Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:41:58 -0400
From: Jake Preston <jemtling@gmail.com>
Subject: Psychic Detective 24

Psychic Detective 24
By: Jake Preston

This is a work of erotic gay fiction, intended for readers who enjoy a
murder mystery in which fully developed characters interact sexually and in
other ways. Their sexual encounters are sometimes romantic, sometimes
recreational, sometimes spiritual, and almost always described
explicitly. My attention is equally divided between narrative, character
development, and sex scenes. If you don't care for this combination, there
are many other excellent "nifty" stories to choose from. And remember that
while nifty stories are free, maintaining a website is not. Please think
about donating at http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html

Writing is usually a solitary avocation, but not necessarily so on
nifty.org, where a longer story appears in installments. If my characters
and my story grab your attention, you can always intervene with suggestions
for improvements. All sincere comments will get a response!

Jake, at jemtling@gmail.com



       *  *  *  *  *  *



Chapter 24
A Commitment Ceremony for Jack and Calvin



      Friday morning. Calvin led Jack upstairs to the bathroom. They
showered together. "Our clothes are still damp. They're in the dryer, but
you can wear this," Calvin smiled as he tossed pair of black jockey-shorts
to Jack. Calvin, of course, had fresh clothes to wear.

      "You want your folks to see me like this?" Jack asked.

      "I want them to accept that we're lovers," Calvin said. "Maybe I want
to show you off a bit."

      "I thought you did that last night," Jack laughed.

      In the kitchen, Jack stood by the counter while Sarah poured his
coffee. "I just heard the dryer go off," she said. "Calvin, go downstairs
and fetch Jack his clothes so he doesn't have to stand around
half-naked. Not that I'm complaining, but I don't want your boyfriend
catching a chill."

      "Yes, Mom," Calvin grinned.

      After breakfast, they drove north to Lake Ashawa. Sarah said she
wanted to ride with Jack. Abraham rode shotgun with Calvin. At Sarah's
request, Jack told his life story, how he grew up on the Res and was
bullied in school, got a scholarship to Emory University, and returned to
Lakota as a sheriff's deputy; how the Council on Public Safety appointed
him sheriff; how he and Göran Svenson compared crime scenes in their
districts and started on the hunt for Howard Coleman, otherwise known as
Albino.

      "I wonder, Jack," Sarah said, "has it occurred to you that the
diversion created by these two FBI agents...." "Ross Kratz and Guy Stone,"
Jack interjected. "Guy Stone and Ross Kratz, yes, them, is it possible that
they deliberately undermined your investigation?"

      "Why would they do that?" Jack asked.

      "Well, for one thing, to prevent county and city lawmen from getting
credit that they wanted for themselves. Maybe they felt uncomfortable
working in a gay bar, with gay lawmen, defending gay victims. The FBI has
never been friendly to gays or lesbians. Maybe they're disciples of
Albino. That happens sometimes, doesn't it?" Sarah said. "Why would they
confiscate the videotape evidence?"

      "No one can dispute their doing that, since the FBI owns the case,"
Jack said. "Still, we have our own videotape. Jésus captured the scene
on his cellphone."

      "Jésus García Moreno?"- Sarah knew him by name and reputation.

      "The same," Jack said. "To tell the truth, Sarah, I was hoping we'd
get a break in the case this evening. Jésus did his part. He spread the
word that I would be at Apollo's for a strip-tease act, just like I did on
last week on Saturday night. CC didn't tell you about that, did he? I had
no previous experience as a go-go dancer, but I'm pretty good at
it. Göran Svenson had an intuitive feeling that Coleman would be
there. He was right. How could he have known that we'd be betrayed by two
FBI agents? So we didn't get a break in the case. This means that the
serial killings will continue- with five victims at each crime
scene. Göran thinks that the next crime scene will be somewhere around
Lake Ashawa. I've learned to trust his intuition. But I have to return to
South Dakota on Monday. I have no choice. If I don't get back to my post,
I'll lose my job. I've invited CC to come with me. He hasn't given me his
answer yet."

      "It's a difficult step for Calvin," Sarah said. "He's lived all his
life in Duluth. The furthest he's been out of state is across the High
Bridge. It would be good for him to get away for a while. But I wonder,
what would his life be like in Lakota?"

      "My home is on the Reservation, but it's also on the edge of the town
of Lakota, which isn't part of the Res," Jack said. "He'd be living in two
worlds, as I do. Lakota College has a baccalaureate program in anthropology
with an emphasis on Native Americans. CC is interested in that. It's his
latest passion."

