Between the Brothers

CHAPTER 11: PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE

There's always a bigger picture at work in everything. What is or before us is not always the story being told. You have to take a step back. When you do relax, take a breath, exhale, and look at everything again, that's usually when you finally see the larger picture. The real story shows up, and it all makes sense. You see all the signs that you missed earlier that were staring you in the face the entire time. The bigger picture always lies in the smaller details.

THREE YEARS EARLIER

It was the summer of my life. I had just graduated high school a few months prior. I was eighteen and looking to have fun one last time before going off to college in the fall. The sun had long down, but that Georgia heat knew no end. We didn't care, though. My family had the entire block lit up like Christmas.

It was my grandmother's 75th birthday, and we were partying hard. Patti LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" was blasting, and my mom and aunts were dancing as they loved to do. Across the way, my uncles, neighbors, and a few cousins were sitting at the table playing a game of spades. My dad was taking all the money. He usually always won.

The food smelled good. Dad was on the grill doing what he did best. There was something about his ribs that always had folks in a chokehold. I remember standing around with a few friends, singing my heart out with them.

We sang," Gitchi gitchi ya-ya here. Mocha chocalata ya-ya. Creole Lady Marmalade."

It was a party for the old folks, but us youngins could appreciate the night as well. I was so deep into the groove and taking photos here and there that I almost didn't hear Jasmine when she asked the question.

"So, are you ever gonna let Benito take you out?"

"Say what? That boy is my friend," I said with a laugh.

"Hmmm," Jasmine rolled her eyes and said, "A friend you been fuckin."

I almost choked on the air. I thought I had done a good job of keeping things with Benito on the low. It was true we had been having sex for months now, but I was trying to play it safe since I was leaving for school. I was going to Boston, and he was going to Miami.

"Cat, got your tongue," she asked with a loud laugh.

"Bitch shut up," I said with a playful snarkiness.

We both laughed. Then, just like out of a movie, when you see that one person in the crowd and music plays, and they move all slow. That's what happened next to me. Luther Vandross's "Bad Boy/Having a Party" started playing, and I saw him. His name was Tyshawn. He was walking alongside Benito with his shirt open, showing those smooth muscles.

Benito was a sexy Latino guy whose family had migrated to America from Mexico years before he was born. He was slender and medium-height, with thick black eyebrows, a slim, smooth vanilla face, and a swimmer's body. He was the sweetest guy ever. Maybe he was too sweet for me.

Tyshawn was a tall, butter-pecan brown dude. He had a low cut with waves as deep as the ocean. His body was gorgeous, and he had a chest tattoo of the pyramids and lips to die for. He had a full-grown beard and was a bad boy with an edge. Benito wasted no time coming over and hugging me.

"You're late," I said as I hugged him.

"Sorry. I had to pick up my homie. This is Tyshawn. Ty, this is Marcus."

Our eyes met, and there was a spark I hadn't ever felt before. I bit my lip on the inside. We shook hands, and his touch drew the freak inside of me out. I felt a little feverish with him.

"I hope it's okay that I'm crashing your fam's party," he said. His voice was almost thunderous. It sent a tingle down to my feet.

With an innocent laugh, I said, "You gotta work for your plate of food."

"Oh," he laughed. "I can put in work if it's good." His mouth said a playful joke, but his eyes said something completely different.

Before I could say anything else, he spotted the card table and excused himself to play some spades. I watched him walk away. He looked equally as good from the back. His ass was tight from the looks of it. I quickly turned and faced Benito.

"How long have you known him," I asked,

"Ty and I have been friends since about 6th grade. He moved away for a bit. He's like family," Benito said with a smile. "Mejor amigo."

"You say that about everyone," I laughed.

"Have you thought any more about us? I'm trying to lock you down, Marcus. I want you to be my boyfriend."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Benito, I thought we agreed. No relationship talk tonight."

"You're right. Tonight, we just have fun," he said.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and we started to dance a little. I felt like someone was watching me. I spun Benito, and I saw that Ty was watching us. I spent the rest of the night stealing glances at Ty. He seemed to be a hit with everyone. He knew just how to charm the room, despite having this edge about him.

The party was over, and the cleaning had started. Most everyone was gone, but Benito and Ty stayed behind to help out. I was standing out back, putting away something my dad had asked me to put up.

