Date: Sun, 9 Jun 2002 14:36:03 EDT
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: Throw Away Kid - chapter 6

Legal Notice:
The following story may contain descriptions of graphic sexual acts.  These
acts may be between boys or between a man and a boy.  The story is a work
of fiction and has no basis in reality.

The author, or his designee, retains copyright to this story.  There may be
no reproducing or distribution of this story without expressed written
consent.

             *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Throw Away Kid - by Erastes                         Copyright 2000 by Erastes
Chapter 6 - Fallout.                                April 2002

Bryce's foster father wasn't sure what he expected to find on that tape,
but he was still afraid that Bryce was taking things away from his sons.
Before he left for the wedding, he had closed and locked his own bedroom
door, shut Johnny's door and placed a paper in the crack high-up, so he
could see if anyone entered it, and then he set the camcorder up on the
shelf in Tommy's room, where the boys wouldn't be likely to notice it.  He
wanted to see if Bryce was stealing anything or if he was casing the room,
to see what he might be able to take later.  As he sat down and
fast-forwarded through the tape, he slowed it to normal speed when he saw
the boys enter the room.  At first he wasn't too upset when he saw the boys
performing mutual masturbation on each other, because he remembered when he
and his friends had done similar things, but he began to lose control
later, when he saw them swapping blow-jobs.  He wanted to run upstairs,
grab Bryce, and throw him out of his house, but he knew he couldn't do that
tonight.  They had managed to let that faggy little bastard into their
house, and now he was corrupting his son and leading him into practicing
depravity.  He just couldn't allow that and he had to remove Satan's spawn
from his home before he corrupted both of the boys for good.  If his wife
was awake when he went upstairs, he'd tell her now, but everyone would know
tomorrow that Bryce was on his way out and he'd be gone just as soon as he
could arrange it.

The next morning, things got very tense around the breakfast table.
Bryce's foster father had already informed his wife about the tape and made
her view it.  Although she hated spying on the boys like this and watching
the boys in such intimate situations, she knew that her husband was not
going to listen to reason on this one.  She had listened to him rant and
rave last night when he came to bed, and she was surprised he hadn't
awakened the boys with his bellowing.  It took all her womanly wiles to
keep him from exploding, but she couldn't stop him this morning, as he
confronted Tommy the minute he was awake.  He took Tommy downstairs and
turned on the tape he had of the two of them, asking him to explain what in
the hell he thought he was doing.  Tommy was furious that his dad had made
the tape in the first place, taping him in his own room, but he was livid
and totally embarrassed when he discovered that his mother had watched the
tape too.  Now he wouldn't even speak to his father, and he wouldn't look
him in the eye.  He just ran up to his room and slammed his door, and he
wouldn't come out of it for the rest of the day.  His mother went up to
coax him out, but he wouldn't speak to her either, as he was mortified to
know that she had watched him and Bryce together.  Sure, she had seen his
penis when he was younger, but not since he had reached puberty, but to see
him enjoying sex, that was just too much for him to cope with.  She brought
up his meals and left them in his room, hoping he would eat, but he took
only a few bites all day long.

She tried to talk to Tommy, to help heal the family, but he let her know
that would never happen.  He explained that even if Bryce were forced to
leave, though he hoped that wouldn't happen, he could never forgive his
father's spying on him, then showing her too, but especially if he blamed
it all on Bryce and made him leave.  Now she began to realize there were
some major problems here, and wounds that would not heal quickly. Tommy
told her he might forgive his father some day, but not right away, but he'd
never forgive him if he made Bryce leave.  His mother realized that her
husband would never give in, so now she worried how her family would
survive this crisis.

When Johnny got home, he walked into a hornet's nest, and without any prior
warning.  He knew Tommy didn't go to school, but he just assumed he was
probably sick and thought nothing more of it, but there was something else.
Although his parents didn't tell him why at the time, he was informed that
Bryce would be leaving and his father would be talking to him and Tommy
once Bryce had departed.  Johnny went up to his room, but he stopped to
talk to Tommy on the way, and he got filled in on what had happened. From
there, both of the boys went down to Bryce's room, to see how he was doing.
They both really liked Bryce and they worried how he was handling what was
happening.

