GAYDER CRIMES

Chaper 1: Dealer John

*from Carl's perspective*

Today was the day Carl would turn 21. According to literally everyone and their grandmother this birthday was supposed to be special, Carl now was legally allowed to drink (not that being underage had ever stopped him). To Carl birthdays weren't fun, and he couldn't see why anyone would want to celebrate them. He could meet up with someone, that would be fun, but when he realized he didn't have any friends, the pathetic little bit of hope he had, left. Carl had been living in a small apartment in New York City for the past two years. He didn't attend college, never met up with anyone and only went outside to do groceries and go to the local gay bar.

Carl walked over to the cheap blue mini fridge he once bought, which was also the only fridge he had in his apartment and he took out a bottle of whisky. He went over to the even cheaper velvet couch and opened the inappropriate magazine he got from a tall and handsome boy named Bob at the gay bar a few days ago. Carl was staring at the handsome men in the magazine when he suddenly realized the doorbell had been ringing for what might have been already two minutes. He almost forgot that he had changed the doorbell sound to the intro music of star wars.

Reluctantly he got up and walked over to the door. When the red-haired boy opened the door he was looking at a blonde, white guy that looked like he just went golfing with a bunch of rich old men. The well-looking boy carried a strong smell of aftershave with him. 'Hello?', Carl brought out. The boy grinned so hard that it almost seemed like he wanted everyone to know how white and sparkly his teeth were. Typically something that Carl would fall for, but not today; he was way too busy drowning himself in his whisky. 'Don't you remember me redhead?' The boy said full of joy, but also with a glimpse of arrogance. Ehw, joy, Carl almost forgot that that was a thing. He noticed that the boy had a British accent and vague memories of the neatly clothed guy's handsome face popped up in his mind. It was Joseph, his childhood bestfriend. Joseph had moved to London when they were fourteen years old, but now he was suddenly here, in New York. Carl felt his heart beating hysterically and his hands started to tremble, he hadn't seen Joseph for so long. Joseph however, with a laid back attitude and a stoic expression on his face, looked completely comfortable ; maybe a little bit too much. 

'So, what movie are we going to watch?'. Joseph walked straight past Carl into the living room, which wasn't hard to find, it was the only room in the apartment if you wouldn't count in the bathroom. Carl didn't want to watch a movie. He didn't want Joseph to be here at all. All of a sudden he realized that he had left the magazine open. Carl hurried over to the couch and quickly closed it. Joseph walked towards the coach with a look of curiosity on his face. In a fit of panic Carl threw the magazine into the burning fireplace. Joseph seemed shocked by Carl's spontaneous and impulsive action but Carl couldn't allow Joseph to find out.

After they had talked for a while Joseph suggested to go out. It wasn't a bad idea so Carl just agreed. While they were walking in the streets they passed the gay bar Carl had been visiting. With a look of absolute disgust which didn't fit his handsome face, Joseph made it very clear that he wasn't very fond of gay people. Joseph was in the middle of an detailed explanation about his hate for gay people, when (thankfully) someone interrupted. 'Hiya Carl! See you Saturday?'. Chris, a boy Carl had been on multiple "dates" with walked out of the bar. 'Go away, we are heavily against homos!' Joseph yelled to poor Chris. Chris looked offended and flipped them off with an angry look at Carl. 'But I didn't say it?' Carl thought to himself. Great, he had lost the only friend he had. Well, he still had Joseph but he wasn't sure if he should be happy with that. 'So I know a really cool bar.' Joseph continued pretending like nothing had happened. 'Don't you feel guilty?' Carl asked anxiously. 'Don't worry redhead, I'll always protect you from the gays.'.

After walking in a awkward silence for a while, they reached the bar Joseph was talking about. It did indeed look really cool. Carl prayed that he wouldn't see anyone else from the gay bar. Unfortunately, his wishes didn't comply. Over there in the middle of the dance floor stood Bob. Yes, inappropriate magazine Bob. Carl was praying to every god existing that Bob wouldn't remember him, but when he saw Bob winking at him he lost all hope. (This was why he was an atheist). Bob definitely remembered him. He came over to Carl and Joseph, Bob had a younger boy from maybe 17 years old with him. 'Hey honeys!' Bob screamed from excitement. Bob was a loud and outgoing person. 'Ehw, are you gay or something.' Joseph responded immediately. Bob gave Joseph his murderous bitch face ( if looks could kill, Joseph would've been six feet under ground by now) and continued talking: 'I didn't know you would be here Carl and posh b-' Joseph interrupted him again: 'It's Joseph you fag.' Bob looked very much annoyed. 'Anyways JO-SEPH, this is Steve my cousin. Steve is shy so don't talk to him. Oh, and don't ask how he got into this club.' Bob ended with another wink. Carl found it a kind of strange but he just took the advice.

