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STORM OF PASSION
By Dustin Adrian Rhodes
Within each of us lies a storm of passion.
Climbing from the Greyhound bus, his combat boots made a thud, coming into
contact with the severely crumbling pavement. Taking in the view of the quaint
town, as if it were for the first time, he was relieved to be home. Surprised,
during the ten years he had served in the army, the quiet rural town had not
changed as he had expected. There was Grover's Drug and Gifts, The Palladium
Theater, JC Penney's, VanCleeve's Ladies Wear; Stocker's Shoe Store with the
same faded Red Goose sign. On the opposite side of the street, there was the
volunteer fire station, Fuch's Funeral Home (pronounced FOX, why they had
notlegallychangedthefamilynamewasbeyondanyone’scomprehension)the
Piggly Wiggly Market, the Baptist Church, and of course, Morrison's Cafe. Down
the center of town ran an unmarked, two lane asphalt street. Not much of a
place to look at, there was a remote chance Norman Rockwell might have been
inspired to capture the eccentric town on canvas, had anyone known of its
existence, did not even rank a speck mark on road maps.
There had been no hero's ticket-tape parade, no marching band or anyone for
that matter to welcome him back. A sleepy little town where the greatest
excitement came from guffawing at Beulah, old man Howard's milking cow;
which frequently escaped the pasture to sashay down Main Street. The old
saying“there’snoplacelikehome”istruebecausehonestlytherewasno
place like this town, but it was home, his home and he was glad to be back.
“IdeclareasIliveandbreathifitaintlittleJaimeDuncan”Exclaimeda
portly woman, rushed to greet him with pudgy outreached arms, squeezing
him in an enthusiastic bear hug, he swore his ribs were bruised. Madge had not
changed a bit, white waitress uniform, silvery blue hair coiffed like a huge
cotton candy ball on top her chubby smiling face. Swirling in a fragrant bouquet
aura of rose water and Aqua Net, wrinkling his nose, did he detect a recent
addition to her repertoire, could it be Ben Gay? Hugging him, he was certain
her overly made up lacquered face imprint was permanently embedded on his
shirt collar and there was no mistaking the huge false eyelashes tickling his
neck.
“Madgepullingfromherarmsheheldhersofthandsscanningthewoman
fromheadtotoe“Justaslovelyasalways”plantingatenderpeckonher
flushing cheek.
“Ohyou”playfullyswattinghimwithadishtowel“stillthecharmer”Drawing
him into her voluptuous bosom, she forced yet another strangulating embrace.
“Itssogoodseeingyouagainboywelcomehome”Pullingbackdabbingher
leakingeyeswiththetowel“Ohdearlordwherearemymannersletsget
yousettledHonwouldyoulikeatableorabooth?”radiatingacontagious
smile with all the warmth and brilliance of a dazzling halogen bulb.
“Howaboutabooth?”
He had forgotten how friendly and warm folks from a small town could be.
Lingering, hazy memories of his childhood began to come into focus, growing
sharper and more vivid in his mind. During the bus trip, he had needlessly
worried, after all these years; he might not feel like he fit in, but all that was
vanishing. Scanning the cafe, Madge literally drug him by the hand to an
available booth. In the flurry, he recognized smiling faces and honest to
goodness genuine waves from folks he thought he had long forgotten.
Resurfacing memories, sweet lovable Madge, being back home, all of it was a
tad overwhelming for this small town boy.
Madge parked him in a center booth of Morrison's Cafe, making him feel like
he were the floor show at the only diner in town. Tossing his cap on the empty
space next to him, the camouflage fabric of green, brown and white reminded
him, even though he was dressed in army fatigues, he was no longer property
of the US Army. He was looking forward to returning to civilian life.
Transitioning from years of military discipline would most definitely be
awkward, but he had proudly served his country, looking forward to
transforming from GI-Joe to Regular-Joe. Lost in thought, a friendly hand
clapped his shoulder, he spun around. Paralyzed. Stunned speechless, he
gawked at the apparition lingering next to his table.
“Whatswithyou?Youlookasifyouvejustseenagod-dangghost!”followed
byafamiliarexhilaratinglaughfromhisyouth“Dontyouremembermeyour
bestbudParker?”
Shocked to be ogling his best friend from high school, but the man was drop-
dead gorgeous. Not to say he had not been good looking before, obviously time
and working out had been more than generous to him. Jaime found it difficult
to not gape upon the tanned muscled man with buzzed auburn hair and deep
set emerald eyes.
“Uh– sorryyouvegrownupsinceIlastsawyou”Jaimeblushedfromroseto
crimson, as a bound-and-determined boner bloomed in his boxers.
