January 1967
After the pallbearers loaded Grant Lassiter’s casket into the hearse, the friends and family attending the funeral broke up into small groups and climbed into their own cars. Although Garrett hadn’t known Grant very well, he held an appreciation for human life since his mother passed away.
“You want to ride with me?” Eron asked Garrett.
“Sure. Let me make sure my dad has a ride.”
Garrett treasured the comfortable silence as they drove to the cemetery.
“You doing okay?” Eron asked after a while. He rubbed Garrett’s thigh for a quick moment, then returned his hand to the wheel to turn a corner.
“Sorry. Johnette and I had another argument.”
Eron ignored an impulse to remain quiet. “What about?”
“There was an article in the paper about a couple restoring an old house with plans to turn it into an inn.”
“Ah, your dream.”
Garrett studied him while he drove. Eron took his eyes off the road to meet Garrett’s gaze.
“What? I remember. She not like that idea?”
“No, she wants me to advance at the bank.”
As the procession neared the cemetery, it slowed to a stop.
“Your happiness is the most important thing,” Eron said as he inched the car forward. “I don’t even know when I realized that, but it’s how I’ve lived my life ever since.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re a lawyer.”
Eron shrugged. “I work for the ACLU, not some high-priced private practice.”
Eron brought the car to a stop. “Seriously, I think it’s a great idea.”
Garrett stood outside the canvas tent that had been set up to protect the mourners. The cold wind prevented him from hearing much of the graveside service. It didn’t matter. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Eron and that kept him warm. Although the funeral was for Eron’s uncle. Garrett was there to support his father who was there to support his sister, who was there to support her husband in his brother’s passing.
Because it was so cold, no one lingered at the grave once the service was done. Garrett climbed back into Eron’s BMW. Eron turned the heat on high while the engine warmed up.
“Wonderful day to be outside,” Eron said with a smirk. He leaned forward and shivered in his seat. Garrett chuckled as he rubbed his gloved hands.
Eron drove them to the house. There was more than enough food for the extended family and all the business associates and other acquaintances. Even though Garrett had ridden to the cemetery with Eron, when they got back to the house, Garrett stuck with his father and the people he knew, and Eron with his.
Garrett glanced at Eron from time to time. Even though Eron kept him at arm’s length, his laid-back attitude at their occasional lunchtime outings created an atmosphere that set Garrett at ease. Around Eron, his general anxiety disappeared. Eron listened to him ramble about his antiques. Eron didn’t judge him, but encouraged him to pursue his goals.
Though nothing further had happened between them sexually, Eron provided companionship, unpredictable as it was. After he left college, Garrett had drifted away from high school and college friends.
Garrett glanced away when Eron moved to stuff his paper plate inside a trash bag, then headed Garrett’s way. Garrett raised his head and smiled as Eron crossed the room.
“I’m ready to go,” Eron said as he walked up to Garrett. Garrett’s smile grew wider. “Me, too.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Let me say goodbye to my dad.”
“Sure, I’ll let George know we’re—I’m leaving.” Eron blushed.
Garrett sat in the passenger’s seat as Eron drove. Garrett had no idea where Eron was going, and he didn’t know if Eron did either.
“It’s the middle of the week. I bet we can get Knicks tickets,” Eron said finally.
“Sure,” Garrett replied. He calculated how much cash he had in his wallet. He probably had enough for a cheap ticket and maybe a hot dog and a beer.
They drove in silence the rest of the way. Eron paid for valet parking at the House that Tex Built on Eighth Avenue. The new venue going up on Madison Avenue wouldn’t be ready for another year or so.
Eron paid for Garrett’s ticket. Garrett expected the seats to be on the floor or in a suite, but he was pleasantly surprised when they were located in a nearly empty section.
“I figured we’d be left alone here,” Eron explained when they got there. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
On the way to the concession stand, Eron ducked into one of the many shops that sold memorabilia. “Whenever my dad brought me to a game, we came in here to look around,” Eron explained as he browsed.
“Whenever we went, dad barely had enough for the tickets let alone anything else. We used to sneak popcorn and peanuts in,” Garrett chuckled.
“But those are some of your best memories, aren’t they?”
“Yup.”
“See, you don’t need money to be happy. You just need enough to be comfortable.”
Eron’s comment helped him relax. He might be a Lassiter, but deep down, Eron was just as common as Garrett. Besides his good looks, it made him all the more attractive.
Garrett tried to force those thoughts from his head.
Attracted to Eron? Is this part of the happiness Eron had spoken about before?
“Look at this,” Eron sounded amused. “Clip-on ties!”
