Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:01:01 EDT
From: RitchChristopher@cs.com
Subject: briarwood:chris-and-beyond-106

All rights reserved. Copyright held by the author. If you are underage or
are offended by gay fiction, containing graphic sex and explicit language,
please exit now.

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                                    "BRIARWOOD"
                               Copyright Ritchris, 2006

                                  A dramatic saga

                                        by

			         Ritch Christopher


                                    <><><><><>


		   	             BOOK TEN


                                "CHRIS AND BEYOND..."


                                     *  *  *  *


                         "Take me to the world that's real.
                          Show me how it's done.
                          Teach me how to laugh, to feel.
                          Move me to the sun.

                          Just hold my hand
                          Whenever we arrive.
                          Take me to the world
                          Where I can be alive!

                          Let me see the world that smiles,
                          Take me to the world.
                          Somewhere I can walk for miles
                          Take me to the world.

                          With all around
                          Things growing in the ground,
                          Where birds that make a sound are birds.

                          We shall see the world come true.
                          We shall have the world.
                          I won't be afraid with you.
                          We shall have the world.

                          I'll hold your hand
                          And know I'm not alone.
                          We shall have the world to keep,
                          Such a lovely world we'll weep.
                          We shall have the world forever for our own."

                         "TAKE ME TO THE WORLD"
                          from "EVENING PRIMROSE"
                          music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
                          copyright 1966

                                    *  *  *  *


                                    Chapter 106


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	The Saturday night after Chris' heroic actions at the auto accident
was mostly uneventful when Chris spent the night with Billy...to Billy's
dismay. It was Chris whom had laid down the ground rules concerning no
jerking off between the two of them. Several times during the evening when
Billy tried to guide the conversation about sexual matters, Chris would
give him a stern, 'you promised' look and would change the subject. Billy
had a fourteen inch black and white television in his bedroom and they sat
in bed until the late movie, 'Rollerball', starring James Caan, was
over. Before lying down to go to sleep, Chris got out of bed and went to
Billy's bureau which had a ten inch crucifix hanging on the wall above the
chest. Chris crossed himself and said two prayers, one to St. Nicholas, the
patron saint of children and a second to St. Francis, the patron saint of
animals. These were Chris' favorite two saints to whom he had prayed
nightly since he was a small boy, big enough to pray by himself. He ended
his devotional and climbed into the bed next to Billy, Chris was in his
pajamas while Billy opted to sleep in his tighty-whities and
t-shirt. Before turning his back to Billy, Chris gave Billy a small kiss on
his right cheek.

	"Good night, best friend," Chris said.

	"'Night, my hero..." Billy replied.

	Neither boy got much sleep that night as Chris was afraid to go
into a deep sleep and perhaps be fondled by his best friend. Billy didn't
sleep because he waited long into the night and early morning hours for
Chris to FALL asleep. Billy kept saying to himself, 'If I could only touch
Chris...If I could just get him excited enough...If Chris were just willing
to TRY something new...ANYTHING!'.

	Needless to say, Chris and Billy had a difficult time staying awake
during mass the next day. Their weariness was noticed by Katherine. Since
it was Chris' first sleepover ever, she hoped that nothing bad had happened
between her son and his best friend. She trusted both of them and had no
concern about either of them drinking, smoking, or doing drugs. Any kind of
sexual action between the two would never have occurred to Katherine for
she knew how devout Chris was in the Catholic faith and the Church frowned
on masturbation and pre-marital sex of any kind.

	When the mass was over, Katherine told Chris to invite Billy over
for Sunday lunch as a nice social reciprocation for Saturday night's
sleepover. Chris replied to his mother that he was just too tired to have
Billy or ANYONE over, He used the excuse that he had difficulty sleeping in
a strange bed, not his own. Katherine accepted Chris' reasoning and dropped
the idea of an invitation to Billy.

	After a hearty meal of his mother's southern fried chicken, Chris
went to his room and fell asleep almost instantly. He slept soundly for
nearly four hours before being awakened by a larger than usual seminal
emission. The sticky white fluid was all over his underwear and a huge spot
on his sheets, blanket, and bedspread. Chris was astonished by the amount
of semen he had excreted...worse yet, how in the world could he hide all
this from his mother. He went into his bathroom and filled his water glass
beside his toothbrush. Then he got a bar of soap from the bathtub, a
washcloth, and bath towel. He did his best to clean up the mess but all he
did was spread his body fluid into a larger area. Soon half his bottom
sheet was covered in soap and water which had also soaked into the
mattress.

