Prettyboy

13: How Soon Is Soon

July ripened and August came fast. My contrition was only ephemeral when I was with Cooper. I began what I guess is the literal definition of an affair, but it sounds different when I put it that way. I do not need to elucidate, that it wasn't one of those wild, lascivious sexcapades—perhaps it was illicit, because it was homosexual—but it was simply a respite from my toxic relationship with my wife, that had become something chaining and unchangeable. It was futile to even think of improving anything in our marriage, I began to think. Reposing, drinking whiskey three times a day, going for walks in nature with a person whose company was most enjoyable had made me wish summer wouldn't end.

Cooper had to leave, however, mid-August, as his uncle had fallen ill with pneumonia. It was quite convenient that I received a letter from Lana around that time, that read:

Dear Frank,

You were not picking up the telephone. Urgent situation: Camp Davis is sending the boys back home, they were flooded out of their tents this Sunday. I need you to go fetch Gerard for me. Read the flyer I attached to this, you'll find the address. Be there before noon, Wednesday. I'm very busy right now. I hope you understand.

Be back there with you on the 27th. 

Yours, 

Lana

There, you see, she used to end all of her letters with 'faithfully yours, Lana' and spray a bit of her perfume on them. It practically was like I was reading a letter from someone else. Nevertheless, the importance does not lie on the details of Lana's letter and the intricacies of our relationship—it was not something that needed analyzing then and there.

The magnitude of this letter was that I would see him again. 

And so, I had gone out, straight after shaving, soapy-earlobed, to get ready and take off for Maryland right away. I couldn't stop thinking of him waiting, all alone, alongside the road, with his baggage and red cheeks and nose from the scorching sun that morning—I rushed out of the house and got in the car. The leather seats were hot like oven-racks. I made a stop around 10 AM just when I entered Maryland and I was unfortunately confronted by a dead battery, and the sun was just above my head when I took off from there. 

I reached my destination one hour later; welcomed by the forest that had signs here and there that read 'Camp Davis, Almost There!'. It just turned out like this, that Camp Davis was in the core of the forest. However, even when I reached it, there was no Gerard waiting around. The camp was empty. No personnel, not a wight within ten yards radius outside. I was then a-jitter lest delay had worn out his patience and he had headed off all alone. I left the Davis forest and stopped right outside, on the side of the road—and the fact that the engine had begun roaring angrily again was very ominous.

I stood limply outside for a while, breathing in the hot air and mulling over the possibilities of him having left with someone else. I wished that was not the case. I longed to see him again. I breathed to see him again.

I rolled a cigarette with great care, trying to pacify myself and cursing under my breath. 

A car whisked by and my anxiety coerced me to lean in to check if he was in there. 

He was not in the car. 

My impatience started driving me crazy; my heartbeat accelerated and my hands were clammy.

Out of the blue, I heard a, "Hey!" and felt the blood rush to my head. I looked behind me. 

"Hey, you asshole!" he shouted from afar.

The cigarette fell from my mouth and onto the gravel road when I noticed him, standing still thirty feet away from me and looking with sly eyes. His lips parted in a childish but endearing smile. His hair was unkempt and his appearance bedraggled, but charming as always. He was wearing a short-sleeve button-up I had definitely seen before. I didn't know anymore why we were still thirty feet away, but I realized soon I was suddenly afraid of being the first to approach him. But then he came rushing toward me and then I took a few hurried steps forward, my mind going crazy when I could finally hear his respiration close to my ear as he launched at me with a tight embrace.