Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 13:19:28 -0600 From: TagsNOLA@lycos.com Subject: The Charges 22 Disclaimer This story is a work of fiction. None of the characters portrayed herein represent any real person, living or dead. It includes characters invented by Chip Masterson including the muscle super kid, "Danny Henderson" who appears in a number of stories created by Chip. These characters are used in this story with his express permission, (Thanks, Chip!) although this story differs substantially in tone and theme from stories written heretofore by Chip. There are inconsistencies between Chip's story line and mine. The characters in my scenario dwell, therefore, in some sort of `parallel universe.' Also included in this story is a character inspired by "Billy," the lead character in John D's "Billy Muscles up." One incident is borrowed directly from the "Billy Muscles Up" series and some of the things Billy does in this story echo "Billy Muscles Up." However, although this "Billy" begins with more or less the same personality and physical strength as the original, events take "my `Billy'" in a somewhat different direction. My use of the "Billy" character is with John D's express permission. Thanks, John D! If you are looking for erotic stimulation, please look elsewhere because you won't find that here. Aside from some coarse language and violence, this story could almost be rated "G." But if Chip's "Danny" series is one you have enjoyed, you may find this story entertaining as well. My interest in Chip's "Danny" series has been mainly, "what are people thinking and feeling?" (Something Chip has preferred to leave to the reader's imagination.) This story delves into that question in just a little bit more detail. Of particular interest to me as well, is how some of these characters respond to situations and circumstance that could happen to anyone as well as how they react to extraordinary situations. I've introduced my own characters in this story, among them, "Andy Jackson Partlowe," and, to some extent, this is HIS story... how he came to meet Billy, Danny and his friends and how he reacts to their phenomenal strength and abilities. My thanks to the web master for his work in maintaining this site and for posting this story. I would like to express my special thanks to Chip Masterson and John D. for graciously sharing their characters with me and especially for their work and creativity in creating their stories. This story is dedicated in their honor. Thanks a lot for sharing, Chip and John D... Tags ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday (the third) Salas had slept soundly for about two hours. Then he got up, made a pot of coffee, pulled out his notebook PC and logged into the LAN server back at the base. He tapped out an after action report to the admiral. He knew Roy would probably have a rough draft of his own prepared for him by the time he arrived at the base at zero seven thirty, but he wanted to do this himself. He appended his report with two requests. He hoped the admiral would go along with them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy woke up. He looked at his wristwatch. It was zero two fifteen (2:15 a.m.). He thought he should've felt sleepy. He'd only slept a couple of hours since they'd landed back in Southern California, but he wasn't at all tired so he got up. His body felt 'revved.' He thought to himself, "whatthefuck?" Instinct took over. He pulled on his marine issue warm ups and a pair of sneakers and walked over to the gym he'd raised hell trying to keep from being built. He went inside and switched on the lights. He looked over the equipment and free weights. "Aw hell," he thought, I don't know whatthefuck to do with all this shit." He trotted back to quarters, went into Hernandez' room and shook him awake. "Hernandez, dude, somethin's happenin'. Get up..." Hernandez looked at Roy. "What the hell time is it?" "A little after two fifteen, I guess..." "Well, fuck off Roy. And go back to bed..." "Naw, Miguel. C'mon. Get up. I think you'll find you've slept enough. I know I sure as hell have." Hernandez sighed. He knew very well that, wound up as he was, Roy would never let him go back to sleep. But once he was on his feet he said, "Yah know, Roy, now that you mention it, I think you may be right." "Look, Hernandez, here's the deal. I just got this urge to go over to the weight room. Don't ask me where in the hell THAT came from. Cuz that sure never happened before. The thing is, I don't have a clue what to do over there. You gotta help me... Show me how to lift..." Hernandez pulled on his sweats and sneakers and he and Roy walked over to the gym. He started Roy off with very light weights, showing him the proper lifting form for each exercise. Then he led him to the bench press position on the universal machine. "OK, Roy, remember what I told you... Watch your form.... Do `em strict." Roy lay down on the bench and started to lift... "Oh man. That ain't near heavy enough." Hernandez pulled the pin from the stack and moved it lower, about doubling the weight. Roy tried again. "Still not enough. Lemme try the whole damn thing." That still wasn't enough. Roy hopped off the bench and followed Hernandez over to the free weights. He managed four eighty for reps and maxed at five twenty. Hernandez exclaimed, "Shit, man, *I* can't bench that much!" Roy sat up and scratched his head. "Oh, I dunno, dude. You can prolly lift a lot more'n that. If it's happenin' to me, it's gotta be happenin' to you, too. Climb on that bench and lets get you 'calibrated.'" Hernandez benched five sixty for reps and maxed out at six ten. Within twenty minutes, they'd worked every body part. As they did, they found their strength increasing exponentially. They were getting stronger, even as they lifted. Roy said to Hernandez. "We better go ahead and muster the troops down here. This shit's prolly happenin' to all of them, too. Lets see what we can get done before Salas and the rest of the super guys get here. And, when they get here, lets don't any of us say anything to any of them right off..." Hernandez looked at Roy with a quizzical expression. Roy asked, "S'matter, Miguel? You look like you just saw a ghost..." "Well LOOK at yourself, Roy... I can't believe it! I guess I didn't notice it before... We were so involved with our lifting. But, shit, man, take a look at yourself. If I didn't KNOW it was you, I wouldn't know it was you. Yah know, yer gonna need another set of warm ups if this keeps up. Those look like they're painted on you. Your muscle is growin' like crazy! When we first got over here, your warm ups were way loose... Your muscles grow any more, yer jerzey'll come apart at the seams!" "Yeah, yeah, mebbe so." Roy clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together. "Hey, man, lets just get over to quarters and roust out the rest of the guys." Hernandez and Roy returned to quarters and held 'early reveille' on Robbie, Nguyen and LeBlanc. Within a couple of hours, all the guys had managed to 'outgrow' the weight room completely, not to mention their warm ups. Roy suggested they have a go at the obstacle course. Even though it was nearly pitch dark, none of the guys had any problem with their vision. Roy observed. "This stuff seems to have affected our night vision, too. So this it's what it's been like for those guys... kinda weird." The obstacle course, too, was laughably easy. None of them could even manage to break a sweat. Finally, almost in frustration, Hernandez leapt from the ground to the top cross piece on the climbing barrier, landing in a hand stand. The 'climber' was a 'contraption', about fifty feet high, constructed of huge creosote impregnated oak beams. There were vertical support posts on either side with cross members set along it's height, spaced all the way up at five foot internals. Hernandez cocked his arms, 'leaping' off his palms, executing a back flip, landing on his feet on the top cross beam. His balance was absolutely sure and steady. He called down to Roy. "Seems to have really affected our agility, too. Now you try." Roy followed suit, doing exactly as Hernandez had done, then Robbie, followed by Nguyen and LeBlanc. All five guys leapt off the top cross beam, landing on their feet, with a thud. Hernandez said to the guys. "OK, fellahs, now lets try our speed. Those super guys can really haul ass. Lets see how we do. We'll head on over to mainside and back." They faded, reappearing about a block from the mainside front gate. The trip had taken only seconds. They vanished, reappearing on the obstacle course. Hernandez shook his head. "Man! I can't believe this is happening to us. Whatthefuck? ...over?" Roy checked his wrist watch. "Well, man, I'd say we've got our PT box checked for the day. Let's lay to quarters and get us some chow. Then I wanna get over to the head shed and wade through the message traffic. There's gonna be a shit load of it to process since we've been gone damn near all week. I'll wanna have that all done and routed by the time Salas shows up. And I reckon I better get all the office spaces 'field dayed' (cleaned up)." Salas drove up with Scotty and Danny. Andy and Billy followed right behind in ole "Nellie Belle." As they entered the building, Roy was seated in the OOD office. He rose to his feet. "Mornin' Salas... guys. Coffee's on. Rest of the troops are mustered in the conference