A Tale of Four Queers

Chapter 13

The flight to Guatemala City was uneventful which suited the travelers just fine. Upon landing they took a taxi to their hotel and settled in. They spent the day walking around the area of their hotel and trying to locate some of the churches where Kinney and Patrick might have left some artwork. Although their meanderings proved fruitless they did get a good idea of what the city was like and they met some local people who did their best to direct them or help them.

Upon reading some more of the journal and discussing options with their concierge they decided to take a side trip to the town of Chichicastenango which was about a three hour drive from Guatemala City. It was an old city with the 400 year old church of Santo Tomas. The following day was a Thursday and the market would be in full swing. Of course that appealed to Brian who loved to shop.

The next morning after breakfast a very somber man dressed in a suit and Panama hat arrived at the hotel to drive them to Chichicastenango. He held the door to the large old car for them, having told them in very formal English that he was their driver, Miguel.

"Miguel has a very large pickle up his ass," Brian whispered to Justin as they got in.

Justin giggled and swatted Brian. Miguel gave them a disapproving look, and then they were off on their adventure.

They drove mostly in silence with occasional jibes being bandied back and forth. As the time told them they were nearing Chichicastenango, John took the initiative.

"Miguel," he said, "could you take us to the Church of Santo Tomas?"

"Certainly, senor," Miguel replied. "Are you going to the market?"

"Is it near the church?"

Miguel snorted discreetly. Justin guessed that he was probably thinking they were more greedy Americans looking for bargains. "It is on the steps of the church."

"Really! That's strange."

"The church was built on an old Mayan platform and the local people claim it two days a week for their market."

"I see," John said.

"Do you know if the church has much artwork inside?" Justin asked.

"It does indeed," Miguel responded deciding that maybe there was more to these Americans than crass commercialism.

"Is it very old?"

"The majority of it would have been completed before the eighteen hundreds, but there are some modern pieces too."

"That sounds good," Justin said hopefully.

Miguel looked at Justin in the rearview mirror. His assessment of this party of men was changing.

Soon they arrived in the center of town. There was a riot of color as locals had their wares spread all over the steps and square in front of the church. The arrival of foreigners caused some commotion with the group being swarmed by people trying to sell them things. Miguel carefully escorted them into the church.

While Justin examined all the artwork, Brian decided to tell Miguel about their mission and see if he could help them. Miguel was impressed with the quest the men were on. He told Brian that he might know someone who could help them. He warned Brian about handling himself in the market. He was to make sure he bargained hard. Then Miguel took off to find his friend.

Justin was disappointed that nothing in the church was done by Kinney or Patrick. Having completed his investigations and getting no help from the priest who seemed totally disinterested, they decided to shop.

Brian led the way repeating what Miguel had told him. They soon realized that they could get some lovely gifts for family and friends and at reasonable prices even without bargaining the vendors down. They found colorful shawls and hats and bags that would be great for the women or Emmett. Beautifully painted wooden masks would make lovely decorations for Ted and Michael and Ben. Brian wanted to buy a broom for Melanie, calling her a witch, but Justin wouldn't let him. Anyway they had bought most of what they wanted when Miguel found them.

"If you gentlemen would like to have lunch with a friend of mine, he has invited you," Miguel said formally.

"Are you sure?" John asked. "I mean we'd love too, but we don't want to intrude."

"I told him your quest and he has something that you may be interested in. His family, Morales, have lived in this city as long as it has existed," Miguel added proudly.

Miguel drove them to a large but not ostentatious home on the outskirts of the city. At the door he introduced them to Pablo Morales and his wife Caterina. They were brought into the cool interior and seated at a large table in the dining room. Caterina had a lunch all laid out for them and they ate with gusto complimenting Caterina and her staff on the excellent food. They spent the time explaining where they had already traveled and what they were looking for. Pablo listened intently.

As they finished the meal with strong coffee, Pablo said he had a treasure to show them. They looked up in surprise.

"I brought you directly into the dining room to get a full understanding of who you are and what you are looking for. We did not go to the living room because that is where the treasure resides. Follow me, gentlemen."

Pablo rose and they followed him into the ornate living room. Around the walls were paintings of what had to be the ancestors of the Morales family. One painting immediately caught Justin's eye. He held his breath waiting to see if anybody else recognized what he saw.

"What are we looking at?" Brian asked. "Your ancestors?"

"Exactly," Pablo replied.

"Don't any of you see it?" Justin asked unable to contain himself any longer. He almost ran over to a portrait of a man and woman in their best attire with two small children playing at their feet. "This has to be a Kinney," he said looking for a signature. "Here it is!" he said triumphantly. "JAB Kinney."

They all took a good look and then could easily recognize the style so similar to the painting of Patrick and Kinney that hung in the loft.

"They were here," Brian said releasing a breath. "We're still following their trail."

They spent some more time with the Morales family talking about the painting and what Pablo knew about it and the artist. By late afternoon they decided they better make their way back to Guatemala City before dark.

With many thanks and good wishes they made their way to the car. Miguel held the door for them once again.

"Did you have a good day, Sunshine?" Brian asked as they drove along the road to their hotel.

"The best!" Justin said with a big smile. "How about you?"

"A painting, shopping and a new broom! What more could I ask for," Brian smirked. They all laughed and settled in for the rest of the ride. Even Miguel smiled into the rearview mirror.

The foursome decided to end their Guatemalan trip by going to Flores and to Tikal. Both areas were mentioned in the pages they found in Costa Rico, but unfortunately the trail ran cold. Either all the churches were destroyed or the jungle took back what was its own. So that the trip was not altogether a waste of time, our travelers decided to take a tour of the Tikal National Park and stay at one of the park's hotels. They were in no rush, so they allowed themselves four days to experience each of the different trails.

