The Dogs: Not Exactly Night - Episode III
The next day, Thursday, Cody and Andrew waited for Bligh on the balcony of their apartment, seated in two plastic patio chairs they had bought together some months ago. The evening was very slowly setting in, the Sun's glorious performance earlier that day beset with the climactic applause that was the oncoming dusk, in the ebullient spectacle that marks nearly all sunsets in Tampa Bay - fantastic hues of the first part of the rainbow mixed in with the crawling slate of the clouds.
Andrew was visibly nervous - he would check his phone compulsively, reading over the texts Bligh had sent as he made the sojourn south from Tempest, trying to estimate in his head how much longer it would take.
"What's taking him?" Andrew murmured.
Cody reached from his chair to put his hand on Andrew's - he gave it a quick squeeze, before returning to the vigil of studying the parking lot for signs of that once-familiar blue pickup truck.
A moment of silence passed before Cody broke it: "So...he lives with this grandpa?" Andrew nodded. "Yeah. His parents died when we were five. Hell of a man." The phrasing betrayed his upbringing as he gave the old-timer perhaps the highest compliment his home region could afford."He did everything for Bligh - and me, too - taught us how to shoot, how to fix a car..." He smiled, his gaze suddenly distant at the memory. "He was more of a dad than my dad ever was..." "You know how to shoot?!" Andrew's eyes snapped back to the present as he turned to Cody with a bemused smile. "What, that surprise you?" "Ah, kinda." They shared a laugh. "Bligh can shoot better than me, though. Always could..." "I could see that." "But..." Andrew frowned. "Last I heard Pappy wasn't doing too well. He's old, Cody - real old. Hard to believe that someone like him could ever pass on..." He looked down at the balcony's floor as the full weight of what he had said took effect. He coughed abruptly, adjusting in his seat - Cody said nothing, but looked at him sympathetically. "I hope he's okay," Cody offered. Andrew nodded vigorously. "Me too, me too..." He paused, thoughtful, recalling his dream from the night before. "You've never seen fall, have you? Like, yanno, red and orange leaves and all that?" Cody shrugged. "Ah...sort of? Once when I was little and my mom was still around we went to ah, Spartanburg I think it's called--" "Carolina?" "--yeah, South Carolina, that's where her family's from, and there was a lot of the uh, whattya call it?Foliage - it was really pretty from what I remember." "But you've never seen whole forests and mountains like that." Cody shook his head. "Nah. Why? Are we going somewhere for fall?" Andrew laughed. "Ah - maybe. I had a dream last night I was back in Tempest - well, um, the area outside of it. And it's pretty weird because - usually when I have dreams, they're pretty, um, literal, like something is happening in them that's pretty believable, yanno? And - anyway, I haven't seen what it looks like in the fall for - it feels like a long time...anyway, yeah. It was a really vivid dream." "That's pretty cool - a little scary if you usually dream like it's real though, I guess." Andrew nodded. "Yeah. It used to really bother me when I was younger..." He laughed softly to himself. "I used to talk to Bligh about them, actually..." He glanced to Cody with a raised eyebrow. "Haven't I ever told you that? About the super-real dreams?" Cody shrugged. "Probably. But um, you usually don't talk about your dreams, so - I think it's been a long while." "I don't?" Cody shook his head. "And I usually don't have dreams." "Well I knew that--" Andrew sniffed. "I always did find that weird." "I'm just a weird guy," Cody with a playful smile. Andrew rolled his eyes. "No - hush." Cody giggled. "Anyway - yeah, last night, um - I saw my dad..." He stopped, his tongue feeling along the back of his front teeth as his gaze grew distant at the memory. Cody furrowed his eyebrows as he saw Andrew so wistful. "You...you did?" Andrew nodded, slowly. "My dad was standing in this field and waving goodbye to the geese as they flew south for the winter. And he was saying, Goodbye! Goodbye geese! - he always did that. I think he got it from a book..." He sighed heavily. "I miss him." "Your dad?" A sour look appeared on Andrew's face. "I miss the good times, I should say..." Cody frowned, squeezing Andrew's hand. "I'm sorry, Andy - I miss mine too. Well, sometimes." Andrew thought a moment. "This must be how Bligh feels - like an orphan. I mean, you too--" "Yeah," Cody gently cut him off. It was Andrew's turn to frown. "But, yeah. Bligh and I are the same now - I don't have parents anymore, basically. I wonder how that makes him feel..." "Did you ever have a crush on him?" "Who?" "Bligh." Andrew studied Cody's face as he hesitated before answering. "Well - well, yeah, I did. For awhile, actually, um - he was my first crush, and, um, we were never apart for - wait, no, we were never apart--" "Aww." "Stop." Cody giggled. "No, it's okay! Everybody has straight-guy crushes. I did all the time." Andrew smiled, nodding again. "I guess you're right. It's weird, ain't it? And yeah - he is straight, so...there you have it. We're just friends - best friends. He was always sticking up for me - ah - I got picked on a lot at school because I was the rich kid...pretty sure I've told you that." "Well, once or twice." "Even when I was on the football team I got shit for having money...people'll find anything to hold against you, I guess." "Yeah..." Cody agreed with a hint of ruefulness. "But he--" Andrew sat up in the chair to get more comfortable. "--he was always sticking up for me even then. Thanks to him everybody left me alone..." His eyes turned distant for a moment as he thought it over. "I do - I owe him a lot..." "Then I'm glad to meet him!" Andrew returned to the present, nodding with a soft smile. "Yeah. I hope he likes Florida. Tempest's kinda shitty, maybe he'd wanna move down here." "From what you've said it's gotta be - you've always acted real glad to be away from there." Andrew smiled at him. "Well if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met you..." Cody beamed, warm as the Florida Sun. Only seconds after he finished, a beat-up looking mid-90's Ford Ranger turned the corner to growl into their apartment's parking lot.