Tommy hadn't thought much about this before actually doing it, and he was
concerned about how his father might respond, if he realized they were
comforting Bryce, but he couldn't let that stop him.  Now that his brother
was back home, they would do this together, because they were sure that as
long as they stayed united, the two of them could stand up to anything
their father wanted to dish out.  Tommy knocked lightly on Bryce's door,
but he didn't get an answer, so he opened it and they went inside, shutting
the door behind them.  Bryce didn't even turn to see whom it was, lying
face down on the cot, his head buried in his pillow.  The boys walked over
and stood beside him, and then they reached out and touched him lovingly.
This shocked Bryce and he spun around on the cot, but he relaxed when he
saw who it was.  It was obvious that all three boys had been crying, as
none of them wanted to be separated like this, but they all realized that
there was probably little they could do to stop this from happening.

The boys talked about what had happened, filling Johnny in on what he had
missed out on, and then they talked about what it was going to be like,
once Bryce was gone.  None of the boys were happy about this, but Tommy
told them all that he'd never forgive his father for having done this and
that he'd never speak to him again.  Johnny said that he'd do the same, but
Tommy told him he didn't want him to get into trouble because of what he'd
done and what he was about to do.  Johnny said he didn't care if he got in
trouble, and if Tommy wasn't going to speak to their dad, neither would he,
so it seemed the lines were drawn in the sand.  Bryce tried to talk both
the boys out of this, as he didn't want to be responsible for driving a
wedge between them and their father, as that was the relationship he'd
always wanted for himself.  He was ineffective in his efforts to convince
them, however, and the two boys began to devise their plan.

The situation escalated at dinnertime, as the two boys came down to the
table and declared their intentions.  Seeing Tommy hadn't come downstairs
all day, his parents were surprised to see him, but he and Johnny marched
up to their parents, looked them both in the eye, and Tommy began to speak.

"Johnny and I have talked it over and we've decided that if you send Bryce
away, neither one of us will ever speak to you again."  His father stopped
what he was doing and glared at his son, sending icy chills down the boy's
spine.  Both boys almost wilted right there, but Tommy summoned up his
resolve and glared back at his father.

"What did you say?" his father demanded.

"You heard what I said.  It's not fair and Bryce isn't at fault here.
Johnny and I were doing this before he even got here, and we're the ones
who taught him.  You can't punish him for what we did."  The father studied
his two boys before he answered them.

"Nice try, and I admire your loyalty and guts, but you two aren't homos, so
you wouldn't have known about such things.  I know where you learned them
from and who's to blame.  He must have picked that stuff up in one of those
other places he lived.  No, I'm not going to give in to you and he'll be
leaving tomorrow or the day after."

"It's not fair," Johnny screamed back, "Tommy's telling you the truth.  We
taught him how to do all of that.  He didn't teach us."

"I cannot and will not believe that.  There's no way that could have
happened.  Your mother is calling DSS first thing tomorrow morning and
he'll be gone just as soon as they can come and get him."

"We're not kidding, Dad.  We won't ever talk to you again, if you do this."

"Don't you dare threaten me, young man!  I make the rules in this house,
not you.  You will do as I say and I don't want to hear any more of your
foolishness."

"I hate you," Tommy screamed at his father, with Johnny adding his 'me too'
right after him.  Their father's face was a bright crimson about then, and
he had all he could do not to reach out and slap both his sons.  His wife
sat rigid at the other end of the table, her eyes bulging out and her mouth
hanging open, afraid of what was going to happen next.

"That's it.  All of you get to your rooms right now, and I don't want to
see you again until you stop questioning my decisions and you can show some
respect."  He was pointed for them to leave the room, and the boys did just
that.  Before he left the room, however, Tommy offered up a parting shot.

"Then you'll probably never see us again."  That was the straw that broke
the camel's back, and their father leaped from his chair, to chase after
them and teach them a lesson.  Just as he rose, his wife screamed.

"No!  That's enough.  You've already torn this family apart with your
display of childish attitude and paranoia, but if you touch the boys, I'll
be packing the three of us up and leaving you completely."

"So you want me to let them get away with talking back to me like this?"

"It would never have come to this, if you'd been acting like an adult for
the past few days."

"Oh, so now it's my fault for wanting to protect my sons."

