Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 11:22:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: T. Chase McPhee <survivalgame@yahoo.com>
Subject: Natures Trail 09

The story below is a work of fiction, set in the
format of reality. Any resemblances to real people,
alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in
nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon
persons, in towns, cities, countries, nor governmental
areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene
involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then
you should not read this story. Additionally, if you
are under 18 years of age, in most state and
countries, you are not allowed to read this story, by
law. Check with your local laws regarding such. %
Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction.
In real life, use protection.

%

"Nature's Trail" 09
wriTten by T. Chase McPhee

%

"Oh Lord help us!"

Arriving at WRCC, pulling up to the front of the
registrar's office, Barry stopped the van and shook
his head.

"See ya dad!"

First Denis and Mark lit out of the van, then Tom and
Mark. From standing at the door of the van, before
jumping out, Denis spotted their senior buds. Tom and
Mark just faded into the crowd.

Philip says, "Holy cow!"

"How are we supposed to find Diego, Seth, James and
Caleb in this mess?" Aidan asks, seeing the dilemma
represented by Philip's exclamation.

Steve turned, looked over his shoulder and replied,
"You boys just stay put!"

When he turned back, Barry had both arms on the top of
the steering wheel, his head lying on his forearms,
groaning.

"I know it's not pleasant, but somebody's gotta be the
leader here," Steve said, patting Barry's shoulder
with sympathetic overtones.

It's apparent the superintendent was nowhere to be
found, so Barry got himself together, slipping out the
door of the van. Steve stayed behind to monitor the
boys. It scared the hell out of Steve, when somebody
rapped on his window with a ring. He quickly dummied
up, seeing Alonzo, his hand flapping, telling him to
put down the window.

"You nearly scared the dickens out of me... geesh!"
Steve said.

After a quick sorry, Alonzo said, "I've got Diego and
Seth here. Callan got called in to the hospital. I
have to gather up my students. Can you...."

Steve called to the back of the van, "Let'em in."
Turning once more to address Alonzo, he talked into
thin air. He mumbled to himself, "Who's going to...."
About ready to harbour a complaint on deaf ears, about
what he was supposed to do to find his class, while
the boys hibernated in the van, he shouted out, "Wait
here. I'll be right back!"

The squirts didn't even have time to say anything, as
Steve's door slammed closed. Aidan scrambled to the
front seat and hung out the window, watching his dad
parade across the parking lot.

"What's dad-Steve doing?" Diego asked.

"I think he's headed toward a parked car," Aidan
replied of the long distance viewing. As if a play by
play at a baseball game, he kept on presenting the
facts, "He's talking to the guy who got out of the
car," Aidan said, squinting. "The guy's throwing a
bookbag over his shoulder. They're walking together
over here. Looks like a college student." Then, with
excitement, Aidan shouts out, "It's Mr. Beanhacker
from church!"

"Seems like that's how my day has gone," Justin says
to Steve.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The Good Samaritan?"

"How's that go?" Steve asks, but his mind on the crowd
of high school students.

Going on, Justin explains about Christian calling to
bail him out of the `broken-car-blues'. Seeing Steve's
attention on the hullabaloo, he walks up to the van,
opens the front door.

"Mr. Beanhacker, what are you doing here?"

To Aidan, Justin replies, "I attend classes here at
the college. And you?"

Philip speaks up, saying, "We don't have school until
sometime this week."

"Yeah," Diego tells him, "we get to swim in the pool
until..."

"Holy cow!" Seth suddenly shouts.

"What?" they all want to know.

Seth systematically lays out, "If dad-Barry is the
principal and dad-Steve is teaching, then who's
supposed to watch us at the pool?"

Apparently, with their span of attention geared
towards the first day of high school, held at WRCC,
the dads hadn't realized the loophole in their plans.
Although A-1 with his attendance during his three
years at WRCC, with a few missed classes due to
illness, Justin had a feeling he would  have to break
his almost perfect record, which was something not
fazing him. He was a good student, liked by all his
professors, so he knew he wouldn't have any problem
playing `pool-sitter' for the day. The more he thought
about it, the more he felt relaxed, thinking he could
use a day off for good behavior.

Finally, some performing arts students came out to the
sidewalk with a large speaker and a portable
microphone system, with wireless mic's. With register
in hand, Barry brought a teacher up to the front of
the crowd, announced a room, having the teacher gather
students and enter the college. Soon he was left
standing alone, except for the helpful college
students. They retreated into the fine and performing
arts building, lugging the equipment.

