THE GAME IS A FOOT  

 This tame lighthearted m/m piece was written months ago. THE GAME IS A
FOOT is the second story I'd ever written (my first being RAY AND BEN'S
DAY OFF). There's a reason I didn't submit it earlier than this. Believe
it or not its only about 6 pages long.;-> Dsrvbf@aol.com 

 THE GAME IS A FOOT 

 The Vecchio's at mealtime was always a unique and lively experience. In
contrast, Fraser family dinners had usually been eaten in relative
silence. Talking was allowed, but only if you had something pertinent to
say, or needed something passed to you. When he was very young, his
grandmother had him read - and drilled into him - books on ettiquette. He
still retained many of those standards to this day. Little good it did him
here though. He smiled to himself, thinking it would be funny if his
grandmother were here at the Vecchio's right now. In the course of the
first 5 minutes, she would have already counted at least 12 dining
ettiquette violations. He could imagine her handing out Dining Violation
tickets saying, *I am sorry Tony, but you did use a salad fork more than
once on your main course. Maria I counted at least 2 times you used your
knife to illustrate a point. Frannie get your elbows off the table.* From
across the table Ray caught Fraser's grin and returned one of his own. 

 The high volume and the number of conversations taking place was almost
deafening. Not for the first time, he marvelled at his friend's ability to
be an active participant in multiple conversations. He studied Ray for a
little while - at the same time as his friend and Francesca were
squabbling; he was promising his mother he'd fix the furnace; advising his
nephew, who was having trouble with some kids at school; wising off to
Tony; and still managing to talk with him about the latest case he was on.
Fraser was beginning to understand how Ray could stay so thin, despite his
mother's lavish dinners. He was so busy keeping up with numerous
conversations, that he never had a chance to actually eat much of them. 

 Fraser remembered back to the first dinner he'd had with this family;
which he'd somehow become an adopted member of. He smiled to himself
thinking of Ray's first invitation to a Vecchio family dinner. It was in
response to his saying he had no family of his own. *Then let me show you
why you're a lucky man.*, Ray had said. He hoped Ray realized he was lucky
to have such a family. Fraser looked over again at his friend and was
reminded that he himself was awfully lucky too, because that was also the
same day Ray had laid down the foundation of their friendship, by offering
his help and so much more. Fraser had been the most alone that he could
ever remember then, a man displaced from his country; out of sorts with
his coworkers; at a standstill on the case of his father's death; and no
close friends or family to turn to. When he entered that diner, he was by
himself. When he left he was no longer alone... and hadn't been ever
since. It didn't take long for Ray to become the most important person in
Fraser's life, and because of Ray, he felt like he had a family now. 

 He was suddenly interrupted from his musings and remembrances by a quick
touch on his leg. *Must be imagining things. Maybe accidental?*, he
thought to himself. *No, that isn't the case. There it is again.* The
touch was tentative at first, but definitely a purposeful move. Someone's
shoeless foot slowly and gently rubbed up along his shin. He tried
shifting away from it, but the persistent foot kept finding him. His mind
tried to figure out the puzzle. *Is it really meant for me? Who's foot is
that? Francesca? Naw. She isn't looking my way. Besides she seems to be
totally engrossed in a conversation with Maria about a soap opera. Oh, it
must be Ray then?* His mischievous and playful lover was always full of
surprises. Knowing Ray, he figured he wanted to let him know he wasn't
neglecting him and at the same time he was playing a game with him. But he
wasn't going to let Ray win this one. He wasn't going to react as he
figured his friend was expecting him to. He pretended - although it was
quite difficult - not to notice, as he carried on a conversation with
Ray's Uncle Nino about the vineyards of Italy. 

 He really wanted to look over to see Ray's reaction to his non-reaction,
but that would be giving in to Ray's game. The distracting foot was now
travelling up his leg, playing along the outside of his thigh. He tried to
take his mind off of the gentle caress of that foot. He had to admit it
felt awfully nice, but it was hardly the time or place for this type of
behavior. What would Emily Post have to say about this situation he
wondered. As he was taking a bite of ziti, that's when he couldn't ignore
the ministrations of 

 the persistent foot any longer. It was now kneading its way into his lap
and massaging his... Ray won this round, he thought to himself. He got a
reaction alright. Fraser turned three shades of red, as a very audible
gasp escaped, causing him to choke on his food. Then someone was pounding
him on the back and asking if he was ok. It was Ray looking sincerely
concerned... as well he should. It was his fault anyway. He excused
himself, still coughing a bit and walked out of the room. He was so
embarassed. 

