Big Bobo

The boys

Irritated, Bobo threw a shirt on his bed and dug through his wardrobe for another shirt. He was looking for something that still fit. He had gained a lot of weight in the past six months. There was nothing left to see of an emaciated body upon arrival in Europe. He didn't know how much he weighed at the time, but the scale in the bathroom now read just over 220lbs. The clothes he wore at the time were still in a corner of the closet as a reminder, because they no longer fit. Maverick with his dinner parties all the time! This was his fault! Bobo smiled when he saw his body in the large mirror that was diagonally next to the wardrobe. He turned his body for a moment and looked at himself from the side. His stomach bulged considerably. He didn't mind having gained weight. Fat people are fat because they are doing well, he had learned from his parents. He was doing well too, but he found clothes that were too small annoying. He didn't want to walk down the street with a belly bulging under his shirts. And buttons popping off his blouse, he didn't want that anymore either. The boys had laughed at him when he ate so much again that his stomach looked like a big balloon and felt so hard you could break a brick on it. He had only worn that blouse once before. It still fit then. He bought trousers a size larger in advance, because he now knew that he would grow into them anyway. Those dinners were just too delicious to pass. Bobo was not the only one who saw that he no longer had the slim figure he used to have. The boys frequently commented on his weight and size. He was not only the youngest, but also the heaviest of the group. He wasn't very tall either, at 5'9. Erik had once indicated that he thought Bobo looked better now than when they first met, but that was 2 months ago when he was 20lbs lighter. Steven, who was the tallest at 6'3, often called him a little black ball, but Steven was always sarcastic and a bit arrogant. What he said should not be taken too seriously. Fortunately, Bobo didn't mind. But wait, speaking of Steven... Steven had brought an oversized shirt from America where he was on a business trip as a joke for him. One of those shirts that bodybuilders wear. Bobo dug around in his closet again, behind the shirts that probably no longer fit and took out the beige oversized shirt. At the time he didn't know what to do with it, but now... He pulled the cloth over his head and helped it over the rest of his body. It looked pretty good, he saw in the mirror. Still a bit too big, but not disturbing. And it was no longer noticeable that his stomach was bulging considerably. Bobo proudly left his bedroom and took the stairs down.

'Hey Bobo, friend! Are you coming out to dinner with me and the boys again tonight?"
Maverick sat on the large white couch and glanced up from behind his tablet, waiting for an answer. His hair was combed back tightly again and the clothes he wore were always from a well-known, expensive brand.

Bobo sighed.
"Eating out again?" he thought, realizing that he had just found himself throwing away half his wardrobe.
'Where are you going?'

"To that burger joint on the Mall," Maverick replied, looking back at his tablet.

'Nothing fancy. You don't have to come along.'
Bobo sighed again and walked to the kitchen to pour himself a drink. That burger place was very good. Much better than a McDonalds or a BurgerKing. His stomach began to growl softly as he thought about it.
"Oh, how weak I am," he thought.
'I'm coming along. Nice to see the boys again.'

The first time he met Steven and Erik he thought they were strange guys. He had only just moved to Maverick after a period of prostitution and had to get used to the customs of European people, the food and the climate. They were also in a restaurant at the time and, he later realized, Maverick had not informed them at all about his new roommate. Steven addressed Bobo as 'blackie' or 'brownie', as if he wanted to make it clear that he was a superior, until Maverick confronted him with his foul language. At times the two seemed to be engaged in an eternal power struggle to win the title of 'Alpha'. Yet they were two very different types. Steven was a married businessman who traveled a lot. Maverick was a rich man's son, had no partner and no business, although he said he always had projects underway. Erik was a completely different person. Much softer and a dreamer. From the beginning he was interested in Bobo's stories, who had shared bits of his past and his journey with him over time. Erik didn't have a partner either, but he didn't mind being single. He enjoyed the freedom it brought. When Maverick thought Erik was getting too close, he confronted him, saying that he had paid for Bobo and that Erik shouldn't take all the attention. Even though he didn't understand where the comment came from, Erik did as he was told. He wasn't rich and knew that sometimes it was wiser to blindly do what Maverick said than to go against it.