The Truth: Part 34

In King’s Cross there lived a homeless woman. The first time I saw her was the first day I arrived in Sydney. She had long brown hair and wore a purple sweater with black sweat pants. She was begging on the street and I gave her a few coins. She was sitting on a heap of bundled blankets on the concrete, yelling obscenities at other homeless people walking by. The next time I saw her I bought her a burger. Her face looked leaner and her teeth were more yellow. She smiled and said thanks. I saw her around quite often, but she never seemed to remember who I was.

“She’s so disgusting,” Nick commented once when we both had seen her on the street, “I never give her money because she’s obviously using it for crystal meth.”

Overtime I would see her less and less, and when I would spot her the features on her face were more sunken and her teeth started going brown. I saw her once pulling uneaten sushi rolls out of the garbage and eating them.

She asked me once, “Oi, do you have any spare change?”

“No sorry, I don’t.”

“Fuck you, cunt.”

The last time I ever saw her I was waiting in line to buy coffee before a shift at Knight Call. I was tired and coming down off crystal meth. She came into the shop and started yelling, “Does anyone have any spare change? I need a coffee!” Most of her hair had fallen out and I think she had a tooth missing. Her voice wasn’t as soft as it was before. Nobody even turned to look at her. She started going up to every person and individually asking them, but they all shook their heads.

She finally came up to me and asked, “Can I have two dollars, mate? I really want a coffee.”

I replied, “I won’t give you two dollars, but if you wait with me in line I’ll buy you a coffee.”

“I hate the coffee here. I want two dollars to buy coffee somewhere else.” Her breath smelt like rotting flesh.

I snapped, “Well you’re homeless so you really can’t be that picky.”

“Fuck you, mate!” She stormed off.

After she left I grabbed one of my teeth and wiggled it. It was firmly in place.

At Knight Call I started seeing this old man with white hair. He made me laugh, and we would shoot the shit for the better part of the hour. He came in to see me twice in one week. On the second visit he asked me, “Do you like anyone here?”

“No not really,” I answered as I rolled over to the side to look at him.

“I don’t mean like, crush like. Is there anyone here you think is good looking?”

“Kind of, yeah.”

With a cheeky grin he asked, “Who is it? I would like to have a double with you and a guy you think is really hot.”

I had never done a double with another escort before. I debated just telling him that I didn’t want to, the prospect of it made me nervous. For another escort to see how I act in the room seemed like someone would be infringing on personal matters. I acted very different with my clients than I did in real life, so I wasn’t sure about having another person I worked with witness my client persona.

The white haired man continued, “… think of it as a gift from me to you, to be able to sleep with anyone you think is really hot.”

I was quiet for a few seconds, contemplating if I wanted to say the name of the boy I really would’ve liked to have sex with. I said with a grin, “As long as you don’t tell them that it was a gift. I don’t want them to know that I’m the one who set this up.”

“Thats fair enough. So whom shall it be?”

I couldn’t hide my smile, “Jake.”

“Oh, and who is he?”

“He’s this really muscular guy that I work with. He’s pretty cool, sometimes really annoying. He drives me home from work on the nights I work late once in awhile.”

“Sounds fun. I’ll set it up once we are finished here.”

It took Jake only one day to find out we had a booking with a client together. He announced it in front of the entire brothel.

“Cody and I are having a double in a week,” Jake said loudly to all the boys in the Boy’s Room. He had a cheeky grin and looked directly at me, “I’ll be your first double, correct?”

“Yeah, you will.” I couldn’t hide me smile.

“He booked it for next tuesday. Are you excited?” He asked, obviously happy he still had the attention of the room.

“Meh, I don’t really care.” I said nonchalantly. A couple of the boys laughed.

Jason, Bruce’s boyfriend, had started working that week. We all thought they were a cute couple. Everyone remained thoroughly entertained at their Irish accents, making them say words like ‘leprechaun’ and ‘thursday’ and laughing when they pronounced it ‘Tuuuuursday’. Jason seemed really nice, though. He seemed to care for other people and wasn’t like most of the other boys. He obviously liked to make people laugh, and he had a devilishly charming smile.

Immediately Jason got along well with all of the boys, and many fancied him as he was really good looking. He had a second job working in a gay underwear shop located near Oxford Street (the gay street.) I got along with him very well, and it didn’t take long before he became a good work mate of mine. We would spend time telling funny stories and smoking darts in the outdoor area, but outside of work we had never hung out.

The week went by as I was getting to know the Irish couple at work, and Jake texted me everyday saying:

Five more days till we have that double….

 

Four more days….

 

Three more! Are you nervous?

 

Two more days and we have that double.

 

Tomorrow is the day!

Then the day arrived. I was nervous. The client had booked it for early afternoon, but requested that I came into the room for the first fifteen minutes alone and then go down into the Boy’s Room to collect Jake when we were ready. I liked this plan as it gave me time to calm my nerves. I smoked a cigarette minutes before the white haired man was supposed to arrive. When he arrived and we met in the room I told him I was nervous and he said, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” He didn’t seem to understand that I was nervous because this was the only thing I wanted to do for the past three months. Sleeping with Jake was something I wanted for a long time.

After fifteen minutes I went down the stairs and collected Jake.

“You nervous?” He asked.

“Nah, this will be fun.” I said with as little emotion as possible.

Jake disappointingly blew his load within 5 minutes and then begged me not to tell the other boys; he was obviously embarrassed. We had kissed roughly, the client sitting naked on the chair watching us throw each other around a bit. Then when it came to the actual sex Jake didn’t last long at all.

“I just don’t want people knowing.” He said once again before we left the room.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” I promised, but it wasn’t even an hour after our session that I had told everyone about it. Payback was a bitch for when he let everyone know I had gonorrhea the week previous.

Nick was jealous that I had the double with Jake and acted snarky with me the rest of the afternoon. Nick had fancied Jake for a while, his crush being strengthened once when Jake and him cuddle on the Boy’s Room couch one afternoon (Photo evidence of this was provided to me by Matt, the Brothel stalker and good friend, as I was not there during the cuddlement). Nick had been wanting to be the first one to have a double with Jake, but I beat him to it.

“He blew within five minutes,” I laughed as I was telling Nick.

“That’s because he probably wanted to get the fuck out of there.” Nick said with satisfaction, which didn’t make sense to me because normal people blow early because they’re too riled up.

That night we decided to go on a big bender at my place. Nick’s intentions seemed to be that he needed drugs to alleviate the emotions he was showing towards the situation with Jake. Nick hated emotions. The rest of us just wanted a fun night on it. Scott would be sleeping, so it didn’t matter to us that he was there. He would’ve never found out that we were smoking crystal meth. Nick brought the poker set, and Brendan drove him and I to my place in little Chippendale. On the way we picked up four points of crystal from Brendan’s dealer, a man who would literally throw the meth off his third story balcony in an envelope and Branden would have to try and catch it as it was falling. Branden would then put the money in the dealer’s letter box. I guessed that the dealer was trying to be smart and not get caught dealing by the police, but I thought that having random people stand under your balcony trying to catch falling envelopes seemed way more peculiar than doing a deal in person.

“We are such meth addicts,” Branden said while driving from the dealers.

“I’m not,” said Nick, “I just do it every once in awhile.”

“Fuck off, we are all addicted.” Branden laughed.

“I don’t think I am. I’m not loosing my hair and my teeth aren’t brown. I can control it,” Nick retaliated.

“Look at us, we do it all the fucking time. It’s ok to be addicted. It’s better when you just admit it.”

