A Cascade of Rueful Incidences

Chapter 5 - Fiendish Friend

Rhett woke up feeling the strong call of nature. The room was dark, but it didn't bother him. He was too tired to open his eyes more than a crack anyway. He swung his legs out of the bed, stood up, and nearly went down on his face as the world took a crazy spin. He groped his way to the door... and collided with a table.

That little mishap forced his eyes fully open. Blinking like an owl in the shadowy room, Rhett took in his surroundings. He wasn't looking at the door of his room; he was looking out of the window. Regardless, he wasn't staring at the familiar wall of the neighboring house. There was a park. Actually, he wasn't sure about that, or anything else for that matter.

Did someone paint a park into the wall? he wondered.

If the scenery from his window was wrong could the window still be the right one? And... How could a window not be the right one?

This isn't my room! he suddenly understood. He turned his head to look back at the bed. The headboard of the bed was pink. And this isn't Ronny's or Wade's, either.

"Where..." he started out loud, but the sound of his own voice made him wince as pain exploded between his ears.

"Morning," a soft voice said from behind him.

Slowly, careful not to make any sharp moves, Rhett turned around. The guy at the door was a complete stranger. "Who..." he said and, again, winced in pain.

"I guess you're looking for the bathroom?" the fellow suggested. "This way."

Rhett didn't even think of not following the man to the short corridor and to the door to heaven.

A moment later Rhett tottered back to the room. The stranger was sitting by the table.

"How's your head?" the man asked. "Need a painkiller?" He had a glass of water and a big, white pill ready at the table.

Rhett felt awful. Instead of voicing his answer, he reached out a shaking hand. The man dropped the pill in the water and, after a moment, handed out the glass. "Here, drink it all," he said.

In his misery, Rhett didn't waste one thought to his safety. Whatever the pill was, the possibility that it could make him feel worse didn't exist. However, Rhett underestimated the cruelty of the universe. As he raised the glass to his lips, the storm in the glass made his head pound.

Whimpering, the boy emptied the glass.

"Get back to bed. Sleep is the best cure," the man said. He didn't need to tell Rhett twice.

*****

The next time Rhett woke up, the sun was high in the sky. He didn't remember the earlier awakening, so again, he got upset finding himself in a strange room without an idea how he got there. After a moment, though, he found another thing that disturbed him even more.

I'm naked! he thought in alarm. How? Why? Where are my clothes? With his bare butt in a strange bed, in a strange room, he felt way too vulnerable.

Rhett took a look around and, to his great relief, found the clothes on a chair next to the bed. His keys, cell phone and wallet were in the pockets, exactly where he had put them, but the battery of the phone was empty. Quickly, he rose up to put the pants on. His sore head screamed in protest, and his stomach roiled, but he didn't let such discomforts stop him. As soon as he had the pants on, he felt better.

Rhett's fit of energy didn't last long, though. He dropped onto the edge of the bed and in a sitting position put on his t-shirt. As he pulled the shirt over his head, a rank smell of something almost familiar almost made him heave and, suddenly, he remembered something.

There was a tall, black shadow in front of him, and behind it, something lighter: something blue. And the smell...

The mental image was clear, but he had no idea what it meant. Was it a dream, almost forgotten? Or...

Why can't I remember coming... Well, wherever I am. What happened to me? he wondered. I remember that I was dancing in Babylon. Babylon! I really was there! Fred... He took me there, to hide me from Tanner and Ken. I remember them. It was real.

But... What happened to Fred? I remember that he was sitting close to the dance floor, at a table. He was keeping an eye on me, watched that I drank enough. But, I don't remember seeing him leave. Or... Did I leave with him; am I in his house?

Why can't I remember coming here? And, I don't remember leaving Babylon, either.

I remember dancing with... Arman? A cute red-head. I remember him... I think. Was he only a dream, or did I really meet such a great guy last night? He has to be real! I remember him so well. We were dancing, and then, nothing. Nothing at all, until I woke up here.

