Derby Line Marriage Ch. 24

Benjamin walked from his Chelsea apartment to the nearby hotel that was hosting a Halloween fundraiser for LGBT causes. He was dressed like a construction worker, with the sleeves torn off his plaid shirt to expose his muscular arms. A frayed spot in the crotch of his blue jeans drew attention to his package. Once in the hotel and pass the lobby, he showed his ticket before popping his head into the main ballroom to see a crowd of costumed people dancing to techno music. Most of the costumes were even more revealing than Benjamin's. Dressing up for Halloween takes on a new dimension when a person becomes an adult, he thought.

Benjamin moved on to the second ballroom which the hotel had divided into booths for small parties to rent. Isabella had rented a both for the gang, and everyone pitched in for the cost ahead of time. The first to arrive, Benjamin took a seat at his group's booth and checked his email on his smart phone. The first email was from his baby mama, Francis. She sent it from her work account at the Montreal Universal Freedom Foundation. MUFF had done some work for marriage equality in New York State and had helped with the losing battle against Columbia University's expansion plan. The university had invoked eminent domain to expand, forcing Benjamin to move from Harlem to Chelsea. The email had links to pictures of Columbia's new construction. Not in the mood for upsetting topics, Benjamin deleted the email without opening the links.

The next email was from Francis's personal account. It had pictures of her and Benjamin's nearly 2 year old son along with an update on his development. Their child continued to learn new words and had progressed from walking to running and climbing stairs. Benjamin felt proud of his boy and wished he could visit him more. His boss sent him to Montreal every other moth, which gave him an excuse to stay at Francis's and Patrick's house, but it was not often enough. Benjamin couldn't ask for a better baby mama than Francis. She was the perfect balance of caring and strict. Patrick was a great dad to the child too. He brought the infant to the park every weekend during nice weather so he can become familiar with botany. That boy might grow up to be a scientist just like Patrick, Benjamin beamed inwardly.

The final email was from Patrick. It started with a description of his current biology research. Next, it talked about Patrick's new enthusiasm for biking. Finally, there were some links to gay porn that he thought Benjamin might like. Benjamin saved the email so he could look at the links later in the privacy of his apartment. Patrick and Benjamin were practically fuck buddies now, but without the fucking. Benjamin still loved and lusted for Patrick, however he new that he would never have an affair with a married person. Even so, sharing links to porn they both liked was harmless enough. Their friendship had grown incredibly deep over the past couple of years. Patrick was now fully comfortable with his bisexuality, and Benjamin was glad to have helped guide him through that transition in his life.

Soon Isabella arrived with Hanna and Jovita. Isabella was dressed like a biker with a leather vest and pants. Hanna and Jovita were in matching Roman togas. As they sat at the table with Benjamin, Isabella made introductions. "Hey, Benjamin. This is Hanna and Jovita. Hanna, Jovita, this is Benjamin." Jovita shook hands with Benjamin while Hanna just waved politely.

"What do you two do?" Benjamin asked.

"I'm a secretary in the Finance District for an Argentinean based investment firm," Jovita answered.

Hanna spoke next. "I'm a struggling artist. I sell my works at a stand on the High Line."

"Benjamin is in porn," Isabella bragged.

Jovita's eyebrow raised. "As an actor?"

Benjamin smiled. "No. I handle the website. I started as a freelance web developer for a porn producer with offices in NYC and Montreal. After a year of that, they took me on in house. It's fulfilling work, and it gives me paid trips to Montreal where I can visit my kid and his parents."

"How's he doing?" Isabella asked.

"He's growing up fine," Benjamin exclaimed as he showed off the latest pictures of the child from Francis. The women cooed over the baby.

"I want one of those," Hanna said.

"One?" Jovita responded. "I want a dozen."

A ding announced that Isabella got a text message. She checked it on her phone. "That's the Sayeds. They will be here in a few minutes. They just have to park the car." Everyone but Hanna ordered drinks from the waiter while they waited for the last group members to arrive.

A few minutes later they were sipping their drinks when the Sayeds showed up. Zac Sayed was an Arab man dressed as Henry the VII. Next to him were an Eastern European woman and a Vietnamese woman dressed in costumes from the same period. "Hello, everyone. I'm Zac," the Arab man said with a slight French accent. "These are my wives, Elan and Parnella." Zac gestured to the Eastern European woman and the Vietnamese woman respectively as he gave their names. "Sorry we're late. The traffic heading out of Queens was heavy."