      "That's news to me," Sarah said.

      "It's not because of me," Jack said, answering a question that Sarah
didn't ask. "He spent time with a neighbor named Red Hawk, who is the
Ojibwe nation's official anthropologist. Red Hawk gave him some books, and
showed him some unpublished birch-bark scrolls. He's taken an interest,
enough for him to persevere in college, I think. And if he decides to start
up another rock-'n'-roll band, he'll be the only game in town."

      "You seem to know my son very well," Sarah said.

      "I know he's a late bloomer," Jack replied. "He squandered a couple
years. He should be a college senior. Instead he's a sophomore. But he's
found his magic slippers and he's taking off."

      If Jack hoped to find an advocate in Calvin's mother, he was
mistaken. Sarah had no intention of coaxing Calvin to move to South Dakota,
but she wouldn't oppose it, either. It had to be Calvin's decision.



      Late Friday morning, Göran and Jack boated to Eight Eagles Island,
on duty. Tom Preston followed in his Kris Kraft, carrying Anna Ravitch,
Calvin, and Abraham and Sarah Cohn. They scouted for eagles and loons and
were not disappointed. An osprey made an unexpected appearance. When they
cut their motors and drifted near the island's north side, the cry of a
loon enchanted the channel. Then they saw more loons, a congregation of
loons haunting the channel with loonings and echoing after-cries. "I've
never seen so many loons in one place before. What a racket!" Tom said.

      Dmitri and David entered the channel, speeding along silently in
their 'stealth canoe'.  They pulled up to the Kris Kraft. "Did you see the
kingfisher perched on the fallen tree trunk next to our landing-rock?"
Dmitri asked, softly so as not to frighten the birds. Tom passed his
binoculars around so the passengers on the Kris Kraft could see.

      "I can see why the Ojibwe regard this island as a sacred place," Jack
said. "That's what the birds came to tell us- the eagles, the loons, the
osprey, the kingfisher, the heron...."

      "What heron?"

      "To your left in a scatter of rocks by the shore," Jack said. "Your
other left, on the lakeshore, not the island."

      Everyone looked north to see the heron. Deeper in the woods, Göran
spotted a turkey- vulture circling above some trees. Then there were
two. He pointed them out to Jack, who nodded but said nothing. Only Anna
Ravitch and Sarah were able to read a look of concern in his eyes.

      "Tom, David... David, listen up, David," Jack said: "We can't make a
landing on the island. Göran is going alone, to check out the crime
scene. When he's finished, we're all heading home together. Dmitri and
David will lead the way in their canoe. Everyone sticks together. And keep
the noise down. This channel is an echo chamber."

      "What's this all about, Jack?" Calvin asked softly.

      "It's the birds," Jack said. "They're acting weird. Göran says
that Manitou sent the birds to warn us off, because of the danger."

      Göran returned from his expedition and got back into Jack's
boat. He looked solemn.

      "This won't be the first time we've paddled home from Five Spirits,"
Dmitri said.

      "Don't let's go in open water," Jack said. "Hug the shore. That way
we'll see some wildlife, but while you're at it, keep an eye open for any
sign of human visitors."

      Dmitri and David led the way in their canoe. The Kris Kraft
followed. Tom kept its motor on low, except when he cut it altogether and
the boat drifted. Sarah sat next to Anna Ravitch.  While everyone else
surveyed the shore, Sarah and Anna looked back at Jack and Göran. Jack
raised the motor and used the oars. Göran kept busy on his cellphone,
except when they looked at some pictures that he had taken. "I heard
Göran say something to Jack," Sarah whispered to Anna. "He said 'a
Matthew Shepard fence'. Does that mean anything to you?"

      "It does," Mrs. Ravitch said. "It means murder."

      "Oh my God! We're in the middle of a murder mystery!"

      They paddled and chugged in three boats along the shore. "Nińa,
Pinta, and Santa María," Calvin called them. They saw five speedboats
cross the bay in open water, each with four men.  "I called in a search
party for Deputy Nelson and the Sergeant," Göran said. "They're going to
search the woods north of Eight Eagles- at least until they find whatever
it was that attracted the turkey-vultures. Harv Winik is leading the
search."

      "So that's why we're keeping to the shore," Calvin said.

      "Göran thinks of everything," Jack responded.