"No, it's your fault for making a mountain out of a molehill.  You
perceived that boy a threat from the start, and worried that we would be
spending money on him that should go to our boys.  If the truth was told,
we didn't even spend the full amount of money on him that we got in checks
from DSS.  You were robbing him!  And the idea that you put a camera in
Tommy's room to spy on them, that is utterly indefensible.  Maybe if we
suspected them of drugs or stealing or something, but you just put it in
there because you wanted to see what was going on.  You took away their
right to privacy, and I don't blame them for hating you for that.  Let's
face it, you've ruined your relationship with all of us over this, and none
of us will ever have the same amount of respect for you as we once did."

"So you approve of them doing all that gay shit?"

"Damn it, they're only boys and they're going to do some sexual
experimentation.  How the hell would you have felt if your parents had
filmed you doing things like that?"  She paused to give him a chance to
respond, but he couldn't come up with an answer.  "I only pray that you
haven't permanently damaged their sexual development with your conduct and
then making such a big deal over it.  Face it, dear, you acted like an ass
and left the boys no option in how they'd react to your demands."

"The hell with all of you then.  You can all leave if you want, but I want
that little cock-sucker out of here, as soon as possible.  I will not back
down and I will not change my mind.  Those are my orders and I expect them
followed."

"Oh, the king is giving us his commands, is he?  Well, you can count on
this much, it will be the final command you ever give any of us, your royal
highness.  We won't ever bow or scrape to you again, and I'll get Bryce out
of here too, but not because you've ordered it.  I'll only do this to
protect him, because I fear for his safety with you around.  The boys and I
will be leaving too, and I'll take care of them myself from now on.  As far
as I'm concerned, you can have your castle, because you've single-handedly
managed to destroy our family."

"I did that?  No, you're not blaming ME for that one.  You did that when
you brought an outsider into our home."

"No, you can't blame it on that, because the rest of us had no problems
with him being here.  You were the only one with a problem, most likely a
problem related to some emotional trauma you suffered during potty
training."

"I don't have to listen to this shit.  This is my house."

"Check the mortgage papers, sire.  That has both of our names on it, not
just yours, but I'd happily sign my share over to you, if it would
guarantee that you'd grow up or gain some common sense."  With that, his
wife stormed out of the room and went up to talk to the boys.  They were
all in Johnny's room crying, trying to comfort each other about what was
happening.  Their mother came in and sat on the bed, asking the boys to sit
beside her.  When they did, she put her arms around them and tried to calm
them down.

"Can't you talk Dad out of this?" Johnny asked her.

"I don't think I can," she told them, "but I also think it will be best for
Bryce to leave."

"You agree with Dad?" Tommy screamed, incredulously.

"No, I don't, but I'm afraid it would get even worse for him if he stayed.
If he remained now, because we made your father back down, then your dad
would treat him ten times worse than he did before.  No, it's really better
for Bryce if he leaves."

"No, Mom, you can't make him go," Tommy pleaded.  "He's our brother now,
and you wouldn't send one of us away, would you?"  Bryce jumped in at this
point, saving her from having to answer that no-win question.

"Your mother's right and I'll be fine.  I don't want to leave you either,
but your dad would really be after me now.  This was only temporary anyway,
because they didn't have enough foster homes in my county, but I thank you
for sticking up for me like that.  I don't want to be the one to cause you
guys to fight and argue, so it's best that I leave."

"No way," Tommy told him, "it isn't you who caused this fight and even if
you do leave, we won't ever forgive Dad, not this time.  Whether you leave
or stay, I no longer have a father."

"Me either," Johnny added.  "This really sucks.  We got somebody in that we
really liked and got close to, and Dad has to go and ruin it for us."

"Boys, we're going to be leaving for a while too," their mother told them,
"at least until things calm down.  You'll forget about all of this and
forgive him some day, but I think that will happen faster if you're not
around each other right now.  You know, he does love you in his own warped
way."

"Maybe he loves us, but you're wrong, Mom, I won't forgive him for this.
He spied on me in my own room, the place that I'm supposed to be free to do
things in private.  How would he like it if we put the camcorder in your
room, and then watched you two making love?"

"Well, it's not quite the same, but I get your point," his mother told him.

