Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 17:04:09 -0700
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Thirty

	If I'd have known this story would have gone on so long I'd
probably never have started it because of the many warnings and
disclaimers.  However, each chapter requires one so here it is.
	If you're not of legal age I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to
leave.  Since legal age varies from area to area, you'll have to determine
if this applies to you.  No cheating now.  I wouldn't want to get you into
trouble.  I will say this, if you don't tell, I won't tell.
	If you don't like stories that contain descriptions of sex acts
between males what are you doing here?  After all it is a gay site and you
should expect such things.  However, if you arrived here by accident please
leave before you are offended.  I would rather not offend you but you have
to help by acting in a responsible manner and heeding this warning.
	This story is fiction.  The characters are products of my
imagination.  So is the story.  That means that any resemblance to persons
living or dead is a product of your imagination.  Didn't know you had such
a twisted imagination, did you?
	Since I made it up that makes it mine.  Tell you what.  I'll grant
you permission to read it but you can't post it on another site, nor may
you quote from it without attributing such quotes to me.  Also, you may not
use it in any manner that might profit or enrich you without contacting me
and arranging some kind of a deal.  I might share the loot.
	Once again my thanks to Ernie.  He's kind enough to edit this story
and even sends me some good jokes.  How can you beat a deal like that?  His
rates are even reasonable.
	Finishing up, feel free to email with whatever comments,
suggestions, questions, or complaints you have.  I try to answer all such
emails, even flames.  The same old email address should work as long as you
put the story title in the subject line.  It's fritz@nehalemtel.net Hope
you enjoy the following chapter.  Fritz

	I Love Corey, Chapter Thirty

	When the alarm went off I couldn't believe how much better I felt.
Things seemed to be getting calmed down and I hoped the worst was over.  As
I lay there, looking at Corey, I just wanted to hug him and kiss him.  He
just looked irresistible with those long eyelashes.  A little playing
around with him last night had improved my outlook on life.  What the hell,
a few kisses couldn't hurt.
	Well they didn't hurt but by the time we finished, we had to hurry.
I jumped into my clothes and headed for the kitchen.  I started throwing
breakfast together.  When Corey and the boys came in they looked in pretty
good humor.  JJ wasn't moving very well but he was at least moving.  A
couple more days and I thought he'd start to really improve.
	As LT walked past he grinned and said "Callipygian."  That caused
JJ to ask what the heck he was talking about and Corey and I blushed.  LT's
smirk was pure evil.  I could see I needed to have a talk with that boy.
	One look at his smirk and I started laughing so hard I about
spilled the orange juice.  We finally got breakfast eaten and I made LT
promise to tell JJ what he was talking about.  The day was off to a great
start.
	When I was ready to leave I gathered up my stuff and started for
the Gator.  As I started down the walk to get to the driveway where it was
parked, LT stuck his head out and asked how to spell callipygian.  I turned
around to tell him and pointing the control in the general direction of the
Gator I pressed the remote start.
	When I picked myself up my ears were ringing and I couldn't seem to
figure out what had happened.  I was trying to figure that out when Corey
ran up and I could see his mouth moving.  It took a few more seconds to
realize he was talking.  About that time I realized I could just make out
his voice above the ringing in my ears.
	"Are you all right?"
	It took a few seconds to process that and when I did, I decided to
check.  The back of my head felt kind of funny and when I felt it, it
seemed wet.  Then I looked at my hand and it was covered with blood.
	I turned around and there sat what was left of my shiny new green
Navigator.  Hell, I hadn't even driven it twenty miles yet and it looked
like a bomb had gone off in it.  About that time I realized a bomb had gone
off in it and that bomb was meant for me.  Suddenly I felt sick.  I just
sat down on the walk and stared at the remains of my Gator.  It had been
parked in the driveway because the riding mower was in the garage where we
were putting new drive belts and blades on it.  It would have been done
except for a delay in the belt order.
