New Year’s Resolution
by: Staley Cole Smith
© 2022 by the Author
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
scsmith@tickiestories.us
Josiah stopped making New Year’s resolution knowing they were silly and seldom kept for very long. He was, however, one of those people caught up in the nonsense of a ball dropping, lights flashing and fireworks coloring the sky. Along with his Grandmother Maude, he watched the antic every year on television.
December 31st people put on ridiculous paper hats holding noisemakers for the big moment when they can act like finding the keys to the mint, so they scream and sing.
“I am making a New Year Resolution,” Josiah announced to Lorenzo, a retro cool friend.
“Sweet – what will it be this time?”
“Memories”
“Nice trick if you can do it; like a quickie in the back seat?” giggled Lorenzo. ? “For you, that is dramatic.”
“Nope, I don’t do back seats; my legs are too long.”
“A-huh, sounds more like a homework assignment instead of a diary.”
“Diaries are for girls; this is a man’s thing.” Josiah replied.
“Hummm. Robin Hood in tights,” I suppose.
“Close enough.”
The following morning, Josiah wrote his first entry. It was January 2nd. He did not want his notebook to be a dumping ground for erotic gay sex.
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Entry # 1
“I am an hourglass moving in the direction of sand. If this is true, then I am clear as glass going through life as a consistent gay man, keeping my business off Front Street. I don’t care for the words, “diary or sweet.” I like “cool” better, it says everything with only four little letters. I am trying to please myself.”
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Josiah
Lorenzo watched patiently, as Josiah scribbled on the first page of his notebook.
“There, I am off to a roaring start. I made entry number 1.”
“Gaud; it must be a challenge; you are no superstar.”
“I’ll ignore that statement. You are you – and I am me.”
“That’s what I’m saying – no superstar,” giggled Lorenzo. They were close friends with a solid background spanning two decades.
“How long have we been friends?” Josiah asked Lorenzo. .
“You mean starting with high school?”
“Sure, that’s a start. I don’t remember being in a playpen with you.”
“Good one.”
“Write it down. You gotta fill the next page with something that has bounce to it.”
“You are missing the point. I am not keeping trace of twenty years ago.”
Josiah tossed his notebook inside the top dresser draw. They planned on going to the mall and he still had to get dressed.
Lorenzo walked around the room looking and commenting on things he saw.
“What is this trophy for?” he hollered to Josiah.
“The statue or the round silver bowl that needs polishing?” Josiah shouted back.
“Both.”
Josiah reappeared from the bathroom. He was wearing khaki pants and shoes, but no shirt. The upper half of his body rippled with muscle and he still had his summer tan. Strands of black hair ran down the center of his chest disappearing below his belt.
He picked up the statue. “This I won for track.”
“I knew you were fast, but forgot how hot you looked doing It.,” said Lorenzo. .
“The silver bowl was first place for a floral arrangement at the New York State Fair. It’s a long story, which one do you want to hear?”
“I’ll pass.”
Josiah finished dressing slipping on a pullover wool sweater. Living in the northeast north of New York City can be a piece of heaven, or just average, depending on the time of year. This was January and winter can be snowy and cold, in the Hudson Valley.
Lorenzo was married to a woman named Gloria. They had a teenage daughter Lynn, a dog Kipsie and a cat named Thomas.
He was gay, but married Gloria after being divorced, caring for a small daughter by herself. Lorenzo became Lynn’s step dad. Lynn is grown now, and a young woman in her twenties.
They were a well-adjusted family and everyone fancied Josiah as well. Lorenzo was close to Josiah from childhood, being together like brothers. They were not sexually connected; however, as they became older, they looked at one another a little differently.
“Great looking sweater; almost a shame to hide that body,” remarked Lorenzo.
“Wanna touch it?”
“No – I don’t want to touch it….well, maybe just a quick feel.” He ran his hand under Josiah’s sweater and then under his shirt touching his warm hard flesh.
“Fuck – you’re like wine man, you get better with age.”
Lorenzo didn’t remove his hand from under Josiah’s sweater. Instead, he continued rubbing his chest, slipping his finder on top of the fuzz going under his belt.
Their eyes locked as if it was completely normal, they were kissing. Josiah nibbled on Lorenzo’s lower lip and their tongues touched.
One would think, they pawed one another, and then trotted off to the bedroom for a session of pretentious sex; but that didn’t happen.
“What do you want to do?” asked Josiah.
“Do about what?”
“You’re rubbing my chest and fingering my belt. Should I take my pants off?”
“I don’t see why. We are only going to the mall and they look okay to me,” answered Lorenzo.
“Yeah, okay – okay; I guess the best place to be right now, is somewhere else, like the mall.”
