“You’re dressed up.” Solomon set down the paper he was reading. “Where are you going?”
“To see a friend.” Elias touched his tie, wondering if it had been too much. So few men in Seattle dressed for social occasions. Still, Elias hadn’t been able to resist the new Rag & Bone woven silk.
“A friend from work?” Solomon’s beard had grown out slightly. Maybe he was trying to create a rugged look, though mostly he seemed exhausted.
“Someone I met at work.” There was nothing wrong with Elias going to a party with a friend. Even a male friend.
“A girl?” Solomon raised an eyebrow.
Elias wasn’t sure how to respond, so he opted for honesty. “No. A guy friend.”
Solomon’s expression became calculating, making him look more like their father. Mentioning homosexuality growing up could earn any of them a firm swat across the mouth. Though Solomon had lived in the US since he was three, Elias never quite knew how his brother felt about the beliefs they’d been raised with.
“What are you talking about?” Sara came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.
Elias tried to remember to speak with his brother in Amharic when they were together at home, but he so often forgot. Growing up, they’d spoken English at least half the time.
“Elias is going to a party with a friend from work.” Solomon smirked at Elias’s outfit. “A fancy party, it looks like.”
“Oh.” Sara clasped her hands in front of her. She put on a good show in front of her husband, but her smile was tight. “Anyone we know?”
She’d only met Dawit once, and that was the only Ethiopian person Elias knew from work. Perhaps what Sara meant was, Is it someone from the neighborhood? One of us? A brother or cousin or uncle of our extended family?
Elias shook his head. “No. He’s…” Part of him wanted to say white, though he knew if he did both Sara and Solomon would raise their voices like he was crazy and shallow for making that kind of distinction. “He’s just someone who works in my department. A lot of us are going. It’s something of a work party.”
Sara nodded, apparently appeased, but Solomon narrowed his eyes. “When do you think you’ll be home?”
“I don’t know if I’ll come home after.” Elias refused to make excuses on that front. He’d slept at Joe’s one night already and hadn’t felt any need to tell his brother where he’d been. After all the times Elias had covered for Solomon’s rule breaking when they were teens, Elias didn’t think he owed his brother any explanations.
“Well, I’d rather know if you’d be coming in late.” Solomon glanced at his wife and switched back to English. “You could scare her. If you’re planning to stay out again, text me so we know to lock the doors.”
Elias looked at the floor. His brother was right. He and Sara were kind enough to let Elias live in their house. The least Elias could do was not abuse their trust. “I suspect I’ll stay out for the night.”
Solomon nodded. He didn’t ask where Elias would sleep, and Elias was glad. “Well, text to let us know your plans in the morning.”
“Sure.” Elias had already grabbed his backpack. Perhaps bringing his sleep clothes was presumptuous, but Joe had said the wedding might go late. If that was the case, Elias wanted to go to Joe’s after.
Elias gave Sara a smile on his way out. “See you tomorrow,” he told her in Amharic, adding a small wave.
Lightly, she touched his arm. “Enjoy your friends.”
As Elias hurried down the stairs, he wished he could have invited her. As strange as the wedding would be, and as much as the gay element would horrify her, she really needed to get out more. There would be food and music and people. More light than Solomon and Sara kept on in their apartment.
The rain on his face was fresh and cool, and the sky looked brighter outside.
Sara wanted to feel the sun on her cheeks, though, intense enough to warm her even with long sleeves and a headscarf. She’d never understood Elias’s admonition to try short sleeves. Her modesty wouldn’t allow it.
He turned up his stereo in his car, listening to a rap station Joe had programmed. The drive to Joe’s apartment only took a few minutes. Joe stood in front, looking handsome in a sweater and dress shirt. He wore jeans underneath, making Elias feel overdressed. Elias was used to it, though. Working the sales floor, he usually dressed better than the customers.
“Took you long enough.” Joe smiled as he got into the car. “You need directions?”
“No. I looked it up on GPS.” Elias turned down the stereo so they could talk as they drove.
“So.” Joe rubbed Elias’s hand. “I never asked where you live. Around here, I guess.”
“Yeah.” Elias didn’t want to talk about his home life with Joe. Someone like him couldn’t understand how taboo homosexuality was in African culture. “I’m over by Garfield High School.”
