he had between his legs looked more like a vagina than a dick. Elroy had taken gym glasses with him and he’d seen all this personally in the locker room.
But Edwin Sutton had one thing that drew people to him in droves: old money. He wasn’t as wealthy as Elroy and he didn’t have billions. But his family had come over on the fucking Mayflower and he knew how to use his prosperity in order to get whatever he wanted. Elroy was never quite sure where his old money came from. Some said he was the heir to a toothpick fortune; others said his great-great-grandfather had invented electrical extension cords. Most of this was rumor and Elroy had never been able to pinpoint exactly where Edwin Sutton’s money came from. But it didn’t really matter to Elroy because he’d always considered Edwin to be the most offensive human being ever to grace the Earth. Elroy cringed just watching him walk, with his tiny feet splayed east/west, bouncing on the tips of his toes.
These feelings were mutual. Edwin Sutton would see Elroy walking through Harvard Yard and he would turn his head in an overly dramatic way and pretend he didn’t even see him. If they were standing next to each other, Elroy would turn his back on Edwin and pretend he didn’t see him. This vitriol went all the way back to a cold night in January when they were in boarding school. Hideous Edwin had become infatuated with a sweet young blond guy from Vermont. He’d bought the blond guy clothes and jewelry, and he’d taken him on vacations to Europe. He would have done anything for this sweet guy—until he caught him in bed with Elroy that cold January night. Elroy and the blond guy were in Edwin Sutton’s bed, naked. From a distance, it looked as if they might have been playing leap frog, with the blond on the bottom. They thought Edwin was spending the weekend in Newport with his family. They had no idea he’d returned early because of impending inclement weather.
After Elroy got caught fucking the blond boy ass, Edwin would never speak to Elroy again. So this wasn’t the first time Elroy had been overlooked for one of his parties. Elroy had come to expect it and he didn’t mind in the least. But when Elroy found out Kyle had been invited to the big costume party that October, and that Kyle was going in drag, he wanted to find Edwin Sutton’s newest blond boyfriend—he went for the same type—and sleep with him just to get even.