	Finally, Chris stripped all his bedclothes from the bed, filled the
bathtub up and put everything in to soak. When Katherine came upstairs to
get Chris to get ready for dinner, Chris was in an emotional quandary. He
didn't want to lie to his mother, but at the same time, he was too
embarrassed to tell her what actually happened.

	"Chris? What happened to your bedclothes?" Katherine asked.

	"I...I had an accident, Mother."

	"What kind of accident?"

	"I...I fell asleep so soundly, that I...my stomach was upset. I...I
woke up and I had diarrhea and didn't make it to the toilet in time. I...I
was too embarrassed for you to see the mess I'd made, so I tried to clean
it up by washing my sheets, blanket, and bedspread in the bathtub." Chris
hated that he had just lied to his mother...but better a lie than the truth
when it came to explaining what he would later learn to call a 'wet dream'.

	"Oh, honey. I'm sorry you had an upset stomach, but you've had them
before and I didn't mind doing your laundry as I've done your whole life."

	"I know, Mother, but...the mess was so large. I...I didn't want you
to see it."

	"Sweetheart, I'm more concerned about your being sick than a bunch
of soiled bedclothes.  Here! Let's see if the two of us can squeeze the
excess water out of them and I'll take them down to the washing machine."

	"Thanks, Mother."

	"I don't wonder that your stomach is upset. You've had a very
traumatic weekend at the doughnut shop and then yesterday with the auto
accident. Chris, no wonder you were exhausted at church this
morning. Honey, if you're not feeling better tomorrow morning, I'll write
you a note and you can stay home all day to rest."

	"I'm sure I'll be all right, Mother."

	"Oh, Chris, I'm SO proud of you...and so is your dad."

	"Aw, Mother, please don't start that gushing over me again. I told
you and EVERYONE a dozen times that what I did wasn't all that
special. I...I just happened to be there when two accidents
occurred. ANYONE would have done the same as I."

	"Oh, my little modest saint! I still thank God every night for
sending you to your dad and me."

	"Wanna know something, Mother?"

	"What?"

	"I do the same thing..."

	"What do you mean?"

	"I thank God every night for His letting you and dad be my
parents."

	Katherine choked up with tears. "Chris, we've only talked about
this lightly in the past, but your dad and I have always felt that God had
a special plan for you. I mean...now don't get mad at me, but look what you
did during the past two days! You saved five lives...and PLEASE don't be
modest about that! When God's ready to show you your path, don't fight
it. Go with God."

	"I will, Mother. I DO have one secret I've never told anyone...not
you, not Dad, not even Billy."

	"Are you ready to share it with us?"

	"Maybe... You see, Mother, I'm not exactly sure...NOT YET! But,
I've been seriously thinking about going into the priesthood. In case I
change my mind, could that little secret be just between the two of
us. I...I'm not ready to tell Dad just yet...and I, certainly, don't want
to tell Billy about it. It'll be all over school."

	Katherine dropped the wet bedclothes and hugged her son. Tears were
streaming down her cheeks. "I'll keep your secret...but, my little secret
is that I've always wished the same thing for you."

	"Ha! Billy would have a convulsion if he knew what I'd just told
you."

	"You love Billy, don't you, Chris?"

	"Yes, Mother. I love him like a brother and sometimes, even more
than that. He's like one of our family to me."

	"Does he feel the same way about you?"

	"I hope so, Mother."

	"I'm glad that you have someone your age to be that close to. Why
don't you invite him over for a sleepover next weekend?"

	"I'll think about it. He might have plans with Carolyn."

	"He and Carolyn are going steady now?"

	"Yes."

	"And you have no little girl in your life?"

	"No, just a big girl...YOU! If I'm going to be a priest, I'd better
learn to get along without girls...at least until I know for sure that
that's what I want to be."

	"Oh, Lord! Look at the mess 'I' made when I dropped those wet
clothes. Come on before I have to mop the floor in here AND in your
bedroom."

	"Thanks, Mother..."


<><><><><><><><><><>

	By Sunday evening, after Chris had had time to think about the
hoopla that would be made over him at school the following day, Chris took
Katherine's advice and stayed home. He was certain that the entire student
body would have heard about the doughnut store and/or the traffic accident
and Chris was in no mood of repeating the details of either episode all day
long...nor did he want the accolade or distinction of being the town
hero. He told his mother that he was merely stressed out...which she bought
as a reason and allowed him to stay home Tuesday as well.

