What Good Am I? Chapter Four

Story by Billy Leigh on SoFurry

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#4 of What Good Am I?

Part Four of What Good Am I? Featuring Diego Redfield and Friedrich Van Holling.

These two handsome studs were originally created by ColinLeighton for his novel Identity and short story Nighthawkes.


Diego could count the top five most ridiculous and bizarre things he had ever done on his paw.

They included driving his Mercedes in a street race naked, screwing a Fox he'd picked up in a Los Angeles bar at the back of a bowling alley, barefoot water-skiing in Mexico after too many Pina Coladas and skinny dipping in the North Atlantic during winter on a school field trip. All perfect anecdotes for a dinner party, but moments in hind-sight where you'd think what the fuck did I do that for? Number five had to be calling Melody and suggesting they should hang out, and that exact thought was running through Diego's head.

Diego was cursing his own impulsiveness as he drove along the coastal road to San Fernando. He only had a vague recollection of calling the Cheetah, having woken up the next morning with a headache and his clothes strewn all over the bedroom floor, but a message was waiting on his phone asking him to meet her at midday.

Melody's work as a narcotics detective allowed her to help herself to what had been confiscated from city drug smuggling rings in San Fernando. Melody would always falsify her reports; if ten grams of coke had been brought in, she would report eight and keep the rest for herself. She always knew the good quality drugs from the bad quality, both through her work as a detective and having taken plenty of narcotics herself. Diego and Melody had shared many a fond trip or high together, but since moving in with Friedrich and starting his course of detox, Diego had stopped. It seemed that would come to an end pretty soon. One last time won't hurt one half of his mind told him, you are being really stupid the other said.

Diego didn't have a shift that day and Melody had asked him to meet her in a coffee place not far from where she lived. After negotiating the traffic into San Fernando, Diego drove his Mercedes to the north side of the city close to the airport. It was the neighbourhood he used to call home until a month ago, but as Diego sat in the traffic, he realised how dull it seemed compared to his new home in San Amador. The district comprised of identical nineties era apartment blocks and houses linked by strip malls with the same stores over and over again. As he sat in the shimmering heat, Diego glanced at his reflection in the car's mirror. He had been meaning to do laundry, having left his clothes stuffed in the basket or on the floor, so he had combined his last clean black wifebeater with a pair of Friedrich's jeans, which were a little big on him, and a pair of the Alsatian's underwear; snug-fitting blue Calvin Klein briefs that felt especially silky around his sheath and balls. Dude, I'm gonna have to get a pair of these myself, unless Freddy doesn't notice this pair going missing.

The coffee place Melody had recommended was called Frankie's and there was a handwritten sign by the door that read Pretending to be Italian since 2002. It was in the middle of a strip wedged between a laundrette and a pizza restaurant Diego had eaten at a couple of times, although he was convinced it was a front for the Mafia. The interior of the coffee place was shabby and noisy with a Caracal barista wrestling with the controls an old fashioned coffee machine as he if he were trying to fly a plane. Melody was sitting at the back wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a peace logo on the front. "Yo, Wolfdog!" She called. Diego gingerly sat opposite her. "Where's Aly?" he asked as he wondered whether to order a drink. "I dropped her off at my friend Carole's house, she's a responsible Lioness." Diego already found himself shifting uncomfortably, and wondered whether he should make an excuse and leave, or hope that his work phone would buzz and demand he come to the office to tackle an urgent case. "Hey, relax," Melody said, sensing Diego's discomfort. "With Friedrich gone I thought I'd bring along a friend of mine you'll get along with." "A friend?" "Yeah, Moon is a great guy," "Moon?" Diego spluttered. "Dude, what where his parents thinking?" "It's not his actual name, he used to be called Clarence," "I can see why he changed it," "Anyway, you'll like him," Melody explained, taking a sip of her latte before leaning in closer to whisper. "I have some real good shit we took on a raid at the docks, pure coke being smuggled in by a Columbian gang." "Oh?" "Yeah, this stuff is good, I mean real good. Ah, this is Moon," Melody announced. "Try to keep your erection down," she added with a chuckle. Diego turned and saw a skinny looking white Tiger dressed in ripped jeans and a faded Justin Bieber shirt. There were what looked like several gang tattoos up both his arms and large tunnel piercings in both his ears. The tuft of fur on the Tiger's head was died a shade of neon green. "That won't be hard," Diego muttered. "Sup bitches," Moon said in a nasally, drawling voice.

