Beau - Prologue
#12 of Beau
© All characters and storylines involving said characters belong to me: Eben Black.
~~~
Hangovers are never a pleasant experience first thing in the morning, and anyone who states otherwise is a psychopath. Enough said. This particular hangover had woken me up before the alarm had even considered it. It was dark outside and even darker inside. I pushed my hands against the bed and peeled my face from the other side of the pillow. I was naked. It was December and there was a thick blanket of snow covering the streets outside. I hated it that at some point last night I'd staggered home, stripped for bed at least and then never considered to put on some boxers at least. I shuddered in the sudden cold and gazed around the one-roomed apartment for the bed duvet which at some point I'd have thrown aside when I scrambled into bed. I found it bundled on the floor near the bottom of the bed. I yanked it up and over me as I lay there in the hushed quiet of the early morning twilight. A paler light from the lamppost on the street splintered through the blinds and cast shadows across the bedroom. I huddled in the luke warmth of the bed and gazed around the room for the clothes I'd worn last night and other things I'd have dropped when I'd staggered in.
The bedroom was littered with boxes and a great duffel bag thrown over the chair at the desk. I had packed everything except some clothes that remained hung in the wardrobe, the laptop that rested on the desk and the TV. The TV had been an additional add-on to the bedroom, so that was staying here, but everything else besides the bed frame and the desk had belonged to me and would be coming home with me in a few hours time. I had graduated and was done for the rest of the educational year. I'd been trained and certified as a forensic photographer for the Police Department back home. I'd needed the qualification and had moved out here, six hours from home, so that I could study and experience student life for four long years. The course had even ended earlier than the education board had expected. It was a new course design, one which had worked so well we'd finalised everything come the end of November. So we'd waited to see what happened, and come December our own individual graduation was assured. It had been a quiet ceremonial affair. No parents arrived to watch, because it was a last minute ordeal. But we graduated and were awarded our diplomas. Now I was done and headed back to my hometown. I'd be seeing my parents and my siblings again. Sure, I'd seen them during the holidays whilst studying here, but I'd never really stayed for longer than four nights there at a time. Three return trips for four nights each during the course of the year. Suffice it to say, I missed them.
Well...not all of them. I didn't miss my father, not one bit.
I sat upright and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror that was suspended on the wall opposite the bed. I'm not the tallest male out there, and at five foot six, I reckoned I was one of the smallest on campus at least. The lights that splintered through the blinds ricocheted off the pale blue of my fur, the sleak black stripes and the white chest and stomach fur below. Those pale, lavender eyes screamed exhaustion and a throbbing ache at the back of their pale brilliance. A silver loop through one ear and a pale pink nose. I looked like one of the most feminine male blue tigers to have ever existed. I came from a big family of blue tigers, a family that crossed grandparents, aunts and uncles, and distant cousins. All of us were blue tigers, pure and simple. I was among the most slender of the males in my household though. I was the oldest child, and was still smaller than the other two brothers I had. I'd moved out here when I was nineteen, and in the last four years I'd not changed one bit. I tousled my head fur and realised it needed a trim when I made it home. One of the reasons dad and I didn't get along very well was because he'd developed a discrimination before I moved out. A discrimination not aimed at the general public, but at me, his own flesh and blood. He was a homophobe, and why was he a homophobe? Because he didn't like me being one of those cock-hungry queers on the television.
I may have looked feminine, but I was one of the least feminine gay tigers out there. I still liked sports, and had taken to swimming for my own excercise routine. I had a number of straight male friends who had no problem with a gay male standing amongst them, drinking at the bar. And I had never, and never will ever, consider doing drag for anyone. Regardless of all that, dad still believed I did all the things that you hear about on the streets. Hooking up in clubs and fucking in the bathrooms. Yeah, I'd met one or two males out here in night clubs whilst out with friends, but I'd never jumped their bones then and there in the bathroom. Like I said though, dad was a homophobe, as well as being a drunk, from what I'd heard. He was fine until something popped up on TV or something was mentioned that reminded him of me. Then he'd go out and come home at three in the morning, blitzed.
