Nothing Special V (Nothing Special 5)

Genesis hardly had any time with his brother and new brother-n-law. They’d missed the bachelor party, missed Prescott again. I MISSED FURI AND BLAIR DANCING! The video that Green took of it – he refused to show him because he was so pissed with him – probably wouldn’t have done the actual visual justice, anyway. Genesis grabbed the luggage back up, stormed past his boyfriend, and tossed it into the bedroom. He plopped down on the recliner and tried to get his anger under control. The way Curtis’ dads looked at him before they left was getting under Genesis’ skin. It wasn’t his fault that Curtis was letting his boss make their lives a living hell. He was just as much a victim. They hardly went out, hardly had any time together in the evenings, the asshole keeping Curtis there way beyond the time he was supposed to leave, they hardly even made love because Curtis was beat every night.

Genesis understood the community center Curtis volunteered at was in desperate need of caring people like him, people willing to sacrifice their time because those kids deserved it. His lover was compassionate like that. The center was one of the biggest in the city, but also one of the most understaffed and underfunded. Curtis had made so many suggestions on how to better the center only to have them shot down by the director each time. Programs that made perfect sense to Genesis, programs that benefited not only the kids but the community as a whole, were repeatedly rebuffed. Even the proposed night GED prep course for adults had been called silly and unnecessary, right to Curtis’ face.

“You still mad at me?” Curtis asked from the door, looking just as exhausted as Genesis.

“Yeah, Curtis. I am mad. This was my brother’s wedding. You know how important it was for me to be there.” Genesis sighed.

“You were there.”

“You know what I mean!” Genesis yelled. He closed his eyes, immediately regretting raising his voice. “I was supposed to be there longer than forty-eight hours. Now I have over two-and-a-half weeks of vacation time and nothing to do. I’ll be here alone all day, sitting on my thumbs because that dick really enjoys monopolizing your time when you have a break from school.”

“I can’t keep having this conversation with you, Genny.” Curtis went to their walk-in closet and began shedding his clothes. “I need the volunteer hours for my degree, too.”

“There are a lot of other community centers,” Genesis combatted uselessly. He’d said this a million times before. “I did my fair share of volunteering too when I was in college, but I never had to deal with bullshit like this. The center I participated in, the volunteers were appreciated, not tortured.”

“I’m not letting him beat me. Those kids need me. I’m not walking away.” Curtis squared his shoulders, looking back at him with determination in those usually dreamy blue eyes.

His partner may be a petite, beautiful man, but he was strong and brave. It’s what attracted Genesis to him in the first place. Curtis hadn’t grown up like most kids. He’d been a child, a teenager who’d had too much responsibility put on him when his biological father walked out on him and his mother. He was at his lowest and most desperate when God and Day found him trying to rob a mom-and-pop convenience store – with an IOU note in his back pocket – to pay the electric bill for his mother. He’d worked and gone to school from the time he was fourteen, but his meager wages weren’t enough to support them all the time. Curtis still said God and Day saved his life. They took him under their wing, and that’s where he met his dads, Ruxs and Green. They were there for him while his mom fought her kidney disease, adopted him when she died from it. The entire team made sure he had everything he needed, including a job that allowed him to still focus on school. Genesis knew Curtis was missing his fathers as well, but he wasn’t going to disappoint those kids that relied on him every day. Genesis understood, he really did, but he at least wanted Curtis to stand up to the guy. Everyone had superiors. He needed to file a complaint or something, but he refused.

“I’m sorry, Genny. I said it earlier, I’m saying it for the fourth time. I’m sorry.” Curtis closed himself in the bathroom, a few minutes later Genesis heard the shower turn on.

He wanted to go after him, hated to see him look like that, but he was still upset. He changed clothes and put on his favorite pair of lounging pants and left the room. He walked down the long hallway, through the open space that was their living room and dining room, and through the double doors to his den. It was his sanctuary. Almost a shrine to his days as the G-Man. All his awards, trophies, and plaques from high school through his four years as a Georgia Bulldog. The furniture was all browns and dark reds throughout the nice space. His mid-size, brown leather sectional had four recliners and a chaise lounge on the end, was positioned in front of his seventy-inch curved television. A housewarming gift from his brother’s team when they helped move them in. He had framed pictures on the wall of his mom and brother, of his teammates and his spreads in everything from Sports Illustrated to OUT magazine. There was hardly space left anywhere. Especially after his latest addition, an old-school popcorn stand. He loved it in here. He turned on his television, typically tuned to ESPN, picked up his ratty nerf ball he’d had since peewee, and began tossing it in the air while he decompressed.