room... I got the message traffic all processed and routed. There's an encrypted op immediate, your eyes only. I got it set up as an icon on your desktop. Just point'n click, enter your password and the message'll pop up in a separate window on yer display..." "Gee thanks, Roy. I really appreciate your turnin' to like this. But, man, I halfway figgered you and the guys'd still be racked out this mornin'. You guys still gotta be dog tired. Yer gonna burn yerself out, boy!" "Aw naw, Salas. We slept all the way home on the plane and we got plenty of rack time last night. We're all OK. Salas noticed Roy's utility uniform. It was very loose fitting, maybe one or two sizes too large for him. And although it was certainly clean, it wasn't starched and pressed. And the name patch, normally positioned over the left breast pocket was missing. Roy normally presented a crisp, squared away, parade ground appearance even in working uniform. Salas thought, "Evidently, he'd missed his weekly laundry and dry cleaning run to the base exchange at mainside because of the trip to Managua... Must've borrowed that uniform from one of the other guys." ... And Roy's face looked a little different... a LOT different, actually. More filled out. His face normally looked almost emaciated he was so thin. Salas decided not to say anything. He went to his office, logged in at his desktop console and clicked on the op immediate, eyes only message. It was from the Admiral. He'd granted Salas' requests and sent his congratulations and a 'bravo zulu' to all hands for a job well done down in Managua. Salas couldn't wait to join the guys in the conference room. He clicked the "print" icon in the message window and waited for his hard copy. He snatched it off the laser jet and strode down the passageway to the conference room. All the guys were seated, chatting and joking. They fell silent as Salas entered the room. "OK, guys, I've got some word to pass out... First, the Admiral has sent us all a 'well done' on the mission down in Managua. He's asked me to pass along special thanks to all of you from the Secretary, and the President! Seems what you guys did has made quite an impression on the heavies in Washington. I know you don't need me to tell you how proud I am off all of you..." "Now, all of you stand up and line of in front of me... at attention..." The guys looked at each other, mildly surprised at the boss' reversion to the military formality he normally eschewed, but they hopped to their feet and lined up, side by side, in front of Salas." Salas cleared his throat and rattled the printout of Admiral Tucker's message. "Attention to orders... On behalf of the Secretary of the Navy, it is my pleasure to inform you... That the following named personnel... "Fuchs, R. P., Sergeant, United States Marine Corps... Bukowski, R. J., Sergeant, United States Marine Corps.. Hernandez, M. C., Gunnery Sergeant, United States Marine Corps... Nguyen, T. V., Sergeant, United States Marine Corps... LeBlanc, J. M., Corporal, United States Marine Corps... Harltander, W. J., Midshipman, United States Naval Reserve... McFarlane, S. E., Midshipman, United States Naval Reserve... Partlowe, A. J., Midshipman, United States Naval Reserve... and... Henderson, D. W., Aviation Electronics Tech. 3rd Class, United States Naval Reserve..." Salas paused, indulging himself a bit as he allowed the drama to build... "Are hereby designated aviators of their respective armed services and are, henceforth, entitled to display the wings of Naval and Marine Corps aviation on their uniforms... Said designations effective on even date herewith... Signed, respectfully, G. M. Tucker, Vice Admiral, United States Navy... P.S. The Secretary of the Navy has asked that I convey to each of you his hearty congratulations." Salas added his own words of congratulations. "You guys have the honor of being the only currently designated enlisted and midshipman aviators in the entire Navy and Marine Corps. This is an incredible honor, but one that every one of you've earned down in Managua." Roy looked over at Robbie. "Can you believe it, dude. This time last week, we were just a couple of dumb grunts standin' guard duty over at Lassiter's base. An' now we're wearin' wings of gold. Shit!" Salas moved down the line, pinning gold Naval Aviator wings on each of his guys. He left Roy for last. After he'd "pinned" Roy, he stood back from him and put his right hand on Roy's left shoulder. "Roy, I know you, of all these guys, understand what a singular honor this is. But it's nothing more than what you've earned... All of you guys, but you and Robbie especially. I know I keep sayin' this over and over, but I'm just so fuckin' proud of all you guys, I don't know what to do." The guys started to break ranks and return to their seats. Salas stopped them. "Where do you guys think your goin'? I didn't tell you to sit down. Line back up..." He smiled and cleared his throat again. "Attention to orders... On behalf of the Secretary of the Navy, it is my pleasure to inform you... The following named personnel... "Fuchs, R. P., Sergeant, United States Marine Corps... Bukowski, R. J., Sergeant, United States Marine Corps..." "... Are hereby commissioned Chief Warrant Officer, pay grade CWO-2, United States Marine Corps to rank as such from even date herewith. Signed, respectfully, G. M. Tucker, Vice Admiral, United States Navy... Counter signed, R. A. Webster, Brigadier General, United States Marine Corps." Roy and Robbie both nearly fainted. Hernandez helped Roy to steady himself and Scotty did the same for Robbie. Neither young man could say anything. Salas grinned. "You two are the youngest warrant officers in the Corps. And Admiral Tucker says you'll be eligible to apply for Limited Duty Officer Commissions twelve months from today. I'll expect you both to have your applications on my desk one year from today... Understood?" Robbie was still fairly out of it. Roy just nodded. Roy looked over to Hernandez. "Well, I'm not really sure our 'news' is any bigger'n this." Salas asked, "What news, Roy?" Roy said to Hernandez, "I'll let you tell `im..." Hernandez countered. "I gotta better idea. Salas, could we move this little meeting over to the gym? Roy's got something he wants to show you over there." Salas nodded. As the group strolled over to the gym from the head shed, Roy pulled out his ever present smokes. drew one out of the pack, stuck it between his lips and lit up. After two drags, he stopped, snuffed the cigarette on the bottom of his boot slid it back into the pack, crushed the pack in his palm and stuffed it into his left pants pocket. "Shit! Those things don't do a fuckin' thing for me anymore. Might as well not waste the money I spend on `em for all the good they do me." Salas raised his eyebrows at Billy who looked back at him and shrugged. When they arrived in the gym, Hernandez turned on the lights. Roy stepped over to the Universal Gym, picked it up... the whole thing! ...lifted it over his head and pumped off ten military presses. Then he cocked his arms and heaved it over to Hernandez who caught it, did ten reps of his own and heaved it over to Robbie. Robbie caught it, did ten reps and heaved it to Nguyen who repeated Roy and Hernandez' motions and tossed off to LeBlanc who caught it, did his ten reps and then set it back in place on the deck. Now it was Salas' turn to be surprised... and the rest of the super guys. Finally he said, "Well fellahs... Now we know... Scotty, Andy, your 'round the clock' 'standby' 'mind link' worked! ...a lot better than I'd hoped. ...And now we know what we'll be doing the rest of today and all next week. Roy, I think the reason your smokes aren't quite as satisfying for you as they used to be is because of all this. Now you could smoke all you want and not be any the worse for wear for it, but what would be the point? With your new physiology, the nicotine does nothing for you any more. You're as immune to that now as you are to the smoke!" Roy sighed. "Yeah, and I guess that goes for 'brewskies' too, huh. Bet I couldn't get a 'buzz' on to save m'frickin' life." Salas laughed. "Well, yeah, Roy. That's about the size of it. No point in havin' a 'cool one' either, unless you just drink it for the taste." "... OK, guys, we're gonna head on over to the shop. I think what comes next we can do better over there." Roy asked, "The shop?" Danny answered. "Yeah, that's were everybody gets 'initiated' into this..." Salas explained. "Roy, We've got us another place where we meet sometimes. It's not covered in the basing agreement with the Department of the Navy. It's all ours. We need someplace we can get together that's not subject to Department of Defense jurisdiction. We'll just go on over there right now and get you guys oriented. What you just showed us was impressive, but it's nothing compared to what you'll be able to do in a matter of only a few hours. And, a week from today, you won't believe what you'll be able to do." Salas explained. "I'd just have us all run on over there. Take us a lot longer to drive... but we'll need my car for some of what you'll be doing. Scotty, you and Danny can ride with me. Andy, you and Billy follow me and, Hernandez, if you would, bring Roy, Robbie, Nguyen and LeBlanc in the van. Just follow us. The drive'll take us about thirty minutes. They drove up to the shop and, all except for Salas, got out of the cars. Scotty slid open