My Brother-in-Law Channing Duke

PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here
perihelion
perihelion
1,342 Followers

"It's a shame your being a faggot broke your sister's heart just like it did the rest of your family," my father said bitterly.

I didn't respond. What was there to say? You're a fucking asshole? I walked to the mantel where a group of photographs had been arranged honoring Corinne. Prominent among the pictures was a recent one of her marriage. It had taken place in Baghdad and everyone was in dress uniforms.

"I pray for you every day, Colin, that you will be healed of this abomination," Mom said. "God can heal you, son, you just need to ask for forgiveness and understanding."

I looked at her, tears of piety streaming down her face. I never thought I'd hate her but I realized at that moment I never wanted to see her or any of them ever again after this funeral. They disgusted me, repulsed me, and their God was non-existent to me. I'd talked often with other gays who were racked with guilt and shame, who felt the need to continue to go to church and seek Christian spiritual guidance, affirmation, something I couldn't understand. I felt none of that and I knew why. I'd grown up a pastor's son. I was like Dorothy after she discovered the all powerful Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, a little man. I'd lived my life behind the curtain and church is all smoke and mirrors to me, designed to collect as much money as possible while keeping the masses in a mindless stupor.

"Your mother spoke to you, Colin! The least you can do is respond to her," my father barked.

I didn't care what they thought anymore, didn't care if they hated me. I turned to an unknown face in the group, a handsome man in uniform. He was the man in the picture on the mantel, Corinne's husband.

"Where's Corinne's body, the coffin; which funeral home?" I asked him.

"I'm sorry, Colin, the bodies were incinerated in the blast. That vase on the mantle is supposedly her ashes. I saw the aftermath and there may be some of Corinne in that jar but don't count on it," he said.

Mom burst into loud weeping and my father angrily waved his arm at Channing.

"I think you could have left that little detail out, don't you think? It's bad enough as it is."

"My baby, my baby," Mom cried over and over.

My brother Kurt held her and comforted her.

The man in uniform suddenly hugged me tight.

"She loved you so much, Colin. Don't pay any attention to these people here," he said softly in my ear. "Corinne was never ashamed of you; she never denied who you are. I loved her and I love you."

I buried my face in his neck and wept. I don't know how long I cried but he held me in his arms and comforted me the entire time. My own family didn't say another goddamn thing to me. Finally I regained self control and stepped back.

I'm sorry," I said. "I had no right to do that."

"You had every right," he replied. "Can we get together later and talk? There's so much we need to say to each other."

"Channing, you do understand Colin's a homosexual, don't you?" Arlene spat out. "You should be careful around him. You don't people to get the wrong idea about you."

"Why don't you people just give it a rest?" Channing exploded. "I'm here to mourn my wife! Can't you just be fucking civil to each other for a few goddamn hours?"

It was like a bomb had exploded. No one used that kind of language in front of my parents.

"Now see here, son," my father yelled. "Don't you use that kind of language in front of my wife, do you hear? God's word is clear on the sin of homosexuality."

Channing started to reply but I grabbed his arm, tears in my eyes.

"Please, just let it go, Channing. You can't change them, you can't do anything. Let's just get Corinne buried and get away from here."

He stopped, still obviously furious with my family, but he said nothing more, just looked at the floor.

"What time is the funeral and where?" I asked him.

My sister Karen answered. "The funeral's tomorrow afternoon at three at the church and we're burying her ashes in the family crypt. Channing has agreed."

Channing turned and walked out of the house. Through the window we watched him as he strode down the sidewalk, not looking back.

"Colin, seems like you're a lightning rod for trouble," Arlene whined. "You didn't have to come you know. None of us expected it. Try not to infect Corinne's husband with your poison."

I turned to Kurt.

"I'll be at the church at three."

I left the house without saying goodbye or kiss my ass to anyone and drove to the Days Inn. I didn't leave the room until the next day an hour before the funeral. By then I was so hungry I went to a Taco Bell drive through window and ordered a beef burrito and a Coke, eating my meal in the car while I sat in their parking lot. I timed it carefully so I'd arrive at the church with no more than ten minutes to spare.

