Emerson and the Lion Ch. 04

Thank you for the feedback. Let me know if you want me to post more. -Emri

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We fell into a routine the next few weeks. We hit the gym every morning before breakfast and he'd direct my workout. We cleaned up together, and then he'd pick out my clothes for school. It was always something that had me covered from neck to feet. He would drive me to class and drop me off with a kiss, slipping my cell phone out of his pocket and into mine.

At the end of the day he would take it back and look it over. He would say I had no need for the emergency phone when I was with him. Who else would I contact in an emergency? He would drive us home or back to his office if he had business to finish. I would work on my homework at the table in his office.

We worked on my writing and reading in Arabic too. He downloaded apps on his tablet for my practice. He got all kinds of dictionaries and kids books with a lot of pictures. Every night for 45 minutes exactly, he would only communicate with me using the tablet with the Arabic keyboard on. Some nights I would get so frustrated that I'd cross my arms and glare at him. He would pull me into his lap and relax me, but wouldn't let me quit.

"You can do this. You can keep going for me, little cub," he would type.

Ali started to make it a game. He would write little notes in Arabic about where he had hidden something and what it was. It would be something like, "There are 3 coins taped inside of the yellow shirt you wore to the mall last Thursday." If I found it, I got to keep the coins. I was building up quite the piggy bank!

Very rarely, the hidden prize would be a small bag of tiny sized cookies or some peppermints. This was not a house where junk food was allowed, and we almost never had anything with sugar. Ali said it eats your teeth and muscles. He demonstrated this by baring his teeth at me and pretending to bite my arms, legs, and tummy, before flipping me over and nibbling on my bottom.

I didn't bring up the loss of my dorm room or scholarship again. I did tell Caleb all about what had happened the next time we did the face chat app on Ali's computer, but Caleb got me all angry about it. Ali could tell when he came back in the room, and after that he started to sit in while I signed with Caleb over the computer.

The downside to that is that sometimes Caleb would use his voice with Ali without signing what was going on for me. They would have conversations while I sat there looking annoyed at the both of them. They were bonding without me.

I started to feel a little jealous when they did that. I know neither of them were each other's type, and Ali expressed surprise to me afterwards at the revealing outfits Caleb would wear to class.

"A 'light' boy of 18 going to school in a tank top and small shorts is not acceptable," he typed. He called us "light" boys sometimes. I don't know if he meant "white" or if it was his way of saying we were weak, small, or maybe both. Caleb hadn't lifted weights as much with his busy schedule and he was losing weight, shrinking to my size which he knew Ali liked. Ali typed, "My boy would never leave my house dressed like that. My cub saves himself for his lion."

Caleb asked when I had a holiday coming up and kept dropping hints that he would take time off to come see me if he could afford it. Ali pretended not to pick up on it. However, one of his notes in Arabic said there was a surprise in a small red box. I found it at the very back of a bottom shelf in the kitchen. Inside was a coin and another note in Arabic script that said, "Caleb will receive his tickets soon."

I brought him the note excitedly, and slipped the coin into the jar he found for my money. I pounced on the bed where he was stretched out working on his keyboard. He closed it and got down to his real work, me.

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The jar was getting full and Ali took me to the table one day to show me some important papers. He wanted to set up a bank account for me and showed me the forms. It was a bank back near where I grew up in LA. He helped me fill out the necessary forms and signed them and then included a check for the value of the coins.

"Woah," I typed, "That is a lot of money! I thought they were just coins I was finding."

"They are," he typed back as he pulled me into his lap, "Some are very rare. This one is just a token from a car wash I used in Miami once, but this one is pure silver from a mine in South America. This other one is an antique from a country that was taken over. You earned them by studying and working hard. That is your job and you deserve to be paid. If anything should happen to me, you can go home and be provided for. I will always protect you... I'll add to it the more you work and learn."

He showed me all of the coins, and explained them. One was a casino chip from Monte Carlo, another he had received as a gift from Danish Royalty. The last coin was one he had found on the subway in Tokyo. He really had seen the world and it brought me back to the reality that I had no idea what kind of power held me in his lap.