"Did I work for my plate, or do I still have a debt," Tyshawn said from behind me.

"I'd say there's still a debt of some sort," I said as I turned around to face him.

He stood there with a sexy smile. His eyes twinkled. It was crazy how smitten I was with him. I had never felt such an attraction before.

"Why are you smiling at me," I asked.

"Damn! I can't smile when I see a sexy dude." He said it with such charisma.

"You think I'm sexy," I asked all coy.

"You know you are," he said seductively.

I took that moment to snap his photo. The flash from the camera damn near blinded him. He quickly slapped his hands over his eyes. I didn't think the flash was going to be that bright.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't think the flash was that bright," I said.

I ran over and removed his hands from his eyes. The second our eyes met, he started to smile. I slowly found myself drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I smiled and shook my head. He was toying with me.

"Kiss me, and I can see again," he said.

"Kiss you. You're playing a dangerous game with me. You just might lose."

He quickly said, "I wouldn't mind if I'm losing to you. Unless you're with Benito."

"Benito," I laughed. "No. I mean, we have sex, If I'm being honest. I like him, but I don't know if I see anything more there. He's your friend, though, so I'm sure you know he wants more."

"Benito always wants more. He's been that way since I've known him, but I'm not gonna lie. As fucked up as it is, if you saying you're fair game, then I'm gonna make a move on you," Tyshawn said with this sexy confidence I hadn't seen before.

"You're a bad boy!"

"I am, but that isn't giving me an answer, Marcus. Are you fair game or not?"

My palms started to feel sweaty. I should have said no. I should have walked away.

For some reason I saw an opportunity to live out a life I thought I'd never have. I saw the chance to have two guys want me, and I couldn't resist the urge to indulge in such a fantasy.

"I'm fair game!"

Tyshawn licked his lips, and then he pulled me into a sensual kiss. His tongue slid into my mouth and down my throat. His hands ran down my backside and onto my ass. I was left speechless and powerless. He was my first taste of a bad boy, and I wanted more of him.

PRESENT DAY

Eric stood there staring at me, waiting for me to finally speak. I stood there frozen with some version of PTSD when it came to these brothers. Part of me wanted to never say a word. I wanted to close my eyes and hope to God that he would just leave.

That was not the case at all. He stayed there. These brothers were like a tragedy for me now. I was the Titanic, and Ryan had been my iceberg. He stopped me in my tracks and threw me off course. Cameron was the Atlantic Ocean. He swallowed me whole and pulled me into the murky depths of the freezing ocean. Now, the question left to answer was who Eric would be. Would he be the water pressure around my sinking ship or maybe a lifeboat?

I trembled and exhaled, "Eric, I swear to Moses if you're about to try and fuck me-"

"Woah," he interjected as he threw his hands up. "No offense there, Marcus, but you don't have the right anatomy to make my cock sing."

Instantly, I started to laugh. He stared at me as if I had somehow gone mad with laughter. I guess my laugh was contagious because he soon joined me in laughter. I had never in all my days been so happy to be rejected.

"How'd you know where to find me," I asked as I finally pulled myself together. I hadn't expected to see anyone from this family ever again. After what had happened last night, it seemed it was in the best interest of everyone to just disappear.

"I figured you'd be ready to skip town after the way things went down with my brothers," he said as he took a seat. He was right about that, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

I took a seat next to him. I lifted my head to the sky. I felt conflicted and lost in my emotions. I could feel Eric's eyes on me the entire time. He seemed to have a genuine concern for me. He was thus far the only sane one in the family, aside from his sister.

I quickly glanced at him, "What did you want to talk about?"

He blew his breath, "My family isn't what most people would consider a normal family. I mean, my mother had kids with two brothers. She didn't tell you that those same two brothers were also madly in love with each other as well," he stated.

I giggled, "Man, this family has more twists and turns than an episode of Scandal. I mean, Olivia Pope herself can't fix this."

"Look, I get it," he began. "My family is different from most, but it's still my family, and I still love them."

"As you should," I agreed. "Why didn't your mother tell me all of this when she told me about her being torn between the two brothers?"

"She didn't know until last night," he sighed, "in a way, you have been this family's reckoning. All our secrets are being forced to come to the surface. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet."

