Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:27:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: adm2780 <adm2780@yahoo.com>
Subject: Second Time Around  Ch Forty-Four

All rights reserved.  Other than downloading one copy for personal
enjoyment, no part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted by any
means, except for reviews, without the written permission of the author.
As in real life, the sexual themes unfold gradually and are kept to a
realistic level.  If you are looking for sex on every page, then this is
not the story for you.  Comments on the story are appreciated and may be
addressed to the author, Dwight Wilson, at adm2780@yahoo.com

This story contains descriptions of consensual sexual contact between
males, adult and minor.  As such it is homoerotic, designed for the
entertainment of mature adults.  If you are not of legal age to read such
material, or if the subject matter would create irresolvable personal moral
dilemmas, then why are you here?

NOTE: Special thanks to Matthew for his time and efforts proof reading and
editing the chapters.  Without his support, this story would not be nearly
as interesting.  Matthew just posted a new short story.  Look under adult
youth for "Julian and Roman".

Note: In this chapter, two new boys will be introduced.  One is Ali, whose
name is pronounced as 'alley'.  The second is Jay, or Jesus, whose name
will be pronounced in both the Spanish and Anglican versions.  Jay's
nickname should be read in the Anglican version.

Chapter Forty-Four: Second Time Around

We spent the next three days roaming around Key West.  We weren't on any
kind of schedule.  We didn't even bother to wear our watches.  Part of the
time we walked, part of the time we rode bicycles and the rest of the time
we used the customized golf cart.  I quickly learned to watch out for the
chickens running free everywhere.  The law protected the chickens from the
tourists; nothing protected the tourists from the chickens.

It didn't take long for Key West to become a fascination with me.  This
wasn't my first trip here, but it was the first trip where I didn't have to
worry about someone else and had no time constraints.  As we moved around I
became a dedicated people watcher.  It didn't take long to be able to spot
a local from a tourist, no matter how hard the tourists tried to blend in.
The number one give-away was their tans.  Many tourists had nice tans.  A
local told me that a real Conch didn't think about how tan he could get,
everybody in Key West was tanned; it was how dark you could get.  Seems no
one worried about the effects of too much sun.

Touring around the city, I began to perceive that the city was divided into
different sections.  The area where you come on to the big island off the
main highway was lined with hotels, motels, a couple of resorts, a big
shopping center, and franchise restaurants lined up one after the other.
The locals called this the commercial or tourist area.  South of the
commercial area, in the southeastern quadrant of the island, were the newer
high- rise condos.  These were constructed primarily on filled in
salt-water estuaries.  They were considered a financial boom for the city
and an ecological sin.  The locals had tagged that as the snow-bird
neighborhood.

The northwestern quadrant held a mixture of homes, apartments,
condominiums, local restaurants and the big marina.  The marina looked like
a crowded parking lot and you had to wonder how they managed to get some of
those bigger yachts, which were more like floating hotels, out of such a
tight area.  As I looked at the various floating palaces, I wondered how
many millions of dollars were just tied to the docks to impress someone.
David managed to point out a couple of restaurants on the docks that he
thought were really good and we promised each other to give them a try
before leaving.  One thing I liked about them was that they were within
walking distance of the B'n B.  Walking had become my favorite way to move
around Key West.

In the southwest quadrant was what I believed to be the true Key West,
which was only one of its names.  The area was also known as Old Key West,
or Old Town, or Conch Town.  It was here that you found the native
population known as Conchs.  The streets were narrow and shaded by huge
palm trees and other trees with tropical foliage in abundance.  The
sidewalks were just as narrow, and cracked.  Houses were constructed so
close together that neighbors could reach out through a window and shake
hands.  The dominant color for a house was white, to reflect the heat of
the sun, or a pastel color of pink, yellow or green.  The older homes all
had open-air porches lavishly trimmed in gingerbread.  There was also the
most famous street of them all, Duval Street; home to tourists, sidewalk
cafes, open-air bars, and some very unique nightlife.  Duval Street was our
destination after dinner that night.