Everyone was quiet. I cleared my throat, “I’m addicted.”

“Of course you fucking are!” Branden howled.

“Well you two may say that you’re addicted, but I know that I’m not.” Nick hissed.

“If you’re not addicted then don’t have any tonight.” Brendan looked at Nick with malevolence.

“Fuck off,” Nick’s eyes were wide, “I paid for my half of this for tonight, I’m not gonna waste it.”

“Whatever you say,” Brendan gave up.

I instinctively grabbed one of my teeth and wiggled it. I was sitting in the back seat of Brendan’s car, which was silent.

My tooth was still firmly in place.

The Truth: Part 16

My first two weeks at the brothel were not entirely eventful. Brendan, Matt, Nick and I became good friends. I was officially a part of their group, and together in our naivety we ‘ruled’ Knight Call. The other boys would moan whenever the four of us had shifts together because we would sit there and talk and laugh so loud that I’m sure the clients could hear us all the way from Room 3. I was smoking cigarettes full time again, something that happened gradually from hanging out with all three boys in the smoking area so often. We would sit on the wooden slats outside cross-legged, gossiping about other escorts and telling tales of bad clients, cigarettes swinging around as we flamboyantly used our hands to communicate grandeur. Our friendship took off at break-neck speed, and it was only the second week. It felt like I had been friends with those three boys for a year by that point. I never felt so connected within a group in my entire life. Finally I had a group of friends who I could relate too mentally and sexually. It was amazing.

Blaire and I had met up within those two weeks as well. She had gotten a new job in an office downtown and was still seeing Dean.

“You’re making how much money!?” Blaire asked when I told her how much I had made in the past week.

“Fifteen hundred.” I repeated.

“Holy shit Cody,” Blaire said and then laughed, “Where can you sign me up?”

I met Dean that same day I caught up with Blaire as well. Dean, Blaire and I went for a run along the cliffs near Bondi, the most famous beach in Australia. He ran behind me yelling, ‘Move twinkie move!”, which Blaire thought was funny at first but then told him to stop once it got annoying. Dean and Blaire started getting more intense with their relationship. She would visit him quite often, but she was still wary about him and his odd personality. They weren’t dating, but it was obvious that they were both developing strong feelings for each other. Blaire still hadn’t let Dean know that she knew he was an escort, so he comically kept fabricating some giant lie to her that he worked at a few night clubs doing their paperwork.

I met many boys at Knight Call. I would see Dean there every once in a while, but he only came in if he had a pre booking. He would never hangout in the Boy’s Room. Instead, Dean would seclude himself in the office. One boy (or should I say, man) really perplexed me. His name was Scott. Scott was the older guy who was there on my first day. I hadn’t officially been introduced to him until a few days after the first. I learned that he was in his late 30’s and that he used to work at Knight Call way back in the hay day. He seemed distant, but connected. Loud, yet soft. Scott and I didn’t interact that much, and it was surprising how many clients he would get with his age. I’m not saying he was ugly or anything, he was beautiful and had the most intense eyes you’ve ever seen, but normally clients wanted the young boys. The only way to make money if you weren’t young was to have big muscles, which Scott had neither. Despite this, client after client would come and ask for him. Compared to Nick and I, Scott didn’t do as well. Nick and I alone would pull in a couple clients a day, but Scott would steadily get one a day, maybe one every two days.

Besides a muscular asshole named Jake that I had a huge crush on, Nick and I pulled in the most money at Knight Call. Jake wasn’t actually an asshole, he started about a week after I did, he was just opinionated and stubborn. Once I got comfortable at Knight Call I would start telling Jake, regardless of my crush, that I thought his opinions were stupid. Normally I would never openly insult someone that quickly, but I was heavily influenced by my surroundings and the people I hung out with. I had never hung out with gay people before, or had really ever lived the gay lifestyle before. Those first few weeks (and months after) were years of oppression being released, and it released in the gayest way possible. I finally had an outlet and pedestal to be myself and was using it to my advantage.

I had been paying $180 a week for the hostel I had been living in, which was useless because I spent every night at Nick’s flat. At first I slept on his couch, but I graduated to his bed after a drunken invite. I didn’t like Nick in a sexual way, I moved to his bed because he gave me the invite and it was better than the couch.

Brendan and Nick told me numerous times that no guy would like my mohawk or plugs, so I had my plugs replaced with normal earrings, my mohawk replaced with a crew-cut that made me look like Sigourney Weaver in Alien 3.

After those two weeks I felt like I had to start looking for a place to call my own. I couldn’t stay in Nick’s bed forever, and I was sick of paying for a bed in a 6-person dorm. Across the city I had looked at a room, but it was a $100 taxi to get there from the inner city, and the neighbourhood scared me. Instead of risking that experience again I decided to ask around the brothel.

“I may have a room for you,” Scott said, “Why don’t you come over in two days and check it out?”

“Ok… sure.” I confirmed apprehensively. I hadn’t actually asked Scott, he must have heard I was looking through the grapevine.

Later in the smoking area Nick said, “Don’t do it. He’s weird and he’s crazy.”

I didn’t feel the same way. Scott intrigued me.

The Truth: Part 15

After the collective gasp the room fell silent. Nick looked at me with sympathetic eyes while I gazed at him scared and confused. Suddenly a boy from the back corner broke the silence and started laughing. A few other boys followed suit.

The boy who broke the silence said, “One time Arthur got me to stand behind him in front of the mirror and jiggle his belly fat.”

Another boy chimed in through the laughter, “Yeah, he got me to do that as well. He also stinks like shit!’

The first boy added, “He always wears that ugly leopard shirt!” More boys laugh.

Brendan clears his throat and announces, “I heard he always gives boys chocolate dicks!” The room erupts in roars of laughter and collective eww!‘s. Brendan notices my confusion and explains, “Chocolate dick is when you pull out and its dirty.”

One boy fake gags, another one shouts, “Covered in shit! Smells fucking disgusting!”

Robert clears his throat and speaks up, “Well don’t traumatise him!” He looks directly at me. I could tell he was trying to keep his composure. A smile curls out of the corners of his mouth.

Nick grabs my hand and pulls me down closer to him, “I’ve never had Arthur before, thank fuck! But don’t worry, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Does he really do all that stuff?” I asked.

Nick doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, but then says, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Nick then covers his mouth to hide his smile.

Just before I exit the Boys Room someone shouts, “Arthur is a rite of passage!”

I found myself going into the office once again, Robert not saying much as I gathered up the supplies from the cupboards. Robert had put the client in Room 3, and just before I leave up the stairs he reminds me, “Don’t forget he owes you one hundred and sixty.”

Opening the door of Room 3 let out a wave of pungent air that immediately made me want to gag. Arthur, a large white man in a leopard print shirt, sat on the edge of the bed. He eyed me up and down while wetting his lips with his tongue. His triple chin rolled in a wave at the slightest movement from his head. Arthurs jet-black hair was shined with grease, his eyes filled with lust. If I hadn’t known any better I would’ve thought he was an inbred cousin of actor Oliver Platt. I introduced myself and he reciprocated by smacking his lips and grunting his name in return. I slowly sat down next to him, his eyes never leaving my body as I carefully sit. I take a few seconds, but when I build up enough courage I lift my head and look at him with an apologetic smile. His was looking at me from the corner of his eye, either too lazy to turn his head or unable to. I almost look down out of embarrassment, but then he stands up and starts taking off his top.