What... happened to me? Am I... okay?

A knock on the door startled Rhett out of his thoughts. As he raised his head to take a look, a man he didn't know stepped inside. The guy had a compact body, and there was something boyish about his facial expression, but the face didn't belong to a young man. The dark hair showed a bit of steel at the temples, and the deep-set eyes were accentuated by crow’s feet. The man was smiling but the smile wasn't particularly warm.

"Everything okay here?" the stranger asked.

"Ah... Yes, I'm fine," Rhett said carefully. "But, where am I? And, who are you?"

"You don't remember me?" The stranger seemed surprised, and Rhett blushed. "Let me, yet again, introduce myself: my name is Daniel, Daniel Moschetti, but you can keep calling me Danny, like you did last night."

"I did?" Rhett startled. He could've sworn that he had never met this guy in his life.

"Yes, Rhett. You know me."

"And, you... know me?" 

"Of course: you told me everything about yourself last night. You really don't remember? Well, you were rather... disoriented."

The man chuckled, and Rhett's cheeks got even warmer. "Uh..." he said after a brief break."I'd like to use the bathroom, if that's okay."

"Go ahead," the man said smiling.

"Um... Where?"

"You don't remember that either?" Again, the man chuckled, making Rhett feel like a moron. "Okay. Follow me."

*****

Rhett didn't stay long in the bathroom. Exiting, he found the corridor empty. The door to the room where he had spent the night stood open; the other doors he was able to see were closed. Some way ahead there seemed to be a staircase. After checking that he left nothing of his behind in the room, Rhett went downstairs, wanting to see if he could find Mr. Daniel Moschetti.

In what kind of a nest of ants have I set my ass this time, Rhett pondered as he walked down the stairs. I don't remember meeting a Daniel or Danny last night. Why am I here, with him? What does this guy want in return for taking me in for the night?

Daniel was in the kitchen, making breakfast. "Want something to eat?" he asked as Rhett appeared in the doorway.

"I don't think I should..." The smells in the room rekindled Rhett's nausea. "I think I might be getting ill. A flu or something..."

"A flu?" The long glance Daniel cast at Rhett was accompanied with an amused smirk. "Do you get away with lies like that with your parents? Don't even try such wiles on me, boy; I recognize the aftereffects of drugs and alcohol when I see them."

"But... I didn't take anything!" Rhett cried in dismay. "I never take drugs, and I didn't drink alcohol last night. Not in Babylon, I mean. I drank a beer at BoyToy early in the evening, but that's all: one beer."

"Well, if that's the case, how come, you passed out in the backroom? And why do I smell the yesterday liquor on your breath?" Daniel jeered as he broke a couple of eggs into the frying pan.

Rhett didn’t like the man's attitude, but even less he liked the fact that he didn't know what he was talking about. "What do you mean? What backroom?" he wondered.

"That's where my friend found you, on the floor."

"What is a backroom?" Rhett asked, out of his depth.

Daniel pointed at a chair. "Take a seat, boy. Apparently, I need to explain a few things to you. First, backroom: it is a room in a gay club where men go to fuck."

Rhett sat down. "In... public?" he breathed. The thought made Rhett feel strange. Excited, and afraid: both at the same time.

"But of course,” Daniel said with a grin. "That's the thrill."

Rhett found that hard to deny, and equally hard was to accept that he couldn't. "But..." he let out, confused.

"Are you telling me that you don't remember being in the backroom?" Daniel asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

"I..." Rhett started, but he couldn't go on. He stared at his hands, not knowing what to say. There was that strange memory of a tall, shadowy figure with something blue behind it, but Rhett found it hard to admit to having seen such a thing. There was something frightening about it, and what if it was just a figment of his imagination?

"As I said, my friend found you in there: you had passed out and were about to get fucked by a bunch of guys," the man said, shocking Rhett.

"No," the boy wailed. All color vanished from his face. "Please, no!"

"Don't worry, Rhett," Daniel hurried to ease his mind. "The men didn't get you; my friend was able to get you out before they had the chance."

