After the strain of exams and graduation we flop for a week to get our minds back together. Tor hasn't shaved the whole week and he looks so shaggy I can't let him get by with it.
"Hey, you forget to pay the electric bill?"
"I'm tired of shaving. I thought I'd grow a beard and see how it looks."
His beard grows fast, already taking shape. "Well, it looks like hell. Get your tail over here." I even it up with a pair of scissors and run his razor over his neck and cheeks. When I finish, he looks really neat. His beard is a little lighter than his hair and hides a tiny scar on his jaw.
"You look like a Viking."
He gets to the mirror and admires himself. "Good job, Drew. Guess I'll have to keep you around."
"Try and get rid of me." I'm jealous. Not only do I still look like a kid, but I can mostly get by with shaving just every other day. I wish I could at least grow a decent moustache to make me look older.
A few days later, I find out things that can be funny in retrospect aren't funny at the time they happen. Tor and I have been talking, trying to decide what we want to do, but we haven't come to any conclusion. One thing's for sure, we've got to get to the supermarket or we'll starve.
It's at one end of a strip mall and we had to park at the far end, it being a Friday afternoon. It's miserably hot and both of us are dripping with sweat before we're half way back to the car with the bags of groceries. My stump is damp and the leg begins to hurt. Tor sees I'm having problems walking, so he puts his arm around me in case I stumble. Just up the way is a guy standing near the curb preaching. I've nothing against religion, but this sort of thing turns me off. The guy is ranting and raving and not having any luck drawing an audience; people are moving as far from him as possible when they pass. I guess he figures Tor and I are fair game, 'cause when he sees Tor put his arm around me, he takes a step closer.
"Sinner!" He yells. "Hell has a special place for them that lead children astray. Repent!" He's frothing at the mouth and has a handful of Tor's shirt by now.
"Sin, hell!" Tor yells back. "My brother needs help to walk."
This only spurs the guy on and he quotes more garbled scripture. Tor's really getting steamed.
"Even the devil can quote scripture," he yells at the guy.
We're attracting a crowd and somebody snickers. I try to pull Tor away about time a cop comes around the corner.
"All right, boys, what's going on?" The cop asks Tor.
"This nut grabbed my shirt and started yelling at me," Tor says as the guy turns his shirt loose.
The cop looks interested and starts to say something, but the guy turns on Tor again. "You're going to hell! Leading little children in wicked ways." He points to me. "Beware of perverts, child. Sex is evil."
Tor manages to hold on to his temper long enough to tell the cop, "My brother has a prosthetic leg. I had my arm around him to help him and this screwball starts yelling that we're queer. I don't take that from anybody."
The guy opens his mouth again, but the cop snaps, "Shut up, preacher. I want to hear what the kid's got to say." He looks at me. "That right, son?"
I pull up my jeans leg so he can see. We hear some gasps from the people watching and the cop yells at them, "Break it up. The show's over. Sorry, kid," he says to me and grabs the guy's arm. "All right, preacher, you've said enough for today. Move on."
"There's no end to the battle with Satan," he yells.
"Move on or I'll run you in for disturbing the peace. I'm surprised you'd pick on a cripple kid."
The guy shakes his head and shuffles off. The cop looks at Tor when he puts his arm back around my shoulders. "I'm sorry, fellows. He's harmless, but he gets carried away sometimes. You need any help?"
"We can manage," Tor says. "Our car's just down at the end."
By now I'm hurting so bad I would have fallen when I tried to move if Tor's arm hadn't been around me. The cop runs over and grabs me. "Go get your car and bring it up here. I'll stay with the kid."
He supports me until Tor drives up, then helps me in. He helps Tor load our groceries in, too. The last I see of him, he's standing there with a big grin like a Boy Scout who's just done his good deed.
After another week of loafing around, Tor's beginning to get restless, and so am I for that matter. Neither of us cares about living a nine-to-five existence and repeating the same sort of regimentation that's marked our lives in school, but we both need something constructive to occupy our time.