	Chris' being absent on Monday disappointed Billy, as Billy really
wanted to be seen with Chris and share some of the spotlight. Even though
Billy had done nothing heroic at the crash, he was a witness to the scene
which allowed him to stretch the truth a bit concerning what he and Chris
had done in saving the children, the mother, and the other
driver. Hopefully, the white lies wouldn't get back to Chris, so Billy
didn't call Chris on Monday night to see why he was absent. BUT, when Chris
failed to show up at school on the second day, as soon as the 3:30 pm bell
rang, Billy made a beeline to Chris' house to see what was wrong with his
best friend.

	Billy was out of breath when he knocked on the Curtis' back
door. Katherine answered and asked Billy to come in.

	"Mrs. Curtis, is Chris all right? How sick is he?" Billy asked.

	"He's in his room resting, Billy. Why don't you go tap on his door
and let him know that you're here."

	"Thanks, Mrs. Curtis..."

	Billy ran up the stairs to Chris room and opened the door without
knocking.

	"Come on in, why don't you?" Chris said, surprised to see Billy,
yet somewhat annoyed by Billy's rude entrance.

	"Sorry...it's just that I was so damned worried about you!"

	"You didn't bother to call me last night."

	"Well, you didn't call me either!" Billy replied. "What's wrong
with you?"

	"Nothing really...I just didn't want to face hundreds of classmates
with their praise and sympathy. I...I'd rather that they didn't know what
happened."

	"Too late! The WHOLE school knows. I heard Sister Sophia talking to
Father Donovan about paying a tribute to you in chapel!"

	"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I DON'T WANT!"

	"Chris, you could have every girl and guy in the school looking up
to you!"

	"I don't want that, Billy! I mean, if what I did is making such a
ruckus, I might stay home for the rest of the week until the news became
old news and everyone forgot about it!"

	"Why are you so shy about being brave, Chris?"

	"You and I are best friends, Billy, but we are opposite in so many
ways. You're popular and like being popular. I just don't want to draw any
attention to myself."

	"Is that why you make 'B's' and 'C pluses' when I know you're
capable of making straight 'A's'?"

	"Maybe. A straight 'A' student is someone whom everybody looks at
and despises him at the same time by trying to prove he's smarter than
anyone else."

	"Is that why you don't have a girlfriend? You want to be a loner in
the crowd so no one will notice you?"

	"Perhaps in the past I did that...but, something happened to me
this weekend. Something for the better."

	"Boy, I'll say. You saved nearly a half dozen lives."

	"I...I hadn't planned on telling you this, not for a long time,
anyway..."

	"What? Don't tell me that you're gay?"

	"Ha! I don't even know how to be straight and I know even less
about being gay."

	"Then, what?"

	"Have you ever heard of someone receiving his calling?"

	"You mean like hearing voices? A schizophrenic like Buddy Knowles?"

	"No, you idiot! I mean when a person suddenly realizes what kind of
work he wishes to strive for..."

	"Shit! You want to be a paramedic?"

	"No. Billy, come and sit on the side of my bed. I want to tell you
something very personal and I don't want you to laugh."

	"Uh oh! I'm dying to hear this"

	Billy went to Chris bed, where he was lying, and sat on the
side. Billy was almost shocked when Chris reached for Billy's hand and
gripped it firmly.

	"I...I don't know if I've ever told you about my birth."

	"Oh, God! You descended to earth in a tiny spaceship like Clark
Kent..."

	"Billy! Stop it! I'm trying to be serious with you."

	"I'm sorry..."

	"When I was born, I almost killed my mother. I was born with
collapsed lungs and I wasn't supposed to live."

	"Damn! I never knew that!"

	"I was told that when my live or die situation was touch and go, my
dad went into the hospital chapel and dedicated my life to do God's work. I
didn't know about this until my mother and dad told me when I was twelve
years old. It frightened me for a long time. I hated it that they had
chosen my profession for me. I couldn't be a fireman, or a policeman, or a
football player, like most other kids. I felt that God expected me to
follow the promise my parents had made to Him."

	"And...?"

	"Friday night when Joey came back to life. I felt a chill go down
my spine. It reminded me of Christ when he brought Lazarus back from the
dead. I saw a flash of light...just like I was in some science-fiction
movie. That's the main reason I didn't come over to your house to sleep
over...and then, when I got those kids away from the burning car and took
them to their mother, I had another chill and a second flash. I fought my
feelings all night but somehow, deep inside of me, I knew that God was
talking to me."

	"What did He say, Chris?" Billy was now very serious.

	"I think he showed me that I need to go into the priesthood."

	"Father Chris? You're joking!"

	"No, I'm not, Billy...and you, as my best friend...I'm hoping
you'll help me and respect my decision."