"Thank God," Rhett whispered with trembling lips. "Uh... That friend of yours..."

"Vic."

"Vic," Rhett repeated. "I owe your friend a thank you, for getting me out of that place. I just don't understand it: why would I have been in there?"

"Tell me something, Rhett," Daniel said thoughtfully as he took the eggs out of the pan. "You're quite young. I don't think you were in Babylon by yourself. Who was there with you?"

"This older guy, Fred," Rhett told him, smiling slightly. "He took me there."

"Fred?" Daniel, his hands busy with taking things out of the fridge, seemed to perk up his ears.

Rhett recalled his first glimpse of Fred: how the man had saved him in BoyToy. "I don't really know him, but he is a good guy," he said.

"You went to Babylon with a guy you don't really know?" Daniel shook his head. "That was a stupid thing to do."

"Maybe, but he didn't try anything," Rhett argued. "And, he helped me, earlier, with something quite serious."

"Okay, so you trusted this guy." Daniel set a pot coaster at the middle of the table and a mug in front of Rhett. "Coffee?" he asked then, a pot in hand.

"Yes, please." Rhett pushed the mug closer. "And yes: I trust him! He took care of me there," he said in defense of his friend.

Daniel rolled up his eyes. "Yeah, and you ended up unconscious on the floor of the backroom. Some friend. Tell me; do you know the family name of this Fred?"

"Jones."

"Oh, dear," Daniel huffed. "Of all the creeps out there, you had to hook up with Fred Jones!" He put a couple of slices of bread into the toaster.

"Yeah, I did! What do you have against him?!" Rhett didn't enjoy listening as Daniel badmouthed his friend.

Daniel took a couple of plates and, in a regretful tone of voice, said, "I wouldn't want to tell you this, Rhett, but Fred Jones is a drug dealer: a well-known one. I bet that he gave you drugs last night."

"No, he didn't! I don't believe you: Fred isn't like that!" Rhett didn't know what to believe, but without chewing he wasn't going to swallow any claims Daniel made. "And even if Fred had tried to give me drugs, it would've been to no avail. I didn't take anything from him!"

"He didn't offer you drinks?" Daniel asked quietly. "It's easy to drop a pill in a drink."

"He didn't buy me anything," Rhett told him firmly. "I bought my own drinks, and all of those were non-alcoholic ones. I'm not a complete idiot!"

"Really?" Obviously, Daniel thought that he was exactly that. "In that case, you didn't leave your drinks out of your sight until you emptied them, did you?"

"Uh..." Rhett suddenly remembered Fred's kind offer. "Oh, shit."

"He offered to take care of your drinks, didn't he? You left them with him while you danced. One of the oldest tricks in the book, Rhett."

"Shit." Rhett felt another house of cards collapsing. His shoulders slumped.

"Now you get it," Daniel said quietly as he put a plate with a sandwich in front of Rhett. "Dig in. You'll need the energy."

"Are you sure?" Rhett asked, fingering the plate. How could the man be sure about something he didn't even see: he wasn't there, was he? Daniel had to be guessing. 

"I'm sure, positive," Daniel answered, crushing Rhett's hopes. "That's how he drugged you. While you danced, he laced your drinks with the Lord only knows what."

"But, why?" Rhett asked even though he was afraid he knew. But, he didn't want to believe that, as Ken and Tanner, Fred had wanted nothing but his virgin ass. "I mean, what did he hope to get?"

"An addict, Rhett," Daniel said as gently as he could. "Fred Jones wants to be your supplier."

"But... It was just one night..." Rhett knew that he was walking on thin ice with such an argument. He had learned about drug addiction in school. But, a thing like that happened to some loser, didn't it? It didn't happen, couldn't happen to a kid like him, right?