 Ray was close on his heels. Following to make sure his friend was
alright. "Benny? What's wrong? You ok?" Ben led him to the basement stairs
and then down them. He wanted somewhere isolated and away from prying ears
and eyes, in order to confront his troublemaking partner. When they got to
the bottom he went to Ray's workbench and leaned with his back against it.
His arms were crossed over his chest and he had a no-nonsense look on his
face. "Ray, I can't believe you did that to me. In front of your mother no
less." Ray gave him a wonderfully perplexed and all innocence look, then
sarcastically said. "Yeah, Benny she fainted dead away. Don't remember
when. Was it when I pounded you on the back? Or when I asked you if you
were ok?" So it was gonna be this way, was it? Ray was still playing the
game. He turned his head away disappointed and not wanting to play. 

 Ray hated seeing his friend upset, especially when it was aimed at him.
He reached a hand out to take one of the crossed hands into his own and
with the other gently guided his friend's face so that he was eye to eye
with him. "Benny, honestly, I don't know what you're talking about. Don't
be upset, just talk to me, ok? What happened?" Was it possible Ray really
didn't know? He still wasn't certain, but Ray's face sure seemed sincere.
He had a hard time getting this next bit out. "I was molested under the
table by what I thought was your foot." As he recounted the incident, he
watched his lover's face as a dark cloud of anger - and was that jealousy
too - fell across it. When he finished, Ray was like a bolt of lightening
as he stormed up the basement steps; so much so that Ben registered the
"That wasn't me Benny." and a quick light kiss upon his lips, only when
his friend was already gone. He closed his eyes briefly as he breathed a
deep sigh of resignation. He realized Ray was going to confront Francesca.
Fraser started to go up the stairs, hoping there would be survivors when
he reached the battlefield. 

 It had to have been her, right? He could hear loud muffled voices through
the basement door as he approached. He opened it apprehensively to find
Ray and Francesca alone in the kitchen. Momentarily he thought that
perhaps he should look at the furnace that Mrs Vecchio was complaining
about. That would be the coward's way out though; so he steeled himself to
step out of the basement. As he approached, he caught pieces of their
conversation alternating between English and some angry words from Ray
then Frannie back in Italian. He didn't have to speak the language to get
the gist. 

 "Frannie, how many times do we have to go through this? Do ya want me to
tape this for ya? Hands off and in this case feet too. I can't believe ya.
What were ya thinkin'? He's not interested. And he's too polite to tell ya
to your face that ya make him feel uncomfortable." 

 Francesca was giving as good as she got, but when she saw Ben approach,
she looked a bit shamefaced and averted her eyes from him. "Ray, can I
talk to Francesca? Alone. Please." He could tell Ray was reluctant to
leave, but he respected his friend's wish. However he couldn't resist a
parting remark. "She gives you any trouble, I'll just be a couple of
'feet' away." 

 Ben led Frannie outside to the back porch. They stood in silence for a
few seconds. He tried a couple of times to speak, but all he could manage
was to look like a fish, mouth opening then closing. Frannie spoke up
first, "Benton I'm sorry for my behavior at dinner. I don't know what came
over me. I just see you sometimes, and well, I lose control. I'm also
getting very jealous of all the time you waste with my brother." He
finally found his voice. "Francesca, I'm flattered that you have taken
such an interest in me. I do think you're a very vibrant and attractive
woman. But I'm sorry. I don't have the same feelings towards you. I feel
only friendship towards you. Nothing else." She looked like she was going
to cry. "Please don't...". He couldn't just leave her like this. 

 He came to a decision, that he prayed wouldn't make things worse. He
hoped it would aid in there being an understanding between them.
"Francesca, I'm going to trust you with something, that could effect my
life drastically, should you reveal it to anyone else. Can I trust you as
my friend to keep this between us?" She seemed to perk up a 

 bit at that and looked curious, "Of course I can." He tried to think of
the best way to say this, but there was no best way, so he just said
self-consciously "I'm homosexual." That seemed to take her off guard at
first, but then she was smiling. "Oh good. I'm so relieved. I was
beginning to think I lost the touch. Ach! Just goes to prove *yet again*
that all the good men are either married or gay. Hey does my brother
know?" "Yes", he didn't want to elaborate on that answer. "And he's ok
with this?" Fraser smiled at this, "So he's told me. Yes." "Wow, because
he can be so narrow-minded sometimes. Please tell me you aren't attracted
to my brother?" Seeing his discomfort at trying to answer. "You are,
aren't you?" He couldn't lie. "Yes, I am." "Well I guess I'll forgive you,
you're taste in men. Does he know about this too?" 