Barry looked up, spotting the van, suddenly
remembering the kids. As he approached it, he stared
at some other guy sitting where Steve was sitting. But
then, it dawned on him he had just loaded Steve up
with his class and sent him into the building. Now,
the bomb dropped, him realizing he had five kids to
look after today, but couldn't. He was never happier
to see the choir director from church!

"What are you doing here?" Barry asked through the
passenger side window.

"Steve asked me to watch the kids for the day, at the
pool," Justin replied.

"That's mighty generous of you, Justin, but don't you
have a planned agenda for your day? Classes?"

"Nothing too important. Besides, I think I might like
a deviation from the norm," Justin tells Barry.

"It did occur to me, after the fact, Steve and I
didn't plan far enough ahead. In a pinch, I suppose I
could..."

"It's no problem. Really."

Barry accepted Justin's kind order. He stepped close
to the van, hugging it with his stomach, when another
vehicle pulled up next to them.

"Hey," Matty called out. "Chad said to drop Jeremy and
his friends off, on the way to the office?"

Out of Matty's 4x4, Jeremy, James and Caleb climbed
out, as Aidan, Philip, Diego and Seth jumped out of
the van, both parties meeting in the middle.

"Hey, wait. I thought there was only..." Justin says,
of the spilling out of the barely young teens, making
a head count.

Matty and Justin, rarely getting to see each other,
remembers when Justin came to town, to live with his
uncle. Other than church, he hasn't seen a whole lot
of him, but still greeted him with a hug, then got
back in his truck and headed out of the parking lot,
yelling, "Thanks! I'll be back to pick them up at
four," to Justin.

"Too much to handle?" Barry asked the twenty year old
choirmaster.

"Nah. I'll have more than this in the kid's choir."

"Well, if you ever need help, I'm around, if you need
me," Barry said, returning the favor.

Barry helped Justin walk the kids through the parking
lot, to the main door of the sports area of WRCC. By
now, the kids knew the hallways to twist and turn
through, leading Justin to the pool. As they entered,
the seven bolted for the locker room, their swim suits
rolled up their towels.

"Hey, wait. Where are you going?" Justin asked, trying
to keep his attention focused on the youngsters and
not fifteen or so swimmers, bare from the waist up,
doing pushups in the bleechers, their coach hounding
them. Slowly Justin made his way to the door they went
through. It's then he discovered he didn't have a
suit.

Two late-comers ran through the lockerroom, on their
way out, flying by Justin.

"Hey, wait!" Justin called out.

Denis Clark stopped, slipping with one foot, Mark
steadying him, by grabbing his arm.

"Whew! Thanks bro!"

After they exchanged their hello's, Mark recalling
Justin from the church environs, Justin asks, "Do
either of you happen to have an extra swimsuit?"

"I do," Denis says to him, then to Mark, "You go. Tell
Coach Hollister I'll be right there."

>From experience, the younger swimmers knew to stash
their clothing in the little cubby holes near the
entrance to Coach Hollister's office, but for Justin,
Denis let him use his locker.

"How long are you going to be?" Denis questions him.

"Probably all day. Your dad gave me some money for
lunch. I'll probably take them over to the student
center for a bite to eat."

"Why don't you take your tee shirt with you and my
extra pair of sneakers?" Denis offers.

"Great," Justin replies, adding, "I wasn't really
prepared to do this today, but I think I'll like the
change."

"I dunno," Denis says, pulling a pair of sneakers from
the bottom of his locker Coach Hollister assigned for
him, under all the other stuff. Pointing next to the
showers, he shows Justin where the towels are, then
scoots out of there.

"We're all ready!" The seven report back to Justin,
who stands there in his street clothes.

"Well don't go anywhere until I'm ready," Justin says.


Talking on their own, the seven boys chat about what
was on Tv last night, and other stuff, until Aidan
says out loud to Justin, "Do you work out, Mr.
Beanhacker?"

Standing there, stripped down to his waist, Justin
realizes some young eyes have been watching him
undress.

"No, but I do a lot of outdoor activity."

"Like what?" Seth turns his attention to the
conversation.

"Mostly hiking," Justin replies, unbuckling his belt.

"Where do you hike?" Philip asks.

"Out near the environmental center, then up in the
hills near there."

Caleb says, "I was there a couple of times. We went on
a class trip there last year."

