Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 09:03:01 -0800
From: Macout Mann <macoutmann@yahoo.com>
Subject: Sam Caldwell's Further Adventures 17

This story contains explicit sexual activity between men.  Please read no
further if you are offended by such or if you are a minor.  Any resemblance
to actual persons or activities depicted is purely coincidental, but actual
places and events are mentioned to add a sense of reality to the story.

Please also donate to nifty.org to keep stories like this one coming to you
free of charge.



		     SAM CALDWELL'S FURTHER ADVENTURES

			      by Macout Mann



				Chapter 17

			 Eleven's Better than Ten



It was just going to be a simple party in Sparta.  A few friends, dinner
and drinks.  Maybe some friendly sex afterward.

It all starts to change, when Christian contacts Merritt.  "Let's make it a
surprise party.  We can have it at the Georgian Terrace.  Remember that's
where you and Vernon and I got together after you discovered I was in the
symphony."

Once the decision to move the party to Atlanta is made, the event grows
exponentially.  It is decided to hold it the weekend exams are over at
Georgia Tech, so Win can come.  If Win is coming, Myra and the other boys
should be invited.  Mason had come to Sparta for Spring break, and Win
tells Jim that Sam has become fond of both him and Ron, so they both should
be invited.

Win also tells his father about David, and what all Sam has done for him.
So David is added to the list.  Mrs. Caldwell is invited but says she
doesn't really feel up to traveling to Atlanta.

As the invitation list blossoms, Merritt thinks about Aris.  Over the
preceding months they had met and had gotten together both with and without
Sam.  Merritt knew Christian, Vernon, and Jim didn't have the resources he
had, so he had had them agree to put up a fixed amount that they would each
contribute; and since the Atlanta get-together would be more expensive than
the one being planned in Sparta, he would pay for the rest.  Being the
hustler that he is, though, Merritt figures that if Aris is invited, he
will insist on paying a share.  And Merritt is right.  So both Aris and his
father and mother are added to the list.

Finally, Ron learns that, rather than having to ship his stuff back to
Houston, his father is driving to Atlanta to get him and his belongings.
So Mr. Masterson is also included.  Sixteen in all, for cocktails and a
buffet.  Ten of the group are known to at least some of the others to be
gay or bi.

Meanwhile, Curt Abramson has invited Sam to join him on the book tour, but
to the relief of his friends, Sam declines, saying "I don't want to horn in
on your glory."  Actually he has heard that book tours are exhausting.

One of the smaller function rooms at the Georgian Terrace is beautifully
laid out for the event.  The buffet table is spread with a host of tempting
dishes, ranging from crudité to Crab Newberg.  The guests are all well
met, despite the variety of social and educational statuses represented.
The professors are fascinated by David's mixture of grace and street
smarts.  Mrs. Kanteres and Mrs. Hart are completely compatible.  And
Mr. Masterson isn't the ogre that Sam expected him to be.

"I know that you are not Win's real uncle," Masterson tells Sam, "but it's
great how you've obviously made him comfortable at school here.  And my
Ronald seems happier than I've seen him in years."

"He and Winston seem to have been well matched as roommates," Sam tactfully
replies.

Later, Ron and his father are chatting.  "Almost all the men here are
bachelors," Masterson says.  "You don't think they're faggots, do you?"

Ron is tempted to come clean, but instead answers, "Do they look like it?
An Olympian?  Two full professors at one of the best schools in the
country?  Sure, you might say that a professional violinist or an artist
might be gay, but....no, dad, these guys are some of the most masculine
guys I've ever seen.  Some men just never find the woman of their dreams or
just aren't interested in marriage.  I'm beginning to think I might be that
way."

"Oh, you've got lots of time," his dad replies.  "But that young boy over
there--David is his name?--There's something about him....I'll bet he has
girlfriends aplenty."

Ron almost chokes.

Christian taps on his glass to get the attention of the group.

"Hello, everybody," he begins.  "I think I've talked to everybody I didn't
know beforehand, but I'll admit I can't put a name to every face, so if
you're in the same condition, I'm Christian Ballard, chairman of the Art
Department at Sparta University.

"Commencement at Sparta is next weekend, so it was eleven years ago almost
to the week that I made a talk like this to a group like this on the
occasion of the graduation of a boy named Sam Caldwell.  Sam came to Sparta
as a freshman the same year I started teaching there.  And a couple of my
friends, Vernon Ramsey and Jim Hart, were first to take a special interest
in Sam.  As a result I did too.  And over the next four years, we saw Sam
grow not only in artistic talent but in so many other ways, that when he
graduated, we and many others in the Sparta community felt he was destined
for great things.  And it turned out he was.

"We should have had this tribute last year, on the tenth anniversary of his
graduation, but as one of our number has said, `eleven is better than ten,'
so Sam....Congratulations on all your successes.  We're still proud of you,
and wish you even better things to come."

There is applause, then Vernon speaks up.

"As a physicist, I, unlike Christian, had no academic oversight over the
young Sam.  It fell to me to oversee his physical development.  Forcing him
to go to the gym twice a week.  I must say that I am glad that he has kept
in shape all these years.  But, Sam, I can still take you down anytime."

"Wanna try?" Sam says.  Lots of laughter.