 He was getting worried about her questions now. He didn't want her to
know about Ray being bi-sexual, without having okayed it with Ray first.
Francesca didn't realize how dangerously close her current line of
questioning was getting to finding out about her brother and Fraser's
multi- layered relationship. "Yes he does know." Frannie gave him a
compassionate look. "That must be rough on you. Knowing it won't be
reciprocated. Hey, I guess you really can sympathize with me now, hunh?
Thanks for confiding in me. Don't worry your secret is safe with me." With
that said she hugged him as a friend. He was amazed at how well she took
all this and accepted him, so he found himself wanting to hug her back. 

 They entered the house laughing, as she promised that next time they had
dinner together she would "keep her feet on the ground." He left her then
to find his best friend. Mrs Vecchio stopped him in the hall. "Are you
alright now Benton? If it was anything my children did to upset you, I'd
be happy to discipline them.", she looked concerned for him. He was amused
thinking that although her children were adults, she probably could do it.
"I'm fine Mrs. Vecchio. Just a misunderstanding. Its been resolved. No
need for you to step in, because you already have wonderful children." He
must have said the right thing, because she replied with pride, "Yes, I
do. Even my adopted one." At that she gave Fraser an affectionate motherly
hug. So many Vecchios showing him affection in one day was nice, but a bit
overwhelming for someone who wasn't used to that sort of thing. "Have you
seen where Ray's gone to?" She pointed towards the basement. "He's such a
good boy. He's taking care of the furnace for me." 

 He found a calmer Ray seated in an outdated kitchen chair, which had seen
better days. Around him were the usual discarded treasures every basement
seems to have. The chair was pulled up to a table on which were scattered
a few photo albums and a metallic coil. Ray was fingering the coil as he
flipped through the pages filled with pictures. Although the chair was
near the furnace, he wasn't working on the item of his mother's complaint.
Fraser approached him quietly from behind, as if tracking prey. He
startled his companion with, "I don't see you working on the furnace Ray.
What if I were your mother just now?" Ray smiled, "Ma, you're looking
ravishingly handsome today." He pulled gently down on his lover's arm to
have him lean over for a kiss. When they stopped, Fraser went to sit in
the chair opposite his friend as Ray spoke. "So, I take it from your mood,
things went ok? What happened?" 

 He filled his friend in on the highlights of the conversation he'd had
with Francesca. Ray at times looked alternately concerned and serious.
"And you're trusting her with this? Sheesh! That's alot more than I would
have trusted her... and she's my sister. But I will say that she can be
maddeningly stubborn if you want any information out of her. Knowing her
as long as I have, I've never once heard any of her friend's complain that
she can't keep a secret. And she doesn't know about us, hunh? You do
realize she's going to be pestering you now for tips about men. Probably
try to matchmake you to someone if you're not careful" At the alarmed look
on his friend's face, "Just kidding." Fraser seemed to relax a little at
that. "Or am I?", he grinned. 

 Ben changed the subject. Out of curiosity, he pointed to the item Ray was
still playing with and asked what the coil was for. Ray gave an enigmatic
smile, "Its my *family vacation*." Fraser was puzzled at that remark.
"Benny, if I tell you, its gotta stay between us." "You can trust me Ray,
you should know that by now." Ray was satisfied with his response and
confided in him. "Well, when I'm stuck at home and need to take a vacation
from my family; I yank this coil out of the furnace, or you see that
knobby thing over there, that's from the dryer. Then I offer to fix it.
Since I was a teenager, I discovered that as soon as I say 

 I'm going to work on something down here, my family wants nothing to do
with the basement. So I'm left alone here in my inner sanctum. It has the
added bonus of when I put it back and it works again, they are amazed at
my mechanical genius." Ray looked quite pleased with himself. "Ah. I see.
Its a ruse then. I told your mother I was coming down here to help you fix
the furnace. But it looks like you don't need my help." He got a wicked
smile for that, "Oh believe me Benny you're gonna be helpin' me soon." 

 Ben picked up one of the photo albums and asked if he could look through
it. Ray readily granted permission and seemed to enjoy pointing out who
everyone was and when and where certain pictures were taken. Fraser was
fascinated by all the family pictures, especially those of his best friend
growing up before his eyes as a baby, a young boy, a teenager, young man
and the man he was today. Ray's commentary had him smiling and laughing
throughout. When he turned one of the pages he saw that there was a
picture of himself and Ray. He was puzzled at first and then remembered
when the picture had been taken. Ray must have gone through a bit of
trouble to track those tourists down to get this copy. He now noticed that
there was a foot again at his shin, slowly and pleasurably working its way
up the length of his leg. If this was what was meant by family quality
time, he wouldn't change a thing. 

 THE END