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We are guys. We do not talk about feelings.
--Baljeet. Act Your Age
“So Ginger dumped ya huh?”
“She did once I told her I was gay.” Baljeet chuckled as he took his coffee cup from the Steam Noir Cashier. “She took it rather well actually. No hard feelings on either side. I think she is just glad I won’t start dating Mishti again.”
“So when did you know?” Buford grabbed two packets of sugar from the container on the table as they sat down.
“Beginning of last year. I began developing a crush on a fellow faculty member.” He smiled as he took a sip of coffee. “He was cute.”
“Did ya guys date?”
“No. He was straight.”
“That’s a drag.” The former bully dumped the two packets of sugar into the foam cup in front of him and the Professor raised an eyebrow.
“That is a lot of sugar…”
“Can’t be to caffeinated. Besides, you try pullin all nighters. It ain’t fun.”
“I do not miss those days.”
Buford snorted. “Oh come on. When we were kids, ya practically had love affairs with your homework. Ever since you’ve fast tracked through high school and college and became a Professor, it’s like pullin teeth tryin ta get ya ta do anything fun.” He motioned around the coffee shop. “Ya know, like this.”
Baljeet shrugged, seeming to be lost in thought. “Why are we here again?”
“What? I can’t treat my best friend to a cup a coffee?” Buford smiled. “I’ve barely seen ya this summer.” The man suddenly looked shy. “I miss ya Jeet.”
“And I’ve missed you.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes.” The Professor shot his friend a smirk as he took another sip. “My life is very boring when you go back to school.”
“Gee, thanks for the sentiment.” He took an unopened packet from the container on the table, fiddling with it.
“With all seriousness, I have missed you very much Buford.” An awkward silence passed between the pair as Baljeet idly tapped his fingers on the side of the foam cup. “So…how is Film School going?”
“Eh. It’s alright.” He opened the packet in his hand, dumping the contents before throwing it over his shoulder.
“Really Buford?”
“What?” Baljeet pointed to where the sugar packet had fluttered to the ground. He sighed. “You’re gonna make me pick it up and throw it away aren’t you?”
“It is good for the environment.”
Buford rolled his eyes as he grabbed the packet from the floor, dumping it into a nearby trashcan. “Ya know, for bein a teacher, ya sure haven’t changed much.”
“Professor, Buford. There is a difference.”
The man couldn’t help the smile. “See?”
Baljeet laughed, taking another sip. “Okay, maybe I have only changed a little. But in all fairness, so have you.” He shot the other man a look over the rim of his cup. “For example, you used to bully me. But now you do not.”
“I haven’t bullied ya in eleven years.”
“Do you ever miss it?”
“Nah.” He waved the comment away. “Beaten up nerds was overrated. Besides, once I started…”
“Started what?” The Professor noticed the sudden look of discomfort on his friend’s face. “Buford? What is wrong?”
“I need more sugar!”
Baljeet frowned as the former bully jumped out of his chair, running for the nearest barista. The frown deepened as his gaze fell to the container of packets sitting on the table.
“I’m back! And I bought another cup a coffee!” Buford sat down, practically ripping open two new packets of sugar before dumping the contents into the steaming cup.
“Buford--”
“Yeah yeah. Throw ‘em away. I hear ya Jeet.” He chucked the empty packets into the trashcan before sitting back down, taking several slugs of coffee. “Oh yeah, good coffee. I can tell.” He took another slug. “Like I said, ya can’t be to caffeinated.”
The Professor raised a brow, setting his foam cup on the table. “What is up?”
“Nuthin.”
“Really?” He crossed his arms over his chest, shooting the other man a look. “You were fine until you began to mention—“
“More sugar!” The former bully jumped to his feet, only to have the Professor block his path. His expression darkened. “Move Jeet.”
“I most certainly will not. Also, we are now similar in size and height. You will not go anywhere until you tell me what is going on. Do I make myself clear?”
“Jeet, I’m warnin ya—“
“I command you to sit!”
Buford shrank back at the change in tone, quickly sitting down. “Whoa. Where’d ya learn ta do that?”
“As a Professor, you have to deal with unruly students.” Baljeet eyed him a moment before calmly sitting down, folding his hands on top of the table. “Now, would you care to share what is wrong? Your dramatic change in behavior indicates you are hiding something.”
“I ain’t hidin nuthin.”
“That is a double negative.”
“Stop goin Professor on me, alright? If I wanted ta be harangued by a Professor, I woulda stayed at school for the summer.”
He sighed. “Buford, just tell me what is going on.”
“Ya wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
The former bully sighed, his gaze falling to the sugar packets on the table before slowly looking up, meeting the other man’s eyes. “What I started ta say was that beaten up nerds was overrated and that once I started realizing I was gay—“
“You are gay?” Baljeet blinked. “I thought I was the only gay one.”
“Well ya ain’t.”
“When did you know?”
“High School. Maybe before then.”
“But you never told me.”
