Percy - 2023

Lyndsey startled me, creeping up behind me as I closed the side apartment door. She was always paranoid, part of the reason she asked me to move in with her, to keep better tabs on me. She never trusted me, always worried I was cheating on her. This relationship exhausted me. I thought moving out of my parents' house would make me happy. Instead, I'd never been more miserable. I lived in a prison and in a world of outlandish accusations.

Once more, Kevin (aka Jude) made a grand entrance and exit from my life.

"Hey, Percy, what are you doing?"

I quickly squeezed the water out of my eyes, trying to regain my composure.

Jude Prak. That's a name I'll never forget. And now he had my license and credit card. I've completely lost my mind.

"Are you okay? You look upset. What's going on?"

I only spent ten minutes with Jude. It was hardly long enough, but he gave me hope things would be different next year. One more year and we could be together. It seemed imaginable.

He gave me a task to do.

It seemed doable, except for one thing: He never gave me a time.

If there's no set time, I'd just have to find street parking and wait. It'd be an all-day ordeal. It might not even happen. I figured that if it didn't happen, then it would prove that Jude was a figment of my imagination all these years, proving I was certifiably insane.

Or, if it actually happened, it would prove Jude was a time traveler and all of this wasn't just in my head.

I hated that intersection. Accidents happened there all the time.

"I'm gay," I blurted out unexpectedly. I had no intention of coming out to anybody, especially not today. It wasn't even on my radar. The words just popped out. I'd been grappling with my sexuality for years, and I finally accepted the truth. In those ten minutes with Jude, imagining spending more than one night together, I had hope.

"What are you talking about?" Lyndsey said.

"I'm gay and I'm leaving. I can't do this anymore." I walked away, heading back to my bedroom. "I'm sorry. It's not working out."

"So that's it? You're leaving with no further explanation?" she said, trailing behind me.

"Yeah, that's it. I should have told you sooner. I guess I just needed to be sure."

"I knew something wasn't right. I was gonna throw your ass out, anyway." She always had to have the last word. I was a decent elder law attorney, but I'd make a terrible trial attorney. I hoped I'd be a better clinical social worker.

"I've been that hard to live with?" I said, opening my dresser drawers.

"Just get the fuck out. I'll give you ten minutes before I call the police."

"Because I'm gay? Relax. I'm leaving. You'll never have to see me again."

"Ten minutes."

For the longest time, I ignored the red flags because I was afraid of being alone. I realized that it was better to be alone than in a toxic relationship. Lyndsey wasn't necessarily angry that I was gay; she was pissed off that she didn't get the chance to break up with me first. I had just enough time to pack two suitcases and empty my closet. I didn't own any of the furniture. Swallowing my pride, I returned to my parents' house.

Before my mother asked questions, I said, "I don't want to talk about it."

I had things to do. I did what Jude told me NOT to do:

I looked him up, doing a social media search of Jude Prak. For a 24-year-old, he didn't have much of a media presence. I found his name listed as a graphic designer for an organization I'd never heard of. On the site, there was a pic followed by a brief biography. I examined the photo of the endearing Jude. I also realized I knew little about him. He had both a bachelor's and master's degree in fine arts.

Jude was real.

My eyes fixed on the profile photo, studying every detail. There was no mistake, that was him. He was as handsome in person as he was in the photo. Those eyes were unforgettable. I swore I'd seen those eyes in another time and place. Maybe we ran into each other in a store or at a Dunkin.

I recognized the soft knock on my bedroom door. My mother's knock was soft while my father's knock was a pound. My mother rarely waited for me to respond. "What happened?" my mother asked.

"Lyndsey and I broke up."

My parents openly disapproved of my decision to become a clinical social worker. Law bored me and I sought something different. At some point in my life, someone told me that they thought I'd make a great counselor or social worker, and I listened to that person. I suspected my break up with Lyndsey would be another disappointment, even though my family weren't crazy about her. They saw the red flags before I did.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, not looking up from my laptop. "I have to study."

"Have you eaten?"

"No. I'm not hungry. Thanks."

That was her cue to leave, but she insisted on staying and dig for information.

"Was it a mutual break up?"

"Yep," I said, even though I did the breaking up first. I finally pried my eyes away from the screen to face my mother. "I really have a lot of work to do. The relationship wasn't working out. Neither one of us were happy, okay? It's better to end it than stay in a bad relationship."

"You're right. Well, we're here if you want to talk."

I never discussed personal matters—like relationships—with my parents.

Two weeks from today...

I added the accident to my calendar so I wouldn't forget.

At eight in the morning on the day of the alleged accident, I parked on the side of the road. I crossed my fingers that the police wouldn't notice me and force me to leave. Homelessness was a big program in the city. Some people lived in their cars.

I wasn't psychotic or certifiably insane.

Around 9:30 AM, a black Escalade collided with a red Honda Civic, striking the driver's side. I saw the whole thing. The Honda had the green light. It was odd, but the Escalade blatantly ran the red light. I mean, it paused for a second, hesitating before accelerating.

WTF?

In my idling car, I anxiously waited for the police and ambulance to arrive. Simultaneously, I felt a strong desire to sprint to Jude. The SUV totally wrecked the driver's side. I imagined Jude's body battered and bruised, struggling to move and gasping for breath.