the big access door and Salas drove inside. Andy and Hernandez left their vehicles parked outside. They all went into the shop and Scotty slid the access door shut. Salas stepped out of his car and turned to Danny. "OK, kid. It's show time again." Danny stepped over to Salas' police cruiser, picked it up and easily pumped off the now standard 'boiler plate' 110 introductory reps, lowered the car to the deck, stepped back and looked at Salas. "OK, Roy. You're up next. Just do what Danny did." Roy snorted. "Yer pullin' my leg. Right?" Salas, Billy, Andy, Scotty and Danny all laughed. Salas replied, "That's what they all say..." "...No, kid. No 'leg pull.' This is no shit. Just do like Danny did. It'll be hard at first, but It gets a lot easier as you go along. Your physiology has changed and will keep on changing, the more of this you do. Trust me, Roy. You're gonna do just fine." "Well, OK, Salas. But I sure don't know about this..." He stepped up to Salas' police cruiser and, following Danny's example, lifted up the front end. It came off the deck easily. Roy exclaimed, "Shit!" Following Danny's example, he walked his hands underneath the car, lifted it off the deck and began his military presses. It was a struggle at first. His ballooning muscles burst out of his heretofore loose fitting utility blouse and sweat streamed down his body in rivulets. But just as Salas had predicted, as he continued the set, the weight seemed to get lighter and lighter. Just as Roy had completed the upstroke of his last rep, his arms fully extended with Salas' car held high over his head, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in Scotty's highly polished brass military belt buckle. There he stood his bare upper body muscles rippling with new power, holding a full sized automobile over his head... Roy freaked. ...As carefully as he could, he lowered the car to the deck and bolted for the front door of the shop, brushing past the guys who'd tried to gather around to congratulate him. He ran outside, bent over at the waist and puked his guts out. Then he dropped to his knees, bent over and pounded his forehead against the ground... "Oh Fuck! FUCK! What've I DONE?" By now, Salas and the guys were at his side. Salas knelt down at Roy's right. Robbie knelt down to his to his left and placed his arm over Roy's shoulder. Robbie asked, "Are you OK, Roy? What's wrong, buddy?" Roy was murmuring, "Oh my God. Whatthefuck have I fuckin' DONE to myself?" Salas asked, "Roy, what's wrong, son?" Roy looked up. "Well, what's WRONG? Whatthefuck you THINK is wrong. Didn't you fuckin' SEE that? What I gotta do? Draw you a goddamn mutherfuckin' pitcher? Jesusmaryjoseph! I just turned into some kinda goddamn FREAK! Don't y'all see? This is fuckin' nuts! How'm I gonna live like this? This is goddamn mutherfuckin' WACKED!" Billy knelt down in front of Roy. "What's the matter, Roy?" Roy moaned. "Oh man! I'm wielded out all tah hell..." "Over what, Roy? I don't get it. When we threw up that admin building over at the base and all the other support buildings, you were almost bored with it. It didn't even phase you..." "That was YOU guys, not ME. Goddamn, Billy, this ain't ME. It's like the 'invasion of the fuckin' body snatchers' gotta hold a me. This just ain't fuckin' ME! I'll never be 'ME' again! Ooohhh shit! Oh fuckin' SHIT!" Roy started to gag. Robbie murmured, "C'mon, Roy. It's OK. C'mon, bro. We're here for yah, dude. Just take a deep breath. You'll be OK..." Robbie looked over to Salas. "Man, I think he's really fucked up, bad!" Robbie's arm was still draped over Roy's shoulder. Roy placed his hand on the back of Robbie's. "Naw, man, I guess I'll be OK. Y'all go on back and finish up. I'll be back inside in a few minutes. Just leave me alone out here for a bit so I can get my shit together." Salas, Billy and Robbie stood up. Salas asked, "You sure yer gonna be OK, son?" Roy nodded. "Yeah, Salas. I'm sorry I flaked out on yah like that. I think I got it now. But this is gonna take me some gettin' used to, that's all." The guys went back inside. Roy, still on his knees, bent over at the waist and lowered his forehead to the gravel parking lot in front of the shop. "Lord," he prayed out loud. "I ain't never been much fer prayer. You an' I both know that... An' the only time I ever came to You before was whenever I was want'n somethin'. Well, here I am, back again... An' I'm sure as hell want'n somethin' this time around... I need all the help You can give on this'n. All this shit ain't like NUTHIN' I ever bargained for. So, Lord, if I ever git outta line with it, I'm count'n on You, Sir, to gimme a good swift kick in the ass to keep me outta trouble... ...In Jesus' name. Aaay-men..." Roy rose to his feet and went back inside. Salas met him inside the door. "You OK, son?" Roy smiled wanly. "Yeah, Salas. I guess so. Sorry about this, all a'you guys. I didn't mean to act like some kinda panty waist." Andy walked over and stood in front of Roy shaking his head. "Don't feel bad, Roy. I went damn near crazy myself over some of this stuff. Everybody reacts differently to all this. But don't come down on yourself. We all just gotta 'deal' the best way we can." Salas added. "Andy's right, Roy. All you gotta do is have a little faith in yourself, and the rest of us, and you'll do just fine. We'll all be here for you... all the way." Roy had calmed down. Now it was Robbie's turn with Salas' police cruiser. He repeated Roy's performance, without the freak out, then Hernandez, Nguyen and LeBlanc in turn. Next they exploded grenades in their palms. Roy damn near freaked again. Andy, by far the most empathetic, given his own very similar reaction to this very thing, took Roy aside and got him settled down. Then they went to work on the boiler. None of them managed under ten minutes, but they all made it in under twelve. Hernandez had the best time. Ten minutes, two and seven tenths seconds by Salas' stopwatch. Salas would make them do it again one day next week... and again and again... until they got their times under ten minutes. Danny led all the superman, the 'old hands' and the fledglings on a run down to Mirimar. This time, Salas ran along. He had absolutely no trouble staying up with the pack. He was getting faster. Evidently, the 'mind link' related changes were finally beginning to affect him as well. They wound up the day with speed swims out to Catalina and back. The "newbies" couldn't quite match the old hands' times, but the slowest, Nguyen was within three seconds of the fastest of the 'old hands.' By now, that was Billy, with Salas a surprising second! Salas led the group in their run back to the shop. They pulled on their utilities and boarded their vehicles for the ride back to the base. Everybody went into the admin building and walked to the conference room. Salas said, "OK, guys. Everybody have a seat for just a minute. "Today was another great one. Now we've added five new superman nearly doubling our ranks. This just keeps getting better and better! We've got one more week together before registration starts out at Cal Tech. Lets really pull together like a team and make this one count. I'm really countin' on you guys to make next week the best ever! Anybody got anything else?" Danny spoke up. "Well, what about tomorrow? Mebbe we could all get together down at the beach again like last Sunday afternoon." Roy snorted, "Only if y'all promise not to go down there lookin' like a fuckin' Chippendale lineup like last time. I won't be in any position to git y'all's fat outta the fire this time." Danny laughed. "Aww... It's no fun if we can't show off! We gotta hide everything else, most of the time. The least we can do is get to get ourselves a few 'wolf whistles' from some of the gals... ...and guys down at Laguna. And, Scotty, don't forget. You owe ME a little rematch." Everybody agreed to meet at Laguna the next afternoon at fourteen hundred. Roy smirked and shook his head... "Long as y'all understand *I* ain't goin' down there half nekkid like y'all did last week. And if those pukes show up again like last time. Don't look fer me. I'd be liable to kill `em this time around. So if we see any a'them, color me 'gone.'" Danny retorted. "Aw naw, Roy. All yah gotta do is stand there and let `em take their best shot atcha. You won't hafta lift a finger. They'll get the message... and leave us alone once they land a coupla blows on that pretty little face of yours. They'd prolly draw back a broken wrist but they sure couldn't hurt you." As they filed out, Danny went up to Andy and Billy. "You guys comin' with us to church tomorrow?" Andy answered. "Yeah, Danny. Want us to pick you up?" "You bet I do! Tomorrow and every Sunday! And maybe you oughta try and bring yer moms if they wanna come. Maybe you could get one of them to drive." Billy said, "Well see. At any rate, Andy and I'll be there for sure. Be in front of your house at zero nine sharp." Danny went over to Salas and Scotty. "How 'bout you guys? Wanna come to church with us?" Scotty answered. "Gee thanks, baby bro. But I was gonna try and talk Salas into takin' me to Mass tomorrow mornin'. I haven't been in years and I'd really like to go. But don't give up on us. We'll take you up on that in the next week or so. But this is just somethin' I wanna do." Danny smiled. "S'OK, Scotty. I'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon." Danny asked Hernandez, Nguyen and