Devil's Shaft by Greg Bowden

Author:Greg Bowden [Bowden, Greg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance, historical
Publisher: MLR Press
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

At a quarter to six there was a knock at their door. J.J., who had already washed and was buttoning up his jeans while he watched Luke at the shaving mirror, went to answer. Ah Man bowed and entered, carrying a small tray with two mugs of coffee. J.J. returned the bow.

“You like sugar, milk?” Ah Man asked, handing them the coffee. When they both shook their heads he smiled. “Good. Now you hurry. Almost six.”

“Thank you, Ah Man,” J.J. said, tasting the coffee. It was very good. Ah Man smiled at his obvious pleasure and left, closing the door silently behind him.

When they went into the dining room for breakfast they were surprised to find Mr. Gentry there, talking with several of the other residents. “Well, good morning Luke, J.J.,” he said, waving them to their places. “I see you got safely back from the Devil’s Heart. No trouble?”

J.J. was shocked at the way Mr. Gentry looked, his lips and the flesh under his eyes all swollen and puffy. The man’s cheeks were red and chapped looking, almost as though they had been scrubbed with a stiff, wiry brush, and his eyes looked hazy, as though he hadn’t slept much. At first J.J. thought he might have fallen into a patch of poison oak but then it occurred to him that this was just the way he and Luke often times looked. He wondered again how they had gotten away with it, back in San Luis Obispo. The signs seemed so obvious on Mr. Gentry.

Luke made the same observation and leaned over to J.J. “Well, what do you know,” he said, very softly, and then grinned at Mr. Gentry.

Ah Man brought in a platter of griddle cakes and placed it in the middle of the table. It was soon joined with a bowel of savory hash and a plate of boiled eggs. Everyone reached for the food at once.

“Where’s Mrs. Brown?” Luke asked the man sitting across from him, as the man helped himself to three of the eggs.

The man laughed. “Her? You’ll never see her at breakfast. Hell, she never even wakes up until nine or ten when the Chink takes coffee and burned bread in to her.”

Ah Man reappeared with pitchers of syrup and a couple of slabs of butter for the griddle cakes. When he had put these down he went around and made sure everyone’s cup was filled with coffee.

The men ate steadily but, unlike at the evening meal, also carried on a lively conversation. The man across from Luke introduced himself as Burt and asked if he planned to work at the mine.

“Yes, if they’ll have me,” Luke answered, pouring syrup on his hash. “Can you tell me where I go to see about it?”

“Sure,” Burt said. “Better, you just come along with me after breakfast. I’m in pretty good with the foreman, maybe I can help you out a bit.”

“Well thank you,” Luke said. “I’d be much obliged by that.”

Next to Luke, J.

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