Sweetness Ch 02 1

"What's that?" Michael pointed to a red blemish that peeked out from under Kai's t-shirt. He looked up at Kai's embarrassed face as he pulled his shirt down.

"Nothing, I fell," Michael was with Kai every day of his life and could probably catalog every one of his scars, this one was new and unknown. But he could see his friend did not want to talk about it. So with maturity that surpassed his 11 years, he let it go.

"So what do you want to do today?" Kai asked when the silence between them became too much. They sat in Michael's living room staring at some commercials. They loved to watch infomercials together. They did most things together. They were neighbors and best friends for as long as the other could remember. They went to the same school, attended the same classes and had most of the same interests.

As he was about to make a suggestion his mother strolled into the room.

"You want to clean you room, right Michael?" She tipped her head to the side looking innocently at him. He sighed as he acquiesced to her silent command.

"Yes mommy," he rose from his seat and dragged Kai to his room. They looked at the mess and he seemed to fall into despair. Kai was always the light to his dark.

"Let's do this quick, I just thought of something to do!" His mischievous smile assured Michael that whatever he was planning would eradicate whatever brownie points he would have gained from cleaning his room.

~o~

Michael was brought out of his memory by the car horn behind him. He looked up at the green light and drove off, as he held on to that mischievous smile of his best friend.

~o~

"So where are we going?" Kai barged into her room as she stood in her underwear gaping at her selection of clothes. She calmly pulled a towel to wrap around her.

"I don't know yet, I just know that I want to celebrate," she glanced at him as he settled himself on her bed. He childishly played with the trinkets on her bedside table and then started through her draws.

"What are you looking for?" He looked up at her sharply and his green eyes sparkled.

"Your dildo," his nonchalance made her smile. Sometimes she actually thought he was a child until he uttered words like 'dildo'.

"Well until you buy me one, you're not going to find it in there," she turned back and looked at her wardrobe. Kai looked up at her, then glanced the wardrobe of beige proportions.

"I think your current outfit is the raciest thing you own." She looked down at her towel that just grazed her knee. Looking at his mega-watt smile she blew him a raspberry.

"Where is your birthday present?" She cringed as she recalled the outfit he got her for her 26th birthday. She quickly searched her mind for any excuse not to wear it. "Umm, I lent it out?" She tried. He scoffed and stood, beginning his search.

"Yea right, the only person you could possibly lend it to is me, and I haven't seen it," she moved to the closet, disrupting the mundane mural. He shoved items away and threw stuff all about but finally he succeeded in locating her attire for the night.

"Aha! Found it! It was only under this box of old clothes, you old school books and that disaster you call curtains," she groaned as she remembered she had some cleaning out to do.

"Kai, I can't wear that, it's too tiny," her voice was pleading as she tried to reason with him. He smirked as he unwrapped the gift to reveal a little black strapless dress and black 6 inch heels. She grumbled and groaned as she saw him arrange the outfit on the bed and made a very unladylike sound when he smiled up at her.

"Come on, you have an awesome body and that's why I bought this, so you either wear this or I'll tailor one of your suits," her eyes widened as she recalled the last time he tailored her clothes.

"Ok, ok, get out so I can change," she said shooing him out the room.

"Aww, you're no fun, let me watch please?" His voice got whiny and irritating. She could never let him watch. Being so uncomfortable looking at herself naked, she never wanted another person to see it.

"I'm trying to protect my virtue," she said, ignoring his sad puppy-dog face.

"Well then let me be your knight, I'll guard it well with my trusty sword," he stood straight, with his fists on his hips. At the word 'sword' he reached down and fondled his crotch.

"Go get ready Sir Fuck-a-lot," his laughter was contagious at that point and she giggled as she closed the door.

~o~

Michael reached Kai's apartment. He shook his head as he looked around what seemed to be the very definition of seedy. The street lights flicked on and off. Homeless people huddled around the corner and a rat walked by him and he swore he heard it say 'good night'.

He was always amazed at the places that Kai found himself. However what amazed him even more was the fact that even in this dark little corner of the world, Kai's light would never dim. That was the sole thought that brought him the determination to leave the solace of his car in search of his friend.

As he crawled up the staircase he passed an assortment of needles, broken glass and what he can only describe as lobby wild life. He hurried to Kai's door and knocked rapidly out of excitement and fear. After eons of knocking a woman answered.

"What the hell?" She looked up at him and her scowl transformed into a smile. Michael looked at the woman before him. She wore a cheap night gown that barely managed to keep her decent and a robe that had seen better days. She was bare foot and reeked of smoke and alcohol. She smiled at him with crooked discolored teeth and chapped lips.

"I'm looking for Kai," he said ignoring pleasantries he knew would be wasted on her. He face morphed once more and she reset her grimace.

"He don't live here no more," he voice belied an age her face had yet to see. He cringed inwardly at the thought of what she had to do to sound like broken glass.

"Do you know where he lives now?" He asked, needing some information from this woman.

"He lives somewhere on Newtown Street, my cousin said she saw him with some black girl a few weeks back," her sentence was cut short by a frightening hacking cough that seemed to come from the very depths of hell itself. Michael instinctively backed away, waiting for the germ infestation to desist.

"Well thank you for that madam, good night," he turned to leave.

"Wait, don't you want to come in for a minute, I'll give you a special price, cutie," she wiped her hand on her night gown. Michael swallowed the urge to vomit right there.

"No need dear, I'm gay," with that he fled.

~o~

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