LeBlanc. "What about you guys? You comin' with us tomorrow?" Hernandez laughed. To the beach, 'yes.' To church, 'no.'" As they drove home, Andy reminded Billy. "We promised the moms we'd do the move tomorrow night." "Yeah, but we oughta do that after dark. And it still gets dark late. I don't wanna start till most folks are asleep. But between church and the beach, maybe we can rent us a big moving van from U-Haul or Ryder, whoever's got the better rate." "Well, Billy, I was also hopin' we could shop for some sticks." "Oh, lil bro. Lets get that after we're done with registration on Monday of next week. We should have some breathing room between that and time to get out to the base for the afternoon. In the meantime, the moms said they'd let us borrow some stuff for them. It'll only be for a week." Andy laughed. "Oh, OK. You win again, Billy." "No, I only win if I can talk you into wearin' something down to the beach that I bought yah." "And I bet I know just want that is, Billy boy. And, no, I ain't wear'n that butt floss out in public. But just to show you my heart's in the right place, I'll pull off my t-shirt once we hit the beach." Billy grinned. "Only because you know damn well if you didn't, Danny'd pull it off yah... and if he didn't, I sure as hell would. I want those people to eat their hearts out over you cuz I got yah an' they DON'T." Billy asked, "Andy, do you think we oughta talk to mom about our exchange of vows?" Andy said, "I'm OK with it if yah wanna. But I'd rather you do the talking... to both the moms." "Well, if we're gonna do this, we oughta do it before school starts. I'd like to shoot for a week from tonight. I'm not even sure where we oughta do it. Maybe over at the new place. We could make it sort of a pool party kinda thing. Very 'Southern California,' don'tcha think?" Andy answered "Yeah. If anything ever was. But we still gotta get with Salas... See what he thinks. And I'm not too sure about Roy, Robbie, Hernandez, Nguyen and LeBlanc. I doubt they'd be all that impressed with us doin' somethin' like this. Prolly be just us 'old hands' there. Frankly, I'd be surprised if Cole came. Doesn't strike me he'd be all that amused, either." Billy answered, "Well, yah might be surprised. I think you're underestimating Cole and all the new guys. I don't think there's a one of `em who wouldn't stand by us." "Mebbe so, Billy... But if you're wrong..." "Well, lil bro, we'll know more once we talk to Salas. Let's do that sometime on Monday." When they got home, Mrs. Hartlander had supper waiting. She greeted them. "You boys wash up. I've already got the table set." As they were eating, Billy broached the subject. "Mom, Andy and I wanna do something now that we're together. Sort of like an exchange of vows or something... in front of witnesses." Mrs. Hartlander asked, "Who were you wanting to invite?" "Well, mom, all the guys and anybody you and Mrs. Partlowe thought we outta ask." "Well, Billy, Of course I'd be fine with that. And, Andy, I can't speak for your mom, but I think she'd be OK with it, too. Maybe you two oughta drive over there after supper and talk to her, too." Billy said, OK, mom. We'll do that. And, Andy, maybe we oughta stop by your old place this evening and pick up that stuff your neighbor has been holding for ya..." "And, oh, mom, d'ya think it'd be OK if we did this over at the new place. We'd kinda like t'make it sort of a 'pool party' kinda thing... Very informal." Mrs. Hartlander smiled. "I can't think of a better way to 'break in' the new place." They stopped at Andy's old apartment first and knocked on Gloria's door. She answered, smiled at Andy and Billy and invited them inside. She handed Andy three plastic trash bags full of personal effects. "That's all that was left," she explained. "I'm really sorry about all the rest of it. The trash men have already hauled everything else away. Except for this." She handed Andy his journal. Andy took his journal, handed it to Billy and took her hand in both of his. "Thanks, Gloria. You don't know what this means to me. I've been keepin' that thing since I was a kid..." He smiled. "...And now I'm WAY behind!" She smiled back. "Well, Andy... Yes I DO know. I keep one too and have for years. I swear I never looked past page one of yours. I know it's private. All I saw was just enough to know what it was." Andy said, "Well, thanks again. And, hey, lookit, Gloria, is there anything Billy and I could do for you while we're here? Anything we could fix for yah or somethin'? You gotta coupla big strong men here for yah. Might as well take advantage of it." She thought a moment. "Well, my bathtub has a leak. I've been after the landlord to fix that. But it's been two weeks and, so far, nothing... No on-site maintenance people, yah know, since this is such a small property." Andy and Billy followed her into the bathroom. They had the leak fixed in less than five minutes. They'd have gotten it done faster but she was right there watching. Still, Andy indulged in a little 'sleight of hand,' fusing over the leak in the valve by rubbing hard with his fingers, since he really didn't have the proper parts or tools to do the repair the conventional way. As he finished up, Andy asked, "Anything else?" "No. Thanks Andy. And, Andy, I've enjoyed knowing you. And I want you and Billy both to know, your secret is safe with me." "Oh?" Andy asked. Both of them. That night before the fire, I heard you guys in bed upstairs. The sound insulation between these apartment units isn't all that good. And what you did for your next door neighbor. I saw all of that. I spoke with the fire chief afterward and he explained how important it was to you not to let word of that get out. I'll sure be cool with that." Andy asked. "Gloria. I don't know how you'd feel about this. But next Saturday night, Billy and I are gonna have a little get together. Our moms just bought a new place together. Billy and I are gonna be living in a pool house in back. They gotta nice pool and Jacuzzi in the back yard... and a kickass barbq. We're just gonna have a little something. The thing is, Billy and I plan sort of an informal 'exchange of vows' in front of our friends. You'd be welcome to come if you like. There'll be some really nice guys over. But, except for our two moms, you'd be the only girl there. If you're OK with that." She smiled. "Well, Andy, thanks so much for asking! Of course I'd love to come." OK, Gloria. I got yer phone number. I don't know the address of the new place yet, but I'll call you back with that and the time. I'll be talkin' to yah. And, Gloria, thanks so much for your help and ESPECIALLY for keepin' my journal for me." "Sure, Andy." They drove over to Mrs. Partlowe's. Billy did the talking. She was all for the "exchange of vows," too. And she was delighted at the "pool party" idea. She said, "I'll get with Emily and we'll handle the details. All you boys hafta do is invite your guests. Emily and I will wanna know how many people. We wanna be sure to have enough food and drink for everybody. But make sure you invite everybody you want. Don't hold back. This'll only happen once in your lives and you don't wanna leave anybody out." Andy went over to Mrs. Partlowe and hugged her. "Thanks, mom. Just one thing. Please, please PLEASE, I beg you on bended knee. Whatever you do... Do NOT get a us a white wedding cake with two tuxedo clad 'Ken dolls' standing side by side on top!" A mischievous little smile passing across her lips, Mrs. Partlowe said. "Well, OK, Andy we'll make it a chocolate cake." Andy grinned back. "Just make sure tah LOOSE those groom dolls!" Billy laughed. "Well, Andy, I think that'd be kinda cute! Of course, not as cute as the two of us standin' up side by side holdin' hands." "Yeah, especially when they say 'I now pronounce you 'man and man... You may now kiss the, uh... whatever.'" They sat and visited for awhile and then rose to go. Andy and Billy both kissed Mrs. Partlowe good bye. One his way out the door, Andy turned and said. "Oh, mom. Billy and I are gonna rent us a truck tomorrow afternoon. We'll make the move after dark. We're gonna spend the afternoon at the beach with the guys. While Billy and I do the move, you and Mrs. Hartlander just go out to a movie and we'll have everything in place once you get over there to the new place. And, yeah, we know, you'll want everything changed around..." Andy grinned, pulled up his sleeve and did his bicep flex again. "Yah gotta coupla real strong hombres at yer service ma'am." Billy laughed. "Yeah, and one of `em is a real showoff!" Andy grinned and retorted. "Yeah, right! Like Roy said. At least I don't go paradin' down Laguna Beach lookin' like a Chippendale dancer!" "And I will again tomorrow afternoon. And, this time, so are you, cuz I'm gonna burn those geeky jams you got." "When HELL freezes over!" And then Andy quickly moved behind Billy. He dug his fingers into Billy's obliques and started to tickle. Billy was, if anything, even more ticklish than Andy. And now, the lifelong overwhelming strength advantage Billy had enjoyed over Andy was a thing of the past. Because he was a bigger man than Andy, Billy was still the stronger of the two, but, not by all that much. And this time, Andy had gained the advantage of position. He had Billy doubled over, wailing with laughter. Billy was reduced to a helpless quivering mass of putty. Andy grinned wickedly, "OK, dude, you know the magic words..." "Awright, awright, lil bro. I give! I give! I G I V E!" Andy laughed again. "Soooo, BILLY boy... My, my, MY! Aren't WE the 'goosey' one! And yah know, I never knew that before. But I damn well won't fergit it now. An' I'm not gonna let YOU fergit it either!" "OK, lil bro. Yah got me THIS time! But just you wait. Yah know what they say about 'paybacks!'" Andy guffawed. "Payback! I'd be the rest of my life payin' YOU back, bro. And you'd spend the rest of yer life buckin' like a wild bronc if we're gonna go the 'payback' route." Andy, still laughing, turned to Mrs. Partlowe. "OK, mom. We're outta here. We'll be over here tomorrow evening late. Remember, you and Mrs. Hartlander just go out to a movie or somethin'. And c'mon over to the new place after." "OK, Andy, Billy. I love you two guys." Billy blew Mrs. Partlowe a kiss and the two super boys were out the door. As they climbed into ole "Nellie Belle," Billy was still laughing. "Just you wait till I git you home little boy! Just you wait!" "Watcha gonna do to me, mister?" Andy teased. "It's a surprise..." "You shameless lecher!" "Uh huh! Guilty as charged!