There were several trails from which to choose. Many ended at a temple or a ruin or a museum. Many of the trails ran through the jungle. On the third day, the boys were all ready for a walk through the jungle. They each wore protective clothing, had plenty of bottled water and Gatorade and each man was slathered in insect repellent. They had their maps, packs, sketch books and cameras. They were ready. And they were forewarned not to touch any animal or insect that might cross their path.

"Hey Sunshine, look!"

"Shhhh!

"What?"

"Keep your voice down."

"Why?"

"Becauuussse, you're frightening the birds."

"I'm frightening the birds? How the fuck am I frightening the birds?"

"You're too noisy."

"Moi, the one who would kill for a nice quiet weekend in the loft, I'm too noisy. This coming from the princess of babble."

"Brian, shut the fuck up and...oh my god! Brian!"

"What?"

"Don't move."

"What?"

"Shhh. Don't move."

"Stop shushing me and why shouldn't I mooo... Justin? Justin, is there a bug on me?"

"No."

"A snake?"

"No."

"Oh fuck, not a fro...."

"Yup. He's green and he has spots. Brian, don't move, he's poisonous. Just let him hop on by."

"Justin, what if he doesn't want to just hop on by."

"Um, we have plenty of water with us."

"That's not the problem, I'm not thirsty. But if froggie doesn't decide to move soon...."

"I get the picture. I'll get the guys. Don't go anywhere."

"Don't go anywhere? Where the fuck am I going to go? Hey, don't leave me here! Justin! JUSTIN!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Brian, wake up. You were having a nightmare."

"Shit. You'd have a nightmare too if you were attacked by a killer frog."

"Stop exaggerating. You weren't attacked and you didn't pee in your pants. The frog hopped back into the jungle. No one got hurt."

"No one got hurt. Easy for you to say. You weren't standing there, crossing your legs for hours."

"Brian."

"Okay, an hour."

"Brian."

"A half an hour."

"Brian!"

"Okay, Mr. Cuckoo clock, how long then?"

"Ten minutes."

"Ten minutes? No. I could've sworn it was longer than that."

"Ten minutes."

"Fine. They were the longest ten minutes of my life. I literally could have been slimed to death."

"Brian?"

"What?"

"There's a lot I can do in ten minutes."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Only ten minutes?"

"Maybe a half an hour."

"Justin."

"Okay, an hour."

"Justin."

"On the other hand, you did suffer a trauma. You should be handled very carefully."

"Very carefully."

"This may take hours."

"Mmm, then I place myself in your capable hands. My hero."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later, the conquerors of the jungle and of frogs were on a plane heading for Mexico.

"Tell me again why we're going to Cancun?" Justin asked as they sat in their first class seats.

Brian sighed. He had insisted on making the reservations for this flight and he knew exactly why he was doing it. He just wondered what the others would think and how much ribbing he would get as a result. He remained silent trying to think of how to answer Justin's question.

"There's no mention of Cancun in any of the journal pages that I've looked at," Justin griped.

"I have my reasons," Brian said stubbornly.

"Care to share those with the rest of us peons?" John asked from across the aisle. Brian had forked out the cost of first class for all of them.

"All right, all right," Brian conceded. "We've spent weeks in little backwater towns, in the jungle, in places where I wouldn't be caught dead under any circumstances. And you have rarely heard me complain."

"And we all greatly appreciate your tolerance and equanimity under adverse circumstances," Bobby said with a chuckle.

The other three men nodded and smiled trying not to smirk at the sarcasm of Bobby's statement. Brian curled his lips into his mouth and bit back an expletive.

"You're all very lucky that I have managed to maintain a sense of equanimity in the face of adversity," Brian stated with a little slightly malevolent grin. "If I hadn't we would have had one fucking miserable time."

The faces of the three men stopped smirking understanding the truth of Brian's words. They knew that Brian could have made the trip a real misery if he had wanted to.

"So why Cancun?" Justin asked again.

"I need a little luxury in my life once again," Brian said haughtily. "I have booked us into the Ritz Carlton Cancun. It's a six star hotel," Brian said sticking his tongue in his cheek.

"I didn't know there was such a thing as a six star hotel," Bobby replied.

"Well, there is, and you are going to get to experience what one has to offer. I intend to be pampered with a facial, a massage, a pedicure. I'm going to lie on the beach and drink tequila. I'm going to sleep as late as I want. I'm going to find the best gay club in Cancun and we're going to dance the night away, Sunshine."

Justin smiled at Brian especially since he had said dance, not fuck the night away. "That sounds pretty good," Justin admitted.

"I'm going to have the hotel launder all of my clothes at the same time. I'm going to eat the finest steak they have and order all the things I really enjoy eating. I'm going to sleep and fuck in the best bed on the finest sheets in the whole goddam country," Brian declared. "I have been deprived long enough, no, too long, of the luxuries that I have grown to expect and need in my life."

The other three burst out laughing at Brian's declaration. It was such a Brian thing to do, but they would all benefit from a little break in their schedule. The primitive conditions and ever changing foreign environments had begun to wear on all of them. And it was such a Brian thing to make sure they were all included in his lap of luxury.

"You have the best ideas sometimes," Justin said snuggling a little closer to his partner.

"Just sometimes?" Brian asked raising his eyebrow.

"Okay, all the time."

"Thank you, Sunshine. It's about time I was properly appreciated."

The next three days went by in a blur. It was like a whole other life that they had almost forgotten. At the end of the three days they were rested and ready to resume their quest.