	"Shit, man! I don't want to have to be holy around you all the
time! I mean, you're not even through high school yet. How can you be so
sure that you want to live a life like that? Damn! That means, you'll miss
the prom! You'll go through life without ever having sex or knowing what it
feels like to fuck a girl! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN LEARNED TO MASTURBATE YET!"

	"Well, I'm years away from taking my final vows or being
ordained. I'm still human, you know."

	"Maybe so, but I don't want to read about you in the newspapers in
the year 2006 where you've molested a dozen altar boys. I think that's why
priests do it. They went through life without having sex and make up for
the time they lost on young kids who are afraid to tell on them."

	"Billy, I'm NOT going to molest altar boys, choir boys, or ANY
boys!"

	"You could practice on me and get it out of your system!"

	"What?"

	"I mean, since we are best friends, we could do innocent things
together to keep you from wanting to do them later AFTER you've taken your
vows!"

	"Dear Lord! How could I have called you my best friend all these
years when I've just discovered how dumb and insane you actually are?"

	"What do priests who DON'T have sex or masturbate do? Wrap a tight
rubber band around their dicks when they go to bed so that they won't have
wet dreams like the ones you've been having every night?"

	"No, you just remove sexual thoughts from your mind and think of
pure things like flowers, waterfalls, bright sunny days..."

	"BULLSHIT! You'll be smelling so many flowers in your sleep that
you'll get hay fever! You'll drown in your sleep by jumping over waterfalls
and you'll go blind with too much sun shining in your eyes while you've got
your eyes closed."

	"Why is it so important to you that I have a normal sex life?"

	"Because it's important to me!"

	"Why?"

	"Do you want to become my father confessor for a few minutes?"

	"What do you mean?"

	"I mean, since you told me your biggest secret. Can I tell you
mine? Remember, 'Father Chris', you're bound to secrecy by your priestly
vows! You can't tell ANYONE!"

	"All right. I'll keep your secret...but as your best friend, not
your 'father confessor'!"

	"Okay, but I'm not sure I can look into your eyes when I tell
you. I mean, if I was really confessing, I'd be in the confessional and
you'd be in the next booth where neither of us could see one another."

	"Turn away from me and look at the wall. I won't look your way,
either."

	"Shit! This is so difficult for me...and I KNOW I'm gonna hate
myself for telling you and YOU'RE probably gonna hate me too!"

	"WHAT IS IT BILLY? QUIT STALLING! OUT WITH IT!"

	Billy moved his body so that he was facing the opposite wall away
from Chris.

	"All right! Now don't YOU laugh! I didn't laugh at you!"

	"I promise not to laugh!"

	"Okay. You know that I masturbate and I masturbate a lot! Sometimes
many times at night when I go to bed."

	"I...I figured as much."

	"Well, you see...when a guy is jerking off, he needs to think of
things...usually DIRTY things before he can climax."

	"No, I didn't know that...but go on..."

	"This is really embarrassing! Chris, when I first began to
masturbate, I would visualize having sex with a girl and doing ALL kinds of
things to her naked body. When I first started going steady with Carolyn, I
could get off in less than a minute! I would see her wide open wet pussy
inviting me to stick my dick into it and I'd shoot her full of my semen."

	"I guess all guys our age, with the exception of me, do that from
time to time..."

	"Yeah, well...not exactly. You see, for the past couple or three
months, I haven't been fantasizing about Carolyn's pussy..."

	"You've found a new girlfriend?"

	"No! Carolyn is my one and only girlfriend."

	"Then you fantasize about a movie star...some sexy glamour girl?"

	"No, Chris. YOU'RE all I think about now!"

	"ME?"

	"Yes, YOU!"

	"I...I don't have a pussy."

	"I know, you dope! BUT I want to see your dick...touch it...put it
into my mouth and suck it!"

	"BILLY! STOP THAT! I won't be the brunt of one of your jokes!"

	"I'm not kidding, Chris. What the hell do you think I wanted you to
sleep over at my house. That night that you lay beside me, it was all I
could do to keep from ripping off your pajamas and plunging my mouth on
your dick!"

	"I...I'm sorry to say this...but I kinda had a feeling that you
might do something like that. I...I didn't sleep much as I pretended to
sleep while all the time I was on guard toward your making a move on me."

	"I...I KNOW I'm not gay, Chris! I shower with guys every day at
school and never feel anything toward ANY of them. But when I'm with you,
my dick stays hard until I can get home and jerk off. I don't know why I
feel this way...I mean can a guy be queer for his best friend and no other
guys at all?"

	"I...I'm the wrong person to ask that, Billy!"

	Billy suddenly turned and looked Chris directly into his eyes.

	"Chris, would you ease my mind by answering ONE question
truthfully?"