Arthur was my second client, and I would categorise him in the top 5 worst clients I have ever had. Everything the boys said in the room was true and then some. I jiggled his fat in the mirror, and thats about all I will say. His skin stank of rot, his breath was death. His eyes creepy and focused. His genitalia was minuscule but his stomach was large, so large in fact that he tired to get me to lay on top of him while he was on his back and it was like laying on top of a bean bag chair. It was so awkward and uncomfortable, laying on top of his bean bag fat, that I asked to scale down and lay beside him instead.

By the end of my second night at the brothel I had two clients. One, my first client ever, was nice and made me realise the job wasn’t so bad. The other, my top 5 worst client ever, was horrible and made me realise that this job was going to be roulette: I’ll never know what I’m gonna get.

The boys howled when I told them in detail what had happened in the room. Many responded with ‘the worst is now over’ and ‘it’s only uphill from here’. Even Robert, when I first came down the stairs and led Arthur out the front door when the service was over, turned to me and said, “See, it wasn’t that bad.” I didn’t say anything, instead I gave him the stink eye.

Once work closed late that night Nick and Brendan invited me to go out with them for drinks. Nick said that Matt was out and that he’d introduce me to him.

“Just a warning though,” Nick said, “Matt can sometimes be full on,” Nick grabs me and starts shaking me, “SO DON’T BE FRIGHTENED IF HE GRABS YOU!” He lets go and Brendan starts laughing. I start laughing too and they tell me funny stories and facts about Matt as we walk to a club named Palms.

According to lore, Matt was pretty successful in his real job. Matt had a tendency to throw drinks at unsuspecting strangers and sleep with anything with a pulse when he was drunk. I also learned there might be a chance he’d try and go home with me, and like a man to a dog I should just say a firm NO!  Nick and Brendan tell me they would look out for me and protect me from him if needed.

Palms was an underground club, literally not figuratively. You had to walk down a set of stairs and through a hall into a giant dance floor with one bar. It was a very small club, full of old men, and they were playing 90s music. Three things I hated.

Nick spots Matt at the back of the club. We slide our way through the tightly packed crowd, and once we get to Matt it was obvious he was stark drunk. His eyes were unfocussed and halfway open. He had a big smile and swayed as Nick and Brendan hugged him hello. Nick introduces Matt to me, and Matt leans in and licks my face. Not a playful lick (is there such a thing?) but a full, sloppy chin-to-forehead lick.

And that was the beginning of everything. That was the first time Matt, Nick, Brendan and I all hung out. That was the start of the small incline before everything crashed around us.

The Truth: Part 14

Standing in the hallway of the brothel, I had a decision to make. Before me were two doors: one that led into the office where a client was waiting to interview me, and one that led outside. The former door was filled with amazing uncertainty, fear, and possible regret. That door represented everything in the my life that was fucked up; all that was wrong with me, my insecurities and my selfishness. That door was the bad side of me, the side that not many people get to see.

Then there was door two. Door two was the door that led outside to freedom. It led to a place where the birds were chirping and where good life choices were made. That door represented my mothers love, the touch and purity of snow, working in restaurants, cheese factories and retail stores. That door was safe, comforting, normal, and filled with endless possibilities.

Before me were two doors. One was beauty and the other was pain.

When I was a kid I tried to cut myself multiple times. I held rusty knives to my wrists, applied a small amount of pressure and tried to jerk the knife down. I would always apply the pressure but could never bring myself to jerk the knife down.  This angered me as some of my friends tried cutting themselves to mild results, and I thought to myself, ‘Hey, my life is as shitty as theirs. If they can do it then I should do it as well.’ But no matter how much I wanted to rip the knife across my skin, I was never able to do it.

I did, however, take up poking for a while in my teen years. I would get a sewing needle from my mother’s sewing kit and start jabbing my legs with it. Soon I realised that if I dipped the needle in ink I could start giving myself prison tattoos. I spent hours creating two small tattoos on my inner legs. On one leg I tattooed a small cross, on the other was an outline of a tiny lizard. After I finished my tattoos I put down the sewing needle for good, I was happy with my results and didn’t feel the need for pain release anymore.

Two weeks after the tattoos were finished they got horribly infected. My skin around the area started turning purple and green puss started oozing out of both wounds. I spent two days watching my skin get progressively worse. My legs started getting sharp pains that would shoot up my thighs. I was afraid to tell my parents about it, knowing they would have a major freak out. So one day I took a large knife from the kitchen, went down to my room, rolled up my pant legs and sat on the floor. With the knife in one hand and my other hand stabilising my leg, I started sawing off the infected tattoo. I nearly screamed as pain overtook my entire body. Blood and green puss ran down my leg as the non-serated blade of the knife sliced through my skin. I didn’t have to use much force as the skin was already softened from the infection. I had forgotten to bring any sort of material to soak up the blood with, so I shuffled across the floor and gathered up all the blank paper I could find and put it around my wound. Then I shifted legs and continued the same routine with the other tattoo.

I had always wanted to cut myself but could never do it without necessity.

I started opening the door that led to the client.

I tried peering around the door as I was opening it, as if seeing the client before the door was fully open would help with the shock of it all.

Sitting on the couch was someone… normal. He was a white man in a suit. He wasn’t pretty but he wasn’t ugly. Older, probably in his late 40’s. He sat with a resounding peace in his posture and smiled at me as I entered the room.

“Hello,” the man said, extending his hand.

“Hi,” I replied, we shake.

“Please,” the man gestured to the space beside him on the couch, “Sit down and tell me about yourself.”

I sit down next to him and he placed his hand on my thigh. The client’s touch soothed me in a weird way and I felt my shoulders relax. He had a beautiful innocence in his eyes, almost childlike as he gazed at my face. I suddenly realised that these clients weren’t scary monsters, just human beings searching for connection. I smile back.

“Sorry, I’m new so I don’t really know what to do,” I say.

“Awe, that’s ok.” He says and squeezes my thigh.

“Thanks,” I say again and smile, “So, my name is, um, Carl. I am a top. I do, um, massage. And I think that’s it.” I realised I forgot something so I quickly add in, “Oh and I’m 20 years old and do you have any questions?”

The man lets out a small giggle, “No I don’t have any questions. You’re cute.”

I blush, “Thanks,” I stand up, “Well maybe I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.”

****************

Back in the Boy’s Room, Nick asked how the interview went. I told him it was fine, and let him know what I said.

“That’s perfect. It’s good you remembered to say that you’re new, they love the newbies.” Nick applauds, “Did I tell you that I made six thousand dollars in my first two weeks?”

Robert comes into the room, “CARL!” He yells while scanning faces. His eyes lock into mine and he smiles, “He wants you.”

In the office Robert helps me collect all the materials I would need: one bed sheet, two towels and a glass of water.

“Relax,” he reminds me before I start making my way up the stairs. Robert had put the client in Room 2, “And remember you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. And get the money first. He owes you one hundred and sixty.”

“Right.” I replied. With my hands full of towels and a glass of water, I made my way up the flight of stairs. I was eerily calm, my brain wouldn’t let itself go into a panic. I knew that if I started freaking out it would quickly escalate into a full-blown panic attack in the middle of the stairwell. I didn’t even pause when I got to the door of Room 2, I just burst my way through it, giving the client a fright.

“Sorry about that.” I said calmly.

“It’s ok,” replied the client, who was in the middle of taking off his pants, “I haven’t done this much… hiring escorts, I mean.”

“That’s ok, if you want me to be completely honest, you’re my first client ever.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so I’m probably more nervous than you are.” I lied, I was completely calm.

