Like a million other young gay men, Bryan keeps his sexuality hidden because it’s safer that way. Yet other guys know he’s different -- they sense it, and make Bryan’s life pure hell. At home, things aren’t much better. He barely acknowledges his alcoholic father, and his mother has little time to spend with her family. So Bryan is alone, with no support, no shoulder to cry on.
Years of torture and torment, of name calling and humiliation, have taken their toll. Bryan does what he can to make new friends, but in trying to be something he’s not, he makes a huge mistake. Unable to cope with the repercussions, Bryan spends more and more time in a fantasy world he has created for himself. In this private world he is handsome, an object of desire. He is loved.
Is the hiding place as perfect as it seems? Or will Bryan go too deep and not be able to come out again?
The bar was actually a club. It was painted black inside and had a stage with a massive red velvet curtain trimmed with gold fringing. On either side of the stage were two colossal muscle men with Anubis-style heads. To the left was a bar and directly in front of him was a massive dance floor, crowded with semi-naked men. Some were wearing leather pants and leather harnesses. Others wore jeans and had their vests and T-shirts stuck into their back pockets. There were others wearing more ordinary attire, but it was the drag queens with their elaborate make up and exaggerated wigs which caught his eye.
A pair of men with their arms around each other pushed by him, almost knocking him into the path of a drag queen and her leather-clad partner.
“Mmmm. Fresh meat,” cooed the drag queen.
The hot-looking leather man hanging off her arm glanced at him and screwed his nose up.
After getting a whisky and Coke, Bryan moved to the back of the club to watch the proceedings. His heart was still beating a mile a minute and if he didn’t keep filling his mouth with alcohol there was a danger the over-excited organ could jump right out of it. The only problem with that plan was within the minute his glass was empty again. He looked across at the bar, at the many men jostling for a position, and wondered how long he could go without having a drink. The answer was not very long at all.
He walked back to the bar and eventually made it to the front of the pack.
“Scotch and Coke, thanks,” he said.
The bar tender grabbed a glass and filled it with a measure of Johnny Walker.
“Having a good night?”
Bryan turned his head to find that the question had been directed at him. The man who had asked it was a little older, had sandy blond hair, and a moustache. His smile revealed perfect teeth.
“I am,” Bryan replied.
“Want a drink?” asked the man.
“I’m just getting one.”
The man caught the eye of the barman as he placed the drink in front of Bryan. “I’ll get that and another one for me.”
Bryan opened his wallet. “I think I’ve got ten bucks in here somewhere,” he said.
The man placed his hand on the wallet and pushed it away. “This one’s on me.”
Bryan took a sip of his drink and smiled at the man. “Thanks a lot. Very nice of you.”
Bryan turned and fought his way back through the crowd that was surging forward against him. He returned to his spot at the back of the club and took another sip of his drink.
“You don’t get off that easily,” said the man.
“Hey, hello again.”
“My name’s Liam.”
“Mine’s Bryan.”
They knocked their glasses together.
“Nice to meet you, Bryan. I haven’t seen you around before.”
“I haven’t been here before.”
Liam’s face visibly lit up. “Really?”
Suddenly the music stopped. The crowd turned to face the stage. The music started again and the giant red curtains parted. In the centre of the stage was a tall figure draped in black satin. As the strains of a Lady Gaga song began the figure turned, her large, made up eyes were wide. She walked down the five steps of her podium to the stage and arrived just as Lady Gaga began to sing “Telephone.” When the chorus began the drag queen threw off her black cape to reveal a bikini made out of old handsets.
Bryan couldn’t stop grinning. Everything about the performance was over the top. Even the way the drag queen lip-synched was too much, overly exaggerated and absolutely hilarious. During a break in the music there was the sound of a telephone ringing. The drag queen picked up the receiver that had been attached to her crotch and had a mini-conversation with her vagina.
“What’s that about a holiday? You’re what? Fed up and tired? Because of me! You have not had more pricks than a dartboard! You have not received more deposits than the National Bank! Well, if that’s the way you feel, I never want to see you again! And by the way, you smell!”
Bryan was laughing so much that the ice in his drink was tinkling against the glass.
“Hey. Let’s you and me go somewhere a bit more private.”