Diego watched as Moon and Melody joked and laughed with each other for the next half an hour. Inside he was feeling down and isolated. Friedrich still hadn't been in contact, nor had Emily with any news of how Melanie was getting on in DC. He knew that Friedrich was probably busy at the moment, but at least a small message from his boyfriend would calm the emotions raging in his mind. "I was telling Moon about the time when we tried to make homemade opium from some poppies I stole from the park, we were quite drunk at the time though and I dared myself to do that." Melody chuckled, turning her attention to Diego. "Uh, I don't think I was actually there," Diego replied. "Yeah, yeah I think you're right," Melody said, scratching her head. Moon laughed, but it sounded like a car backfiring. Diego was usually a laid back guy, but something about Moon was already getting on his nerves. He was sure the Tiger kept shooting him suggestive glances in-between laughing with Melody, but there was something slightly off about Moon that had nothing to do with his strange name or kooky appearance. There was a somewhat sly expression in the Tiger's eyes.

Eventually, after much chuckling about past anecdotes, Melody finished her coffee. "Y'know I think we should spend an afternoon doing what we used to do," she announced. Diego already knew what Melody meant by that. "Let's go to your place Diego." "My place?" Diego replied, not even bothering to disguise the look of horror on his face. "No way man, we're absolutely not doing that at Friedrich's house." "Relax, I meant your old place on Greener Street," Melody explained. Diego hadn't yet sold his old apartment although he had moved most of his belongings from there to Friedrich's. Diego followed Melody and Moon from the coffee place to where they had parked their cars. Melody's Nissan was parked nearby, and Diego was relieved when Moon climbed into her car instead of his.

As Diego pulled off, he considered turning his car around and driving back to the highway to San Amador. You can just leave, walk away now. However, one last adventure won't hurt. C'mon man, you'll have fun. Instead, he followed Melody's car through the traffic and onto the street he used to live on. Greener Street hadn't changed much since Diego had moved out, the same rows of identical apartment blocks and parched looking trees lined the street. Why did they call it Greener Street when it's not very green? The familiar sight of his old building appeared. Diego had never cared for architectural aesthetics and had been fairly satisfied with his apartment block, but in comparison to Friedrich's cosy Victorian house, the low-lying white concrete and glass building looked somewhat faceless. He turned into the parking bay where his old spot still sat while Melody parked in the visitor space. It felt like a throwback to old times when Melody would come and hang out at his place_;_ namely get drunk, smoke weed and occasionally fuck if Diego hadn't picked up a cute guy in a bar to screw in bed. However, the presence of Moon made him feel uneasy. Although the apartment was no longer lived in, he felt a flash of annoyance that Melody had invited the Tiger without asking him first.

The three rode the elevator up to Diego's floor and walked to his apartment; Melody and Moon kept chuckling behind Diego as he opened the front door. The apartment was empty apart from a mattress on the bedroom floor, an old television set in the kitchen and a coffee table sitting in the living room that Diego and Friedrich hadn't found room for yet. Diego had never had much in the way of furniture or decorations, but the apartment felt very empty and cold. "Hey Diego, we're going to the liquor store on the corner, what do you want?" Melody called. "A pack of decent beer, and some tequila," Diego replied, throwing the Cheetah a wad of dollars. "Will do, see ya!" She replied, making her way to the door as she continued to joke with Moon. "I reckon I can get the Wolfie off in under a minute, wanna place a bet?" Moon snickered to Melody just as the door swung shut. "Not likely dude," Diego muttered. He decided the Tiger wouldn't come anywhere near him. Diego pulled out his phone and activated the WiFi. He was pleased to see his old neighbour still lived next door; a sixty year old Foxhound who put no pass word protection on his internet and was often unaware that Diego stole it. He opened his news app and browsed through the headlines; as Friedrich had predicted, the Uganda vote was dragging on and on. There was also no sign of contact from the Alsatian, either by text or on Skype. Diego sighed and sat down on the mattress in his old bedroom. He wondered how Melanie was doing, if she was safe and having fun. He read back through the news article concerning the vote, but couldn't make much sense of what exactly was going on. Diego suddenly realised he didn't follow his boyfriend's political career in great depth beyond the basics. He had seen Friedrich in news footage, particularly following the death of Conor Wilson, watched interviews featuring him and had seen the Alsatian's name had cropped up from time to time in newspaper articles. Diego Googled Friedrich's name and tapped on a video featuring his boyfriend, perhaps to understand a little more as to why Friedrich took his job so seriously. He knew Friedrich made a huge effort to reach out to the people in his district and was passionate about working with local community efforts, something Diego found attractive, but he was yet to watch his boyfriend speaking in the Congress. The video showed a debate in which canines and felines of various breeds stood up to do their speeches discussing the merits or drawbacks of building a new aircraft carrier. Despite the difference in the breeds, the politicians looked all the same; grey fur, grey suits, no personality. Diego then appeared in the footage, wearing a blue suit that seemed to fit is muscular body perfectly. The Alsatian looked more like an actor turning up for a red carpet event than a political debate.