The morning was spent mostly walking around.  We toured the Truman White
House, which I found to be both intriguing and disappointing.  I had to
remind myself that the war followed a decade long depression and natural
resources were directed to the war effort.  In other words, I thought the
place would be a little more luxurious than what we saw.  During our tour
the air conditioning was running.  When Truman was there they only had
fans.  Now I knew why most of the pictures you saw of him showed him
wearing a long sleeved white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"Rather than going back to the inn for lunch, how about trying one of the
sidewalk cafes?" I suggested.

"Fine by me," David answered. "Any particular one catch your fancy?"

"They all look kinda the same," I answered honestly.

"No, they aren't the same.  The ones that are located between buildings are
for the tourists.  Watch the people; you know how to spot the locals.
Where they go is where you'll find the best food, the best service, and the
coldest drinks."

Why David had to say that to me, I don't know.  I'd traveled enough to know
to look for where the locals go, but I really hadn't thought about it from
that angle.  It took me about two minutes of scanning both sides of the
street to realize where the locals went.  It wasn't anything real fancy,
but it was clean and airy.  We headed towards the locals' spot.

"The places between buildings the locals call drop-ins.  That's because
most of them drop in and setup shop during the peak of the tourist season
and then disappear.  Most of what they serve is hyped as fresh Conch
Fritters or Conch Burgers, or Conch something else.  The only time it's
fresh is when they pull it out of the freezer.  All the food is deep fried
and won't do anything but give you the runs and clogged arteries."  David
was on a roll.

"Is there anything good about them?" I asked facetiously.

"Yeah, they're gone when most of the tourists go."

We approached the café and David pointed towards a table.  He waved at
someone and I knew this was not his first visit.

"You know, as many people as seem to know you, and you know them, one would
think you lived here rather than St. Pete."  I decided to go fishing.

"This is one of my all time favorite places.  Here, you can be yourself and
not worry about a thing.  You know what my past is.  Can you imagine us
being on this kind of trip and me running into a former 'temporary
acquaintance' who maybe decided to open up a little more than I would
like?"

"Said more simply, accidentally running into a client and having him
embarrass you or us?"

 David just looked at me and smiled.

"David, I don't want you to ever carry that kind of fear; not with me.
You've told me about your past and that's what it is, the past.  If the
time ever comes that something like that happens and the person is uncouth
enough to say something, I can handle the situation.  I'm sure you can
too."  I squeezed his hand and we didn't say anymore when we saw the waiter
approaching.

"Chico, my man," David perked up in a hurry.

"David, baby, you stay away too long.  Where you been?"

"Oh, life has changed.  I've settled down now.  I'm a family man."

"A family man?" Chico laughed.

I didn't say anything, but I did squeeze David's hand again to signal him
to wait.  Pulling out my wallet, I showed Chico the one and only picture I
had of David, the boys and me.  Chico looked at the picture, looked at
David and then me, and back to the picture.  He smiled and then gave David
a big hug followed by a light kiss on each cheek.

"Congratulations!  I knew it would happen one day."  Chico looked at me.
"My friend, you are one lucky man.  David is one hot dude."  David decided
to cut him off.

"Uhhh, Chico?  How about a club sandwich, light on the mayo, hold the
chips, substitute fruit, and two very cold light drafts?" I couldn't help
smiling.

"Two drafts on the way," Chico exclaimed as he turned and left.

"Why are you looking at me and smiling like that?" David tried to sound
innocent.

"I think you were afraid he was about to say something you didn't want me
to hear," I responded.

"Actually, I was afraid he might try to tell you about some of our
escapades around here.  Chico, once he gets going telling a story, doesn't
know when to stop and he talks loud enough to hear him two blocks away.
No, I didn't want him telling stories.  Now, if you want to see the other
side of Chico, you'll have to wait till we go out one night.  His night
time name is Chiciquita."  David said this with a big grin while pointing
towards one of the nightspots.

"Chiciquita?" I asked, waiting on an explanation of such an interesting
name.

"Yeah, it's a play on the banana name.  He uses a banana in his act and you
don't want to ask me what he does with it." David's grin was broadcasting a
challenge for me to ask; no way.

We were left in peace to enjoy a leisurely lunch.  I was a little surprised
that since we split the club sandwich, I still felt a little bloated.  We
decided to walk back to the inn and rest around the pool or, possibly, take
a short nap.  After meeting Chico, I was more curious than ever to sample
some of the nightlife.