It's Tor who finally says it. "Let's get the hell out of here, babe."
"Where do you want to go?"
"I don't care, just so long as it's away from here."
"Can we go down to the coast?"
"If you want. Why?"
"I'd like to see what the ocean looks like."
Tor looks stunned. "You telling me you've never seen the ocean?"
"When would I? You're the one who was always out on the research vessel. I know it's old stuff to you, but I'd like to see something new."
He grabs me in a hug. "The ocean's always new. I'd love to show it to you. Let's get packing."
We're lucky enough to find a room with weekly rates at a little out-of-the-way motel. I'd like to be on the beach, but I've never seen so many people outside the city. It's frightening. Even though we spend a couple of days looking for a deserted stretch of beach, there isn't any. I had ideas of us packing a lunch and spreading a blanket on the sand, lying around and taking a swim whenever we feel like it. I know we could, but the one time we tried it, it was embarrassing lying there in swim trunks and having people gawk at our stumps. So if we go on the beach at all, it's early in the morning or just about dark. The rest of the time, we stay dressed and Tor takes me to all the places of historical interest and some of the tourist traps.
Tor's reading the local paper one morning while we're finishing up our coffee on the deck outside our room. "Look at this!"
I read the article, but I can't see what he's so excited about. It's about changes taking place in the water and pollution in the northern most of the sounds.
"So what?"
"Don't you see? It's a perfect subject for a book. Five sounds come together near here, so we could trace the whole process from fresh water to brackish, and even get in the effects of pollution on plant and animal life. In one of the sounds the change is already underway, because milfoil is a problem. It's spreading so fast they're trying to find a way to kill it. It won't grow if the salinity of the water is very high. The fish population is changing as well. Hey, the sound's so shallow we can do most of the work with snorkles and you won't have any trouble with underwater photography."
"What you're proposing will take a long time."
"At least a year to document the seasonal changes and determine if any of the changes are pollution related. We've got enough coming in from the investments to make it, if we don't get carried away. Please, Drew. I've always wanted to write a book."
This is the first thing I've seen turn him on with all the possibilities we've talked about since we graduated and it means he'll keep on with his work. "Okay, if you want."
He gives me a bear hug. "Thanks, babe. I know we can bring this off together."
He grabs a pad and starts making notes. For a couple of days we toss ideas around, keeping some, discarding others, until we've got an outline of the topics to be covered. I finally realize there's one thing we haven't mentioned.
"I don't want to screw things up, but where're we gonna live? I mean this motel isn't that cheap and it's the cheapest place we could find."
Tor slaps his forehead. "I hadn't even thought. You're right, Drew." He thinks a minute. "To do this right, we're going to have a lot of stuff to drag around. You'll need all your photographic equipment and I'll have to have a small lab for running tests. What do you think of getting a boat?"
"Hey, that's real money, like more than we've got. We agreed not to touch the principal except what we spent for school, remember?"
"Maybe we can find something used that's not too expensive. Get dressed and we'll do some looking."
I can tell Tor's excited by the way the Triumph gets a bit of rubber on our takeoff. We both figure there's going to be nothing for sale cheap around the beach this time of year, so we head across the bridge to the mainland to look in some of the little coastal towns.
The first one's not a bad little city. Tor turns on a street along the waterfront. I'm looking at the sights when Tor jams on the brakes so suddenly the tires on the car behind us squall and the driver lays a cussing on us as he passes, but Tor's pointing at something and yelling, "That's it, babe!"
"What's it?" I can't see anything but an old rusty barge tied up to some pilings. But Tor's out of the car standing on the bulkhead looking down at it. Before I can get to him, he's jumped down on the barge and is pacing it off. He's got a big grin and his mind's going a mile a minute.
When he's back beside me, he's so excited he stammers. "A houseboat! We'll build it on a barge hull. We can have it towed wherever we want and have our house with us."
"You're nuts!"
"Wait and see."