	"I don't lie to you, Billy, ever!"

	"Chris, do you ever get a hard on when you're around me?"

	Chris blushed and dropped his head. "Uh...you...uh wanted the
truth, right?"

	"Yes!"

	"I...I have on certain occasions."

	"Do you think it was I, who made you get the hard on?"

	"Well, you must be...because I'm not thinking about anyone else..."

	"Thanks!" Billy jumped up from the bed and confronted Chris.  "YOU
SEE! THAT'S WHY YOU CAN'T BECOME A PRIEST! YOU TURN ME ON AND I TURN YOU
ON!"

	"I...I don't know what to say..."

	"Remember when I kissed you and in a few minutes, you kissed me! Do
you really think that was a 'brotherly kiss'?"

	"We agreed that it was..."

	"Then we BOTH lied about it!"

	Billy lunged on the bed with one knee and put one hand on each of
Chris' shoulders and pulled Chris forward enough to plant a huge kiss on
Chris' lips.

	"BILLY! NO! STOP IT!" Chris cried out, pushing Billy away. This
didn't stop Billy's advances as he made a move toward Chris a second time,
gripping Chris' upper arms tightly so that Chris couldn't move. He kissed
Chris again.

	Chris realized that Billy had him physically trapped. He couldn't
move or fight Billy off, so he relaxed and let Billy have his way...perhaps
the same as a woman does when she's being raped. Chris closed his eyes and
exhaled heavily through his nostrils, not moving for several
seconds...until he felt Billy release the hold on one of his arms and
suddenly perceived that Billy had grabbed his penis...which was unusually
erect. Billy couldn't be stopped now. He HAD to complete what he started
even if it meant losing his best friend forever.

	The excitement of the moment, compounded by Billy's tight lips
against his own was more than Chris could stand because as soon as Billy
put his hand under the sheet and blanket covering Chris and Billy's hand
groped Chris' bare flesh, Chris had a tremendous orgasm, immediately. Chris
opened his mouth to sigh or yell, whichever came first, and this was
Billy's invitation to ram his tongue into Chris' mouth.

	Chris was discombobulated with a plethora of strange
emotions. Nothing had ever felt quite so pleasant and physically wondrous
to Chris, but at the same time, he could feel the pulse pounding in his
temples as his blood rushed to his face and head out of total
embarrassment.

	"OH, GOD! BILLY!" Chris sighed loudly in a vocal whisper. "WHAT DID
YOU JUST DO TO ME?"

	"I did nothing that you didn't want to happen. Chris, it HAD to
happen. We're friends, sure! But like we said, the other night...we're MORE
than friends."

	"But I spilled my seed all over you..."

	"So? You want to make it even and let me spill mine over you?"

	"NO! Of course not! What we did was wrong!"

	"CHRIS, what we did was one of the most beautiful things God
created. He meant for men to have orgasms. That's why they feel so great!
He didn't want us to go through life without experiencing ALL of His
miracles! That's the very thing that creates life...and God wanted it to
feel good. If there was a lot of pain to having an orgasm, life would have
ended with Adam and Eve."

	"Perhaps, but that seed was meant to fertilize an egg. THAT'S what
creates life."

	"Well, I think guys are supposed to learn HOW to do it before they
try it with a woman. I mean, ifa guy DOESN'T know how to do it, his wife is
disappointed and their marriage usually ends up in a divorce!"

	"SO, according to you...ALL guys do it with each other until
they're ready to do it for real with a woman!"

	"MOST guys do...MOST BEST FRIENDS DO!"

	"Billy, that's ridiculous and utter nonsense."

	"All right...in retrospect...what we just did...was that a sin?"

	"I...I don't know..."

	"OF course you know. It was your first time! It felt GOOD! Now you
know why God made it to feel good. You can understand now when some
troubled kid, years from now, comes into your confessional and says,
'Forgive me, Father! I jerked off last night!' The kid was learning about
life...the way God wanted him to."

	"Yes, but, you didn't jerk me off. All you did was touch me and I
exploded like Mount Vesuvius!"

	"You won't, the next time!"

	"Billy, there WON'T be a next time!"

	"Oh, yes there will. When I leave to go home today, you're gonna
want to experiment by yourself and suddenly you'll be filled with lots of
questions you'll want to ask me...and the NEXT time will be better than the
first...although you'll NEVER forget your first time!"

	"I...uh, think you'd better go home now, Billy! I have a big mess
to clean up before my mother sees it."

	"You think your dad never tried this when he was our age? I'll bet
your mother did too!"

	"Billy? Please go...PLEASE!"

