Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2012 17:37:18 -0700
From: B.E. Kelley <hailcaesar2011@hotmail.com>
Subject: A Light in Dark Places Chapter 11

This story is a work of FICTION. The events described are my own invention.
Any similarities to actual events or persons are strictly coincidental. The
author retains the copyright, and any other rights, to this original story.
You may not publish it or any part of it without my explicit authorization.

This story contains depictions of consensual sexual acts between teenage
males.  It is intended for mature audiences only.  If you find this type of
material offensive or if you are under the legal age to read said material;
please proceed no further.

Comments are always welcome at: hailcaesar2011@hotmail.com

A Light in Dark Places
Chapter 11

I'd been to the White House a dozen times but never like this.  We left the
hotel and were taken to the Treasury Department, then led into the basement
and into a tunnel that connects it to the West Wing.  The President and his
staff were determined to keep his selection for Vice President a secret,
until the moment he made the announcement, as a result, all of the press
was cleared out and sent to the East Room.  While dad was taken into the
Oval Office, my mom and I were placed in the Roosevelt Room until it was
time to head to the press conference.

My mom was quiet while we waited; I think she was feeling a little nervous
and naturally so.  Like me, she'd never been on national television before
and this was a major announcement, it would affect U.S. policy for the
duration of this administration and it would be seen all over the world.
With the lack of conversation, I turned my attention to the Secret Service
agents, who seemed a lot more relaxed here, then they had been at the hotel
or on the move.  That made sense, this was their home turf and the odds of
anyone getting near their protectees, in the White House, was slim to none.

After an hour, an aide came into the room and asked my mother and I to
follow him.  He led us into the Oval Office and a shiver went up my spine,
the history that had taken place in that room was almost overwhelming.  I
couldn't imagine what it would be like to sit behind the president's desk
and bear the weight of all that responsibility. It made me feel extremely
proud of my dad, that he would be a heartbeat away from this awesome
responsibility spoke volumes to the quality of his character.

"Mr. President," said dad, after waving us over to his side, "You remember
my wife Vivian, and this is our son, Peter."

"Hello Vivian," said the President, kissing my mom on the cheek.

"And Peter, I'm so pleased to meet you, I've heard a lot about you," said
the President, shaking my hand.

"It's an honor to meet you sir," I replied, feeling a little shy and cowed
by my surroundings.

I expected the President to ignore me after the introductions where made,
but for whatever reason, he seemed interested in talking to me.

"So, is this your first time in the Oval Office?" asked the President.

"Yes Sir," I replied, what did he think, they opened the place for kids to
hang out on the weekends?

"What do you think of the place?" he followed.

"It's a little overwhelming," I admitted.

"I felt the same way the first time I stepped into this room," he smiled,
"you must be very proud of your dad."

"Yes sir, I think you made the right choice," I stated.

"You see that Jeff," he said to my dad, "we'll be running for re-election
in two years and you're already bringing in the youth vote."

"I'm not so sure Mr. President, Peter's always been mature for his age, I
think maybe we just sowed up the 40 year olds," dad chuckled, I blushed.

"Don't worry Peter, I'm sure my children think I'm just as embarrassing,"
the President winked.

After that, the official White House photographer came in and we stood for
a family picture with the President.  A few minutes later, the First Lady
joined us and an aide announced that it was time.  There is no direct route
from the West Wing into the residence, so we had to take the path outside,
by the press room, no one was there to see it though, the reporters having
been sent to the East Room an hour earlier, in order to set up for the
President's press conference.  Mom, dad and I were placed in the Green Room
with a television monitor and some of the White House staff, once the
President named dad as his nominee, we would walk the few short steps to
the East Room and join him on stage.

I wondered what Tyler and Wendy were doing, they should have been in class
but this was a major event and I expected our teacher would have the class
watch it on TV.  I also wondered what they had been told about my absence.
There were Secret Service agents at the clinic, securing the grounds for my
return, what must my friends be thinking?  I was surprised that my first
thoughts hadn't been of Connor, he would have loved this.  He often teased
me about my dad's job but only because he was fascinated by it.  He
peppered me with questions when we got back from Christmas break last year,
and I told him about the White House party I'd been to with my parents.

"Wow, you got to go to a party at the White House?" asked Connor.

"Yeah, we go every year," I replied.

"What's it like?" asked Connor.

"Oh you know, they decorate the place and it's really well done and there's
all kinds of food, chocolates and stuff," I explained.

"Does the President dress up like Santa?" asked Connor.

"Uh, no," I stated.

"So the First Lady doesn't dress up like Mrs. Claus then?" said Connor.

"No," I giggled.

"I bet the cabinet doesn't dress up like elves either," said Connor.

"That would also be a no," I smiled, "some of them wear pretty cheap suits,
just not elf suits."

"But you did get to see the President, right?" asked Connor.

"Sure, for about two seconds, he came in, shook a few hands then
disappeared," I explained.

"He ditched his own Christmas party?" asked Connor.

"Well you have to remember that's one of dozens of parties, it's not that
big a deal," I replied.

"Not a big deal, of course, what was I thinking," said Connor, laying it on
pretty thick, "everyone goes to the White House for Christmas, my
invitation probably just got lost in the mail."

"What I meant was, it's not that big a deal in Washington," I retorted.

