Luis turned and kicked the bed. “I’d rather die of thirst,” he said. “Let me out of here. The game is over, Eddie.”
“I told you my name is Gage.” It was fine for Luis to change his name, but not Gage?
“Let me out of here, Gage.”
Gage smiled and went back to the kitchen. He was having so much fun now he felt like doing one of those happy dances all around the apartment. He carried the rest of the bags into the living room and started emptying the contents. He tossed some new clothes through the bars and said, “I don’t want you walking around in nothing but a bathrobe all weekend, so I got you these nice things. I hope they all fit. I bought extra large to be certain.”
Luis bent down and picked up the clothes. He gaped at the plaid flannel shirts and winced; he scowled at the inexpensive discount store jeans and threw them across the jail cell. “I’m not wearing those things. What do you think I am, a bull dyke? And you know damn well I’ve always been a twenty-nine waist.”
Gage passed a pair of heavy beige work boots through the bars and said, “If you don’t like all these wonderful new clothes, you can just walk around in that bathrobe all weekend, for all I care. I’m just trying to be nice, is all.”
Luis kicked the work boots and turned to face the wall with his arms folded across his chest and his head bowed down. And while he sulked, Gage reached into the last bag for a few more items. He set up a small radio on a shelf that was too far for Luis to reach through the bars. He plugged the radio into the wall and turned it on. When he finally found the radio station he was looking for, he turned up the volume and smiled at Luis. “I wanted you to have some entertainment this weekend.”
Luis’s jaw dropped. “That’s country western music. God, no. You can’t do this to me. You can’t leave me locked up in a filthy sex room, with nothing but carbs and country western music. I’ll die. I’ll wither away to nothing. Please don’t do this to me.”
“Nonsense,” Gage said. “I even have one more surprise. I bought you one of those little video players so you can watch a movie if you get bored. And I got you a few books and magazines, too, in case you feel like reading.” He knew his superficial, spoiled rotten twin brother had never read a book from cover to cover in his life. In fact, Gage had never thought Luis was very bright.
Then Gage slid the video player through the bars. He set the movie he’d bought on top of it.
When Luis looked down at the movie, he pressed both hands to his mouth and shrieked so loud Gage was thankful the apartment was completely soundproof. “You’re leaving me locked up in this hell hole with one movie, and that movie is Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan?” Luis kicked the movie across the cell and shouted, “You may as well just hit me over the head with a hammer and be done with hit.”
“Now, now,” Gage said, enjoying this far too much. “Maybe you’ll like the books and magazines better.” He slipped two books through the bars and set three magazines beside them in a neat row so Luis could see all the titles.
Luis blinked.
“What’s wrong now? Don’t you like them?”
Luis pointed to the books. “You hand me a book written by that woman named Snooki from The Jersey Shore, another book by that anti-gay conservative Rush Limbaugh, of all people, and one written by Joy Behar?” He glanced at the magazines and shook his head. “And three copies of Playboy, filled with nude women?” Luis punched the cage and started to shout. “Don’t do this to me. Please don’t do this. I won’t be able to last.”
“You’ll be just fine,” Gage said as he gathered up the empty shopping bags and boxes and carried them into the kitchen.
When he returned, he found Luis sitting on the twin bed again. He set a few clean white towels, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a bar of soap on the table where Luis could reach for them without any problem. “Here are a few things for your toilette,” he said. “I know how vain you are.”
Luis stood up and glanced down at the items on top of the towels. “There aren’t any razors. You can’t expect me to stay here, locked up in a cage with a Joy Behar book, a Jennifer Lopez movie, and sugary soft drinks without a fucking razor. I shave my entire body daily. You know I like to be smooth all over. I haven’t had hair on my legs since I was thirteen.”
Gage smiled and laced his fingers together at his waist. “Well, then, looks like you’re going to have hairy legs once again, because I completely forgot about a razor.” He wasn’t lying. He had forgotten to buy Luis a razor, and now he was smiling so wide he felt his gums showing. “I guess I’ll be off now. I have a lot to do before I head out to Cider Mill Farm to see Jase, my new husband.”
“Please don’t leave,” Luis said, running to the corner of the cage, clinging to the bars with both hands. His robe opened wide, exposing the front of his naked body. “Please, I’ll do anything you want. I know you’re not a mean person. I know you care about what happens to me. We’re brothers. We finally have a chance to work things out together as adults, Gage. We should take advantage of that.”
Gage turned to leave. Without looking back, he said, “I think I’ve taken very good care of you, Luis. You have everything you need. It’s not like I’ve kidnapped you for ransom, and it’s not like I’m holding you hostage in a torture chamber.”
Luis moved toward the cage door and held the bars. But he didn’t jiggle the door, which Gage found interesting. If he’d been locked in there, that’s what he would have done. “But this is a torture chamber. Just the country music alone is enough to drive me insane. I’d rather you waterboard me.”
Gage took a quick breath and exhaled. “I’d never hurt you, Luis, and you know that. I’d never hurt anyone, especially not like you’ve hurt me all these years with your jealous, competitive stunts and your condescending remarks.”
“Then why are you doing this to me now? I don’t understand.”
Gage shrugged. “I want to find out what your life is like. I want to know all about you, which is partly why I’m doing this. I want to know what it’s like to be you. I’ve never had the kind of luck you’ve had.”
Luis’s tone softened, almost as if he finally understood what Gage was trying to say. “Are you going to sleep with Jase this weekend? If you do, he’ll kill you when he finds out what you’ve done to me. Jase and I don’t have an open relationship. We’re completely devoted to each other. We were married in a real ceremony. And he is a very strong-willed man.”