Gay Daddies

A Present for Daddy-7

The waitress brings another beer for me, but Dave still nurses his first mug. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out after Jenna’s gone to bed. The beer buzzes through my system, threatening to make me maudlin, but I don’t want to dwell on Julia tonight. It’s just me and an old friend, and I want to keep it that way.

“What about you?” I ask at one point. “Who all have you been hanging out with since I last saw you?”

Dave finishes off the fries and flags down the waitress for a second plate. “No one much. Kept busy with school, you know, then work. Now that stupid bear thing at the mall. I haven’t really made time for a serious relationship.”

“Why not? You’re a good-looking guy.”

He gives a sardonic look. “I work at the mall.”

I shrug. “So? It’s a job. It’s more than I have at this point. Haven’t you ever been interested—”

“Oh, sure,” he says, cutting me off. “I’m not celibate. I mean, I’ve had dates. I’ve had sex.”

I laugh, relieved. “Thank God. If you tried telling me you were still a virgin, I wouldn’t believe it.”

I think back to high school and try to remember anyone Dave might have been interested in back then. Before senior year—before Julia—Dave and I were best buds. Wherever one went, the other was close behind. There’d been a disastrous double date once, for our junior year ring dance, but I doubt that ever panned out into anything later. We went stag to most of the school dances, the football games, anything social. We hung out together until Julia wedged herself between us.

Senior prom, I took Julia. Who did Dave ask? “What about Dana what’s her face? That girl at prom? God, what was her last name?”

“Patton,” he says. “We went out a few times after graduation…”

I grin. “I hear a but coming.”

With a laugh, he downs the dregs of his first mug of beer. “But she’s a lesbian.”

“What?!” I snicker into my beer, snorting foamy booze from my nose all over the table. Suddenly I can’t breathe, it’s just too funny. “Serious? No way.”

He uses his napkin to mop up the mess I’ve made. “Scout’s honor. She’s living in D.C. now with the daughter of a Republican congressman. No lie!” he hurries to add as I laugh harder. “I get a Christmas card every so often. Last year she was like, ‘we’re moving to Massachusetts to get married.’ There was a photo of the two of them with NOH8 written on their cheeks and duct tape across their mouths.”

I give him an odd look. “Is that like a thing now? What’s up with that?”

He doesn’t meet my gaze, but focuses on cleaning up the spilt beer, then tosses the wet napkin onto the now empty chili fries plate. “It’s like a gay pride thing. I don’t really know…”

For a moment, there’s an awkward silence between us. I want to press for details, ask how he knows about it, but I don’t. Instead, I try a different approach. “So there’s never been anyone else since? Haven’t you ever been in love?”

“Oh, yeah,” he says, dismissive. “Once. I just didn’t do anything about it.”

“Why not?” I want to know.

He shrugs and still won’t quite look at me. “I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

Before I can ask for details—who, what, when, the whole 411—the waitress returns and says, “Sorry, shug. No more fries this late. We close in fifteen.” She eyes our mugs. “One more for the road?”

Dave shakes his head. “Just the check, please.”

“Let me get this.” I fumble for my wallet.

But a pair of twenty dollar bills has appeared in his hands as if by magic. “No, man. This is my treat.”

Almost gratefully, I down the last of my beer. I don’t have much money to my name at the moment, so I’m glad he’s picking up the bill. Still, I tell him, “Well, the next one’s on me.”

His smile widens, lighting his face. “You staying in town for a while?”

Quickly, I outline my plans. Start working after New Year’s, find a small house for Jenna and myself, try to make a fresh start. “Sign those divorce papers,” I add. “That’s first. Get that monkey off my back.”

“Hey, listen,” Dave says, as if this just occurred to him. “Do you want to come back to my place for a little bit? I got some beer in the fridge, some oven fries in the freezer. No chili, but we can pig out in front of the TV or something. What d’ya think?”

I should get back to my parents’ house, but I’ve had a good night so far. I’d forgotten just how much Dave used to mean to me, how close we once were. Now that we’ve caught up with each other again, it feels like my life has folded in on itself—yesterday I was nineteen and carefree, hanging out with my best bud, the future still ahead of me. No wife, no children, no pending divorce. Just two guys with the whole world at their feet.

I nod slowly, warming to the idea of being my own man again. Being single, being with Dave. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do it.”

Dave beams like he’s about to open Christmas presents. “All right!”