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday (the fourth) Salas and Scotty entered St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, about ten minutes drive from Salas' house. The church was about half full and parishioners were still filing in. Salas was in the lead. As he arrived at a pew to the right of center aisle, about half way between the rear of the church and the altar, he stopped, genuflected and crossed himself. He moved to his seat, leaving room next to the aisle for Scotty. Scotty followed suit, genuflecting, crossing himself and taking his seat. This was the first time either Salas or Scotty had attended Sunday morning Mass in years, but Salas was only too happy to oblige when Scotty asked him to bring him this morning. Salas had never been especially religious, but this was kind of a 'family' thing to do, so, on that account alone, he'd been all for it. As a young child, in less unhappy times, before his always less than perfect family life had started to unravel completely, Scotty had always looked forward to Sunday mornings. He'd even served a stint as an altar boy. He had loved the solemnity and high drama of the Mass. He was nearly always moved to the brink of tears as the parishioners would join hands and chant the "Our Father" right before consecration of the Host of the Blessed Sacrament. This morning, as the parish priest droned through the liturgy, Scotty followed every word, as if hearing them for the first time. As father lead his parish through the recitations, Scott fervently uttered the words of the congregants in preparation for receiving the Blessed Sacrament. "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you... But only say the word and I shall be healed." Scotty returned to his seat after receiving the Host on his tongue, in traditional fashion. He knelt down, lay his forehead on the back of the pew in front of him and wept softly. Salas, kneeling alongside, lay his left arm over Scotty's back and hugged him close. Although still wounded by his father's having disowned him, Scotty was facing his heartbreak square on and receiving comfort and consolation and healing from his new 'family,' his friends and his God. Salas knew now that Scotty would be OK. Under his breath, Salas muttered a prayer of his own, thanking his Lord for bringing Scotty into his life and beseeching Him for the grace and strength to be a good substitute parent for him as well as just a good friend. Then, silently, Salas interceded for all of his charges by name, one by one. Asking the Lord to dispatch His holy angels to guard their hearts, souls, minds and bodies. After Mass had ended and they'd left the church, shaking hands with the parish priest just outside the front entrance, Scotty turned to Salas. "Thanks for bringing me. I needed this even more than I thought." Salas smiled. "Me too, son. Thank YOU for bringing ME." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Danny, Billy and Andy entered the church. The band was playing an upbeat, celebrational prelude and about half the congregation were standing at their seats, singing and clapping their hands in time with the music. Danny spied, of all people, Roy, seated near the rear of the church. The trio went over and sat next to him. Danny grinned broadly, "Oh wow, dude, you CAME!" Roy reached over and shook Danny's hand, then Billy's and Andy's.. "Aw yeah... guess I figgered it couldn't hurt." Again, Pastor Rick's message of providentially apropos, "Rendering Your time, Talent and Treasure in service of The Kingdom and your fellow men." Pastor Rick read a passage from the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 12, verses 41 through 44... The story of the "widow's mite." He quoted Jesus' words, "I tell you the truth, this poor woman has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth, but she gave out of her poverty, put in everything... all she had to live on." Then he related the parable of the three servants and the talents. "We've all been granted certain gifts and talents. We've all be blessed, to greater or lesser degree, out of the abundance of the Lord. The question is, how will we render these blessings and gifts in service of The Kingdom and in service of each other? Will be hold back our will we give it all away, trusting in the Lord's abundance to replenish our storehouses... as did the widow who fed the prophet the last of her bread, depending on the Lord's provision to see her and her son through a famine. If you have certain blessings or gifts, offer them up as a sacrifice. Not only your money... We must be ready to offer up OURSELVES!" Pastor Rick quoted another passage, from the Gospel of St. John, chapter fifteen, verse thirteen, "Greater Love has no man than this, that he give up his life for his friend." "This passage refers, of course, to the sacrifice of one's life so that a friend might live, but not only this... We are called to service of our brothers, even unto death, to be sure. Most of us, thank heaven, are never called to this great measure of sacrifice. But, every day, we are called to offer our lives as a LIVING sacrifice, in service of our brothers and sisters. If you find someone in need, stop and offer a hand, like the good Samaritan, who ministered to a Jew in distress, who, let us remember, would have despised any Samaritan. If you have some special gifting or talent, rest assured, one day, you will be called upon to render that to help out a brother. Beloved, don't miss your day of destiny. Don't miss out on the joy of your special inheritance. Embrace your calling and embrace your destiny. If you don't, you'll be cheating yourself of 'joy unspeakable,' not only in the next life, but in this life as well..." As they left the church, Roy said to Danny, "Well, I guess I'd say your pastor has given all of us a lot to think about. He sure has me, anyway." Danny nodded. Roy mused, "It's sure a lot easier when you don't have much. I never really thought about that before, but now I now what it means when they say 'it's easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of the needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven...'" "...If yah gotta lot, you really hafta be on yer toes or you could easily miss the boat if yer not careful. Almost scares me to death!" Danny stepped in front of Roy and stopped him. "Roy, I can see you're a little overwhelmed by all of this that's happened to you. But just remember. You're GONNA make mistakes. You're not always gonna get it right. I know I've sure messed up with this... A LOT. But you'll always get another chance, bro. There'll always be tomorrow. You don't hafta give up just because you mess up. Just press on from there and try to do better next time. Thanks to Salas and Scotty and Cole and Billy and Andy, I got my second chance. And I think I got real lucky. Cuz I got most of my life still aheada me. And so do you, Roy. All you can do is all you can do. So if you screw up, and you WILL screw up some times, just do the best you can to make up and move on. It's really not all that different, that way, between us and anybody else..." "Pastor Rick always said 'God is 'the God of second chances. So don't go around all scared of your shadow... scared outta yer mind about makin' mistakes or that you didn't do enough or whatever. Cuz everybody screws up or comes up short now and then. That's one thing that hasn't changed just because yer different now. The same rules apply to us on that score, just like they do to everybody else. And, if yah really think about it, Roy. Just the fact that you're so worried about all this shows me that yer heart's in the right place. Give yerself a break, man. And don't fergit, Roy, yah got friends. We're gonna be lookin' out for yah. Just you remember to keep lookin' out for us, too... Like Billy and Andy did for me last week on the beach... I know you know what I'm talkin' about, Roy. I saw how you picked up on that. I almost messed up, big time, wantin' to wade into those creeps who tried to 'call us out' on the beach... But I had my bro.s with me and they were lookin' out for me, keepin' me in line. And YOU were there, lookin' out for all of us... Well, Roy, we'll be doin' that for you, too. So just don't give up on yerself. Cuz, God knows, man, none of us'll ever give up on you..." Roy thought for a moment. "Yah know, Danny, I think I underestimated you. I'll think on what you said... And I'll try harder to get my arms around all this stuff. Thanks. And thanks for the invite to church." Danny grinned. "Sure man. Yah gonna come next week?" "Yeah, I guess so. Like I said before... can't hurt nuthin'." "Great! And yer gonna meet us down at the beach this afternoon?" "Yeah, sure. Whereabouts? Same place as last week?" Yah, Roy, same time, same station." "OK y'all. See yah there for around fourteen hundred or so." "Awright, man! See yah there!