	All that was left was a pile of smoking rubble.  In fact, it was
hard to tell what kind of vehicle it had been.  There was a trail of
flaming gas running down the driveway towards the street from what must
have been the ruptured gas tank.  As I sat there in shock the thought kept
running through my mind, I hadn't even driven it twenty miles.
	Another thought intruded and suddenly I wanted to make sure the
garage wasn't on fire.  I jumped up and then had to wait a few seconds
before I could go check because I felt like I was going to black out.  When
the ground steadied again I took a few steps and I could see the garage
door.  The door was pretty well destroyed but at least it wasn't on fire.
	About then someone drove up and I couldn't understand him very well
because my ears were still ringing but I eventually got his question.  He
wanted to know if I'd called the fire department yet.  That seemed like a
real good idea so I pulled out my cell phone and dialed 911.  It was
difficult to explain to the operator because I was having such a hard time
hearing her but I guess she finally understood that I needed the fire
department because my car had been bombed and was now burning.
	I was surprised when the police showed up.  After all, I'd called
for the fire department.  I was about to call and explain that I needed the
fire department, not the police department when the officer managed to
convince me they were on the way.  The fire department arrived and started
putting the fire out while the policeman took some pictures.  All this time
Corey and the boys were clustered tight to me and seemed worried about
something.  There was so much noise I just couldn't understand what they
were asking.
	Then some character wanted me to get on a gurney so they could take
me to the hospital.  I told him I didn't want, nor need to go to the
hospital and the next thing I knew the policeman and a sheriff's deputy
were insisting I go to the hospital.  I tried to explain I had to get to
work and the boys needed me but they wouldn't seem to listen to me.  A
couple of them grabbed me and put me on the gurney.  I thought about
getting back up but I was tired.  They had me on my stomach and into the
ambulance before I knew what happened.  About the time they started for the
hospital I felt one of the EMT's working on the back of my head.  God it
hurt.  I suddenly realized just how bad my head hurt.  Not only that, my
left shoulder was sore and I had a splitting headache.
	By the time we got to the hospital the ringing in my ears was
starting to lessen.  I could now hear people speak.  Not that I could
understand them but that was because of the medical speak, you know, all
those Latin words and terms that only another practitioner of medicine
could begin to understand.  They weren't helping me understand what was
going on.
	I suppose it was about like normal.  First some guy asked me how I
felt accompanied by some prodding and poking and then nothing.  Another guy
with more prodding and poking.  More nothing.  Finally some woman asked a
bunch of questions and then once again, nothing.  There I was, strapped to
the gurney and no one was doing anything.  If I could have gotten loose I'd
have called a cab and gone home.
	Finally some more questions along with more prodding and poking and
then I was moved to another room, actually the X-ray room more correctly
called Radiology.  More nothing.  Eventually I was unstrapped and asked to
lie on a table so they could take some pictures.  They took their pictures
and then more nothing.  I was starting to feel somewhat better and all this
nothing was getting on my nerves.  It was truly penetrating that someone
had tried to kill me and not only that, I had three boys who were probably
upset.  I decided I'd had enough.
	I started to get off the table and that put an end to nothing.
Before my feet hit the floor there were a couple of people trying to stop
me.  At least the ringing was about gone and I could hear them so I could
argue with them.
	I might have had a hard time understanding when my ears were
ringing but those people had no excuse.  They just flat didn't seem to
understand English.  The words, "I'm leaving!" seemed incomprehensible to
them.  We argued for a short while and I was just about to the shouting
point when Dr. Vince Logan walked in.
	"Calm down Sam.  You need a few stitches before you go anywhere."
	If it hadn't have been for Vince I'd have walked out.  He managed
to get me back on that stupid gurney and they took me to another room.
Vince stitched up my head and a wound on my shoulder that I wasn't aware
of.  I knew it hurt but had no idea it needed stitches.  He told me he used
a local anesthetic but you couldn't prove it by me.  The stitches hurt like
hell.
	When he finished stitching me up there was more of the flashlight
in the eye thing that had been present during those bouts of prodding and
poking but at least they weren't present this time.  I was tired of all
that poking.  However, that did nothing for my headache.  Besides, he was
only about the third or fourth person to do it.
