Bill, a young gay man living in California, returns to Boston in the summer of 1987 to visit his old college roommate and briefly lover, David. He, David, and their buddy Lou drive to Provincetown for a week's gay vacation, where the old ties of friendship among them deepen. But their good time is threatened by increasingly volatile personalities and a growin AIDS epidemic encircling them in an ever tighter grasp.<br><br>Their emotions explode one evening with the unexpected arrival of George, whose added presence brings to a head the simmering anxieties, fears, and resentments these friends have long harbored but have not openly shared. Will their friendships fall apart? Or will they discover a deeper love that binds them together?

Maid Service

“With what?” Bill asked, as he struggled himself to find an edge to the plastic wrap holding his sandwich hostage.


“The bed. I’ve got to improve my sleeping arrangements. Help me put the mattress on the floor. Better for my back. I want to sleep for a few hours.”


The rest of the late morning they spent arranging and re-arranging David’s bedroom. By the time they were done, the furniture had been moved, disassembled, or inverted. David’s comfort, if now not assured, had been augmented.


Around three in the afternoon, Lou told Bill it was time to start their cocktail hour. As he sat on the day bed, Bill nursed a gin and tonic Lou had made him, while Lou commandeered the dining room table. They both talked to David, lying on his mattress on his bedroom’s floor, only his head visible. The rest of his body was hidden from view.


“Where shall we go for dinner tonight, boys?” Lou asked.


David’s disembodied head rolled slightly. “I’m not hungry.”


Chapter 9