Balancing Acts

Chapter 4: Cold Night

            I arrived at Apollo's Secret that night at around nine-thirty. It wasn't as crowded since it was a Thursday night. Me and my friends regularly had drinks at the gay nightclub until I became a parent. Now I was rarely joining them. It had been a while since I'd last been there. The place was pretty big. It had a big dance floor downstairs and one upstairs as well. The VIP tables were impossible to get unless you had the right connections, so I was surprised Myron and Andre had gotten us one. I found the table upstairs and saw that only Andre was there waiting on me with a bottle of Moët and some appetizers.

            "About damn time," said Andre, standing up from his seat. He approached me and hugged me. "Long time no see."

            "Hey Dre," I said back. I pulled away from the hug and asked, "Where's Myron?"

            "Dancing with some guy he met earlier today and invited to our thing tonight."

            "Myron met someone? Wow, good for him." I sat down and Andre sat down beside me. "Is he fine?"

            "Oh hell yes, he is fine as fuck. Let's just say Myron better keep this one far away from Izzy. You didn't tell Izzy he could come, did you?"

            "Of course not."

            "Good. You know I haven't talked to his trifling ass in a minute. He is definitely no longer welcome at me and Rayshun's house."

            I'd known Andre Hamilton since middle school, longer than I'd known Myron but slightly shorter than I'd known Izzy. He'd always been chubby and had the most adorable dimples and big brown eyes. He was the exact same height as me, and his complexion was a little lighter than Izzy's, so we used to call him Redd back in the day. Within our group, Andre was the nicest. He was always calling or hitting us up on social media to make sure everybody was doing okay. He was also our only friend that stayed single for very long periods of time, which was due to how many in the gay community treated fellow gays who weren't thin or muscular.

            Andre met his fiancé Rayshun at the car mechanics shop where Rayshun worked. He'd brought his car in for an oil change and it ended up changing his whole life. He told us that all he did was thank Rayshun for vacuuming his car after changing the oil, and Rayshun asked him out on a date. Me and Myron told him to go on the date, but of course Izzy told him not to because Rayshun had been locked up before. Thankfully, Andre listened to me and Myron and not Izzy. After a year of dating, Rayshun asked Andre to marry him. I couldn't wait for their spring wedding.

            "So, how are you and Rayshun doing?" I asked before sipping some of the champagne.

            "Everything is so perfect," he replied. "Yesterday, he came home from work and cleaned the house up. He washed the dishes and everything. I came home from a double shift at the hospital to find this man cooking spaghetti for me. I asked him why he'd done all of that, and he told me because I had to work a back-to-back shift and I deserved to come home to a clean house and a homecooked meal."

            "That is so damn romantic and sweet."

            "I know, right? And I damn near died when he ran a bath for me and rubbed my feet while I soaked in the tub."

            "Aw, see me and Myron told you to give him a chance. Not every man that's been to prison has issues. The moment he asked you out in front of his coworkers, you should've known he was the real thing."

            "Yes, he truly is the real thing." We shared a laugh and gave each other and high-five.

            "So y'all just gonna celebrate without me at the table?" Myron asked while walking up.