Sitting down, Justin removes his pants. A little shy,
he realizes he's never undressed before, in front of
little kids, except when he was a little kid! He makes
the rest of the process go by quickly, laying out the
swimsuit before his briefs come off. The kids don't
converse about it, but their looks show they think
Justin's schlong is pretty big! He finds Denis' extra
swim suit to be a bit tight, but able to pack `it' all
in.

"Ready?" He asks the young guys.

Snapping his fingers, he runs over to the towel cart,
then dashes right behind the guys, as they make their
way out of the locker room.

"Hey, where are we gonna swim?" Philip asks.

Justin and the seven stand at pool's edge, watching
every lane taken up by the swim team.

"Why don't we sit and watch them for awhile," Justin
suggests.

Unrolling their towels, the kids lay them out, as if
on a sandy beach and park their butts down. Justin
follows them, sitting right near them.

"They sure have a lot of muscles," twelve year old
James says.

"I'm sure they work hard at swimming or they wouldn't
be good for competition," Justin comments.

"Are Denis and Mark going to be in it?" Aidan asks.

"They're part of the team. I expect so."

Jeremy says, "I wonder if I'll have muscles like that
when I grow up?"

"It's a possibility," Justin informs him, "but it
takes hard work to develop bodies like these guys
have. It takes long hours of training. Anything you
want to be good at, takes lots of effort."

"How come Coach keeps yelling at them?" Caleb asks.

"He's not doing it because he's mad at them. He wants
them to do the best they can."

"Holy cow!" Philip suddenly says, "Will ya look at
Coach yelling at that guy!"

Their attentions shoot across the surface of the pool,
watching Coach Hollister turn red, screaming in the
face of one of the swimmers, for not staying in lane.

"I wonder if he's gonna quit?" Jeremy talks about the
swimmer.

"Nah," Justin replies. "Sometimes being yelled at
doesn't mean the person is mad at you. Sure, a person
shouldn't get upset over something, but like I said,
he wants each of the team members to do good."

"I'd quit if he yelled at me like that!" Diego
exclaims.

Justin puts it to him, "Would you `quit' if your dad
yelled at you for doing something wrong?"

Seeming like a trick question, all the boys had to
think that one over.

He adds, "It's been over half a year, even longer for
some of the other team members, since they've known
Coach Hollister. I don't think they will walk off the
team."

By his example with `dad' as the subject, Justin can
see the kids seem to catch his drift. Sure enough, the
swimmer, hands on his hips, acknowledges his fault and
tries again.

"Look!" Philip points to the swimmer. "He's going back
into the water."

After a couple of minutes, Coach Hollister comes over
to greet Justin and the kids.

"I don't think I've had the pleasure?" Extending his
hand, revealing, "Dwayne Hollister."

Standing, Justin offers his five digits, exchanging,
"Justin Beanhacker."

"Aren't you the lucky one today?" Coach says, smiling
as he pans the small crowd of young swimmers.

"I don't mind. I'll be working with them during the
week, once we get the kid's choir started."

"Well, I'd like to hear about it, but I have to get
back the team. They're performing kind of messy
today."

Philip pipes up, "Yeah, we saw you yelling at that
guy!"

Coach turns a mild pink, smiling at Justin, saying,
"Well, I gotta get back." Trying not to make it look
obvious, coach checks out Justin's tight swimwear,
some curly hair sticking out the top.

Immediately, after coach leaves, Justin excuses
himself to the jon, saying to the squirts, "Be right
back. None of you go anywhere, hear me?"

They all acknowledge, saying they'll stay sitting on
their towels. Back in the lockerroom, Justin walks
through the shower area, to the jon. Standing back, he
tries to figure out if there's an obvious reason why
coach stared. Only thing he can figure out is the
swimsuit seems to drop a little more than he's used
to, below the navel. He tries pulling it up, but it
only serves to pull it down in the back, as he turns
his shoulder, looking at the back, spotting the top of
his crevice. Giving up, he figures it's less of an
embarrassment to have a little pubic hair showing than
his crack!

%

"How's the work going on the dining area?" Christian
asks Michael.

"Great! They are ahead of schedule so, I think we can
plan on a grand opening sooner. What do you think?"

"It's your call," Christian shoots back with.

Then Michael enlightens him, "Y'know, the cafe...
restaurant now, since I've decided to change the name
to `Birdy's'... anyway, you've been here a few months
and doing a decent job. I never got around to asking
you how you like it, Christian?"