I signed a few more documents that didn't have the bank logo on the top. One was in Arabic and Ali explained that it was for my student visa and identification card. It was to let the government know that I was covered by his family name. A guest who is suspected or accused of a crime is immediately sent home. If I was ever suspected or accused, I would be sent to his father for appropriate punishment. If I committed a serious crime, then the courts would deal with me, but this was their law to let families discipline their own for minor or suspected infractions.

It all sounded kind of scary. I didn't plan to get into trouble. He also told me the family would be responsible for any restitution necessary if I damaged anything or anyone.

"It is easy to get into trouble, little cub, if you don't know the law and culture. This is why I am so protective of you. I know you think I'm just being controlling, but it is for your good," he typed and then kissed me.

The last paper was an offer on property. He said he wanted me to help him with it. It was a property in Los Angeles and things would be easier if purchased by an American citizen.

"You don't have to help me with this if you don't want to. It is just a place for me to put some investments. You can think about it for awhile if you want. There is no rush," he typed. I picked up the pen, but he took it from me and typed, "Only if you are sure." I shrugged. It wasn't like he would scam me and I didn't have any credit to ruin or anything. I filled out where he showed me and settled back into his lap.

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The week leading to Caleb's arrival I was extra good and did my work without complaint. I followed his workouts and made sure I kept our nights together happy and enjoyable for him. He was working on big business deals at work. I could tell because, although he never discussed his business with me, he was on the phone more and our lovemaking was hurried, a little more painful and urgent.

But when the lights went out, he always held me to his chest. This was our private talk time every night on his tablet, in English. He thanked me for being a good cub and bringing peace to his life.

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Caleb arrived on a Thursday. A long limo pulled up and he was escorted out wearing dark sunglasses and looking exhausted. He only brought his backpack since Ali told him clothes would be provided. I ran at him and he pulled me into his tight chest. He still used that cologne he found in 9th grade at the discount store. It smelled clean with a hint of vanilla.

We held each other for a little too long until I felt Ali reach in between us and pull me back towards his chest. I looked up at him and saw a tinge of jealousy there. It was completely unnecessary. Ali leaned around me and gave Caleb a hug of his own, and a light kiss on the cheek.

I stepped back and saw my friend in person for the first time since I'd hugged him goodbye at the airport in LA. He had grown maybe an inch, and looked thinner than he appeared on the face chat program. Ali took his backpack while they chatted back and forth. Caleb walked with us back to our little house in the back. He seemed to know that Ali was the one to impress, so he talked with him rather than signed with me. Ali put his hand on my back and pushed me back to our home.

Kadir followed us to the house and I leaned down to hug him and waved for Caleb to crouch and pet him. Kadir sniffed Caleb appraisingly as if deciding whether he should live or die. He decided on life and licked Caleb's cheek.

"I am so tired. I couldn't sleep much on the plane and I had to change planes in Istanbul. But I got first class!" Caleb signed and spoke excitedly. "I sat next to an Arabian guy who didn't drink so he kept giving me his champagne and getting refills. I napped for a little bit, but I think he was trying to touch me. But it was fun!"

"Trying to touch you? What? Why? Eww!," I signed back and Caleb translated to speech for me.

"Yes, that happens when you are a boy showing skin so freely," Ali lamented with a raised eyebrow.

It felt like the three of us were in a real, natural conversation. Caleb was used to signing super fast and he did well with Ali's way of speaking. I kept looking at my lion realizing he had a very high sense of humor.

Caleb used our bathroom to take a shower and then wanted to lay down for a nap. Ali suggested he show him to his guest room, but both Caleb and I begged to just let him nap in our bed. It was certainly big enough for 4 or 5 men.

Ali worked on his laptop while Caleb slept. I sat between them and started on my Arabic writing for the day. I didn't get much done. I kept looking over at him in his t-shirt and jogging shorts facing me and holding onto my pillow. He looked up at me, those green eyes that never had anything but good intentions for me in all our years of friendship.

I reached behind my pillow and pulled out the stuffed lion Ali had given me and put it against his chest. He smiled and raised up on his elbow as he took it and flipped it over. He rubbed the place where Ali had the heart sewn on with his name and gave me an "aww" look with pouty lips.

