Crystal Party

"It's my birthday, why don't you come over for drinks and nibbles," ask Evan.

"Sure, sounds good." I had no plans for Xmas eve.

“And other stuff.”

“Other stuff?”

“You know…” said Evan cryptically.

“I know?”

“Good,” said Evan. “I’m supplying everything, you don’t need to bring a thing.”

It was at Evan's place in Carlton, starting sometime after 7pm. I could walk, there was minimal effort required. Even a lazy arse like me can give that much effort, and to make an appearance for some old friends who are always telling me they never see enough of me.

Who should I run into as soon as I get there but my ex-Luke.

“Well, well, well, look who has turned up,” he said.

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” I said. “And give me a hug.”

“I’m glad you are here,” said Luke.

“Oh, you are not,” I said.

“I am.” Luke looked genuinely, dare I say, hurt? Perhaps, it has been too long since our relationship banter. They say people forget, but I don’t think I do.

“Really?” I felt myself tilt my head in that questioning pose. “So glad to see me that you never call me.” Was that my eighteen year old self responding? Back there automatically, the power of an ex.

“You never call either.”

“Hey, you are here,” I hear Evan behind me as Luke and I stare at each other open mouthed.

Evan takes me in his arms. We do that kind of hug, squeeze, groan, greeting “Dancing in the kitchen, drinks in the bathroom, food in the kitchen, although I don’t think you’ll be wanting too much food,” he said in my ear. He laughed.

I laughed too.

“Drugs seem to be upstairs.”

“I’ll have one of each,” I said. A poor attempt at humour.

“I’m heading to the kitchen,” I said to Luke. 

“I hope you choke on something.”

“That’s my boy.” I slapped him on the back and head off to find some food. Best to build up my reserves before I find the drug den.

There were scallops and prawns on sticks. There were oysters and mussels on biscuits. There were lobster chunks with wooden sticks to pick them up and sea food sauce to dip them in. There was all kinds of cheese and all kinds of biscuits to put it on. There was fruit, melons, pineapple, strawberries. There was prosciutto.

I was just deciding on what to have.

“Josho you are here.” It was Jodi. She wrapped her arms around me.

“Jodes.” I gave her a hug.

“Where have you been?”

“Down the Nile on the African Queen.”

“Shut the fuck up and let me look at you.” She manhandled me to standing directly in front of her, I complied like a 10 year old. I felt my eyes open wide. I could feel my face pull an exaggerated expression, which my still small voice regretted immediately. “I never see enough of you.”

“Well, drink it in, my luv.” I regretted that too.

“You look great,” said Jody. “You have to share your secret.”

“Um, exercise, good food and a steady diet of weed.”

“So, nothing has changed?”

“No.”

“We have to do lunch?”

“Oh god, we’re not those people, are we.”

“Break bread, share wine.”

“And one day you will be mine.”

“I am yours, always.” She was waiting for conformation, I could see that.

I gave her a big hug. “Of course.”

“I still want to have your baby.”

“How much have you smoked?”

“Seriously,” said Jodie. “And the time is getting closer and closer.”

“Little Josh.”

“Little Josh,” Jodie repeated. She hugged me tight.

I was aware some guy was hanging back. I focused on him and it was Bryce, Bryce Howard.

“You remember…”

“Bryce,” I said. He smiled as though he was pleased I remembered him. “You and Amy?”

“Oh.” He blushed. “Yeah. Once.” He held out his hand. “Nice to see you Josh.”

“You can say Bryce and Jodie.”

“Did you just hear all that?”

“That?” He seemed clueless. I looked to Jodie who was throwing big eyes in my direction.

“Nothing,” said Jodie. She pushed Bryce away. “We’re going to dance.”

I got lemon vodka to drink. I tried not to think about mine and Jodie’s 20 year old promise. If she never met anyone else by the time she… I negotiated it up to 40, now that I remember, we’d have a baby. I’m her back up. How long until we are forty?

I turned around, you know as you do at a party when it is time to find other people to talk to, to see Will Henry, the hot young lawyer from Hacks, was in the Kitchen too.

“Will?”

“What are you doing here?” said Will. He was clearly surprised to see me.

“What are you doing here?” I said.

“Evan invited me.”

“Yes, of course. How do you know Evan?”

“Oh, we met at a Prahran Club one night,” said Will. “And you?”

“We went to uni together.”

