Doodletown

Hutch has some questions for Starsky about the story of Doodletown he’d told Lisa about.

I may not be the smartest man on earth, but I do know Hutch and I was well aware that he had something up his sleeve. For one thing, he hadn’t pulled any of his practical jokes on me for weeks. He also had been pensive, almost absent minded. He does dwell on things a lot more than he needs to, if you ask me, but this had gone on for too long. The real kicker was that he was treating me way too nice…no insults, no competition between us over women, no correcting my grammar…and I was testing him…screwing up on purpose, just to see what he’d do. No reaction whatsoever. It was getting beyond weird. So when he invited me over for a home-cooked meal and “some quality time together,” his words, not mine, I almost turned him down. I suspected that he was starting his own encounter group with me as the guinea pig.

But I’d never been able to look into those crystal-blue eyes of his and deny him anything, so, like a big sucker on a fishing line, being drawn toward dry land, I was headed for Venice Place. He’d asked me so formally, I’d taken the time to dress in the deep blue silk shirt that Nicky had left at my place and black slacks, rather than blue jeans. I almost went back and changed. I’d have felt stupid if he answered the door in a t-shirt and cutoffs, but there wasn’t time.

When I knocked on the door, he hollered, “Door’s open, Starsk!” He was tearing around the kitchen, stirring something on the stove and then checking the oven. I was gratified to notice that he was dressed in his best cords and the pale yellow shirt that I liked on him.

“Hey, buddy…grab a beer and make yourself comfortable.”

When I backed away from the fridge, we collided and I thought I saw a hint of a blush on his face. I chalked it up to his slaving over a hot stove. I turned and noticed that there was a tablecloth, candles and even flowers on the table and decided that I had his number. He’d invited a couple of women over and I’d probably end up with Lady Godzilla for the night. ‘Quality time, my ass.’ I thought.

I shed my jacket and turned on the TV before I plopped down on the couch. Remembering that there was a Lakers game on tonight, I tuned it in and was really into the game when Hutch touched my shoulder.

“Hey, where’d you go? Soup’s on, pal.” Hutch grinned and tousled my hair.

“Sorry, Hutch…you know I kinda lose it when a game’s on.”

“Ya think?” He laughed. “It’s like being around a zombie. Do you think you could take a time out to eat?”

“Sure, smells terrific.”

The game disappeared and I heard the sweet strains of Donna Sommer from the stereo. I wondered which one of his plants he was trying to turn on this time. I chuckled and he lifted an eyebrow in a silent question.

“You usually play Donna Sommer to make your plants happy. Which one are you trying to get off tonight, the Wandering Jew?”

Hey, that definitely was a blush, right up to the tips of his ears.

“I should never have mentioned that around you.” He grumbled.

“Well, don’t get embarrassed over it. I talk to my plants…they say it makes them grow better.”

I noticed that there were only two places set at the table. Maybe I didn’t know Hutch as well as I thought.

“What’s for dinner?” I had to say something to break the tension.

“The Paul Muni special…with some of my own touches.”

“Okay, Hutch…what’s up? The last time I got this kind of treatment, somebody had died. I’m not going to eat that until I know what’s going on with you.”

“C’mon, Starsk…enjoy your meal.” Hutch pleaded. “I promise we’ll talk afterwards.”

The meal was great, but the tension in the air would have required a chainsaw to cut through it.

After lingering over desert, Hutch got up to clear the table, but I was done with waiting. I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away from the table and pushed him down on the couch, seating myself close enough that he wouldn’t be able to escape me easily.

I looked expectantly at my partner. “You wanted to talk…so talk. You’ve had months of mulling this over…are we going to get to the bottom of this madness?”

“Starsk, it’s not an easy subject to talk about.”

“You can talk to me about anything, you know that.”

“Okay, I wanted to ask you about Doodletown.”

“What?” I would have jumped up and walked out the door if Hutch hadn’t caught me by the hand.

“You said anything, buddy.”

“I was hoping you weren’t listening when I told Lisa about that.”

“Well, I was and I’m completely intrigued.”

“You set this elaborate trap and now all you want to talk about is one of my childhood fantasies?”

“It’s my opinion that childhood fantasies carry over in one form or another into adulthood.” He explained. “I just wanted to hear more about it.”

“Hutch, either you’re really getting bored with your life or you’re trying to write your senior thesis. Either way, I’m not about to be your test subject and that’s final.”

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.” Hutch gave me that wounded look, but I wasn’t buying it.

I laughed. “I don’t even have to ask. You spent all your time with your nose in a book, memorizing all the four syllable words, knowin’ you were going to meet me and terrorize me with ’em.”

“C’mon, Starsk, you just might learn something about yourself.”

“What do you want to know about it? It was an imaginary village, with little people and little houses and little cars…”

“Little cars? What kind were they?”

“Well, naturally, they were all Volkswagens…doodle-bugs, you know.”

“Was one of them a tomato with a white stripe on it?” He grinned.

“One of them was red, but it wasn’t a tomato…it was a car!”

“Were your little people all families or were there guys like us?”

Something in the way he said ‘guys like us’ made me look up at him. There was an intensity about him that had nothing to do with Doodletown. My head said ‘Hutch, don’t go there,’ but my heart was racing with anticipation.

“Guys like us? You mean cops, bachelors, best friends or something else, Hutch?” I needed him to spell it out for me, lay it on the line.

“Would ‘something else’ be too big a leap for you, Starsk?”

“I’ve got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind, Hutch.” ‘Once a day…all day long, but I couldn’t tell him that…not yet.’

“Really?” Hutch’s face lit up. It was like the sun had come out from behind a dark cloud..

I couldn’t help myself. I pulled him toward me and planted a kiss on his lips. I put all the love I’d carried inside me for so long into that kiss and it blew my mind. I pulled back and read the desire and passion in the warm blue of his eyes. I knew that there had been a shift in the universe and that things would never be the same again. I wanted Hutch all to myself and didn’t intend to share him. I could only hope that he felt the same.

“What took you so long, Blintz? I’ve been trying to chase these feelings out of my mind forever.”

“Doodletown. I watched you when you were talking to Lisa about it. I saw you as the little boy you were then and my heart melted.” He smiled. “Although you haven’t changed that much…you’re still the biggest little kid I ever knew. I felt such pure, sweet love for you…it just came to me that I didn’t have to keep looking for the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with…I’d found him a long time ago. You didn’t come wrapped in the package I expected, but it’s always been you, Starsk.”

I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. It felt like I’d come home after being away for years. He trembled and I knew what had kept him quiet for so long. The same agonizing questions I’d been asking myself.

“Hey, don’t be afraid.” I murmured. “As long as we’re together, it’ll be okay.”

He pulled away from me and I saw tears glistening in his beautiful, expressive eyes. I cupped his face and wiped each drop away with my thumbs.

“But there are so many problems, Starsk…” He whispered. “What about work…our friends…how can we live together?”

“Sh-h-h-h…babe, I’ve got that covered. I’ve got a condo on Doodletown Bay and I’m in tight with the Mayor. So…no worries…okay?”

We both laughed, dispatching the demons of fear and anxiety back to the hell from which they came, and as he put his arms around me and I felt his heartbeat strong against mine, I knew that everything was right with the world and whatever came our way…we could handle it…together.

Never the End