I rolled my eyes in frustration, "What secret have you been harboring?" I knew he had to have been sitting on some sort of secret. It seemed to be a common theme within their family.

"I've known about Gill and Uncle Will since I was 16 years old. I was always the outcast sort of in the family. My mom had my sister. She was her favorite, and Cameron and Ryan were always dad's favorites." As he spoke, I could tell those wounds still ran deep for him. No child ever wants to feel like the black sheep of the family.

I empathized with his hurt, "I'm sorry you felt that way. Cameron said he was the loner in the family." Had Cameron been lying to me about that, I wondered.

He shook his head, "Not originally. It was me. Cameron and Ryan were thick as thieves back then. I would spend my time in the attic just making friends with the shadows on the wall. When I was fifteen, I found the diaries of my dad hidden in the wall. He had detailed descriptions of his affair with his brother. She was Uncle Will's beard. Dad got jealous and put himself right in her path. He wanted to break them up. He later came to develop feelings for her. When Uncle Will died, he got back with Mom because he still wanted to feel close to his true love...his brother."

I took in every word he said. The family dynamics were constantly shifting, it felt. It was one of the most interesting things I had ever experienced. Part of me wanted to judge them and then there was this other part that wanted to just understand more than anything. How were they able to live with so many secrets? It was like no one cared, or maybe they did care, and that's why they kept secrets.

"So, you learn this incredibly scary information as a young kid, and you just sit on it," I asked him. There had to be more that wasn't being said.

"No! It wasn't scary. It was deeply confusing. My dad was very homophobic. He cursed gays all the time. So, I didn't understand. I confronted him as only a young boy could do. He yelled and cursed me for going through his things. He never denied it. He just made me feel bad, and then he sent me away. I was forced to spend a year away at boarding school."

"Holy shit," I exclaimed.

"Yeah. When I came back, the entire family was different. Cam and Ryan weren't close anymore. Instead, they had this unhealthy obsession with competing with one another. Cam had a deep dislike of Gill. Mom just seemed unbothered by it all. The only person who was still the same was my sister."

"Any idea what happened," I asked. My interest had been piqued. Maybe I should have let it all go, but I couldn't. I totally wanted to understand it all.

"Not really. Cameron never talked about it. He became a loner. He distanced himself pretty much from the family. Anytime he was forced to attend an event or take a picture, he never looked happy. He always looked miserable."

"Eric, you ever stopped and thought that maybe he was miserable. Maybe something had or was happening to him that just fundamentally changed him at his core."

He mulled over what I was saying and replied, "I suppose that's a possibility. I just wished he would have said something if that's the case."

"Maybe sometimes things happen to us that we don't know how to discuss or talk about it with other people." My response felt triggered almost.

"Anyway," he sighed in frustration. "With all of that being said, I wanted to point out that my brothers are competitive because something made them that way. You, Marcus, I don't understand. I don't understand why you allowed yourself to become the person caught in the middle. You could have ended it all by just making a choice. Why are you so reluctant to make a choice between the two? What's your secret?"

Shocked, I asked, "My secret? What the hell are you talking about? You have me all the way confused with your family, Eric. Now, you were doing good. Why are you fucking with me?"

"Because I'm trying to figure out how you came into the picture and flipped my family on its head," he shouted. "My brothers are fighting. You were having anxiety attacks. What's your deal?"

With a stern voice, I uttered through gritted teeth, "Drop it, Eric!"

"Why?" He was determined to find out whatever he could from me.

"Because this isn't your fuckin' fight, dude," I yelled as I jumped up from my seat.

He looked around nervously. Guess he wanted to make sure that no one was paying us any attention. Everyone was watching us. They were locked in as if they were watching their favorite Netflix series.

"Look, I'm not trying to upset you. I'm just trying to figure this out. These are my brothers we're talking about. I love them, and I would do anything for them, Marcus. Help me to understand," he pleaded.

"I can't help you," I told him as I turned to walk away. There was nothing left for us to discuss. I need to just get on with my life.

He grabbed my arm, and I spun around. He asked, "Why did you space out when Cameron mentioned Russian Roulette to you?"

