Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:21:27 -0700
From: Kevin Harness <kevroc54321@tns.net>
Subject: Until Zory Came Along... Chapt 2

The usual diclaimers apply - if you aren't old enough per your laws /
statutes to read this, don't.  If you are offended by gay
inter-generational relationships or by gay material in general, don't read
this story.  If, however, you find boylove an interesting subject, please
read on.  All characters in the story are played by persons 18 years of age
or older, and the story is fictional.  If it were a real story, I would
normally change the names to protect the person or persons involved.

************************

An interesting scenario, to say the least, eh?

As the week went on, I learned also that his mom was single, and had moved
to the U.S.  from Russia with Zory when he was about 6 years old.  Thus
far, no one had mentioned anything about "dad", so I didn't ask.

Despite the newness of the upcoming event and all its parts and pieces, I
was swamped at work and by Wednesday the workload was precluding my being
able to walk and chew gum.  I was having a cold bottled water on my
afternoon break when my phone vibrated.  Looking at the number, I was
surprised to see "Zory's Mom" come up.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi!"

It was Zory.

"Hi Zory, how are you?"

"I'm fine I guess, except the week's too long and Friday's not coming soon
enough," he replied.

Chuckling, I said "Yeah, I know how that can be.  To what do I owe the
honor of this call?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget about dinner this Friday.
We're cooking a special meal, and I'm helping.  I asked my mom if I could
call you to see if everything is still ok with you coming here," he stated.

"Yup, everything's fine, Zory.  Thanks.  I printed out directions off the
internet and pretty much know where I'm going, and I have your mom's cell
phone if I get lost or something."

"Cool.  Oh, I have an idea, hold on."

He was pretty darned excited.  I had to laugh, because having already met
Zory Whirlwind, I could visualize his antics, facial expressions, and was
pretty sure whereever he went, he had run instead of walking.

"Ok," he huffed, slightly out of breath, "I can give you our house phone
number.  It's better to call us on that after mom gets home from work cuz
she usually turns her phone off."

"Ok, cool," I replied, "what is it?"

Zory gave me the number, then asked "Ok, so what's your cell phone number
so I can put it by the house phone?"

Dutifully, I gave him my cell number.

"Cool!" he exclaimed, "we're all set.  And if you want to hang out after
dinner, I can ride my bike over to rent some movies tomorrow."

How could I say no?

"Well, I could probably stay after if it's ok with everyone at the time,
that would be really cool Zory.  But let's see how things work out, ok?
That way we won't get disappointed if it doesn't happen for some reason.
How's that sound?" I asked.

"Sounds fine, but I know it will be ok with mom.  And it's REALLY ok with
me, so I guess it's, well, we'll see how it's going after dinner," and I
could almost hear him covering his mouth so he wouldn't laugh.

I nearly burst out laughing.  Good grief this kid was good.

"Zory," I said nearly losing it and cracking up, "what's the cross between
a whirlwind and a bulldozer...?"

The line was silent for a second, and then he was TOTALLY cracking up.

"...because when you figure it out, that's gonna be my nickname for you."

"Ok," he said still laughing, "ok.  Alright, I gotta go, homework to do.
Talk to you later."

"Bye Zory, and tell your mom thanks for me."

"Ok.  Bye."

And of course, I couldn't think about anything else for the rest of the
day.

Well, for those of you going, 'um, have you considered the kid wants a dad
and the mom maybe wants a husband?'  Yeah, that thought crossed my mind
repeatedly ever since I was apprised of her marital status.  In fact, other
than divine intervention sending me the most beautiful and forward boy I'd
ever met, possibly complete with an approving mom, the dad thing was my
best guess too.

Still, both Zory and his mom were obviously very nice people and were going
out of their way to be kind.  On that note, there was a good chance that
they were doing what they could to thank me for the science and rocket
demonstration, and for the campout at the desert which I'd be arranging for
the troop.

The next day I got a call about the same time, only this time it said "Zory
Home".

Um, ok.