	"I'll call you later tonight to see if you're coming to school
tomorrow."

	"I'll let my mother talk to you when you call and she'll give you
my answer..."

	"Well, if you're not at school tomorrow, I'll come by...the same as
this afternoon."

	"I won't let you in..."

	"WANNA BET?"

	Billy left. Chris looked down at the soiled sheets and pajamas and
wondered if he could fake diarrhea for his mother a second time. What was
even stranger...his penis was still erect. Surely he would find a way to
make it go down before dinner.


<><><><><><><><><><>

	After Billy left, Chris decided to take a shower and appear to be
clean and fresh during dinner. He did not give in to the impulse to
masturbate by himself. The cool shower took care of his problematic
penis...temporarily, at least. It was Tuesday night and the night when
Katherine went to St. Anne's Church to discuss the flower arrangements for
next Sunday's mass. She enjoyed the company of the other ladies on the
flower committee and thought of their rendering decorations was to honor
the church and all its' saints. Billy's mother, Angela, was also on the
committee and in mid-Spring and early Autumn, she supplied a lot of the
seasonal blooms for the floral arrangements from her personal garden.

	Robert Curtis always washed the supper dishes on Tuesday night
while Katherine went to her meeting. If Chris wasn't busy doing his school
homework, often he would dry the dishes for his dad.

	Chris had a good rapport with both his parents. He respected them
and in turn, they treated Chris as a young adult. Not once in his life had
Robert or Katherine ever punished him or even scolded him for some
wrong-doing. It wasn't that Chris was a perfect child, it just wasn't in
Chris' demeanor to get into trouble. Chris was a good boy, mostly because
his parents had reared him that way. Since Chris had missed the first two
days of school in the week, Chris had no homework to do. Therefore he
joined his dad at the sink to help with the dishes.

	"Feeling better, son?" Robert asked.

	"A little, Dad," Chris replied.

	"Do you think you'll be going to class in the morning?"

	"I'm not sure, Dad. I...I'd like to stay home just one more day if
it's all right with you and Mother."

	"You're still not ready to hear the sound of the hero's fanfare?"

	"No, I'm not. I keep hoping with each passing day that maybe the
kids at school will forget about what happened over the weekend."

	"You're probably right. Who knows, maybe one of the cheerleaders
will strain her back trying to catch her pom-poms! That should make the
entire school forget about your saving five lives!" Robert said, chuckling.

	"If I thought that would get the attention off me, I'd try to help
her strain her back!" Chris joked back at his dad.

	"Did you have a nice visit with Billy this afternoon?"

	"It was OK, I guess."

	"You know your mother and I often said that if anything should ever
happen to us OR the Russell's, it's nice to know that either one of you or
Billy would still have two parents who loved you. Of course, the odds of
anything happening are mighty slim, but we'd give Billy a home as I'm sure
the Russell's would take you in. Both Charlie and Angela are aware as your
mother and I, just how close you and Billy are...and how much you mean to
each other."

	"We've always thought of ourselves as being next of brothers."

	"Is Billy still dating the Owens' girl, Carolyn?"

	"Yeah, they're going steady now."

	"So you have to share Billy with her?"

	"Not exactly. I mean...well, it's not like Billy and I are attached
that close or in THAT way..."

	"I wasn't implying that there was some kind of romantic
relationship between you and Billy, I just meant that Billy has to divide
his time between his girlfriend and his best friend."

	"Oh...yeah..."

	"No little girl has caught your eye yet?"

	"No, Dad. It's just that I'd rather read a good book than go to a
dance or out on a date."

	"I know it's nice to cuddle up in bed with a good book on a cold
night, but a good book won't keep you warm the way a good wife would."

	"Dad, I'm YEARS away of picking out a good wife."

	"Still, it's nice to shop around until you find the type girl that
interests you."

	The dishes were finished, but Chris was not ready to end his
conversation with Robert.

	"Well, that about does it!" Chris said, putting away the last dish
in the cupboard and hanging his towel on the drying rack.

	"So, son, do you want to go to your room and read or do you feel
like coming into the living room to watch TV. There are several good news
shows on tonight, I'd like to watch."

	"Dad?"

	"Yes?"

	"Could we just sit down and talk for a minute?"

	"Sure! You want to talk about the weekend?"

	"No, far from it!"

	"All right. Is something troubling you?"

	"Well, maybe..."

	"Come on into the living room and sit. We'll talk in there." Chris
followed his dad and took his seat on the couch next to him. "Now then,
what would you like to talk about?"

	"It's about something we've never talked about..."

	"Uh oh! You mean the birds and the bees?"

