Page 79 of A Little Bit Naughty

Isaac set his meal on the coffee table, his simple obedience doing something to Remi’s insides, like it always did.

“So Sukkot is the best holiday of the whole year. You have to build a temporary structure—that’s the sukkah—and live outside in it for eight days. It’s like camping, but in your backyard and all of your friends come over.”

“Wait, really? There’s a camping holiday?”

“Yup!” Isaac looked smugly pleased. “I mean, you don’t actually live in it, but you’re supposed to at least eat one meal in it every day, and you get more… cosmic points, I guess, if you sleep in it, too. There’s even bonus points for sex in the sukkah.”

“Now you’re just making stuff up.”

“No. I’m serious! It’s like, a double mitzvah. Or at least it’s something that falls within the guidelines. Definitely not prohibited and probably encouraged as long as your sukkah is somewhere private. I’m not sure what the Talmud actually says or if it was just something teenagers liked to say because it sounded scandalous and fun.”

Remi knew he was going to be looking up a ton of vocabulary later, but he got the general gist. “So hang on, what’s the root of this holiday?”

“Um… kind of a combo of the Jews wandering in the wilderness for forty years after being slaves in Egypt and a co-opted pagan harvest festival. You can decorate with squash and stuff like that.”

“And so that’s what you’re doing for your birthday? Building a… sukkah?”

Isaac’s face fell. “I wish. Last year there was this couple in my building who owned a sukkah kit and they got permission to construct it on the roof. But they moved out last spring, so I’ll probably just go to the one on campus. And there’s one at my shul, of course. And I’ll probably get invited over for dinner with friends somewhere. I mean, someone always has a sukkah somewhere.”

But that was different from Isaac having his own. One that he could potentially sleep in. Or… forbidden thoughts followed, of Isaac laid out under the stars. Remi had only the sketchiest idea of what a sukkah might look like, but it was all too easy to imagine Isaac’s eyes shining with delight as Remi laid him down on a sleeping bag, maybe, kissing him breathless and removing one slow article of clothing at a time…

That decided him. Well, not the thought of sex with Isaac, though it was almost impossible not to think about. But seeing the joy in his face if he got a sukkah for his birthday. Remi wanted to make that happen, even if it was just over a video screen.

“Could you get your own kit?” he asked. It seemed like it shouldn’t be that hard.

“I mean… not right now. The cost ranges from maybe five hundred to several thousand dollars. And then you have to store it all year, and it’s heavy and bulky. I have a tiny apartment, so I’d have to pay for storage space for it. Also, this close to the High Holidays, I’m sure all the sukkah companies are sold out.”

“Does it need specific materials?”

“I mean, not really. It has to be a temporary structure with three closed walls and one that’s open. And the roof has to be plant-based and open enough that you can see the stars through it. But I’ve seen them made out of scrap lumber with bed sheets for the walls and spare branches for the roof.”

Remi started searching for images on his phone. It was just as Isaac said. They mostly seemed to be made of metal poles with canvas stretched between them. The flat roofs looked leafy, but some had what looked like decorative fencing material instead. They were basically square tents that wouldn’t do a good job of keeping the rain out.

And his birthday boy needed one.

He did a search for DIY sukkah, and fortunately there were tons of plans. Metal, wood, PVC pipes… It looked like there were quite a few plans that someone with a saw, a few skills, and a trip to the hardware store could build for under two hundred dollars.

Except, of course, that Isaac didn’t have a car and didn’t even know how to use a drill.

There was only one thing to do. Remi would have to fly out to Boston and build Isaac a sukkah.

Remi’s next few days were a whirl of research and planning. He started with his department head, who was greatly amused to educate him about all things Sukkot. She confirmed that he could make the sukkah out of nearly anything.

She also told him that he needed to buy a lulav and etrog, which appeared to be some plant leaves and a bumpy citrus fruit. Getting them shipped from Israel to Isaac’s apartment was surprisingly expensive, but he didn’t even try to understand. If Isaac needed a bumpy lemon, he was buying a bumpy lemon.

He hesitated a little longer over the plane tickets. He wanted it to be a surprise. But he also didn’t want to go if Isaac didn’t want him there. So he called up Tommy for advice.

Isaac’s best friend was so excited that Remi had to hold the phone away from his ear. “Oh my God, yes! You have to go. He loves Sukkot. And a sukkah! I can’t believe you're building him a sukkah. Eeeeeeeee!”

In the background, he heard a deeper voice that had to be Brick, trying to calm Tommy down. But probably not too much. Brick sounded more amused than stern.

He could hear Tommy taking a very audible deep breath. “OK, so first, you should absolutely do it. And second, I don’t think you should make it a complete surprise, because he’s got a busy enough schedule between school and clinical hours and the Jewish holidays that he’s going to need to plan around it if you’re flying out.”

“But you think I should do it?” Remi asked.

“I mean, only if you want to win the Daddy of the Year award.”

Remi found himself grinning, and his grin only got wider when he heard Brick’s amused grumbles in the background.