“By the time I realized it, you had already graduated and started college.” He paused in thought. “The whole goin ta school thing and studying, not the Professerin like you’re doin now.”
“You still could have called and told me. Or told me when I came home for Summer Break.” The Professor leaned across the table, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder, searching his face. “Buford, you are my best friend. Why did you not tell me?”
“Because you were dating Ginger.”
“What does my dating Ginger have to do with you being gay?”
“You’re the smart one Jeet. Think about it.”
“When you came out, I was already going to college. I had graduated from school…” Baljeet slowly withdrew, leaning back in the chair before absently taking a sip of coffee. “I was dating Ginger…you said you knew about your sexuality during that time if not before…” his brow furrowed in concentration, one hand holding the cup as the fingers on the other seemed to tap something in the air.
“You’re visualizing numbers in your head again, aren’t ya?” Buford frowned, ripping open another packet of sugar and dumping it on the table.
“Now you are just littering.”
“This ain’t about numbers Jeet. I spent a lotta years bullying nerds, but you were the only one I picked on constantly, then became friends with and then best friends and then…” The Professor blinked in confusion and the former bully sighed. “Can’t believe I’m the one spellin this out. Look Jeet, when I realized I was gay, it’s because I was crushin on someone. I always tell ya everything. So if I always tell ya everything, but didn’t tell ya this because you were dating Ginger, that means…”
Baljeet started, the hot brown liquid sloshing out of the cup. “Ow! My hand!”
“Here.” Buford swiped a napkin from the dispenser on the table before grabbing the other man’s hand, wiping the liquid off. “That better, or does it still burn? I can go grab some ice from the Barista.”
“No, that is alright. I am fine. It is only a minor burn…” his eyes trailed down to the former bully’s hand on his, cheeks slightly pinking as he returned his gaze to the other man. “I was the one you had a crush on.”
“Yeah Jeet.”
“That is why you stopped picking on me?”
“Yeah.” Buford paused, shaking his head. “Well, kinda. It was more ya became my friend and I don’t pick on friends unless it’s good natured. The crush came after that. When I realized how smart and cool ya were and how…” he swallowed. “How ya always put up with me and seemed to always give me second chances when I didn’t really deserve ‘em. Ya made me a better person. If it weren’t for you or the others, I probably would have gone to Juvie.”
“No you would not.” The Professor slowly moved his hand, awkwardly shaking off the non-existent liquid. “You are a good person Buford. Yes you bullied me, but I could see past that. What I saw was a friend who speaks fluent French, loves the arts…” he couldn’t help the smirk. “And once wanted to risk everything for a whalemingo. There is good in you Buford. There always has been.”
The man’s eyes filled with tears.
“You are also sensitive.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“That is not an insult. It is a compliment.” Baljeet grabbed another napkin, holding it out to his friend. “Now really Buford, clean up.” He smiled warmly. “You are making a most ginormous spectacle of yourself.”
Buford laughed through the tears. “Best thing you’ve said all day.”
“Look Jeet, about me crying in the coffee shop—“
“Do not worry. I will not tell anyone.”
“Okay, see, that’s another good thing about ya. Ya never tell my secrets.”
The two walked down the street in companionable silence, the only sound being that of shoes on the pavement. They finally reached Buford’s truck and stopped, staring at it.
“Well, this is my ride.”
“Yes…” Baljeet turned to his friend. “Buford, may I ask you something?”
“Hey, ya just saw me cry. At this point, ya can ask me anything.”
“You said you realized you were gay when you began crushing on me. And I am curious; do you still like me in that way?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Well, this is awkward…”
“Do ya like me?”
“I do not know. You have been dealing with your sexuality much longer than I have wheras I have only been dealing with mine for a year. Everything is still new and—“
“Say no more Jeet. If ya don’t like me that way, that’s okay. I can wait.”
“Wait?”
He shrugged. “It worked for Isabella.” The Professor laughed. “Oh hey, I got ya something.” Baljeet raised a brow in curiosity as Buford disappeared into the back cab of the truck, reemerging with a grocery bag.
“What is that?”
He reached into the bag, pulling something out. “Clean underwear. Eleven pairs. One for each year I didn’t bully ya. Figured I owed ya a few. There probably should be more, given that I tended ta bully ya everyday, but with paying off student loans, tuition and payin for textbooks, I’m kinda strapped for cash. So here.” He shoved the bag at the Professor, giving him a smile as he climbed into the truck. “Look Jeet, I gotta be somewhere, but—“
“Um, Buford?”
“Yeah?”
“I realize this is all new and maybe I am moving to fast, but…would you like to join me for coffee next week? Same time and place? I will pay this time.”
“You asking me out?”
“Well, not technically, but not…non-technically either—“
“Non-technically? That don’t sound like you.”
Baljeet shot him a mock glare. “Do you want a date or not? I am making overtures here.”
“There’s my nerd.” The former bully started the truck, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah Jeet. It’s a date.”