I looked back towards Ali who was watching us with interest. He tapped at my tablet where I was working on my Arabic to tell me to focus. I nodded and he leaned over and kissed my forehead before going back to his work.

We let Caleb sleep for a few hours. I finished my work and started watching a nature video with the sound off (no need) and captions on. Ali alternated between making phone calls over at the table and snuggling me while pretending to care about the elephant herd I was focused on. He had already told me that soon he would switch my closed captions from English to Arabic, so I was trying to memorize the shows.

Samir came in with his dark muscles bulging under a tight red t-shirt and jeans. He gave Ali his mail for the day and then paused to look at the three of us. I turned off the nature show and decided to do another writing lesson as I waited impatiently for Caleb to wake up.

He moved around to look more closely at Caleb, pointed, and then said something to Ali. Ali nodded and Samir gave an approving smile. Samir gave me a wave and thoughtful smile. He pointed towards my tablet with a questioning look. I turned it to show him my Arabic writing.

Samir shook his head like I was doing something wrong. Then he made gestures to say, "I show you?" I looked over at Ali who had a wide, knowing grin. He nodded his head and pulled me over towards his side and slipped his arm around me. Samir crawled up the bed to sit against the pillows between me and the sleeping Caleb who wiggled a little, but didn't seem to wake.

Samir pretended to fix something with my writing, but his eyes kept darting over to the sleeping Caleb whose shirt was riding up a little to expose a very white tummy with faint ab muscles. I got a whiff of too much cologne when Samir leaned over me to say something to Ali. We got through the activities in the app and I passed it over to Ali who pretended to check it with scrutiny. Of course it was right, Samir was a native.

I'm not sure when Caleb actually woke up, but he started to go into this half-asleep mode where he moved closer to Samir who was only too eager to accommodate his dreamy advances. Now it was my turn to laugh. I knew how Caleb was with his "accidental" brushes up against guys when he thought he could get away with it.

"Aww sorry man," he'd say as he cupped a guy's butt when we were going through a crowd. He was definitely no stranger to bold, questionable flirting.

Caleb started to sit up, looking unnaturally groggy as he put a hand on Samir's stomach to lift himself. He moved it down to Samir's thigh. He looked up at him with a smile and then faked shock and took his hand away. He apologized profusely, signing so I could be in on the joke.

Samir, much more naive than his older brother, put his hands forward with that look of, "It's ok, no worries." He reached forward to put a hand on Caleb's shoulder. Caleb held on tightly with one hand to my stuffed lion, and batted his green eyes with a major dose of innocent surprise. He was good! I am not anywhere near as smooth with that stuff.

I reached over and grabbed my stuffed lion from Caleb's arms. I didn't want Ali cub exposed to this tawdry event. Caleb gave me a sneer at the loss of his prop, but he pressed on. One look at Samir's wide, dopey smile and dazzled black eyes let me know he was falling fast for Caleb. I got the same look frequently from my own Hamad brother.

Ali pulled me over and into his lap with my head against his chest so we could both watch this show. He stroked my side and then down to my bottom. I felt badly for Samir, and hoped he wasn't taking this too seriously.

Caleb started signing for me again as Samir and he made introductions. Samir told Caleb he hoped he enjoyed his visit to his country and maybe he could show him around in a safe way. Samir told him that it wasn't safe for a gentle white boy to be unattended here.

I looked up at Ali, that was the exact same line he used on me when we met. He smiled guiltily and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

This exchange went on for awhile and I was so happy that Caleb signed it all for me. I missed having him with me. He was the outgoing one, the communicator, my gateway to the hearing world. I realized how much I had depended on him. He never asked for anything but friendship in return. I'd never really thanked him.

I reached out and touched his shoulder as they flirted. They both paused and looked over at me. I signed "Thank you," to Caleb and he gave me a weird look, but then just went back to Samir. He was used to my weird randomness.

Ali interrupted and told them that we were having an American style barbecue in a few hours, but could go swimming before then if we wanted. I hadn't been in the pool since the time with Nasir. This time, though, I knew Ali would be there and I could hold on to him while he swam around.

