The Boarding House

A Fire Down Below

After his experience at Charlie's Auto Repair, Joey felt drained. In some aspects, quite literally. He decided that a shower and a nap were in his near future. Danny had informed him of the dinner plans and that there was always a bonfire on Saturday nights, weather permitting of course.

Dinner was to be around seven and the fire would be lit sometime after. Joey was informed that there were usually more people around than just the house guests. He felt a little uneasy about that, not that he knew the normal guys any better, but he did have a level of familiarity with Danny. That brought him some comfort.

"Hey Danny," Joey decided he needed to know one more piece of information to hold him over until his car was fixed. "what room can I use?" The house was huge and all he knew was that there was an extra room available.

"Oh yeah, that's probably something ya need to know huh? Second floor, top of the steps, and straight ahead through the door. The hall bath is two doors down on the left." Dan answered using all the hand motions as he dictated the directions to Joey.

"Aight, Imma carry my bags up and get cleaned up. See ya in a while." Joey stated as he started towards his two duffel bags.

Joey heard footsteps coming down as he climbed the stairs. He met Tre on the second-floor landing. "Hey, Joey." Tre said stopping to feel the waters between the two.

"Hey Tre." Joey responded noticing how good Tre looked in his form-fitting pink polo shirt and white shorts. "Goin somewhere?" he asked unsure of why the second question came out of his mouth.

"Nah man, I just dress like this." Tre said as he tugged at his shirt. "What's the scoop with you're car man?" He asked with a look of genuine concern.

"The fuckin computer went out. Looks like I'll be around til at least Monday." Joey told Tre sounding bummed about the development.

"That's cool. I mean, not about your car" Tre stumbled on his words, "but that you'll be around."

"I guess man." Joey answered as he opened the door to the second-floor hall.

Tre followed as Joey crossed the hall into the vacant bedroom. "I'm serious man, I'm glad you're staying here for a few days." He followed up.

Tre wanted to fix any misgivings Joey might have had from his first night there. Joey told him about the part being ordered and how much it was costing. He lamented about the disruption in his planned getaway. He decided he would leave out the details of how he was paying for the repair, for now. Joey's face turned a little brighter as he confessed to learning a few things about himself on his sidetracked adventure.

"Yeah?" Tre asked. "What have ya learned that turned that frown into a lil smile?" He continued with curiosity.

Joey's cheeks flushed with discomfort as he thought about the answer to that question. "Well, I guess I may not be as straight as I've always thought myself to be. That was kind of a shocking revelation to me." Joey confessed.

"Naw man, that's cool." Tre tried to convince Joey as he felt the excitement start to grow in his mind. "I feel bad for how things started out with us bro!"

Joey could see the genuine concern in Tre's eyes as he was seemingly apologetic for the previous night. "All good dude." Joey told him as he reached up and playfully slapped Tre on the shoulder. "I may have never admitted it to myself if I hadn't broken down and woken up in bed next to you."

The two had a little more small talk before Tre inquired about Joey's plans for the evening. Joey informed him of his plans for a shower and a nap before dinner and the traditional Saturday bonfire.