"Yes. It was just one night. The first one," Daniel said with a crooked grimace. Rhett tried to chime in, but Daniel had more to say. "I think that something went wrong last night," he pondered aloud. "Jones hardly intended you to get out of his control: to go to the back room or to pass out there. Think about this: if he had taken you into his place, to sleep away the effects of the drug, if you had woken up with your good friend Fred, what would you think about accepting his next offer to take you to Babylon or some other place? Would you be unwilling to go?"

"You mean that... that he intended to tempt me with access to places and..."

"Obviously," Daniel said; then he pointed at the untouched plate in front of Rhett. "Your bread is getting cold."

Rhett pushed the plate back. "I'm not hungry."

Daniel said sternly, "Eat it. You will feel better; I guarantee it. You need the nutrients to get through the hangover."

With obvious reluctance, Rhett cut a piece of the sandwich and put it in his mouth. To his utter astonishment, it tasted good. Salty.

Daniel emptied his own plate before picking up the conversation. "For Jones and people like him, a gullible young fool like you is a perfect candidate for a protégé, but I think that he was hoping for something else. As you undoubtedly know, for some people the first experience of a drug is all it takes to make them addicts," Daniel reminded Rhett. "If you happen to be one of those guys, Jones has you in his claws now. You took the line, sinker and hook."

"But... I don't feel any difference..." Rhett said trying to reason away a worry.

"It's too soon to tell: the drugs haven't left your system yet. Maybe you are lucky; maybe you aren't. You will find out." Daniel emptied his mug and stood up. "Refill?" he asked politely.

Rhett wanted to scream but, instead, handed out his mug.

*****

After the breakfast, Daniel persuaded Rhett to stay for a bit longer. He pointed out that Rhett wasn't yet in any condition to leave, and Rhett had to agree. They went to the living room. While Rhett would amuse himself by watching a movie, Daniel would get some work done.

As Rhett was choosing the movie, a question popped up in his head. "Daniel, may I ask you something? About Vic, your friend..." he asked, disturbing the working man. ”Why did he bring me here? I mean: wouldn't it have been more likely that he had taken me to his own place?"

"Most guys would have done so, undoubtedly, but Vic couldn't," Daniel told Rhett, but his thoughts were elsewhere: he didn't even turn his gaze from the computer screen. 

"Why not?" Rhett wondered.

"I don't know if I should tell you..." Daniel took a second to write something; then he turned to look at the boy, and said, "Maybe it is okay. You see, Vic is married, with a woman, and the wife doesn't know that Vic is fucking men, too. He couldn't take you there."

"He's... in the closet?" Rhett stared at Daniel, startled. Of course, he knew that a number of homosexual people found it difficult or impossible to tell openly about their sexual orientation. He knew many reasons for that. However, he had never really thought about the consequences of such a decision. For some reason, he had harbored the belief that closeted people were not actively involved in the gay life-style. In fact, he had believed that to live in the closet meant to live without sex. Apparently, that was not the case.

"Well, in a way, yes, some people might say that Vic lives in the closet, but that's not how I see it," Daniel explained. "Vic isn't in the closet: not in the common sense of the phrase. He doesn't keep his orientation a secret because he's ashamed of wanting men or something like that. He just doesn't want to hurt his wife's feelings."

"I see..." Rhett muttered even though he didn't see. He didn't quite agree with Daniel's definition of being in the closet, but Daniel was older and more experienced. He couldn't argue with the man. 

Rhett let the conversation dwindle down, and Daniel turned back to his work. For a while, Rhett's attention was captured by Daniel's extensive collection of movies, but he hadn't run out of questions. Soon he disturbed his host again

"Sorry to disturb you again, Daniel, but I'm wondering about something," he opened. "If your friend wants to keep his being gay a secret it seems a risky thing to do to spend a night at a gay club like Babylon. I mean: isn't Babylon the place around Liberty Avenue where straight people most likely would go? At least, that's what I've heard..."

"You've heard that right." Keeping his eyes on his work, Daniel grinned widely as he said, "Brian has always been such a heterophobe; isn't it ironic that his club ended up being the place that attracts the straight people wanting to widen their horizons?"