There was that phrase again. Just like when Cameron mentioned it, my body went numb. I slowly moved back away from Eric. My energy shifted on a cosmic level. This coldness started to creep in, and dread washed over my body. I felt the world slip from underneath me. I finally understood it. It all finally clicked. I understood why my anxiety had come back, why I had this spark with Cameron, and why I couldn't or wouldn't make a choice.

Eric gently said, "I can see it in your eyes. What are you hiding, Marcus? You can tell me. Maybe we can help each other."

I could suddenly see it so clearly. The events of that day played over in my mind. I had worked so hard to move past it, and here I was about to go down that old road again. I had no choice, but if I wanted to see the bigger picture, I had to go back there.

"I lied when I said to Ryan and Cameron that this was new to me. I've been the guy in the middle before. Only then I was in between two friends. Story of my life it seems," I said.

THREE YEARS EARLIER

I was standing in the archway between the kitchen and living room with Benito. I pulled Benito into a passionate kiss. His lips were perfect and sweet to taste. We lost ourselves in the kiss as usual. He quickly pulled my shirt off. I attacked his neck, sucking on his skin as if I were a vampire and he was mine to sire.

I turned him around and pushed his face against the wall. I pressed myself against his backside, and he began to slowly grind his ass back against my pelvis. He wrapped his hand around my neck and let out that sexy moan of his that I always loved to hear.

"hazme el amor," he said.

I turned him around. We were both breathing hard. I gazed upon his beautiful face and into his dark eyes. Benito was a good guy with a big heart and a beautiful soul.

I ran my fingers through his short hair and said, "lo que quieras." My Spanish wasn't the best, but I loved being able to say the most endearing things to him in his native language.

He got on his knees and pulled my sweats down. My gorgeous thick black cock flopped out as he bit his lips as he stared at it. He took it into his tender hands and began to slowly stroke it. I was already erect, but his touch always made me harder.

He ran his long tongue up the length of my shaft, and then he took my dick into his mouth. He moved up and down on it. I grabbed the back of his head and began to fuck his mouth and throat. He used his mouth to massage my dick.

"Oh fuck, B," I moaned.

"Take me to your bedroom," he said as he pulled my dick from his mouth.

He stood up, and we kissed again. As we were kissing, he caressed my cock with his hands. We smiled at one another, and he pulled me by my dick to my bedroom. Without fail, Benito would come over when my mom was at work, and we would fuck our brains out.

The second we were in the bedroom, I pushed him face-first down on the bed. I snatched his shorts and underwear off. He had a plump and juicy ass that begged for my tongue. I slapped his ass cheeks, and they turned red.

"Eat my ass, Marcus. Eat me good," he said as he looked back at me.

I spread his globes and revealed his brown rosebud. It winked at me, and I dug my tongue inside of his sweet boy pussy. He made his ass shake in my face. As I ate him out, I took his throbbing cock into my hand and jerked his overly thick uncut cock. He let out a deep moan when I pushed a finger in his hole.

His dick twitched in my fist. His hole opened slightly, and my tongue slid inside his warm oven. He made the softest and sweetest moans ever. I could stay buried in his ass forever. It was like eating hot apple pie. His cock started to leak his sweet juice all over my hand.

I slowly slid into his hot ass inch by inch. His hole opened and wrapped itself around my dick. He moaned as he took every inch. I buried myself balls deep in his anus and began to move my dick in and out of him. As I started to fuck his juicy ass, he let out these growls deep from his stomach.

"Oh fuck," he screamed out.

His fat cheeks clapped as I drove my dick deep into his guts. I fucked him hard and fast. His insides gripped my cock and took me on a journey. I pounded him deeper. We both moaned louder. I pulled my fat cock out and rolled him onto his back. I slammed my dick into him without mercy and snatched it out.

I growled, "Fuck! Benito, this ass is so good."

"Fuck me," he smiled.

I plowed my cock back into his hotness and fucked him into the bed. His hard dick swayed back and forth. His big balls bounced. I pushed his legs towards the back of his head and fucked him faster and harder. I plowed him like the slut he loved to be.

I pulled him to the edge of the bed so that his fat ass cheeks could hang off of it. I slapped them one time, and then I plowed his pussy. I slowed my strokes down and gently rocked my body back and forth. My cock eased in and out of him. He dug his nails into my arms, and that turned me on even more.