“Well...I got that paint sample from Hanson’s.I thought I’d put that on so you and Jamie can decide.Terry told me that they’d have to order more of the base color if you want over ten gallons.”
“Ten gallons?”Jamie sat up straight.“What all are you planning on painting?”He directed his question to Joesph.
“Don’t go getting your panties in a twist.”Joesph sighed.“It’s just the trim paint after all.”He looked at Salzy.“I think ten gallons will do most of it.”
“Lord help me,” Jamie muttered, taking a sip of his beer.
“I was hoping that between the three of us we could take out that old counter in the dining room,” Joesph said.“It would save money, and with three of us on it we can get it done pretty quickly.”
“I’d be happy to demolish something.”Jamie looked out over the empty fields beyond the small parking area behind the diner.
“How about I order us a pizza?”Salzy asked as he pulled out his phone.“There’s a decent place that will deliver.”
“No anchovies.”Joesph curled up his nose.
“I happen to like anchovies,” Jamie piped in.“But...I agree with you.They won’t be good anchovies.They’d use those nasty things in a can.”
“Okay, no fish,” Salzy said, pecking at his phone.“How about a super supreme pan pizza?”
“Can we get extra sauce?”Joesph asked.“No one ever puts enough on except for Jamie.”
“The sauce is what makes it,” Jamie nodded.“If it’s decent sauce that is.A plain passata is the best to use.”
Joesph shook his head at Salzy.“That’s why no one ever wants to cook for a chef!”
“Won’t have to worry about me then.”Salzy looked up before putting his phone away.“I can’t cook.I can barely make a grilled cheese sandwich, and I screw that up half the time.”
“I never have to cook.”Joesph laughed lightly.“Why I always have friends whocancook.”He thumped Jamie on the head.“Like this one.”
Jamie pushed Joesph’s hand away.“I see where I rate.”
“You’re alsoverylovable,” Joesph teased, making kissing noises.
The three men fell silent for a while.The cicadas were singing, bugs were buzzing around the screens, and every once in a while, you could hear a semitruck on the interstate.
“He’s bisexual,” Jamie stated, sighing heavily.
“So what?”Salzy said, rocking in the old chair, the ancient floorboards squeaking.
Joesph sighed heavily.“It matters because bi men are notorious for fucking around with men before they go off and get married to a woman.Then they have the house, the white picket fence, a few kids, and then they gettheitch.”
“The itch?”Salzy asked, a slight frown on his face.
“He means that they then start messing around with guys on the side.And if they do want a relationship, it would be in secret.”Jamie explained, his voice barely a whisper.
Joesph leaned over and rubbed Jamie’s shoulder.“It’s happened before,” he said.
Salzy looked at Jamie.“To you.”It wasn’t a question but a statement.
Jamie could only nod.“And I didn’t know until it started to get serious.And thenbam.It all blew up in my face.He had a wife, three kids, and a membership to a country club.He’d use the excuse of playing golf when he was really with me.I had no clue.”
“Ouch.”Salzy leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.“That really sucks.”
“It sure does.”
Just then, headlights came around the side of the diner.
“Pizza’s here.”Salzy got up to retrieve the pie.
