MOVING OUT CHAPTER 32
Monday after my long extended weekend and spat with Bryson, I woke to shower alone and dress for the impending work day. I never saw Bryson that morning and drove to work as normal.
At work, Ben, my co-worker, kindly asked how my weekend was. I gave a short quick answer before Ben freely told me about his. I listened to his bragging and said nothing before finding refuge in my office. My boss had lined out some things concerning the approved library.
“Xavier, how was your weekend?” my boss asked.
“It was fine,” I said.
“I heard you were fantastic at city hall before you left,” he stated. “I heard you did a wonderful job of explaining the concept and selling it to the city. I know I couldn’t have done a better job. I’m very proud of you, if that matters.”
“It does and I appreciate that,” I replied. “I see here you have a few things that need to be done such as bids, material lists and assorted other items.”
“Yeah, it will be great experience for you,” he smiled and left.
Now, I felt a big part of the firm with this big project now in my lap. I began sorting out the items and put them in order of importance to become focused with one task at a time. With the work load, my mind stayed occupied the entire day.
Coming home, I could see everyone was there including Bryson. I walked in as usual with a stack of mail which included bills. Bryson looked at me and kept silent. I knew he would talk whenever he was ready. There was a rent check from his family sitting on the counter however since it was near the end of the month, October.
I changed and avoided Bryson, who was sitting with Nate downstairs. I heard Philip upstairs and climbed the stairs to join him.
“Hey wassup?” Philip asked while lounging naked as normal.
“I was wondering the same thing,” I replied and grabbed a seat.
“Xavier, I don’t know shit neither does Nate. He clams up when we even ask what is going on,” Philip said.
“Hmmm, maybe it’s a phase or something,” I stated.
“I gather he’s intent on staying here,” Philip said. “Talk about awkward as hell if he doesn’t move out.”
“I know.”
“Xavier, I would send him packing if I were you. This is your house and you call the shots. I know if it were me, his ass would be kicked to the curb in heartbeat.”
“Philip, I will if I have to. I don’t want him around here especially if he brings other guys around to make me jealous or prove a point.”
Shortly Nate came up the stairs and joined us. “Bryson’s moving out as soon as he finds another place, Xavier.”
“I guess I can live with that or at least will have to,” I said with the disappointment beginning to set in with me.
“He wants to spread his wings as he put and be with other guys to see what it’s like. I told him he was stupid but he’s pretty determined to do so,” Nate said.
“Thanks for the info,” I said and headed down while Nate and Philip hit the video games.
Bryson was sitting at the kitchen bar having a sandwich.
“So we’re done, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, live with it!” Bryson shouted at me. “I’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.”
“Did I do something?” I asked.
“No Xavier, I’m ready to move on to another chapter in my life. It’s all me!”
I rolled my eyes and left Bryson alone to finish. I went to work out and relieve some tension and clear my head. I was more than disappointed and couldn’t think of anything I could have done differently. It felt great to push my body to its limits. I was exhausted and profusely sweating by the time I finished. I walked out and heard yelling upstairs. I walked to the bottom of the stairs to hear Nate and Philip being yelled at by Bryson.
Philip came marching down the stairs in a huff, “I hope he fucking leaves soon. That damn Bryson has got an attitude about him now!”
It wasn’t bad enough he was alienating me but he was doing the same to his friends he had before we started dating. My dream guy was turning my house into a living hell for all of us. It appeared the pressure of college and living with someone finally got to Bryson. I then heard a bedroom door slam before seeing Nate come down the stairs.
“See my ass tries to help that fucking bitch!” Nate stated with his face red as ever.
Philip joined in, “We tried talking to him and see what was really going on but he got madder and madder. Xavier, you heard him screaming up there. We were just trying to be a friend and talk to him. He thinks we’re teaming up against him.”
“Thanks guys but this is something Bryson needs to get out of his system,” I said.
The rest of the night we steered clear of Bryson though it wasn’t hard since he was locked up in the third bedroom. I went about my business after a hot shower and tried my best to not think about the possibility of another failed relationship.
