Page 68 of Cleats and Pumps

Fuck. He likely still had another copy if he made any. I’d even heard him say one time when the competing magazine had stolen our articles that they had likely made multiple copies. Certainly he’d have done the same.

“Okay, well, I want to make him state under oath, if possible, that he doesn’t have more copies than those! If we can make it part of the plea bargain, then that’d be even better.”

“I can ask the prosecutor, but it’s his call. Regardless, Tommy, this is good news.”

I smiled and let out a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m sorry, John, itisgreat news. Thanks for your hard work.”

“You got it, buddy,” he said, which made me smile. John was Josiah’s friend, or at least someone he worked with. I’m not sure how or why, but he’d treated me more as a friend than a client, which really was cool.

I checked my watch and knew, even though I was an hour behind New York, Amos still wasn’t done with rehearsal, so I texted him the news. If I was lucky, he’d stay awake long enough tonight to call me back. If not, no harm no foul. I knew what he was doing and the energy it took to do it.

It made me more than proud of him. That didn’t mean I didn’t miss him. I most certainly did.

So, for me, things were looking up, at least in regards to Elliott.Now, what the hell do I do about that book?

50

Amos

Somuchanxietypumpedthrough the cast. Strangely, I was relaxed, at least compared to the rest of them.

I guess having played the number of games I had over the years meant I was used to being in front of tens of thousands of people. Performing? Yeah, there was definitely a big part of performing that went with the game as well.

Tommy’s article inProudesthad done what we’d expected. There was a lot of anticipation now. Shade was definitely thrown by the gay community, which wasn’t surprising, considering I was doing drag… in this huge body, nonetheless.

The sports world was up in arms as well. Although I certainly wasn’t in the middle of it, there was a war waging between two sides: “Gay men shouldn’t be in sports,” from the asshole side, and “Freedom of identity with no repercussions,” from the other.

Even with the typical toxic male bullshit, the team wasn’t faring well. My attorneys and brother had all said it’s only a matter of time before they settle.

That was yet to be seen. What could be seen, however, was that the theater was packed. I’d teased Tommy when he got in last night that being sold-out meant over two thirds of the attendees were hoping to see me fail, and the other third probably didn’t know I used to play football.

He didn’t disagree.

The haters were going to be surprised though. Weeks and weeks of intense training, rehearsals, and one-on-one assistance with not one, but three dance instructors and/or choreographers meant I had the routine down to a very refined process.

At this point, I could do the show in my sleep. My body automatically moved to the music now.

I wasn’t in drag during the first part of the show, since it was mostly about my character getting to that part of his life. After intermission, though, in the last act of the show, I was slowly turned into a fabulous drag queen.

The crowd showed a mixed reaction to my appearance, but I didn’t have time to focus on that. I spoke my lines as if I were actually living the experience for the first time.

My costars reacted in the same way— as if they too were living this in real time. The result, I knew, was outstanding!

We got through the show, all the way up to the point where I sang to the king and queen, and then to how things had happened. Similar to how inKinky Bootsthe song the queen sang about her dad pulled on the audience’s heartstrings,the lament Alec sang was heart-wrenching. My own dad wasn’t in the audience. Josiah had called and told me he wouldn’t be coming. I knew he wouldn’t. I had expected him not to be, but it still hurt more than I could possibly say.

Just as when I auditioned, the emotions that came out while singing the lament were real, heartfelt, and painful.

I could sense the somber tone permeate the audience, even if I couldn’t see them through the lights.

This musical wasn’t a romance. It wasn’t about two men finding each other and learning to be in love. That didn’t mean as I finished the last routine and the show came to a close, I didn’t feel Tommy with me here on the stage. He was such a part of my life now, a huge aspect of my being and my identity.

The show ended with a full house standing ovation. The applause went on for much longer than I think it usually did, showing me just how much they had enjoyed the show. I couldn’t have hoped for better.

I rushed to remove the costumes, and clean off the makeup, at least as well as I could. Then rushed out of the back and into Tommy’s waiting arms.

“Amos, fuck, you were off the charts amazing,” he said as I swirled him around in a circle.

“God, that was amazing, Tommy!” I said to his laugher. I put him back down and kissed him then hugged him so tight he complained about me trying to kill him or something.

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