An aircraft carrier isn't simply a tool of war, but a symbol of humanitarian efforts too. As an ex-military man myself, I took part in as much humanitarian work as I did conflict. Those of you who know me will know that I do not favour blind and ill-thought out interventions overseas, however, we take our fire insurance in the hope our homes won't burn down, but it's there should we need it. This new carrier will be there should we need it. I know that the ship building yards along the coast have been short of work lately, the economic depression has been terrible for communities. A building project such as this will ensure that jobs are guaranteed, both for the brave men and women who will serve on the carrier, and those employed to build her.

Diego wasn't surprised that Friedrich had something of a mass following; charisma and good looks seemed to be a very rare trait in politics. He sighed and gazed around the small and boxlike bedroom which he had slept in for several years before moving to Friedrich's house. It certainly wasn't as impressive. A couple of cardboard boxes were laying in the corner, containing a few stray items that Diego hadn't moved over. Out of curiosity, he opened the lid of one of the boxes and saw a random assortment of items with couple of blank DVDs laying on the top. One of them simply had Elementary School scrawled on it with a sharpie. Diego instantly knew what it was and why he had not moved it over to Friedrich's house yet, he would be mortified if his boyfriend ever watched it.

The front door swung open as Melody and Moon swaggered back into the apartment; Melody was carrying a grocery bag that clinked with the sounds of bottles and cans. "Hey, I got you your favourite!" Melody called, pulling out a pack of Estrella beers. Diego closed the box and walked to the kitchen. "You know me only too well," Diego chuckled, although his brief moment of happiness was punctured when he saw Moon skulking behind Melody. He decided he would ignore the Tiger and focus on having a good time. One last adventure he told himself and then you will be quitting this for good. Diego opened one of the beers and gulped it as Melody pulled out a bag of brownies. "The stuff I used in these is good quality," Melody explained as she placed the bag down. "I got it from the station after we busted Tony's place, and ironically I'd used him as my dealer before then so I know his stuff was always hot shit, and this," she added pulling out a bag of white powder, "is my piece de resistance." "I think you mean it was the piece de resistance for the Metro who thought they'd busted something major, and then you swiped it," Diego laughed as he put the bag inside the cardboard box. "Anyway, we ought to get some food in." he added, opening a second beer. "I know the Blue Moon is still open," Melody replied. Diego wagged his tail, it was their usual place to order from whenever he and Melody had hit the greens. "I prefer Dragon Express," Moon cut in. "I wanna order from there." "You know, I like that place too. Let's order Dragon Express!" Melody agreed, punching their number into her phone. "I'll get us two boxes of sweet and sour chicken and some beef." "And pork, I want that," Moon added. Diego didn't say anything but felt his ears flick slightly with annoyance. Who is he to come here and start dictating everything? Diego had ordered from Dragon Express once before, and while he hadn't been picky about food in that period of his life, it was one place he had decided to avoid owing to the fact most of their food was swimming in a layer of grease. He forced himself to relax. C'mon dude, you're a chill guy. You'll probably never see Moon again after this, and beside anything will taste good when you're high.

A minute later Melody was putting the brownies out on the kitchen counter while Moon watched. Diego sat in the corner and kept watching the news spooling out on the app, but Friedrich hadn't done a speech yet. "Hey, watcha doing?" Melody called. "Watching the news, and looking for any sign of Friedrich," Diego replied. "You've gone all intellectual, I didn't think you'd be interested in the news of all things," Melody laughed. "Like, who the hell is Friedrich?" Moon interrupted. "My boyfriend," Diego replied curtly, putting heavy emphasis on boyfriend. "He's a politician!" Melody added, as if proud of the fact her best friend was mated to someone well known. "Politicians are all dicks," Moon scoffed. "Why would you wanna sleep with one of those?" "Why would anyone wanna sleep with you," Diego found himself growling. "Ooh it has teeth," Moon cooed. "Boys, be nice to each other," Melody chuckled. "C'mon we're here to relax and have fun." Diego was sure she shot Moon a brief but irritated glance. "Right, here we are. They're ready to go." Melody handed Diego and Moon a brownie and a third beer just as the apartment's intercom buzzed. Diego placed his beer down on the counter and glanced out the window to see a teenage Dhole holding their order in a plastic bag. "You gonna let him in?" Moon asked in a surly voice. Diego ignored him and pressed the button to unlock the front door.

