However, every now and then Luis made an error in judgment and he had to ditch one of the older guys. Though he’d explain his no-sex rule up front with clarity, there were always a few overly aggressive older guys who didn’t pay attention. That’s what happened this Friday night after his lunch with Derrick.
After a predictable afternoon, Derrick drove Luis back to the front of his building and dropped him off at the curb. Luis handed Derrick his used sweat socks, kissed Derrick on the cheek, and said he’d see him the following Friday. Derrick pulled five one-hundred dollar bills from his pocket and handed them to Luis, then waited at the curb until Luis was safely inside the building. He didn’t pull away until the front door was halfway open and Luis waved goodbye from the vestibule. Luis had made a conscious effort to remember the key to the front door that day so he wouldn’t bother Mr. Gordon.
After that, Luis fed the little dog, took him for a fast walk, and took a nap. When he woke up, he put on a white shirt and a black suit and went out to meet one of his newest clients at a small restaurant in The Village, a man named Peter Donovan. Peter was over eighty and it was only the second time they’d met. The first time they’d met it was just for cocktails so Luis could check him out. Peter was a retired attorney who had lost his longtime life partner two years earlier.
At first, things went well. They had a nice quiet dinner and Luis listened to the old guy talk about his late partner. It made Luis smile to think about two men lasting together for over fifty years. The gay couples in Luis’s circle never lasted longer than a few months. The old guy spoke about his late partner with a gleam in his eye. At one point, Luis actually stopped eating, leaned forward on his elbows, and rested his chin in his palm to listen.
After dinner, they went to a private party in Chelsea. They arrived at eleven o’clock and the party seemed tame in the beginning. But by two in the morning, the younger guys at the party started removing their clothes while the older guys sat on the sidelines watching them. The older guys were drunk. They hooted and howled, begging the younger guys to strip to nothing. They threw dollar bills on the floor and licked their lips when the young naked guys bent down to pick the bills up. That was when Peter Donovan tried to put his hand down the back of Luis’s pants.
He patted Luis’s ass and asked Luis to remove all of his clothes, too.
Luis stepped back and smiled. He didn’t want to make a scene. He told Peter he wanted to go home. He said he was tired and he’d had a long day. When Peter tried to change the subject and talk him into removing his clothes by offering him more money, Luis insisted it was time to leave the party. And when Luis finally threatened to leave alone, Peter followed him out the door and down to the street.
Peter’s driver brought Luis back to his apartment, and Peter mentioned nothing about what had happened. He didn’t make any sexual innuendos and he remained the perfect gentleman. For a moment, Luis thought everything was back to normal. But when they pulled up to the front of his building and parked, Peter reached over, put his hand between Luis’s legs, and tried to kiss him on the lips.
While his tongue was hanging from his mouth, Luis pushed him back and jumped out of the car. It was a good thing Luis had remembered to bring his front door key that night. If he’d had to wait for his landlord to let him into the building, there was no telling what would have happened. Still, even though Luis opened the door fast, Peter was right behind him. He followed Luis into the vestibule, begging Luis to spend the night with him. He followed him up five flights of stairs, complimenting Luis on having the greatest body he’d ever seen.
By the time Luis reached his floor, good old Peter was at the top step gaining speed. Luis made it inside just in time. When he slammed the door shut, he left Peter out in the hall banging with both fists, begging Luis to let him inside. He pleaded and promised Luis he wouldn’t regret it. He told Luis he had a reputation around town for giving the best blow jobs in New York. He said all Luis had to do was stand there, pull down his zipper, and close his eyes.
Luis leaned into the door and exhaled. He was out of breath from running up the stairs and he was only twenty-one years old. When he thought about the energy it must have taken for a man over eighty to run up those stairs after him, he rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling.
Peter continued to bang on his door, begging him to open it and let him inside. Then Mr.
Gordon, the landlord, opened his apartment door on the floor above them to see what was happening. “I’m trying to sleep,” Mr. Gordon said, with his broken accent. “If you don’t get out of here now I’m calling the police. You leave that nice boy alone, you old fool.”
Luis felt a little shaky by then. He didn’t like confrontation of any kind, especially when his intentions had been good. He didn’t wait around to hear how it ended with the old guy and Mr. Gordon. He crossed into his bedroom, removed all his clothes, and put on a short white bathrobe. After that, he picked up his little dog and climbed out onto the fire escape.
He placed the little dog inside a wide potted palm tree. The dog peed on the trunk, then Luis carried him across the fire escape to his new neighbor’s bedroom window. There was something about Jase that made him feel safe; he was hoping Jase would be awake to talk. At the very least, Jase might let him stay there until the excitement in his own apartment subsided.
There were sheer white draperies in the bedroom widow. They were partially open and Luis could see inside Jase’s bedroom. Jase was in his bed sleeping, flat on his back and naked from the waist up. Luis didn’t want to wake him, but he didn’t want to sit on the fire escape all night either. As he was about to knock on the window, he saw a shadow over Jase’s bed. Luis jerked to the right fast so he wouldn’t be seen. The redheaded guy Luis had met getting out of the taxi earlier that day walked into the bedroom and stood over Jase’s bed. Luis had already forgotten the guy’s name; he was insignificant. Not bad looking if you went for that red hair and pink freckled skin. But definitely not Luis’s type. Luis pressed his lips together and watched what was happening. When the redheaded guy leaned over the bed and kissed Jase on the cheek, Jase rolled over on his side and adjusted his covers without opening his eyes.
Then the redheaded guy patted Jase on the shoulder, placed some cash on the nightstand, and left the bedroom. From where Luis was watching, he could see the redheaded guy open the front door and leave the apartment. Luis waited a few minutes. When he knew it was safe, he knocked on Jase’s bedroom window and pulled it up.