Isabella introduced her three friends to the Sayeds as they took seats in the booth. Then she told a bit about the new arrivals. "Elan is a house spouse, and Parnella translates technical writing between English and French. Zac just got his civil engineering degree last May. He's working on a skyscraper now."

"So was it a graduate degree," Hanna guessed.

"No. It was a bachelors," Zac answered.

"Aren't you a bit old to have just graduated with a bachelors?" Hanna asked.

Zac's response was a bit curt. "I'm 31. I lost a decade in a Paris prison. It's a long story."

"We've got time," Hanna insisted.

Elan put her hand on Zac's wrist and came to his defense. "It's actually a bit romantic if you hear the whole story." She turned to her husband, "Tell them everything, especially how we met."

"OK," Zac sighed. "I was 18 and participating in an anti-Israel protest on the edge of Paris. I got swept up in the fever and torched a small business. The police arrested me. Then the judge sentenced me to 9 years in prison. That's were I met Elan."

"I was doing a few years for burglary," Elan interjected.

Zac smiled at his wife. "Elan was a pre-opt transvestite. We hit it off right away. At first the relationship was purely sexual. I was a bit radical then, and I got a kick out of fucking a Jew, but over time, I started to really care about her."

"He got hell for it from the other Muslims in the prison," Elan added, "but that wouldn't stop him."

Zac smiled demurely. "One trouble maker gave me a ton of grief. It made me quit being a Muslim and become secular. For him, that was the last straw. I was having a gay relationship, I cared about a Jew, and I left the faith. In his eyes, that was three reasons I deserved to die. One day, the came at me and tried to slit my throat. I grabbed his wrist, took the knife, and stabbed him in the stomach with it."

"Wow," Jovita interrupted. "I can't imagine having to defend my relationship against physical violence, let alone stabbing someone over it."

"I would have done the same thing," Benjamin declared. When everyone looked at him with surprise he added, "in a heartbeat."

Zac continued his story. "Elan and I got closer over the months. When she got out, she had breast implants put in for me. She kept visiting me regularly. We even had conjugal visits. When I got released Elan changed her last name to mine. We had a small commitment ceremony for close friends and family. Then, we moved in together."

"You're right. That is romantic," Isabella said to Elan. Then she turned to Parnella. "How did you end up in the marriage."

Parnella told her part of the story. "Zac's uncle paid for him to go to college when he got out of jail. He studied civil engineering. I was studying physics on the same campus. We met in calculus class. It started with studying together. That lead to affection. Zac got Elan's permission to date me and then asked me out. During Christmas break of our senior year, we had our own small commitment ceremony. I changed my last name to Sayed and moved in with Zac and Elan."

Zac kissed Parnella on the forehead as he stood up. "Our waiter seems to have disappeared. I'm going to the bar to get us some drinks."

When Zac was gone, Hanna leaned in to talk to Elan and Parnella. "I'm Sephardic. We still allow polygyny if all parties agree to it. The first two spouses write in the marriage contract whether or not the husband is allow to take other wives."

Jovita chimed in. "Ayn Rand believed that marriage shouldn't be a barrier to finding new love." Turning to Hanna she added, "Although I want monogamy for us."

"I'll make sure to put that in our katubah," Hanna assured her.

"The law won't let us have a formal marriage with the three of us, but we're happy with just a common law marriage," Elan explained. "Instead of a wife, Zac has two live-in mistresses. What could be more French than that?"

"We go to the Polyamorous NYC meetings every month at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center. There are many polyamorous people in the area," Parnella said.

"It's a shame they didn't have a rally this year," Isabella observed.

Zac returned with the drinks. All seven friends spent the evening conversing about the challenges they faced having alternative love lives in a vanilla society. Jovita and Hanna updated everyone on her parent's objections to their interfaith relationship. Isabella lamented that her activism only produced slow progress towards getting acceptance for their lifestyles. Benjamin remained relatively silent as he pondered the Sayeds' arrangement. Polyamory works for Zac, Elan, and Parnella. Maybe it is right for Francis, Patrick, and me, he considered.