Part Two of my book “Altered Parts,” Is Coming Out Soon

I haven’t had a new release in a while and there’s a reason for that. I’ve been busy with life…with moving cross country, with family, with a few health issues. But the book is finished and I’m just going over the final edits that my editor returned to me. 

It’s another book in the Altered Parts series that brings us into the future. We get to see Joe Buddy and Clay’s great-grandsons…twins… who are still living and thriving up on Buddy’s Mountain in the hills above Ashville, North Carolina. 

There’s no link to this book, but I will post an excerpt below. I still haven’t written a description that I like either, but I will very soon. This book will probably be out in January, after the holidays. 

Altered Parts: Part Two I don’t think there are any major spoilers here. 

Clive had originally planned to go to law school in Florida. In fact, he’d already been accepted and if William hadn’t dropped dead so suddenly he would have started school that fall. But then after William’s death, he moved back to Buddy’s Mountain with the intention of going to law school there. However, the nearest law school was over an hour and 15 minutes away by car and he needed money right away. His undergrad degree was in English and there wasn’t much he could do with that. He was well-rounded and he had no regrets about his education, but he knew it wouldn’t do him much good in the job market.

So he had a long talk with Levi one night after they’d had sex and he thought he’d received some excellent advice. It was so good he couldn’t ignore it. Earlier that evening he’d been dumpster diving and he couldn’t do that forever. He would go down the mountain to Ashville, check out several dumpsters, and bring his finds back to the mercantile and sell them there. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, it was legal, and he’d made some good money doing that so far. He had a good eye and he knew what to pick out of the trash and what to leave behind. But he needed a way to come up with a decent living and Levi offered him some excellent advice with real estate.

They were lying naked in the grass down by the creek when all this transpired. Levi had just fucked him doggie style and they were just about to get dressed when Clive said, “I really have to find a way to make money. Ever since all the gay businesses closed at the top of the mountain, Cass has been killing himself to make ends meet around here. I have to help him out. Jasper has been pushing hard for us to sell all the land at the top of the mountain for housing development and we don’t want to do that.”

“I thought you were going to law school,” Levi said.

“Someday in the future, but not right now.”

“Did you ever think about getting your real estate license?” Levi asked.

“Is that hard to do?” Clive asked.

“Well it’s not easy, but you already have your degree in English, and you were accepted into law school. It’s no harder than that. I think you’d be good at it, too. You’re good with people and you have a nice flair. You could sell real estate full time and go to law school part-time.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Clive said. “Would you help me with it?”

Levi nodded. “Of course. I’ve been thinking about getting licensed in North Carolina myself. I love it here, especially on the mountain. We can do it together. I’ll pay for it.”

Levi and Torre had been on the mountain for almost two weeks now and they didn’t seem to have any plans to leave soon. It was as if they’d found a new home. Clive and Cass didn’t care. Levi and Torre actually offered to pay rent after the first week they were there and that extra money coming in helped a lot. They both said they loved living up on the mountain and they didn’t want to go back to Florida with Marta, especially Levi. He said he was tired of living up to Marta’s heterosexual expectations and he liked living on the mountain because he felt freer and more open than he’d ever felt in his life. He also said the simplicity and peacefulness helped him sleep better at night.

“I’d like that,” Clive said. “But only if you allow me to pay you back after I sell my first house.”

Levi reached over to shake his hand and said, “It’s a deal. I’ll start working on this tomorrow. In the meantime, we should get dressed. Saoirse won’t like it if we’re late again.”

Even though Levi and Torre were living on the mountain they had their meals in the main house next to the mercantile. Cass didn’t mind in the least and Saoirse seemed happy to have more people to cook for. All of a sudden Buddy’s Mountain seemed to come alive again, and without even planning it. Cass and Torre hit it off very well, too. Torre seemed intent on finding a solution to the problem with the top of the mountain. He thought it was a terrible shame that it had failed as a gay destination spot, and even worse that Jasper Lorne’s company wanted to buy it and develop homes there. He would brainstorm with Cass often about what they could do to make it profitable again.

