Page 38 of Mimosa

Her reasoning sound, Eazy shrugged. “Okay, well, taste it and tell me.”

Katie tasted the frosting on her finger, cocked her head and after she swallowed, she gave her approval. “It’ll do.”

“I’m so glad it passes your inspection, dear.”

“You’re welcome.”

Once Eazy was done with the cake, he took the two men to his closet. “I’m bigger than Mims, but I can probably take them in enough so they’re not falling off his ass.”

“Not too tight,” Abs instructed as Eazy handed him the faded blue jeans. “Tight pants are gay.”

“No, they’re not, Abs,” Eazy said.

“To a bunch of butch cops?”

“Right. Not too tight.”

Haze had a pair of sneakers that weren’t pastel, and Hippy had a jean jacket he could wear, once the liberal pins were removed. He offered a fedora that made Abs roll his eyes. “Really? Hey, maybe a baseball cap!”

“Sorry, fresh out of those.”

Again, Abs took his hand and dragged him to Goldie’s room, the athlete of the bunch, and he did have a cap. A plain black cap. “I need that back for my runs.”

“We’ll bring it back, cleaned and…do you press caps?”

“Just bring it back, no cleaning it or pressing it,” Goldie growled before he kissed Abs on top of his blond head. “Lord.”

After they had everything set, except the pants, which Eazy promised by morning, Abs looked over the clothes and shoes on Mims’s bed. “Perfect. You’ll blend.”

“I want to blend, right?”

“Yes. I mean, they have a gay cop around them, so they’re not going to beat on you for being gay, but there’s no use taking chances, and this way, you’ll be more invisible to be able to listen in on conversations.”

“That’s good. I want to be invisible.”

“Yes, you do.”

Abs sighed heavily, smiling a little. “I will be worried about you.”

Mims took his hand and said sternly, “I will be fine. I have Sonny. You have to concentrate on what you’re doing. That’s it. That’s all. If you mess up, we could all get in trouble.”

“I know. I’ll have my head on right. You just…Mims, please, just be careful.”

“You too.”

As they hugged, Mims felt himself, maybe for the first time, saying goodbye to his old family.

The times they’d had, well, they were always overshadowed by their father. He never let joy and fun get in the way of studying, of striving for success. Mims couldn’t remember being hugged by the man.

For so long, he wanted a replacement, and that came with Sonny, in the strangest way. He didn’t suffer foolishness, and yet he had no trouble hugging and kissing Mims, looking into his eyes with empathy and love.

Maybe he didn’t need his father recreated, but substituted in the right ways. Strong, stern, dominant, but sweet and loving too. No one he’d met could fill all except for Sonny.

The faithful afternoon came with Mims bent over the toilet, puking for the third time from nerves. Sonny would be there any minute to get him, and he was retching that morning’s terrible choice of coffee.

Like he needed to be kept awake!

He brushed his teeth again, finished dressing, and looked at himself in the mirror. He almost could pass for straight.

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