• It was early in the morning at the dig site. The morning sun was peeking through the trees as tropical birds began their daily noise. But for some, the morning was already old. A young woman, in her early twenties with thick black hair in curls, was already in the dirt. A second woman, with long brown hair and glasses, joined her shortly after sunrise, emerging from one of three motor homes in a semicircle. From one of the other motor homes came a third, blonde girl and a young man with a crew cut.

    “Some team leader,” The thick-haired woman said to the brunette, who came to stoop over her and observe the excavation.

    “Huh? What are you talking about, Michelle?” The brunette asked while reaching into her fanny pack for a filthy toothbrush.

    Michelle shook her head and briefly stopped her work, her hand, wielding a dusty paintbrush, hovering above a skull. “It’s long after sunrise, and James still isn’t up. He’s supposed to be our team leader,” She said, “And come to think of it… Your boy-toy’s not up either, Andrea.”

    Andrea’s face went red as Michelle laughed. “He’s not a boy-toy!” the spectacled woman growled, “And besides, you know I broke up with Gene three months ago.”

    Michelle nodded. “Yeah, I know,” She looked up and grimaced, “But at least you two weren’t all over each other like Melissa and David always are.”
    A few yards away, the blonde woman and the man in the crew-cut were kissing and giggling instead of digging. Andrea and Michelle rolled their eyes before returning to their job of trying to gently remove a delicate, centuries old skeleton from the dusty earth.


    Around the time the sun was just starting to peer over the tops of the trees, the door to the middle motor home swung open. What emerged was a young man in a mid twenties, only a year or two older than the rest of the group. His hair was a black, curly mop on his head, still damp from a morning shower. His skin was mocha colors, and his eyes a matching chocolate brown. His facial features were somewhat native American, with a straight nose and slightly strong jaw, thanks to his father being a Navajo. The gray shirt he wore had sleeves once, but they had long since been ripped off, revealing his lightly toned biceps. “Good Morning!” He exclaimed as he stepped out of the doorway.

    “Morning, James!” Was the reply he received from the rest of the crew. Moments later, Andrea squeeked “Good morning to you, too, Gene!”

    A second man had stepped out from the motor home, running a hand through his ruby red hair. It was an odd style, a bob that was jaw-length in the front, framing his face, and only inch-long in the back, stopping halfway down his skull. It was just peach fuzz from there to the back of his neck. The red head glanced up at the person who had said his name, only to quickly distract himself with adjusting the zipped up black vest with the red hood that served as his shirt.

    “Gotta love that Mexican sun, eh James?” He said, sniffing the air as he walked over to stand next to the curly-haired man. James nodded. “Yeah,” he replied with a bright smile, “Hey, help me get the tarp off our find.”

    Gene nodded and jogged over to the blue tarp that was tied to pegs hammered into the dirt and bent over to untie it. James titled his head, having a hard time pulling his dark eyes away from the butt left hanging in the air. He grimaced, knowing he shouldn’t be looking at his partner’s rear, but unable to stop himself from doing so. James knew he was attracted to this other man.

    Shaking his head, the native American strode over to assist Gene He helped toss the tarp aside, exposing a rectangular hole in the ground. The two men hopped inside the waist-deep hole, careful not to land on the half-unearthed pottery inside. They believed it was a sort of emergency pantry, with pots filled with rations for droughts the Mayan people who used to live here might have experienced.

    The three couples were now all at work, chipping away at dirt and rock, slowly excavating remains of an ancient civilization. At noon, when the sun was high in the sky, work became difficult in the sweltering heat. The girls were all wearing tank tops, David was wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt, and James had long since removed his shirt completely. Gene unzipped his vest to allow more air to reach his torso and cool him off. Eventually, the group decided to take a rest from the mid-day heat and go inside their cooled motor-homes for some lunch.


    Inside their motor home, Gene and James both sat at their small dining table, James with a micro waved hotdog in a bun, covered with ketchup and tobasco sauce, and Gene with pita bread stuffed with cooked spinach with garlic.
    “You’re going to make your breath reek.” James said, with a smirk. “I’m not gonna work next to you if you have garlic-breath.”

    “And what about you? You’re gonna to burn off all your taste buds, with all that hot sauce.” Gene replied. “And besides, tobasco breath is just as rancid.” Both boys ended the argument with huge bites of their respective meals.