* * * * * *



      Late in the afternoon, the Nińa, the Pinta, and the Santa María
reached Wayward Island Resort. Tom invited everyone for dinner in the
lodge, on condition that Jack and Göran would brief them on the case. He
invited Red Hawk, Sam Black Bear, and Ben Hasek to join them too.  After
dinner, Tom lit a fire in the parlor. The party of ten formed a semi-circle
around the fireplace. Anna Ravitch sat next to Sarah Cohn, and at her side,
Abraham and Calvin; then Dmitri, and Tom; Red Hawk, Sam Black Bear, and Ben
Hasek. Jack and Göran stood at the fireplace, below Mrs. Ravitch's
famous painting of 'Water-Hole Follies'.

      Göran began the briefing: "We have two culprits. The dominant
partner is Howard Coleman, otherwise known as Albino. He's a doctoral
candidate in Anthropology at the University of Wyoming, working on a
dissertation on sacrifice-rituals of the Nez Persé and the
Lakota. Apparently he's expanded his research to include the Ojibwe. He's a
very dangerous psychopath. A psychiatrist would call him a 'successful
psychopath', because he's capable of holding down a job. This last academic
year, he worked as an adjunct instructor at Brownwell College in Idaho
Falls. That's new information. Coleman's partner in crime is a shorter,
darker man, apparently a sociopath. They work together, but they have
different motives. Coleman is interested in staging scenes of ritual
sacrifice. His partner is motivated by blood-lust against young gay
men. Because of their mixed motives, the crime scenes are complex. In a
way, each scene is really two crime scenes: a highly symbolic ritual murder
at the center, and intersecting this, a comparatively random placement of
corpses radiating out from the center. The sociopathic killer is no less
dangerous than Coleman. In fact, he's probably killed more victims."

      "We've found four crime scenes," Göran continued. "Jack and I have
tried to reconstruct a time-line for them. Jack, do you want to start with
Eagle Cap?"

      Jack agreed: "Eagle Cap is the name of a forest around Mount Howard,
in the Wallowas in northeastern Oregon. The first crime scene there is
about five miles away from the nearest road. The remains of five people are
so scattered by animals that we can only speculate about what the original
scene looked like. Forensic anthropologists have dated it to 2008 or
2009. From 2007 to 2010, Howard Coleman was working as a doctoral candidate
at the University of Wyoming, but he didn't take classes or work in the
summers of 2008 or 2009, so we believe that the first group of murders took
place in one of those summers."

      "He's rather well spoken, isn't he?" Sarah whispered to Anna Ravitch.

      "Good looking, too," Anna whispered back.

      "In point of time, the second group of murders took place in the
vicinity of Buffalo Run, in Lakota County, South Dakota," Göran
said. Jack looked surprised. "We haven't found the crime scene, but it's
there. When Jack returns to his post on Monday, he'll start looking for
it. In the summer of 2013, the third crime occurred at Eight Eagles
Island. Everyone here knows about it. Eight Eagles was the first crime
scene to be discovered."

      "The next crime occurred at Buffalo Run, late in the summer of
2013-the fourth group of murders, assuming that Göran is right about the
missing crime scene," Jack said. "It's a rugged, rocky terrain in an
uninhabited region of the Reservation. One of the victims was roasted over
a fire. Four others were strangled."

      "That brings us back to Eagle Cap for the fifth crime scene,"
Göran said. "It was the third scene that we found, in the woods at the
foot of Mount Howard. In this case, three of the victims were impaled on
poles stuck in the ground, while two others were strangled. It took place
early in the summer of 2014."

      "The reason we called this meeting today is that Göran and I have
decided to leak information about this investigation to the news media,"
Jack said. "Now that the killers know we're on to them, there's no reason
to keep it secret."

      "I've spoken to Ken Dorsey- the editor of North Country Advocate in
Duluth. He's a friend of Jésus García Moreno, the bartender at
Apollo's." Göran said. "As soon as we've finished here, I'm going to
transmit our narrative and photos to Dorsey. He'll publish everything that
we send him. He told me that he'd probably break the narrative into
sections, and add an editorial of his own, but he won't leave anything
out. It'll be an exclusive for him, in a special edition of the Advocate,
which will come out on Monday. We can expect that the news will go national
by Wednesday, and international by the end of the week."

      "That's why we want to hear your questions now," Jack said. "Other
people are bound to have the same questions that you have, so whatever you
ask, we'll incorporate it into the story that we send to the Advocate. So-
questions, please!"

      "I've got a question for you, Jack," Red Hawk said. "Could you
comment on the dynamic that links the two killers?"

