His Salvation

Chapter Five

I continued to date Leo for the next two months. We saw each other two or three times a week. We continued to have s*x, but it wasn't very satisfying. He always finished pretty quickly and then made no effort to take care of my needs.

He also didn't like my pets and that upset me more than the not-so-great s*x. I really didn't see a future in us beyond what we were now. I wondered if I should just go ahead and break up with him.

Moose would know what I should do. He always gave me good advice. As I pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, I realized that I hadn't heard from my pen pal in over two months. I wrote him two months ago when I started dating Leo and I never heard back from him. 

I looked at the calendar. He was supposed to be released in less than a month. Maybe he was preoccupied because of that. I hoped that it wasn't trouble or anything bad. I hoped that I didn't do anything to make him mad at me.

Dear Moose,

It's been a couple of months since I've heard from you. I hope you are okay.

I guess this will be the last letter you receive from me before you get out. I just want to tell you that I know that you are a good person at heart. I hope that you remember this as you begin the next chapter of your life.

I really hope you will still keep in touch with me.

If you are ever on this side of the state, look me up if you get a chance.

I will always be your friend.

Danny

I ended up not breaking up with Leo. I think I was being too critical of him and being too picky. He was a nice guy. I just needed to give him a little more time.

Before I knew it, Winter turned to Spring, and Spring turned to Summer.

I was sitting in my recliner one evening in June reading the latest Stephen King novel. I heard a loud rumbling. I peeked outside to see an old, rusty, beat-up pickup truck pull in front of the house.

 I couldn't see who was in it and they didn't make any move to get out. I shrugged and set my book down. I got up to start dinner. Leo would be coming over after he finished working.

I grabbed a few onions and bell peppers and began chopping them up. I was making sausage and pepper sandwiches, one of Leo's favorites. I opened up the pantry and got the canned tomatoes and all of the other things I needed. I was busy chopping a clove of garlic when the doorbell rang.

Bandit and Harley ran to the front door and started barking like crazy.

I set the knife on the counter and washed my hands and dried them off with the towel.

"Okay, guys. Get back," I told my mutts.

Once I got them out of the way, I opened the front door to see the back of a giant man stepping off the porch onto the sidewalk. I stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind me to keep the dogs in.

"Hi," I said. "Can I help you?"

He turned around and looked at me for a second then walked back onto the porch.

He was big. Tall and large, with a bit of a belly. He had shaggy black hair and a big bushy beard. He was wearing a green flannel shirt, dirty-looking jeans, and work boots. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at me nervously.

"Hi, Danny."

His voice was very deep and a little gravelly.

I looked back into his brown eyes and stared for a second. "Moose?"

He nodded. I laughed and jumped and hugged him tightly. He let me hold onto him for a moment and then he brought his arms around me and nervously patted my back.

"I'm so glad to see you," I said. "I have been wondering for months what happened to you. Oh, please come in!"

I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house and shut the door.

Bandit and Harley jumped all over him and he squatted down and let them sniff him. He then pet both of them and scratched their heads. Bandit licked his face and he laughed and wiped the drool off with the back of his hand and stood back up.

"Sorry about that," I said with a big smile.

"No problem. I like dogs."

I dragged him to the living room and I sat down on the couch. Harley became bored and went and laid on his doggy bed. Bandit ran back and forth in front of the couch wanting some attention. I told him to go lay down and reluctantly settled down at my feet.

"I can't believe I'm finally meeting you! What are you doing here?" I asked Moose. "How long are you in town for?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking of moving here. I guess I'll see how the job market is first."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to find something. It's not too bad here."

"It's hard to find a decent job."

He didn't say it, but I knew why.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. It's mine."

"Where are you staying?"

"There's an extended stay motel by the highway."

"Oh, yeah. I know where that is."

He looked past me at the framed picture on the side table. It was a photo of Leo and me taken on Valentine's Day.

"Is that your boyfriend?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's Leo."

"He treat you good?"

I swallowed nervously and then lied. "Yeah."

He looked at me for a moment, staring into my eyes. I felt like he could see right through me and I turned my eyes away from him.

We sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Aren't you scared of me?" he asked quietly.

"No. Of course not."

"I'm an ex-con. You just invited me into your home. I could rob you. Or rape you. Or worse."

"You wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you. You wouldn't hurt me. You're a good person."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. I wish you could forgive yourself. You paid your debt. Now you need to move on."

"I killed my best friend," he whispered. "There's no forgiveness for that."

I looked him right in the eyes.

"I forgive you," I whispered back.

He closed his eyes and tears poured down his cheeks and he began to sob. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled his big head to my shoulder and cried with him. After a few minutes, his cries subsided and he sniffled and cleared his throat. I let go of him as he sat up and I reached and got a tissue for him and one for me.

"You feel better?" I asked as I wiped my nose.

"Yeah. I do actually," he said with a mirthless chuckle.

He blew his nose and then stuffed the tissue in his pocket.

"You want some water? Or something else to drink?" I asked.

"Water is fine."

I got up and went to the kitchen. I tossed the veggies that I chopped earlier into a ziplock bag and put them in the fridge. I got both of us a glass of water and returned to the living room and sat down next to Moose.

"Here you go," I said as I handed him the glass.

We sipped our water quietly and I looked him over. He looked a bit of a mess, but if he cleaned up, I bet he'd be really handsome.