    After that, they ate in silence. Gene quietly enjoyed his healthy lunch, while James gobbled up his spicy hot dog. It was no surprise when James finished first, but with a bad case of the hiccups. The half-Navajo tried to say something, but barely got out a few syllables at a time between hiccups, causing Gene to point and laugh at him.

    “I –hic- need to get s- -hic- some wa- -hic- water..” James said as he stumbled to the sink. Quickly yanking the handle for cold, James stuck his face under the faucet to chug the water. The hiccups made him inhale some of the water, and soon he was coughing, hiccups no less assuaged. Gene was still laughing.

    James dried off his face with the towel that they kept next to the sink and sat back down at the table, across from Gene, with a sour look on his face. By now, the red head had quieted to a giggle. Finally, Gene finished his meal and cleaned up all the dishes. As he was putting the dishes, now clean, back into the cupboards, James tried to talk again.

    “Gene, I –hic- need to talk to you –hic- about… us,” He said. Gene fumbled with a plate, nearly dropping it. “Us?” He replied, feigning ignorance.

    “Yes, us. I know –hic- that you’ve been thinking about it too… That –hic- party we had..” James’ hiccups seemed to be subsiding.

    “I was trying not to.” Gene said with a sigh. James sighed as well. “I’m really sorry…” The tanned man began, “I’m sorry about –hic- what I did to you. I was drunk, you were drunk, and I –hic- took advantage of that.”

    “We were all drunk,” Gene replied with a slight smile, “Don’t blame yourself. We were all taking turns sucking shots out of each others’ belly buttons until you took it to the next level. If it weren’t you, I’da prolly done the same to Andrea when it was her turn to put alcohol in her navel again. You did what any one of us would’ve done. And.. what Melissa and David were already doing in their room.”

    James smiled and said “I know.. we were all drunk and lusty… But I was the one who acted out at you. I’m ashamed, but… at the time, you seemed to like it, too.” Gene blushed furiously, and put his hands on his hips. James continued, “You can deny it all you want, but no matter how drunk you are, you can’t change how you feel. Alcohol does not change your feelings, it just amplifies or dampens them. For you, it amplified them.”

    “What’re you getting at?” Gene asked sourly. He wasn’t enjoying all this talk about their drunken fray at the party they had at a hotel in celebration of a new discovery.

    James smiled softly. “Gene… I like you. A lot. And I know you’re attracted to me. What I’m getting at is…” The older man hesitated a moment, “Will you go out with me?”

    Gene didn’t look nearly as surprised as James was expecting. Instead, he simply raised his eyebrows and donned a thinking face. Eventually, the red head said “Let’s try it again.”

    “Excuse me?” James asked in confusion. “Try what again?”

    Gene smirked and grabbed James shortly tightly in his fist, forcing the half-navajo to his feet. “I can barely remember that time, when we were drunk. Let’s try it again, so I can remember this time.”

    James was flabbergasted, as he was pulled along to the back of the motor home. But he didn’t mind too much.


    Later, when everyone gathered back outside to get back to the excavation, Andrea was the first to notice that Gene and James appeared to be holding hands. She gently smacked Michelle’s arm to get her attention, then pointed to the pair.
    Michelle giggled. “You were right about those two. You’re always right.” She said. “Andrea, you really do know everything that goes on in Gene’s head.”

    Andrea sighed. “I’m sorry to let him go.” She said, pulling some of her brown hair behind her ear. “He was so cute and sweet… When I broke up with him, I told him it was because I thought he’d be in a better relationship if he dated a guy. He took it so hard, especially since I questioned his sexuality.”

    Michelle laughed. “But!” The black-haired woman retorted, “Like I just said.. you’re always right.”

    Andrea giggled in return. “I just hope that they’re not all over each other like Melissa and David always are.” The two women glanced over at the heterosexual couple, who were once again kissing over their site. The two men that had held hands until they reached their own dig site weren’t even noticed by Melissa and David. Michelle shook her head sadly. “Melissa and David are soooo gross.” She said before she and Andrea got down into the dirt to finish working on their skeleton.

    Gene and James, on the other hand, had ceased looking like a couple and went back to what they always did; working as partners to dig up the past in order to benefit the future.