Tales of the City 06 - Sure of You

on the way to Metro Video. “My lover told me to get Mother Teresa and Humongous II. Does that tell you about my life or what?”
    Michael smiled. “Which do you watch first?”
    “Good question.”
    “ Humongous II is pretty good.”
    Larry nodded. “We just keep the sound off and use it as background.”
    “Yeah. Same here.”
    “The voices are the worst.”
    Harry pawed impatiently at Michael’s leg.
    Larry smiled. “This is yours, huh?”
    “Yeah. It’s hard finding time to walk him in this rain. Mellow out, Harry.”
    “Poodles don’t know the meaning of the word.”
    Michael clipped on the leash, peering up at him. “You’re not a poodlephobe, are you?”
    “No. But I know these dogs. Eula’s had a few in her time.”
    I’ll bet she has, thought Michael. “I’ll walk with you,” he said. “My house is just over there.”

    Thack was in the garden when they arrived. He was bent over his trellis, examining the new growth. He did this at hourly intervals, it seemed.
    “You remember Larry from the Rawhide II.”
    “Oh, yeah.” Thack smiled and shook hands with him. “Thack Sweeney.”
    “New trellis?” asked Larry.
    “Fairly.”
    “Interesting shape.”
    “We’re growing clematis on it,” said Michael, “so it’ll be a pink triangle this summer.” He was certain more than ever that it wouldn’t read, but he was trying to be supportive.
    “What a great idea! Who thought of that?”
    Thack puffed visibly. “Me.”
    Larry glanced up at the clouds, which had turned threatening again. “Better haul ass.”
    “Need an umbrella?” Michael asked.
    “Got one here.” He patted his backpack. “You guys take care.”
    “You too,” said Thack.
    Michael added: “Say hi to Eula for us.”
    “Sure thing.”
    “Eula,” said Thack, as soon as Larry was out of earshot. “ That was her name.”
    Michael let Harry into the house and closed the door. “How could you forget?”
    “We should fix her up with your mom when she visits.”
    “Don’t you dare.”
    “She could take her to all the piano bars…”
    “Look, if you know what’s good for you…”
    His lover laughed. “You’re just afraid it’ll agree with her.”
    “Damn right.”
    “She’ll move her and we’ll have to drag her out of the Galleon every Sunday afternoon.”
    Michael opened the mailbox. “Hasn’t the mail come yet?”
    “I took it inside.”
    “Anything good?”
    “A postcard from Mona.”
    “Oh, yeah?”
    “She wants us to visit this summer.”
    “Really? At Easley House?”
    “Yep.”
    Michael caught his breath at the thought of it.
    “Should we do it?”
    “Sure! You won’t believe this place, Thack!”
    “What about you know who?”
    He felt a sudden pang of guilt, vaguely parental. “Oh, yeah.”
    “Dogs have to be quarantined for six months before they’ll let them in.”
    “Forget it,” said Michael.
    “Elizabeth Taylor used to keep hers on a barge in the middle of the Thames. That way it was only subject to maritime law.”
    Michael rolled his eyes. “Now there’s travel tip I’ll be sure to remember.”
    “What about Polly?”
    “What about her?”
    “Hasn’t she offered to house-sit?”
    “You’re right,” said Michael. “And Harry loves her.”
    “You don’t think she’d mind?”
    “Are you kidding? She can drag babes home from Francine’s.”
    “Good point,” said Thack, grinning.

    The rain drove them indoors. They made tea and watched the downpour from the kitchen table. Michael thought of his rainy spring at Easley House, over five years before. It was there, at the folly on the hill above the house, that he had finally told Mona about Jon’s death. Now, more than anything, he wanted her to meet the man who had made him happy.
    He picked up her postcard and studied it again. It was a garden view of the great house. A ballpoint-penned arrow on one of the gables was labeled: “Your Room, Gentlemen.”
    “We should really do this.”
    “Then we will,” said Thack.
    “I know you’ll love her. She doesn’t take shit from anybody.”
    Thack smiled and poured more tea for him.

That Much in Love
    N OW ROLL IT UP REALLY TIGHT … LIKE SO … THEN take one of those rubber bands and put it on the end there…that’s right, lovely…”
    It was a sunny May Sunday in Mrs. Madrigal’s courtyard. Stretched out on the bricks in his Speedos, Brian listened while the landlady taught Shawna how to tie-dye. To his amazement, his daughter had actually