The Guy With the Suitcase (Once Upon a Guy #1) (13 page)

He paid the fare for the subway and sat down in an almost empty train. He took his book out of his suitcase and started reading, trying not to think of innocence lost and of devilish mothers finding salvation. It was going to be a long night. Thank goodness it was a long book.

The next day, Rafe couldn’t get Pierce out of his mind. Not that he had been able to while whipping and tying up the naughty teacher that had picked him up. He didn’t do kink, but for the extra cash he had charged him, he wouldn’t mind adding it to his services. $120 for a night was more than he’d made since he started indulging in this dangerous profession.

He subconsciously went through all the places he’d met Pierce. He walked through Central Park and then the cafe he’d taken him after the attack. When he realized he was standing at the very alley the
cholos
had pulled him down, he accepted the fact that he wasn’t ready to let Pierce go so easily. He went to the hostel he knew Pierce preferred to stay and asked if he had been around, but they told him he hadn’t turned up in weeks. Rafe was worried. He wished he had asked where Pierce’s job was so that he could check there as well, if he still worked there.

He met Marissa for their customary hot drink and pizza slice at four. He had only found the guts to go back to Mario’s and apologize to his friend a week after he had been kicked out of his family house. Marissa had taken him back in. He didn’t even need to explain. She did want to go and kick his father’s ass, however, when he told her what happened. They were back to besties in a matter of seconds.

When it got to 5, he headed off, wanting to get an early start. The last couple of weeks he’d managed to do two clients in a few nights. With the light going out so early in the day, men got horny much earlier and he managed to fit in an evening client before a midnighter. There had been nights when he had had no one, but he was doing good all in all.

He got there a little before 6 and waited for the guys to start driving by. At half past six, an old man in a Porsche stopped in front of Rafe and he was already calculating how much to raise his price for such a…prestigious man.

“Hello, sexy. What’s your name?” Rafe smiled as soon as the window had rolled down.

“Rafe, can we talk?” someone said behind him and Rafe recognized the raspy voice. Pierce appeared from the shadows, his face pinker than he remembered it and his eyes looking at Rafe’s chest rather than his eyes.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Rafe snapped, biting his lips. He’d missed Pierce and his company. But he’d be damned if he let such a venomous man back in his life.

“Why are you doing this?” Pierce asked. He was now standing at the end of the sidewalk, a car away from Rafe.

Rafe shrugged. “Got to make a living somehow, don’t I? Not everyone can walk into a bar and get a job”. He turned to the old man again.

“Have you even tried it?” Pierce insisted. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

Rafe took some steps closer to Pierce, forgetting the senior in the car. This man had the ability to infuriate him and weaken his knees at the same time. Right now, the former was winning. “What
do
you mean, Pierce?”

He took a moment before he answered. “I—I care about you,” he mumbled.

Knees were about to give up on him, but he let the infuriating part take over before he showed how easy he was. “A man who cares about someone else lets them explain why they thought leaving home was the best option for them. Not judge them before they can explain why they felt that way,” he hissed, not wanting to turn heads in the darkness.

“Tell me,” Pierce begged. It was a little louder than a whisper. It was a plea. It was desperate.

“It’s too late now,” Rafe pushed the warmth in his heart deeper inside and stood strong. That man was poison for him. He couldn’t let himself be sucked back in.

He turned and opened the door to the old man’s car. They could discuss details on the ride back to his place. Before he managed to take the seat, a hand pulled him back gently and Pierce closed the door.

“I’m sorry, old man, he’s taken for the night,” he told the driver.

“Whatever,” he said and drove to the next rentboy.

Rafe protested. He was losing money. He was losing his reputation. He wanted to punch Pierce. He told him all these things.

“Rafe, I’m sorry I was such a dick. It’s what happens when I open my mouth. So I’m gonna shut it and let you tell me about you, hoping you can forgive me, because frankly? I can’t imagine not talking to you ever again,” Pierce said and waited for Rafe’s response.

Rafe couldn’t believe that a guy like him wanted Rafe’s friendship. Pierce was poison, but if poison tasted so sweet, to hell with antidotes.

They walked down the road, taking a left and finding a Chinese restaurant to sit in. Rafe only ordered a side of spring rolls and a glass of water. Pierce ordered juice for both of them and a main of rice noodles to share.

And finally Rafe let go of all the resentment about Pierce that had crept up in him and let the charming, toxic guy win him over with a nice dinner night. Which he’d be damned if he paid for.

Pierce told him about his job and his colleagues and how excited he was, but how empty his routine was without a Rafe to save from gangs. Rafe chuckled even though it was hardly a joke and hardly funny. When he finished his brief update he gave the mic over to Rafe.

“So can you tell this idiot why you left home?”

The noodles came that very moment, giving Rafe time to think how and where to start the story from. When the waitress left, he was ready. He just didn’t know how ready Pierce was for it.

“My dad was always abusive. He always bullied me. Called me names. Nothing I ever did ever pleased him. I was always bullied at school, too. I only had a couple of friends, but mainly I kept to myself, which only gave fuel to the fire. I was the school faggot, the sissy, the cocksucker. That’s what they called me,” he said. Pierce’s eyes were glued on Rafe’s, his hands crossed in front of his mouth.

