Journey Through Abilene

Beaufort, South Carolina, orphan, Gordy, had always known he wanted to go with men. But when he was old enough he was not fully ready for being rushed into it by the boss whose Beaufort waterfront bar he worked in and the boss’ drill sergeant friend from the nearby Parris Island Marine base, while the three were boating in St. Helen Bay. Afterward Gordy’s work at the bar is extended to servicing men. One of them, Marine lieutenant Kevin Holton, and Gordy become lovers, and unknown to Gordy, his boss has the lieutenant beaten up and bundled off to his next assignment in Billings, Montana.

When Gordy breaks away from his Beaufort situation it is to aimlessly travel westward with the loose plan to reach the West Coast and start a new life there. As he travels, though, he falls into the easy stream of dancing poles and renting himself out to men to make his travel money in a months’-long exodus. At the nadir of his existence, having changed his name to Glade, as a rent-boy at a club in Abilene, Texas, and in danger of becoming a drug addict as well, Gordy has a revelation that he really needs to be moving north toward Montana.

After interludes in Durango and Denver, Colorado, that threaten to pull him back into the rent-boy life, he does finally make it to Billings.

But will he find his lost Marine lover there? And, if he does, will Kevin still want him?