My mind throbbed again at the thought of drink. I pushed back the duvet, finally warm enough to head for the bathroom without catching frostbite. I heard the alarm ring out and ignored it as I closed the bathroom door, and let a rush of hot water steam up the small bathroom as the shower ran. I tested the water temperature and when I was content I stepped under. I slid the cubicle door shut and let the warmth wash over me. Nothing felt as good as that first hot shower on a winter morning. I reached for the shampoo on a shelf inside the cubicle and lathered up, covering my head fur, chest, arms and the lower regions too. It all smelled of coconut and that was fine with me. I had covered myself in thick, coconut-smelling suds and soon stepped under the downpour of water again. I watched the warm water flood the suds down the drain. I sighed and felt better. I finished cleaning up, then slid open the tall cubicle door and stepped out. I wrapped a big, fluffy black towel around my waist and used a smaller towel to rub at my head fur. I headed for the wardrobe and dressed. I wore a simple blue fitted-tee with the word "Valiant" on it written in scripture. A pair of white boxer-briefs, white socks, denim blue jeans, black running shoes, a leather black belt with a silver buckle and a hooded pale blue, striped jacket over the tee. The material on the hooded top was thin and wouldn't protect me from the cold chill of winter. I'd don a thick, black-and-blue scarf as well as a leather black jacket too.
For now I'd pack the rest of my things into the Jeep downstairs, outside the dormitories. I walked to the bedside table and switched off the alarm as it rang out for the fourth time. Then I noticed I'd recieved a text on my mobile. It was from a college friend named Luka who said: Where did U go last nite, Beau? You had me worried. Luka x. I texted back: I have no idea. I remember doing shots with you and Miles, and then everythings a blur. I ended up back home though. Are you still in town? I slipped the phone into the hooded jacket pocket and proceeded to pack away everything else that remained. The few clothes I still had stored in the wardrobe and the laptop too. I carried the packed belongings downstairs and hauled them into the back of the Jeep I owned. I fastened everything down with seat belts and restrictions in the boot and slammed the door shut. I felt the dull vibration of another text. I looked at the text and it read: Simon and I R stuck @ the airport for the next 3 hrs. Sumthin about technical issues. Either way we're grounded 4 nw. Hope U gt bk home safe m8 xx. I texted: You too and slipped the phone back inside my pocket. I locked the Jeep and headed upstairs again.
I took one last look around the bedroom, remembering the fun times and memories I'd had hear on campus. Times had changed though, we were all older, wiser and about to start new careers that spanned across the country. I'd wrapped the scarf around my neck and huddled inside the leather jacket as I closed the door and locked it for the final time. I handed the key in and collected the damage deposit from the caretaker of the dormitories. I counted out the cash in front of him. Four hundred big ones. Awesome. I said goodbye and left, not looking back and looking forward. The entire time I walked down the snow covered path to my Jeep, all I could think about was what I'd done the previous night before. It had been dumb luck that I'd managed to make it back home considering I had no recollection after around half eleven last night. I thanked my blessings and climbed into the Jeep.
Six hours. Six hours and I'd be back home to a welcoming home of relatives and old friends, and one pissed off dad. If my brothers had been right, and the old bastard had started drinking whenever I was mentioned, by the end of the day he'd have either drank himself into a coma, or fucked up his liver. And I could be certain now, that if he needed mine, I'd laugh and walk away. Hatred can be a horrible thing, even between father and son, but sometimes its just best to accept that hatred and move on, than dwell on things that cannot be fixed. Time would tell, but for now, I had to traverse snow covered lanes and roads that seemed to have been abandoned and allowed to blanket with the thick white powder. Ah well, Christmas was just around the corner I suppose.