"Hello?" I inquired, genuinely interested in what this call could be about.

"Hi."

It was Zory.

"Hi Zory, how are you?" I began.

"Hey, good.  How are you?  Am I bothering you?  I sorta thought this might
be your break time at work."

"It is, and no, you're not bothering me at all."

"Cool.  Oh, by the way, my mom and I know you're gay."

I was extremely, EXTREMELY glad that I hadn't been trying to sip some water
between sentences of conversation, because I'm sure that either a) I
would've inhaled the water as I gasped, or b) I would've ejected water from
my mouth at near light-speed.

Zory giggled a bit, obviously delighted that he'd fried about half my
mental circuit- boards in one sentence.

I still hadn't spoken yet, having no idea what to say really.

"Well, you are, aren't you?  I mean, I could be wrong but I thought so, and
my mom, who's almost never wrong thought so too.  I mean, it's not bad or
anything at all, I just...  well, thought I might as well tell you that we
knew.  I mean, provided it's true."

Ok, now I sat down.

"Zory..." I began, with almost no direction as to what I was going to say.

"Man! you are SO funny.  It's no wonder I like you.  Come on, it's no big
deal, I just didn't want you to think mom and me were like dad-hunting or
something."

I don't know why, but I started laughing.  I don't know if it was Zory's
laughter that was so infectious, or whether the starkness of the situation
was, with no social veneer, funny.  Maybe both.  Finally after several
moments worth of both of us laughing quite loudly, I gathered enough wits
to speak.

"Zory?"

"Yeah?"

"If you e-v-e-r know what you're telling me is going to make me fall down,
p-l-e-a-s-e tell me to sit down before you tell me.  Ok?"

He became a bit more serious.  But it was still Zory I was talking to, mind
you.

"Ok, agreed.  So... you are, right?  I mean, ok.  We're like making up a
few rules here to our being friends, right?  I know to tell you to sit down
before I tell you something that's gonna make you fall down anyway.  So,
you would have to do the same for me, right?  Yeah, of course."

He was on a roll.

"So, here's another one.  We always tell each other the truth when the
other person asks, no matter what.  Because if we're gonna be friends we
have to trust each other.  Am I right?" he asked.

"Yeah, Zory, you're right.  100% right.  Being honest is important, and I
don't have very many friends, if any, that aren't honest with me.  So, yeah
Zory, you're right."

He waited, and I realized where this had started, and what question he was
awaiting an answer to.

"...and yeah, I'm gay, Zory, and ... thank you for being so up front with
me.  I guess it's not something I just blurt out to a scout hall or to
parents, because they might think..."

Zory finished the sentence for me.

"...that you'll molest their kids?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, humbly quieted.

He waited for a moment, then spoke not exactly softly, but I guess more
with feeling and deliberate meaning.

"Well, I don't think you're like that.... hey, what's your name anyway?"

It was one of those Zory-channel-changes that I'd come to know and
understand, as well as where we'd been just before he changed channels on
me.

"Bullwinkle," I said, pulling a name out of thin air.

He totally lost it and cracked up to where I am sure tears were streaming
down his face.

"Is that BULLwinkle as in B.S. cuz there's no way that's your name, or
Bull's WINKIE?"  he asked.

And he went off into a laughter fit followed by my losing it too.

"Ok, ok.  My name is John," I said, once I'd regained some semblence of
composure.

"Pleased to meet you, John," he said.

"Please to meet you too, Zory," I replied.

We ended our conversation and I couldn't help but sit there on the bench
for a minute or two longer, ingesting the conversation further.  HOW did
his mom even handle this kid?  Geeze!  He was just about as sharp as they
come, quick-witted, and could be gently manipulative beyond Cleopatra's
wildest dream.

I felt I was now in the same league as Christopher Columbus, who'd taken a
journey to the far away lands he only vaguely knew the existence of,
generally knew what direction he'd be going in, and knew he'd be
discovering things every second of the voyage.

And I was just going to dinner.

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