Melody cracked open a beer and a bottle of tequila while Diego set the plastic boxes of food around the kitchen. He suddenly realised that he had no cutlery left in the apartment. "How do we use chopsticks when we're baked?" he chuckled, taking a bite from his brownie. "Like, with our paws," Moon replied. The Tiger threw back his head and laughed. Diego ignored him and took a swig of beer. It felt refreshing on a hot day, and he didn't want the Tiger to ruin his evening with Melody. He turned on the television hoping to find a music channel. As he hopped through the channels, Diego found an old television show playing, the title Esmerelda of The Rock appeared on the screen. It took Diego a moment to work out what he had seen that before, and suddenly remembered the title of Friedrich's book. The title disappeared and showed a young Vixen sitting on a rock as the waves crashed around her. "Oh Josiah, when will you return?" The Vixen sighed. "Can we like put some music on, instead of this old shit?" Moon complained. "I'm tempted to throw him off the balcony," Diego growled. "Here, I'll change the channel!" Melody said, pressing a button so poor Esmerelda disappeared. The image shifted to the music channel where a reggae band where playing on a beach. "This is perfect," Melody giggled as she took a bite from her brownie. "Bon appetite guys." Diego took another bite from his and sat on the floor. It took a moment and a few more bites for the ingredients to take their effect, but Melody was right. The weed inside was probably of a good quality but very potent, probably the most powerful he had ever had. He allowed the gentle, off-beat rhythm of the song to pulsate through him. "Here, have another," he heard Melody's voice say. "And some tequila." Diego opened his eyes and took a second brownie from Melody's paw and scarfed it. "The evil thing about these is they give you the munchies, for more brownies," he chuckled to himself. He then realised there were no shot glasses in the apartment, but he shrugged and took a couple of shots directly from the bottle.

Diego closed his eyes. Usually weed had a relaxing effect, but the thought of Esmerelda's look of sadness was starting to bother him. He opened his eyes and found the reggae song had finished and a rap track was now playing. Diego and Friedrich broadly had similar music taste, but he had put a couple rap songs on his phone. On one occasion he had shuffled his playlist and one such track came on; I've got 99 problems but a Fox ain't one! Friedrich had merely raised his eyebrows in response. The rap track that was playing on the television was hard, pounding and giving Diego a headache and he was feeling the strong need to eat something. He grabbed one of the takeout boxes and clumsily used the chopsticks to pick up a piece of pork, or was it chicken? As predicted, the food was greasy, but Diego didn't care. So long as it was in his stomach that was all he cared about, but the food seemed to stick in his throat. Grabbing his beer, Diego took a long gulp and staggered towards his mattress. Some sleep would be good. "Hey, what's up with you?" Moon asked, the Tiger looked as out of it as Diego felt. "I'm going to sleep," Diego slurred. He sighed, knowing at home he and Friedrich often made love after polishing off a bottle of wine and getting buzzed. "I'm feeling seriously underfucked, but a blowjob would be nice," he mused out loud. "Did I just say that out loud?" He added before staggering to the bedroom. Diego yawned and allowed the empty beer bottle to fall to the floor. He collapsed onto the mattress and fell into a black, dreamless sleep.