We get back in the Triumph and Tor drives on until we find the shipyard. The manager listens without saying anything until Tor's finished. "I'm afraid you're out of luck as far as anything around here is concerned. The barge you saw belongs to a towing company. It's not for sale." He frowns in thought for a minute. "There was somebody started a houseboat a few years ago. Far as I know, it was never finished. I saw it in the creek not long ago. I have no idea who owns it, but if you want to take a look I can tell you how to get there."
Tor drags me back to the car in his excitement. When we find it, the boat's bigger than I thought it would be. I've seen a few of those things people can rent along some rivers, but this one is double the size.
Tor's bubbling over. "It's perfect, Drew. Look at it. It's big enough to hold my lab equipment and for you to have a photo lab and still leave us living space. On top of that, it's built on a landing craft hull, so it's shallow draft and probably still got an engine. We can move it ourselves whenever we need to."
"Do you know how?"
"Yeah. A couple of years ago I passed the exam for the license I needed to run the research vessel. It'll cover something like this."
The superstructure is closed in, but peering through the windows we see the inside is still just a shell. We're talking about how we'd finish it off inside when somebody yells at us from the dock.
"I told you damn kids to stay offen my boat! What you doing?"
An elderly man is standing there glaring at us. Tor smiles at him. "I'm sorry. We didn't think anyone would mind if we looked it over. The manager at the shipyard told us about it."
"Why you so interested?"
"We need something like this to live on." Tor helps me up on the dock and introduces himself and me. "This would be perfect for our work." He starts explaining.
The old man looks over at the boat with a sad expression. "She was a good boat in her day. Could be agin with a little work. I started her so's my wife and me could take some trips and do a little fishin'. We planned on livin' on her 'cause the children was all growed up an' gone an' our house was too big an' empty."
"What happened?" Tor asks quietly.
"My Susie died afore I got it finished, so I kinda lost heart." He looks lonely, now, and hopeful, too. "If you got some time, I could show you what I was gonna do."
Tor smiles at him. "We've got plenty of time, sir."
We follow him up the dock to a shed. Inside are lots of tools and things I don't recognize. The old man blows the dust off a roll of paper and spreads it flat on a rough table.
The plan he's drawn is almost perfect for what we want, but we'd leave the inside one big room with only the head closed off and a short serving bar in front of the galley. The bunks we'd build in like his plan shows to serve as seating. He says there's plenty of extra room below where there are large tanks for fuel and water. He has a small generator he planned to use for power. Even with the larger generator Tor calculated we'd need, there's space for my darkroom and Tor's lab, with plenty of space left over for storage.
Tor takes a piece of paper and sketches out what changes we'd make and the few special things we need for our work.
When I mention I'm getting hungry, the old man tells us there's a little place just up the street where he eats, but he'd like to keep on talking to us.
Tor invites him to join us. It's a small diner, not much to look at, but it's spotlessly clean and the food's good home-cooking. All the time we're eating the old man and Tor talk. Tor doesn't try to hurry him along like he does most people, and when Tor mentions if we could get a boat like his we'd have to do most of the work ourselves to save money, the old man's interest picks up.
"If we kin come to a bargin," he says, "I ain't got nothing to do, and I figure you could use some help, what with your little brother not gettin' around too good. I'd kind of like to help you with it. If you want, you could work outten my shop and use my tools."
"You mean you'll let us have it?" Tor acts surprised.
The old man nods. "I like you boys. You ain't pushy like most, and you ain't afraid to say you don't know it all. I hate to give her up with the memories she's got fer me, but with you needin' a place to live and all, I know you'll treat 'er right."
He and Tor start to dicker and it isn't long before we've bought ourselves a houseboat for quite a bit less than I thought possible, but the old man looks more than satisfied. I just hope Tor knows what he's doing.
We spend half the night making notes so we don't forget what the old man told us. Soon as we're up the next morning, we check out of the motel and head back to town to find a room close to the boat. Whatever second thoughts I have I keep to myself because Tor's so happy. He swears it'll be cheaper than he thought, especially with the old man helping us.