Only after five songs and 8 shots Carl realized there had been another boy with them all along. Carl went over to the very average looking boy to ask him his name. 'Sorry, I often don't get introduced or even noticed by my friends. Charles it is. I have......'. Carl didn't hear the last part because he already forgot that Charles or something started talking at all.

Hours went by as they took more and more shots, Started conversation after conversation, killed dance after dance. 'SHALL WE GO HOME?!' Joseph raised his voice over the music. Carl nodded; he didn't like parties unless it was with a bunch of handsome half naked men which wasn't the case. 'WE'LL GO WITH YOU!' Bob insisted, so Carl just agreed hoping this would all come to an end. When they were outside Carl immediately threw up. 'Here let me help you.'. A soft hand gently reached out for Carl's shoulder. Carl raised his head and he looked straight into Joseph's sparkly green eyes that were filled with white moonlight, they looked angelic. For a second, Carl wanted to kiss him forever. But he couldn't, Joseph wouldn't accept it. Besides, Bob and Steve were still there. Oh, and Charlie? -he had forgotten his name- was also there. 'This is nothing, I'm just very drunk.' Carl thought.

The next morning Carl and Steve woke up in Carl's apartment with an extreme hangover. Bob and Joseph were also there but they somehow acted like they had slept for over 10 hours. They were getting along very well, especially in comparison to last night. They even got a secret handshake? 'Ginger boy, do you have any water here?' They all four got a jumpscare, Charles was also there. 'I'll get you some water Chavis.' Carl responded. 'Actually my name is...', no one was listening to Charles anymore. 'Small bottle, big bottle?' Carl asked politely. Charles responded that he would be pleased with a bottle of average size. Charles had brown hair of average length, his face looked like every other male's face, he wore very average clothes and he had a weird preference for the colors blue and grey. It wasn't a surprise that he also wanted an average bottle of water.

They went to a coffeeshop for breakfast. Carl secretly hoped that he would throw up again so he could get attention from Joseph, but he didn't. Bob got all the attention. Joseph wasn't gay, but Carl still felt a feeling of jealousy. He felt stupid for falling for such a rich homophobic boy like that but his charms, his eyes, even his shining teeth were so beautiful. 'Are you okay honey?' Bob asked with a worried face. 'I'm fine' Carl lied. He ordered a coffee and a croissant but he wasn't planning on eating it; he just ordered it because it looked cool. Steve ordered sugar donuts, Bob ordered a strawberry milkshake, Joseph ordered XXL spareribs (in the morning?) and Charles brought his own food. 'Secret meeting in my hotel room guys!' Joseph said almost like a child. It was childish and weird, but also cute in a way. Joseph's way too expensive hotel room wasn't far away from the coffee shop but Carl felt like it took a lifetime to get there. He shouldn't have taken so many shots last night.

'I found a dealer!' Joseph said and Bob seemed to immediately know what Joseph was talking about. 'His name is John and he sells weed, coke and meth. His drug dealer bar is in Texas and he asks eight thousand dollars for the amount of drugs we want.' Carl thought it was a joke at first. 'That's way too expensive and it takes more than 24 hours to get there with a car which I don't even have! It's ridiculous! We also have dealers in New York City here.' Bob responded 'Oh honestly, choke on your bread.' And for a second, Joseph almost actually choked from laughter. It sounded like a weird inside joke but Carl couldn't be sure so he just decided to not complain and go with it even though it was just stupid. 'I have a car.' Steve said. Everyone was surprised by the fact that Steve spoke. Carl and Joseph didn't believe he was 'shy' and thought he genuinely just could not speak.

'This is it'. They were looking at a very old red car from the 70's. Joseph looked disappointed. He probably expected a Porsche or a Ferrari or something like that. Carl was sure that Joseph had a car like that in London. 'Let's not ruin the fun and just act like it's a good car.'  Bob said after he saw the disappointment on Joseph's face. 'Will we meet here tomorrow at 8 AM? So everyone has time to pack?' Carl said. He was actually looking forward to this trip. Having friends, it felt weird and unfamiliar but... nice.