“Well don’t worry about it,” The client ensured, “We can start off easy with just a massage.”

“Ok, cool.”

In the end my time with my first client was, for lack of a better word, pleasurable. We had a good laugh and a nice chat. I told him about my old life on the ranch and he told me about how he wishes to come out as a gay man to everyone in his life. It was decent and it was honest. I went back into the Boy’s Room feeling confident, like this job wasn’t going to be as bad as I thought it would. Before I even get a chance to sit down, Nick eagerly awaiting to ask me how it was, Robert burst into the room and says, “Carl, another one for you right now.”

“But I didn’t do the interview.” I question.

“He doesn’t need you to, he only likes to see new boys.”

Nick’s smile turns into a frown, “No,” he says, “It isn’t leopard-print guy, is it?”

Robert replies, “You mean Arthur? Yes it is.”

Everyone in the room gasps.

The Truth: Part 13

When I wake from my drunken sleep I wipe some drool from the corner of my mouth and sit up. I almost scream when I realise none of my surroundings look familiar. I was in the living room of a small apartment. Who’s messy house is this? I think. A wave of relief hits me as I remember that I drunkenly got here with Nick… it was his apartment. I didn’t know where anything was so I sat and scrolled through Facebook while I waited for Nick to wake up, craving water to deter my oncoming hangover but being too polite to start rummaging through his kitchen like a raccoon. When Nick finally emerges from the shadows we hug hello and then he grabs us both large glasses of water. We laugh about the night while secretly hating ourselves for our hangovers, and we spent the early afternoon watching Will and Grace, a television show I had only briefly seen before.

Growing up in a Christian family meant that my parents were against homosexuality. Even though we owned two baby calves named Will and Grace (I’m really uncertain if my parents named them coincidentally or on purpose) the tv show was strictly banned. I remember sneaking in an episode or two when I was little, laughing at the rare joke that I understood (The gay world was scary and foreign to me). I vaguely remember my father once being disgusted at the tv show called Modern Family, and he banned us from watching it, saying something about how it ruined the sanctity of family values or something like that. Looking back I also remember my brother once shielding his eyes and shrieking when Chuck kissed Larry on I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. It’s funny how incidences like that were forgotten once I came out. My family conveniently forgot all the times they were disgusted by gay culture. It hurts when people don’t realise the damage they caused. It’s not like I want an apology, but sometimes I think back and those remarks still hurt. They had no idea about the secret I was harbouring, so its just another reminder on why human beings need to be more sensitive with their words and actions.

After watching Will and Grace I went back to my hostel and started getting ready for night two at the brothel. Meandering about the hostel I felt like I was a secret agent. It felt like I was a part of something the people in the hostel would never understand; even if I didn’t understand it myself. It felt like I was a part of something greater than their sums. They were there on vacation and I was there risking my neck in Sydney’s underground. It felt edgy. It felt important. It felt like my life was finally something more than the mundane and it was only the second day.

I changed from my khakis to my baggy green pants and I kept wearing the blue Australia sweater. I took a look in the mirror and wondered how any clients would want me.

*************************

It takes a couple minutes to walk to the brothel from my hostel. I ring the secret ‘boys bell’ and wait for someone to open the door. I’m a little shocked when it was not Pete who opened the door but a very tall older gentleman with dark hair, a long face, and very soft eyes.

“Hello, you must be the new boy,” The man said, he squints his eyes and tilts his head as he says, “Carl, isn’t it?”

“Yes, my name is Carl.” I reply, almost robotically. The man was enormously tall, yet was so soft in his demeanour that I wasn’t intimidated by him.

We started walking towards the office while he said, “Hi, I’m Robert. Have you met Dave yet?”

Before I respond we are in the office and there is a smaller gentleman sitting in one of the office chairs. This man, Dave, was the very opposite of Robert: he was very short, had a rounder face, and looked slightly more intimidating. I am put as ease though when he starts speaking,

“Oh, you must be the new boy, Carl.” Dave said, dragging out my pseudo-name in a way I could only explain as gay.

“Yes I am,” I reply.

Dave asks, “You started last night, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh good, so we don’t have to give you the grande tour!” Dave threw his hand up in the air in relief, and then he lets out a cackle, “I usually work the day shift so you’ll see lots of me if you work during those times.”

“How long have you worked here?” I ask.

“20 years,” He replied with a hint of shame.

After a quick chat with Robert and Dave, Dave decided that before he left he would bring me to the boys room and introduce me because lots of the boys on that night hadn’t met me yet.

The room had about ten boys in it. A surge of anxiety shoots up my body.

“Hey everybody!” Dave blurts out. All ten boys turn around to stare at me, “This is Carl! He just started last night, so try and help him out if you can!” And then Dave turns to me and whispers, “Good luck,” before leaving me standing there like an idiot. I gulp as I scan the room of boys, most of them had turned back around to chat amongst themselves or watch the tv, but a couple stared for longer before continuing what they were doing. I couldn’t find room to sit on the couches so I sat on an old office chair close to another boy who looked like he would be my ‘competition’, probably Brendan or Matt but I was too nervous to ask.

Nick hadn’t arrived yet so I sat for about an hour awkwardly scanning the room. A couple boys came up to me to introduce themselves, and some seemed to be extra loud and boisterous to try and intimidate or impress me, I couldn’t decipher which.

For a bunch of gay boys the room seemed filled with testosterone and it was clear that there was an unspoken struggle to be Queen of the brothel. Some boys kept to themselves, but the ones who didn’t made sure they were the loudest. Boys were yelling and screaming, making dirty jokes and picking on each other. A closer look revealed that they were still in their social structures, the three social structures that Nick had mentioned before; no one seemed brave enough to break through the three main social groups. All the boys remained in the safety of their social group so, as a consequence, their attempts to command the room was weak at best. The boys continued to yell at the wind and laugh loudly and I enjoyed watching their empty dance to become Queen.

Nick finally arrives and hugs the boy next to me, and then hugs me.

“Sorry I’m late,” Nick apologises, “It took me a long time to get ready.”

“It always takes you forever to get ready,” the boy next to me snarked.

“Shut up! You take just as long,” Nick retaliates, and then turns to me, “Have you met Brendan yet?”

I replied, “No I haven’t,” and Nick formally introduces us.

I was about to attempt small talk with Brendan but I am cut from talking when the client bell goes off.

One boy yelled, “FINALLY!”

Another shrieked, “CLIENT!”

 Robert comes into the boys room surprisingly fast and says, “He wants to see everyone.” My stomach turns from anxiety.

Nick quickly turns to me, “You haven’t done an interview yet, have you?”

“No,” I reply, trying to hide the sudden panic that was rushing through my body.

One by one the boys go out of the room and into the office as Nick explains what I should say, “Everyone does interviews differently, but basically how I do it is I go in and say, hi, my name is Nick. I am 22 years old, I am versatile, and I do massage. Do you have any questions? And then answer any questions they may have and then come back here into the boys room. Its really simple.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard,” I say, feeling a bit less anxious.

“Its so easy,” Brendan pitches in.

Nick goes into the office and I am stuck in awkward silence with Brendan. When he returns he sits next to me as Brendan goes in.

“This guy is easy. He wants a top and a massage. He’s white, not bad looking- for a client.” Nick informs me, “And tell him you’re new… they love the newbies.”

Too soon is Brendan back from the office. Robert looks at me when I realise I am the last boy to be interviewed. I take a giant breath of air, stand on my wobbly feet, and walk to the door of the boys room, which Robert is politely holding open for me.

