My Mistakes: A BxB Story

My Friends Were Poor But Honest

Chapter Eighteen: My Friends were Poor but Honest

"No Luke! Damn it! Christ! Andy! Quick!" Luther exploded, and Luke quickly moved out of the way, as dirty water spewed everywhere. The handyman lunged forward and in a second the water stopped, although all three men were worse for wear, dripping wet. A huge pool of water was left in the dirt as evidence of the mishap.

The owner of the lodge turned to the young man, and Luke physically took another step back, face impassive, as the angry tirade flowed over him. In the few months he'd lived here, Luke was already accustomed to it. It didn't usually last long, just a blast of hot air. Luther had a hot temper, and it escaped frequently, but once that pressure was released, he quickly came back to his senses and sometimes even apologized. But for the few minutes it lasted, it sucked to be insulted and humiliated and targeted for his less than useful role as Andy's assistant in outdoor maintenance.

"Can't you do anything right, Luke! You should be here, learning from Andy how to do these basic fixes around the lodge, earning your keep! You do know how much money we're losing offering your family this room out of charity!?" The older man was in good form today. Continuing to heckle the teenager as he patched the leak. Andy's face was serene but his body language conveying disapproval at Luther's attitude.

"Instead you're off prancing around, singing and playing pretend, like every other homosexual at your school! If I were your father, I would NEVER let you participate in such an obvious waste of your limited abilities! Focus on school. Date a girl, for goodness sake! They're soft and pretty and will give you a family! As a homosexual, you're just setting yourself up for a lifetime of misery and an eternity in a lake of fire in when you pass on!"

Someone cleared their throat, and Luke glanced up. It was dusk. But there was just enough light left from the fading haze of the Autumn sunset to see two figures in the garden.

Wonderful. Just great.

Noah and Jamie stood there, immobile, witness to his humiliation.

Andy stepped in, trying to redirect the moment away from Luke. "That's fixed it for now Luther. But we really should have a professional come look at this. We need to..."

Jamie stepped forward until he was eye to eye with his grandfather. Noah joined Luke and put his hand on the senior's shoulder. Luke spent enough time around Jamie's boyfriend lately to recognize the gesture as sincere.

"Grandpa, you should be ashamed of yourself. For speaking to Luke that way. You always taught me to lead with kindness." The boy's voice was colorless and flat, and Noah knew it meant Jamie was beyond angry, past the point of anger into white hot rage.

Luther snorted, but his face had gone a little paler. "Don't speak to me that way, Jamie. I'm your elder and you need to respect me."

"Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be," Jamie immediately fired back.

"Tolstoy," Noah added softly.

"Luke, we stopped by to see if you would like to have dinner with us tonight, and maybe spend the night?" Jamie asked, finally turning to his new friend.

The tall boy glanced silently at Luther who shrugged and grabbed the tool belt lying on the ground. "Do whatever you'd like. Chores will still be here when you get back. Work never ends, am I right, Andy?" His tone made it clear he was going to pretend like his tantrum never happened and should never be mentioned by the others. Andy nodded, and followed his boss, squeezing Luke's shoulder as he passed.