A New Life Under Desert Skies

Chapter 4: Past

"Here we are! The Last Man Standing. Eric and I have been going here on the weekends for years at this point. Some of the staff are fairly eccentric, but they're good people." Joey slammed the car into park, causing the passengers to jolt forward until their seatbelts caught them. He grinned at his friends and jumped out, reaching back to open Clint's door for him.

Clint ducked his head as he exited the vehicle and smoothed his clothes. Did he look alright? Had his hair gotten messed up? He felt like a 21-year old going to the club for the first time all over again. Being free and able to flirt with guys was something he'd wished for most of his life, but now that he was here...well, it was slightly terrifying.

The trio gathered and Joey led the way, opening the door for his friends before following them inside. The room was very dim; the tables were easily visible, however, as each tabletop lit up a color of the rainbow. The bar itself had a dozen stools and LEDs that lined the underside. 80's rock filled the air and brought a smile to Clint's face.

"Man, they have good taste in music if nothing else," he said as Joey led them up to the bar.

They sat in the chairs closest to the wall and were soon greeted by the most flamboyant man Clint had ever seen. He was dressed in full drag, complete with a beehive wig and sparkling silver gown. His heels clicked on the hardwood floor as he approached. "Well if it isn't sweet baby Joey and little Eric! Did you bring a new friend to meet Mama Abel?"

"This is my new neighbor, Clint. He moved in yesterday and doesn't know anybody, so we figured we might as well take him to the hottest spot in town." Joey winked at Clint and pointed to the beer taps. "Modelo for me tonight, Mumzie. And don't let Clint pay for anything, you hear me? Tonight I'm paying."

Abel's grin widened and he clicked one heel. "You've got it, baby boy. Clint, sweetie, I'll have to check your ID since it's your first time here. Then we'll fix you up with whatever you like!" He glanced at the year on the offered card and scurried away to fill the drink orders of all 3 men.

It wasn't too busy yet, which Clint was grateful for. He found himself amused by Abel's antics and big personality. Being able to have the barkeep to themselves for a few minutes was nice. He gave the menu a look-over and said, "Can I also get an order of wings and some nachos? I don't want the alcohol to go right to my brain."

"Absolutely, sweetie. Token will be right out with those." Abel scribbled the order on his notepad and pinned the page to the order display. Before Clint could ask who Token was, an absolutely enormous man appeared in the order window. His beard, though covered, was thick and bushy, as were his eyebrows and the curly hair atop his head. He wore lumberjack-style flannel and blue jeans beneath his apron and his boots clopped as he walked.

Said man emerged five minutes later with two massive plates. "I didn't realize the portions were this big, or I would have only picked one thing," Clint laughed and pushed the plates over so Joey and Eric could reach them. "Looks like we've got food for the whole table!"

"We just thought you were very hungry," Eric replied. He took one of the wings and deboned it with his teeth. "Not going to complain about sharing, though." He scooted closer to Joey and reached for the nacho plate. "You made good choices."

Joey nodded in agreement and scooped a mountain of toppings onto a chip. "Not complaining in the least. So, Clint, now that you're not at work or attempting to get settled, why don't you tell us a bit more about yourself? Where did you move here from? What brought you to Buttcrack of Nowhere, Arizona?"

The chicken Clint was eating threatened to stick in his throat as he began to laugh, caught off-guard by Joey's description of Scottsdale. He coughed and Eric reached across Joey to pound on Clint's back. It was a bit of a spectacle, yes, but it came with the silver lining of giving Clint a few moments to renew the points of his new backstory in his mind before saying them out loud.

When the coughing subsided, Clint cleared his throat one more time and shook his head. "You can't say ridiculous stuff like that when I'm eating, man," he groaned, though he couldn't help but chuckle. "I used to live in a rural town in Maine. One of those 'is this a town, or is it just a farm shared by half a dozen families' kind of places. When my wife left, I decided to get out of the snow."

He downed his entire beer and gestured for another, which Abel happily slid across the counter. Joey nodded and drained his mug as well. "I suppose if you wanted to run from the snow, Arizona is the place to be. Sorry to hear about the wife, though."

Clint shrugged and gulped down half of the second beer. "Eh, at the time it sucked. But I'm curious; you seemed to know about the divorce without being told anything. How did you manage that?"

"I saw the imprint of the ring on your finger. It was an easy A+B=C guess. Also, I might have picked up that trick from the Sherlock movie..."

The trio laughed and finished their drinks, ordered another, and settled back deeper into their chairs. "How about you guys? What's your story? Have you always lived in Scottsdale?" Clint grabbed a wing and began gnawing on it casually, seemingly more to give his mouth something to do than because he was hungry.

"I moved here about five years ago," Joey replied with a shrug. "Grew up helping my parents run a farm in rural Utah, but as soon as I graduated high school, I moved to Phoenix to pursue a degree in graphic design. Got the paper, but it hasn't done much for me."

"We met in our final semester and decided to be roommates," Eric chimed in. "Lived together ever since."

Clint nodded, beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol buzzing pleasantly in his skull. He felt more relaxed than he had since before taking the stand to testify back in Boston. Whether it was the company or the alcohol he didn't know, but he was just glad for the effect. "I see. So are y'all like, together?"

"Oh, no," Joey replied quickly, "we're just roommates. I'm not great at keeping a boyfriend around for more than a few months. And I don't think I've ever seen Eric go out on a date, no matter how many girls I point out to him." He glanced over at Eric and gave him a soft punch to the shoulder.

Eric deflated just a little at the answer, but made no move to correct Joey. "Maybe someday I'll change that," he replied, though his voice didn't sound very sure.

"You sounded pretty excited to go to a gay bar for someone who married a woman, Clint. Or did I just misjudge your reaction?" Joey locked eyes with Clint, who felt slightly uncomfortable at the gaze. However, the alcohol had filled in all the spaces where caution and embarrassment usually sat.

"Let's just say I was so deep in the closet that I didn't think I'd ever come out of it. At least, not until my wife accused me of being terrible in bed because I wanted dick instead. It was probably the worst moment to open up, but I told her she was spot-on. She moved out the next day. My family didn't take it much better."

Both Joey and Eric flinched, their faces screwed up in sympathetic pain. "Well, brother, that life is behind you now. You can be out and proud! Eric and I make pretty good wingmen, you know. You just name your type and we'll make it happen. If you wanted somethin' to suck on tonight, Grindr is unnecessary." Joey elbowed Clint lightly in the ribs and waggled his eyebrows.

"Hold up there," Clint laughed as he should his head. "I don't think I'm ready for that, yet. Let me be wined and dined a bit first, eh? It's a whole new world to me." A shadow of a frown crossed his face and his thumb traced the outline of his missing ring. The new backstory didn't include any of those details, but it felt good to get them off his chest.

Eric patted Clint's shoulder over Joey's head. "Don't worry, Clint. I'll keep him reined in for you. I'm pretty good at it by this point."

"Thanks, man. When I change my mind, I'll let you guys know."