The following morning (Saturday), I return to the play space to do a little cleanup. I find a note has been pushed beneath the door.
Jake and guys,
it begins.
Thank you for being so welcoming to me last night. You guys are terrific! Jake, can you give me a call some time? I'd like some advice about what I'm going to do next. Thanks, C.J.
followed by your phone number.
I immediately send you a text, figuring that I don't want to call in the middle of a fight with Jenny. You respond by text about ten minutes later, just as I'm finishing cleaning the bathroom. You ask if you can see me, and I invite you to drop by.
I meet you at the door with a hug. You look like someone who didn't get much sleep. We sit on one of the couches.
"How are you holding up?" I ask, tentatively.
"I'm fine, considering," you reply. "Jenny had already packed all of my clothing into garbage bags by the time I got home. I don't have a lot of other stuff in the apartment, since she was already living there when I moved in."
"Well, that's something," I say. "At least you won't have to hire movers."
"No," you say. "I've never had a lot of stuff, just the basics. It was how I was brought up."
You continue, "My home life was totally fucked up. Presents were forbidden, so I didn't have much in the way of toys. No dressy clothes; everything was hand-me-downs from my older brother or my cousins. I was the second of five children, three boys and two girls. I was barely able to make friends in school, and definitely couldn't have them over or go to their homes. Only other people in our church were permitted to be 'friends'."
"My father was very strict. If I did anything he didn't like, I'd get a whipping with his belt. I'm pretty sure he hit my mother regularly. My older brother beat me up often, and never got in trouble for it. But if I tried to tell on him, my father would whip me for being a tattle-tale."
"One time, my brother caught me masturbating and told my father. My father ordered me to show him what I had been doing. He sat in a chair while I stood in front of him, completely naked. My brother stood behind him to 'verify' that this is what I was caught doing. Afterward, I got one of the worst beatings ever. My brother did nothing but laugh. I just shut down at that point."
"The best thing I ever did was take up long-distance running in high school. I didn't even tell my parents I was on the cross-country team. But with my teammates, I got to make actual friends who weren't religious zealots. I started to see that there was more to the world than the awful isolation that was my family life."
"When I was 18, I was free. I walked out of the family home for the last time without saying anything to any of them. I enrolled in community college, got a job in the bookstore, and made lots of friends. I tasted alcohol for the first time. I smoked pot for the first time. I masturbated all the time. I had sex with women, quite a few of them, actually. I finally became a real, normal, grown-up person, or as close to 'normal' as I could be."
"I have never spoken to any members of my family since I left," you conclude. "They're dead to me, and I presume I'm dead to them. I will never have anything to do with them again."
I put my arms around you without saying a word. I'm practically in tears, touched by the fact that you confided in me.
"So there's no issue with me dumping Jenny," you continue. "It's easy for me to leave toxic people in my past."
I finally say something. "How can we help you get out of there?"
"Do you know of anyone who has some room where I can crash for a few days?"
"I think I can put you up for a few days at least. My roommate isn't around a lot, and I doubt he'll have a problem with you spending a few nights on the living room couch. He's been talking about moving in with his girlfriend, so I may have a more long-term spot for you."
You hug me tightly. "That would be awesome!"
"Give me a couple of hours, and I'll get stuff ready at my apartment, then I'll come get you. Do you need more time to pack anything else?"
"Nah. I may have a few CDs or other things, but that should fit into one box as long as she doesn't put up a fight. Other than that, my clothes fit into about five garbage bags."
"Okay, text me when you're ready," I say as we walk out of the play space.
——-
My roommate Daryl is home when I get back to the apartment. I tell him that a friend of mine will be crashing with us for a few days thanks to a breakup with his awful girlfriend. "Fine with me," he says, in his typical three-word sentence.
Daryl is a nice guy, but we don't have a lot in common and rarely have conversations of any substance. But he's neat, is a good cook, and pays his part of the rent and bills on time. He's good looking, kinda my type, but definitely straight. Daryl knows I'm gay (a few loud tricks early in our co-residence erased any doubt he may have had), but he doesn't mind walking around the apartment naked in front of me, nor does he mind me walking around naked in front of him. He's not a gym bunny, but he's in decent shape, nice distribution of body hair, and a nice cock and balls. He'll frequently go without shaving his face for several days, and I know he'd look great with a full, chestnut-brown beard.