Divorce can be nasty. Clement discovers how nasty gay divorce can be as he surveys the damage wreaked by his ex-partner in their soon-to-be-sold home. After cleaning the mess, he goes for a late coffee and dinner snack. The lone barista, Troy, recounts his traumatic car accident drama as they close the shop and share coffee and leftovers. Troy also reveals the pain of rejection he's felt for being gay. The two men share another connection: the next day, Troy starts a new position as a social worker, and Clement is a counselor, as well. So the next morning when Clement drives Troy to his new job, he knows they may cross paths again. It comes sooner than expected, though, when Clement returns to Troy’s office with an abused gay teenager who has nowhere to go. Try as they might, Troy and his new coworkers can find no available foster family. Suddenly Clement finds himself with a potential new family. Can things work out for the three of them?

Define Boink

I had a few minutes to think while driving, as the boy played with the radio and stuffed cookies in his face. The condo had been put into my name when we divorced. I’d paid Derrick his share of any expected profit upfront. So now that it was apparently off the market, I was completely liable for whatever the hell loss might be accrued. On the plus side, however, I had a place to live if I didn’t mind a basement full of sewage. I made a mental note to call Ace Super Clean, A.K.A. We Suck, which most of my neighbors called Shit Be Gone, but they did good work. And golly gee, a whole garage full of potential new friends, right? And I suddenly remembered where I’d put all the linens. They were in a couple of boxes in the trunk of my car.


Chapter 7