Chapter Nineteen

As it happened, Henry released the money that Phoenix had asked for, and then the shooting of the movie Innocence Defined began. He just delegated the power to supervise and control the workings of the production to his mother and then faced other things he had to do.

Even though he saw a lot of Phoenix, and was able to take him out for lunch and dinner whenever his busy schedule could allow, he also found that he was in some unexplainable way, afraid of the guy. He was really terrified of the feelings that Phoenix evoked in him, and he believed that the young actor was toxic to his sanity. The guy was a beauty, one with the ability to charm and worm his way into receiving whatever he wanted from anybody. If the guy had been a woman he would have been a femme fatale and a heartbreaker. But he was a man, a very controversial one that sparked furious debates about his sexuality in the tabloids, and Henry was always thinking that he had to stay clear from the guy.

But I am gay and I want him, he always admitted to his mind vehemently. He had read somewhere that once a person accepts a particular facet of one’s life, then there would be an accompanying self-acceptance. He had riled at his soul for his homosexuality, he had cursed his nature for making him what he was. But all that had not worked; instead there was the raging fires that burned in him, and he had to admit that part of his life to his soul, and fuck all the homophobic bastards out there who were nothing but self-righteous pricks that had nothing to do with their lives save to look for those they would destroy their lives.

In the early days of June, with the rains beating down now to the earth with a vengeance, Henry decided to go one day and visit the set of the movie where his mother and his lover were working. There was the usual crowd to be seen at any movie location; there were the actors, the crew, and the makeup artists and hair persons. Rosalie Johnson was there with the rest, but she was on the lawn, dressed in sweatpants, and she was skipping rope.

Henry made to go and say hi to her but she shooed him off and continued to get on with her routine, and she was tossing the words over her shoulder that he would love to go and see the things he had paid for with his money. But she had gotten the point across that she was not to be disturbed from her routine for anything in the world, and that included him. Her body was more important than anything.

When he went into the house, it was the voice of two persons talking from the direction of the kitchen that drew his attention, so he went to that direction, and then he stopped short. Standing in the middle of the room was Phoenix, and the guy was dressed as, and looked like the most beautiful woman Henry had ever seen. The guy was dressed in a long sheath dress that accentuated his long frame, and the length of his glossy black wig cascaded down his back; the line of his natural brows had been altered with eyebrow pencil. He looked very beautiful as a woman, and his new eyes were decidedly blank, and narrowed－ he’d gotten himself new hazel contacts that looked magnificent with his brown face. He looked shockingly beautiful there.

But there was nothing much for them to say to each other because of the crowd of persons that were around the house. So, he stood by as the actors performed, and he had to say that Phoenix was truly good at what he was doing even if he had to say so himself. There was the cloud of perfume permeating from him, and Henry had to swear right then that he had fallen truly and irrevocably in love with the guy, and if he wasn’t careful, then that could be his doom.

Later on he drove back home, and there was Fiona in the living room, eating a bowl of fruits, her eyes fixed on the TV set before her, though she occasionally was able to tear her eyes away from the screen to look at the twins who were crawling all over the floor, playing with the innocence and joy only a little kid can emit. For several moments he stared at his wife, feeling very sorry for her, that she had to deal with his sexuality which she knew nothing about, and he felt his mind clouded by the restrictions imposed on him. But when she looked up and saw him, he had to plaster that fake, happy smile on his face.

She was flashing him that dazzling smile of happiness when she asked, ‘How is your mother? I haven’t seen her in a while.’

Henry frowned. ‘How did you know I’d seen my mother? They’re supposed to be on location shooting some flick she’s gotten her ass involved in.’ What he failed to add was that he’d been there hoping he could find an empty room where he could have Phoenix and play some sexual games.

Fiona stood up to face Henry, a smile of amusement curling on her lips. ‘I can smell her perfume on you, Henry. What did she do, crawl all over you?’

Henry managed to laugh and his wife laughed with him, and Fiona was then talking about seeing more of Rosalie. But he knew better: Rosalie was as un-African as a Spanish heiress who had come to the country for a short visit. He kept on thinking that one day she may just pack up and leave the country, calling from some exotic location and telling him in her lilting nasal accent that she wasn’t coming back, and that was it. She could not be expected to leave the things she considered to be important to her to play the role of grandmother. He had seen her, yes, but she had been all sweaty when they’d talked, so it couldn’t be her sweat that clung to him; it had to be Phoenix. But he’d had no contact with the guy, and that was the truth.