Clive reached for his underwear and said, “I’m glad you guys decided to stay here for a while. It’s nice to have more life up here on the mountain. For the longest time it was just Cass and me, and then Dirty came along. And now you guys are here and there’s so much life. It’s been a long time since that’s happened up here.”

“We didn’t expect to stay either,” Levi said. “And look how that turned out. Plus, I think Torre is seeing someone.”

Clive’s eyes opened wider. “Really, who?”

Levi shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s bisexual and he’s very secretive about it. It’s almost as if he’s sneaking around. Every time I ask him about it he changes the subject and I think they might be married. So I mind my own business.”

Clive nodded in agreement. “That’s smart. I do the same thing with Cass. But I will keep my eyes open to see if I hear anything about Torre and this mysterious person. This is a small town and nothing remains a secret for long.”

When they were dressed they walked back to the Mercantile and Clive found both Jasper and Dirty standing on the front porch talking about the mail. This was the first time Clive had been together with all three of them, and neither one of them knew that he was sleeping with all of them. They all knew that he was seeing other people, but he didn’t feel the need to go into details about that. And there was also the fact that Jasper was not out of the closet and he was sneaking around with Clive on the down-low. Jasper was married to a woman and no one needed to know that either.

Jasper spotted them approaching first and he stepped off the front porch of the mercantile and said, “Well there you are. I’ve been wondering why I haven’t seen you in a while.” He glanced up and down at Levi and smiled. “I guess you’ve been busy.”

Clive knew Jasper was suggesting that he was sleeping with Levi, and he resented the bold implication. Of course, he was obviously sleeping with Levi, but that was none of Jasper’s business and he had no right to even confront Clive about that. So Clive shot him a look and said, “I’ve been busy since I got back to Buddy’s Mountain. I’m always busy, Jasper, you know that.”

Levi had already met Dirty, but he’d never met Jasper. Since it didn’t look as if Clive was going to introduce them, he stepped forward, extended his right arm, and said, “I’m Levi, a friend of Clive’s from Florida. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jasper reached out to shake his hand and said, “I’m Jasper. It’s nice to meet you, too. I’ve known Clive since we were kids. We grew up together here on the mountain. He’s very important to me. Veryimportant. “

“Oh yes,” Clive said. “We’re old friends.”

“Well I should be going,” Jasper said. “My wife is expecting me for dinner. It was nice meeting you, Levi.” He turned back to Dirty and said, “I’ll check tomorrow for that package.”

Dirty nodded. “Sure thing, man.”

As he turned to leave, Levi said, “Nice meeting you.” He had no idea about the history of Jasper with respect to Clive or with respect to how much his family wanted to buy up all the land at the top of the mountain.

Jasper headed toward his car, lifted his hand and waved, and said, “I’ll see you around, man. So long Clive. You be a good boy.”

“So long, Jasper,” Clive said. He almost laughed out loud. “You be good, too.”

“Oh, I’ve been good all my life,” Jasper said, without giving him a backward glance. “I’m starting to think it’s time for me to be bad.”

Then Jasper climbed into his car and started the engine and Dirty said, “I was just on my way down to put gas in the Cadillac for you.” The mercantile also had a gas pump left over from the old days.

“Thanks, Dirty,” Clive said. “I appreciate it. I have to go out tonight, again.” He handed the Cadillac’s keys to Dirty and said, “Just leave them under the front seat when you’re done.”

As Dirty turned to leave, Levi and Clive headed back toward the house and Levi said, “Well that was awkward.”

“How so?”

Levi laughed. “Well Dirty barely even speaks to me, and Jasper kept looking at me as if he wanted to strangle me. They know I’m getting into your pants.”