With an air of indifference, a woman got out of the passenger's side and leaned against the door, biding her time. She stood there motionless, her expression void of any emotion. She glanced left and right, searching for someone, or perhaps waiting for someone.

The whole thing seemed staged.

Why?

The ambulance was unlike any other I'd seen in the city. The city usually used Trinity or Pride Star. This ambulance was called Crossroads Ambulance. I'd never heard of such an ambulance company. The paramedics transferred an unconscious Jude onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.

I nearly caused another accident, racing to catch up to the ambulance.

As the sirens blared and the ambulance zoomed down the highway, I found it difficult to match their speed and keep up. After an hour, I followed it off the highway and found myself driving through a maze of serene, secluded side streets. I recognized the town of Ipswich with its quaint downtown and million dollar homes. The salty smell of the ocean filled the air. On the way to Crane's Castle, we unexpectedly took a detour onto another road. I hit the brakes, worried the ambulance would spot the car tailing them.

The ambulance drove up a long driveway and stopped at a gate. After speaking with the security guard, the gate opened and closed. Overgrown trees shrouded the gate and building behind it.

That's as far as I got.

However, I managed to take a picture of the sign on the gate, driving five miles an hour. I then stepped on the gas and drove for another hour before I stopped to look at the pic:

Crossroads Hospital, Where Dreams Come True

Founded by John Burke, MD and Sheila Burke, MD

Medical Director: Carmen Rodriguez, MD

What dreams?

***

Percy - 2024

2023

Seeing a slightly younger version of myself dressed in the same suit that still hung in my closet at home was like having an out of body experience. My driver's license and credit card were the same, just like the clothes Jude and I were wearing.

And watching Lyndsay walk out of the elevator wasn't something I wanted to see. Those hostile feelings, a combination of betrayal, resentment, and bitterness re-emerged.

In the Uber with Jude, I gazed out the window, more wired than tired, not to mention freaked out. How could I sleep? How would my encounter with Jude in 2023 change things in 2024? It was surreal, as if we'd become characters in a science fiction novel.

Handing over my credit card and license to the hotel clerk, I felt like a thief and an imposter posing as Alonzo Richler.

Jude explored our hotel room, acting as though he'd never been in a hotel before. Maybe he hadn't. He lay on the bed briefly, then got up to check out the bathroom. "Come look at this bath!" he shouted.

The only remarkable feature of the bathtub was the jets. I wondered if Jude had seen a bathtub before. He turned on the water, prepared to take a bath. I just didn't know what to think about anything anymore.

"Everything's gonna be okay now," he said, undressing. "I haven't had a bath since I was a kid. Come with me. It'll be fun."

I rolled my eyes, pushing down my sweatpants. Jude had never been so sure about anything. He'd convinced himself that everything would be okay, and this nightmare would be over soon. I was the one who'd turned into a skeptic while Jude was the optimist.

"We won't fit," I said, standing naked beside the tub.

"Yes, we will." He brought his knees to his chest, making room for me.

Hesitating, my mind raced. "When we fall asleep, we're gonna wake up naked somewhere on the beach at night in the middle of February," I said. "It's gonna be cold and we could freeze to death. What if my car keys got lost and the police catch us and charge us with lewd behavior?"

"If you left them in your coat pocket, they'll still be there. Forget about it for a few minutes and get in the fucking tub." Standing up, he reached for my hand, encouraging me to get in with him. After I sat down, he straddled my lap. "See. We fit," he said. Hugging me, he wrapped his legs around my waist. He pressed his body against mine, kissing my neck. "I think you'll find some answers."

He squeezed the back of my neck, bringing his lips to mine. I reluctantly responded to his kiss. Was this the right time to fool around?

Maybe it would tire me out.

I didn't resist as he guided my hand to his cock. Likewise, I welcomed his hand on mine. It didn't take long for me to get in the mood.

We folded my clothes and placed my credit card and driver's license on top of them on the room's nightstand. In this way, housekeeping would find them and call the owner, namely me. In bed, we got under the blankets and resumed where we left off in the bathtub.

"What do you do when you want to go home, but you're not tired?" I asked in between kisses.

Jude stopped kissing me, holding me in his arms. "Once I find clothes to wear, I usually walk around, searching for a place to hide. Sometimes I'd stay awake for days, but when I woke no time had passed. I was in Salem for a long time, longer than anywhere else. It was always different with you. I never wanted to fall asleep, but I always did. You're not tired, huh?"

"No."

"There's plenty of things we can do." With a mischievous grin, he rolled on top of me.

Eye to eye, I combed my fingers through his dark hair, enjoying his aroused body against mine. He kissed my neck as I dug my fingers into his lower back. "We can make all the noise we want here," he said. "I wanna hear you. You know, you make all this time travel worth it."

"You think too highly of me," I said as he kissed my chest. My heart beat wildly as he kissed me lower and lower. Jude did things with his tongue that Lyndsey never did.

As his eyes peered up at me, I had a revelation. I remembered where I'd seen those eyes. The surgical mask hid the bottom half of our faces, thanks to all the COVID precautions. We met before Jude's time travel started. Two years before, to be exact.

Jude abruptly released me, but continued to hold my cock. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No... you're great. It's just... well, I think I figured out our connection."

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