	The real argument came when he told me he wanted to keep me for a
few hours to make sure nothing else was wrong.  When he promised to send
one of his nurses to calm the boys down and explain I was okay, I finally
relented.  I definitely wasn't happy about the whole thing but at least
someone was listening.  Up `til now no one had paid any attention to what I
said.
	The nurse stopped in and asked if there was anything I wanted the
boys to know or do.  I thought a few seconds.  I knew they needed to know I
was truly all right and wondered how I might send that message.  Then I had
it.
	"Tell them to keep their sorry callipygians out of trouble or I'll
kick them around the house when I get home."  That ought to let them know I
was okay.
	The nurse looked blank and Vince burst into laughter.  Between
bouts of laughter he told her to make sure and get the message right and
watch their expressions.  When she left he turned to me.
	"What possessed you to tell her to say that?"
	"Well, the word came up and I knew they'd know the message was from
me."
	After that they got me into a bed and wheeled it into a room.
Vince told me to relax and rest.  He'd be back to check on me after lunch
and maybe I could go home then.  He left mumbling something about sorry
cute butts and laughing.  One of the nurses gave me some Tylenol and closed
the blinds so the room was fairly dark.  I just felt drained and exhausted.
	When next I noticed something, it was a voice telling someone that,
"He's asleep."  The voice sounded familiar and I tried to think of who it
was.  My eyes snapped open when I figured out it was Corey.  What was he
doing here?  In fact, where was here?  The bed sure wasn't as comfortable
as mine was.
	It took a few seconds for my thoughts to settle.  By that time I'd
figured out all three of the boys were here and here was the hospital.  I
started to sit up and I felt like every bone in my body ached.  A few
grunts and groans and I managed to sit up.  The dang blood pressure thing
was tangled up with my arm but at least it wasn't bothering me.  I'd been
having dreams about someone grabbing my arm and squeezing like crazy.
	I heard one of the boys, I think it was LT, say something about
awake now while I tried to get my head to stop spinning.  In a surprisingly
short time things steadied down and I looked around.  There were the boys,
sitting on some chairs, although what JJ was doing didn't really look like
sitting, and a policeman with his head in the door.  When our eyes made
contact he came on in and was followed by Sheriff's Deputy Allen Carson, a
friend.  They had some questions for me.
	During the course of the conversation I got acquainted with Officer
Wrangle of the City Police Department.  They wanted to know if I had any
ideas of who'd bombed the Gator.  About all I could offer was the problem
with Rev. Langston and his friends.  As they questioned further, I did
mention the phone calls last night over the termination of Les Jamison but
told them I didn't see how that could enter into things.  We were
discussing things when Vince came in and checked me over.  After some more
of that danged flashlight thing he told me I could go home.  Deputy Carson
offered to haul the boys and me home.  It took a few minutes to get my
things and the usual problems over the paperwork but soon we were headed
home.  Allen was still questioning me as we drove home.  When he said
something about it was too bad that no one had seen anything, something
clicked.
	"Maybe some one or rather something did," I said chuckling.
	"What do you mean?"
	"That security firm you recommended, they put in the system and
there're cameras."
        His eyes lit up and he grabbed his mike and called Officer Wrangle.
In the meantime I just sat in the back seat wondering how I could have
forgotten that fact.
	We piled out and went inside.  I immediately showed Allen the
monitor station for the security system.  It had five cameras overlooking
various entrances and views and worked on a digital system.  It took a
picture every twenty seconds and stored it.  The system could store fifteen
days worth the pictures or they could be transferred to a CD, DVD, or
another form of storage.  The cameras were so small that they were almost
impossible to spot and with the street light beside the driveway I should
have some good pictures.  I just hoped they would be good enough to help
identify the bombers.