“Oh.” Joe pressed his lips together as if he got the sense Elias didn’t want any more questions.
“Did you live with Dan in Capitol Hill?” Elias reciprocated.
“No.” Joe frowned. “Queen Anne.”
Elias was at a loss as to what to say next. The things he wanted to know, he wasn’t sure he could get the answer to. Like whether Joe had loved Dan very much. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with you. You said you were together ten years? You must have been young when you met.”
“We were. Twenty-eight and twenty-six. Too young to be getting so serious.” He leaned back in his seat, his voice quiet and his expression flat. “But it was always an open thing with us. Even in the beginning. We figured that way no one would get hurt.”
Elias wasn’t sure what that meant. “Open? How?”
“Oh, you know. At first just hand jobs or blowjobs with other guys.”
Elias’s breath came quicker, and he hoped Joe didn’t notice. As much as he liked Joe, Elias would never be able to share.
“Yeah, but after a while, we decided it was cool to have full-on sex with other people. Honestly, that’s when we should have called it quits. But we’d already moved in together…”
The hotel appeared in front of them, at the bottom of the hill by the water, but Elias didn’t want to end the conversation. He drove into the semicircle in front, glad there were cars ahead at the valet stand. “Why? If you loved each other, why would you want that?”
“I dunno.” Joe’s eyes clouded over. “Sometimes a guy wants to get his nut off. A warm body, a wet mouth… It’s just sex, kid.”
Elias hoped his judgment wasn’t written all over his face. “I suppose.” He pulled to the spot where parking attendants took keys, and climbed out.
“We’re looking for the Alcott-Schneider event?” Joe asked the valet directions and led the way through the door. It was only when they were inside the lush front entryway, with its modern fireplace and blown glass and elaborate rugs, that Joe touched Elias’s hand.
“Listen.” His eyes were steady but calm. “We only hooked up the other night, and you don’t know me well, but—”
“I can’t do that.” Elias respected Joe. And Elias might not know much about gay sex or relationships, but he knew himself. He couldn’t continue to be physical with Joe if they were going to be “open” the way Joe had been with his ex.
“Can’t do what?” Joe laughed, but it was nervous.
“I can’t share.” Elias didn’t know if that was the right way to express it, but he figured Joe got the message clearly. “I like you. But that’s not something I could do.”
Joe nodded, his eyes calculating. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
Elias couldn’t tell if Joe was angry, but if there was more Joe wanted to say, he didn’t have the opportunity. Some men Joe knew came down the hallway, waving.
“Steve, Chris, this is Elias.”
Elias wasn’t sure what message these men would get. That Elias was Joe’s lover? Boyfriend? Simply a warm and willing body? The last option was too painful to consider.
He shook the men’s hands. Without having to think about it, Elias firmed his grip so Joe’s friends knew he was strong enough to defend what was his.
Joe tried to keep up with Steve and Chris’s conversation, though all his attention was on Elias. Guys didn’t ask to be monogamous after a single hook-up, did they? At least not the guys Joe knew.
Steve and Chris quieted on the elevator. As soon as the doors opened, Chris spotted some other friends, and Steve followed him through to the reception area.
“So. You’re serious?” Joe took Elias’s hand and tugged him to a stop.
“Of course I’m serious.” Elias’s gaze was perfectly steady.
Joe respected Elias for standing his ground. Even if Joe were able-bodied, he’d still be willing to give Elias his full attention for a while.
“Hey. Come over here.” He tugged Elias closer.
“Why?” Elias’s gaze was teasing.
“You know why.” Joe pressed a kiss to Elias’s cheek. “You’re pretty cool, you know that?” Maybe that was an admission it was too early to make, but Joe didn’t mind saying it. Elias might have been naïve, but he wasn’t a doormat. Joe had known enough guys in their early twenties to tell the difference.
In Joe’s ear, Elias whispered, “You’re cool too.” The sound of it was husky and hot.
In the background, a quiet orchestral number pumped from a sound system.
“Should we go inside?” Elias tipped his head in the direction all the other men were walking.
“Yeah.” Joe looked around the room. Most of the guys at the wedding were coupled up, and Joe was glad he’d brought a guest. More than that, he was glad he’d brought Elias.
“Let’s go inside, honey.” He tugged at Elias’s hand then grabbed the handholds of his crutches to stride as best he could.