The next day, when I arrived home, Bryson was no where to be found and hadn’t came home for that matter. I insisted Nate call his cell to make sure he hadn’t done something horrible. I was relieved to hear Nate had contacted him and he was doing okay. I didn’t ask where he was nor did Nate. It allowed Philip and I to hang out and enjoy each other’s company as step-brothers once again.
“You think it’s over?” Philip asked while we ate.
I shrugged, “I don’t want to think about it now.”
“Xavier, if it is over, you’ll have no troubles finding another guy. I don’t know what’s with all your boyfriends. If I was gay, I would die to have someone just like you. You’re hot as hell, fun loving, at times, extremely generous and loving.”
“Philip, I must be doing something wrong or else I wouldn’t be having these problems.”
“Xavier, all I can say is your boyfriends are just fucking stupid. Fucking dumbasses.”
I smiled and finished eating before I went with Philip and Nate to shoot a few hoops and stop worrying about Bryson. We found a few younger players and enjoyed meeting some of the neighbors despite their youth. Philip showed a lot of heart and took it easy on us since he towered over the rest of us.
Wednesday was another grueling day at work with the continuation of the library project. Ben sensed something was up so I filled him with on my crisis at home. He immediately asked me over whenever possible to see his place and maybe more. I politely skirted the invite and went on with my work. I saw Bryson’s car in the drive and relieved somewhat to see it. Nate intercepted me at the door.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
“Umm… your ex boyfriend is upstairs floating like a butterfly. He’s been smoking weed here and has smoked two joints since he got home,” Nate said.
“Shit!” I said blurted out immediately and could see Nate had taken part as well. “What’s the deal?”
“He said it was his way of dealing with problems after taking a test today,” Nate laughed.
“You had one too, huh?” I smiled.
“Well… I couldn’t resist. Bryson said he hated smoking alone so I joined him,” Nate smiled.
I headed up the stairs and found Bryson kicked back on the couch with Philip. Philip rolled his eyes.
“Bryson, what on earth are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m solving problems. Fucking deal with it, bitch ass!” Bryson said.
“Dude, he’s high as fuck right now,” Xavier said.
“Damn straight I am and loving every goddamn second of it,” Bryson cussed. “It feels great and your tight ass needs to hit some shit every now and then.”
I knew a good talk to either end our relationship or get to the root of the problem was definitely in order. Now was not the time to do so. I headed downstairs shaking my head and found Nate munching out from his high.
I grabbed Philip and insisted he go with me back to the courts to escape the house for a little while.
“It’s like he’s begging you to toss him out,” Philip said while we rode to the subdivision park.
“Philip, I agree. Bryson and I definitely need a long talk,” I commented.
“Good luck there,” Philip laughed.
“I know. It seems he’s happy making me miserable,” I said.
Again there were a few neighborhood kids with a few high schoolers sprinkled in the mix this time. Philip and I shot around until joining the older ones in a spirited game. Philip controlled himself until one smart ass kid went too far. The fire in Philip’s eyes lit up and he took every opportunity to slam dunk over the smart ass and smear it in his face. One furious dunk had the goal shaking for a good three minutes. I finally pulled Philip aside and demanded he cool it.
After the game, we headed back home to find Bryson had left the house.
“Nate!” I screamed once in the door.
“He just left. There was nothing I could do,” Nate said defensively and knew why I screamed.
“I hope nothing happens,” I said and began to worry.
“Xavier, you still care for Bryson, don’t you?” Nate asked.
“Sure I do. I’m not mad at him though he is starting to push me a little too far,” I said.
“Yeah, I know exactly how that is,” Nate said. “You can be gently pushed then you get fucking pissed.”
“I’ll let little things slide but Bryson is about to get me fucking pissed at him,” I said and headed off to shower the sweat off my body accumulated from the basketball game.
After showering and feeling refreshed, I found Nate and Philip enjoying a quick microwaved meal for their dinner. I hinted to Philip that maybe a call to Brock would be nice to fill him in on the occurrence and maybe the whereabouts of his brother. Philip called Brock immediately. Brock knew nothing at all according to Philip, so Philip politely hung up. Now I was a little worried and began pacing the floor. Nate and Philip watched me until asking me to stop since they were getting nervous at my pacing. Nate dialed Bryson’s number only to hear his phone ring at the back door where he deposited his things.