	While we waited for Officer Wrangle, the boys started a sandwich
line.  Talk about efficient, LT was buttering and putting mustard on the
bread, JJ was piling various lunch meats and cheeses and Corey was slicing
tomatoes and pickles.  They just kept turning out sandwiches.  I was
surprised they worked so well together but chalked it up to the fact that
food was involved.  It was half past one so I knew they needed lunch but I
didn't think they could eat all of those sandwiches.  When Officer Wrangle
showed up, the boys started handing out sandwiches and soft drinks.  They'd
made plenty for everybody and I noticed the two cops dove right in.  While
we were eating the sandwiches we started looking at the pictures.  Sure
enough, at two thirty-eight the first glimpse of the bombers showed.  The
ten inch monitor made it difficult to tell anything but there was no doubt
we had the pictures.  Officer Wrangle was complaining about not being able
to see much but I wasn't worried.  Once the pictures were identified I
burned them to a DVD and took it over to the desktop.  Once I had them
loaded it didn't take long to enhance them with Photoshop.  A little more
contrast and some brightening made all the difference.  That plus the
twenty-one inch monitor made the pictures really good.  They weren't photo
quality but there was no problem seeing what was happening.  The problem
was the two bombers were masked.
	According to the time imprint on each picture it took nineteen
minutes to get the door open and hook up the bomb.  I kept thinking one of
the bombers seemed familiar but couldn't figure out who he was.  Right
towards the end I heard LT's breath hiss.
	"Mr. Jamison!  I think that's Mr. Jamison."
	He was right.  Some of the mannerisms and the size were right.
Plus I remembered seeing him wear that coat.  Once it was called to my
attention who he was, I spotted several things which I pointed out to the
officers.  The last two pictures showed a car pulling up and the bombers
getting in and leaving.  It took a little more work but finally we could
read the license plate in one of the pictures.
	We went back over and burned some more DVDs so the police had
copies.  Plus they were the raw files.  That way they could do their own
enhancing if they needed to.  A bunch of paperwork and copies of the
enhanced files and they finally left.  They needed to run the plate but it
looked like they now had some solid leads.  I still wondered who the other
person was.
	I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with my insurance
agent and the Lincoln dealer.  The dealer had just gotten in a gray
Navigator about like mine except it had a moon roof.  While I liked the
soft grayish green I'd picked out, I could live with gray and he told me
he'd get a remote start system and an alarm system installed by tomorrow
evening.  I don't know why I'd requested the remote start originally as it
was an aftermarket product, but I was sure glad I'd done so.  It had saved
my life.  Besides, I'm a gadget freak.  This time though, I'd have an alarm
system.  I'd never liked them because someone was always setting them off
but figured if I'd had one it might have stopped the bombers.  Since there
was no trade this time, the price wasn't much higher.  It had a couple
other options I hadn't ordered on the first one.
	The insurance agent was a little more difficult to deal with.  The
insurance company required a bunch of paperwork before they'd do anything
but we managed to get the ball rolling.  Hopefully they'd get it all done
before I had to take some money out of my portfolio.  If not, well that was
just the way it was.  I'd be somewhat pissed off but it wouldn't be a big
hardship.  He did say I could have what was left of the Gator removed as
long as I had some pictures of it and the police pictures would do if that
was all I could get.
	A few minutes with my digital camera took care of that and about
the time I was finished, Jim showed up to haul it off.  He quoted a storage
fee and loaded it up.  Another call to the insurance agent.  I needed to
put him on speed dial.
	Then there were calls about getting the driveway and garage door
repaired and more calls to the agent.  What a mess.  I was about ready to
pull my hair out when Deputy Carson called.  Why was I not surprised when
he told me the plate was registered to Rev. Langston?  I mean I probably
should have been but, after he'd turned down the deal over the bricks
through the window, he ranked high on the idiot scale.  How he could begin
to think he might get away with something like this only confirmed that.
	By now we were down to getting the Ranger out of the garage.  More
calls to the agent and more pictures.  Finally we were permitted to take
the remains of the door apart and got the Ranger free.  There wasn't that
much room in the Supercab part but for short distances it would work.  In
fact, it would have to.  I didn't feel like cooking so we'd have to go out
for dinner.  The jump seats weren't very comfortable but for a few miles
they could be endured.
