Greetings From Idaho by Kyler Doss

Author:Kyler Doss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: new adult, gay boys, solo_travel, sexual awakening, america by bus, character sketch, united-states-states, meeting boys, gay angst, love on the run, physical affection, graduation trip, first boyfriend, gay interest, queer teen, gay loner, gay crush, gay flirting, clean language, summer love, open road
Publisher: Kyler Doss
Published: 2020-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

4

Sunglasses

ABILENE, TEXAS

Garrett is a delicate boy. You are afraid to touch him because you might break him...

I had decided to turn back south and that brought me into West Texas.

I'm standing on a sidewalk in Abilene, looking at a building across the street.

"Are you lost?" someone says.

I turn around. The boy doesn't look like he belongs in the sun. No hat, no sunglasses, he is squinting pretty bad. And that means his face won't have its normal look to it, but he looks okay because he isn't big enough to hurt anyone. I don't think he is.

You think about things like that on the road. You get used to the idea that not everybody wants to help you. You also find out that some of them really do, so it's just a question of who is who. And there is no sure way to know who you can trust.

You can choose to never trust anyone at all. It keeps you safe. But it also means you never get close to anyone and that comes with a price all its own.

"No," I say, "I know where I'm at."

That means I know how to get to a bus that's leaving for Dallas. My mind is in motion. That's something the bus does to you but this kid won't know that. So I try to explain it to him.

"The bus just pulled in."

"Oh."

I realize that my explanation doesn't do anything for him, and offer up some more.

"I'm on the way to Louisiana."

"From where?"

Yeah, I kind of forgot that part.

"New Mexico."

None of this sounds very real. Plus I don't know why we are having this conversation. Don't get me wrong, I like it. And that's because he's pretty nice and I basically like him.

"I'm not from there," I say. "I'm from Minnesota."

"I'm from here."

I look around. "Seems real nice."

He likes that. The civic pride crosses his face, and reshapes the squint against the sun.

"I grew up here."

I want to tell him that's cool. "Cool."

"What are you gonna do in Louisiana?"

"Nothing."

He puts a hand up to block the sun. "Then don't go."

That makes sense from one point of view. Of course, we bring different points of view to this meeting and I don't think either one of us has put it out there yet, the one that is real to us.

I don't know who he is. He does tell me that his name is Garrett. That helps a little. I don't know why it should but it does.

"Are you the same age as me?" he says.

"18."

"Yup."

We are at the same place, then. I wonder what's next for him.

"You just graduated?" I say.

He nods.

"What's next?" I say.

"What's next for you?"

"You mean after Louisiana?"

We don't trust each other. I believe I trusted those other boys right off the bat. Maybe it was the situation. I mean, the street is the last place where you trust a stranger. And this really is "the street" that you hear about. At least it isn't the dark alley.

I haven't talked to anyone since I talked to Cabe.

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