Robert stares me in the eyes and says, “Don’t be nervous.”

I was unable to find the words to say back to him. I turn and realise all the boys were watching me. I take one last giant breath of air before taking my first steps through the hallway towards the interview room.

 

 

 

 

 

The Truth: Part 12

Nick talks fast and his excitement builds as he begins explaining to me the ins and outs of the brothel, “There are three main groups here at KC- KC is what we call the brothel,” He starts listing them off on his fingers, being frantically and stereotypical gay in his enthusiasm, “First there is the group of people who keep to themselves: they don’t want to make friends here, and its best just to leave them alone. Then there is the group of foreigners: they mostly stick together and probably won’t talk to you unless you speak Spanish or something. And last there is the cool group, which is the group I’m in, and we own this place,” Nick is clearly over-excited about announcing the cool group; if there even can be such a thing in such a place.

Nick continues, “There are three people in the cool group: First there is me, who started working here before the other two. There is Brendan, who arrived here second and not long after I started. Brendan is really cool, and we get along really well. Then there is Matt, who has a full time job and only works here a couple of nights a week, and he arrived here third. We are the ones you want to stick with. You’ll meet them soon… are you going to be here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I put myself on the schedule here almost every day.” I respond, taking another drag of my cigarette.

“Cool, well then you’ll probably see them tomorrow,” Nick also takes another drag then continues, “A lot of people come and go in this place, so groups and dynamics change all the time. Right now its a good dynamic. Brendan, Matt, and I are all your direct competition,” Nick stops speaking and looks at me as if he’s eliciting a response; I take the bait.

“What do you mean by direct competition?” I ask.

He’s obviously excited that I asked, “We are in the young and twink category, so we mostly get all the pedophiles. We wouldn’t really be competing with the muscly guys, or the older ones.”

“Yay, pedophiles!” I say sarcastically.

Nick laughs, “Yeah I’ll admit they aren’t too bad but at the same time they are disgusting.”

******************************************

The rest of the night flies by. Pete comes in at 1am and tells us all that he is closing down for the night. I spent my whole shift nervous to experience my first client, but nobody showed.

When I asked Nick if it was normal to have no clients he replied, “Yeah, sometimes. But I got two clients on MY first night.”

Nick invited me for drinks at Stonewall and, with nothing else to do, I obliged.

********************************************

“Cheers!” Nick screams over the loud music. I lift my glass and he does the same. We clink our glasses and take a sip. We spot an empty table across the room and race to sit there before anyone else does.

“So are you nervous about having sex with the clients?” Nick asks, sitting cross legged and leaning in close.

I was taken aback that Nick would speak so publicly about our work environment, but then realised the music was too loud and everyone else was too drunk to care.

I reply, “Yeah I am very nervous! I’ve only had sex twice in my entire life.”

Nick almost spits out his drink, “OH MY GOD! You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I wish I wasn’t.”

“HOLY-SHIT!” Nick laughs, “How the fuck are you going to do this job?”

I respond, “I have no idea.”

Nick and I spend the night getting drunk and laughing about our current life predicament. I was happy I didn’t get a client that night at Knight Call, as it was nice to get comfortable in those new surroundings before I jumped in head first. Nick was great at putting my mind at ease and making me laugh. He made me feel comfortable.

Back in Canada I didn’t have any gay friends. Yes, I worked with some gay people, and had some gay lovers, but none of them were anywhere close to being good friends. The fact was that I never had a gay friend to just hang out with. My whole Canadian life was built around a structure that was inherently straight, and I was ready to break down that structure. Even though I had my guard up that first night with Nick, I still felt comfortable around him like I’ve never felt before. My entourage of girlfriends back in Canada never seemed to fill me with the comfort that one man here in Sydney seemed to do. It was different, it was freeing, and that night I knew Nick and I would become great friends.

The night grows long, and it’s almost 4am before we decide to call it in. The hostel I was staying in had a 1am curfew, so Nick insisted I stay on his couch. He lived close to Stonewall.

I drunkenly crash on his couch and pass out.

***********************************

After Scott’s memorial I meet up with Matt (the aforementioned member of the cool group). We are sitting at a pizza restaurant in Darlinghurst and it’s the first time I’ve seen him in a while.

Matt says, “I still can’t believe Scott died.”

“Yeah, me neither. I knew it was coming, but it’s still a shock. In a weird and fucked up way I’m kind of glad it happened.” I instantly regret saying. I knew Matt wouldn’t understand my reasons behind saying it. No one really would. I was upset he was dead, but also glad. Scott had suffered for so long, and now he was at peace. It was macabre; it was beautiful.

Matt and I sit in silence for a few seconds, letting what I said sink in.

Matt speaks up, “I saw Nick the other day.”

“Fuck, really?” I say, happy at the change of conversation.

“Yeah, he looked really bad.”

“Is he still… Into it?” I ask.

“Oh yeah, big time. He looks like a skeleton.”

“Shit, that sucks. But to be honest I have no sympathy for him. He has the choice to get out, and he chooses to stay in.” I chose my words carefully, knowing full-well the people around us could overhear.

“I talked to him as well.”

“What did he say?” I ask, suddenly intrigued.

“He said that if he ever sees you again he’s going to punch you in the face.”

The Truth: Part 11

“Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it.”
― Richard Adams, Watership Down

Pete opens the door to the boy’s room. Flashes go through my mind about what my eyes were about to register. Will I see boys shooting heroine? Will the boys going to be juvenile detention burnouts with those prison-murder-tears tattooed under their eyes? Will these boys eat me alive and spit me out a hard, cold, cynical man with no hope left in humanity? I begin to think that I’m not not up for this anymore. I am what you call an introverted extrovert: I am shy and complacent in certain situations, wild and unpredictable in others. Right at that time I was feeling shy and complacent, like I was being thrown to the dogs. I start to think If I run now will it be less embarrassing than if I have to run later? 

For the sake of keeping an interesting story I would like to be able to say the door swung open and there were twenty boys eating live chickens while cooking crystal meth and having an orgy on the couch. But what happened was: the door swung open and I saw six boys scattered about the room watching tv. There was nothing horribly abnormal about the scene.

“Hello boys,” Pete speaks up, “We have a new boy starting today. His name is-” Pete pauses and turns to me, “What is your name again?”

“Cody- I MEAN CARL!” I nearly shriek, so embarrassed that I just gave away my entire identity. Pete continues introducing me while I go pale white. I had just given away my real name. I think to myself, People will know of my sins. I must move out of this country. Tonight I’ll be on the next plane home. I broke the only rule. Was it a rule? I CANT EVEN REMEMBER THE RULES! What am I doing? They are all staring at me. I should say something. Anything. 

“Hi,” I whimpered, and then sank down onto a couch that was directly and conveniently behind me. Pete finishes talking and heads back into the office. The boys continue to stare for a second before turing their heads back around to watch the tv. I silently pray that no one tries to come over and talk to me. Right when I’m done my farce prayer, a boy whose name I can’t remember came over and introduced himself.

“What’s your name again?” The boy asked.

“Carl.” I try to announce confidently.

“Yeah… right.” The boy said while rolling his eyes. He goes back to his original place in the room.

The boys room was larger than I expected. It was just a single room, but one where the back half and the front half were divided by a step down. The back half was smaller and had just a desk and an L-couch in the corner. The front half widened out and had a couch lining the wall on the left, fully furnished kitchen on the right. In the middle was a small glass coffee table, and by the  back patio doors was a television.

