Title: The Mayor of Oak Street
Author: Vincent Traughber Meis
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 06/14/2021
Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 88400
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, age-gap, coming-of-age, coming out, college, political, friends to lovers, period piece, reunited
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Description
In the 1960s, Midwestern boy and Boy Scout, Nathan delivers newspapers and mows lawns. Nathan uses his cover to move about yards and sneak into the homes of his neighbors, uncovering their secrets.
In high school, one of the local misfits introduces him to diet pills, which help him overcome his shyness. In an amphetamine high, he meets Cindy, who he hopes will steer him along the “morally straight” path of the Boy Scout Oath he swore to.
Nathan is infatuated with a young doctor down the street, Nicholas (Dr. B), who embodies all the things his mother would love him to be. On one of his secret forays in Dr. B’s house, he hides in a closet and witnesses his idol having sex with man while the wife is out of town. Dr. B’s affair leads to tragedy, forcing the doctor to leave town.
At college in New Orleans, Nathan meets a group of rebels and expands his drug use. Marc, a bisexual Cajun charmer becomes Nathan’s first male sexual experience, but promptly leaves town.
Nathan has a chance encounter with Dr. B, who has moved to New Orleans. Dr. B is in a relationship, but still closeted. Frustrated by Dr. B’s cool reaction, Nathan goes on a six-month binge of amphetamines and anonymous sex. On one night of debauchery, he overdoses and ends up in the emergency ward.
Nathan’s near death rallies Dr. B and Nathan’s other friends to force him into rehab. On the way home from work, Nathan witnesses the gruesome aftermath of the 1973 Up Stairs Lounge fire that devastated the gay population of New Orleans. As a result of the fire, Dr. B’s live-in boyfriend leaves town, freeing Dr. B to explore his feelings for Nathan.
Excerpt
The Mayor of Oak Street
Vincent Traughber Meis © 2021
All Rights Reserved
Chapter 5
Danny and I sat on the floor of the abandoned house and looked through a box of photographs with a flashlight, wondering why someone would leave so many memories behind: black-and-white photos of another era, wedding photos, family portraits, children playing in an inflatable backyard pool. In addition to the photos, the box contained a homemade birthday card to Mommy in a childish scrawl. I had never told a single soul about my prowling into other people’s lives, but I had a feeling Danny would understand. As he was the bad boy and I was the square he dragged along, I wanted to impress him, show him I was an outcast too. I told him about the different ways I entered houses, the floor plans I drew, the notes I took. I left out the part about hiding in the closet and watching Dr. B and Jim have sex.
“That is far out. Landis, you are seriously demented.”
“You think I ought to commit myself? I mean, I’m a menace to society.”
“Me too. We could stir up some shit like they did in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” I had read Kesey’s novel and passed it on to Danny.
We laughed and recounted our recent escapades. It made me happy to be his friend, someone who seemed equally lost in the social order. He told me he had moved to town from Chicago freshman year when his father got a job at Firestone. One winter, his family drove to Florida, and they were refused service in a small-town restaurant in Georgia.
“Why?” I said.
“The motherfucker pointed to a sign that read, No Coloreds Allowed. My father told him we were Italian, but the guy simply shook his head.”
“That’s a bummer. Why are people like that?”
“Girls don’t want to go out with me either. They think I’m weird. In Chicago, I had plenty of girlfriends.”
Maybe Danny wasn’t as good-looking as a lot of the guys at school, but he had something I liked, eyes full of soul with long eyelashes and smooth brown skin from his Sicilian ancestors. “I don’t think you’re weird.”
“Maybe I’m just ugly.”
We had turned off the flashlight, but his face was lit by the streetlight coming in the window. His lips rolled into a pout. I wanted to say how beautiful he looked at that moment but caught myself. “You’re…”
“What?”
“I mean I don’t see why a girl wouldn’t go out with you.”
“You and Cindy have done it, right?”
“She’s with Matt.”
“Come on. Last year you guys were together all the time.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Oh my God, Landis, you’re a virgin! I should take you to this whorehouse on North Monroe.”
“No way.”
“Shit. This talk is making me horny.” He grabbed his crotch and tilted his head back with a howl like it was painful.
The drumming inside me started pounding blood into my dick. I was afraid of what I might do. “It’s getting late.”
“Don’t be a wuss. Let’s jack off.”
“I never…”
“What? You’ve never been in a circle jerk either? Good thing you found me. You got stuff to learn.” He unzipped his pants and started coaxing his dick, talking to it like it was his friend. “Come on, big guy.” With his free hand, he grabbed my arm and moved it so my hand would be on my crotch, now throbbing in rhythm with my beating heart. “Don’t make me do it alone.”
I unzipped and closed my eyes, letting the image of Dr. B and Jim start looping through my brain. It felt good as I worked my way close to the edge. But Danny started growling, making me open my eyes. He grabbed one of the photos and, with a final howl, shot all over it. He started laughing. I stared at him in shock. My hardness wilted. He tossed the photo back in the box and turned his head to give me a questioning look.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” I started to zip up.
“Don’t you dare. We’re not leaving until you shoot.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” He got to his knees, came up behind me, and pressed his chest against my spine. He looked over my shoulder and saw that I was rising again. “Uh-huh. That a boy.” His breathing was rapid, and it made me harder than ever. He bit my neck and sent a bolt of electricity up and down my body. His mouth moved to my ear. “You can do it.” His words shot like fire into my brain. “Yeah, baby, come on.”
Pearls shot out of me onto the wood floor and caught the light from outside. I fell back against him. He let me lean into him for thirty seconds before he unexpectedly stood up. I was rudely and swiftly unplugged from his current. He kicked the box of photos and looked at his watch. “Shit.”
It was two weeks before he rapped on my window again. I had supposed it was over, whatever it was. We became regular pulling partners, never with the same intimacy as that first time and usually high in his car with the sound of crickets outside. Occasionally, he put his hand on my leg as he was about to come. Those who strive for intimacy take what we can get.
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Meet the Author
Vincent Traughber Meis started writing plays as a child in the Midwest and cajoled his sisters to act in performing them for neighbors. In high school, one of his short stories won a local contest sponsored by the newspaper. After graduating from college, he worked on a number of short stories and began his first novel. In the 1980’s and 90’s he published a number of pieces, mostly travel articles in publications such as, The Advocate, LA Weekly, In Style, and Our World. His travels have inspired his five novels, all set at least partially in foreign countries: Eddie’s Desert Rose (2011), Tio Jorge (2012), and Down in Cuba (2013), Deluge (2016) and Four Calling Burds (2019). Tio Jorge received a Rainbow Award in the category of Bisexual Fiction in 2012. Down in Cuba received two Rainbow Awards in 2013. Recently stories have been published in three collections: WITH:New Gay Fiction, Best Gay Erotica Vol 1 and Best Gay Erotica Vol 4. He lives in San Leandro, CA with his husband.
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