K.E. spat. He always spat. The man he was with- Harry? Henry? K.E. couldn't remember his name- sagged back against the cot, and K.E., having shot his load, pulled on his clothes and left the little shack. Once outside he lit a cigarette with shaky fingers. He was so damned lonely out here. The ranch he'd found a good job on had folded, and he'd been left to do scraps of handyman work here and there. So lonely, he kept thinking about his family, or what was left of them. The Christmas cards he'd gotten showed Beth with two sons and Ennis with two daughters. K.E.'d never met those children and he guessed it was better he never did.
He climbed into his truck and started the engine, running her towards his own run-down shack. He'd written back that he was doing well, dating a pretty woman, thinking of settling down. It made him sick to lie like that to his only kin, but what else could he do? Wanted to see them real bad, but he felt like Ennis especially would be able to smell some kind of queerness coming off of K.E. like body odor. Best to stay away.
It was some cruel twist of fate that'd turned K.E. del Mar into the type of man his daddy's shown him in a ditch. He figured he belonged there himself, and wouldn't fault his little brother none for sending him to such a place. He'd probably do it himself if their situations were reversed. Nope, K.E. del Mar had gotten a choice: family or dick, and he'd made it, and now he had to live with it.