I sit there in silence for nearly three hours while I observe the boys from the corner of the room.  There was a skinny blond guy on the far couch texting on his phone, an older white man watching whatever was on the tv, there was the guy that introduced himself to me, and then three boys who were obviously foreign and were only speaking in Spanish to one another.

***Now there are two things you need to know before I continue this story. One is that during my time at Knight Call I had to learn two names for everyone (their real names and their working names) and be able to decide when it was appropriate to use which name, a feat that isn’t as simple or as easy as you’d think. But for simplicity of the story, I’m only going to give you one name for everyone except for me (rejoice!). The second thing I need you to know is that I am not here to ‘out’ boys that were escorting. Its a private and personal decision. So to protect the identities of certain people in this story, I can only use their pseudo-names and very generic descriptions.***

The older gentleman turns to me, “Have you done escorting before?”

“No. I haven’t.” I reply, controlling the shake in my voice.

“Well it’s not that hard, you just go up there,” He points up towards the ceiling/second floor, “Fuck em’ like you love them, and then leave.”

“Cool,” is the only word in my vocabulary at that point. I realised that I  was sitting like a lady in church; knees together, back straight, hands in my lap. I couldn’t remember if I had been sitting like that for the past few hours but I hoped not, otherwise I would’ve looked like a freak.

The skinny blond boy comes over to me as I try to find a more humane way to sit on the couch. I find an equally-awkward position as he plops down beside me.

“Hi, I’m Nick,” He says as he extends his hand for me to shake.

I shake and reply, “Hi Nick, I’m Carl.

“Where are you from?” He asks.

“Canada.”

“Oh cool! And how long have you been in Australia?”

“Almost two weeks now.” I reply.

I noticed that while I was replying he was doing a scan of my features and clothing (you have to remember that at this point I still had a mohawk and spiral plugs in my ears). He seemed genuinely interested in talking to me, but I could also sense some judgement.

“You’ll love Sydney. I was born here.”

“Oh wow, I haven’t actually met someone who was born in this city yet.”

“Really? Wow.” He pauses, “Do you smoke?” He asks while taking out a pack of cigs.

“I quit two months ago but could really use one now.” I reply, not knowing how much I wanted a smoke until I had seen the packet in his hands.

I follow Nick outside into the backyard, which is small and fenced in with wooden seats around a wooden coffee table. Plants lined the perimeter of the fence, which made it feel peaceful. Nick hands me a cigarette and takes one for himself.

He lights his cigarette and then lights mine. I give him my thanks.

We are silent while we take our first drags, then Nick speaks up, “So I overheard you say that you’ve never been an escort before.”

“Yes, that is correct,” I respond.

“Ok, well here are the things you need to know…”

 

 

 

 

The Truth: Part 10

***********************************************

I was at Scott’s memorial, which was held at a large venue on Oxford Street and was filled with all sorts of characters. There were people who had starred alongside him in musicals, old friends who were like family, his actual family, neighbours and people he hadn’t seen in years. Everyone was there.

I hadn’t cried in front of people yet, and the only time I cried about his death was the day I got the call and found out: I was in Canada and my friend just told me the police came to his house and told him that Scott was dead. I almost dropped the phone. We finished the conversation and I was completely emotionless when my mom asked me what was wrong. I just nonchalantly replied that Scott was dead. I then proceeded to walk around like a zombie, making breakfast and taking a shower. I had to help my cousin move that morning, so I got into my old truck (that my parents kept) by myself and sat for a second before turning on the ignition. I put the truck in gear and drive down the driveway, up the gravel road and towards the highway. Once I hit the pavement of the highway I pushed the gas-pedal down to the floor and screamed at the top of my lungs, “YOU FUCKING CUNT!” I repeatedly swear while my truck reaches 160kph. After screaming I burst into tears and cry so uncontrollably that I had to pull over in fear of getting into an accident.

At the memorial we drank Sambuca shots and tried our hardest to keep things lighthearted, believing Scott would want it that way. I met one of Scott’s old friends, a father figure to Scott during the times when Scott didn’t have any resemblance of a family of his own. I had never met him before.

He shakes my hand, “I’m happy to finally meet you,” his voice is soft and soothing, “Scott told me so many wonderful things about you. You were very special to him.”

Then, randomly and uncontrollably, tears burst out of my eyes as I grab at him and hug him.

*************************************************

I agreed to start working at the brothel the following Monday. Blaire told me I should keep shopping around for real jobs and that escorting should only be a temporary fix. I agree and continue my job search.

It was also time for me to move out of Blaire’s apartment, so I headed back to the hostel I was staying in before. My hostel was eerily close to Knight Call.

Over the next couple days I applied to many jobs and landed an interview for just one. It was a job that involved handing out flyers on the street and trying to get people to donate to kids with cancer. I went to the interview, killed it, and the next day was offered a full-time position. I accepted. The cancer kids job wanted me to start Monday.

I had to make a decision: which job should I do? To most people the choice would be easy, but for some reason I couldn’t help but ponder the possibilities of working in a brothel. The prospect terrified me, yet filled me with adventure. I knew it had the potential to destroy me mentally, to ravage my personality, to overbear me with depression. But I also knew that it could  be empowering, sexy even. Guys would want me and even pay for me. I wasn’t a faceless nobody, people would know me and pay for my time and company.

The other escorts I’d have to work with could be drug addicts, rapists, or murderers. This prospect was also terrifying. But even then I thought of adventure, because who would want to work with mundane people when you could have the possibility of working with Sydney’s most crazy and spontaneous? I imagine young guys like me sitting on a couch shooting up heroine, and I am suddenly filled with passion.

Passion is a weird word. By definition is means a strong and barely controllable emotion. The thought of working in a brothel filled me with just that. It evoked a strong and uncontrollable emotion inside of me, the most uncontrollable emotion of all: curiosity. I was filled with passionate curiosity. I had the opportunity to walk down into Sydney’s underbelly and discover a whole new world for myself.

So on that Sunday night I had two choices, and for all selfish and egotistical reasons I decided to adventure into Sydney’s belly.

Once again walking up to Knight Call I had a mini panic attack. It’s almost 8pm. Pete told me that normal shifts start at 7pm but I should come in later so I’m not flooding in with all the other boys. He also got me to email him a picture of my body that he could post online for the website.

I ring the bell at the front door. I could hear someone rustling towards it, and then it swings open and I see that, unsurprisingly, it’s Pete.

“Why hello Carl, how are you?” Pete almost purrs (Pete always reminded me of a cat, mischievous and cunning and will always get what he wants).

“I’m good,” I reply.

“Good,” Pete nods, “Well I guess I’ll start showing you around now. The first thing you need to know is that the bell you are ringing is called the ‘client’ bell.” Pete pushes aside some plants covering the left wall inside the doorway, revealing a hidden grey doorbell, “This is the bell that the boys push when they want to be let in. Each bell makes a different noise so that we know if its a client by the door or an escort.”

Pete ushers me inside. We walk down the hall and past the office and come to a door on the left and stairs going up on the right. Pete pauses at the door, “This is the boy’s room. In there we have a kitchen, couches, a backyard for you guys to sit in the sun or smoke. Kitchen is fully furnished so you can cook if you want, we also have a television to keep you entertained. Sometimes it can get very… dull here.”

Pete doesn’t open the door to the room, instead we start walking up the stairs. We come to a bedroom with the door open.

“This is Room One,” Pete indicates, “Come inside.”

