honest work?
10 august

Will be going downtown to file a Small Claims complaint against my old boss's associate. It's been two weeks since my last day and I haven't received any pay, nor an explanation. I know he has money, I picked up a check from one of the donors for his 'fundraiser', but I don't know why I haven't gotten my share. So, off to court.

Just sent my dad back to my brother's. He's been out here for a week, on vacation, and I took him on a little trip up the coast to Big Sur. It was great! I picked him up from Union Station, we took the LA subway to Hollywood, did a quick walking tour, picked up the rental car, went to my place (which I de-ho'd at the last minute), he flirted with my neighbor (a female) while I made a gourmet lunch, after lunch I packed my bag, and away we went.

It was a relief to get him into a car and away from LA, where I could be 'recognized' and in effect outed. Dad knows I'm gay, he had a much better response than my mom, who sent me to a psychologist, but no one in my family knows I 'work'. Running into a fan or client or comrade was a chance I didn't want to take.

When mom visited me in San Francisco, I whisked her and her husband to Sausalito, a Lex-free zone. So I whisked dad north to Big Sur via route 1 and he loved it. On the advice of Sid Rosellini, I booked a cabin for us in Cambria, a really charming town. We unpacked and strolled the gardens, then I took him to Moonstone Beach and up to San Simeon to see the elephant seals.

Dad got sticker shock at the hotel's restaurant, so we went into Cambria's 'West Village' to find a local hangout and ended up in a sports bar kind of place. Because I was up late the night before hiding any traces of trampness, I was too tired to join dad in the hotel lounge, but gathered myself together anyway and off we went. The acoustic guitar guy had split so we returned to our cabin, where I promptly fell asleep. I couldn't remember the last time I spent the night in a hotel room with a man his age and not gotten paid.

The next day we drove up to Point Sur, through some of the most incredible scenery in this country. We stopped at a few vistas and at one saw a pod of whales, with some dolphins feeding on fish trapped in a corral of bubbles. A flock of birds spun overhead trying to snag leftovers. I broke off plants like sage and fennel for dad to smell.

Point Sur was the farthest north we went, to a beach I never would have found except I had asked a ranger (cute) for a suggestion. After navigating a narrow winding road, we parked and walked to the beach, just off shore were large rocks, with a couple of natural tunnels. We could have stayed in the area for a week easy (as far as a tourist perspective) but there was a long drive back to LA ahead of me, so I turned us around and back to San Simeon.

We had seen Hearst Castle from the highway, so we turned off to get a closer look and get a quick tour of the landmark. No go. Not only could you not cruise by the castle for a drive-by, on that day tours were sold-out until 4pm. Dad's interest plummeted faster than a hawk on a ground squirrel. We headed south.

We stopped in Los Alamos for lunch- horrible- the dog running around loose on the patio should have been a clue, but we were hungry and I didnĒt know of any places before Santa Barbara by way of Lake Cachuma. Taking the Santa Ynez mountains was a lot easier in the rental than the last time I tried it in my truck during one of my moving laps from San Fran.

After Santa Barbara I took us to Ojai, which dad kept pronouncing O.J., and back to the 101 for the rest of the trip. Once home, dad wanted coffee, so we walked to a little place on Hollywood, and dad got to experience the sleazy element he had hoped he'd see (the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree).

I was so protective of my father, like he might run afoul if I let him out of my site, and I wondered if this is what a parent goes through, shielding kids from danger, real and imagined, on a day to day basis. It's tiring! I'd be in the office, and dad would wander down the street and talk with one of my neighbors whom I'd never seen. He had to be watched like a toddler. I thought of some things to say in case one of my fuck buddies showed up out of the blue, something which happened twice recently.

Finally I got him in my room (I stayed in the office, didn't want him getting on my computer) and reading his book about these women and a naked captain washed up on shore- the men were not found- and made the mistake of suggesting he read my David Sedaris book, forgetting that Sedaris had autographed it to me. woops...

The next morning, I took him to breakfast, then to Griffith Park, past guys cruising, up to The Observatory, and then home to pick up his bags. We went back to Union Station via the subway. The woman selling tickets gestured to me and asked, "is he going too or is he your escort?" My dad asked her to repeat that and I answered "I'm just an escort." So, after all my efforts, in the end, I blew my own cover.

I took dad to the train, saw him off, and went back to my 'real' world. Tomorrow, I'd be going to court.

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