Getting It by Alex Sanchez Read Free Book Online

bed, his thoughts spinning. “I get confused. Sometimes I don’t know what I want.”
    â€œMaybe….” Sal shrugged. “That’s because life isn’t about what you
get,
it’s about what you
give.”
    Carlos peered up, not exactly sure what Sal meant. After all, you didn’t give laid, you get laid. And you
get
a girlfriend.
    â€œLook,” Sal said softly, “you’re not a loser. A slob maybe, but not a loser.” He cracked a smile. “If you want a girlfriend, then I think you should have one. Just don’t settle for less, okay?”
    Nobody had ever talked to Carlos this way. He really didn’t know what to make of Sal, but he suddenly liked him more than ever. “Okay.”
    Sal glanced at his watch. “Let’s get to work.”
    Carlos happily returned to the project at hand. He asked his ma for an old sheet to use as a drop cloth and the boys painted an “accent wall” surrounding the window.
    When they’d finished, Sal announced, “Next comes your faux headboard. ‘Faux’ means ‘false.’ Let’s move your bed out.”
    They painted an auburn rectangle onto the wall behind the bed. Carlos liked how the color matched the window wall. And it did look like a headboard, like he’d always wanted.
    Next, Sal returned his attention to the bikinied babes. “Can we please take down those posters?”
    Carlos blushed, but he didn’t want to take down the girls. They’d become almost real, doing all sorts of cool stuff with him inside his brain.
    â€œCome on,” Sal coaxed. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other photos on your computer.”
    Carlos turned even redder. Grudgingly, he pried out the pushpins and rolled up the babes, carefully storing them in his closet. Meanwhile, Sal delicately arranged Carlos’s praying mantis in the Plexiglas box-frame he’d brought. Then he centered a hook above the painted headboard and nailed it up.
    Framed on the wall, the bright green insect no longer looked like some kid’s bug, but like a masterpiece of art. Next, Sal put the bamboo stalks in a metal can and stood them in the corner. The place truly looked like something the TV guys would’ve done.
    â€œHow did you learn to do all this stuff?” Carlos asked.
    â€œI don’t know …” Sal hesitated. “I guess maybe growing up gay you spend more time by yourself. Hardly anyone wants to be your friend. None of the guys will come near you—and you try to figure out why. So you notice things—how people dress, wear their hair, decorate their room …” Sal shrugged. “Maybe that’s how I learned it.”
    Carlos tried to imagine what it would’ve been like to grow up without his buds. He felt kind of sorry for Sal.
    â€œHere are the receipts for the paint and display box,” Sal said as the boys cleaned up the paint stuff. “I already had the roller and pan, so no charge for those. I cut the bamboo from my yard.”
    Carlos stared at the receipts, totaling more than eighteen dollars. How did Sal expect him to keep getting so much money? “I’ll have to give you the money next time. Do you think we’ll finish by then?”
    â€œI doubt it. Next we’ve got to tackle your clothes. You’ll need to get some more money.”
    Oh, great,
Carlos thought.
Money from where?
    As they crossed the living room, Sal waved. “Good-bye, Mrs. Amoroso.”
    â€œBye!” She glanced up from her sewing and gave him a big smile. “Come back anytime!”
    Carlos didn’t get why females were so charmed by gay guys, but he was glad his ma liked Sal. And as he returned to his room to pack his overnight bag for his pa’s, he found himself kind of wishing he could’ve spent more time with Sal.

Thirteen
    A S USUAL, C ARLOS’S pa arrived late. And, as always, he cell-phoned from the parking lot, to