	By now it was closing time for most businesses.  I wouldn't be able
to do any more to take care of the mess.  I realized I was exhausted.  I
took a deep breath and we all went inside.  I decided to have a drink and
relax for a few minutes.  I almost had the drink mixed when the phone rang.
	That was just the first of many calls.  Everyone seemed to want to
check and see if I was okay.  When Jerry called, I managed to explain I was
all right and would be in tomorrow.  I couldn't believe I'd forgotten to
call him.  There was just so much to try to take care of my mind wasn't
working well.  Besides, I still had a headache.
	After a couple of hours of almost nonstop calls I felt like
screaming.  Why couldn't they just leave me alone and give me time to
collect my thoughts?  It seemed like all my friends and most of my
acquaintances had to talk to me and find out if it was true and was I all
right.  I finally gathered up the boys and left for dinner.  I made certain
to leave my cell phone home.  The answering machine and voice mail would
just have to handle things.
	We went to a somewhat small but very good Italian restaurant called
Italian Surprise.  They had the best pizza in the area and the rest of the
menu was even better.  I knew Corey loved pizza and hoped the others could
find something they liked.
	As we went inside I realized I'd never brought Corey here.  We
didn't eat out that much and somehow I'd just never gotten around to it.
Boy was he in for a treat.
	Corey and JJ both ordered pizza.  I didn't bother to tell them that
one would have been more than enough for the two of them.  Corey had the
Hawaiian and JJ had a pepperoni.  I decided on Veal Scaloppini and LT had
the Chicken Marcella.  As the boys attacked the bread sticks and the salads
I tried to think and see if there was anything I'd forgotten to take care
of.  I hadn't come up with anything by the time the main course arrived.
	I had two mouths hanging open when the pizzas were served.  Even LT
looked surprised.  Those were no wimpy little pizzas.  They were not only
big around but, instead of the somewhat thin crust most pizza has, those
were thick.  They had enough topping piled on to where it was trying to
slide off.  The edges being rolled in helped stop that.  The overall
thickness had to be well over an inch and a half and they must have weighed
over five pounds apiece.  It was too bad the place didn't have take out or
home delivery.  I wasn't all that fond of pizza but the ones made here were
an exception to that rule.
	I was amused with JJ.  He didn't want to admit the pizza could whip
him but about half of it was all he could eat.  The last few bites looked
like sheer agony.  Corey didn't even make it that far.  For that matter,
neither did LT or I.  When I suggested dessert, all I got was groans.  It
was a shame, you could get the best cakes and pies I'd ever bought here.
They just stared longingly at the remains of their meals when I suggested
leaving but brightened up when I requested people bags.  There were easily
enough leftovers to make another meal, even if we were hungry.
	By the time we got home all I wanted to do was just collapse.  I
was beat.  The stress of the day and getting banged around had taken their
toll.  Instead, the answering machine said I had thirteen new messages.  I
didn't even check the voice mail.
	I fixed some coffee while putting the leftovers in the refrigerator
and when it was done took a cup and started on the messages.  I was about
half done when it dawned on me the boys were just hovering around me.  When
I thought about it, they hadn't left me for more than a few seconds since
I'd awakened at the hospital.  Even when they'd been making the sandwiches
they'd kept glancing in my direction.  Now I know I'm not always the
brightest bulb in the universe but it suddenly penetrated that they were
scared and worried.  To hell with it, the calls could wait.
	"Hey guys, want to talk about it?" I asked softly.
	When I asked that, it was pretty obvious that was what they had
been waiting for.  We went into the living room and I couldn't figure out
quite how we ought to sit.  I finally selected the sofa which was about the
biggest I could find when I bought it.  I could lay on it and not touch
either arm.  JJ looked beat and I was sure has back and butt hurt so I had
him lie next to one arm of the sofa and put his head in my lap.  That left
room for Corey and LT on the other side and I could put my arm across their
shoulders.  It was about the best I could do to hold all of them at the
same time.  Somehow I thought contact would help.  There's nothing like a
helping hand, or in this case arm, to help you feel better.  It probably
goes back to when our mothers held us and burped us by patting us on the
back when we were babies.  It was comforting then and the arm reminded us
of it now.