Returning to the inn, we didn't walk, we strolled.  With no conscious
effort or decision on my part, somewhere along the way we grasped one
anothers' hand.  I had seen many same sex couples holding hands as we moved
through and around Key West.  The city was accepting, non-judgmental; I
liked that.

"I have a feeling that you've visited this little island many times with
your mentor," I commented as casually as I could.

"Yes, we did.  Being here brings back a lot of memories; good memories.
I've been here since losing him, but I never felt like I do now.  I think
it's because there needed to be a special someone with me to share it," he
answered while tightening his grip on my hand.

"Do you realize that we've talked about him several times, but you've never
told me his name?"

David turned and looked at me, surprised.  Then he gave a light little
laugh mixed with one of his patented smiles.

"I can't say that I ever thought about it.  I guess it's because he and I
knew we needed to be very discreet when talking about our relationship.  I
don't think I mentioned his name to anyone very often.  His name was John,"
David laughed a little, more to himself than anything else.

"When he first took me off the streets, it's a miracle he didn't kill me or
just throw me out.  I tested him time and again.  Finally, one day, after
I'd pulled some kind of dumb stunt, I don't even remember what it was now,
he put his hands under my arms, snatched me up and dropped me on the sofa.
I was shocked, because I'd never seen him be aggressive with anyone.

"He stood right in front of me, leaned over and looked me straight in the
eyes and told me I had to be dumbest little shit he'd ever seen.  He then
proceeded to let me know that I could keep testing him and we could keep
playing games, or I could start using the gray matter that was supposed to
be floating around between my ears and we could move forward.  I was in
such shock that he cared enough to make me sit and listen rather than toss
me out that I didn't hear half of what he said.  That night, after we were
supposed to be in bed and asleep, I sneaked into his room and crawled into
his bed.  I just wanted to feel him, wanted him to touch me.  He didn't say
anything; he just reached over and wrapped an arm around my waist.  He
pulled me over so that I was spooned into him.  It was the best night's
sleep I'd had in a long time.

"People that knew us well knew our relationship.  For appearance sake, I
was often introduced as his nephew.  In reality, he was more like a father
than an uncle.  He was also my best friend, mentor, lover and
disciplinarian.  If I did something wrong, he didn't hesitate to let me
know it.  I think I'd have to say though, that when he was correcting me,
it was never in a derogatory way.  He'd let me know what I did wrong, and
then tell me the correct way.  I was smart enough not to repeat the
mistake."

"I can tell by your voice that the two of you were very close."

"We were.  After I lost him I didn't think I would ever feel the same way
towards anyone again.  I kept my promise to him to do college and find a
different way to be comfortable and happy.  He would always tell me that no
one wanted a wrinkled, gray-haired escort.  Retirement came at a very early
age in our business.  I had already quit when you contacted me.

"There was something special in the way you talked and expressed yourself.
I could just feel it.  Something inside told me to say 'yes' and I've been
thanking that special something for quite a while.  Of course, for a while
there I was beginning to wonder if, just maybe, I'd made a mistake.  Has
anyone ever told you that you can be a little slow to catch on sometimes?"

With my free hand I popped him on the butt.

"Obviously, John wasn't strict enough with your manners; I may have to
correct that little mistake," I replied as I wrapped an arm around his
shoulders and we continued towards the inn.

                                           * * * *

"David!  Rick!"

As we entered the courtyard we could see Keith and Donnie cleaning off
tables; it was the end of the lunch service.  Keith looked up and saw us.
He smiled and waved, but didn't say anything.  We heard someone call our
names and, looking to the side of the courtyard, saw Raymond walking our
way with his arms outstretched.

Raymond stopped at one of the tables and pulled two chairs out.  The signal
was easy to interpret.  I noticed that Keith and Donnie kept watching us,
but continued their work.  Raymond asked another server to bring over three
cold beers.  With the beer I had for lunch, I was sure this one would let
me nap quite soundly.  As soon as the three of us sat down, frosted mugs of
beer were set in front of us.

"Here's to good friends," Raymond stated with a smile, holding his mug up
for the toast.