"I like working here. I'm grateful you gave a job to
me. I mean, when I blew into town, you didn't know me
from Adam, yet you took a chance on me. I appreciate
it. About the job, working here, I don't have any
gripes."

"Good," Michael says. Sure of himself, he announces,
"I'm making you manager."

"Manager? Oh wow! Like, what does that mean?"
Christian asks, elated.

"First, there's a raise in it, which I'm sure you can
use."

"Sure could!"

"But it doesn't go without hard work and long hours.
It's not a job where you punch a clock, nor a 9 to 5
job," Michael says, seriously.

"I understand," Christian replies. "What else?"

"Virtually, it would entail any aspect of the
business, from hiring, working up schedules, making
sure the customers are satisfied, ordering product,
and anything else I can think of!"

Michael's last remark made Christian smile, but at the
same time, he was mulling it over in his mind. Right
away he thought of Justin, so said, "I'd like some
time to think it over. How about I let you know
tomorrow?"

"You can take as long as you want... oh, and there's
something else."

Waiting, Christian wondered what else Michael was
going to pile on top of his already stated chores.

"Yes?"

"I need you to be here promptly, whether it's in the
morning or evening. I know you've been having problems
with that junk you drive around in. I've decided I'm
buying a new car. You can have my old car, as is."

"Your Sebring? But it isn't that old, is it, Michael?"

"2002, but just the same, I'm going for something more
rugged. An SUV of some sorts."

"I don't know what to say," Christian replied, jaw
still hanging open, from the surprise. He relayed the
first emotion coming to mind, stepping forward, giving
Michael a warm embrace, saying, "Thanks."

"Your welcome," Michael replied, rubbing his hands up
and down Christian's shoulders.

"I do want to tell you something, Michael."

"Oh?" he said, as they broke off the thankful gesture.


"I've decided to go to college. See if I can pick up
some business courses, but..."

Cutting off the twenty-three year old, Michael
cheerfully says, "I'm sure we can work your schedule
around your college courses. Will you be going
fulltime?"

"Heck no. At the most I can probably afford maybe six
credits," Christian reports.

Thinking, Michael comes up with, "Well, your first
duty as manager, is to hire an assistant manager, who
can be here when you're not!"

"An assistant manager?"

"Yup. I have high hopes of business really picking up,
with all the renovations going on. Bernice Bridges
informed me yesterday, half the row of stores on this
side are leased. There's going to be other
restaurants, an art gallery and other shops. It'll be
drawing more people in, hopefully for us, too! I've
talked to a few people about hiring a couple of chefs
from New York and Los Angeles, which," Michael looks
at his watch, "I'll be receiving a call from any
minute, so I better go sit by the phone."

As Michael walks out, Christian notes his, "Thanks,"
again. Michael, adding to his responsibilities, says,
"Oh, and it'll be your job to interview four or five
waiters. I've placed a sign on the door, so expect
some applicants."

The door to the upstairs apartment closed with a
little bang, as Michael's footsteps could be heard on
the hard wood stairs. Standing there, Christian
thought all about what had just transpired, thinking
to himself, `Wow! A car! A raise! Hire an assistant -
waiters!' But most of all he bubbled over with, `Wait
til I tell Justin!'

%

to be continued...

©2007 T. Chase McPhee
This story may not be sold, nor made part of any
collection, without prior consent from the author.

OTHER STORIES by T. Chase McPhee:

FOR SALE BY OWNER (in progress)
nifty/gay/highschool/for-sale-by-owner/
5b & 6c
nifty/gay/beginnings/5b-6c/
FOR THE LOVE OF MICHAEL
nifty/gay/highschool/for-the-love-of-michael/
ROAD TRIP (in progress)
nifty/gay/authoritarian/road-trip/
STRIPEs
nifty/gay/adult-youth/stripes/
OLD-FASHIONED GOOD WILL
nifty/gay/beginnings/old-fashioned-good-will/
TIDELIGHT ZONE
nifty/gay/adult-friends/tidelight-zone/
SENIOR CUT DAY
nifty/gay/highschool/senior-cut-day/
BUFFALO BOYS
nifty/gay/authoritarian/buffalo-boys/
iCONS
nifty/gay/beginnings/icons
MUSCLE JOCKS FOR DOMINATION
nifty/gay/authoritarian/muscle-jocks-for-domination/
CHRONICLES OF MARK SASSOON
nifty/gay/authoritarian/chronicles-of-mark-sasson/