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andy and Billy drove to a nearby U-Haul rental agency and hired a big moving van. Billy followed Andy to his mom's house in the van and parked it on the street. Andy pulled into the driveway. Just before they went inside, Andy stopped Billy. "Yah know, Danny asked us to invite our moms to church and we both completely forgot. He didn't mention anything, but I don't wanna let that fall through the crack next week. I think the least we could do is ask `em to come with us. The worst they could do is tell us 'no.'" Billy answered, "Well, if one of `em says 'yes,' we can probably use that to get the other to come along. I say we start with your mom. I think mom'll be the tougher nut to crack. Neither she nor dad either one ever had much use for 'organized religion.'" "Well, mom and dad used to take me to Sunday school before dad died. But after he was gone, she never went back and neither did I. But, OK, I'll ask her. Like you said, all she can do is tell me 'no.'" They went inside. Mrs. Hartlander had lunch waiting for them. "Hi guys. Did you enjoy the service this morning?" Billy kissed his mom and then Andy did. "Yeah, mom, sure did. It's gettin' to be a regular thing, now. Guess we'll be doin' that from here on out." Mrs. Hartlander didn't say anything to that, so Billy just let it drop for now. "Well, I heard you guys drive up with that big moving van. I can't believe we're finally gonna do this move. We've lived here since before you were born. Lotta memories I'm leaving behind. Last night was my last night's sleep in this house." "Well, mom. Any regrets about movin'?" Mrs. Hartlander laughed, even if it was just a little bit of a rueful laugh. "Oh, I guess not. I will miss this place in a way. But it really is time to move on. And I'm just so happy we're all gonna be together. I am so glad you two got together, but I can't lie, Billy, I wasn't looking forward to your moving out again. You'd just moved back home and, before I knew it, you were already on your way back out the door. So, all in all, I think this move is gonna be great, for all of us. It sure will be great for me, anyway, and, Andy, I know your mom feels the same way. She's really excited about the get together next Saturday. We're really gonna do this right for you boys." "Well, mom, you and Mrs. Partlowe don't have anything to worry about. Andy and I will have everything moved over, and then you can both work us like a couple'a mules till you get everything set up just the way you want it." "Well, don't ever let it be said, I don't appreciate having a couple of super boys for sons." Andy laughed. "Make that one 'super boy,' and one 'super runt.'" Billy wrapped his arms around Andy's waist. "Yeah, lil bro, but yer MY 'super runt.'" They sat down and ate lunch. Afterward, they cleared the table, rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. Mrs. Hartlander sighed. "Well, that was our last meal in this house. So many 'last things.' Tomorrow, we'll wake up in our new home. I really am excited, boys. Andy, I'm so glad you went along with us on this. I know you're gonna be glad you did. You wait and see." "Aw, 'mom,' I know I will. Tell yah the truth, I was kinda lonely over at my old place. It was great when Billy moved over with me. But I did feel a little guilty stealin' him away from yah after he'd only been home such a short time. This'll be great." Billy said to Andy, "Well, lil bro, guess we better think about gettin' on down to Laguna. Think we better give Danny a call, and Scotty? Just to make sure we got our rendezvous straight?" "Yeah, Billy, prolly not a bad idea." Billy called over to Danny's. Danny answered. "Oh, hi, Billy. You gonna stop by here or just head straight on out to the beach?" "Either way, Danny. Whichever." "Well, why don't you guys come on over here first? I already talked to Scotty. Salas is comin' too. They're gonna run over here and we'll all just gonna go on out to Laguna together. We're gonna meet up with Roy and the rest of the guys from the base on the boardwalk by Las Brisas around two or so." "OK, Danny, we'll be by your place just a little before two." "OK, see yah then. Did you burn Andy's nerdy jams yet?" Billy chuckled. "No, not yet. I guess he's got one more reprieve from the 'butt floss.' But by next week, I'll have that little matter attended to." Danny giggled. "Yeah, Billy. We'll I'll believe it when I see it." They rung off. Billy and Andy arrived at Danny's at about a quarter of two. Salas and Scotty were already there, waiting with Danny in the driveway. Danny said, "OK, cool! We got everybody here. Let's hit it." They vanished and reappeared on the same side street as last week and headed for the board walk. They mounted the steps leading up the slope to Las Brisas and strolled along the board walk. They were a little early. They'd been waiting about ten minutes when the guys from the base arrived from the opposite direction. Roy, Robbie, Hernandez, Nguyen and LeBlanc were walking together. Danny said, "Hi guys! Glad yah made it!" Hernandez laughed. "Well, we almost didn't. Roy tried to chicken out on us. But we threatened to drag him here bodily if we had to." Danny looked at Roy. "Well, dude, it's a damn good thing! Saved me havin' tah come lookin' for yah!" Roy said. "Well, OK, Danny. I'm here now." Danny said, "all right, guys, lets get on down to the locker room and get outta these clothes. Time for us to give these folks their weekly thrill." They went into the locker room, stripped down to their swim trunks and stuffed their street clothes into their lockers. Andy surprised everyone. He'd ditched his jams for a stylish pair of board shorts, which, though by no means as revealing as the contoured bikinis Billy, Danny and Scotty sported, nevertheless, showed his beautifully muscled body to good advantage. Salas' wore a black very 'with it' mid cut. All the guys from the base wore navy blue tank suits like those worn by competition speed swimmers. All except Roy, that is, who wore very loose fitting cargo shorts and a very blowzy long sleeve jersey which he stoutly refused to remove. Danny moved over to him and latched onto the jersey, but the look he got from Roy stopped him dead in his tracks. Roy didn't say a word but, with a pained look in his eye, he pleaded with Danny... The boy let go and backed off. He said, "Well, OK, Roy, I guess I'll let yah go this time. But sooner or later, we're gonna show of all those muscles you got." Roy tried to laugh it off, but it was a mirthless laugh. Danny thought, "Well gee, that's odd. Last week, when he was skinny as a rail, he thought nothing of walkin' the beach shirtless. Now that he's all muscled up, it's almost like he's ashamed to show it off." He decided not to press it for now, but he'd be talking to Robbie about it, his first chance to get him off alone. They walked along the beach, turning heads again, just like last week. And just like last week, there was that same gang of young delinquents, terrorizing and harassing everyone they met as they strutted up the beach, from the opposite direction. Danny spied them first. "Uh oh. Here we go again. The leader, whom Roy had pasted a week ago saw the supermen, motioned for his buddies to follow and approached. It was obvious he was spoiling for a "rematch." Roy moved out in front and, contrary to his prediction, he didn't leave. He stood his ground, waiting. The big bruiser didn't recognize Roy because he looked so different from the skin and bones he'd been only a week ago. The bruiser took a running punch at Roy. With blinding speed, but as gently as he possibly could, Roy parried the blow. His attacker spun around and lunged at Roy. By now, his companions had drawn up behind him. Rather than laying into the other supermen, they just stopped and watched as their leader continued to press his attack. Roy easily parried and dodged. Finally, in frustration, the bruiser taunted. "Why don't you stand up and fight like a man?" Roy drawled, "Well, I guess yah fergot from last week, huh. I ain't supposed to fight like a man. You called me a fag. Don'tcha remember?" Then bruiser recognized Roy. But this wasn't the scrawny boy who'd sucker punched him the week before. Roy answered his incredulous gaze. "Yeah, I know wathca mean. Well, the truth is, I've been hit'n the weight room fairly hard these last few days. Guess it's finally start'n tah kick in, huh..." "OK, you faggot, now I'm gonna take yer ass apart and hand it to your muscle twink friends as a little present to remember me by." Roy continued to parry and dodge. He wouldn't allow any of his attacker's punches to connect. Finally, the bruiser began to tire. But not Roy. Roy said to him. "Well, hey, dude, just knock yerself out. I can go at this all day an' all night, just as long as yer game. But lemme