"You know what you need?" I said. "A trim."

"Hmm?"

"Your beard. You can't go on job interviews looking like Hagrid from Harry Potter."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind," I chuckled. "Come on."

I stood up and waited for him. "Come on."

He shook his head. "You don't have to..."

"No, it's no problem. Please let me do this for you. I won't mess it up. I promise. I trim myself regularly. See?"

I ran my hand over my thin beard and stroked my chin and smiled.

He got up and followed me into the bathroom. I got a big bath towel and my beard trimmer and scissors. He followed me into the kitchen and I set everything on the kitchen table.

"Okay, Moose. Sit down," I said. "Maybe you should take off your shirt. I don't want to get hair all over you."

He unbuttoned his flannel shirt and laid it down on the table. He was wearing a ratty wife beater underneath. He had a big barrel chest and his stomach stretched the tank top a little bit. He had several tattoos on both of his arms. I could see his dark curly chest hair spilling out over the neck of his tank top.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. I felt my d**k start to expand in my jeans and I was very glad that my t-shirt was hanging low enough to cover my crotch. I looked into his eyes and saw that he was staring at me. I got flustered and dropped the scissors on the floor. I cleared my throat and picked them up and he pulled out a chair and sat down.

I draped the towel around him so that he wouldn't get covered in hair. I took the scissors and began cutting off big chunks of his beard. Being this close to him made my d**k start to leak.

"You smell good," I whispered.

He chuckled. "That's the free shower gel and shampoo from the motel."

I smelled the clean scent of the shampoo and soap, but it was more than that. He had a musky, manly smell that was doing things to me that I've never felt before.

 I just smiled at him and kept cutting until I got down to a point where I could use the beard trimmer. I adjusted the guard to a quarter-inch length and turned it on. I slowly moved up and across his beard with the trimmer.

"You're looking better already," I said. "Lift up your chin."

I took off the guard and then cleaned up under his neck. I held his face in my hands and moved him so he was looking straight ahead. His freshly trimmed beard tickled my fingers. His skin was warm. I felt the jolts travel through my arms and straight to my groin. My d**k pulsed and leaked another blob of pre-come into my briefs.

He stared into my face as I lined up my fingers on either cheek. I ran the trimmer up his cheeks and shaped up the top of his beard. I put my fingers on his face and checked the symmetry.

"Perfect," I said with a smile.

He looked up at my face.

"That felt nice, Danny. Thank you. Can you cut my hair, too?"

"Oh, no, you should go to a professional for that. Unless you want a buzz cut."

"Go ahead. Buzz it all off."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry. If you f**k it up, it'll grow back."

We both laughed and I said, "Okay. Last chance to back out... Here goes..."

I grabbed the scissors and began cutting off his hair. Once I got it cut down, I set the guard back to a quarter inch and began buzzing. I took off the guard and shaped up the sides and over his ears. I took off the towel and shook it off and smoothed down the back of his neck with my hand. I turned on the trimmer and neatened up his neckline and cleaned up the hair on the back of his neck.

I wiped his neck with the towel. I could see the top of a tattoo on his back and I used my index finger and pulled the tank top away slightly to look at it. He had KELLOGG, his last name, spelled in Old English script curved across the top of his back.

"You like that?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I said. My voice quivered and I quickly let go of his shirt.

"I saw you looking at my ink earlier. Maybe someday I'll tell you about them."

"Okay," I said. I cleared my throat. "You're all done. Come on. Come check it out."

He followed me into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. He ran his hand over his beard and his head.

"Christ. I look like a different person."

"You look really good."

He did. His beard and hair were nicely shaped up. You could see his mouth better. His lips were red and full. Even his eyes stood out more.

"You should probably get a pro to do your hair next time," I said. "But this will work for now."

"You did good, Danny."

We stared at each other through the mirror for a few more seconds. His eyes started to glaze over and I saw the tears pooling.

"Why are you so nice to me?" he whispered.

"Because you deserve it."

He drew in a deep breath and then let it go. Then he grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. I melted into his arms and laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes and held onto him. I could feel his beard tickling my neck. His lips brushed the side of my neck. I realized how tall he was then as we held each other. He had to be about 6'4".

I was feeling things for Moose that I didn't feel with Leo. I really liked Moose as a friend from his letters, but standing here with me, in his arms, I realized that I liked him a whole lot more than that.

God, I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to make love to me.

I felt something stir and push into my stomach. I drew in a sharp ragged breath when I realized that it was his d**k. Moose realized what was happening at the same time and he quickly pulled back from me.

He wouldn't look me in the eye as we walked back into the kitchen.

"Can I get some more water?" he asked.

"Of course."

While he filled his glass, I went and got the broom and dustpan and swept up the hair clippings in the kitchen. He helped me sweep the hair up into the dustpan and I dumped it into the trash.

"Well, I should get going," he said.

"You're not going to stay for dinner?"

I looked up at the clock and realized that Leo was on his way.

"Leo is coming over for dinner," I added. "He should be here any minute. You can meet him."

"No, I should--"

Leo tapped on the front door as he opened it.

"Danno?" he called out.

"In the kitchen, Leo."

Leo walked in and stiffened when he saw Moose. "Who's this?" he asked.

"Leo, this is Moose. My pen pal."