      "It was Göran who first realized that each crime scene is really
two crime scenes," Jack replied. "One is symbolic. That's the psychopath at
work. He's driven by a cause. The other is random. That's the sociopath,
whose killings seem opportunistic. Any symbolism or organization in his
work is imposed by his psychopathic partner. It's difficult to make other
generalizations, because the link of a psychopath and a sociopath is an
unusual combination. I've been reading up on the literature about serial
killers and have yet to find any mention of this possibility. One thing
they have in common is that they've grown confident. The number of killings
has accelerated over time."

      "This is typical of serial killers," Göran added. "Unless they're
caught, the number of killings will increase. But with confidence comes
carelessness. They've started leaving more clues."

      Anna Ravitch had another question: "Do you have any idea what Howard
Coleman's motivation might be?"

      "Our theory is that Albino- Howard Coleman- marks each crime scene
with a unique torture-scenario that he borrowed from a book," Jack
said. "He's supposed to be writing a dissertation about ritual sacrifice,
human sacrifice, which he claims was practiced by Indians in North
America. When he started, he compared Nez Persé and Lakota rituals,
which he thought were derived from the Aztecs. It's possible that his
earliest murders were attempts to plant fake evidence to support his
thesis, because he couldn't find any examples of human sacrifice. Then he
extended his pseudo-study to include the Ojibwe nation. According to Red
Hawk and Dark Eagle, sacrifice was never part of Ojibwe ritual: not human
sacrifice, not sacrifice of any kind.  This is true of the Lakota people,
too, so far as I know. I don't know about the Nez Persé in general, but
when we were in the Wallowas, we asked people about this. They didn't know
anything about sacrifice. No doubt it's frustrating to Coleman, to be
pursuing a wrong-headed thesis. It's also possible that he fancies himself
as some sort of transcendent shaman on a mission to revive human sacrifice
among Indian nations."

       "It's a common error, to assume that sacrifice is a concept in all
religions," Mrs. Ravitch said. "It's a Eurocentric projection- due in part
to the influence of Judeo-Christian tradition.  But we need go no further
than Crane Lake to see that the Ojibwe never practiced sacrifice. Isn't
that right, Red Hawk?"

      "The birch-bark scrolls never mention sacrifice. That's the oldest
extant source of information," Red Hawk replied.

      "How did you track Coleman to Idaho Falls?" Abraham wondered.

      "We followed up on letters of recommendation written for him by his
professors at Laramie," Göran said. "Brownwell was one of eight colleges
that received letters."

      The meeting ended. Abraham and Sarah Cohn, and Calvin and Jack,
walked down the trail to their lakeside cabin. For Jack it would be his
first 'official' night as a future in-law. It wasn't an easy situation for
him, but he endured it for Calvin's sake, and found that the Cohns had
warmed up to him. A few minutes later, David knocked at the cabin
door. "Göran tells me that you all are driving to Virginia for synagogue
tomorrow morning," he said. "Dmitri and I would like to go, too, and
Mrs. Ravitch. You know she's part-Jewish. If it's all right with you, we'll
go in separate cars. Mrs. Ravitch wants to stop at her home in Hibbing on
the way back."

      "That's fine," Jack said. "After synagogue we're driving to Crane
Lake to see Dark Eagle."

      "Calvin's folks, too?" David asked.

      "Yes, we've got a family matter to discuss," Jack said.

      "Then we'll see you in the morning," David said.



      * * * * * *


      Before bedtime, Calvin and Jack talked about their plans with Abraham
and Sarah.  "Mom and Dad, we've decided to live together on the Lakota
Res," Calvin said. "Jack asked Dark Eagle to give us a commitment ceremony,
tomorrow afternoon. If you agree, we'll be the only ones there."

      "Shouldn't a commitment ceremony be more public?" Sarah asked. "At
the very least, I'd like Anna Ravitch to be there. She's been a good friend
to me."

      "You're right, it should be more public," Calvin agreed. "But in our
case it's more of an engagement ceremony. Jack and I have agreed to get
married, but not until next summer. We don't want two public ceremonies. We
want tomorrow to be more private, more intimate. That's why you and Dad are
the only guests we're inviting."

      "Where and when, for the wedding?" Abraham asked.

      "It has to be in Minnesota, since same-sex marriage isn't legal in
South Dakota," Calvin said. "We want it to be at the Summer Solstice
Powwow, at the Ojibwe Monument on Rice River, if we can find a rabbi who
will agree to that."

      "Except for the rabbi, it will be a no-expense wedding," Jack
said. "The Ojibwe Nation will cover everything. That's their policy for
Summer Solstice weddings."