The small boatyard the old man recommends takes a week to overhaul the engine, clean and paint the hull, enlarge the water and the sewage containment tanks, as well as putting in a tank for LP gas to fuel the stove, fridge, and heat. Tor and I use the time hunting for things we'll need. Then our work begins.
We learn fast that if the old man suggests something it's right, and he's a bigger help than I thought he'd be. I expected someone old as him to be spending his time talking, but he works constantly and pushes Tor and me. I don't know what we'd have done without him, even Tor admits that we'd have made several expensive mistakes without his help. Along one side we put in a double bunk and cover most of the remaining wall space around it with floor to ceiling cabinets so the bunk doesn't look as if it's sticking out so far. Though Tor told him it was because he's so tall and needed the room, the old man never really understood why we insisted on a double bunk when he had planned two single bunks, though we put in a single bunk as well.
It takes six weeks before we're done. The last weekend we go back to the city and move our stuff out of the apartment. Since the U-Haul is not too large and has automatic transmission, I drive it and Tor drives the Triumph. It takes us another week to get our things set up the way we want, and the old man helps Tor rework one cabinet into a built-in desk for our computer equipment. The last thing Tor does is paint the name on the stern -Nautilus. Leave it to him.
The old man takes a test run down the river with us and makes both of us get familiar with handling her. About dusk, Tor drops anchor and we cook up a meal to celebrate. The old man has little to say on the way back. When we tie up at his dock, he says, "You boys done good work. I'm glad you're the ones got 'er. Good luck." His eyes are wet as he turns and walks up the dock without looking back.
Tor and I kill a split of champagne to toast our new home before we crawl in the double bunk for the first night under our own roof.
With all the money we've spent, we've got to get started on the book to try to recover some of our investment. We cruise down the river to the sound and start looking for a place that will be central to our work, yet have a place on land where we can keep the car. There's a tiny island between the mainland and the Outer Banks in the Currituck Sound. Tor runs some tests and says it's a good transition area to begin studying, because with the old inlets to the ocean closed, water from rivers and canals have turned the water almost completely fresh. On the mainland there're a few houses on the water. We take the skiff we got to use with the boat and head over that way. A man's fishing from the end of an old dock in front of one of the houses. We talk with him only a few minutes before he rents us the garage next to the dock and says we can tie the skiff up and leave it any time we're going to be away for a few days. When Tor asks him if he wants references, he snorts, "Long as you ain't doin' nothin' illegal and pay the rent I don't care who you are."
Days run into weeks with Tor taking the skiff up the sound and working his way down slowly, taking samples of aquatic plant and marine life and marking off the areas on the Coast and Geodetic Survey chart he's tacked up on the bulkhead. My job is setting up and tending four 20 gallon tanks of the specimens he's bringing in, and making test photographs so I can get everything right when we get down to the serious stuff. We've a number of reference books so while Tor's working, I identify the fish, plants, and other things he puts in the tanks.
Since Tor complains about the quality of the illustrations in many of the reference books, I want as perfect shots as I can get for our book. When we set up the tank we've left to hold specimens to illustrate what Tor's put into text, we spend evenings with me peering through the eyepiece of my camera and telling Tor to move the light units around until I can get a perfect shot. Taking photos through the thick glass of an aquarium is hell. Just when you think everything is perfect, there's always a little reflection from the glass that'll sneak in to ruin the picture. Even now, I shudder to think what the optical glass front on that one tank cost, but it eliminates any distortion that might be present with regular glass.
Bright sunny days I go out with Tor and work with my camera in its underwater housing. The special tank is for specific specimens, while the underwater shots are to document the changes taking place at large. When we're working together underwater, Tor has to do what I tell him. It's fun being the boss for a change.