Shortly, Brock was standing at the door in his sleeveless shirt and gym shorts. “Any word?”
“Nothing dude. His phone is here,” Philip stated with Brock scanning Philip’s naked body.
“Do you always go around…” Brock asked.
“Sure do,” Philip smiled while I listened and wondered what was going through Brock’s head.
“Yeah, he’s a show off!” Nate said.
“I would be too if my dick was that big,” Brock laughed and then got serious. “So Bryson just left?”
“In case you didn’t know since we returned from Vegas, we’ve been on the outs,” I stated while we had a seat in the front room.
“No way!” Brock shouted. “Tell me you’re joking!”
“No he’s not. Bryson sleeps in the third bedroom,” Philip said.
“My brother’s lost his fuckin mind,” Brock said. “Plus I’ll have nowhere to go to get away.”
“Brock, we do need to talk about that before something bad does happen,” I said. “I don’t mind you coming here but cool on the drinking a little, alright?”
“I’ll try but I love it here. You guys are so awesome to me and my friends. I got guys begging me to let them come over,” Brock said. “This place is fuckin sick!”
We laughed in unison. “I appreciate that but don’t you think your parents will get suspicious?” I asked.
“Oh Dad knows what we do here. He’s cool with it,” Brock stated.
“He knows everything?” I asked Brock.
“Well… expect the time I banged this girl here,” Brock grinned. “It’s not like Bryson doesn’t have sex here.”
“He’s got a good point there, Xavier,” Philip said.
“Yeah, he’s 21 now and can do what he wants, which he’s exercising pretty liberally right now,” I said.
“So Xavier, is it over?” Brock asked.
“You’ll have to ask Bryson that is whenever you see him again,” I said.
“He’ll be back. Maybe he needed to get away like you did,” Philip said.
We got our minds off the situation and turned it to Brock’s upcoming game. Brock enjoyed telling us some trick plays they had for the next opponent while I bite my nails with worry.
Right as Brock was about to leave, the front door opened. Bryson saw us sitting there, looking at him. He bolted up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door in the process. Brock sprinted up after his brother to make sense of what was happening.
We waited until Brock reappeared.
“Damn Xavier, I think it’s over. Bryson’s been out looking at places to move,” Brock announced.
“Was he still high?” Philip asked.
“No, I think he’s come down off that,” Brock said. “Dudes, I better get. Thanks even though I wasn’t much help.”
“See ya later,” I said to Brock and watched him leave.
“Go Xavier. Now’s the time,” Philip stated.
I climbed the stairs and walked to the third bedroom. I quietly knocked on the door. Bryson opened it quietly.
“So, you’re moving, huh?” I asked once inside and shutting the door.
“I plan on it,” Bryson said.
“Why? Why Bryson? We had a great thing going and now you want to blow it up,” I asked.
“Xavier, I’m ready to move on and do other things. We might as well end it now. I can’t see us together in 5 or 10 years,” Bryson said sitting on the bed.
“Bryson I was worried sick about you today. In case you don’t realize it, I care a lot about you but if you don’t feel the same way, then its best we go our separate ways now,” I said.
“Yeah, we should. I appreciate all you’ve done for me. You’re a great example of a real gay guy,” Bryson stated.
“Okay, Philip and Nate might help you pack but don’t count on it,” I said.
“Yeah, I suppose I need to repair that quickly,” Bryson said. “I’ve been a real horse’s ass this last week.”
I smiled, “You said it not me. I’ll miss you.”
“Thanks, Xavier! I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll have my things packed and ready to go Saturday. Brock said we could use his truck to move my things. I guess I’ll take this bed since it is my parent’s.”
“That’s fine,” I headed out and was so distraught.
“So?” Philip asked since they were waiting on pins and needles on the couch upstairs.
“I suppose it is over between us. I’ll move on and have learned another rough lesson in life,” I said. “I knew he was perfect for me. I just knew it.”
TO BE CONTINUED…