      "And here I was hoping you'd find a nice Jewish boy, CC!" Sarah
exclaimed. It was the first time she called him 'CC' instead of
'Calvin'. Jack was already influencing her speech and her thought.

      "Maybe you already have done," Calvin replied.

      Abraham and Sarah looked surprised.

      "I've decided to convert to Judaism, if it's possible," Jack
said. Dark Eagle told us that there's no conflict with shamanism, since
'Manitou' is really just the Ojibwe word for 'Yahweh'.  'Manitou' means
'Great Spirit'. It's one of God's sacred names. To be truthful, my years in
Lakota have been completely secular. It was Dark Eagle who persuaded me to
seek spirituality, but we haven't had an active shaman in Lakota for
years. At least with Judaism, CC and I can share a spiritual life. And if
we ever get a real shaman, I can practice both faiths without
contradiction."

      "What about CC, would he become shamanist too?" Sarah asked.

      "That's up to CC," Jack said.

      "I'll become shamanist, if they'll have me," Calvin interjected, "but
not for the reason you're thinking. I want to become an anthropologist and
study Native American cultures.  Shamanism will help me with that."

      "What about circumcision, Jack?" Abraham asked. "It's universal for
Jewish men. Would you be willing and able to accept circumcision?"

      "That's up to CC," Jack said. "If circumcision is required, then I'm
willing to be whatever CC needs me to be."

      Abraham and Sarah looked at Calvin and waited for a response.

      "Jack has already accepted circumcision in his heart," Calvin
said. "But I'll tell you up front, I will not give up his foreskin. It's an
important part of our sex life. I don't do without it, unless by some
unforeseen medical necessity."

      Abraham thought for a while, and said, "Uncircumcision is no bar to
marriage. And if you can find a progressive rabbi, being intact is no bar
to Judaism, either. There's a growing movement among liberal American Jews
to reject circumcision for newborn boys."

      "Dad," Calvin said, "Dark Eagle told us that the commitment ceremony
will include a father's blessing as part of the ritual."

      "After the events of this day, how can I refuse?" Abraham
replied. "Jack has proven himself to be the best partner any son of mine
could have."

      "There had better be a mother's blessing too, young man!" Sarah
exclaimed to Calvin.

      "Don't worry, Mom. There'll be a mother's blessing," Calvin replied.


* * * * * *


      Jack and Calvin gave the cabin's best bedroom to Calvin's folks. They
took the second bedroom, unaware that it had a door that didn't latch
properly, and opened slowly to a view of the living room. When they
retired, they lit a mood candle and made love. Abraham went to bed, but
Sarah sat in the living room sofa in the dark, pondering the way her son's
life had changed so quickly. When the bedroom door slid open, she saw
Calvin and Jack in candle-lit profile facing each other, kneeling on their
bed. Her first thought was that she should get up and close the door, or at
least sneak off to bed. Either way, they would know it was her, so she
stayed on the sofa.  She closed her eyes for a while, until curiosity and
maternal instinct got the better of her. When she opened her eyes, she saw
them still kneeling together while Calvin pulled Jack's foreskin over his
own penis. They kissed and took turns fondling and frotting their
pellicularly-conjoined cocks. Jack's orgasm was audible. Even from the
distance of the sofa, Sarah caught the fragrance of man-scent. She closed
her eyes again. When she opened them she saw, in profile, Jack frog- legged
on his back while Calvin fucked him with increasing ferocity. The harder
Calvin fucked him, the more Jack seemed to like it. Both men moaned with
pleasure when Calvin orgazzed inside of Jack.

      Sarah noted the imposing athletic figure of Jack, his impressive
uncircumcised genitalia, when he got out of bed to blow out the candle. She
heard them snuggle in bed, and listened while they whispered softly and
drifted into sleep. Only then did she dare get up and sneak into her own
bed, secure in the knowledge of Calvin's happiness, and Jack's.


      * * * * * *


      Saturday morning. The synagogue in Virginia is a white New
England-style church with a steeple bearing the imprint of a cross that had
been removed. "This used to be a Congregational church," Anna Ravitch
said. David has a spare yarmulke and gave it to Jack to wear. Dmitri
already had one, as he and David attended synagogue in Bemidji.

      The interior of the synagogue had Congregational pews with little
crosses engraved at each end, but the pulpit was moved to the right of the
altar, and a lectern installed at the left. At the center, an altar table
held a copy of the Torah, used by Rabbi Elizabeth for reading scripture.
Abraham, Sarah, Calvin, and David chanted along with twenty-eight other
congregants, while Jack and Dmitri took in the sights and sounds of the
service. Anna Ravitch was in between: she remembered some Hebrew psalms,
but mostly just listened. At the end of the service, Rabbi Elizabeth
reminded the congregation of their fund-raising drive to raise money to
commission the composition of a scroll to use in their services.