"You know Mr. Kinney!" Rhett perked up his ears. "You really do know him!"

Daniel's head snapped up, and he exclaimed, "Damn!" His fingers stilled at the keys. "I can't keep track of my thoughts!"

"Sorry," Rhett said wondering why the man was so upset. "I shouldn't have bothered you with my blathering mouth."

"Don't fret, lad. You didn't bother me, not really. I was just trying to do two things at the same time." A boyish grin spread on the man's face. "My mother does it all the time, but I never could."

"Mine, too. It's a female thing, I think." Rhett grinned, too. "Curious creatures, mothers."

"Women in general, I think," Daniel laughed.

"I'll take your word for it: I don't know much about women!" Rhett enjoyed the unexpected light banter with the older man who, all of a sudden, didn't seem so old. By his current demeanor, it was easy to imagine what he had been like as a teen, and Rhett found the man much easier to talk to.

Encouraged, he asked again, "But tell me, how do you know Mr. Kinney? People keep telling me that while they know about him they don't really know him."

Daniel took a moment to think about his request, and Rhett thought that he wouldn't answer, but finally he did. "Okay. Mr. Kinney. I do know him, not just about him," the man admitted. "I'm not his best friend, but the man is a business associate of mine, so I know him better than most people do."

"What kind of business do you have with him?" Rhett asked when the man didn't elaborate.

"He is one of the shareholders of my firm." 

"What kind of a business do you run?" Rhett asked, for the moment humoring Daniel in his reluctance of speaking about Kinney.

"I'm in publishing," Daniel said with a proud smile.

"Interesting business," Rhett commented, his face showing more enthusiasm than he actually was feeling. "And, Mr. Kinney has interest in it, too, you say. That's a bit of a surprise. It's quite far from his field of business."

"What do you mean?"

"Running a gay club doesn't seem to have much in common with publishing," Rhett explained his reasoning.

"Ah, Babylon. Apparently, you don't know that, despite owning the place, Brian isn't running the club, not himself. He leaves that to his employees. For him, Babylon is just an investment. Actually, he works in advertising."

"Really?" Rhett was astonished. His father owned an advertising agency, but he had never heard him mentioning Mr. Brian Kinney. "I didn't know that."

"He owns one of the biggest agencies in town, Kinnetik."

"Kinnetik!" That name Rhett's father had mentioned. Usually he added some pretty colorful curses to the name. "That's the fastest growing company in the field in Pittsburgh, I've heard."

"He's doing pretty well, I think," Daniel said with a smile.

"I guess. In addition to Babylon, he invested in your business, too," Rhett agreed.

"Well, it wasn't such a great sum... not for him, but to me it meant a lot," Daniel said, obviously still moved.

"Is Mr. Kinney actively involved in your business, or...?" Rhett asked, surprising himself. He was acutely interested in the matter and seemed to have some insights into the field in question that he previously had no inkling of having. Apparently, even though he had most of the time been quarreling with his old man he had also absorbed information and knowledge from him.

"Brian is an investor and therefore a very special client, but he isn't involved in the actual running of the company," Daniel explained.

"You seem quite... fond of him," Rhett ventured to comment. "Other people seem to find him less amiable."

"True," Daniel said with a little smirk. "Most people think that Brian is an asshole, and he has never given them any reason to change their opinion, but there is more to the man than meets the eye. He has friends -- not many, but there are some -- and according to them, the alleged asshole is a fiercely protective and loyal friend. My opinion about the man is in line with those sentiments. As a business associate I've found Brian worthy of my trust and respect."

"And friendship?"

"That too, yes. I would love to call him a friend, but it isn't a habit of his to make friends with people he meets in business. It's up to him to decide what we are to each other, if anything." Abruptly, Daniel turned back to his computer screen.

Startled by the sudden change in the man, Rhett took a sharper look at him and saw a shadow of an emotion that Daniel quickly smothered.

He is in love with Kinney! he understood in a sudden flash of insight. And he doesn't think that Kinney will ever return his feelings.