Diego stirred and rolled over. He gave a start. Friedrich was reclining next to him, dressed in one of his blue designer suits. "Hey stud," the Alsatian smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here?" "I figured I'd find you here, when I saw you weren't at home." "Ah, I'm sorry dude, you caught me just when I'm drunk and high." Friedrich didn't respond, instead he reached over, took Diego's face in his paws and planted a gentle kiss on his muzzle. "It's okay Diego," he whispered. Diego was surprised that Friedrich was being so forgiving. He had expected the Alsatian to be mad. "I guess they resolved the vote?" Diego asked. Friedrich nodded and reached down to unzip Diego's jeans. "They did, thankfully. I couldn't wait to come home." "Should we drive back to San Amador now?" "We shall, but we could have some fun first," Friedrich grinned, slipping a paw down Diego's jeans and fondling the growing bulge in the Wolfdog's underwear. "I forgot, you like to borrow my underwear," Friedrich chuckled. "Those look hot on you." "Thanks dude," Diego began, but he was cut off as Friedrich kissed him again. "Now, what have we got here?" the Alsatian growled playfully as he slipped Diego's fully erect cock from his briefs. "I see someone is pleased to see me." Friedrich gripped Diego's shaft before running his tongue over the tip. Diego closed his eyes and growled with pleasure. "Mmmph, that feels good," Diego murmured. "You're getting me close." Friedrich grinned and worked his muzzle up and down the shaft, before caressing his tongue over the tip again and giving Diego's balls a lick. Diego squirmed as the Alsatian kept running his rough and wet tongue over his balls while jerking his cock. "Damn, this feels amazing. I'm really getting close." "I told you I'd get the Wolfy off quickly."

Diego felt his blood turn to ice.

His grogginess seemed to vanish in an instant, and he woke to see not his boyfriend, but Moon gripping his cock in his paw and licking his balls. "What the fuck are you doing man!" Diego shouted, kicking the Tiger away. "You said you wanted a blowjob, and you were feeling underfucked," Moon replied. Diego growled and jumped to his hind-paws. "Not from you," he snapped. "What's going on?" Melody called. "I'm going home, that's what," Diego replied, stumbling around as he tried to zip his jeans back into place. "I think it's best you leave dude, before I toss you through the window and I'm not joking." he added, fixing Moon a hard gaze. "Whatever man, you said you wanted one," Moon huffed as he walked back to the door. "Your friend is a douche." He added to Melody. "He's right, you should leave," Melody said forcefully. Moon hissed, reached into his pocket and pulled out a flick-knife. Diego merely raised his eyebrows, he had seen people threatening each other with knives and wasn't exactly shocked. "Try and stab us and who do you think they'll believe when you get taken in, you or two cops?" He asked. Moon glanced at the two of them, hissed again and put the knife away. Without a word, the Tiger stormed out of the apartment and slammed the front door behind him. Melody opened her mouth to say something but Diego shook his head. "I'm gonna head home," he said wearily. Diego staggered back to the bedroom. On impulse, he picked up the cardboard box and walked with it back to the front door. "Lock up after yourself," he said to Melody before opening the front door. "I'm sorry," the Cheetah sighed. "I could beat him up for you?" "Nah, he's not worth it, and if he's getting a beating I'll do it myself," Diego replied, before closing the door behind him.

Diego made his way down to the parking lot, half concerned that Moon would try to jump him, but there was no sign of the Tiger anywhere. He heaved the box into the passenger seat of his car and climbed in behind the wheel. Diego knew if he was pulled over by the cops he would surely fail a drink and drugs test, which would be particularly embarrassing if anyone he knew from the station apprehended him, but he didn't want to hang around. He fired up the engine and drove out onto the dark street. The city was mostly devoid of traffic, and Diego was grateful to see the coastal road back to San Amador was deserted. Drive straight, and not too slow, or they'll know you're drunk. No not that slow! His mind commanded. Diego shut the thoughts away and kept his eyes focused on the road.

The outskirts of San Amador soon appeared and Diego followed the winding road up toward Holland Canyon. He felt relieved to see the familiar rows of smart looking Victorian houses sat behind low lying fences or neat hedgerows. Friedrich's white painted house came into view and Diego turned the Mercedes into the driveway, being careful not drive through the hedge or into the back of Friedrich's Dodge. He grabbed the box of belongings, almost dropping it on the garden path, before setting it down and somehow managing to open the front door. Getting some sleep would be nice. Diego glanced at the clock in the hallway as he stumbled towards the stairs, it was almost five am. Using the box to nudge open the bedroom door, he set it down and the contents almost fell out. Diego glanced down and saw to his horror that the bag of cocaine was still sitting on the top. Jeez, that was good I didn't get pulled over. Diego picked up the bag and weighed it in his paw, before tossing it onto the bedside table. He'd deal with that tomorrow, or perhaps suggest he and Melody take some without Moon before he got rid of the evidence, but right now he wanted to sleep.

Diego shed his clothes until he was standing in his underwear and looked down to see that he was still wearing Friedrich's briefs. Ah well, I'll another clean pair of his tomorrow. The bed was still unmade from the night before, but Diego crawled under the covers and cocooned himself in the blanket. It's nice to be home Diego thought as sleep came to him.