I step into the room after him. The walls were painted the same deep red as the office. The setup is very minimal, just a bed with disgusting red/brown/god-knows-what coloured mattress and pillow covers. On each side of the bed is a bedside table, and opposite the bed is a large dresser with a TV above it. The room also had two windows with white blinds on them.

Pete tells me that after each client we are responsible for making the rooms look tidy for the next one. The managers (there are four of them) are the ones that wash the sheet and towels, and Pete hires a cleaner once a week to clean the whole place at nighttime.

We head up a smaller set of stairs outside of Room One and come to a hallway. There is a toilet and a shower in the room to the right, and straight ahead is Room Two, which is almost identical to Room One except that its a bit smaller. Then we head up another set of stairs to the top floor, which is where Room Three is. Room One and Room Two have to share a bathroom and shower, but Room Three has it’s own bathroom on it’s floor, and it was also the biggest room.

We then head back down the flights of stairs and back into the office.

“This is usually how the whole thing works,” Pete explains, “You boys wait in the boy’s room. When a client rings the bell I let them in and bring them here, to the office. I show them pictures of you boys on the TV screen here,” Pete points to the TV, “The client will then tell me which boys he wants to interview. When that happens, I go into the boys room say which boys he wants, and one by one you’ll go into the office, introduce yourself and what you do, and then go back into the boys room. After all the boys have done the interview part, I go back into the office and the client chooses who he wants. When that happens I bring the client upstairs and put them in a room. Then I come down into the boys room and tell them which boy he wants. So, if you’re chosen, you come into the office,” Pete reaches into a cupboard beneath the TV, “And grab two white towels,” Pete pulls out the towels, “And then grab a bed sheet,” He takes a bed sheet out of the cupboard as well, its the same disgusting colour at the mattress covers in the rooms upstairs, “And a glass of water,” Pete points to a mini fridge beside the cupboard, on top of the fridge were glass cups, and presumably inside the fridge was the water. “And then you take all of this and go up inside the room. I suggest you make each client shower before doing anything. Make sure you lock the rooms as well, we’ve had a few incidences of other boys accidentally walking into the room.” Pete sets the towels and bed sheet down, “And the most important thing is: always get paid upfront. Don’t start anything until you’ve been given the cash. Legally I can’t give you the money, I can only get the money for renting the room, which I take before I bring the client up the stairs. It’s up to you boys to ask for your share of the cash when you’re in the room. You got that?”

“Yeah I think so,” I reply.

“Let’s bring you in to meet the boys,” Pete announces. A shot of nerves spikes through my body.

The Truth: Part 9

I message Dean on facebook.

Me: Hey Dean, I know it’s probably none of my business but I was looking up brothels online and I found one called Knight Call and I was looking thru the list of escorts and I found one that oddly looked just like you.

Dean: u little shit i told you to look up boyz delivered. yes it is me and if you say one word to blaire I’m gonna fucking kill you.

Me: Don’t worry its none of my business I’m not going to tell her. I was just wondering if it was a good job?

Dean: yeah its ok. I get lots of cash and I only have to go on dinners with these old people, its really easy.

Me: Would you be able to get me an interview?

Dean: Come in monday at 7:30pm the address is ————-. Just don’t tell blaire or else ill kill you! 

I told Blaire 5 minutes after she walked in the door. I couldn’t help it: the secret was too big and she was already thinking out loud earlier that she believed he was dealing drugs or something, so she was on track to figuring it out soon anyway.

“Oh well, I’ll wait till he tells me himself before I say anything,” Blaire says.

“So you’re still going to see him?” I ask, kind of confused that she didn’t get turned off by his profession.

“Yeah of course. It’s none of my business and I like him.” Blaire was always above everyone else’ in the open-minded department.

“Well, he got me an interview with a place called Knight Call,” I embarrassingly say.

“O-M-G Cody! What!?” she howls.

“Yeah, he said he just does dinners and stuff with the clients and I really need money so I’m just going to go to this interview and see how it goes.”

“Wow, just be careful, ok babe?” She grabs my hand.

“I will.”

*********************************************

 

I was walking to the interview which took place in Kings Cross; the derelict area of Sydney where bogans (think red-necks) roam, drugs are abundant, and prostitutes hangout on the streets. I managed to get to the brothel, which was down a narrow street that lay hidden from all the excitement from the main square in the Cross.

I hung around the corner of a large hotel, peeking at the normal-looking house with suspicion. Three boys were laughing and walked up to the door, rung a bell, waited a few seconds, then were let inside by a man I couldn’t see… presumably the boss/owner/my interviewer. It was fairly obvious that the boys were escorts and not clients.

I felt like throwing up.

I take three deep breaths and walk towards the house. I try and calm my trembling hands. I make it to the door and look for a doorbell. It was dark, the small light that illuminated the doorway was hardly bright enough to see much. Despite the darkness I find the doorbell, a small white one on the doorframe.

I almost ring the bell when a surge of panic races through my body and I bolt down the street. I lean against a brick wall and steady my breathing. I think to myself over and over it’s ok. It’s. ok. This interview is not a contract. I can do whatever I want. 

I almost build enough courage to walk back to the door when I notice an older man walking towards me. The older man (who was also a little overweight) pauses when he passes by me and looks me up and down. He smiles. I don’t. The man lets out a huff and continues up the street, right to the doorstep of the brothel. He rings the bell, and is let inside by, presumably, the same man who let in the boys earlier.

I take a minute to truly calm my nerves. It was 7:45 by that point and I was late for the interview. I took one last deep breath, walked up the the door, and rang the bell.

I wait a couple seconds then hear someone walking towards the door, he then has a slight struggle with the door knob. I take one last deep breath when the door swings open. Standing there is and older gentleman who looks as if he’s had Botox or some sort of facial surgery to look younger. Beyond the unknown facial reconstruction he looked well, but you could see the cracks in his complexion, giving away his true age. He was definitely in his late 50’s, maybe even his 60’s. He had a natural build and a super-white smile as he said, “Hello. Please come in.”

He holds the door open for me as I walk inside, “Thank you,” I say with a mousey tone.

The older man leads me into a small office that had a large television on one wall that was displaying pictures of boys. Opposite the tv was a long desk with two computers on it. The walls were painted a deep red, a buddha head rested on a stand close to the door. A glass coffee table sat in the middle of the office, with a black leather couch behind it.

The man shakes my hand, “Hi, my name is Pete. You must be Cody.”

I shake his hand limply, “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

“Well you sure wouldn’t be a client!” He chuckles, “Please sit down.” Pete gestures at one of the two office chairs that sat at the long desk with the computers on it.

I sit down and take a deep breath.

“So Cody, where are you from?” Pete says, grabbing a paper and pen.

“I’m from Canada.” I say trying to hide the shake in my voice. I hold my hands in my lap and try to keep them from trembling.

“Beautiful country. How long have you been in Australia?”

“Almost two weeks.”

“How do you like it?” Pete asks, putting on square reading glasses.

“It’s alright. A lot colder than I expected.” I let out a nervous laugh.

“Well you came here at the wrong time, we are just heading into winter.”

“I guess I just didn’t expect winter to be this cold.”

Pete is silent for a couple seconds as he jots something down on the paper, then he looks up and says, “How old are you?”

“Twenty.” I reply. Pete writes it down.

“We’ll keep you at twenty on the books to avoid you from getting all the pedophiles. You’ll still be in that market because you look younger than 18 but you’ll manage to avoid the total creeps.”

“Oh… ok, thanks,” was my only response.

Pete then asks me questions like how tall I was, my weight, measured my chest, etc. After Pete writes all of my measurements down he looks at me and asks, “So are you a top or a bottom?”

