Page 35 of Something Like Hail
Chester nodded. “My life was one tormentafter another until I met—” He smiled so broadly that itinterrupted him. “Until I met Raymond.”
“You’re making me jealous,”Noah said. “Who’s this Raymond person? I thought you only had eyesfor me.”
Chester clearly appreciated the flirtation,but he didn’t give in so easily. “You have serious competition, I’mafraid. Raymond was the love of my life. We were together forfifty-two years.”
Noah gasped, not having to feign his awe.“Fifty-two?”
“That’s right,” Chestersaid with a nod. “More than half a century of that fool keeping meon my toes and making me slowly lose my sanity. And my hair! I’dhave more if it wasn’t for him.”
Noah laughed. “Tell me everything!”
No easy feat considering how long theirrelationship had lasted, but Chester tried his best as they ate.“Raymond was a bus driver,” he said, “the sort who knew all hisregulars by name and loved talking with them. They were like anextended family to him. When he came home for dinner, he’d have somany stories to tell, little updates on people I had never met. Iworked in publishing. Most of my time was spent with manuscripts,not other human beings. I didn’t realize how lonely my job wasuntil I met Raymond. The entire world was his friend.”
Noah thought warmly of Harold again, how hetoo was easygoing. “So what happened? Did you switch jobs to beless lonely?”
“Goodness no! One of us hadto earn a decent living! Raymond was always loaning money to folks,a sucker for any sob story he heard. Drove me crazy. Eventually Istarted my own publishing company, and that helped me become lessisolated. I was dealing with employees more than actual books, andI found I needed Raymond’s advice on how to get them motivated. Hehad a great understanding of people, although I didn’t think so atfirst. I confronted him once about being taken advantage of, sincefew people ever bothered to pay back those loans. Raymond justshrugged and said ‘I know, but I figure they need it more than me.Otherwise they wouldn’t be asking.’” Chester shook his head. “Icould never decide if I wanted to strangle him or hughim.”
“I bet I can guess whichyou did more of,” Noah teased.
“Don’t be so sure,” Chestersaid. “When Raymond started giving awaymymoney…”
“No! Really?”
“I’m afraid so! This onlymade me work harder. I was scared if I didn’t that we’d both gobroke! Speaking of which, would you mind if we settle the tab? I’dlike to continue our evening somewhere else.”
“Sounds nice!” Noah said,experiencing a pang of doubt. He had figured that sleeping with oldguys would be part of this job, but he was nervous about how muchhe would enjoy it, or how the logistics would work. He couldn’t gettoo crazy. Chester seemed frail. He was slow to rise from thetable, and he didn’t walk much faster. Noah was moving at abouthalf his usual speed, and as it turned out, they would remain atthat pace.
“Do you have a car?”Chester asked. “No? A fellow walker then. Howwonderful!”
“You like to walkeverywhere?” Noah asked.
“Always have,” Chestersaid, already heading for the sidewalk. “That’s the secret to mylongevity, although I might be pushing my luck. These days I walkuntil I get tired, then I call a cab. Is that okay withyou?”
“Totally,” Noah said. Thenight was warm, the humidity low, the sort of weather that wouldmake it easy to sleep outdoors, if he was still forced to. “Whereexactly are we going?”
“You’ll see,” Chester said.“I assume you also take the bus sometimes?”
This topic led to more stories aboutRaymond. Noah didn’t mind. It felt too easy, like getting paid tohang out with a much more chill version of his grandfather, one whowas gay and had an inspiring relationship behind him. All Noah hadto do was listen and ask the occasional question.
“Here we are,” Chestersaid.
They stopped on a street corner downtown,only ten blocks from Jerusalem. Around them were trendy shopsselling second-hand clothes or vinyl records. Most were closed dueto the hour. A few bars and restaurants were still open,pedestrians hustling in or stumbling out.
“Where is this exactly?”Noah asked.
“We’re at the beginning,”Chester said. He pointed across the street. “That nail studio usedto be a bar. I was twenty-five and had just been told by my wifethat she wanted a divorce. Dorothy was terribly unhappy with me.Understandably so. I wasn’t a good husband to her, being souninterested in our relationship. I don’t just mean sex. We hadlittle in common, so conversation was just as forced as what tookplace in the bedroom. After learning that our marriage was ending,I went out walking to make sense of it all and ducked inside thatvery bar without thinking.”
“Was it a gay bar?” Noahasked.
“Back then? No. It was fullof blue-collar workers, all of them having a better time than me. Iwas already drunk when Raymond showed up. I had never met himbefore, but he had one of those faces. He made youwantto be his friend andfeel like you could trust him with anything. So I did. First wetalked sports and work. Then I started in on my problems. By thetime the bar closed, I had said more about my feelings to Raymondthan just about anyone in my life. Except for one thing, but as westood on this street corner, I couldn’t stop blubbering. I told himwhat I’d scarcely admitted to myself. I didn’t want my wife back orany other woman. I wanted to be with a man. Raymond asked me if Iwas absolutely sure about that. The only thing I was certain of isthat he was about to punch me and storm off. With the last of mycourage, I nodded, and then…” Chester pressed his hand to his cheekbriefly, as if still in disbelief. “Then he kissed me. Thank godthe streets were empty or we both would have been locked up orworse, but it was one of the happiest moments of mylife.”
Chester had tears on his cheeks. He lookedup at Noah, expression both hurt and longing. “That’s why I like tocome here. To remember. To relive that moment.” He closed hiseyes.
Noah stared, comforting words poised on hislips, but if he understood the situation right, his mouth wasneeded for other purposes. He was here to play a role, so he movedcloser, putting a hand on Chester’s shoulder. This caused the manto raise his chin expectantly. Noah kissed him, but first he triedto put himself in Raymond’s shoes, attempting to guess what he hadbeen thinking at the time. He had just watched a drunk guy getemotional and cry, which had to be way less common back then. HadRaymond found that attractive? Endearing? Maybe as they talked hehad fantasized about comforting Chester and replacing the wife whohad just left. Then, at the very end of the night, he discoveredthose fantasies could come true and had acted. Probably a littledrunk himself, Raymond had gone for broke.
Noah kissed Chester, but it wasn’t a gentlepeck. He filled it with passion, hurried and desperate. When hestepped back, he saw that the tears in Chester’s eyes were now ofthe happy variety.
“My goodness!” the old manbreathed. “That was almost like traveling back throughtime!”