Since Kinney was widely known as an asshole without a peer, Rhett found it peculiar that some men would fall in love with him. Including Daniel, he had heard of three such cases, and most likely there were more. But, why? What was the attraction? He wanted to ask Daniel about that, but considering Daniel's current state of mind, it didn't seem like a good idea. Instead, he kept the question to himself and picked a movie to watch.

*****

As Rhett was watching the movie, Daniel seemed to lose interest in his work. More and more often, the sound of his typing slowed down, and stopped. Each time, the man turned to look at Rhett... and forgot to turn away. The boy noticed the long looks, but he pretended that he did not. The stares were making him feel more and more awkward.

What does he want? he wondered as the keyboard quieted yet another time. He's looking at me, again.

I've done nothing; I'm just sitting here, on a couch, watching a movie. There's nothing special about me, I'm not excited or anything. This is just weird. Why does he keep looking at me? What does he want?

What indeed? Am I in trouble, perhaps?

Of course I am. Again, I'm in the clutches of a stranger. I must be a complete idiot, to keep repeating the same mistake again and again.

"Daniel," he said, turning off the CD-player, "I'm feeling much better. It's time for me to get home. Thank you for the place to stay for the night." As he spoke he stood up, determined to make his escape.

Daniel stood up, too, picking up his tablet computer as he did so. "I don't think that it's such a good idea, Rhett," he countered. "You shouldn't leave, not yet anyway."

"Oh, I think I really should. My dad is waiting for me. I shouldn't make him worry."

"That's hard to believe, boy. I bet you've told your parents that you're staying with a friend. You've got no reason to leave, but there's a reason why you should stay."

"I'm feeling all right; I don't need to rest any longer."

"Actually, I agree," Daniel said, making Rhett even more worried. "You don't need to rest; it's time for some action."

"What are you talking about?" The leer on Daniel's face wasn't lessening Rhett's worry one little bit. Surreptitiously, he made a move in the direction of the door. "The only action I'm interested in is getting home."

"I think I can change your mind, Rhett. Yes, I think I can." Daniel moved too, cutting Rhett's line to the door.

Fighting his feeling of being trapped, Rhett said, "No, no. I won't impose upon you one moment longer. Let me just get my coat, and I'm out of your hair." But as Daniel oh, so casually cut his way to the door, his hopes of escape were rapidly dwindling down.

"Of course, you can go," Daniel purred. "You can go if you really want to, but I warn you: you won't like the consequences."

"Nonsense," Rhett said with false bravado.

Instead of telling Rhett more, Daniel turned the tablet around and showed him. On the screen, there was a picture of a naked young man. The guy was laying on his back on the dark sheets of a bed, without clothes, legs wantonly apart. The face was easily identifiable: it was Rhett's.

"Nice pic, isn't it?" Daniel drawled. "Would your friends and acquaintances find it... hmm... interesting, what do you think?"

Rhett stared at the screen. How? he stupidly wondered.

"Do you want to see more?" Daniel asked but tapped the screen without waiting for an answer. Another risqué picture appeared on the screen. "I've got quite a number of these, Rhett. You were such a good boy last night: fully co-operative and oh, so willing."

How? Like a broken record from his father's collection of old, vinyl audio disks, his brain kept repeating the question.

"Last night, I took care of more than just you; I took care of your cell phone, too," Daniel said with a smirk. "I copied all your contacts. So, let's make this really simple: there's a choice that you have to make, and you have to make it now.

"Here is your first choice: You do what I want you to do. If you choose this option, nobody else will see the pictures. And of course, the second one is the opposite. If you choose that option your parents, all your friends and everyone else on your contact list will see these pictures. Those are your options. Now, choose." 

"But..." Rhett's mouth moved, the appropriate organs formed the word, but his brains were disconnected from those organs. No thought was behind that sound.

"I see you're getting the right idea," Daniel smirked. "Speaking is hardly the action your mouth is best suited for."