I headed to the lounge. The gang were there. George without Sophie, Trent, without Jed, Jared without Lincoln. 

“George, Trent, Jared,” I say.

“Josh,” they all say.

“Lincoln? Jed?”

“At home,” Trent and Jared said in unison.

“On the tear?”

“You bet,” said Jared.

“I hope so,” said Trent.

So, George, where is, Sophie?” Unusual for those two considering how 'close' they are. 

“Oh, she wasn’t in the mood.”

“What have you guys been up to?”

“Um, er.” George moved closer. “Sophie wants to have a baby…”

“What? How?”

“We’ve got a Greek mate, who looks like me.” George smiled. “Who’s going to donate.”

“Seriously?”

“I know,” said George. “We can hardly pretend…”

“So, you are not keen?”

“Oh, sure, it would be what I have always wanted, but…”

“Yes, but?”

“Fuck, I don’t know?”

It was a nice night, the conversation flowed. A few people arrived late, including Tina and Jason.

Jodie staggered passed me at some stage. “I’m just trying him on for size,” said Jodie. “He’s not a keeper.”

“Does he know that?”

“As if.”

“You heard Amy say he’s got a huge…”

“It’s just a test drive, hon.” Jodie smiled broadly.

I then ended up on the smoker's balcony and pretty soon discarded the booze for hooch. Happily. Upstairs in the dark, a smoke cloud hung like a blanket above everyone’s heads. Trent and Jared were rolling. There were cushions. Luke, was on one side of me, Will was on the other.

 

“Like old times,” said Luke.

That’s another life, I thought. “Yeah, sure,” I said.

The boys, Evan’s friends Kelly and Doog, were there with the drug bags and they were lining up lines sometime after midnight. 

Then they were passing around the mirror tile and we were snorting crystal, yep the old fashioned way. I haven't done a line of crystal for, I don't know how long. Stings like broken glass. It is madness.

George was packing the meth pipe, he smoked a cone of it. Then he passed it to Will, who smoked it like a fucking champion. It wasn’t his first rodeo, clearly. Then Will was handing me the repacked pipe.

“Now this is weird,” he said.

“It’s just life, Will.” I lit the lighter under the glass bowl and watched the crystals liquify, without flinching. I sucked in more smoke, held it then exhaled in a huge cloud of smoke. “Honest, real.”

“You saying what we do is not honest?”

Smart boy, got my drifteroo. “For the most part,” I said. I handed Will back the pipe, so he could hand it back to George to be repacked. “I never thought you and I would be doing this, though.”

“Me either.”

We both laughed.

“So, are you gay, or straight?”

“Why, are you interested?” Will smiled his gorgeous smile.

“Ah, I don’t mix work and personal, just never had,” I said. “I’m just wondering, considering you are here with a gay friendship group.”

“I told you, I know Evan.”

“You and Evan?”

Will just kind of smiled.

I wondered what that, actually, meant. I had a good idea.

“Hey guys,” said Evan.

Some of the guys were going to a club afterwards in Little Lonsdale Street.

“Hey guys?’ said Evan. “Who’s coming to Bang?”

“Yeah,” said Kelly.

“Me too,” said Doog.

“Count me in,” said Trent.

“I’m coming,” said Jared.

“I’m coming,” said Luke.

“I’m rushing so much,” said Evan.

“I’ve got that covered,” said Doog. “Who wants a pill?”

Everybody who was going wanted a pill. In fact, everybody wanted a pill.

“It’ll mellow you out just enough,” said Kelly.

So, we all took e’s to calm the T, as the punters left for the city.

We stood in a circle, Evan, Jared, Luke, Will, Trent, George, me, Jodie & Bryce, Kelly & Doog, Tina & Jason. 

“This will mellow you out,” said Evan. “Enough to travel from here to there.”

The guys all headed into the city walking.

Jodie and Bryce and Tina and Jason all headed off home.

Then it was just George and I.

“You not going?” asked George.

“Nah, not tonight,” I said. “You?”

“Nah, not tonight.”

“I wanna walk,” said George. “I need to move. The T is making my bones restless.”

“We’ve got to go, I guess,” I said. “The birthday boy has gone.”

We headed out together. The fresh air hit me, I’m sure it hit George too.

“I’m really blasted,” said George. He started to laugh.

“What’s funny?”

“Its funny. This is funny. Don’t you think it’s funny?”