"My friends," Raymond began, "I wanted to thank you.  Keith and Donnie came
to me last night and we had a long talk.  They told me that they were
already giving themselves to each other.  At first, I wasn't very happy
that he lied to me.  Keith explained how he could tell how much it meant to
me, and he was already nervous about me finding out about him and Donnie
and well, let's just say that I understood.  I felt bad, too.  Both of them
were almost in tears trying to tell me the truth.

"He said he was scared to tell me.  I can't tell you how much that hurt.  I
tried to let him know that I didn't want him to ever be afraid to tell me
anything.  I might not always approve of what he does, but I'll always try
my best to be there for him when he needs me.  Both of them told me about
the talk the two of you had with them.  I appreciate what you did."

I studied Raymond's facial expressions while he spoke, curious to see if he
was angry, and if he was, with whom?  Both his tone and his expressions
said he was just a concerned father worried about his son.

"So, things are okay?" David asked.

"Yes, I think so.  I told them last night that I needed to think and we
would talk some more.  I made sure they knew I wasn't very happy with what
they were doing.  However, this morning, after the two of them used their
lost puppy looks on me, I had to sit down with them again.  I decided that
it was foolish to think that after they'd had a taste of the fruit that
they'd just quit.  We talked about safe sex and all that stuff.  They did
their best to patronize me and at least look as though they were being
patient with the old man.  The truth is that after the talk I'd be willing
to bet the two of them found a place to hide for a few minutes and relieve
some pent-up frustrations."

Before he finished, Raymond was smiling and laughing while he talked.  He
rarely took his eyes off the boys and they watched him almost as intently.

As David and Raymond spoke for a moment I was distracted by something
happening behind Raymond.  Two of the guests were entering a Jacuzzi in the
far corner of the courtyard.  It was a pretty secluded spot.  Both of the
young men appeared to be in their early twenties, very fit, and naked.  My
mind shot to my boys and I couldn't help but wonder how they were doing.

"Look at the two of them," Raymond continued, nodding towards Keith and
Donnie.  "They are just dying to know what we are talking about.  I should
warn both of you that the boys have concocted some wild idea about taking
you somewhere.  Of course, you would really be taking them since it
involves using my boat."

"When did you get a boat?" David asked, surprised.

"Grown men can be good boys, too," Raymond responded with a smile.  "Santa
treated me real nice last year.  One of the local brokers who's a guest
from time to time helped me get it.  There's no way I could afford some of
those floating castles they have tied up at the docks.  It's only a
thirty-four foot Sundancer.  It's eighteen years old but in beautiful
shape. The owner didn't mind spending the money to take care of it, but he
wanted more than he could get on a trade-in.  He wanted to sell, I was in
the market to buy, and he dropped the price down into my range.  I use it
in the business part time so Uncle Sam can help pay."

"You call thirty-four feet 'only'?" I stated.

"Compared to a lot of the boats you'll see at the marina, mine is a
dinghy."

Without saying any more, Raymond waved the boys over.

"Sir," Keith said as he approached his dad.

Raymond just looked at the boys and held his hands out in a 'so?' gesture.
Keith looked nervously at Donnie and then Raymond.  I placed a hand on
Raymond's arm and tapped David's foot under the table.  I didn't want them
to say anything; it's always interesting to see how teens work their way
through these 'not sure what to say' moments.

"Oh," was Keith's in-depth response.  "Uummm, me and Donnie was wonderin'
if maybe David and Rick would like ta go with us later this afternoon down
to the dock.  There's a cruise ship leavin' and a lotta the local boys'll
be divin' for money and stuff.  If ya had'n seen it, it's kinda fun."

I could tell by the look on Raymond's face that he knew that wasn't what
the boys really wanted.  It certainly had nothing to do, as far as I could
tell, with using Raymond's boat.  I didn't want anyone spoiling the boys'
moment so I answered fairly quickly.

"I haven't seen the local kids diving.  Sounds like fun.  When does all
this happen?"

The boys were visibly relieved and happy.  I was enjoying the show they
were putting on.

"It'll be another couple hours, but long before supper.  The boats usually
pull out around three o'clock and divin' starts a few minutes later.  We
can use one of the carts ta get there."

