The Lockdown

8

The next couple of days Cam started to spend more time in the living room during his broadcast. His viewers got used to seeing Andy around, and the older man felt much more comfortable around the camera. He was working on one of his drawings when Cam abruptly turned to him. "They would like to know what you are doing." Andy looked at him suddenly camera shy. "I am just doodling, Cam, it is nothing interesting."

Cam sat down next to him on the couch and set the laptop on the coffee table framing both of them in the picture. "Don't believe him, guys, he is really good. Would you mind showing them some of your drawings?"

"I guess that's okay," he stood up and brought a small stack of drawings from his room. He started to hold up a few he liked towards the camera, a couple of still-lifes, some sketches of Cam's hands he was still trying to perfect, and finally he got to the drawing of Cam sleeping on the couch. "That' me!" the younger boy exclaimed. "I haven't even seen that one." The comment section of the screen went wild – five, ten, fifteen comments scrolling down claiming how much they loved the drawings. One of them caught Cam's attention. "Are you joking, pureSFbornandbread?" he asked. "What does he say?" Andy was intrigued. "He is offering a thousand tips for that drawing, that's like eighty bucks."

Andy was perplexed. "Is that even possible? How would he get the drawing?" he asked. "I am not sure, I guess he could PM me his address and we could mail it to him, I have to ask the website but I don't think they would have a problem with it, they'd get a cut after all." This started a bidding war among three users, gradually upping the offers trying to outdo the others. Andy was conflicted, he never thought anyone could want something he drew and even though the bid was approaching two thousand tips, he realized he did not want to sell that drawing to a stranger.

"Please! Stop it! It's not for sale."

Cam saw how upset Andy got and turned to the camera. "All right, you all promised to behave while we are in the living room, I think we should leave my roomie alone for a while." He stood up and went back to his room. He put on some music a little later and Andy decided that it was time for another check on the bar. He took his coat, put on a mask and left the apartment.

They were having dinner in silence later and Cam felt bad about what happened before. "I am sorry," he turned to Andy. "They can be a little bit aggressive and I didn't want you to get uncomfortable."

"It's not that" sighed Andy. "Just that I love drawing but I know my limitations. It is a good hobby but it will never be as good as they insisted and that drawing is basically the only one I like so far and the idea of someone else taking it...."

Cam stood up and got the drawing from the coffee table and stared at it for a while. "I think you are selling yourself short. I don't know that much about art, but this drawing has something that I cannot really articulate. I can tell that you did this after I.... I told you and I was upset. Even though I am sleeping in it, you can tell that I am sad somehow." He looked up at Andy earnestly. "I wouldn't want you to sell it either." Andy felt an unexpected surge of emotions. He recalled the morning he was drawing it sitting across the sleeping boy and what he felt at that moment. Those feelings strengthened his resolve to protect Cam and make him feel better any way possible no matter what it may cost him. And being anxious about a little bit of distress because he was praised even if he thought he did not deserve it was just ridiculous.

"I think it'd be best if you just stayed in the background in the future. Can I still talk a little bit about you?" Cam continued.

Andy made a decision. "I don't want that. I want to be part of your life and lurking in the background doing whatever is not that. From the little I have heard, you are so comfortable with them and I would like you to be comfortable with me around as well. When I first started at the bar, I didn't talk much to the customers, just served them whatever they wanted. My uncle was the opposite, greeting everyone like a long-lost brother, joking with them, cheering them up when they felt down and I slowly learned from him and started opening up. The bar is a strange place where you go when you feel bad, when you want to celebrate, or simply if you want some company even if it's just a stranger you are unlikely to ever see again. I may never be able to emulate my uncle, but I truly like my customers and they deserve a friendly face whether they had the worst day of their lives or the best. Talking to people more turned out to be better for business, too." Cam looked at him with a perceptive smirk. "Yeah, I know... like selling chips..." Cam laughed out loud at Andy recalling their earlier discussion.

Andy changed the subject. "Cam, why do you always refer to me as 'my roomie' when you talk to them?" he asked.

"I don't know what else to call you. We haven't talked about this and I didn't want to use your real name. Nobody in porn uses their real name."

Andy looked at him horrified. "But I have been calling you Cam in front of everybody!" he exclaimed.

"I know," the younger man smirked at him. "I don't mind, really. They started calling me Cam as well, which is a huge improvement over 'Candy' believe me. I named the room 'Candy4you' at the very beginning, I thought it was clever but it was probably a mistake, well, it is too late, there's no going back." Andy had a guilty, I-just-accidentally-broke-your-favorite-vase expression on his face that made Cam laugh. "You really should stop worrying about things you cannot change, especially that I am fine with it."

The following days were better. Andy got used to the broadcasts now that he decided to treat the viewers as if they were sitting across him at the bar. Cam still called him 'roomie' because Andy could not come up with an alternate name. He would feel weird if Cam were to address him as 'Jack' or 'Richard' or 'hotstuffonthecouch' as one of the users started referring to him. He even participated in the conversations, occasionally asking them a question or contributing to the discussion Cam had going on at that moment. He helped out when needed, moving the laptop around to get a better camera angle when Cam started working out on the bench apparently at someone's request and did not mind when Cam sat down next to him while he was sketching on the sofa. His drawings started to zone in on Cam. Although the boy rarely stayed still for more than a few seconds, he learned to utilize those moments to the fullest and eventually Cam could sometimes be persuaded to sit still for a couple of minutes to pose before jumping up to go on with his broadcast. He developed the ability to quickly sketch a scene and work on the details later. Andy figured that the change of focus towards the boy was mainly due to the fact that drawing inanimate subjects did get tedious fast. He started using crayons and charcoal more often and realized that the different tools opened up the dimensions of his drawings, with their assistance he managed to produce much more interesting images than with a simple pencil.

He wasn't completely comfortable with Cam's occupation though he tried to conceal this from the youngster. He averted his eyes when Cam once removed his shirt while working out, but as Cam looked at him questioning, he nodded in approval. Yet, when Cam returned to the confines of his bedroom, he still elected to go and check on the bar. The bar had never been this clean, every surface scrubbed and disinfected, glasses sparkling with a better shine than when they first bought them. He rearranged the bottles behind the bar three times and ended up putting back everything where they were to start with. There was a method behind the way his uncle organized the bottles originally, and Andy felt foolish upsetting the established order just because he was restless. It was Friday evening already and Andy was checking on the latest Covid news. The lockdown was supposed to end on Monday and Andy kept refreshing his browser every few minutes to see the impending announcement from the mayor's office. The numbers were not very good, but at least they were not worse than two weeks ago. Apparently they managed to curb the spread of the virus, hospitalization even went down marginally.

Andy had conflicting feelings about the upcoming announcement. He desperately needed to get back to work but, at the same time, he was increasingly enjoying the time he spent in the company of his roommate. He refreshed the page again and there it was, a bold headline proclaiming 'LOCKDOWN PARTIALLY EASED'. He clicked on the link and read the details. Curfew was extended to 10 pm, shelter in place was lifted though mask mandates were still to be strictly enforced. Some shops were allowed to reopen with limits on the number of customers inside at the same time, but eating establishment were still delivery only unless they had outdoor seating. Bars were not mentioned but obviously they could not open yet. Andy knew he should call his uncle to discuss the next few weeks but he wanted to put that off as long as possible. He closed up the bar and went home.