Erick panics over what he hopes is a one-time situation involving his boyfriend Chris.

Erick and Chris had been invited by April and Grayson to a Fourth of July party at her friend Ashley’s apartment in the Palms section of West LA. Since Erick had just returned from a weeklong trip to New York and Boston, it was fully expected that their fashionably late appearance at this party would only last a couple of hours — enough time to exchange pleasantries with the hostess, eat and mingle with the other guests before the weekend took its toll.

Two weeks ago, Erick put together a very well-received sponsorship package for the Fresh Air Fund to be underwritten by the Fresh Fruits Initiative. Since the FFI had been approached to essentially foot the bill for a campaign that Lefty Magazine would still making a commission on, they issued a challenge for them make a sacrificial contribution of their own to the Fresh Air Fund.

It was decided that Erick and Abram, who closed the deal with the FFI, would fly to New York for the week to help drive inner-city kids to the homes of their host families in more rural and suburban areas in the northeast and mid-Atlantic.

Chris laughs. “What have you told him about me?”

“He knows you exist, but we don’t talk much about the gay thing.”

“Does he have a problem with it?”

“It’s not so much that he has a problem with it. He just not thrilled with it. He loves his son more than he dislikes the fact that said son is gay.”

“Are you okay with that?” Chris asks as he places the potatoes in a pot, fills it with water, places it on the stove and turns on the burner.

Lefty Magazine was recently approached by the Fresh Air Fund to put together a sponsorship package for their summer campaign. This presented an interesting challenge to Erick, who was accustomed to working with some semblance of a budget. Given that the Fresh Air Fund was a non-profit, Steve the Promotions Director suggested that he and Abram scour their list of former, current and prospective sponsors to establish a co-operative deal that would offset the Fresh Air Fund’s marketing costs.

Erick, Hunter and Elyke share a few secrets while having a BBQ on the roof of their apartment building

On a lazy day, Chris runs up against Erick’s boycott list when he suggests they go out to see a movie.

Erick’s mother and grandmother stop by while in town and meet his boyfriend.

Erick takes his mother and grandmother to see a movie, where he has words with a couple of rude fellow moviegoers.

Erick and Chris help make a neighbor’s visiting brother feel right at home.