	They kept coming back to the fact that I might have been killed.
That was true, I could have been.  I kept pointing out that I hadn't been
and there was little chance of it happening now.  Those who'd tried to kill
me would most likely be arrested in a few days.  After that they would
probably remain in jail.  Perhaps for a long time.  That didn't seem to
comfort them.  That went back and forth for a while.  I wasn't making any
progress.  Finally I stopped and thought for a few seconds.
	"Look guys.  You're right.  I could have been killed.  I wasn't.  I
could also be killed every time I drive someplace, or cross a street, or
mow the lawn, or even when I cook dinner.  After all, that's a gas range
that's in the kitchen and there is the possibility of an explosion.  I
could be walking down the street and a bank robber could run out of the
bank and think I was in his way and shoot me.  There are all kinds of ways
to be killed and fortunately, most never happen.  But, just because we
might be killed we can't stop driving, or walking, or cooking, or any of a
number of things.  Not only that, if we start worrying about it, then we go
through life afraid to do anything or have any fun.  Any of us can be
killed or die at any time.  The thing to do is to try to be reasonably
cautious and go on with our lives.
         LT, JJ, think about it.  Your life was uprooted just a few days
ago.  Before that you wouldn't have worried about me but now you seem to
be.  Why?  Is it because you're afraid something might happen to me or is
it because you might have to live somewhere else?  For that matter is it
because you're afraid that something might happen to you?  Even if
something happened, say something happened to me, Judy would find a place
for you.  It might be better or it could be worse than living here.  Who
knows?  The important thing to remember is that you have to go on no matter
what happens.  It's fine to have a healthy respect for whatever dangers
might be out there but you can't let it rule your life.  If you do that you
can't seek and find happiness.  You'll be too busy worrying about something
happening to you."
        I was out of words for right now.  I didn't know how to explain
that one can't live one life in fear.  Fear is something that becomes all
consuming.  You're left with no time or energy to do anything else.  You
end up paralyzed, doing nothing.  Sure I was afraid.  There may be more of
those crackpots out there like those that had tried to kill me but I
couldn't let them win.  I had to go on and, in order to do that, I needed
to put the worry out of my mind.  One can never let any subject become an
obsession, particularly fear.  That was what had been my problem earlier in
the week.  When I finally put fear behind me by facing it and going
forward, things, along with my attitude had improved.  Sure there would be
set-backs.  There are always set-backs in the journey of life.  Those
set-backs present the opportunity to improve ourselves.  By moving forward
and overcoming such obstacles we improve ourselves.  I just didn't know how
to say it.
        I was sure this was something I had to get through to them with.
It was something they would need to succeed in life.  It wasn't just about
someone hurting you.  It was about facing any problem you might have and
dealing with it.  There would always be those who were against homosexuals.
They were out there, waiting to hurt and try to destroy you.  If you lived
your life in fear of them, you were lost.  That didn't mean you shouldn't
recognize they were there and attempt to protect yourself.  Only that you
couldn't allow them to rule your life.
        In some senses the boys were better off than I'd been.  They seemed
to be accepting that they were different at an earlier age than I did.  I
had no idea why.  For that matter, I had no idea of why it had taken me so
long to recognize that I had an attraction to my own sex.  I'd thought
about the subject many times.  I'd just never come up with an answer.
Maybe it was because I was secretly afraid to face it but I didn't think
so.  When first I began to think I might have gay tendencies, I'd started
trying to figure out why and what differences it might make to my life.
Since I'd already decided I wanted to be a teacher, I kept it fairly quiet.