It was a typical Southern Baptist funeral -- several songs and testimonials, a sermon, weeping and gnashing of teeth, an almost choreographed window into a family's incredible pain. I didn't sit with the family. When I came in, they'd already been seated and I chose to sit in the back. I'd been there several minutes before anyone noticed me. Karen swiveled her head around several times checking out the crowd and glared at me. She nodded her head for me to sit with the family and I gave her my middle finger. After that I was aware of heads turning to look at me but I ignored them. I didn't accompany the family to the cemetery, choosing instead to drive straight to the airport for my flight to Manhattan. When I got to New York, my first action upon entering my apartment was to request a new unlisted phone number. I didn't expect to hear from anyone but I wanted to make it harder to locate me in case someone tried.

Three years passed. Gradually my life returned to some semblance of normalcy. I moved to a firm that more than doubled my income and I also moved to a new cooperative apartment that was the most luxurious place I'd ever lived. I'd been in my new apartment only a week when I came home to discover a vaguely familiar face sitting in the lobby of my building. I knew I recognized him but wasn't sure from where. He was ruggedly handsome with brown hair and green eyes, very tall, lanky, wearing blue jeans, a green plaid shirt, and cowboy boots. He smiled when I entered the lobby.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

He laughed. "I see I made a big impression on you."

He held out his hand and I shook it warily.

"I'm Channing Duke, your brother-in-law."

It hit me like a ton of bricks, something not lost on him.

"It's been a long time, Colin, and you only met me once briefly under the worst of circumstances. Don't feel bad for not recognizing me."

"I'm sorry, Channing. Yeah, it was only one time but you've got to admit you don't look a whole lot like the guy with the army buzz cut and dress uniform."

He laughed again and I loved the deep booming sound.

"I guess I wouldn't know that since I shave this face every day. At Corinne's funeral I turned around and you were gone. I wanted to sit down and talk with you, get to know you a little better. Is now a good time?"

I couldn't help but stare at him. He was so incredibly sexy and I felt a flush of embarrassment as I realized he might see I was scoping him out.

"I'm sorry; I guess I seem like an idiot, Channing. It's just such a surprise to see you again. And yes, of course, now's a perfect time; come on up with me to my apartment."

We took the elevator to my floor and it was then I noticed he was carrying two suitcases. He caught my glance at them and shrugged.

"Don't worry. I'll find a hotel room. I've only been here a few days and I didn't like the last place I stayed. I figure I can find a better place without a problem."

Instantly I was wary again. I really didn't know this guy at all and here I was just letting him into my apartment.

"Still", I silently reasoned with myself, "he is Corinne's husband, not a complete stranger."

While we were still in the elevator I quizzed him, thinking it's not too late to take him out to dinner for this meeting instead of to my apartment.

"How did you find me? I've moved, changed jobs, and changed phone numbers since you last met me."

He grinned. "It wasn't too hard. I remembered Corinne saying you studied accounting at Queen's College. I was able to track you down through a guy named Ray White who teaches chemistry there now. He used to be in our squad and he remembered the Ferris twins Colin and Corinne. He says you two started university the year he was a senior. I'm just lucky you updated your alumni information."

I remembered Ray White. He was a prick and I hadn't liked him at all.

"It's been over three years. Why the sudden urge to contact me?"

"I had to go back to Iraq after the funeral to finish my military hitch. When it was up I took an assignment with a civilian contractor in Afghanistan after one of their engineers was medically evacuated. When the project ended I came back to the states with their company. I was in Chicago with them until three weeks ago when I took a new job in Manhattan."

I smiled. "So you just decided you'd like to get to know me better. I'd think after being around Corinne's family at the funeral you'd have seen all of us that you'd ever want to see."

"Well, I've got some photos and stuff of Corinne's that I thought you might want to have. I wanted to tell you about us, how it was for her in the last few weeks of her life. Plus, I really just wanted to see you again."

We entered my apartment.

"So have you had any further contact with the rest of my family, Channing? I know they made it perfectly clear to you that I'm persona non grata, the black sheep of the family. Their own family child of Satan," I laughed. "At least it gives them something to talk about when there's a lull in gossip conversation."

He raised his eyebrows in mock horror. "Yeah, you've pretty much become the symbol of evil to them. They never shut up about it while I was there for the funeral. But no, I've never been back and we exchange Christmas cards as a courtesy. That's the extent of my relationship with Corinne's family."