"That's him..." Andrew said with a quiet, mounting excitement. He took a deep breath, gave Cody one last look of resignation, and departed the balcony for the parking lot. "Heeey!" he called out, waving grandly to get the vehicle's attention. He came down the steps excitedly, Cody right behind him. Once parked, out of the pickup came a lean, wiry, black-haired male, slightly taller than Andrew.
"Hey hey," said the truck's occupant.
Andrew's face burst into a smile. "Bligh! It's...it's really you! Holy shit!"
The fellow in question, Bligh, gave a half-smile - a smirk. "Believe it, brother. I'm here."
Andrew hesitated greatly as he stepped forward - he second-guessed himself about hugging him, instead thrusting his own hand out for Bligh to shake. Bligh accepted his hand, and they clasped tightly - Andrew tried not to show how taken aback he was at Bligh's strong grip. He held onto Bligh's hand until he felt his friend give way.
"Look like I changed any?" Bligh said to Andrew. Bligh had indeed changed - he looked older, rougher, than last Andrew had seen him. He was ruggedly handsome - assertive and masculine, which a decently trimmed Abe Lincoln beard especially accentuated, but his eyes, an intense icy-blue that speared everything they saw, bespoke the deeply set world-weariness peculiar to Appalachian folk...a hereditary feature Bligh was born with. For many years Bligh had been growing into his grandfather - the beard, especially - so that now, as Andrew beheld him, it was though he was seeing Pappy Lynch in his younger days, the past coming back to life before Andrew's very eyes...Bligh was, and would always be, very much his grandfather's child.
The beard he had grown was black and very dense, like his long, messily layered feather-like hair - which, spilling out from under a dirty Baltimore Ravens cap that Andrew recognized from high school, totally hid his ears. A blue flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, from which strands of sable chest hair spilled forth, and well-worn jeans completed the look - which, unfortunately, seemed to perfectly fit him - of a poor white boy from the coalfields. His face seemed fatigued - perhaps from the long car ride, but Andrew suspected it wasn't merely the distance that had given him that tiredness.
"You look good," Andrew finally said - if nothing else simply overwhelmed that his long-lost best friend now stood before him after both miles and years. "But, ah - ain't you hot though, in those jeans? It's Florida!" Bligh shrugged, and smirked again. "Ain't no thang..."
Cody came from behind Andrew. "Hey - Bligh? I'm Cody!" He, too, shot out his hand. "Welcome to Florida!" Bligh looked down at him, seeming to study a minute before looking up to Andrew.
"This the Pup?" he asked, motioning with his head.
Andrew cleared his throat, suddenly awkward - he watched Cody's face blush with what looked like confused embarrassment...he retreated his outstretched hand into his arms, folded at his chest. "Uh..."
"Yes, that's - that's Cody."
Bligh nodded at Cody without further acknowledgment. "We need ta go somewhere n' catch up, yeah?"
"Well do you want to come in? You must've been on the road--"
"I'm feelin pretty rough, man," Bligh interrupted. "Can we grab a beer?" "Bligh I don't really drink--" "Right, sorry," Bligh murmured. "Aight then, we can jest chill somewhere."
"Yeah, okay, sure - you and me and Cody can go someplace, probably get a bite to eat while--" He stopped as he saw Bligh glance away at the ground. "...actually Drew, I - I really need it ta jest be us. I mean I know I jest got here but there's some shit I need ta talk about, jest us."
"Just - just us? You and me?"
Bligh nodded. "Yeah." "W-well, I - I dunno..." Andrew frowned deeply in thought, turning to look back at Cody. "Is - is that cool with you, Baby?"
Cody shrugged, looking somewhat crestfallen. "I...I guess."
Without prompting, Andrew paced over to give the boy a hearty hug. "Hey...it's okay, me and him just gotta lotta things to discuss. You wouldn't have fun with all the inside jokes, anyway." He looked into Cody's eyes in affirmation. "Okay?"
Cody nodded slowly. "Okay...just feel left out is all..."
Andrew smiled reassuringly. "Don't. Like I said, you won't know half the stuff we'd be talking about. Besides, we'll be back before ya know it."
His boyfriend smiled back reluctantly and nodded back. "Alright..."
Andrew kissed his forehead. "Good. I love you."
"Love you too..."
"So--" He turned to Bligh, who had taken out a cigarette. "If you want it to be just us, then it'll be just us! Let's go down to the beach, I'll put some gas in your car - that cool?"
"Sure thing. I'm sick o' drivin, I'm-a leave that t'yew." He put the cigarette back in his shirt pocket, unlit, nodding at Cody. "See ya soon."
Cody nodded back, looking suddenly discomfited. "Uh, yeah. See ya soon."
Andrew looked askance at Bligh as Cody made his way back to the apartment. "What the heck was that? See ya soon?"
Bligh didn't respond - with Cody quickly out of sight, a twinge came to his mouth, and he threw out his arms to grip Andrew in a tremendous bear hug. Andrew was startled at first, before quickly recovering, returning the embrace.
"God_dammit_ I missed yew, Drew," Bligh whispered wetly. "I missed yew so fuckin much."
Andrew felt his heart melt, and gave a hearty laugh to hold back the happy tears. "Aww dammit, Bligh - I missed you, too. I'm so glad - so glad you're here."