	"Well, kinda, but not really?"

	"What does, 'kinda, but not really', supposed to mean?"

	"Dad...oh, jeez, this is so embarrassing."

	"Son, nothing is too embarrassing to talk about with your parents."

	"OK!" Chris took a big breath and said, "Dad, do you know about
masturbation?"

	"Sure, son."

	"Is it a sin?"

	"Only if you make it one."

	"What does THAT mean?"

	"I mean that some things, boys keep to themselves about. Let me
assure you that ALL boys do it or find out about it somehow...usually when
they're by themselves."

	"Uh...did you ever...?"

	"Sure! Only I was younger than you when I found out about it."

	"You were?"

	"Well, I had tried it a few times when I felt it was safe and no
one was around...that is, until one day, your grandmother walked in on me
in my bedroom when I was lying on my bed naked as a jaybird with my
erection in hand."

	"Oh, God. I would have been mortified and died on the spot!"

	"Believe me, I felt I wished I was dead."

	"What happened?"

	"She yelled at me to get dressed. Then she walked with me all the
way to the church...St. Anthony's...and told me to go into the confessional
and ask for forgiveness."

	"WOW! You had to tell your priest about it?"

	"Well, that's what your grandmother TOLD me to do...but actually, I
didn't!"

	"So what did you tell him?"

	"I...lied to my priest and told him that I had cheated on a math
test."

	"You lied to your priest?"

	"I figured that God had seen me masturbating and there was no
reason to tell my priest what God already knew. So he told me to say
twenty-five, 'Our Father's' and twenty-five 'Hail Mary's'. So I came out of
the confessional, knelt on a prayer bench and said my contrition while my
mother watched. This satisfied her and we went home. After that, I made
sure she never caught me again."

	"You mean, you still did it?"

	"Yes, son. I did it frequently, until I married your
mother. Somewhere, I had read that if a boy stored up his sperm without
releasing it, he would have prostate problems later in his life. The way I
looked at it was like when you have all this congestion in your nose and
throat, it you don't blow your nose or spit it out of your throat, you're
apt to choke to death on the phlegm."

	"So according to you, masturbating is a necessary body function?"

	"It's like I said. Some things boys keep to themselves. If you
believe that God sees everything you do, why tell anyone who's less than
God?"

	"You sure made me feel different than the way I was thinking."

	"Chris, have you begun to masturbate?"

	"Not really."

	"Come on! I told you my secret. It's all right if you HAVE
begun. I..I would expect you to. Of course, if you'd rather keep it to
yourself the way I did..."

	"Dad, I wake up quite often and my bed and pajamas are covered
in...sperm, as you call it."

	"Wet dreams. They're normal because you're not releasing the fluid
through masturbation."

	"So, it's like I'm masturbating in my sleep and I don't even know
about it!"

	"Exactly."

	"SO, if it's gonna happen anyway, then I might as well encourage
the fluid to get out while I'm awake, huh?"

	"I think that's what the good Lord intended when He gave us a penis
and gonads."

	"Do you think Jesus masturbated?"

	"Jesus came down to earth to be like us...humans! I don't think
that any of the four apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John would have
written about what Jesus did when he was a teenager. They all write about
him until he was twelve years old in the temple with the scribes and the
Pharisees. Because the next thing any of them wrote about Jesus was when he
was thirty years old."

	"So you think Jesus did, huh?"

	"More than likely. Otherwise, He couldn't've been a total human
being."

	"Do you think priests do it?"

	"No one knows for sure, but I believe if they didn't, they would
walk around with swollen testicles or limp with an enlarged prostate
gland. We don't know what priests confess to other priests or even if they
ever mention masturbation."

	"All right, Dad, here's the deal. Billy wanted me to masturbate
with him this afternoon."

	"And did you?"

	"Not exactly. I didn't want to do it because I didn't want to be
guilty of sinning."

	"Son, it's my opinion that ALL boys who have a best friend engage
in masturbating together. It's a bond of friendship between them. It's a
rite of passage. There's nothing wrong with sharing your biggest, darkest
secrets with your best friend."

	"It would have been all right if I HAD masturbated with Billy?"

	"As long as you both were OK with it."

	"Dad, I really wanted to...I mean, I told Billy about the 'wet
dreams', as you call 'em and he wanted to show me what to do to get rid of
them."

	"So he masturbated with you this afternoon?"

	"No, Dad. He touched me...JUST FOR A SPLIT SECOND...and I...I made
a mess ALL over my bed and pajamas. I mean it was so darned quick. Then I
got real embarrassed and asked Billy to leave."

	"Did you clean your bed and pajamas?"

