Kennedy

I grew up pretty well off. My parents were upper middle class, they gave me a monthly allowance up until high school. My mom even helped me get a summer job at her office. When I got to college, my parents helped pay for my tuition, even gave me a couple bucks or so each month to help pay for meals. It wasn't until Thanksgiving about a week ago when they stopped supporting everything I did. You see, I came out to them this Thanksgiving. The were asking about my dating life and if I had found the right girl to settle down with or whatever. At one point I think they mentioned the word "grandkids," and I almost choked on the stuffing. But then I told them, no, I don't like women. I'm gay.
    They then proceeded to call me confused and out of my mind. I think my dad proposed a mental institution. But I hadn't just found out I was gay, like they thought. I had known since college. Had my fair share of experiments-turned-regular-hook-ups.
    My sister did try to defend my humanity on my behalf; she had known about my gayness since my college days and didn't think any differently of me. But I think my parents just bullied her enough to turn completely submissive to them. She looked at me with a sorry little look as my parents said I wasn't ever allowed in their house again.
    My friend Alice let me stay at her house as I mourned the death of my relationship with my parents. I had waited so long to come out to them because, well, I didn't really know how they felt about gay people. They never mentioned or talked about them, and I could never figure out if that was because they hated them, or if they just were never relevant to their conversations.
    I was lying on Alice's couch, watching TV, avoiding my bills for my own apartment. I had a job to pay for them I just... didn't earn enough money. I couldn't pay last month's rent and I doubted I'd be able to pay this month's plus all my bills. I was unemployed after getting fired from my last job for fucking a coworker. In the copy room. My boss caught us. But then I tried to find some type of job that could pay my bills. And right now that was a janitor at one of those banks with the high ceilings and marble something or other. You'd think they'd pay me a little more than twenty an hour for the four days I come in. Or maybe just give me more hours.
    Alice wasn't here right now. She was at work. She worked as an assistant to some corporate dude downtown. Her fiancée, Tom, however, was one of those corporate dudes. Though not a douchey one, surprisingly. They both made decent money and had plenty of room to spare in this apartment they shared together. Speaking of Tom, there he was. Coming in through the front door.
    He looked a bit surprised to see me. "Oh, Ken, hey." I lifted a hand in a sort of wave to him. "What you watching?" I tried to sit up and reach for the remote before he saw the TV screen. But I was too late. His face exploded with shock, immediately shielding his face with his hand and ducking away towards the kitchen. "Jesus Christ!" I attempted not to grin at his reaction. "Warn a guy next time!" I chuckled. Guess he wasn't used to porn on the big screen.
    "Oh, come on it's not something you haven't seen before."
    "Says who? I can say for myself that I have never seen two men having sex."
    I strode over to the kitchen, leaning in the archway for a second to admire Tom. He wasn't a bad looking guy; in fact he was very good looking. And he had a really nice butt. Especially when he wore those dress pants for work. He was reaching middle aged, but he still had it going for him. I went to the gym with him once and holy shit, I had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom. I normally wouldn't jerk off in a public bathroom, but I was stiff as hell.
    I didn't realize I was staring at his butt for so long until he turned around and my eyes were on his crotch instead. I looked up at his face. He was visibly uncomfortable.
    "Oh, uh, sorry, I, uh--"
    "No, it's okay. I should've never invited you to the gym with me," he said half-joking. My mouth practically fell off my face.
    "You, knew?"
    "Alice told me not long after you told her."
    "Damn, that traitor."
    "It's alright. It's slightly flattering, I guess," he looked toward the cabinet, rubbing his thumb nervously on an apple he was holding.
    "I mean, it's never too late to experiment," I offered. He chuckled.
    "Thanks, but I don't plan on being with anyone but Alice."
    "Right," I said, feeling something weird in my stomach at the sappy comment. "You're one of the good business men."
    He smiled half heartedly. "I try." We heard the door open again and Alice came straight into the kitchen.
    "Oh, you're both here." She stood on a toe to reach Tom's lips. She put her lunch container into the sink. "How was your day, babe?"
    "It was good, thanks honey," I said before Tom could open his mouth. She rolled her eyes as she turned around and leaned her lower back against the counter behind her. I chuckled and waved a hand. "I'll let you two love birds have a quick fuck before dinner. But not in the kitchen. I was going to make spaghetti." Alice smiled.
    "Oh, that's sweet," she came over and poked my stomach, then slid into a hug with me. I blinked and wrapped my hands around her waist to reciprocate the hug. Though, I didn't really know what it was for. She took in a deep breath. "I need to talk to you later," she said quietly in my ear. I pulled back from her, holding her waist. I looked at her face, a little confused. But instead of telling me the problem or situation, she just smiled.
    I made some spaghetti and meatballs for the three of us. Tom and Alice sat next to each other while I sat across from Alice so Tom could rest his feet on the seat across from him. Tom and I were in (unintentionally) matching sweatpants, Alice was in one of Tom's shirt and some shorts.
    Alice and Tom decided to watch a movie after dinner, and I went into the guest room where they let me stay and jerked off to the porn I had started earlier.
    "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," I heard Alice's voice outside the door. I sat up on the bed and made sure my pants were properly pulled up. She knocked on the door and opened it. "Hey," she said to me with a smile, closing the door and moving to sit on the bed next to me.