"It IS the same and he'd explode if anyone did that to him, so I won't ever
speak to him again.  I know you don't think I can do that, but you just
watch.  I wouldn't even go visit him in the hospital or go to his funeral,
if he died."

"Tommy, that's a terrible thing to say."

"Maybe, but I mean every word."

Their discussion continued for a while longer, but what none of them knew
was that their father had quietly crept up the stairs and was standing in
the hallway outside their door.  He had heard most of this exchange, and
now he hurt, knowing how much his boys hated him now.  Even though this
bothered him, he figured that they'd eventually get over it and he was
convinced he was doing this for their own good, so he wasn't about to give
in and change his stance.  Silently he tiptoed down to his room, went
inside, and noiselessly shut the door.  Then he lay on his bed, staring at
the ceiling, replaying the comments he had heard everyone make earlier.

The rest of the evening was the longest any of them had ever experienced,
and everyone seemed to be sticking to their guns.  The boys tried to spend
as much time together as they could, figuring that if they were going to be
separated they'd make the most of it while they could.  Tommy and Johnny
didn't care whether their father liked this or not, this was for Bryce and
them.  They did this is Johnny's room, because that was the one farthest
away from their parents' room, and the three of them agreed to spend the
night together, sleeping in Johnny's bed.  Tommy and Bryce had closed the
doors to their rooms before they left, to give the illusion that they were
in there, and then they all gathered in Johnny's room.  Once they were all
inside, they took the chair in the room and wedged the back under the
doorknob, so no one could intrude on them or do any more spying.  They did
not need to worry, however, as their parents were preoccupied with their
own problems.  Seeing their father was already in the bedroom, their mother
grabbed a blanket and a pillow before heading downstairs, where she slept
on the sofa.  That gave each of their parents enough to worry about with
each other, so they didn't even think about the boys.

The boys didn't do anything sexual that evening, as they were too upset and
too afraid that they'd only make matters worse, but they did put Bryce in
the center, so the three of them could cuddle together.  Their bodies
managed to intertwine during the evening, as they tossed and turned in
their sleep, and they would have resembled a litter of puppies to anyone
looking in on them.  Each one of them awoke periodically throughout the
night, sometimes after a bad dream and sometimes just because of the
uncertainty over what was to come next.  None of them was very rested when
they awoke the next morning, but they all waited until they were sure their
father had left the house, before they would even come down for breakfast.
When they did, it was a very somber time, and Bryce broke that silence by
asking if he should pack his things and take them with him.  His foster
mother told him that nothing would happen before he returned home after
school, and she told him that he should leave everything just as it was.
Once the three boys were ready for school, they ambled out of the house and
waited in silence for the bus.  Their friends were unaware of what had
happened and tried to joke around with them on the bus, but Johnny quickly
told them to knock it off, and then he told them that their father was
making Bryce leave.  When they were asked why their father was doing that,
Tommy merely told them that their father didn't want anyone but family
staying there.  The boys seemed to accept that, though they did comment
that it stunk, and they all told Bryce how they'd miss him.  They also
stated that they hoped he didn't have to go too far away.

The three boys just went through the day like zombies, not remembering much
of what went on, and they were just as quiet on the bus ride home.  When
the bus pulled up at their stop, the three of them got off and shuffled to
the house, only to receive the news they were dreading.  The minute they
walked through the door, their mother told Bryce to run upstairs and pack
up his belongings, because his caseworker would be there to pick him up in
about a half hour.  Bryce tried not to react, but there was a sad
expression on his face that he couldn't seem to hide, so he left quickly
and went up to get his things.  The other two lost it at that point, and an
emotional outburst ensued.

"Mom, can't you make it so he can stay?" Johnny pleaded.

"Please, Mom, we'll do anything, just don't let him go," Tommy added.  Both
boys were in tears and the looks on their faces were so pitiful and sad
that it broke their mother's heart to see them like that.  Although she
would like to be able to do that for them, she knew that it would be unfair
to Bryce and he'd be the one to suffer, even more than he already had.  No
matter how much she might have liked, she knew it couldn't be.

"I'm sorry, boys, there's nothing I can do now.  Your father's mind is made
up and the caseworker has been notified, so all I can try to do is see if I
can find out where he is going, so maybe I can take you to visit him from
time to time."

"That will be nice, but I'd rather have him here," Johnny told her.