Clive continued walking without stopping and he shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t want to get into it, Levi. You all know that I’m seeing other people. And I’m not in a monogamous relationship with anyone. I’m honest and upfront about that with everyone. That’s really the best I can do right now. So if that’s a problem I won’t mind if we stop seeing each other.”

They reached the sidewalk that would lead them up to the main house. Levi put one palm on the small of Clive’s back and he opened a small black iron gate with the other. “I understand,” he said. “I’m not asking for anything more than what we have right now. You don’t have to explain a thing. We’re good.”

“Thank you,” Clive said. “I’m just not ready to be committed to anyone right now. And I don’t want to get into any long discussions about it. Besides, we’re already late and Saoirse is not going to be happy.”

* * * * *

After dinner, Cass took off alone in his pick-up truck and no one asked where he was going, not even Saoirse. This was odd because Saoirse followed every move Cass made as if she were his birth mother. They had a bond and he usually told her everything that was happening in his life. But that night he just took off after dinner without saying a word, and with a great big smile on his face. Apparently, Torre wasn’t the only one sneaking around. Clive had a feeling Cass was seeing someone on the sly and he didn’t want to discuss it aloud, so Clive didn’t ask any questions. He figured that Cass would tell him everything sooner or later. Or, it would just end and he’d never know. Even more than that, Clive was sleeping with Levi, Jasper, and Dirty and he hadn’t said a word about it to Cass. So Clive was no one to talk about keeping secrets and he decided it was none of his business to ask Cass any questions.

Levi walked with him to the garage and that’s as far as they went together. They kissed goodbye, Clive said he would see Levi in the morning, and they each went in different directions. Levi walked down toward the road that would lead him up to the top of the mountain, and Clive climbed into the Cadillac and started the engine. Clive had work to do that night and he didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing. And at that moment, given his personal circumstances, this was the best he could do and it was legal.

He put on the AM radio and drove to the sound of old songs. These songs were old when he was born. It was the kind of music everyone he knew had grown up with, and even though some of the music was close to 50 years old, it made him feel safe and comfortable. This was a warm, quiet summer night and the top was down. As he made his way toward Ashville, every now and then he would pass one of those shrubs that smelled like come and he’d think about the last time he’d had sex with one of his three new boyfriends. For Clive the only thing better than the smell of a man’s come was the taste of it. This was ironic in itself because he had to return all the way back to sleepy little Buddy’s Mountain to find 3 hot guys to date at the same time. Dating three big strong top men at the same time wasn’t even normal for him in South Beach.

As he approached the city limits, he slowed down and made a right-hand turn into a small but exclusive townhouse development that couldn’t have been more than 3 years old. It was the kind of place where aging baby boomers flocked in their amusing attempts to “scale back.” They would sell their large homes and then buy one of these large townhouses claiming that they wanted to make their lives easier. But the townhouses started at around one million dollars, and they weren’t that much smaller than large single-family homes. So the only thing the baby boomers were actually sacrificing was a lawn to mow…or a lawn to have mowed by someone else.

This particular high-end townhouse development was called Rabbit Rest. It wasn’t a gated community, but it probably should have been. The townhomes are built together in blocks, with 4 townhome units to a block. There were several different models and each townhome was at least 3,500 square feet in size. The largest was 5,000 square feet and sold for close to two million dollars. They were attractive in a pleasing traditional sense, with red brick, black shutters, and white trim. There were also a lot of interesting architectural features that reminded Clive of an old-fashioned English Mews. Even the landscaping was perfect, almost park-like, with each tree and shrub surrounded by a round of thick dark mulch. But the most intriguing part of this townhome community to Clive was behind the clubhouse at the far end of the development.

He drove slowly to the clubhouse area and tried hard to be discreet, which was actually fairly easy there. Even though he was driving a flashy 1960 Cadillac convertible, the people who lived in Rabbit Rest rarely ever came out of their townhomes. Although the private streets were lit up well, and each townhome had nice outdoor lighting as part of the landscaping, there wasn’t a single sign of human life there. He could have rolled a bowling ball down the street bare naked and no one would have noticed.