I started to laugh, I wasn’t sure why. George was funny.

“Being out of it is funny?” said George. “Woosh.” He walked with his arms out, as though he needed to for balance.

“I’m sore from gym work,” said George. “Why don’t you give me a massage.”

"A massage?" I said. I'm not known for massages, and it seemed right out of the blue.

"Yeah, that would be great, just what I need," he said with now beady, drugged eyes.

"Okay," I said, trying not to sound too surprised.

"We could head over to your place."

"Okay." I was mystified. George had never suggested such things previously.

We walked. It was a nice night. Actually, I have no idea if the night was nice, or not. We’d have felt nice no matter where we’d been. 

“Let me take your hand,” said George.

George took my hand in his, it felt nice.

We walked up the middle of Canning Street holding hands.

We got back to my place after 1am. Daniel was up the cottage for the weekend. He was taking some girls. 

“Open fires, red wine, any number of splifs… and she’ll give it up. I’ll be fucking her hard by midnight.”

George said he had more crystal and wondered if I wanted some.

"Sure." Why not, I thought. What the hell.

"Is your brother likely to come home?"

"I don't think so."

George looked momentarily nervous. "Can we go to your room and smoke this, you know, just in case?"

"Sure," I said. "But Daniel is in the country and not likely to come home." My head was spinning. My teeth were grinding. My body ached with the glory of meth. My limbs, I'm sure, were shaking.

We headed to my room.

He produced a glass pipe and we sat on my bed and smoke most of the bag he had, straight down. A couple of points. I was pretty out of it by the time we were done.

George smiled that sexy smile of his and said. "So, how about that massage?"

"Okay." I was completely nonplussed by everything that had just gone down in the last few hours and decided not to think about it too much. WTF.

"Where do you want me?" asked George.

"On the bed, I guess."

He smiled and then pulled off his shirt. I was gazing at his gym sculptured, hairy chest and washboard stomach, also covered in black hair. 

“You look good, man,” I said. I hoped I didn’t slur.

His eyes held mine as he unbuttoned his jeans. He pulled them down over the big bulge in his black jocks and his thick hairy thighs. 

He lay down on his stomach.

I went and got massage oil from the bathroom.

I was off my fucken cha chas to tell you the truth. All the shit we'd smoked at Evan's place and now the top up here with George, my mind was reeling, my head was spinning. And there was George, sexy fucken George, laying there with his pert arse turned out in a pair of black jocks barely covering his luscious mounds. His shapely sexy legs and the curve of his back, which slid up to his wide, gorgeous shoulders.

And why else was he here? I had no idea. A massage? Just like that out of the blue. Really? Why me, I am no massager.

God! I stared down at him with my hands ready to touch him. His jocks stretched tightly at the elastic across his perfect waist and the slid over the curve of his perfect arse down between his thick thighs bulging out the back big and round.

I ran my hand up the back of his thick hairy thigh. I felt a shiver run up my spine. So much Greek boy man flesh.

He dropped his head. "That feels good."

I ran my hand over the smooth cotton of his jocks stretched across the sexy mounds of his arse. "It's nice to be touched," he said in his husky wog boy voice.

I poured massage oil across his shoulders, he jumped a little as the liquid made contact with his skin. I rubbed my hands across his big, broad shoulders.

I massaged his shoulder following the curve of his back down to his torso. For a hairy Greek boy, he obviously waxed his back well. He probably got his sister Sophie to do it for him. Most likely, the two of them are close, the two of them... their relationship is indeterminate. Who knows what the two of them got up to.

I massaged on arm. I massaged the other arm.

I massaged one leg. I got to the top of the back of his thigh. I massaged his other leg. The boy's got beautiful, thick thighs. I let my fingers slide around to the inside of his right thigh, around the underside of his jocks. His hips moved again, just slightly.

He rolled over. All that beautiful skin, and he is gorgeous. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head.

I slid my hand up the front of his thigh, to where his jocks cut around. I slid my hand up his other thigh. I slid it around the elastic of the leg of his undies. He didn’t flinch. 

I lay down next to George. “I think you are done.”

“Thanks,” George said. He tested his shoulders. “It feels better.”

“I wonder what the time is?”

“Late,” said George.

“Yes. Early,” I said.

“You know that’s so nice,” said George. “This is so nice.”

“Yeah, it is,” I said.

“Another year,” said George.

“Another Xmas,” I said.