"And I hate Dad," Tommy spat out.  "I don't care what you say or do to me,
but I hate him."  After saying that, he raced up the stairs and into
Bryce's room.  Bryce was just finishing putting his things in the trash bag
he had used when he first arrived, and Tommy just plopped down on the cot,
sobbing hysterically.  Bryce tried to console him, which seemed like a
reversal of roles, but Tommy wasn't buying any of that.  Before long Johnny
was in there too, tears streaming down his face as well.  Eventually their
mother showed up too, trying to console the trio.

"Tommy and Johnny, I want you both to pack some things too.  We're going to
be leaving, at least for a while, just to give things time to calm down.
We're going to go stay with my parents for a few days, and grandma and
grandpa understand what's been going on here."

"You told THEM what we did too?" Tommy screamed.

"No, I only told them that your father was throwing Bryce out and that we
were all upset and needed some time to be away from him."

"So you didn't tell them about the sex or show them the video?"

"No, Tommy!  I would never do that."  Hearing this, Tommy calmed down and
he and Johnny went to pack some things.  After they left, Bryce spoke to
his foster mother.

"Please don't do this because of me," he pleaded.  "I don't want to be the
cause of your family breaking apart."

"Don't worry, dear, you aren't.  It's my husband who caused all of this,
but I do feel that he and the boys should be apart for now, if they are to
get over this.  I just wish I could take you with us."

"Don't worry about me, I'll do fine, but I'm worried about Tommy and
Johnny.  They need to be close to their father."

"Yes, I agree, and it's sweet of you to think of them before yourself.  I
think eventually they'll all cool down, but I'm not so sure the boys will
ever idolize their father like they used to.  He made some major blunders,
and he'll probably pay dearly for all he did."

"Then you're not planning to leave him for good?"

"Not unless he continues to act like an ass."  She hesitated for a second
before she spoke again.  "Excuse my language, but there is no better way to
have said that."  Bryce just nodded his understanding.

"Are you sure he'll let you come back, if you leave now?" he asked her.

"I'm not positive, but I don't really believe he wants this family to break
up either.  He's just a chauvinist and a despot.  He's stuck in the past,
when men were the unquestioned masters over nearly everything, and he
doesn't realize that society and time have passed him by.  He'll learn
eventually, it's just that I'm not too sure how long that will take."

"But what if he doesn't learn or give in?"

"Then he'll probably be left totally alone.  My parents will help the boys
and me, so we'll be fine, but my husband's fate will be totally in his own
hands."

Bryce was about to say something more, but Tommy and Johnny returned at
that moment, so he let it drop.  They all took their things downstairs, and
his foster family loaded their belongings in the family car.  Then they sat
and waited for the caseworker to arrive.  They talked about many things,
mostly about trying to keep in touch and trying to reassure each other that
things would be fine, but this was interrupted when the caseworker arrived
to pick-up Bryce.  He placed his things in her vehicle, kissed his foster
mother and hugged all three of them, and then he joined her in the front
seat, looking out the window as they drove away.  They waved at him as he
left, and he waved back, then he saw them start to get into their own car,
just before they turned a corner and moved out of view.

As they drove along, the caseworker tried to engage Bryce in conversation,
but he was too lost in his own thoughts.  He couldn't help but feel
responsible for breaking that family up and causing the boys and their
father to have an argument.  Although he knew it wasn't all his fault, he
still felt bad about what had happened.  About that time he realized the
caseworker was telling him something about his new home.  From what he
heard, he realized he wasn't going back to his old county and that he
wasn't staying in this county either.  He was being placed in another new
county, in a home for boys with sexual problems.  He was shocked when he
heard this, as he didn't think he had any sexual problem, but now he was
sure that his former foster father had also talked to DSS.  His foster
mother wouldn't have told them about any of that.  All he could do now was
hope that this was a fairly nice place.

It seemed like it took forever to get there, and it was way out in the
country, away from everything else.  It must be that they didn't want these
kids with sexual problems to be close to anyone else.  From the looks of
it, there wasn't a home within a couple of miles on either side of this
place, and the house was set a long way back from the road.  As they drove
up the long dirt driveway to the house, Bryce strained to see whatever he
could.  It looked like they grew crops, maybe for their own food, and there
was a barn, but he wasn't sure what type of animals might be in it.  As
they got closer, he could make out the house, but it didn't seem all that
nice on the outside.  The paint was peeling, the porch was in need of
repair, and there were all kinds of junk lying all about.  It wasn't what
he hoped for, but he'd make do, as long as his foster parents and the other
foster children were willing to accept him.