just tell you this. I'm gonna get serious... REAL serious with you if I ever catch you bothering these other citizens down here on the beach again. Then you an' I are gonna tangle fer real. And, mister, if that happens, this 'cock sucker' will kick your mutherfuckin' ass right smooth into next week. Now that ain't no threat. It's a promise. And if you make me do that to yah, I swear tah God, I'll fuck you up so goddamn bad, you'll never show yer face on this beach again as long as you live. Now wat's it gonna be, dude?" The bruiser was so enraged he hauled off and round housed Roy. But this time, Roy didn't dodge. The blow connected with Roy's jaw with a sickening crack. Roy remained planted, rock solid where he stood, unharmed and unmoved by the blow. But the knuckles of the bruiser's right hand and his right wrist shattered on impact. The attacker howled and collapsed to his knees in agony, grasping his right wrist with his left hand. Roy knelt down beside him and pulled the bruiser's left hand loose from his right, grasping his right wrist. Very briefly, he entered the man's mind. How Roy knew he could do this, even he couldn't have told you. He 'thought' to the man. "I'm sorry that I hadda let you do that to yourself, buddy. But I can't very well let you keep on doin' this shit down here. It's bad fer the other people, an' in the long run, it's gonna wind up bad fer you. Now what I'm gonna do, fellah, is I'm gonna make this pain... this pain that's just about to make you shit yer pants, just go away. But that don't mean you won't need to get down to see a doctor right away. Cuz, even though you won't feel it, yer right hand'll still be hurt bad." And with that, Roy simply erased his assailant's pain. Then Roy withdrew from the young man's mind and spoke in his normal voice. "Now that oughta hold you till you can get to the emergency room, as long as you head on out right now. Just remember what I told you. If you can't come down here and live and let live, I'm gonna hafta fuck you up bad next time. And I sure hope you don't call me out on that one, cuz I really don't wanna do that to yah, buddy. I really fuckin' don't." Salas stepped up to the band of young thugs. He was by far the biggest and most formidable looking among the supermen. He stared down the assailant's confederates. "You boys just pick this looser up and get his ass outta here. Next time, I'll turn the rest of these guys loose on all of you. Let's just don't let there BE a 'next time.'" The band of bullies hauled their leader off the beach for the second Sunday in a row. Roy turned to Salas. "It's gonna end up bad with that bunch. Next time, sure as shootin', they'll bring a gun." Salas answered, "Well, Roy, you oughta know by now, you can dodge a bullet." "Well, mebbe so, Salas, but what about all these other folks? They sure as hell can't dodge a bullet. And yah never can tell where a stray round might end up. I'd as soon let the fucker clip me as have it hit some other poor ass sonofabitch just down here fer a good time, tryin' to mind his own business, not hurtin' anybody..." "...Y'all, I'll tell yah what. I think I've had about all the 'fun' out here I can stand fer one Sunday afternoon. Y'all go on ahead. I think I'll head on back out to the base." Danny reached out to Roy. "Aw, Roy. They're gone now. C'mon man. Hang out with us awhile. This shit's over now. It'll be a blast." "Aw, thanks, young'n. I appreciate that. But I really think I'm gonna head on out Y'all go on ahead. I'll catch up to yah next time." Roy turned to leave and Robbie started to follow him. "No, Robbie. You stay here with the guys. I really think I wanna be alone fer awhile. OK, buddy?" Robbie was a little hurt by Roy's rebuff, gentle as it was. But he put on a good face. He smiled at Roy and put his hand on his shoulder. "OK, Roy. But don't go feelin' bad about that asshole. He did it to himself and he had it comin'. You really hung back and took the high road." "Thanks, Robbie. I'll see y'all later on out at the base." As Roy ambled off, Robbie turned to Salas. "I'm really worried about him. He's really not himself at all. Worst thing is, that's exactly what he's scared to death of. He's scared to death of loosin' himself to all of this. And I can't get through to him. I've never seen him like this. I don't know what to say to him anymore." Salas hung his arm over Robbie's shoulder. "I can see that, son. And I'm worried, too. No point in me tellin' you everything's OK when anyone can see it's not. I'll talk to Roy tomorrow morning, as soon as we secure from morning quarters." "Thanks, Salas. Thanks a lot! If anybody can get through to him, it's you." The guys strolled down to the refreshment stand with the umbrella tables, bought a round of beers, except for Danny. This time he ordered a giant ice tea. They sat and chatted awhile, but the incident with the band of thugs and Roy's early departure had cast a bit of a pall over the gathering. Hernandez stood up. "Well, Salas, guys, we'd better get on back to the base and check on Roy... See how he's doin'. We'll see you tomorrow morning." Hernandez, Robbie, Nguyen and LeBlanc got up and strolled away. Danny turned to Salas. "Man, I'm really worried about Roy. Did you guys see his face when I was gonna pull is jersey off? It damn near broke my heart. You'd think he'd wanna show off all the muscle he's got now. But it's almost like he's ashamed of how great he looks. I can't understand that." Andy looked across the table at Danny. "Well, I think I may be able to relate to Roy just a little bit. He was so cocky and self assured, before. I know he felt like he had been doin' the best he could with what he had. Now, with all this,' it's like he doesn't know WHAT to do or what's expected of him. I just think he's afraid he won't measure up to his new gifts. You saw how he handled himself with those assholes... Well, last week, the first time we met up with `em, Roy went up to that big jerk who went at him today and laid him out with one punch. Said he hadda do it cuz he couldn't leave `em to us. He was afraid for THEM because of what we might do to `em. Now he can't do that anymore. And, yah know, I could feel his emotions. I'm not exactly sure how, because I never tried to link up with his head. I didn't get any of his thoughts but I could feel what he felt. He was really angry. I know he wanted to lay into that guy so bad but he just couldn't let himself. He felt really frustrated... and kinda scared in a way... of himself." Salas cocked his eyebrows. "Well, Andy, do you think he's gotten some of the 'mind thing' like you and Scotty?" "Yeah, Salas, I think so. And now that's gonna be something else Roy's gonna hafta deal with. Tell yah the truth, I almost think we outta go out to the base ourselves and check on him. Mebbe sit him down and have a talk with him. All of us. I wouldn't wait till tomorrow morning. Man, I think he is really kinda scared of all of this. And, from what I can tell, I don't think Roy's ever been afraid of much of anything before." Salas said. "Well, I had a talk with Roy last week. He's a smart boy. He put two and two together on his own about the 'mind thing.' And, down in Managua, you saw how fast he figured out how that's behind the transfer of our strength to normal guys. He figured all that out on his own without me havin' to tell `im. The guy's sharp as a tack. I asked him then how he'd feel if this happened to him. He wasn't all that much in favor of it, but said he'd go along with it if that's what he hadda do to stay with us. But he also said, that, if he had his choice, he'd wanna stay with us but stay normal. I wasn't too worried, though. I guess I thought if he was a little reluctant, that was just a good sign that he'd be responsible with his super strength. And he said even with the super strength, he'd still be him deep inside if it happened to him. Now it looks like he's afraid that's not really true. I think you may be right, Andy. We really should be there for him. Think you guys'd be up for goin' on out to the base with me right now?" Danny said, "Well, I know I am. But, Salas, could I use your cell phone. I wanna call home and check in with mom first." "Good idea, Danny." Billy spoke for himself and Andy. "Well, we're gonna do the move to our mom's new place later on this evening after dark, but, sure, we'd be up for goin' out to the base with you. It's still way early..." "...And we'll get that move over and done with in no time... That's why we're gonna do this late... after dark.... So we can do it the quick'n easy way without anybody seein' us." The super guys returned to the locker room for their street clothes and then ran on out to the base. They went straight to the little bungalow that served as barracks. They went inside and found the guys in the day room. All except for Roy, that is. They were seated around a table talking in low voices. When Salas and the other men walked in, they stood up. Robbie and Hernandez went up to Salas. Robbie spoke, "I'm glad you guys came. Roy's in his room. Salas, could you go in there and talk to him? We just can't get through to him or get anything out of him at all. He's just laying on his rack, starin' at the overhead." "OK, you guys, standby out here. We're gonna nip this shit in the bud, right now." Salas knocked on Roy's door, opened it and went into his room. "Roy, we all came on out here, son. We're worried about you. All