"What?" Rhett asked his brains still offline.

"A blow job, for starters: that's better suited work for your mouth than speaking." The man closed the distance to Rhett, making the boy take a hasty step back. "I think that you and I can reach a deal that would benefit both of us quite nicely."

"I don't think..." Finally, his brains were catching up.

"Don't bother with thinking either, boy," Daniel said with a nasty smile. "You haven't got the greatest track record of good ideas, do you? Leave thinking to me."

"Let me out of here!" Rhett tried to force his way out of the room, but the man was too fast and, despite his not so big frame, strong. "I'm not going to give you a blowjob!"

Instead of letting Rhett go, Daniel took his wrist in his grip and pulled the boy closer, and showed the tablet to him. He tapped once, and on the screen appeared an email with several pictures attached, waiting to be sent. "So, you won't mind if I press the send button, right now, will you?"

Rhett stared at the screen, at all the recipients listed on the top. If Daniel pushed that button... It would ruin him. "Why are you doing this?" he whispered.

"So, what is your choice, Rhett Vance? Are you going to walk out, or are you going to stay?"

"I'll..." Rhett swallowed, hard, "stay."

"Good boy," Daniel said, like he was a dog: a good, obedient dog. "Now, go upstairs and take a shower. Afterwards, you'll find clothes I want you to wear in the room where you spent the night. As soon as you're ready, I want you to come down. You'll find me in here."

For a second, for two, Rhett stood there, unable to move. Then, trembling with hate, he started to the door.

Daniel stopped him before he was half way there. "You have no manners, boy," he snapped. "Whenever you leave the room to fulfill my orders, you say 'Yes, Sir' and you give me a polite, little bow. Understood? Do it now!"

Incredulous, Rhett stared at the man. "Yeah, right," he said with contempt.

Daniel just waved the tablet, and Rhett saw the wisdom in swallowing his pride, but as he climbed up the stairs he was grinding his teeth.

***** 

After the shower, Rhett returned to the room he had thought he had already seen for the last time. On the bed with the pink headboard, there was the outfit he was supposed to wear. As far as he could see from the door, it wasn't pink.

"Such a little favor from the powers above," he mumbled disagreeably. "Let's see what nasty surprises you have waiting for me now."

There was a pair of pants and a shirt, nothing more. A tight smile spread on Rhett's lips as he noticed the lack of underwear and socks. "Fantastic," he growled and, in an act of rebellion, put back on his filthy briefs. Of the outer garments, the pants didn't seem out of ordinary: jeans, faded indigo, very soft and light denim, skinny fit, low ride. He put them on, and the fit wasn't too bad. For skinny jeans. He never wore skinny jeans.

Then he looked at the shirt, unwilling to even touch the hideous garment. First, the fit was as skinny as in the jeans. Second, somebody had ripped off most of the buttons. Third, somebody had ripped off the sleeves. Fourth, it was lime green. Fifth, excepting the collar and the breast pockets it was made of mesh and, as if that wasn't bad enough, the collar and the pockets were made out of some material with a metallic shine. No way. He would never put that on!

"Already forgot who does the thinking around here?"

Daniel's biting words from the door made Rhett spin around. "That's a ridiculous shirt!" he cried out.

"Put. It. On."

Rhett put it on.

*****

Daniel pushed Rhett out of the room, through the corridor, down the stairs and into the living room. "Sit on that chair," he ordered, pointing a finger to the chair in front of the window, "and keep quiet while I tell you the rules. You'll talk only to answer a question, and you’ll answer every question with yes or no, nothing else."

Rhett had no options, and with a scowl full of hate, he took the seat. His bare toes were ice cold on the hardwood floor.

Daniel sat down on the sofa. On the table in front of him was an empty bottle of beer. "First, boy,” he started. “Outside this house I won't pay you any attention, and I'll ignore any attempt of contact from you. You don't know me, and I don't know you. Is that clear?"