After several weeks' work, we can't put off a trip to the university library any longer. We have a list of references a mile long to get our hands on before we can make any further progress. Our idea is to run up there for a day or two and come back without seeing anyone, so Tor's upset when the reference librarian tells us that several of the most important books on our list are in Langford's office. We know he'll let us use them, but we're surprised when he greets us like we're his best friends. He informs us that the U is closing down for the rest of the week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Tor and I are both surprised, for we don't even have a calendar. Langford won't hear of anything except that Tor and I take the books to his house and stay there while we work.
Langford's house isn't too large, but very modern. I like the clean lines of it and the way everything looks so comfortable. Mrs. Langford, of course, knows Tor, but the minute Langford introduces me, she starts to gush like most people meeting me for the first time.
"Why Torrence, I didn't realize your brother was so young. I gathered he had graduated from the way Tom described him. He's adorable."
"Cyn," Langford says, "Drew has his degree."
"I can't believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not, Drew took first place in Joynes' workshop while still a freshman."
She looks me over thoughtfully. "You must be an extraordinary young man, Drew. I've never heard Martin speak so highly of a student before."
I can tell I've started to blush. "It was luck."
"Not to hear Tom and Martin tell it. You mustn't be so modest. I'm delighted to meet you at last."
Tor and I go down the hall to Langford's study where Tor hands me a list of references to look up. We've gotten a good start when Langford makes us stop for a drink before dinner, and starts discussing the book, making a few suggestions. When Tor tells him we don't have a mailing address, he immediately tells us to use his office address and he'll forward stuff to us by general delivery at the post office nearest us, if we'll let him know, or he'll hold everything until we come this way again.
Mrs. Langford insists that we spend the night if we don't mind sleeping together, for their guestroom has a double bed. Tor tells her not to worry because we slept together as kids. Once he closes the door behind her, he gives me a raunchy grin.
It's good to relax and sleep late. I guess the work must be getting to Tor as well, for he's still asleep when I wake about nine, and he's the early bird. As soon as we've finished brunch, it's back to the books. Dr. Langford is watching a ball game on TV. Tor doesn't care one way or the other, and I hate football. By the time the game's over, we have all the material we need. With access to a copier, we could be on our way home in half an hour, but there's no way on Thanksgiving.
Tor gets a bit uptight when the Langfords tell us there's another couple joining us for drinks and dinner which makes me glad I insisted we bring something decent to wear, instead of jeans and sweatshirts which have become our uniform.
After we dress and come down, I hear somebody yell, "Drew!" It's Dr. Joynes and his wife. Immediately, he corners me and starts telling me about the problems he's having with some new equipment in his lab. I can't tell him anything without seeing the set-up and he's ready to drag me over there right then, but Mrs. Joynes isn't having it.
"For heaven's sake, Martin, it's Thanksgiving. Can't you stop thinking about those ridiculous pictures for one day?"
"Not when I've got an expert around. But if it'll make you feel any better, we'll do it tomorrow morning."
"I'll make you a deal, Marty," Langford says.
"What?"
"Drew'll probably be glad to help you if you let Torrence use that copier I know you've got hidden in your office."
Joynes grins. "How'd you find out about that? It's a deal."
Dinner is something else. Tor and I eat well enough, but this is the best meal we've had since we left Vince. I'm ashamed of the way I stuff myself, but Tor isn't far behind. Over coffee, Tor tells Joynes about our work on the book and the photos I'm making. I'm really grateful when Joynes offers me several great tips on how to get what I want.
The next morning Joynes gets Tor settled with the copier and we hit the lab. He's justifiably proud of the new microscope with an attached motor driven camera and the latest in lighting technology. It's designed for concentrated light so one can shoot color film at high speed to eliminate blurring when live specimens move, but I have an idea that may be part of the problem. He demonstrates it for me and I'm about to make a comment when he suggests we each shoot a live specimen. Since I'm not familiar with the new equipment, he'll use it while I'll rely on the old stuff I'm used to.
Most of the trouble with making live shots is that the specimen won't stay still in one place long enough for you to be sure you've got the picture. That's why I said the shot I made in his workshop was pure luck, especially since I didn't have a motor drive for my camera at the time. Joynes is watching me the whole time I'm fiddling with the old equipment to get it like I want.
