"Cool. I'll be right back."
When Jack returned with his plate, Demarco sat up, grabbed the remote from the coffee table, and turned on the TV. "Here we go." He hit play on the DVR and the credits rolled for...The Sheiks of Tenleytown.
"Oh, brother," said Jack.
The credits were a montage of various cast members in glamorous settings... a bikini-clad bronze beauty sipping champagne by a swimming pool... a dark-haired man in a tuxedo, smiling seductively across a crowded room... the long legs of a gorgeous woman in a silk dress exiting a limousine... a handsome, bearded man in an expensive office overlooking the US capital... and then, there was Abir—in a golden-tubbed bubble-bath smiling up at a nude man partially in frame.
"I don't need to go any further, do you?" Demarco asked.
"Aw, come on... just a little more. I want to see it."
Demarco relented and they continued watching most of the episode... up to a scene where Abir was attempting to do laundry for the first time and mistook bleach for detergent.
"OK, I've seen enough," said Jack.
"Thank you, Jesus." Demarco turned the TV off.
"That was pretty bad."
"You're being kind, my love," said Demarco. "It was truly terrible, overtly offensive, and mildly racist... but I expected no less."
"Yeah. I mean, who knew that learning to do laundry and meeting Lisa Vanderpump was the pathway to US citizenship?"
"Well, at least he's not living a lie... in a country where punishment for being gay is death by stoning."
"Agreed. Totally. He's much better off here... but it's still a lie."
Demarco looked at Jack for a moment, then kissed him.
"What was that for?" Jack said, with a perplexed grin.
"Perspective."
"Meaning?"
"My mother would say we should be thankful for what we have, and not focused on what we don't. We have each other... and we have Wilson. We're not living in some third-world shit-hole... and I'm alive—despite the delusions of a crazed senator's wife. In other words—we havea lotto be grateful for."
"Your mother is a wise woman."
"Shelovesyou," Demarco said, laying back down and replacing his feet in Jack's lap.
"Need I say more?"
"Nope. No more talk."
"What if I want to talk... dirty?" Jack said, with a lascivious grin. He slid his hand from Demarco's foot and snaked it beneath the hem of his shorts. "Now that you're pretty healed up, I wouldn't mind getting all-animal with you again... like that time at The Dupont."
"Why, Mr. Keegan. You know I left my evil ways behind. I am a proud parent now."
Jack began crawling on top of him. "Oh, I bet I can find those evil ways in there, somewhere... open up that box."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Demarco said, caving to his advances. "Once a slut, always a slut... especially for a hot stud like you. But we should probably take this to the bedroom."
"Why? I thought you said he was asleep."
"Because I'm not," Wilson said, entering the den.
Jack and Demarco sat up quickly, like busted teenagers,Wilson their newly appointed chaperon.