Garrett grinned. “What’s wrong with clip-on ties? They’re so much easier and faster than tying a necktie every morning.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re a fan of the clip-on?”
“Of course!”
“That’s cute.”
* * * *
The room got warmer at that comment. Eron had never told another man anything was cute, let alone someone’s appreciation for clip-on ties, but Garrett didn’t seem fazed by the comment. Eron relaxed.
“Johnette hates them, too.” Garrett laughed.
“She does? Then I have to buy you one,” Eron said.
“No, you don’t have to do that.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun to tease a little.”
Garrett ignored the sour looks from a couple of other men a few years older than them and giggled. “You really do want to get me into trouble don’t you?”
Eron shrugged and grinned. He didn’t know what brought this on. Garrett was good looking, there was no doubt about that. But there was something more about him. He was plain and uncomplicated. Nothing like the phony standards that Mary Ellen or anyone else pushed on him. Garrett was genuine. There wasn’t one ounce of pretension or ulterior motive in anything he said or did.
“Maybe?” Eron suggested.
“If you’re going to buy me a tie, I need to buy you a gift. What does Mary Ellen hate that you love?”
“Old Spice!”
“Old Spice cologne? You like to smell like our dads?”
“Well, I like it because it reminds me of high school. Remember when you first started wearing cologne and you drowned yourself in it?”
Garrett rolled his eyes in agreement.
Eron quieted his voice. “For some reason, that smell just gets me going as I remember…” Again, the store got hot.
“Then Old Spice it is!” Garrett said. “Look, they even have it in a Knicks decanter!”
They purchased their gag gifts, hot dogs and beer, and found their seats. They watched the game and ate in silence. Rubber-soled shoes squeaked on the court, the referees’ whistles tweeted, and the buzzer blared to signal dead balls.
Garrett finished his beer and offered to buy Eron another one. He tried to give Garrett cash, but he just walked away. Events of the day ran through Eron’s head as he waited for Garrett to return.
He had admired how the couples leaned on each other for support. A great-uncle held a great-aunt’s hand as she told a story about Grant’s youth. A wife gently rested her hand on her husband’s arm. He shook his head at his own stupidity. That’s the contentment and the bliss Garrett had provided in the short time they’d known each other, but as much as he wanted to take a chance with Garrett, every time he opened his mouth, he turned into a bumbling idiot. Even his apology offended Garrett, hopefully not beyond the point of Garrett’s ability to forgive.
The next second, Eron chided himself for having such thoughts at this point in his life. He’d be thirty-three later in the year, in the prime of his life. His career was well on its way and he’d surely ask Mary Ellen to marry him soon.
Eron shrugged off the guilt and finished his beer as Garrett returned.
“Thanks,” Eron said as he took the fresh beer from Garrett, even as his temples buzzed from the first beer. “When I was in high school, we wore white shorts to play basketball in. When I sat on the bench, and guys bent over for the free throws, you could see the cracks of their asses.”
“Yeah, we had the same see-through shorts.”
Garrett didn’t say anything more.
“In junior high, gym class was my favorite,” Garrett said after a while.
Eron warmed inside. Now he was getting somewhere. “Why?” Eron knew the answer, but wanted Garrett to tell him.
“You know, because you could see who had hair and who didn’t.”
Eron smirked a little. In his peripheral vision, he could see Garrett grinning.
“Back then, I had a hard time not looking.”
The second beer and Garrett’s comment helped him relax. Eron looked around and didn’t see anyone near them. He leaned back and put his arm on the back of Garrett’s chair. For good measure, he held his cup in his crotch and stretched his other arm around the empty chair.
Garrett took a drink. He glanced around and when he saw they were free from any close onlookers, he settled back into Eron’s arm. The pressure of Garrett leaning back against his arm felt good.
“You having a good time? It was probably a bad idea to come to a basketball game after a funeral,” Eron said.
“I’m the one that should be asking you that question.” Garrett didn’t look at him, but took another drink. “It’s your uncle who passed away.”
“I was never as close to him as I was to George,” Eron said. “Now if this was George’s funeral, I’d need more than a basketball game to soothe me.” He looked over at Garrett and grinned.
Garrett returned the smile. “What’s going on?” Garrett asked.
Eron drew in a deep breath and pulled his arms back to himself. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and took another drink of beer. He knocked his knee and thigh against Garrett’s.
“Nothing.” Eron tried to laugh it off. “It’s just a joke between us, right?”
“Why can’t two cousins be friends?”
“Cousins?”
“Yeah, your uncle is married to my aunt, which makes us cousins by marriage.”
“Oh yeah,” was all Eron said.
Eron’s thigh grew warm against Garrett’s. Eron didn’t move and neither did Garrett.
* * * *