He'd put his suitcases on the hall floor.

"You want something to drink? Go sit in the living room and I'll bring it to you."

"I'll take a strong alcoholic drink if you've got one -- anything."

I gave him the evil eye.

"And what makes you think I'd have alcoholic beverages in my home, sir?"

Channing smiled. "Do you really need an answer to that?"

I brought two tumblers, a two liter of Coke, and a bottle of whiskey from the kitchen. He was sitting on the couch and I sat in a recliner facing him. He drank a tumbler of whiskey neat and poured another.

"Maybe I shouldn't have brought the Cokes."

He grinned. "Nah, I'll drink a Coke in a sec. I just needed the whiskey."

"An alcoholic? The military seems to breed a lot of 'em."

He snickered. "Colin, did anyone ever tell you that you've got a negative and suspicious nature?"

"Comes with the territory. You try growing up queer with the saints of God all around you. I'm still stunned a good Alabama boy, an army straight arrow, would want to bother with me anyway. Aren't you afraid I'll contaminate you?"

He gave a long disgusted sigh. "Can we just move beyond all that shit and just be friends? Let me be the one to worry about contamination. After all the shit I've lived through the last six years I can take care of myself. I have to tell ya, Corinne didn't tell me you were so difficult to get to know. The way she talked, you're a friendly easy going guy."

A cold chill hit my spine. "Don't go there, dude. I'm sure you've been through a lot of shit and I wish you the best. However, you have no idea what it's like to suddenly have no fucking support system at all, to have everyone who's supposed to love you all of a sudden despise you. War's hell but a queer's life can be hell on a battlefield every goddamn day and there's no escape but death. I loved Corinne but she never went through what I go through."

"Let's move beyond this, man. Corinne adored you. You're all she'd talk about sometime. I always felt like I was never really going to get inside her shell, the place you've been all your life. She told me I'd never find a more loyal friend than you. When I saw you at the funeral my heart nearly stopped. You're eyes are just like hers. Identical. It's incredible how much you two look alike even though you're a man and she was a woman."

"We WERE twins, remember? Even fraternal twins can be incredibly similar in appearance. You don't have to be same sex identical to look a lot alike. It's just that usually when male and female siblings look alike one of them looks like a transvestite. Corinne always said I got the looks and she got the brawn."

We both laughed at that one. It was a joke Corinne and I had between us all our lives. She always said I was the beautiful one, that she looked too much like me to be a beautiful woman. Privately, I'd always agreed but never had the heart to confess it to her. She was as tall as me, six five, slender and athletic, not butch but never the fragile petite China doll.

"Corinne told me you were the beautiful one and she was the handsome one. Your sister didn't really realize what a stunning beauty she was, at least to me anyway. She was right, though, you are a beauty, Colin, if I say so myself. I'll bet you have to fight the women, sorry guys, off."

Channing was looking at me appraisingly. "You know she told me you're much braver than she was. She admired you so much, said she was hoping for the day when she'd be as good as you."

I swallowed hard, fighting tears. After over three years, I still felt Corinne's death like a knife twisting in me. Fraternal or not, we shared a womb together and were brought up together as 'the twins'. We shared everything emotionally and I was still bitter she'd never shared information about Channing with me. A man she's about to marry and she can't call me and discuss it? It was like a betrayal. That pain kept me from bursting into tears and Channing quickly changed the subject to avoid wounding me further.

"Do you still work on Wall Street?"

"Yeah, I changed jobs since I last saw you, got a much better offer. So where are you working now?"

"I got hired last week at Morrissey, Davidovic, and Kolb. They're an engineering firm that does consulting work for several governmental agencies including the city. Looks like it'll be a good job. It even pays better than I made as a civilian contractor in a war zone which is saying a lot. I figured I'd just stayed in a hotel until everything got settled with my job and I get familiar with Manhattan."

"You know your firm's not too far from this apartment."

He chucked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Sorry, of course you knew. You walked here from your job, didn't you?"

He nodded and grinned.

"I've been counting the minutes all day and I nearly ran to get here. I checked it out at lunch to make sure I had the right place and then raced to try to get here before you came home."

"You'd have been in for a big surprise if I'd decided to go out tonight or if I worked the night shift."