      After the service, people were friendly to their visitors, who, after
all, comprised one- fourth of the congregation that Sabbath. They could see
that David and Dmitri were partners; even so, they encouraged them and Anna
Ravitch to join their congregation. The Cohns and Mrs.  Ravitch were
immediately accepted as fellow Jews, but the synagogue members focused
their curiosity on Jack. Imagine having a Lakota Sheriff in our synagogue!
And to think he's the boyfriend is a sweet Jewish boy! Grist for the gossip
mill for a week, but their talk was well intentioned.

      The Rabbi was a professor of Religious Studies at Mesabi Community
College. Like most academic rabbis, she was progressively inclined. When
Jack had a chance to speak with her alone, he asked if she would meet with
him and Calvin on Sunday to discuss their plans for a wedding next
summer. Rabbi Elizabeth paused for a moment. "You're the Sheriff from South
Dakota who's been helping investigate the murders on Five Spirits Island,
aren't you? Is it true that you've had a similar crime in your county?"

      "That's true- on the Lakota Reservation," Jack replied. "That's what
brought me here the first time. Sheriff Matthews in Duluth sent out a
description of Five Spirits, and I recognized similarities to a crime scene
at Buffalo Run. The trail let us further west, to Oregon. We're pursuing
new leads in Superior and at Lake Ashawa. But CC and I are leaving for
South Dakota on Monday."

      Rabbi Elizabeth mentioned that she had relatives in Pierre. "Then you
must visit us in Lakota," Jack said. "It's only a two-hundred-mile drive."
He gave the rabbi his business card, embossed with the image of a sheriff's
badge.

      While this conversation was going on, Sarah found a chance to speak
alone with Anna Ravitch. She told her about the way that Calvin and Jack
made love the previous night, and wondered what it could mean. "It's called
docking," Mrs. Ravitch said. "It's not unusual in gay sex when one or both
men is in possession of a foreskin. I shouldn't worry about it, Sarah, but
I wouldn't let the boys know you saw them."

      "I never meant to see them, but I'm glad I did," Sarah said. "It
helped me to understand Calvin's objection to circumcision for Jack. Not
that I have a voice in the matter, but if I had to speak up, I'd take
Calvin's side."

      Anna Ravitch had strong views about infant circumcision. She thought
that male circumcision was just as wrongful as female circumcision in
Africa and in Islamic cultures. She saw how some circumcised men never got
over their resentment of it, and how the distinction between 'cut' and
'uncut' was a constant obsession with men. She saw how men driven by
foreskin-envy lept into otherwise unwise relationships with uncut men. On
this occasion, Mrs.  Ravitch kept her opinions to herself.



 * * * * * *



      When our party of four reached Crane Lake, they found Dark Eagle's
cabin empty but followed a trail through the woods to the ceremonial
wigwam. There they found Dark Eagle perched on an aluminum fold-up ladder,
applying fresh paint to the symbolic images that decorate the wigwam.

      "I've got the red, but if you each pick a brush and a color, we'll
have the designs touched up on an hour or so," Dark Eagle said. The
foursome kept busy with green, yellow, blue, and brown paints. They took
turns sharing the stepladder for overhead symbols while Dark Eagle
explained their meanings. Dark Eagle directed Abraham and Sarah to the
opposite side of the wigwam, so they could paint colored symbols and listen
without distracting Calvin and Jack.  Then he asked Calvin how he met Jack.

      "One night I was playing guitar and leading my band at Apollo's. It
was one of those nights when Apollo's had a go-go contest. Jack was there
under cover with Sergeant Svenson.  He entered the contest. Afterward, we
hooked up at Svenson's place. Göran hooked up with Jésus García
Moreno," Calvin said.

      "The lion lies down with the lamb, each with his own virtues, "Dark
Eagle said.  "Actually, Isaiah says that the wolf shall lay down with the
lamb and the leopard with the kid, but I prefer the image of the lion, so
excellent in beauty and strength and having a certain aggressive
presence. Yet the last book of the Christian Bible beings with a lion and
ends with a wedding to a lamb."

      "How soon until the commitment ceremony starts?" Calvin asked.

      "It's already started, CC," Jack said. "Just answer Dark Eagle's
questions, and concentrate on painting."