There were some in college and a couple of my high school classmates who
knew but I was never really out.  It wasn't that I was actually afraid of
being out, only that it might affect my chances of getting a job in my
chosen profession.  It was a case of trying to protect myself and going on
with my life.  If it ever came out I would have to deal with it.  How I'd
do that depended on the circumstances surrounding that event.  In the
meantime it was something that I didn't worry about.  If it happened, it
happened.  I'd deal with it then.
        In some senses it was like today.  When I got out of the hospital
I'd started picking up the pieces.  I'd contacted the insurance agent,
taken care of replacing my Gator and continued with living.  As far as I
was concerned that was going forward.  Maybe some of the things I'd done
should have been done at a different time or in a different way but I'd
done the best I could.  When it was all said and done that was all I could
do.  That's all anyone can do.  You do your best and hope its good enough.
        As we continued to discuss the situation I could tell the boys
weren't buying it.  No matter how I tried, they were still in the fear
stage.  All I could hope was that they were listening and someday they
would remember and understand.  I knew I'd keep at the argument, trying to
make them understand.  This was something all people needed to understand.
It made no difference whether they were gay or straight, liberal or
conservative, male or female, black or white.  When F.D.R. said the only
thing we had to fear was fear itself, he was right.  Other things can be
concerns, things to try to solve.  Fear is that emotion that can overrule
all others and cause one to be helpless to function and help one's self.  I
knew I'd have to revisit this subject until I made progress.  Until then I
was a failure at raising them.
        Bedtime snuck up on me.  When Corey yawned and stretched I looked
at my watch.  Chasing Corey and LT off to take showers I turned my
attention to JJ.  He hadn't done much so a shower could wait another day.
I changed the dressings on his back and butt and tucked him into his bed.
        Corey applied some of the protective spray to my shoulder and with
the aid of a shower cap I got took my shower and then went to bed.  The
knot on my head hurt too bad to lie on my back so instead of our usual
positions we wound up spooned together on our sides.  I still had a
headache and was exhausted but he wanted to talk.  As we lay there talking
the subject was the same.  How one couldn't let fear affect his actions.  I
was out of new arguments so it was mostly a rehash of what I'd said before
but it seemed to help him because it was one-on-one.  I was just about to
give up and drop off to sleep when there was a knock at the bedroom door.
        Jason was afraid.  He was crying and needed comforting.  I felt
terrible that I hadn't noticed how the Gator blowing up had affected the
boys.  However that was water over the dam so to speak.  I couldn't change
the past so I'd just have to do the best I could to try to fix things.
        "Would you feel better if you slept in here?" I asked him.  He
sniffled out a yes.
        "Then don't just stand there.  Come here and get in bed."
        As he was about to slip under the covers I noticed he had on some
briefs.
        "I thought wearing briefs hurt?" I told him.
        "They do."
        "Then why are you wearing them?"
        He stammered and stuttered and couldn't really say why he was
wearing them.  After listening to him for a minute or so I just told him to
take them off and get in bed.  After all, I told him, Corey and I were
naked and one more naked boy wouldn't make any difference to me and
shouldn't to him.  After all, he shouldn't be ashamed of his body, it was
just another body.  He hesitated but soon shucked his briefs and slipped
into bed beside us.
        I would have liked to lie on my back so I could have wrapped an arm
around him but my head and shoulder were too sore.  I did the next best
thing.  A few whispered words to Corey and I soon got JJ between us.  I
guess you might say we had a JJ sandwich.  It didn't take long until he
relaxed and quit crying.
        We were just about asleep when there was another soft knock on the
door.  When I answered LT stuck his head in and asked where JJ was.  The
light was off so he couldn't see him.  When I answered LT didn't hesitate
or ask.  He just came over and slipped into bed next to me.  I was glad I'd
gotten a king sized bed.  It was now crowded.  First he snuggled up behind
me and then slipped back out of bed.  When he slipped back in I could feel
he was no longer wearing his briefs.  If I hadn't been so tired and sleepy
I might have said something but instead drifted off.  It would have to wait
for some other time.
        To be continued...