When he reached the clubhouse, he pulled up beside a red brick enclosure and turned off the headlights. Inside the enclosure, there were dumpsters so residents could get rid of large unwanted items like TVs, air conditioners, and furniture. Last week he’d found a set of 4 Chippendale dining chairs, a wonderful gilded mirror 6 feet tall, and a small antique writing desk that he’d wanted to keep for himself. He took it all home, put it all in the Mercantile, and wound up making almost one thousand dollars that week. Even though he never thought he’d make dumpster diving a habit, he was hoping he could repeat himself again just one more time.

He found a few mid-century lamps with an Asian motif, a small slipper rocker, and a box filled with all kinds of interesting fabrics. He packed the box of fabrics into the car fast because he knew they would sell the moment Betty Ann Cline saw them. Betty Ann lived on the mountain and she was one of those serious quilters who had an expansive collection of fabrics. She was the kind of true southern woman who made a point of letting you know she didn’t cook food; she fixed meals. He also found a small grandmother clock, a set of mid-century modern kitchen canisters, and another box filled with flameless candles. He took another quick look around but everything else was junk and he didn’t want to waste all of his time there. He still had one other place to go on the other side of town and he wanted to get back home and put everything inside the Mercantile before anyone saw him. He was telling people he found these items at auction, which sounded so much better than rummaging through other peoples’ trash. He did have some pride left.

After he closed the trunk lid, he drove out of Rabbit Rest and headed to the other side of town. Of course in a place like Ashville, the dumpster possibilities were endless, and he’d just found this other dumpster that was part of a small retail shopping outlet near a fairly active business district. It was one of those small specialty outlets with trendy shops that catered to the upwardly mobile. Clive had found a few stainless steel dented French Presses there the week before and they’d sold almost immediately at the Mercantile.

It wasn’t a dangerous neighborhood, but then again Clive had never been certain exactly what that meant. He’d never felt unsafe in any neighborhood, and he’d never been given reason to feel unsafe, not even in Miami. However, this particular neighborhood was considered up-and-coming, and there had been rumors circulating that certain people…developers…were trying to gentrify it. The city itself was fighting back and so were most of the local people involved. They seemed to want to keep the flavor of the old neighborhood intact, but improve it a little with newer shopping outlets like this one. The last thing anyone familiar wanted was to force people away from their homes.

Clive rounded a corner and headed toward an area with tall heavy shrubs. The dumpsters were hidden behind the shrubs and they weren’t very well lit, so he had to use the flashlight app on his phone. He walked up to 3 dumpsters in a row and leaned over to look inside the one on the left. As he glanced down, he heard an odd noise. It sounded like a bird, or maybe even a cat. I wasn’t the kind of sound he heard often and he couldn’t seem to identify it.

For a moment, it grew quiet again and Clive moved to the next dumpster in the middle and glanced inside there. There wasn’t much inside, but he noticed a small ottoman with a black and white striped fabric and he pulled it out and set it beside him on the sidewalk. It was actually kind of modern, but with an artistic feel. He couldn’t understand why anyone would throw away something like this but it wasn’t his job to ask questions. He knew that once he cleaned it up he could get at least 50 bucks for that ottoman at the mercantile and money was his only concern.

As he turned to look down into the middle dumpster again, he heard another noise, only louder this time. It might have been a cat, but it wasn’t. It might have been a bird, but he knew it wasn’t that either. It was unlike any other noise he’d ever heard and it seemed to be coming from the end dumpster on the right.

He turned to face the dumpster on the right and he took a deep breath. He pressed one hand to his chest and reached out with the other to slowly open the lid so he could see what was making that unusual noise. It wasn’t really loud, which made him wonder. And it didn’t seem to stop because he was standing out there. Usually, a wild animal would stop and remain silent whenever a human came near. Most wild animals he’d ever come across are terrified of humans.

The Wizard of Pride

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