                                           * * * *

"Hey, Keith!  Donnie!  What's up?"

I felt the golf cart shift as Keith and Donnie turned in different
directions to see who had called out to them.  Donnie spotted the boy
first.

"It's Ali," Donnie announced.  "Sweet Jesus must be here."

"Don't let Ali hear you call him that.  You know how he feels about that
name," Keith admonished his friend.

I looked over in the general area where the boys were looking and spotted a
young teen who appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen with thick, black
wavy hair, jogging towards us.  When he got close, his complexion, which
suggested a strong Spanish background, was accented by hazel eyes and thin
lips that framed one of the whitest, brightest smiles I had ever seen.
When he was upon us, the boys bumped fists.  I wasn't the least bit
surprised to hear another greeting.

"Hey, David, how's it goin'?"

I just looked at David.  He shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

"Hey, Ali," David greeted the boy.  "You here to dive?"

"No, Mom made me quit.  I got pubes now, and you know the rules.  Jay's
divin'.  Mom says I have ta be here ta watch out for 'im.  You know how Jay
is.  This him?" he asked nodding towards me as he gave me the once over.

"By 'him', if you mean my partner, yes, this is 'him'.  Ali, meet Richard
Geoghagan."  David then looked at me.  "Rick, this is Alejandro, better
known as Ali to his friends."

"Hey, man, everybody's talkin' bout you; the dude that snagged David.  We
figure that makes you kinda special."

"Well, I guess I think it is kinda special to have him with me.  It's nice
to meet you, Ali.  By the way, my friends call me Rick."

"There's Jay," Donnie called out, pointing towards the dock railing.  "He's
'bout ta dive over.  HEY, JAY!"

Donnie called out and I spotted a young boy entering his dive try to turn
towards us.  The boy appeared to be about ten with spiked hair and no tan
lines.  His lack of clothing made the observation easy.  He couldn't stop
his dive and fell forward, fanning his arms trying to regain his balance.
We all rushed to the railing and it was easy to spot Jay.  He had a smile
as bright as his brother and was looking up, waving to us.

"He's cool," Ali said.  "Watch 'im dive when somebody throws money in.
He's good."

That had to be one of the least subtle hints I'd heard over the years.  I
only had a couple of quarters in my pocket, but tossed them in.  There must
have been at least a dozen boys diving for the coins.  Interestingly, I
only saw two butts covered with cloth.  I decided to up the ante a little
for the boys.

Looking around, I found a few small stones that were large enough for my
plan, but not large enough to hurt the boys if one of them should
accidentally get hit.  I wrapped the stones with dollar bills, crushing
them into small balls.  I showed them to the boys before tossing them in
one at a time.  Jay didn't dive for the first three.  He let the other boys
go on that feeding frenzy and dove for the fourth.  I tossed a couple more
in and then watched as other tourists tossed coins to the boys.

"How long will he stay in," I asked.

"Usually, around fifteen to twenty minutes, sometimes a little more," David
explained.  "Depends on how many people are tossing money in and how much
diving they have to do.  When they start getting tired, they know to come
out and other boys jump in and keep going until the money stops or it's not
worth the effort."  David touched my arm and pointed to the side.  "The
boys usually come up over there where the rocks make a natural set of
stairs."

When the coin tossing slowed down, four of the boys decided to climb out of
the water.  One of the boys I knew to be Jay.  I had to smile and laugh to
myself when I saw all four to be totally naked and didn't seem to be the
least bit self-conscious about their nudity; one of the privileges of being
young around here.  As the boys climbed up I looked back to the boys still
in the water.  The boys were all looking up and yelling encouragement to a
newly arrived group of tourists who didn't let the boys down.  I glanced
over to check on the boys climbing out and spotted Jay sashaying his little
butt down the sidewalk; he was acting a little prissy for the tourists.
Also, he was carrying rather than wearing his shorts.  I turned back to the
other boys.

"David, trouble."

I didn't know who had said it, but the tone of voice quickly had my
attention.  I instinctively turned to find Jay and saw that a man had
stopped him.  Jay stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, still
holding his shorts.  A man had Jay's arm and was saying something to him.
It was obvious that Jay was trying to move back from the man but had backed
himself into the railing.  He had no place to go.  Out of the corner of my
eye I saw the other boys starting to move toward Jay.