‘I’d love to see your mother soon,’ Fiona continued gaily, and this time, the smile that broke out on her face was sunny.

On a whim, Henry said, ‘Why don’t you go and see her? It will give you the time to unwind and gossip the day away instead of being locked up here with the kids all day long.’

Fiona looked at him, askance. ‘Geez, do you think you can handle them?’

Henry nodded, and, with a squeal of delight, Fiona rushed up and planted a kiss on his lips. Then she drew away, her nose wrinkling. ‘But you sure do smell of your mother strongly.’

Henry took a playful swipe at her ass but she dodged away, laughing and giggling to herself at the fun. He then scooped up the twins and headed for his study where he sank into a chair before the computer which glowed a deep blue in the dim room. With a few clicks of the mouse, a picture of Phoenix came up; the one Richard Oke had given to him after Phoenix had disappeared from the Drummer Club. There he was, lying there like a stunning Playboy centerfold, with all those snakes on him.

Henry felt his guts burst with an emotion so raw and powerful, he squeezed his eyes shut to block out the images. He felt the passion stirring in him, felt the irresistible pull of attraction pulling at him, and it all was for the guy who had somehow managed to crawl under his skin and stay there. He wasn’t sorry that he felt something real for Phoenix; instead, he wished that they were someplace else, a place that was not like Nigeria where being gay was a sin worse than siphoning billions of naira and sending it off to other countries for safekeeping while the masses went hungry and naked. It had always been a pain for him to see hard male bodies when he was in school, and there were the penises swinging by his sight, the heady masculine smells that had all always sent his senses operating in overdrive.

Now, he had found passion in the arms of this actor, though he was encumbered, as his lawyer friends would say because of the fact that he was married. He was a multi-millionaire, one that had parlayed his inheritance into huge expansion, and here he was now, sneaking around and cheating on his wife with a guy who must feel nothing for him. It was true that he gave very expensive gifts to Fiona, but these were the gifts of a master to his slave. It was his own way of offering up apologies to her for what he was doing to her, that he’d allowed his penis to fall for a movie actor who was jaw-dropping in his beautiful looks.

*

INNOCENCE DEFINED WAS released in the third week of August, right after there was the new introduction of cell phones into the country and the little, ridiculously expensive playthings filled the Nigerian markets. Henry bought four immediately, giving one to Phoenix. They had cost him and he was also glad that he’d done so, for now he could reach Phoenix whenever he wanted to do so because the actor was becoming increasingly difficult to reach. He missed Phoenix terribly whenever they were not together.

Once, he went to the Ikoyi Tennis Club for a round of tennis with Richard. They played hard, unwinding in the hot humid August afternoon after a full week of working their asses off. When they were done, they went together to the locker room, their fluffy towels wrapped around their necks. They got into the shower together, and Henry found his eyes straying to Richard’s long, sleek body. He was wistful that he could never have the guy.

‘I saw the movie that you got that effete guy to do,’ Richard said, leering at Henry through the spray of cold water that enveloped them. ‘It was a terrific movie, and the guy was terrific, both as the male and as the evil female twin all rolled up into one. Have you seen it?’

‘No,’ Henry said curtly.

‘You should see it. Phoenix was terrific, and he is a bloody homo if I ever saw one. It is there in him; it poured off him like steam. I would really like to see what his face would look like when somebody shoves a penis into his ass. How I hate that his stupid face. Guys like that really piss me off.’

Henry went cold immediately. He knew that Phoenix, with that slim body of his, that feminine beauty, his allure, and swaying gait, what with the curved bone structure he had like a woman, and coupled with the fact that he had a very well-honed sense of fashion, made him a living, breathing stereotype of a homosexual. Except that the guy was not gay. Henry knew that months ago; he knew that he was just being nice to Henry for the sake of being just so. And he really hated it when people attacked the guy and called him gay just because of the way he looked and acted and spoke.

Henry shoved Richard hard against the wall and then imprisoned his flaccid penis in a hard grip. He tugged on the organ and the other guy emitted a moan of pain. ‘Let this be the very last time you’ll ever say anything evil about Phoenix,’ he said coldly, his eyes blazing with anger. ‘He is a human being just like you are and I have invested a lot in him. The next time you’ll dare to say something bad about him again, I will tear out your penis and shove it so far up your ass you’ll taste blood in your mouth.’

