Garner working as a waiter at an upscale restaurant with a growing attraction to a man named Alonzo, who always asks to be put in his section for dinner. One night after work, the man is assaulted while trailing Garner. Garner goes to his aid, but is shot for his trouble.<br><br>Taking time off from work to recover, Garner is resting on a park bench when Alonzo suddenly appears at the other end of the bench. Garner never saw him approach. He asks why Alonzo is trailing him.<br><br>After some hesitation, Alonzo explains he wants to recruit Garner to help fight against others who systematically hunt people like himself. Garner isn’t inclined to get involved in anything dangerous, but he does finds Alonzo more and more attractive, so he agrees to consider the idea. As he learns more about Alonzo’s bizarre and dangerous subculture, what Garner really wants to know is whether Alonzo is romantically interested in him at all.

Call to Love

Garner, excited but still a little confused by the situation, became aware of a new puzzle. How had the guy managed to come and sit on the bench—without being seen?


Garner’s mind gathered itself slowly, and produced a possible answer. He must have come from behind, and slipped into position that way. This explanation didn’t feel quiteright, but it was close enough that any implausibility could be explained away as an effect of the drugs.


Pleased at his having at least hypothetically made sense of the situation, Garner’s excitement returned, and the simple fact that he was sitting here with the guy he’d been fascinated by and concerned about, gave him a sense of simple happy contentment.


It was then that the man’s head turned, and he looked directly at Garner, who experienced a new level of excitement.


“Oh!” he said, simply out of surprise. “Hello.”


Chapter 28