After the car was parked, he and his caseworker went up to the house, there
to be greeted by a rather large, somewhat unkempt, bear of a man.  The
caseworker introduced herself and Bryce to the man, so it was obvious she
didn't know him either, and then they went out to retrieve Bryce's
belongings from the vehicle and take them inside.  Once they had everything
out of the car, the caseworker drove off and left him there with this man.
Bryce tried to talk to him, asking how many other kids lived there, but the
man only told him they were at school, and he'd see them when they got off
the bus.

Bryce went inside and sat on a chair in the living room, but he didn't move
or do anything, because he was kind of scared about how this guy might
respond.  He did look around a bit, from where he was sitting, and the
inside of the house looked nicer than the outside.  The furniture was
decent, they had a big-screen TV, and the inside was fairly clean and neat.
One thing he did notice, however, was there were no pictures anywhere that
he could see, not of the family or of any the other kids who lived here, so
he felt there wasn't a lot of love or caring here.  If there were, there
would be pictures everywhere, showing how much he loved his family, all of
them.

Around noon, the guy called Bryce out to the kitchen and slid some
lunchmeat and bread in his direction, telling him to make himself a
sandwich for lunch.  Then he told him that he could go to the fridge and
pick something to drink.  As Bryce looked inside, he could see that there
was milk, juice, and a pitcher of Kool Aid there, so he grabbed that and
asked where the glasses were.  The guy pointed at a cupboard, indicating
which one contained the glasses, so he grabbed one and filled it up.  Bryce
ate his lunch and then went back into the living room, planning to wait
there until the others got home from school.  After a while, the guy came
in and gave him the remote for the TV, telling him he could watch whatever
he wanted.  This helped pass the time more quickly, until Bryce heard the
bus's screeching brakes bring it to a halt out in front.  Before long
several young boys were bolting into the house, causing a great deal of
commotion.

"Is he here yet?" one of them screamed out, before he saw Bryce sitting in
front of the television.  The boys walked in, looked him over, and sized
him up.  Most of these boys were older than him, the youngest being maybe
thirteen, and Bryce realized he was the youngest and smallest of the group.
Well, maybe it was logical, if he had thought about it in depth, that kids
with sexual problems would be older than him, because how many younger
children have been introduced to sex yet?

Bryce felt a little uncomfortable, with all these boys looking him over,
and he could see some of them snicker or whisper to some of the others as
they did this.  Bryce wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't think it
was good.  One of the boys asked his name, so he told him, then a couple of
the boys told him their names as well.  This gave Bryce enough courage to
ask a question, so he spoke to one of the boys who told him his name.
"Where is our foster mother?  I haven't met her yet."

"We ain't got no foster mother," the kid said while chuckling.  "There's
only Big John and us."

"Who's Big John?" Bryce asked, naively.

"That big guy over there, the one you would call our foster father."

"You mean he isn't married?"

"Hell, no!  He don't even like women."  Now all the boys were laughing.

"Then how did he become a foster parent?" Bryce asked, innocently enough.
Now most of the boys were roaring with laughter.

"Big John has lots of friends, some who are kind of important around here,
and they either don't like women that much either, or they like a change of
pace every now and then."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough.  Don't worry about that."

"I wasn't worried, I just wanted to know."

"Well, you'll find out, when the time is right and Big John thinks you
should know."

Big John came into the room about that time, and he told two of the younger
boys to take Bryce and show him around the place.  Bryce turned back, just
before he left the house, and he saw Big John talking excitedly to the
other boys.  He didn't think much of it, and he went with his two 'guides',
to learn more about his new surroundings.  He came to find out this was
kind of a big place, and they had different types of animals, which the
boys took care of.  They had a couple of cows that they milked, but they
had beef cows and pigs too, which they raised for food.  They had chickens
for the eggs and the meat, and they also had a couple of turkeys, which
they also raised to eat.  He also learned they had a couple of horses,
which the boys were allowed to ride, but only with permission.  Maybe this
wouldn't be so bad after all.