Samir went to put on his swimsuit and show Caleb to his guest room. Ali led me to the closet and we put on our swimsuits. He chose a light blue speedo for himself and had a tough time tucking all of his junk in there. For me, he chose a regular pair of red trunks that came down to mid thigh. The sun was starting to make its trek to the horizon leaving behind the remains of the scorching day. He didn't make me put a shirt on, just slathered me in sunscreen.

The servants had strung white christmas lights over the pool between the palm trees and there was a crazy awesome meat smell as one of them worked the big grill. Ali nudged me out and towards the pool as he set our towels out on a lounger. There were a few pool floats, and his brother Zaid was out splashing around with two other guys. Ali's father was lying in a lounger in the shade reading on his tablet. I could feel vibrations as we walked along the stone so there must have been music thumping.

Samir came out with Caleb closely in front of him and they walked towards us. Caleb had been put in a small, white speedo that had a bit of a bulge. I can't imagine why they chose that for him. It made me feel bad, like Ali really thought he was some slutty gay. He really wasn't. He was my friend. I scowled at Ali and pointed towards it, but he shrugged to indicate it was not his choice. Samir, who swam every day, had put on white square cut trunks that contrasted his dark skin and a dodgers baseball cap on backwards. It looked like the one Caleb liked to wear.

I turned to Zaid and noticed his friends had stopped splashing and were checking Caleb out as well. Caleb had his light hair pushed back in this poofy messy look. He stretched to show his chest and stomach, lightly tanned. He went to the deepest part of the pool and dove in perfectly, swimming right over to meet Zaid and his friends. Samir scurried behind him as Ali and I got in at the shallow end.

We headed towards the group and Ali scooped me up into his chest when it got too deep for me to stand. He swam over to them as I clung to his neck. Caleb was in absolute heaven as he had all of the boys attention. He was doing well signing while treading water with his legs. Samir was right behind him, ready to save him if he went under.

He told them we (pointing at me) were from Los Angeles, "You know, like Hollywood?"

I laughed at that we were DEFINITELY not from that part of Los Angeles, not even close. Our LA was crumbling old apartment houses in the less desirable parts of the San Fernando Valley. They nodded with those "oh awesome" looks, and asked him if we knew any movie stars. Caleb tried to think of one.

I splashed water at him and he turned to me so I could sign, "Yes we do!! Remember at the Topanga Mall?"

Caleb got a big grin and told everyone about the time we were in the mall food court next to a big action star they all recognized. We stalked him all the way to the bathroom and were both grossed out that he didn't wash his hands after he peed. And then of course he ended his story saying that kind of stuff happens all the time in LA. Right! Exaggeration!

The truth was we both grew up poor, his family got by, but neither of us was Beverly Hills material. Ali knew. He'd researched me and knew. He hugged me close as his body felt what I was thinking. He was getting bored with this and nodded over towards the water tables on one side of the pool. They were these cement tables that came up just above the water level with cement benches along the wall in semicircles around each table.

We Ali swam us over to there and set me down next to him. He put his head on mine and an arm around me, working a hand into the back of my swimsuit. I gave a little yelp as he started to rub between my cheeks. Not here, not right now. I looked at him and he wasn't interested in socializing with others right now. It had been a long week and he wanted his cub bouncing in his lap to burn off some stress.

Samir was starting to get annoyed at sharing Caleb with the others, so he suggested they swim over to the shallow end with us. They slid onto the bench next to us with Samir at my side. He checked behind me and realized Ali was handling me. He gave a little surprised look and returned his attention to Caleb.

"Sorry, I know I'm here for you. I miss you, I do, There's just so much meat around here. Damn!" Caleb signed to me without speaking.

"I know, but just pick one piece and stick with it," I signed back, laughing. Ali was starting to poke at my hole, and I squirmed, trying to calm the tornado forming inside me.

Ali had a servant bring over a bottle of wine and glasses. He poured a glass of red wine and handed it to Caleb and then another for Samir. He poured a third one, but then turned to the servant and said something. There wasn't a glass for me. The three of them clinked a cheers and then sipped at it.