"You won't get anything decent with that junk and you damn well know it. I'm always amazed when I look at that shot you made in the workshop. Nobody's managed to get it since, either. That's why I ruined the departmental budget for this new equipment. I can't see why you don't want to use it."
"I want to run a comparison. If you'll fix two live specimens, I bet I'll get a better shot than you."
"You're on. Say five?"
"Done."
He chortles. "This is going to be the easiest five bucks I ever made. You might as well hand it to me now, Drew."
"No way. This is going to be fair. Pick the specimens you want and be sure they're live."
He comes back in a couple of minutes and holds out two slides. "Take your pick. I don't want you yelling that I cheated you."
I take one and put it under the scope on which I've mounted my camera, then adjust the focus. Joynes is on the other side of the lab cussing to himself, then I hear his camera firing away.
"Hey, smart-ass, you got it yet?"
"Maybe." I keep looking in the eyepiece waiting for the little monster to swim into view. When it does, I get off four shots before it's gone.
"Damn it!" Joynes screams.
"What's wrong?"
"Specimen's dead. Happens every time, like I told you. How's yours?"
"It's going strong. If you want it, I'm through."
He snatches the slide from the scope I was using and I go in the darkroom to run the film. Checking the negatives, I see a couple of the shots look okay. They're the ones I enlarge and print.
Joynes comes in while my prints are in the drier. He wants to see them, but I tell him only after he's printed the ones he took so we can compare. I leave him in the darkroom and lay my prints on a lab table under a light so I can really see them. One of them is good, but the other is better than anything I've gotten in a long time.
Tor comes in while I'm looking at them and jumps up and down. "My God, Drew, that's fantastic! Half my dissertation was on that monster. If I'd had these prints then, I could have gotten by with nothing else. Langford will die when he sees these. Don't you dare let Joynes have that negative."
I flip my prints over when Joynes comes out of the darkroom with a half dozen prints and lays them out. It strikes me that anybody who's taken his course should be able to do as well. I turn over my second best print.
"Damn it, Drew!" Joynes snaps.
"What's wrong?" Tor asks.
"What's wrong? He takes the oldest junk in the lab and comes up with a shot like this, and I get these with ten thousand dollars worth of the latest equipment. It isn't fair."
"That's the lousy shot, Joynes. Here's the good one." I lay it next to the best of his prints.
He flings a fit. He cusses, screams, threatens to throw all the equipment out of the window. Even if I wanted, I doubt I could repeat what he said. It's the most creative swearing I've ever heard. Once he calms down, he asks, "Where did I go wrong, Drew?"
I'd taken a good look at the new equipment while he was in the darkroom. "It's your illuminator. It's good, but did you check out the calibration for use with live specimens?"
"Hell, no. For what it cost, it should be accurate. The manufacturer guaranteed accuracy on delivery."
"Then you'd better get their man to come down and check it out. The photocell may be defective, or maybe the chip in the controller."
"I'll be damned! How'd you know?"
"I don't know for sure, but when I looked at both the slides you used, they were dry. It's cold in here, so the heat had to come from the light source. The stuff I used runs a lot cooler. Once the illuminator on the new scope is working right you'll get some great shots with it."
"Good enough. Now, how about that negative?"
"No way," Tor says. "It's Drew's camera and film; he gave the negative to me."
"I might have known better than try to con the two of you. Make me a dozen prints and I'll forgive you for being better than your teacher, Drew." He hands me a five without another word.
As a way to thank Langford for his hospitality, Tor and I give him an eight by ten of the shot that excited Joynes. Langford's stunned at first, then excited.
"Beautiful! I'll be using this in class. It's superior to anything I've seen except one shot in black and white. You had to have used that new equipment to get this in color."
"I used the old stuff. There's a defect in the new illuminator. That's why Joynes has been having so much trouble with it."
Langford shakes his head. "Now I know why Marty insists you're a genius."
Ever since dinner last night a thought has been running through my mind. Once we're in bed and Tor's relaxed, I mention it.