“Heylookatyouamilitarymanwithyourarmyhaircut”rustlingJaimes
shortcroppedsandybrownhair“Muscles?Wheredidthesecomefrom?”
squeezingJaimesbicepswithateasinggrin“Yourenotexactlythekidyou
werewhenyouleftaftergraduationWhatsthis”brushingJaimesstubbled
cheek withthebackofhishand“a5oclockshadowat810inthemornin?
Hell-fire, the last time I saw you, you'd barely begun to scrape your face,"
enthusiastically gliding into the opposite bench, refusing to take his eyes off
Jaime, afraid to blink, fearfulhisbestfriendwoulddisappearagain“Youhome
forgood?Orareyoutoocoolforussimplefolknow?”
“What?”
“HellyouvebeeninfghanistanIraqIranandwhoknowswherethehellelse
You're a traveled man, a man of the world. No one would hold it against you
for not wanting to return to the boring rural life. We can't hold a candle to the
worldyouvesee”
“YouknowwithaconvincingspiellikethatImappalledyourenotheadingup
thelocalChamberofCommerce”Jaimelaughed
“Touché”noddinghisheadhesnickered“You’rerightImsorryMaybeI
came on a little too strong. But, this is home for me, and once, it was yours as
well”
“YeahIknowIhadalotoftimetothinkonthebusrideanddidalotofsoul
searching. My tour is over and it's time to get on with my life. Honestly, I
couldn't imagine anywhere I'd rather be than right here, in our backward one-
horsetownwherenothingchangesbuttheseasonsImbackhometostay”
Jaime smiled. Plagued earlier by serious doubts, simply saying the words out
load made all the difference in the world. He
was
home. There were no regrets,
he was certain of that. Home, where he had grown up, surrounded by good
decent folks and reunited with his best bud. Could life get much better than
this?
Gazing across the table at his best bud, he could not help but wonder,
how
manynightshaveIgonetosleepdreamingofParkneverimagininghe’dgrown
up. No. Transformed into a hot, sexy, hunk of man flesh. Grrr!
Dancing emerald
eyes which had always mesmerized him, a quick killer smile curling devilishly in
the corner, the most perfect lips he had ever seen, he would give almost
anything, to just once, feel those alluring lips pressed tight to his. But, he knew
that would never happen, Parker was as straight as they come. Even though he
had come out to Parker when they were in their teens, it had never been an
issue in their friendship. All those years he had secretly yearned for Parker,
telling himself their friendship was too valuable to risk losing, he would rather
die than tell him his true feelings.
“Sobuddywhatreyourplansnowthatyoureback?”
Eager Parker, just like old times, looking to me to have a plan or agenda, it
might be a camping trip, fishing, anything. Park always looked to me for what
we'd do next.
“Wellthefirstitemontheagendaistosleepinlate”he
chuckled“thatsmyfirstadjustmenttobeingacivie”
Parkergrinned“IsupposeyouvegotalottoreadjusttoDamnitsjustso
good seeing youagainJustpromiseyouwonteverleaveagain”smilingwhile
boring deep into Jaime's gentle hazel eyes.
What’dhemeanbythat“promisenottoleaveagain?”
“Itsjustnotbeenthesamearoundherewithoutyouyaknow?”shakinghis
head, flashing his trademark Pepsodent smile. Jaime nearly creamed his pants.
Madge presented a platter of sliced ham, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs,
biscuits and a stack of buttermilk pancakes to a perplexed, open mouthed
Jaime“Whatsallthis?”
“Honinthese parts, we don't often get the pleasure to serve our military boys,
letaloneaheroComplementsofthehouse”beaminglikeaproudmomma
sowshowingoffherliterofnewbornpiglets“justthinkofitasourwayof
saying thank you. And son, we're so proudofyouandwelcomehome”
“hero?”Parkeraskedwithpiquinginterest
BrandishingadismissivewaveJaimeshookhishead“HeyImnohero
alright?IjustservedmycountryinthebestwayIknew”
“Honthatsaheroinmybook”Smiling, she sniffled, fluttering heavily
mascaraed false eyelashes, combating a sudden onset of emotional tears; like
twoMonarchbutterfliespreparingtotakeflightTurningtoParker“Youre
usualbabe?”
Parker nodded, not taking his challenging cross-examining eyes off Jaime. Was
he keeping something from him?
Or is Jaime just being modest? But, a hero?
Ducking his head, Jaime did not want his best bud to notice the tears pooling in
his eyes.
Damn it Madge, you're making me all teary in front of the only man
I've ever loved and he's straight.
Advancing outside the pleasantly cooled air of Morrison's, Jaime and Parker
were assaulted as they stepped into an intense furnace as the broiling July sun
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