“You’re a whole lot of everything,” Lorenzo said to Josiah, as they headed out the door.
“What can I say – it’s a gift.” Josiah replied pinching Lorenzo, making him jump ever so slightly.
The month was half over and didn’t move fast enough for them. It was two weeks of constant snow and single digit temperatures. Whatever happened to January thaw was severely missing. They endured the winter, in an effort to be better people come spring.
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Entry # 2
Teen agers had Diaries and got mad if somebody read them. Now they put everything online and get mad when people don’t.
Everything is either, “then or now.” Lorenzo was average then – but look at him now. There are times when I find myself aroused thinking about his hard body and the handsome face, that I thought was goofy years ago. Every so often, I could use something to nibble on. Some days, I am the dog and some days, I am the hydrant.
Josiah
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Lorenzo and Josiah travelled together so often, that people never noticed. That included Gloria who thought of them as brothers. She knew they were both gay, and for that reason, they had much in common. She didn’t care where they went, or what they did. In fact, she encouraged it, knowing Josiah was Lorenzo ’s lifelong friend. To her, everybody was family, even though she suspected they were sleeping together.
The next time Josiah wrote in his notebook, was Valentine’ Day. He worked in a florist shop during his college days and became an excellent floral designer. He understood the magic of Valentine’s Day when it came to flowers. Some men bought chocolates, but truthfully, it was flowers. The major exception was jewelry. Diamonds were still a girl’s best friend. Josiah received a bouquet of roses and baby’s breath arranged nicely in a vase. The card read - “To Josiah, my one and only love.”
He recognized the writing, read the card three times and smiled.
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Entry # 3
I seldom keep secrets to myself. I am so use to sharing what I do with Lorenzo. Presently, I feel sneaky not telling him that I have been involved with a car mechanic. I hate this game, but not the players. I know well enough that. somebody always does it better. Lorenzo can do it better and amazing in so many different ways.
I yearn for soiled knees again, when we were oil slicks out of control. Our bodies were made for more than just friendship. I feel genuine in ways I can’t describe. It’s the only answer that makes sense, knowing it is Lorenzo, I truly want.
Josiah
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The week after Valentine’s Day, a fierce snowstorm blanketed the Hudson Valley. The town came to a temporary halt. Lorenzo owned a pickup truck with a plow, and helped his neighbor with clearing their driveway.
His wife Gloria, who was more like his sister, called Josiah and asked if he needed help getting, cleaned out from the storm.
“Hey sis, yeah sweetheart, I am up to my Kester in the white stuff,” Josiah told her laughing and joking. “This driveway is so damn long; it is taking me all morning.”
“Stay inside. Lorenzo has done nothing but worry about you. He can plow the driveway in no time. Then you guys can cuddle by the fireplace,” she said.
“CUDDLE?” - that’s a good one.”
“Human nature is human nature. One has to see the realism in it. Nobody should expect you to be something you’re not,” she concluded in the friendliest of ways.
“I guess.”
“Of course, don’t make the mistake of trying to please everyone. That just doesn’t happen,” she added.
Josiah stayed inside away from the bitter wind, after the snow stopped falling. He didn’t light the fireplace, but did make himself a mug of hot cocoa with whip cream floating on top.
It wasn’t long after that when he heard Lorenzo plowing his driveway pushing the snow away from the garage doors.
He went outside and shoveled the sidewalk as Lorenzo cleaned the driveway. They waved to each other and just kept on moving snow.
Lorenzo finished plowing, turned off the truck, and walked toward Josiah. He threw a snowball at him and the war was on.
Like two preschoolers, they had an old fashion snowball fight, laughing and rolling around in the snow together.
With a snow-spattered face, Lorenzo kissed Josiah still on the ground. They hid nothing and did not even try to be discrete. They were always concerned about being proper, but right now, that no longer mattered. They reached the age realizing this was as good as it will ever get.
They went into the house, stripped naked and crawled into bed under an electric blanket.
Lorenzo scrambled his body onto Josiah’s chest putting his dick between his lips. He rested on Josiah’s cock sliding it into his body like a common whore.
They did a huge amount of kissing. They started fooling around at sixteen and it was fun. Now it was glorious.
“I love you Josiah – that has always been the case with me.”
“I know,” Josiah replied taking a florist card from the stand next to the bed. I have it in writing. - “To Josiah, my one and only love”
They were connected sexually solid , and deliciously free as much as possible.
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Entry # 4
This is my final entry. I am no longer keeping memories in writing. I am a boring person and what I scribble doesn’t matter. What matters, is Lorenzo.
We will go on loving as people bred from the magic of our youth. I am not closing with a speech – just expressing the obvious.
I never knew how to do anything else.
Josiah
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The End
Posted: 01/28/2022