      "Oh," Calvin said.

      "What was your first impression of Jack?" Dark Eagle asked.

      "I first saw him doing his impromptu strip tease, so my first
impression was physical, even though I knew he was a lawman on a mission
and there was more to him than good looks," Calvin said. "He was stunning
and dramatic. That's what struck me."

      Dark Eagle asked Jack the same question. "Calvin's a cute guy, and
he's nice to everyone," Jack said. "He's a quick understudy. He knew what
to do to help me make my strip- tease act seem real. And he's my type. I've
had to explain this before. I don't understand why other people think it so
strange. Some guys seem to think I should be looking for a mirror-image of
myself, like I was Narcissus. I've been with athletic hunks.... Not that
many, CC! It was exciting, but when I'm with CC, I feel content. That's the
word, content. On our first date, believe it or not, we talked about
philosophy. That's when I realized I needed to go for him. Not to mention
that sex with him is outstanding."

      "I thought that was my line," Calvin laughed.

      "CC, I already told your Dad that you're the top man in our
relationship," Jack said.  "Your folks already know this. Maybe I should
have told you."

      "That's more information than most parents know about their gay
sons," Dark Eagle said.  "Is there anything else you want to say about sex
before our discourse turns to the topic of living together?"

      "That's up to you, Jack," Calvin said. He was sensitive to the
possibility that Jack might not want to share details about his role as a
bottom.

      "I know what you're thinking, CC," Jack said. "It's something basic
about the quality of our sex life. Go ahead and say it, CC."

      He wouldn't have done in view of his parents, but he all but forgot
that they were on the other side of the wigwam- "When I make love to Jack,
often he has an orgasm while I fuck him. It's because his foreskin is so
sensitive. When my body glides over him, it makes him cum."

      "And because CC is circumcised, he has to hump me pretty hard, not
that I'm complaining!" Jack said. "Every time we make love it seems
different, like we were making love for the first time. I couldn't be more
satisfied with a lover."

      "I've run out of yellow symbols to paint," Sarah Cohn said from the
opposite side of the wigwam. "Is it okay if I switch to the orange ones?"

      "Maybe we've painted enough for today," Dark Eagle said.

      "Oh, no! Let's finish with the orange," Sarah protested. "A job worth
doing should be done well."

      They continued painting until the touch-up was finished. Dark Eagle
then led them into the wigwam and invited them to sit in a close-knit
circle on the ceremonial blanket. Jack and Calvin sat opposite Dark Eagle,
while Sarah sat next to Jack, and Abraham next to Calvin. Dark Eagle lit
tobacco in the calumet and started smoking. "The tobacco is laced with
marijuana," he said. "Like the peyote ceremony, this one requires nudity
but if Jack and Calvin remove their shirts, that will suffice as a symbolic
nudity- unless Jack wants to undress and everyone consents."

      "I want the ceremony to be authentic," Jack said. "In the sacred
space of the wigwam, Lakota honor will be my clothing." Dark Eagle nodded
his approval. While Calvin doffed his shirt, Jack stepped out of his
clothes and stood naked. He thought it only fair that Sarah and Abraham
should know what CC was changing his life in Duluth for, and why he was
leaving for a Reservation in South Dakota. Abraham surveyed this specimen
of youth, stoically but not without interest. Sarah was pleased with her
eye-level view of Jack's intact cock and the foreskin that had been the
object of previous discussions and of her observation at night in the
cabin. She thought it gave his body an aura of mystery, the removal of
which would be desecration. Jack winked at Sarah. "You know, the Swedes and
the Finns use the sauna for exactly this purpose, to check out their future
in-laws before they get married," he said.

      "Sit down and stop showing off," Calvin laughed. Jack got into place
between Calvin and Sarah. The peace-pipe was passed three times. Dark Eagle
chanted a prayer to Manitou. It was in Ojibwe, but afterward he repeated it
in English. Jack translated it into Lakota line by line, though he didn't
attempt a chant, as he had no training as a shaman.

      Prayer-time, for Sarah, was an opportunity to sneak a peek at Jack's
junk, maybe her last chance, so she didn't refrain from looking. She had
seen some of Anna Ravitch's paintings, but now, in the fullness of Jack,
she gained appreciation for Anna Ravitch's interest in the male figure. She
wondered why Jack hadn't posed for Mrs. Ravitch. Jack's cock expanded in
his lap, like an accordion, causing his glans to appear, tentatively at
first, and modestly, but then with a certain dramatic insistence, like a
mischievous puppet popping out of a brown gunny. Was his foreskin
retracting? Or was his membrum virile escaping its dark pellicular confine?
Or both, simultaneously? Sarah marveled at its bright pinkish coloration,
in contrast to the brown-almost- black foreskin, and in contrast to the
dull flesh-tone of the glans of circumcised men. Jack's erection was
involuntary. If he was aware of it, he made no effort to hide it. He kept
his eyes fixed on Calvin.