"Tor, if we've got everything we need from here, could we take the rest of the weekend off?"
"What do you want to do, babe?"
"I got to thinking about Doug and Ted. I haven't seen them since I ran away and they have no idea where I am and all. I'd like to see them. It's not that far."
"Sure we can. You deserve a break. We'll leave early tomorrow morning."
The Langfords want us to stay the whole weekend, but Tor pleads business. So a little after noon I'm back in my old hometown. Nearly six years have made a lot of difference and I get turned around, but at last we're on the right street. Though I was with them only a year, the minute I climb the steps to their house I feel at home. The front door's open, so I walk in.
"Doug, Ted?"
"In the kitchen," I hear Ted call.
Tor follows me back. I stop in the doorway, waiting.
Ted looks up from the pot he's stirring. "Oh, I thought it was someone else. Who did you . . . Andy!" He screams and bounds over to grab me in a hug.
"Oh, Andy, it's been so long. Why didn't you let us hear from you? Doug's at the office. He'll be wild if I don't let him know you're here."
Ted dials a number, yells at Doug to come home immediately, and slams the phone down. That's when he sees Tor leaning against the door facing.
"Who's this gorgeous brute with you, Andy?"
"This is Greg Torrence, Ted."
"I don't know how you got together with Andy, Greg, but you got a prize."
Tor gives him a big grin. "I know I did, Ted. I wouldn't trade him for anybody else in the whole world."
"Does that mean what I hope it means?"
I put my arm around Tor. "Sure does. I'm using the name Torrence now."
"How wonderful for you both."
Ted fixes us a cup of coffee and keeps chattering away as he fixes lunch. He hasn't changed a bit from the way I remembered him.
The minute I see Doug coming through the door, I can see how distinguished looking he's become. His hair is graying at the temples, his face is harder. He looks at Tor and me without recognition.
"What's the emergency, Ted? I would have been home in another half hour at most."
"Can't you see?"
"I see we have guests." He holds out his hand to me since I'm closer and opens his mouth to speak. Instead of taking it, I hug him.
"Don't you remember a loose brick in the back steps?"
"My God! Andy!"
Once he turns me loose, I introduce Tor.
"I'm happy to meet you, Greg. A friend of Andy's is always welcome in this house."
"They're not friends, Doug," Ted says. "They're together."
Doug grabs my left hand and looks at it. "No ring, Andy?" He and Ted have worn wedding rings ever since I've known them.
"Tor doesn't have his left hand, so we compromised." I push back my hair so he can see the ring in my ear. "It means the same to us."
Doug looks sternly at Tor. "I hope you never take that ring from your ear. Andy has needed someone to love him for a long time. If he's chosen you, then you must be worthy of him. I'm asking you for his sake and ours never to let him down."
Tor holds out his hand to Doug. "I promise, Doug. I can be hard to live with at times, but Drew understands. I love him more than anything."
"You've given your word to a judge. I'm going to hold you to it."
I'm more surprised than Tor. "You're a judge?"
"For two years now," Ted says proudly. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"That's great, but how . . . "
"How did one of us become a judge? By doing our job better than anyone else and being discrete in our personal lives, as I'm sure you and Greg must know."
"Lunch is ready," Ted says. "Andy, bring us up on all that's happened since you left us."
I try to remember it all, but there's so much I don't finish until Ted gets up to clear the table. He and Doug praise Tor for making me take my degree. Doug takes Tor in his study while I stay to help Ted with the dishes.
"I know you love Tor very much, Andy, but doesn't his hook bother you?"
I remember then that Ted likes nothing less than perfection. "I don't even think about it, Ted. Besides, I've been hurt, too." I pull up my jeans leg.
Ted drops down in a chair with a stricken look on his face. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't think about it. That's what being with Tor does for me. It doesn't make any difference. Try not to let it upset you too much."
"Oh, darling, you know I won't. It was the shock. What happened?"
I tell him the whole story, leaving out Tor's threats to kill Vince.