‘I was just joking with you, man,’ Richard groaned. ‘Can’t you even take a little joke from me?’

But even later on that night, as the whole decent world was asleep and he was watching the new movie Phoenix had appeared in alongside his mother, he kept on thinking about what had transpired. He hated it that Phoenix was a mark because of the fact that he stood out easily from the rest of the people, and that they were always asking unnecessary questions about him. His heart was knotted with pain for the guy, and he thought it cruel that Nigerians were ever so unsympathetic to people, that they took out their hatred on innocent guys like Phoenix who wished for nothing more than to be left alone.

He put the movie on pause, picked up his phone, and then speed-dialed Phoenix’s number. The guy picked up after the fifth ring.

‘Henry, I hope nothing’s wrong,’ the guy said by way of greeting. He almost always had the habit of asking if something was wrong whenever he was called. As if Henry should not be calling him except when something was seriously wrong in the scheme of things.

‘No, babe; I just wanted to hear the sound of your voice. How are you?’

Phoenix laughed. ‘You didn’t call here just to hear the sound of my voice and I think we both know it. So wetin dey happen?’

‘I want to have you here in bed, and I want to do a lot of things to you, Phoenix. I think you know that already.’

‘I do,’ Phoenix agreed. ‘But you’re not supposed to be talking like that, you know. By the way, they nominated me for Best Double Screen actor－ whatever that means. Will you be there on the day of the awards? I think even your mother got nominated for something too. I should be thanking you for making me better by giving me your mum to help shove my career up to the top. I should be thanking you, I think.’ And then he hung up.

Henry put the phone down, a small smile curling on his lips. He felt it in his bones that Phoenix was a truly dangerous thing for his own peace of mind, a smooth operator with the foresight and the ingenuity to make the best out of every situation. He had handled a lot of persons, a lot of greedy bastards who wanted to get their hands on his juice, and he had ripped them off. Plus, he was totally besotted with the guy, and that presented a huge problem. As a businessman, he was very analytical, cold and detached, but with the actor, he was involved at all levels. It was obvious that Phoenix knew this and was using it against him.

And yet he fell for it; he savored it actually: why?

With the passage of the weeks, Henry indeed realized that Phoenix had been right about getting Rosalie Johnson into the screens as an actress. The cash flow was heavy, an endless supply of it, with him smiling to the bank on a daily basis. Originally, when they had rolled the flick out into the market, they had estimated that the movie would make fifteen million, twenty tops. But it grossed over fifty million, all to Henry’s open-mouthed astonishment and Rosalie’s assured acceptance of it as something that was meant to be. And when he saw the cult that had formed around Phoenix; closeted persons in the gay community all hailing him, the ceaseless mention of his name in the media, Henry knew that Phoenix had finally made it: T. O. Phoenix was a Bankable Star. People had never seen anything like him before, and they probably never would again.

Henry was filled with euphoria for the guy, and though he tried to contact the guy severally, he was unable to talk to him because his phone was always switched off. He felt downcast about this, thinking that maybe Phoenix had gotten what he wanted and so had backed off from him. It was obvious to him that Phoenix merely allowed his advances because of the position he occupied and because of what Henry could help do for his career; had the guy now considered nothing and was saying bye-bye Henry, that it’s over? I have gotten what I want and you have what you want, so that’s it?

On the night of the Best Screen Wonders Awards that was held in Accra, Henry went there, knowing that he could not possibly stay away. There were thousands of persons there, all gathered and packed like they would be at a final-day World Cup tournament match. There were movie stars from the entire Black Africa there, some of them from Hollywood. And then Phoenix appeared, looking stunning and glamorous in his tailored couture, with Rosalie Johnson clinging to his arm like a Kate Spade Original clutch bag. They were the ones responsible for thrusting the country into heavy international limelight, and Time seemed to stand still as the people roared and clapped.

When Phoenix went up to that podium to receive his award for Best Actor, Best Debut Actor, and Best Double Character, Henry watched it all through a wash of tears that scalded his eyes. And he knew that he had lost it for this guy; he would kill for T. O. Phoenix if the time called for it. He also knew that his lover had gone on and become something bigger and better than Cinderella. There was no denying it: Phoenix was a made man now, a Face.