"Hold it, fellas.  Ya'll stay here."  I didn't say it as a suggestion; I
didn't mean it as a suggestion.  "Ali, come with me."

I approached the man with a purposeful stride.  There was no panic or rush,
but neither was there a suggestion of being casual.  I wanted the stride to
be intimidating to him.  As we neared them I could see the look of panic
overtaking Jay's expression.  It was obvious that the man, who appeared to
be in his late twenties or early thirties, had a firm, controlling grip on
Jay's arm.  Jay looked quickly from side to side, looking for help or where
he could call for help.  He spotted his brother next to me.  Without saying
anything to Jay, I stepped between the boy and the man.  It was an effort
to control my anger.

"You want to let go of the boy?"

"What's it to ya?" the man replied, filled with attitude, as he looked up
at me.  "This is between me and him, old man."

Old man?  He had to be kidding!  I didn't have that many years on him.
With him standing up straight and giving me a threatening look, I took a
giant goose-step forward.  The 'young man' was suddenly on his knees
cupping a vital part of his anatomy.  A policeman was running towards us.
I turned to see Ali holding Jay's hand, pulling him along at a slow run
towards David and the boys.  Jay appeared to have an unusual run and his
naked butt bounced like two firm cubes of Jello.

The policeman asked me what was going on and I explained the situation.
The young man on the ground denied that he was trying to proposition Jay
for anything other than taking a few pictures because the boy was cute.
The policeman reminded the young man that taking pictures of nude, underage
boys was illegal.  There was also a strong suggestion to the young man that
he leave the Keys or become a guest sharing space with people who might not
approve of people who proposition young boys.

Afterwards, the policeman and I talked for a few minutes.  I kept glancing
over towards the boys and saw Jay pulling his cheeks apart and the rolled
up bills hitting the ground.  Jay then leaned over and spit coins out of
his mouth.  He finally put his shorts on, such as they were.  The shorts
had to be his brothers because they were about to fall off the boy and
didn't leave much to the imagination.

The officer told me that Ali and Jay were the sons of the local 911
operator.  They also had no father figure at home, having been abandoned by
a man who either didn't want or couldn't handle the responsibility.  It
seems that Jay had a reputation among the locals of wanting to run around
nude whenever he thought he could get away with it.  He was also known for
being more than a little on the prissy side, thus the nickname of Sweet
Jesus.  I asked the officer if he happened to have a short piece of rope or
twine.  He looked at Jay and smiled as he reached in the trunk of a parked
squad car and handed me a length of twine.

Before parting, I was again identified as 'him'.  The officer told me that
David and John visited Key West often and were known to be protective of
the boys.  It wasn't unusual to see them down there tossing coins to the
divers.  The officer told me most of the boys came from single parent homes
and had no quality male influence in their lives.  John and David helped to
fill that gap and mentored the boys.  David had just begun visiting again
on a regular basis during the past six or seven months and still tried to
help the boys.  Now I understood how everyone knew about 'him'.  And David
called ME a softy?

"Jay," I called to the boy as I knelt on one knee, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered as he walked over to me.  I held up my hand, motioning
the other boys to stay where they were.  Jay looked at the twine in my hand
and then looked up at me.

"You know, I noticed that you leaned over and then reached back and pulled
your cheeks apart.  I saw the wadded up bills hitting the ground. Did you
. . . .?"

"No way!" He interrupted me with a shocked look. "I didn't stick 'em in
there.  They was stuck in my crack." He turned part way around and reached
for his butt.  "See?  I got a tight crack and can hold 'em.  B'sides, I
didn't have no pockets to put 'em in.  When Ali grabbed my hand and pulled
me over here, I was afraid I was gonna lose 'em.  It didn't feel very good
runnin' like that neither."  His feigned 'hurt' expression just screamed
for sympathy; this boy definitely knew how to manipulate.

"I coulda taken care of 'im."  The slight whine in his voice betrayed his
lack of confidence even though he did try to act macho.

"You know, I bet you could," I responded, knowing it was important to save
face in front of the other boys.