of us..." Roy sat up and moved his legs over the side of the bed. He started to stand, but Salas stopped him. He took a seat alongside and put his arm over the boy's shoulder. "Yah wanna talk about it? I think you need to get some of this off yer chest." "What's to talk about, Salas. I'm a freak now. That's all there is to it." "Well, Roy, I guess that makes eleven of us. So, you think we're all freaks?" "Aw, naw. I didn't mean it that way, Salas. I never thought of any of you guys as freaks. Not really. And before this all came onto me, I didn't think I'd look at myself as some kinda freak if it happened to me. But, hey, it's like I said over at the shop. I just don't know myself anymore. I thought I pretty much had everything figgered out about myself. And now, with all this, it's like I'm gonna hafta start all over. Now I CAN'T be who I was anymore. That 'Roy' is a dead man." Salas countered. "No, Roy. Not really. You were right last week when you said you'd still be you inside. It IS true... You hafta make some adjustments, but that doesn't mean you still won't be you. This kinda thing happens to everybody. Change is part of life... anyone's life... It's just that for you, the change is a little more drastic than normal. But, Roy, I've known you long enough to know you can be a strong young man. And, in spite of that cocky exterior you've sported since you got here, deep inside, you're a very good, gentle man. You haven't lost any of that just because you're a superman now. In fact, if anything, it's made that gentle part of you really come to the surface. Son, I really want you to embrace this thing. Think of all the new and wonderful things you can do now..." Roy mused. "Salas, I don't suppose you were ever a golfer, where you?" Salas chuckled. "Well no, Roy. I guess I never saw the point of knockin' a little white ball all over the country side." "Well, Salas. You missed out on one of the joys of life. But it's no surprise to me. Shit, with what you got, you could shoot an eighteen hole round in eighteen strokes. In fact, if you set your mind to it, you could prolly knock the ball off the first tee and if you put just the right 'English' on it, I bet you could knock that sucker to where it'd bounce from one hole to the next so it wound up you shot the whole damn round with that one stroke off the first tee! That might be OK, once. But after that...." Roy looked away a little wistfully. ...Yah know, now I'll never git t'hit me that hole in one I always dreamed about. Cuz even though I could do it now, blindfolded, it just wouldn't mean anything. God I'm gonna miss the game... Yah know, for a just a duffer I wasn't all that bad... Pretty good as a matter of fact seein' as how little chance I got to play since I joined the corps. I still was still playin' to an eighteen handicap. And good, decent bogie golf aint' half bad for an Oakie boy like me. Cuz yah know, now and again, I'd shoot me a birdie, and, man, you just don't KNOW how GOOD it feels when yah beat par. And here's the best part, Salas. You'd could be suckin' down on a brewski at the club house after the best round of golf in yer life. For me, my best round ever, I shot nine over. I'd pared half the round and bogied seven holes. I got one double bogie on number sixteen, but I made up for that with a birdie on the seventeenth! And man, back at the clubhouse, when I showed my scorecard to the pro, he was all over me, congratulatin' me an' all. And yet here he was kinda halfway down on himself cuz earlier that day, he'd shot three over. He was an older fellah. He'd long since retired from the PGA tour, but he was still a scratch golfer. But, we could both relate to each other b'cuz of the handicap. I could commiserate with him for havin' what was, fer him, a shitty round that was still way better than my best and still he could be happy for me. Cuz, basically, we're all playin' against 'par' and against ourselves. It really is a wonderful game, Salas, or was until now. And, yah know, I always prided myself on walkin' my round. No golf cart. No trolley. I'd always carry my bag and walk my round. Now that sure don't mean nuthin' any more. Not since I can lift a full sized car over my head and military press it for reps..." "Oh, God, Salas... I am really fucked up." "Roy, golf does sound like a great game. I guess I have missed out on that and a lotta things normal guys can enjoy that I never could. But, even though I know you'll miss it, golf sure isn't the be all and end all of life. Think of all the new challenges ahead of you, son. You're starting out on a brand new life adventure that most men could never dream of. You've got to seize this thing, Roy. And make it yours. We're gonna be here for you and see you through this. But, man, I really need you to meet us half way." "Well, OK, Salas. I'll give it my best shot. And I'm sorry about puttin' a damper on things down at the beach." "S'OK, Roy. Like Andy said, we all gotta 'deal' the best way we can. But that's what I'm count'n on yah to do for us... and for yourself. And, son, if you ever need anybody to talk to... about this or anything else. My door's always open..." "Thanks, Salas. Thanks a lot. I'll be all right now." Salas stood up and started to leave the room but Roy stopped him. "There is just one more thing, though. And I'm not even real sure I'm fit to serve in the Corps anymore with this." "What's that, son?" "Well, don't ever ask me to carry a weapon into combat. Cuz I won't. The way I am now, where I can dodge a bullet, or, shit, mebbe even TAKE a bullet, I couldn't bring myself to draw a bead on a man who couldn't return effective fire. Now I know combat ain't like golf. It sure as hell ain't no 'gentleman's game.' But, Salas, that wouldn't BE combat. That'd be cold blooded murder. And I won't do murder. Not fer God... not fer country or the Corps... Not fer anybody..." "Well, Roy, I guess that makes you just like the rest of us. Because before we agreed to sign on with the Admiral, we all made it clear to him that we wouldn't kill for him. Son, I know this may be hard for you, but I know deep in my heart you're gonna do just fine. You've got all the right instincts for this. I just need for you to believe in yourself, son... like you always have before. If you have only half the faith in yourself that I have in you, well, Roy, you'll be unstoppable. You may well turn out to be, all around, the best super man among us." And with that, Salas walked back out into the day room. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy and Any arrived at Mrs. Hartlander's. Billy backed the U-Haul van into the driveway and Andy raised the upward sliding door. They went inside. Mrs. Hartlander had already left to meet Mrs. Partlowe for that movie. The boys walked through the rooms and planned their 'moving' strategy. They'd bought packing boxes and materials at the U-Haul outlet. First they packed the boxes. They had this done in minutes. Then they hand carried the furniture and the boxes out to the truck. They pulled out of the driveway less than fifteen minutes after they'd arrived. They drove over to the new place and unloaded. Mrs. Hartlander's would be the right hand unit in the duplex. Mrs. Partlowe's, the left. Then they drove to Mrs. Partlowe's apartment. They were back in front of the duplex and backed into the left hand driveway in less than half an hour. They had Mrs. Partlowe's unit all set up in less than ten minutes. It would've taken less time, But Andy kept trying to 'second guess' where his mom would want her things placed. Finally, he gave up, resigning himself to the inevitability that, no matter what they did, his mom would want at least some of her things moved around. "Well, lil bro, it'll give you a chance to show the mom's yer stuff. No need to hold back now since they pretty much know what we can do. But neither of them have SEEN much of what you can do and not all THAT much of what I can do. I think it'll be kinda fun." "Yeah, I can't wait to see the look on mom's face." Monday (the fourth) The mom's arrived shortly after midnight. And, of course, the boy's had gotten everything all wrong on both sides of their moms' duplex. They spent over an hour moving things for both Mrs. Hartlander and Mrs. Partlowe. There was a lot of trial and error. But Billy and Andy could've gone all night. They encouraged their moms to try all the arrangements they wanted. Billy said, "Yah might as well take advantage of us. Not everyday a coupla nice ladies like you two gotta coupla supermen at their beck'n call." Billy and Andy set up the furniture from Billy's room at the old house in the right hand bedroom out in the pool house. And both Mrs. Hartlander and Mrs. Partlowe lent them some odds and ends to get them by until Billy and Andy could get some more furniture of their own. Billy had decided to build a big king size bed. He and Andy would buy an old junker that had been through the car compactor down at Fasullo's Salvage Yard and, together, they would fashion a 'collapse proof' bed out of that. Andy said, "Well, now we know the bed'll hold. I just don't hope we don't crack the slab underneath!" "Good point, lil bro. Mebbe we'd better break open the slab, drive some pilings down and re pour." Andy laughed. "We'll think about that tomorrow. Let's break in our new place tonight. We'll just hafta take it easy for now." (To be continued) Comments welcome. TagsNOLA@lycos.com