“The only nice person in my life was my
mamacita
. But my dad beat her and she couldn’t do a lot for me. She tried, though. God, she tried. And then, I found someone else who liked me. Some boy in my neighborhood, who at first I thought was another, more dangerous, bully. But he turned out to be hopelessly in love with me and you know…what else does a gay teenager with no friends and no support want? So I let him love me. He was only a year older than me and he seemed experienced, but I didn’t care about these things. I cared for his kisses and his hugs. And then I let him in. I lost my virginity to him and didn’t even bat an eye about it. I wanted to do it and I did it.

“But after the night we spent together at his place when his parents were out, he disappeared. I started worrying. I thought that’s all he ever wanted from me. I even thought he slept with me to win a bet. Then, two weeks later, he turned up, texted me, and asked to meet up. I wasn’t sure about meeting him. I thought he’d betrayed me. But I did want to find out why he’d disappeared. So I met him at his house. And he told me why. He found he was HIV positive. And he was afraid he had passed it on to me.”
 

Rafe paused to take a bite and inspect Pierce. He was waiting for the story to go on. He hadn’t taken a single bite of the noodles or a sip of his juice.

“I went through all the exams and the crap and waited for the results. I was certain I didn’t have anything. I didn’t feel different. I didn’t think my first time would actually screw me up so badly. But I had the fear. What if? And two weeks later the results were in, and I was positive.”
 

Rafe, again, examined Pierce’s face, who tried to show his compassion by pursing his lips and wrinkling his forehead.

“I told my parents. I didn’t know how else I could afford the medication. So I had to tell them two things. That I was gay, and that I had HIV. How cliché was I?
 

“Turns out, a lot. My dad started beating me up. When my mom tried to stop him, he beat her up. He didn’t want anything to do with my sicknesses. Both of them. He blanked me out. Didn’t talk to me anymore. Just beat me up if I tried to go out. Until I got a very bad cough and I was homebound. My mother stayed home to look after me. When my dad came back she asked him for money for a cough syrup. My dad went ballistic, beating my mom, me, throwing stuff across the room. He said he’d go to hell before paying for my fix. He was crazy. He didn’t know what he was talking about. And the more we tried to reason with him, the more violent he became. He broke my mom’s nose. He punched me in the eye. I just knew I couldn’t be in there with him anymore. I was only making things worse for my mom. So I ran. To keep my mom and myself safe,” Rafe finished and took a gulp of his juice.

Pierce was silent. He didn’t know what to say.

“That’s my story,” Rafe said.

Pierce shook his head and blinked several times. He rubbed his eyes. “Wow! So what are you doing now? Are you taking your meds?”

Rafe laughed. When other patrons turned staring at him he tried to stop but snorted like a pig.

“I’m homeless, Pierce. I’m lucky if I make fifty bucks from a fuck. And my meds cost almost two thousand. How on earth do you think I could be on my meds? I’ve managed to buy them a couple times, but they only last a month. I made them last two. But they don’t work that way. You need them every day. Every month.”

Pierce nodded. “There must be some charity or someone that helps people with HIV,” he said, and Rafe snorted again.

“Yeah, and we both know what kind of charities and places New York City has. If I wait for them to help me, I’ll die first,” he said.

“We’ll find a way. I’ll help you.
I’ll
find a way,” Pierce said and reached for Rafe’s hand across the table.

Little spiders crawled up his arm and his heart pumped louder. This man, this guy! Perhaps he wasn’t as poisonous as he thought. Now if he could convince his body the same before he collapsed from all the reactions Pierce’s touch caused to his skin, the night would be a dream.

From that day on, Pierce and Rafe didn’t lose sight of each other again. Wherever they went, they went together. Sleeping in subway cars, next to each other, using Pierce’s jacket as a made-up blanket for them both. Using their spare change to browse the internet and to find a solution to Rafe’s problem, or simply walking without purpose and talking endlessly about themselves.

Of course, Pierce wouldn’t let Rafe rent his body again, something which stressed Rafe, he’d said, as he had grown so used to earning money for his meds that way. Between the two of them, they had a little over two thousand dollars, and could afford one month of Rafe’s medication, but they needed to find a more permanent fix to the problem.

On their second day living as conjoined twins, Rafe took him downtown to a place called Mario’s Pizza where they were greeted by the smell of dough and herbs and a warm hug by the owner’s wife, Sonia, who not only gave them both a wide smile but a free drink too.

“She’s a really nice lady. She gives us a free slice and a drink every day,” Rafe told Pierce once they were both sat down on one of the tables.

Rafe pulled a third chair to their table and kept looking at the door, waiting for his friend to arrive. Pierce couldn’t believe this place even existed. He wished he’d known about it sooner, when he was starving and went days without proper food. It didn’t look particularly busy either, so he was astounded to find out they were so generous with the services they provided. He wanted to do something good for Sonia and her big heart.

Five minutes later, the doorbell chimed and in walked a girl. She was short and a bit on the plus-sized side, wearing black clothes and dark make-up, she took a seat between Rafe and Pierce and his friend introduced her as Marissa.

She was a shy girl, for all her intimidating appearance, but Rafe felt at home around her, and Pierce was beginning to realize there was nothing sweeter than seeing Rafe happy. Even if it was feeble and temporary.

Soon after Marissa sat down, Sonia approached them to take their order and Pierce had already made up his mind. Tonight’s dinner was on him. Not so much for Rafe and Marissa, as for Sonia and what she did for people like them.