Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Unca Dame,” Hailey cooed, raising her arms to me as my sister slipped back upstairs. She always had trouble pronouncing my name, but I found it endearing.
“Come up here and tell me if you like my new bed.” I picked her up and set her down on the mattress. She could be a little daredevil, so I made sure to keep my hand on her waist to steady her as she walked across the firm surface.
“No jumpin’?” she asked, pouting. She’d loved using the air mattress as a trampoline.
“Not anymore, sorry,” I replied as she used her best impression of puppy-dog eyes. “How about we go play?”
Her eyes lit up as I placed her back on solid ground. She held on to my pinky finger as I followed her painstakingly slowly up the steep stairs. No way she’d let me help with the big-girl steps.
We spent the next couple of hours playing with dolls and blocks and puzzles, and by the time Bree got home, I’d had my fill and totally got why Bree always looked exhausted. Kids were definitely hard work, but having that smile directed at me was everything. The little bugger could get away with murder.
After I helped bring in the groceries, I jumped in the shower and got ready for a long night at the Playground. At least I’d be able to crash on that new mattress after my shift. I gave my bed one last longing look before heading to my clunker in the driveway. Hopefully the alternator wouldn’t give out again tonight.
3
Jesse
I wasn’t ready for the rain to hit Portland. I loved the city, the vibrancy of it. Portland was alive and weird, which hey, I’d been told I was a little weird too, so we sort of fit, but sometimes the rainy season got to me. For now, the end of August was still giving me summer vibes, and I was living for it.
I did one more look-over of my makeup—pink gloss on my lips, which was my fave, and smoky eyes. I had all my jewelry in—the hoop in my nose, fake diamonds in my ears, the tragus piercing and the cuff at the top of my left ear. Then I was heading toward the door.
“Have fun!” Seth called out to me as he sat in front of his piano. He’d been playing all his life, and he did it to relax fairly often. Poor kid couldn’t get into the bars yet.
“I will. You staying in with Netflix?” I asked, and he nodded. “You have fun too.”
I was out the door and on my way to the Playground. I had to take the bus. Seth always offered me his car, but I never took it—one of those quirky things about myself. When I went home for the night, I either cleaned the makeup off my face or I took a car service, because even though Portland was a liberal city, it just wasn’t always safe for a guy with a face painted in makeup to ride home alone at night—sad, but true. Taking a car wasn’t always cheap, though, so more often than not it was the bus.
There was a little bit of everyone on the ride there, which was one of the things I loved about the city. Everyone in the small town I grew up in had all been the same. If you were different, you were other, and they didn’t do well with other. Obviously, I was other.
I spent the first ten minutes talking to an elderly woman, who chatted about my makeup and how much she liked it before she got off, and then I talked with this African American guy, who was in college for political science and seemed way too smart for me, but totally cool.
Even though I was cautious riding home at night by myself, one of my favorite things about Portland was how open and friendly it was. We were one of the few major cities without a gayborhood because we really didn’t need one. The whole damn city was pretty damn gay, and since I was really fucking gay, it was like heaven.
The Playground was on NW 3rd St., but you went inside through a door down a cobblestone walkway on the side of the building. As soon as I approached, I could hear the music going inside.
“What’s up, man?” I said to the bouncer at the door. He was a huge, muscular guy with a purple Mohawk. He was like a teddy bear, but I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side, because he definitely didn’t screw around when it came to protecting people.
“Hey, kid. Looking good.”
“Thank you.” I curtsied, then winked and slipped inside. If I’d kept going past the door, there was an outdoor patio area with another bar, tables, and chairs. It would be closed soon because of the weather, but it was popular during the summer.