	"No. I had a wet dream the other morning and when Mother saw the
mess, I...I told her that I had diarrhea and had pooped in the bed. She
washed everything for me."

	"Are your bedclothes and pajamas still soiled?"

	"Yeah, I...I couldn't like to Mother a second time. I...I was
thinking about washing them after you and she had gone to sleep."

	"Why don't WE go up and wash them before your mother gets home?"

	"Boy, that's a GREAT idea."

	"Chris, I'm not encouraging you to masturbate or do anything you
choose NOT to do, but if you have any more accidents...like soiling your
bedclothes or whatever, tell it to me privately, and I'll take care of your
dirty linen and things."

	"Thanks, Dad!"

	"I won't say a word to your mother about it. That will be OUR
secret...and another thing, don't stay angry with Billy. I'm sure he was
just trying to help you out, the best way he knew."

	"So if he comes over again and wants to...well, you know...You
won't be mad at me?"

	"Of course not! If I KNOW that he's up in your bedroom with you,
I'll see what I can do to keep your mother busy downstairs until Billy
leaves."

	"I can't believe it's so easy to talk with you about something like
this."

	"Son, I love you. It was MY sperm which helped bring you into this
world. You're an extension of me and your mother. If you have a problem,
then it becomes MY problem. There's no reason why the two of us can't
tackle the problem together!"

	"We'd better go strip the sheets off my bed and get them into the
washing machine!"

	"Good idea, son. GOOD IDEA!"

<><><><><><><><><><><>

	Chris got his mother's permission to stay home from school one more
day. Then, he remembered Billy's saying that he would be by to see him as
soon as school let out. In spite of the long talk with his dad, Chris was
still leery about 'doing things' with his best friend. Billy was more
experienced and had been 'doing it' longer and many more times than Chris
which made Chris apprehensive about 'doing it' in front of and WITH his
best friend.  So Chris decided that he wouldn't be at home when and if
Billy arrived after school.

	At three-fifteen, fifteen minutes before the final school bell
rang, Chris sneaked out of his house and went for a walk. He wanted to hide
some place Billy couldn't find him or wouldn't even think of looking for
him...and so, Chris decided to go to St. Anne's Church for a private
devotional, light a few candles, say a few prayers...perhaps, kill time
until Billy would get discouraged and go to his house.

	To the left of the nave of St. Anne's was a small chapel. One had
to walk down the main aisle of the church, practically to the main altar to
even see the chapel. That's where Chris decided to hide...in the first pew
of the chapel.

	St. Anne's was empty when Chris arrived. When the large door of the
church closed, it created an echoing 'BANG', so Chris knew if anyone
entered after he was inside, he could peek to see whom it was...primarily,
Billy.

	At approximately, three-forty-five, Chris heard the front door
open, followed by the big 'BANG'. He got up and eased his body around the
entrance of the small chapel to see whom had entered.

	IT WAS BILLY! Chris scrunched down to the floor and hid behind a
tall statue of St. Paul. Billy walked down to the front of the nave, turned
right, and went into a room behind the confessionals. Chris had never been
through that door and wondered where it led...more importantly, how did
Billy know to go there?"

	Fifteen more minutes passed and Chris' curiosity got the best of
him. He walked across the transept, stopping in the middle to genuflect and
cross himself in front of the huge crucifix and the altar where the Host
was kept. Slowly, he moved toward the mysterious door and eased it open.

	Leading from the door was a small hallway with several more doors
at the end. One was marked, caretaker, and another, janitor. Chris tiptoed
down the hallway and as he approached the janitor's door, he thought he
heard Billy's voice talking to an unfamiliar voice. It was not Father
Crenshaw's. Chris put his ear to the door eaves to listen. It WAS Billy's
voice...but whose voice was the other one? What was Billy doing here after
school when he was supposed to be at Chris' house.

	Carefully, millimeter by centimeter, Chris edged the door open
until he saw something that shocked him speechless. Billy was sittin on a
table without his pants and underwear. Kneeling in front of Billy was Titus
Broomfield, the janitor, on his knees with his head bobbing to and fro on
Billy's penis. Billy held his head back and was moaning blissfully.

	Without thinking, Chris let the door slam with a thud while he ran
back down the hall, through the mysterious door...back across the transept,
stopping momentarily to genuflect, cross himself and run as fast as he
could up the main aisle of the nave, out the large door, closing with a
huge 'BANG', and then running all the way home, crying buckets of tears on
the way.

<><><><><><><><><><><><>

(To be continued in "Briarwood"---Book Ten---'Chris and
beyond...'---chapter 107).