    "Hey. You wanted to talk to me?"
    "Yeah." She looked at her lap then placed a gentle hand on my arm. "Ken, it's been a week. I know it must be hard for you and everything, and I don't want to kick you out when you might need help, but is there a reason you're not going back to your apartment?" She asked me softly. She was always careful when talking about sensitive topics. I tried to crack a smile but swallowed instead. I started to study the loose threads of the ties of my sweatpants.
    "I'm avoiding my landlord," I admitted. I felt her rubbing my arm for comfort. "I couldn't pay last month's rent, and  I don't think I can pay this month's either.
    "Oh, Ken..." She held my hand of the same arm with her other hand.
    "I think I might have to move out." I swallowed, trying not to tear up right now. "Is it... is it okay if I stay here a little longer?" My voice threatened to crack. I didn't want to have to rely on her like this. But I didn't really have a choice.
    "Of course, you're always welcome here," she said, moving in to give me another hug. I hugged her tightly this time, breathing in the scent of her apple shampoo. At least, it smelled like apples. Some type of fruit. I also smelled a bit of Tom on the shirt she was wearing. He had a distinct, highly pleasant cologne.
    Tomorrow was Saturday, a work day. I worked nine hours on Saturdays, beginning my shift before the bank opened and ending it before the bank closed. My uniform was a scarcely attractive navy blue jumpsuit. Classy. I even had a little name tag sewn into the chest like all those good TV janitors.
    "Hey," the other guy on shift with me bumped into my shoulder. He was a black guy that was supposedly an ex convict. He didn't do anything bad; he told me he got framed for insurance fraud. Either way, he was twenty years older than me and this was the only job he was able to get. I felt bad for the guy. "Heard Jenny's pregnant."
    "The front desk girl? I thought she just broke up with her boyfriend."
    Benny shook his head. "Different guy. Her boyfriend came in last night, yelling at her when he found out. He wants to do a DNA test, but it's still too early."
    "Damn, I missed a lot. Nothing ever happens when I'm here."
    "But then I wouldn't have any gossip to tell you," he grinned at me. We went off to mop the floors before the regular employees arrived, sneaking a glance at two of the higher ups walking in together. Bill had his hand on the bottom of Jessie's back, not removing it quickly enough when he came inside. Benny and I glanced at each other. Well this was news. Apparently, Jessie was already going through a divorce, but they hadn't even signed the papers yet. And here we were...
    Next was Jenny, the front desk girl. She was petite and a little chubby, but real cute. According to Benny, she had this essence about her that made you want to protect her. I didn't see it.
    Then came in two of the tellers, John and Ruby. John, despite his older age, would always talk so animatedly to Ruby whenever they came into work. Ruby, on the other hand, was holding a large coffee and was looking at John like she wanted to stab him in the neck. He didn't notice.
    Then, of course, Dylan, the recent college grad, would always come in right before eight. This, most obviously, pissed off Bill to high heaven. He wanted to yell at Dylan constantly for coming in late, but technically he was never late. And Dylan was always happy and prepared to come to work everyday. Apparently he was a frat guy who majored in finance. Plus that happy-go-lucky attitude, it just didn't match up. But I heard he was absolutely in love with his girlfriend. He would talk about her to anyone who would listen whenever he was on lunch. Occasionally Benny and I would take him up on it; hearing about these people's personal lives was part of what got us through mopping the floors day to day.
    There was that one HR woman who Benny and I rarely actually saw come into the bank. She only ever came after 8:30, and frankly she looked like a bit of a dick. Though I did hear once that she had a kid at sixteen; her family was rich so it didn't really affect her that much financially, but she was barely even fifty and she had a son that was thirty. Only four years younger than I was. Can't imagine she was that good of a mother.
    "Fucking Christ, Janet!" A man, seemingly around my age, came in not far behind the HR woman, Janet. Benny and I looked up in unison. This was going to be good. Her face turned sour but she didn't turn around or speak. "Are you even listening to me?"
    "It was for your own good," she said, still not turning around, and putting her things on her desk. The man had stopped in the middle of the room, not too far away from me, and kept yelling. He had the attention of everyone in the bank.
    "For my own good?! HA!" He let out a harsh laugh. "Who the fuck do you think you are to pull money out of my bank account? Who the hell even gave you access?" Oh, it was getting better. Janet had finally turned around, looking stern and placing a bony hand on her hip. "No, don't even say anything. Using my money that I earned to pay for my fucking bills on your gambling problem, who does that help but yourself? Fuck you."
    "You have no right to talk to me like that."
    "Who do you think you are, my mother?" Then he stormed out of the bank. The room was silent. Seems we have met Janet's son.
    "Work was tense today," I told Tom when he came home about half an hour after I did. He landed on the couch next to me.
    "Same," he sighed. He put an arm over his forehead, closing his eyes. I took a glimpse at his face. I suddenly had a daydream of sitting in his lap and kissing him. An older man like that could treat me well, I thought. He was tall, handsome, had dark and semi-curly hair that was perfect for running your hands through. He was nine years older than I was, but ten years older than Alice. That little minx. Catching a good one like that.
    He groaned, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Do you think I can just skip dinner and sleep until tomorrow?"
    "Alice would never let you," I told him. He sighed.
    "You're right."