"I'm so grateful that you had Greg to help you get away and take care of you."
When we enter Doug's study, Doug and Tor have hit it off, for Tor's relaxed and smiling.
"You must see your home, Andy," Ted says. "After Doug and I had it fixed up, a very nice couple moved in. They keep it and the yard spotless."
"That's right, Andy. I'd quite forgotten." Doug unlocks a drawer in his desk and hands me several legal documents and an account book. "The rent has paid off the mortgage and repaid what we spent renovating the house. It's all yours, free and clear, and you have a small amount in the bank as well. We'll need to discuss what you want to do with the property."
"We like John and Jerry very much, but it would be wonderful to have you and Tor living there." Ted adds.
"We can't do that because of our work." Tor says. "We have a houseboat."
I nod. "Are you still practicing law, Doug?"
"I maintain an office and I have two excellent associates. Why?"
"Then I guess you're my lawyer. Can we let everything go on like it has?"
"Of course. John and Jerry will be relieved, because I had to warn them of the uncertainty of what might happen when you came of age and returned. I reduced the rent a bit for the risk factor, but now I think we might raise it to match current values since you're willing to let them continue on, unless you want to sell it since you and Tor have a home."
"You might ask them if they're interested in buying it, but there's no big rush."
"I know they're interested, because John asked me about it after their business became established. I'll mention it to them later on and let you know."
"Thanks."
"I haven't even shown you your table. It's gorgeous. The refinisher did a wonderful job on it." Ted takes me in the living room.
The wood is smooth and has a silken glow. It's just as beautiful as he said it was.
"Now that you have a home of your own, don't you want to take it?"
I shake my head and turn away a little so Ted won't see the tears in my eyes as I remember all their kindness. When I'm composed, I hug him. "We don't have the room. Besides, I gave it to you and Doug for taking care of me when I had nobody. I wish I could give you both something more for all the rest."
Ted hugs me back. "You were our joy for the time you were here, Andy. I wish it could have lasted. We love you. Anything we did for you is because of that."
"Thanks, Ted."
We rejoin Doug and Tor in the study. "Let me call Jerry and we'll take you over to see the house and have drinks with them." Doug says.
"I'm not sure I want to go. There are too many memories in that house."
"Then it's time you laid them to rest. Ted, call Jerry and tell him we're bringing guests."
I can see from Doug's study window the old fence is gone and it's all one big garden now. Despite the cool weather, flowers are everywhere.
"John and Jerry are landscape architects, Andy." Doug says when I mention the change. "They asked permission to take down the fence and they do both yards now. We're quite fond of them."
The day is unusually mild for the end of November, so we have our drinks and hors d'oeuvres on the patio they've added to the back of the house. They are pleasant, but become a little reserved when Doug tells them I'm their landlord. Jerry insists I must see the inside when he realizes I lived there. All kids have dreams about how they wish the place they live could look, but this goes beyond my wildest imagination. It's impossible to believe I once lived here. They've made it homey and comfortable, but looking as if it came from the pages of a decorating magazine.
While Jerry and I were looking around, Doug and John decided we'll all have dinner together at Doug's. Ted's got the main course cooking, so Jerry will bring the salad and desert.
Tor demolishes everything in sight and I'm not far behind. Two fantastic meals three nights running is a real event for us.
With having to be careful the two nights we spent with the Langfords', Tor's eager for me when we get to bed. It's good to have him so relaxed and loving.
The next afternoon I can tell he's itching to hit the road. It makes me feel bad, because Doug and Ted have gone out of their way for us and argue that it's unfair for us to leave so quickly, but with all the work that's waiting for us, I know it's got to be. We promise them we'll come back for a long weekend visit and keep in touch. I give them Langford's address.
Once we're on the road, I ask Tor what he thinks of Doug and Ted.
"I like them. They were good to you and I felt as much at home there as I ever have anywhere, except on our boat. I almost died when Doug said he was a judge. I was wondering what you'd gotten me into."