"Yes," was Rhett’s resentful answer. In the privacy of his mind, he went on with, As if I ever wanted to attempt any contact with you, you asshole.

"Second, you'll come here every Thursday night at 10:30. If the lamp above the front door is lit you won't come into the yard. If it isn't you'll ring the bell and wait until I let you in. Understood?"

"Yes." Asshole.

"Third, in this house you'll do whatever I tell you. Is that understood?"

"Yes." Asshole.

"Fourth, you won't tell anyone about our little deal. Agreed?"

"Yes." Asshole.

"And the final rule: you'll never tell a living soul that I'm gay."

"Yes." Oh, I will. You just wait, asshole.

"And don't even think about ratting on..." Suddenly, the door bell rang, cutting Daniel's words short. "What the Hell..." he sighed.” Stay there, boy, while I get rid of the disturbance."

As soon as Daniel was out of the room, Rhett rushed to the man's desk: the tablet with the pictures was right there. Confiscating it, Rhett felt the stone house of worry drop from his shoulders. He sneaked to the door and opened it a crack. Nobody was in sight, and Rhett slipped out. He was mousing through the hall, intent on getting to the other end where the door was, when suddenly Daniel stepped in front of him from the adjacent room. Rhett experienced the very primal reaction of wanting to drop onto the floor and on his stomach to kick and strike and scream.

"Did you really think that I forgot that?" Daniel asked looking pointedly at the tablet. "And if you think that the only copies of the pictures are on that device you're sadly mistaken anyway. Now, hand it over."

As Rhett let the man take possession of the tablet again, another man stepped out into the hall. He was of the size with Daniel but considerably younger. The blond hair had no speck of grey in it, and the face didn't show crow's feet around the strikingly blue eyes. He was probably in his thirties.

"Danny, did you mean.... Oh, sorry! I didn't realize that you had company," the man said.

"Yes... Rhett is a distant relative of mine. Came to town because of a rock concert or something, with some friends."

"Hi, Rhett, and welcome to the town. My name is Austin," the man said with a wide, friendly smile. "I'm Danny's neighbor. I came to ask if he could let me borrow his drilling machine."

"I'll go get it. Be a good host to my guest, Rhett, while I dig for it in the basement," Daniel said. With his eyes that only Rhett could see, he conveyed a completely different message.

Obediently, Rhett played the part of a polite host, and Austin asked for beer. As Daniel walked away, Rhett led the man into the kitchen.

Sipping his beer, Austin asked, "What band's concert is it you're going to see?"

"Sir Elwood's Quiet Colors¹."

"Never heard about that. What's it like?"

"Quiet."

Austin laughed. "What else!" He emptied the bottle and sighed. "Needed that. Well, then... Where are your friends? Also staying with relatives?"

"Yeah."

"What are your plans before the concert? Shopping? Sightseeing? Dining?" Austin grinned with a twinkle in his eyes. "You're not going to stay with Uncle Danny for the whole afternoon, I bet."

"Of course not," Rhett grinned back. If I can only think a way out of this mess I most certainly won't be spending the afternoon with dear Uncle Danny! Out loud, he went on with, "My friends and I have plans to meet in a diner and afterwards go to a mall or something."

"There are great places to hang out with your friends here in Pittsburgh. I'm sure you'll have a great time."

"Actually, I should be leaving soon," Rhett said as he heard Daniel's steps closing in on them. "I'm soon to be late."

As Daniel appeared at the door, he held a storm in his eyes. It disappeared though as Austin turned towards him. "I'm heading to town next, to get some supplies. I could take Rhett there at the same time."

"Oh, you don't need to bother yourself, Austin," Daniel tried to deter, but it was to no avail.

There was no reasonable excuse for him not to let Austin take Rhett to the town, and soon Rhett was sitting in Austin's car. But, in his ears he was still hearing Daniel's parting words.

"I expect to see you back here on Thursday night at 10:30, sharp. You know what happens if you don't show up."

¹ In homage to the Finnish band Sir Elwoodin hiljaiset värit

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