OM Scene 1.1.3

Casper rolled off Paolo and the two of them lay side by side on the blanket, exhausted. After a few seconds, they propped themselves up on their elbows and looked out across the lake. A meter away from the blanket was a wooden sign which read “Lake Nuwattah-Nuwattah.” Paolo looked at the sign, then at the lake and back at the sign. He kept looking back and forth, for nearly a minute and then he burst out laughing.

“So, you get it now, sir?” Casper said.

“Yes, now I get it,” Paolo said, still laughing a little. One thing gnawed at him, and after a second he couldn't keep it in. “You're sure you're okay with this? I mean, having sex with me? I don't want you to feel I’m taking advantage of you.”

“No, sir,” Casper said. “If anything, it's me who's taking advantage of you. Don't worry about it. All too often people don't even notice me long enough to think about having sex with me. And don't worry about forgetting my name, everyone does that. I usually have to remind my dads a few times a week, and that's when they see me at all. Sometimes one of them will come into my room, without knocking, look around with a confused look on his face, turn off the light and leave.”

“That sounds awkward,” Paolo said.

“Not as awkward as it might have been if they'd seen me, sir,” Casper said. “On more than one occasion they’ve done that when I was in the middle of masturbating.”

Paolo laughed at this, but then stopped when he saw the surprised look on Casper’s face. “I thought that was a joke.”

“I wish it was, sir,” Casper said.

They looked at each other for a moment, as the silence grew longer and more awkward.

“I suppose that kind of explains last night,” Paolo said, just to break the silence.