Because our love shouldn’t be an illegal love.
Trigger Warning
Epilogue 2 Warning
You do not need to be read this next epilogue unless you want to know or get insight into where I am going in the future.
Stewie’s bar is based on a real location in Pittsburgh called The Brewer’s Bar and Hotel, and as of 2026, it is still in operation. It actually opened in 1981, not in the 50s like I used it in this novel.
The Epilogue you are about to read is based on facts that the owner of Brewer’s achieved and did for the community, and will be the setting of one of the next books in this series, while using creative liberties.
That future story in this series will be in honor of all those we have lost to AIDS and those that were guests at Brewer’s Bar and Hotel.
Trigger Warnings are: AIDS Epidemic, Death of an Ensemble Character, Emotional Distress
Epilogue Two
Jim
Thirty Years Later, 1985
Iwas coming up the stairs from the old underground bar portion of the building, not ready for what I have to do. It had been a long year.
I’m physically and emotionally drained.
I stopped on the top step in front of the door that leads to the area that used to be the main entrance, front desk and Stewie’s apartment.
When we didn’t have to hide anymore, Stewie got to work, with the help from Charlie and the money he had been sitting on all these years. The walls of the apartment were torn down, and it was converted into the main bar with exposed brick along the right side where the desk used to sit, nice stained wood planks along the other, and tin ceiling tiles. They built an even bigger bar top and space for fun and dancing. It was needed because The Underground had gotten so popular, Stewie had to start turningpeople away or when it was finally allowed, lining them up outside until they could be let in.
He moved into one of the larger hotel rooms temporarily until everything was done, saying he didn’t need all that space anyway. After, he just moved into the underground space, since it wasn’t going to be used anymore.
I opened the door and walked into the packed area. The entire floor was standing room only.
It was somber.
It wasn’t lively like it normally was, the music low in volume and soft in beat. The door opened onto the dance floor which used to be the hallway outside the apartment. Now it was all one big open space for dancing, with tables and chairs along the walls. The bar was straight ahead to my left on the wall where the front desk used to be, and a weird bathroom was constructed across from the bar that was merely part of the old hallway blocked in for privacy.
Sensing movement, Charlie looked over and saw me standing there. His shoulders dropped, and tears started to fall. The patrons around and near him turned my way, getting the message.
We knew this was coming. All week we were letting visitors in, when we could, to say goodbye, not wanting to drain everyone’s energy more than it already was. We have lost so many friends already with no end in sight. They have all been hard.
But this one.
I think this might be Charlie and I’s breaking point.
Charlie spoke to Trevor, one of the bartenders that came to cover just in case today was the day. He’s a good kid, raised within the community. He jumped behind the bar and Charlie came my way. Will, John and Mickie were here also. I waved them over as well as Betty, David and a few others that we have collectedthrough time. We all headed downstairs together, what was left of our small family.
At the bottom and in the now open space was a bedroom set up, a couch and a television. Laying on the bed, hooked up to an IV was Stewie. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping, his chest rising not as often as it should. There was a volunteer nurse here to assist from the PATF,The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force. Nurses and doctors would show up through the task force with medical supplies to help those suffering from the disease and any other health related issues it causes.
There is a stigma against our kind, even if we don’t have the thing that is killing us. Most doctors, nurses or medical personnel won’t even come near us unless they are completely covered in protective gear out of fear.
Those that volunteer are our angels, including the lesbian community, who rallied behind us, to gather support. When not enough people stepped up, they did. Some even went to school to become nurses themselves just to help.
When this epidemic started, it branded us worse than we already were. Outing us if we weren’t out yet. Families kicked their loved ones out onto the street with nowhere to go, if it came out they were gay. Especially if they had the disease.
That’s where we came in.
Charlie and Stewie shut down the hotel, made the bigger rooms smaller by constructing walls to split them, money loss be damned. Then they started to take in those that were homeless and needed medical care.
