“Where do they get the sap?”
“They’ve got a couple hundred acres of sugar maples that they own, or own the rights to, that supply the raw material. My mother looks forward to making her pancakes for you so that you can taste their maple syrup, even though she knows you’ve already tasted it here.”
It was obvious to me that Kyle didn’t know how to process all of this new information. It was all so absolutely contrary to his family. From everything he had told me, he could never have such an open and honest conversation with his family. I could only guess at how sad he must feel. I know how bad it would make me feel if my family couldn’t know about the real me, the man I had become, the man I was so proud of becoming, not to mention the man who was such an important part of my life.
Kyle took a deep breath and simply agreed. “Okay. Let’s do it. It’s all new to me, but somehow it feels right at the same time. Is there a hotel near them that we can book?”
“No need to. My folks live in this huge old country house with a gazillion bedrooms, so we’ll just take one of them, probably my old room.”
“Do they have a room I can use too?”
“No. You and I will stay in our room. We will sleep together in our room in our bed. We are together. We are a couple. That’s what we are. That’s what they expect. And you don’t want to know the grilling I would get if we slept in separate beds in separate rooms.”
On this Kyle seemed really doubtful, but he said, “Okay.”
“Great. But that’s not all. I was thinking that that would only be a couple of nights. I thought maybe we could drive back here and then fly down to Key West for a week so you can relax and get some sun. You’re starting to look as white as Casper the Friendly Ghost—you could use a little sun to give you a nice golden brown color.”
Kyle looked—well, I don’t know exactly how I would describe his look. I couldn’t read the man’s face. “Okay. I need some words to interpret.”
“Ummm….”
“Start anywhere.”
“Flying to Florida.” He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, clearly about to say something profound. When he spoke, the words he gave me were words I would never, ever, in a million years have expected. “I’ve never been on an airplane before.”
I just looked at him for a few seconds. My brain was processing his words, not believing them. They were not remotely what I had expected. I had thought that maybe he didn’t like Key West, or he didn’t like the beach, or something like that. But “never been on an airplane”? No, I never expected that.
“What! You’ve never flown on an airplane?”
“Never. I’ve never been anywhere that you can’t drive. And even then I’ve only ever gone from Oklahoma to Boston and then to here.”
“Holy fuck! This is huge! This is fucking huge!”
“I know it’s bad. How bad? Are you really disappointed in me?” Kyle asked uncertainly.
“No! This is huge good! Oh, yeah, we’re going to Florida. We’re gonna go romp naked on the beach—well, maybe not on your first trip—and have a fucking fantastic time. Key West is awesome.”
“Hey, I thought I was awesome.”
“An awesome place for an awesome man!”
“And I have to fly to get there?”
“Yes, you do. You can drive from here to Key West, but it would take something like thirty-six hours, and it is a really, really dull drive. The flight is something like three hours—probably less. And then, after that. Where do you want to go? Is there some place you’ve always dreamed of going? Someplace that is sort of your idea of paradise, of Nirvana, of Eden?”
“Promise not to laugh at me?” he asked, very hesitantly.
“Probably.”
“Probably?” he said, playfully swatting my arm. “Now that’s love. Probably?”
“Okay. I promise. Where?”
“Hawaii.”
“Why would I laugh about that? Hawaii is a great place. I’ve been six times and loved every one of those trips. Why don’t we go when you get a week off in December? I’ll book it.”
“You’ve been to Hawaii? Six times? Wait! My mama always said I was too big to fly. That my long legs wouldn’t fit in an airplane seat.”
“You could fit, not comfortably in a coach seat, but that’s why I’m booking a seat up front in first class so you’ve got enough room for your legs.”
“They have different classes on airplanes?”
“Yes. Trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”
“Ummm. I hate to be a spoilsport, but I’ve got one other problem: I don’t have any money. Everything I earn goes to pay student loans.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll cover this.”
“You shouldn’t have to do that!”
“I don’t have to do anything. I’m doing it because I want to. Call it long-term strategic planning. Someday you’re going to be a fabulously wealthy Manhattan doctor who earns boatloads of money. That day you’ll be flying me first class off to Italy for the weekend or somewhere else exotic, and I’ll work hard to help you spend all that money.”
Kyle laughed with delight. “I like your thinking. Yes, I’ll fly you anywhere you want to go—once I escape this crushing debt and have a boatload of money.”
“Deal. So go ahead and request those four weeks off in November and December, and I’ll explore some options for flights and hotels and so on and go over them with you before I book them. Okay?”
“Yeah! I guess I’m finally gonna get to go on an airplane like regular people,” he said, almost like he couldn’t believe what he was saying.
“You’re not regular people, dude—you’re awesome!”
“I am, aren’t I? But the only reason I’m awesome is because of you, babe. You made me awesome.”
“You bet your sweet, awesome ass you are! And I didn’t make you awesome—you already were awesome. All I did was help you to