“Oh, I don’t want to have sex with the clients.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know Dean, and he said I could just do dinners and stuff with them.”

Pete laughs, “Yeah, Dean does a lot more than just dinners, let me tell you. Listen Cody, if you want to make any sort of money here you need to do at least something sexual. Nobody wants just dinner.”

“But I don’t want to have sex with them.”

“Well I can put you in the books as dinners only, but to be honest we get clients in here looking for ‘just dinner’ about once in a blue moon. You’ll just be sitting here every shift with no money to take home. You’ll be wasting your time.”

I had to make a quick decision. Did I want to sleep with them and make more money? Did I want to risk being dinners only? Or should I shake his hand and say thanks for the opportunity but this isn’t going to work for me?

I clear my throat, “Top. I’m a top only.”

Pete smiles and writes it down on the paper and says, “You don’t want to be a bottom for them?”

“No,” I try and say firmly, “I want to keep that for my personal life. If I’m going to do this I want to save at least something for myself.” That was good enough reason for me to be considering sex with clients.

“How big is your cock?”

I blush and don’t say anything. Pete just sits there clicking his pen, looking at me with judgemental eyes. I think Pete took my pause as a sign that I was really small, but the truth was that I was embarrassed. I’d never measured my penis before, but my limited sexual experiences led me to learn that I was above average based on the reactions of my sexual partners once they saw my member. Average in my mind was between 6 and 7 inches, so based on that reasoning alone I managed to say out loud, “8 inches.”

Pete nods and writes it down, “Ok last question, and this is actually the most difficult one for most people: what do you want your name to be?”

Against all better judgement, I pick out the worst, most unsexiest name known to all humanity. It’s not bad when it’s used just on regular human beings, but it’s terrible when used as name that’s supposed to be sexy.

The name I used came from and old conversation I had with my sister once when I was little. We both wanted to be con artists and came up with fake names for each other, and the name I used (which is now tainted to me) was…

“Carl,” I almost blurt out, “I want to be Carl.”

“Well CARL, welcome to Knight Call.”

 

The Truth: Part 8

*******************************************

I was 19 and talking to a hot guy on Craigslist. His rippling abs, large chest, and square jawline convinced me to meet up with him. But I was scared of sex, and my previous experience with meeting a guy on Craigslist lead me to a man who had all the lights off in his house and covered his face as he took my hand and threw me in his bathroom (it ended with me bolting out of his house and crying in my truck as I drove home) so I decided to meet this guy in a nearby mall parking lot, thinking it would be safer. It was late, so I told my parents I was going out to get some food (great lie).

The guy had given me a description of his car and told me to meet him in the back of the lot. I was late, but pulling into the mall I easily spotted his vehicle and pulled up next to it. It was dark, but as he stepped out of the vehicle something was off; he didn’t look right. Before I was able to act he got into the passenger side of the vehicle and I had a sudden terrifying realisation that this wasn’t the guy that was in the photos.

“Who are you?” I asked with one hand on the door, ready to jump out.

“Its ok its ok, I know this is confusing but I represent the guy you were talking to on Craigslist.” The guy calmly said, he was about 35 and balding; but despite the balding he was cute. He held his hands out in front of him like he was trying to calm a wild animal.

“What the hell! This is so uncool!” I yell with a weirdly playful tone that makes me feel even more awkward. I have a weird condition where I don’t react to situations like how healthy people should.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry. I represent Mark (hot guy) as his porn manager.”

“What!?”

“Let me explain: Mark is bi, but he’s my friend and when he found out I ran a porn website he wanted in because he was broke and now he is one of my employees and co-owners. He likes you, but only wants to have sex with you on film. You have potential to become a star here.” (He didn’t actually ramble like this to me but I’m writing it like this to move this side story along faster) I realised he looked just as nervous as I was.

“Umm ok and no thank you.” I say, confused. I’m always confused.

“Ok ok, hear me out. Can we just chill in my car and talk, get to know each other and stuff, and then once you’re comfortable we can talk more about this.”

I don’t know if it was boredom or curiosity, but I said yes and we moved to his vehicle, reclined the front seats, and talked for about two hours. He ended up being a pretty cool guy, and funny as well. He told me that the porn is his side-business, and that he’s actually a big time manager at one of the biggest banks in Canada and travels a lot to represent the company. He tells me of the places he’s been to and I tell him of the places that I dreamed to go. For sake of not getting off track with the main story, I will summarise the ending to this: I say yes to doing porn on his website. He sucks my dick. We exchange numbers. A week later he calls and says he has my first porn job with a 65 year old man. I say no. He says I have to work my way from the bottom to get to the hotter men. We get in a fight. I tell him to fuck off (but politely). I never hear from him again.

**************************************************

So there I was, sitting on the porch of Dean’s apartment, having briefly contemplated escorting, realising that I’ve said yes to sex work before; even though it didn’t go anywhere (Thank fuck!).

Blaire and Dean go to the bedroom and have very loud sex for three hours while I try and sleep on the lounge. I lay there like a kid in a horror movie; wide eyed fetal position, disturbed by what I hear. After the three gruelling hours in which I didn’t sleep, a drunken and naked Blaire bursts out of Dean’s room.

“O-M-G Cody, are you still awake?” She asks, trying her best to pick up a towel and use it to cover herself.

“Yeah, couldn’t sleep.” I reply.

“Could you hear us?”

“Umm only a little bit. Not very much,” I lied.

“Thank god!” She exhausts, going wide eye and putting her hand on her heart, making the towel fall, “Because we’ve been having sex for hours!” She moves to a whisper, “He came like 5 times, he doesn’t last very long.” She starts laughing.

On queue, Dean walks out of the room naked.

Blaire laughs even harder, “I was just telling Cody that you don’t last that long in bed,” she nudges him on the shoulder.

Dean replies, “Pft, I can go for hours if I have too. But you know when you just want to go as many times as you can?”

“No, not really.” I reply.

“When you want to cum as many times as you can?”

“That sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me,” Blaire bursts out, giggling like a school girl, “you’re just covering for the fact you don’t last long in bed! I’m going to have a shower, and then we should get food, I’m starving!”

“Ok honey,” Dean says and leans in to kiss Blaire. I could tell Blaire found the pet name awkward.

Blaire runs off to the shower, almost tripping over her drooping towel. Then a very-naked Dean turns to me.

“Come into my room, I want to talk to you.” He says sternly.

I try hard to avoid looking at his penis, “Ok.”

I follow him into the room and he closes the door behind me. I sit on the corner of the bed while he stands in front of me, his pool-noodle hanging right in front of my face. I look away, embarrassed.

“What you’ve never seen a man naked before?” Dean asks smugly.

“Can’t you put on some clothes?” I request, keeping my gaze away from his body.

“Naw, I like being naked and it’s my house,” He bends down so that we are face-to-face, “So, I do have some friends who work as escorts. It’s big in the gay community here, and there’s a piece for you if you want it. I can get my friends to take care of you. Just search for a brothel called Boyz Delivered and apply online, but that’s only if you want it. You could make lots of money, trust me. I just want to help you out.”

The next day I’m at Blaire’s house. She went into the city so I was home alone. I open her computer and search Gay escorts in Sydney online and two brothels come up in the web search. I click on the one that wasn’t Boyz Delivered, going against what Dean had told me to do. I just had a feeling there was something hidden in his voice when he had told me the night before to go online. I scroll through the list of boys (escorts) and come across what I already expected to be there: right in front of my face, in the list of escorts, was Dean.