"I guess I'm next," Jim says.  "I'm the `redneck' in the crowd, and I guess
I was in charge of teaching Sam everything his father had failed to tell
him.  I did take him to his first `redneck bar.'  And as a result of that,
he produced the set of prints that made him his first fortune."

"Yeah, and there were some other things that happened that night," Sam
blushed.  More laughter.

"Can I go next, Dad?" Win asks.  Then he says, "I was four when Sam came
into our lives.  He's been like an uncle to me and my brothers.  He started
helping me when I first posed for him.  I was a kid jumping into a swimming
hole.  Dad told me I shouldn't take money for posing for Sam, so Sam
started putting my fees into an account for my college education.  Now I'm
able to go to Georgia Tech, in part because Sam gave me the will to go to
college and the dollars that account has provided has made a big
difference....and Sam, you know nobody gets sitting fees that size!"

"And I want to say that if you hadn't done those things, Win wouldn't be my
roommate, and I'd never have gotten to know you, Mr. Caldwell."  It was Ron
speaking.  "I was pretty full of myself when I came to college, and I was
pretty nasty to Mr. Caldwell, when we first met.  He wasn't kind to me
either.  But over the last nine months, both he and Win have helped me to
understand things about myself, and I'll be forever grateful."

Everyone who wanted to say something spoke.  Aris spoke of his remarkable
talent.  Merritt reminded him that he had gotten him extra work while he
was in college.  Mason told about his admiration for Sam's work as a child
and how proud he was that through Win he had been able to meet him.  The
last and most hesitant speaker was David.

"My name is David Williams, and I've known Mr. Caldwell for less time than
any of you, I think.  And yet he has had a bigger influence on my life than
anybody else.  I got out of high school without any idea of what to do.  I
was headed nowhere.

"His father had just died, so he was in Columbus.  He was just walking
around and ran into me.  Somehow, he sensed that I was in need.  Oh, I
didn't think of myself that way.  I thought I was pretty hot shi....stuff.
But after talking to him just a few minutes, I realized that I needed help
and here was somebody that wanted to help me.

"He hired me for six months to look after his mom.  And she's such a
wonderful lady.  And then he helped me get a job here in Atlanta that pays
enough for me to help support my mom and my kid sister and I'll still be
able to start college next fall like these guys.  And I owe it all to
Mr. Caldwell."

There isn't a dry eye in the room.

Finally Sam gets up.

"Well this was some surprise.  Christian mentioned the party he and the
guys gave at my graduation.  I got up then and gave a speech, and ended up
crying my eyes out.  Well, this time I'm just going to say `thank you' and
sit down.  But I do mean `thank you' for all your help, and friendship, and
love."

And then he bursts into tears.



When the party breaks up, Jim and his family drive back to Sparta.  Sam
will be alone at the Habersham.  Christian, Vernon, and Merritt remain at
the Georgian Terrace.  They want to relive the night they had spent there
when Christian and Vernon discovered that Merritt was in the symphony.
Since Win is not staying at the dorm, Mr. Masterson decides to bed down in
Ron's room.

As they are driving back to the dorm, Masterson is very talkative.  "Those
guys said they were going to stay at the hotel tonight.  Yet doesn't one of
them live at the same building that Caldwell does?  Sounds gay as hell to
me.

"And what did you mean about them helping you understand yourself?"

Ron decides that the time has come.  "Yes, Dad, they are gay.  And I needed
to understand about myself, because I am too."



                                 EPILOGUE


"The Steel Skeleton" was published and sold well, but it didn't reach its
vast intended audience, so it was the first and last graphic novel in that
format.

Sam's portrait commissions continued to come, and he found himself spending
a greater amount of time doing portraits than illustrating books.

Aris placed fourth, out of the medals, at the Atlanta Olympics, but he was
still a star, particularly in Greece.  So a Greek museum convinced Kanteres
to sell Aris' portrait to it, which gave Sam something of an international
reputation.

The centenary of the Spanish American War was not celebrated with great
fanfare, but an organization calling itself "The Remember the Maine
Society" commissioned Sam to do a group of scenes depicting events on the
Maine just before it exploded.  They had been impressed by Sam's Pirate
Canvas at the Whitney Museum.  The Fogg Museum at Harvard, which Theodore
Roosevelt attended, had agreed to display the oils during the centenary,
and both the society and the museum would sell lithographs of the pictures
to raise funds.  This project made Sam even more famous.

Sam, Merritt, the Harts, Christian and Victor remained close throughout
their lives.

Both Win and Ron got degrees in Civil Engineering.  Mason in Information
Technology.  The three of them formed a company which became a leader in
using IT to solve problems arising in infrastructure construction and
repair.  Mason married a girl in his class at Tech.

David also got his bachelor's degree, but he proved so adept in his work
for Jackson Hardaway, that he ultimately advanced to become president of
one of the Hardaway enterprises.  And early on for several years he was
also able to amass a small fortune pleasing Hardaway and his compatriots.

As to Ron's father's reaction to his dramatic revelation at the end of the
story, dear reader will have to decide for himself.


                           AUTHOR'S NOTES


So....you have read all through the Adventures of Sam Caldwell.  Please let
me know what you think.  It means so much to hear from you.  I'm at
macoutmann@yahoo.com.

And oh yes.  How do you think Mr. Masterson reacted to Ron's coming out?
I'd like your take.  Same address.