      After the prayer to the Great Spirit, Jack and Calvin sat facing each
other in the center of the blanket and locked their hands together. Having
to change his position, Jack became aware of his erection, and
blushed. Calvin grinned. Dark Eagle, Abraham, and Sarah stood over them and
placed one hand on each of their heads while Calvin pledged loyalty to
Calvin, and Calvin pledged loyalty to Jack. In his own words, Abraham
stated his approval of their union, and recited a short blessing in
Hebrew. Sarah stated her approval, too, and repeated Abraham's blessing in
English. Jack and Calvin sealed the ceremony with a kiss.

      "Mr. and Mrs. Cohn, it's time for us to leave these young men in the
wigwam, to meditate on the vows they have taken," Dark Eagle said. Jack and
Calvin heard their voices as they made their way down the trail through the
woods. "Thank you for letting us help paint the wigwam," they heard Sarah
say to Dark Eagle.

      Calvin pulled Jack into a lover's embrace. They shared a passionate
kiss. Jack tugged at Calvin's belt buckle. Calvin pushed his hands
away. "Not yet," he said. "I like having you naked while I've still got
pants on."

      Jack smiled and gave Calvin an erotic look. "So you like wearing the
pants in this wigwam," he laughed.

      "The only pants you'll get are smarty-pants," Calvin quipped. He
groped and fingered Jack's body in search of anatomical parts as yet
unexplored. He ran the tip of his tongue into Jack's nostrils, his ears,
his pits, the little valleys between his toes, his navel, his piss-slit,
and around the inner lining of his foreskin. He straddled Jack and pinched
his nipples. "Think about my cock up your ass while I nip you," he said.

      "Yeah, okay," Jack replied. Calvin alternated between nipping and
gently massaging Jack's torso while their eyes locked in a mutual gaze.

      "You know how much I like it when the feeling of surrender comes to
me," Jack said.  "That's where I'm at now."

      Calvin told Jack to show off his ass in different positions. With
each new pose, Calvin ran his tongue into Jack's hole. Jack frog-legged to
maximize Calvin's reach. "You've got a beautiful hole, Jack, but it looks
like it could use a bit of stretching," Calvin said. Lust came to Jack. He
clawed at the bulge on Calvin's crotch. Calvin ran his tongue down the
length of Jack's cleft. He wiggled the tip of his middle finger along the
rim of Jack's hole.

      "I want you to breed me," Jack said.

      "Get doggie-style," Calvin said. He tossed the lube-tube to Jack. "I
want to watch you get your ass ready." He stepped out of his trousers and
shorts while Jack applied lube to this hole.  "Just one finger, Jack,"
Calvin said. "I want you tight, so you'll get maximum sensation when I
penetrate you." Jack looked back at Calvin and grinned.

      Calvin knelt between Jack's legs and aimed his cock at the target. He
pressed down on Jack's lower back to adjust his position. He pawed at
Jack's ass-cheeks and looked. "Beautiful ass," he said.

      Calvin drove his plunger into Jack without mercy. Jack yowled and
groaned. "Son of a bitch! It's like getting reamed for the first
time. Hmmmm!" Jack said. Calvin alternated between furious humping and
gentle massaging of Jack's anal canal. He experimented with punch- fucking
Jack, but pulling his dick all the way out and driving it back inside.

      "Name one beast that has feet growing out of his shoulders," Calvin
said.

      "The beast with two backs," Jack replied. He flipped over so Calvin
could mission him.  The friction of Calvin's belly-hair gliding over
foreskin caused Jack to orgazz. Calvin withdrew his cock and leaned forward
to lick up the jizz. Inspired by its fragrance and taste, he re- penetrated
Jack and humped until he planted seed in his partner's anal canal.

      "I hope I wasn't too rough," Calvin said later, during the quietude
of aprčs-sexe.

      "Are you kidding? It was wonderful," Jack said.

      "I was afraid I might hurt you when...."

      Jack put a finger on Calvin's lips. "No regrets, CC. There's room for
a bit of erotic pain between lovers."

      "Erotic pain, hmmmm," Calvin said.