After seeing all of this, Bryce got up the courage to ask his guides other
questions about his new home.  "What types of work do we have to do around
here?"

"We have to do lots of different things," the first boy told him.  "We have
to help take care of all the animals and feed them.  You might have to feed
and milk the cows, feed the hogs or turnkeys, or feed the chickens and
gather the eggs.  You might also have to groom the horses and brush them
down after they are ridden."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Well, that's not all," the other boy told him.  "We have to help with the
planting and harvesting of the corn and we have to take care of the garden
for the house too.  And during the summer, we have to help with the haying,
so we have something to feed the cows and horses during the winter."

"At least it isn't housework," Byrce said with a grin.

"Oh, we have to do that too.  We have to clean the house, wash the dishes,
do the laundry, help fix meals, set the table, and take out the trash too."

"You mean everyone has to do all those things?"

"Not exactly.  You'll be assigned different things to do.  You'll probably
get some of the housework to start, and maybe taking care of the chickens."

"But you'll have to help with the crops and garden too," the second boy
added, "but the older boys take care of most of the other animals."

"Well, it sounds hard, but not all that bad," Bryce told them, trying to
keep positive about his new home.  "Does Big John treat everyone fairly?"

The two boys looked at each other and grinned before one responded to
Bryce's question.  "Oh, yeah.  Big John makes sure we all get treated about
the same."

Bryce thought this might also contain some hidden meaning, but he didn't'
dare ask at this point, so he let it drop.  As he stood there thinking, one
of the other boys spoke.

"We'd better get back up to the house, it's getting close to dinnertime and
there will be jobs for us to do.  I don't want to get into trouble for not
doing my share."

"Would Big John punish you?"

"Oh, yeah.  He sure would."

"What would he do to you?"

"That depends on how bad it was, but I don't think you'd want to find out,
so let's get going."

"Please, just tell me what he might do."

"Well, one thing he likes to do if you're bad is, he'll make you drop your
pants and bend over a chair.  He'll have other boys hold you down while he
hits your bare ass with his belt.  It's wide and thick and it really hurts.
It can leave welts or cuts on your bottom too."

"Yeah, I don't like the sounds of that, so let's get going."

The boys raced back to the house and were greeted by Big John.  He didn't
seem angry, but he started to tell the boys what they were to do.  As
everyone went about doing their thing, Bryce tried to watch each of the
various boys and gauge them as they worked.  He noticed that most of the
boys went about their duties without a second thought, and they put a great
deal of energy into what they were doing.  He noticed some of the older
boys were in the kitchen, doing the cooking, while he and his two guides
were asked to set the table, after they had cleaned up.  Soon dinner was
ready and they all sat down to eat.

Dinner wasn't bad.  It wasn't anything fancy, but there was plenty of it
and no one said anything if someone took more.  This was definitely a
difference from his last home, although he missed his former foster home
and family still.  He also wondered how Tommy, Johnny, and their mother
were making out, now that they had left their father and husband.  He still
felt bad that he was at least partially to blame for what happened to their
family, and he hoped some day he could see them all again and possibly be
able to do something to make up for all of that.  He didn't know what he
could possibly do, but he hoped there would be something.

As dinner went on, the boys talked about their day and Bryce got to learn a
little bit more about them.  He knew some of the boys seemed rough, but
they still seemed friendly enough, so he wasn't too concerned about getting
along here.  Once dinner was over, some of the boys, including Bryce,
cleared the table and scraped off the dishes, and then other boys set about
washing them and putting them away.  It all went very quickly and very
smoothly, and no one complained about what they were asked to do.  Bryce
thought it wasn't all that bad here, because he wasn't expected to do all
the work by himself.

As he was finishing up his chores, Bryce overheard a couple of the older
boys talking to Big John.  He wasn't sure what they meant, but it left him
to wonder what they were up to when they asked Big John, "When do we get to
break him in?"

Thinking about this a little longer, Bryce felt that they wanted to know
when they could teach him various jobs that he was expected to do, and now
he wondered what he would be expected to do on a regular basis.  That was,
until he heard Big John's reply.

"I guess we could begin his training later tonight."

                  *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Positive emails may be sent to ErastesTouch@aol.com