"I could.  Mom asked one of the policemen she works with to teach us how to
handle people like him."

"She did?  And what did the policeman tell you to do if someone tried to
hold you like that man did?'"

"He said we should just run to the closest adult and scream.  If somebody
was holdin' us, then we're s'posed ta do what you did.  Kick 'im in the
nuts.  Hard.  That was cool how you done that."

His simplistic, innocent bravado almost had me laughing.  Of course, while
he was elling me the goose step was cool, he had to try it.  I had to put
my hand up to keep from getting hit.

"Well, do you know why the man approached you?"

"Yeah, he said he wanted ta take some pictures of me; naked ones.  And he
was gonna give me some money.  I told 'im no and he started gettin' mad."

"That's what he wanted.  But, do you understand why he approached you and
not one of the other boys?"

"'Cause I got a cute butt?" he said, smiling.  "Ali said you're Mr. Rick
and you're him."

"Yes, I'm him.  But, I think for the moment we still need to concentrate on
you.  Do you know how that man could hurt you?"

"Yeah, but I don't let nobody play with me, 'cept Ali.  He's my brother."

That was one little piece of information that I didn't really need.  They
were beginning to sound like my boys.

"Jay, the man approached you because of the way you acted when you came up
on the dock.  You didn't put your clothes on and you were walking around
sashaying your little butt.  To him that sent a message that you might be
available.  Understand?"

"Yeah, kinda.  But I didn't mean for nobody ta think that . . . honest.  If
I did somethin' like that, my brother'd kill me; my mom woulda, too."

"You know, I have two sons at home.  Like you, they don't like to wear any
clothes unless they have to."

"Do you let 'em go naked?"

"At home, yes.  Also, in other places if it's appropriate.  But there's
something I make them do."

Jay didn't answer, he just looked at me expectantly.

"I require my sons to show respect for themselves and other people.  When
they do that, other people respect them."  I could tell I was going a
little over his head.

"Jay, can I ask you something?  Would you rather be Jay, one of the best
boy divers in Key West, or, would rather be prissy, Sweet Jesus?"  That got
his attention.

"How'd you know my nick-name?  Ali promised not ta tell!  I'll get him for
. . ."

"Easy there, young fella.  How did you know that I was 'him'?  Do you
really think there are any big secrets around here?  Now, will you do me a
favor and think about what I asked you?"

"Yeah," he answered, being a little timid.  "Are you gonna take us ta the
soccer practice?  Ali, Keith and Donnie all play.  I'm too little, there's
not enough boys my age wanna play, so I just play around waitin' on 'em.
Keith said you might take us to the wreck, too.  Are ya?"

"Jay!  Hush up," Ali approached us.  "Sorry, Rick, guess Jay kinda spilled
the beans."

"I'm sooorrrry," Jay whined, "I didn't know ya had'n asked 'im."

"Well, Jay, I'll make you a deal.  David and I will give all of you a ride
over to the soccer field on one condition.  You have to let me fix those
shorts so they don't say Sweet Jesus.  I'd much rather be with Jay,
fabulous boy diver.  Deal?"

Jay looked at me and grinned as he held his arms out to let me run the
twine through his belt loops.  Of course, when he stretched is arms out,
that pulled his stomach in, exposing more.  It was a good thing he had a
good bubble butt, that's all that was keeping him from losing his shorts.
When I reached around his little waist to run the twine through the loops
in back, he collapsed into me and wrapped his arms around my neck.  It
wasn't an accident, he hugged me too tightly.

"Thanks," he whispered in my ear.

I held him and could feel his little body shaking.  He had been frightened
by the pervert and was probably afraid of being in trouble when I called
him over.  He was just a little kid wanting someone to show they cared.  I
held him for a minute and saw the other boys watching us.  Ali smiled.

When I felt him calm down a little, I pushed him back and gave him a light
kiss on the forehead.  We then held hands as we walked over to the golf
cart.  I heard his judgment of me during the ride.

"Ali," Jay tried to whisper to his brother.  "I like 'im.  He's cool."

I thought all the boys were kind of cool myself.  They still hadn't told me
about the wreck.


End Ch Forty-four
To be continued

Comments welcome: contact Dwight Wilson at adm2780@yahoo.com