Channing rolled his eyes dramatically and I was reminded of a mischievous little boy.

"What can I say? I take chances."

I got us another two liter of Coke from the refrigerator.

"What made you leave the hotel where you were staying?"

"I just didn't like it. I'm really picky about hotels and it was too busy and too far from my new job. Plus I wanted to find you, spend some time with you, maybe crash with you a couple of days if it's okay."

I grinned. "Not afraid of spending the night with a gay guy, huh?"

He snickered. "Well, I was hoping you'd let me sleep on your couch for a couple of nights. I wasn't planning to crawl in bed with you."

I looked at him closely and really sized him up. I felt a twinge in my groin and I visualized what it would be like to fuck Corinne's husband. As my eyes travelled back up to his from his crotch I saw the blush on his face.

"Maybe I'd better get a hotel room after all."

THAT embarrassed me.

"Not necessary, dude. I've got a spare bedroom and the door locks. You don't have to worry; I'm not inclined to press my attentions where they're not wanted."

I stood up and motioned for him to follow me to the guest bedroom. I was thankful it was neat and clean, ready for occupancy. I hadn't been here long enough to turn my spare bedrooms into junk rooms yet. It had been almost impossible to maneuver around in the spare room in my previous apartment. Like many single guys, hell, like a lot of people, my spare room had always been my junk room where I stored everything I didn't know what else to do with. My new apartment had been a change from a two bedroom to a four bedroom and I'd made a vow that I wasn't going to let my spare rooms turn into an overgrown storage closets. My new cooperative also came with a huge storage unit in the basement.

I hadn't really needed four bedrooms but I got one of those miraculous deals only a fool would pass up. I had the money saved from my previous job along with profits from a stunning investment portfolio. When I mentioned I was looking for a new place, my office mate begged me to buy an apartment he'd purchased as an investment. He and his wife were involved in a bitter divorce in which they had done everything but hire hit men. He wanted to unload the apartment way below its value so he could screw her out of everything he possibly could. I'd paid him an insanely low price and then gave him two hundred thousand more under the table after his divorce was finalized. Okay, so it wasn't totally kosher and I feel so fucking guilty every time I look at the view of Central Park from my windows.

"This okay?" I asked.

"Colin, this is fantastic, man. You must be making a lot more money than your family thinks you make!"

"Yeah, well screw them. I never discussed my income with them and I haven't spoken to a one of them since the day of the funeral."

Channing took his two suitcases in the room and put them on the bed.

"I'm gonna go get a shower, Channing. There's a half bath right off the living room. The main bathroom's across the hall from your room and I've got a full bathroom in the master suite. So you can take a shower now, too, if you want but I'm not sure about towels in that bath. If you need them they're in the hall closet. That's the door next to your room. You gonna be okay while I clean up?"

"Sure, actually I'm just going to stretch out here on the bed for awhile and then I'll get my shower later. I'm exhausted."

I left him in his room and took a shower in which I had a fantastic masturbation session starring Channing as my chief fantasy. Afterward I dressed in underwear and a pair of blue silk long pajamas. I usually slept naked, actually usually was naked while I was in the apartment but in deference to Channing I decided to cover up completely. I went to check on him. The door to his room was open and he was lying on the bed sleeping which gave me the opportunity to just stare at him for awhile. He was lying on his back and he'd removed his suit jacket, shoes, and socks. His white shirt had been pulled from his waist.

Channing was really a handsome man and I fantasized what he'd look like naked. Around six feet three inches, he had a classically handsome face that was rugged and looked a little scruffy with his five o'clock shadow showing now. His beard was obvious but not too heavy. His eyes were closed as he gently slept and I noticed how long and thick his eyelashes were. His shirt was pulled up just enough that I could see his stomach, all smooth and tight with washboard abs. His suit pants were pulled tight and I could see a nice bulge in his crotch. It looked like he was sporting a woodie in his sleep and I smiled. Must be dreaming about sex. The only other skin I could see was that on his bare feet and they were beautiful feet. Some feet are ugly, most are not worth a second glance but Channing's were long and slender with matching long toes. The skin on his feet was smooth and I could see the tendons and veins running along the top of them. I'd sucked toes on guys that weren't this sexy.

perihelion
perihelion
1,342 Followers