"That's cool, so can you take me with you when you go to Buckingham Palace
for Easter? Connor teased.

I didn't get a chance to remember my smart-assed retort to Connor's
question.  The President was nearing the end of his speech and my attention
was drawn to the screen.

"... and so it is with great pride that I nominate Senator Jeffery Alan
Whitmore, of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for Vice President of the
United States," said the President, to rousing applause.

We walked into the Grand Foyer and turned toward the East Room, my parents
held hands and I walked behind them.  We arrived on the stage, where dad
and the President shook hands, while I was dazzled by the barrage of
flashbulbs.  Dad took to the podium and began his speech, mom put her hand
on my shoulder and we stood behind him, looking like the All-American
family.  There were so many cameras in the room that I couldn't count them
all.  Remembering Marcia Richmond's advice, I tried to keep smiling.

Fortunately dad gave a short speech.  He spoke about the man he'd be
replacing and his tireless service to his country, then he spoke about the
problems facing the nation and how he looked forward to working with the
president, etc, etc.  I knew the speech was almost over when dad thanked
the president.

"I want to thank the President for this opportunity to join him in serving
the American people," said dad, "I also want to thank my wife Vivian and my
son Peter, for all they've had to endure since I got into politics, without
their love and support, I wouldn't be here today."

There was another roar of applause as dad kissed mom on the cheek and
ruffled my hair, it was a little theatrical but it went over well.  When
the press conference ended, mom and I were taken to our Georgetown home,
the cat was out of the bag now, there was no reason to return to the hotel.
Dad had to make the rounds to all of the cable news stations and while he
did that, we took the opportunity to rest.  We would be having dinner with
the President and First Lady that night, and there would be a reception for
the Congressional Leadership afterwards.

When I was safely alone in my room, I took off my suit and hung it in the
closet, I didn't want it to get wrinkled, I had to wear it that night.  I
didn't even bother looking for my pajamas; I climbed into bed in nothing
but my socks and a pair of underwear.  I'd hardly slept the night before
and went out like a light bulb the moment my head hit the pillow.  It was
after dark when I woke, there was light from the streetlamp filling my
room, my dad was there, stroking my hair.

"Dad, what are you doing?" I yawned.

"I just got in a few minutes ago, I thought I'd check on you," said dad.

"Were you going to wake me up?" I asked, I'd never woken up with my dad
just stroking my hair before.

"I was about to, seeing you sleep like that reminded me of when you were a
little boy," said dad.

"Oh, that was ages ago," I chuckled.

"Seems like just yesterday to your mother and me," said dad, "Peter, you
know we love you, don't you?"

"Of course I do dad, I've never doubted that," I replied.

"I just feel so bad for sticking you in that place sometimes, we've really
missed you," said dad.

"I've missed you guys too, but it's not bad there, it's not like some
institution with padded walls or something," I explained.

"No?  They don't strap you down for electric shock therapy?" said dad.

"Dad," I whined.

"I'm kidding tiger, I know it's where you need to be, I just miss my boy,"
said dad, giving me one of his powerful bear hugs.

"You don't have to worry about me there dad, I have friends, I'm getting
better, I'm sure I'll be home soon," I stated.

"What if you stayed here, what if you didn't go back?" asked dad.

"I-I'm not ready," I confessed, "soon, real soon, but not yet."

"You don't still, you know, think about hurting yourself, do you?" asked
dad.

"No, I haven't felt like that for a long time, but I'm still healing, I'm
still dealing with a lot of issues, you know, like guilt," I explained.

"Son, you don't have anything to feel guilty about," said dad.

"I know that dad, but it's one thing to know it, it's another thing to feel
it," I stated.

"I understand," said dad, "you better get dressed, we have to leave for
dinner soon.  Oh, speaking of which, you might not want to sleep in your
underpants like that, some of the Secret Service people aren't real good at
knocking."

"I know, I found that out this morning when Agent Martinez came into my
room with that barber from the White House, I almost pissed myself," I
replied.

Dad laughed at my mornings predicament, then left so I could change.  I put
my suit back on, fixed my hair and then met my parents in the foyer.  We
waited there while the Secret Service brought the cars around, then we sped
back downtown.  Our arrival at the White House was less conspicuous that
night.  We pulled up to the south portico and were immediately conducted to
an elevator that took us to the residence, the part of the White House
where the First Family actually lived and which was off limits to tourists.
There was a private dining room on that floor and we met the President and
his wife there, their two children, Thomas and Katie, were college aged and
away at school.

Two months ago, when I'd first checked into the Stonybrook Clinic, they
practically had to force me to eat.  I'd regained my appetite since then
and though the food at the clinic was good, it was nothing like this.  The
White House chef had outdone himself and I devoured everything that was put
in front of me.  Had we been in less official company, I might have
actually licked my plate.  When the meal was over, I was stuffed and sat
quietly, taking in my surroundings, while the adults talked about politics.
At 8:00pm, we headed back to the East Room, for the reception.  I would
have walked straight in, but mom placed her hand on my arm and held me back
for a moment, we couldn't just enter a room anymore, someone had to make an
announcement.

"Ladies and Gentleman, The President of the United States and the First
Lady, and The Vice President Designate of the United States and Family,"
announced one of the White House military aides.

There was a warm round of applause and then the crowd broke up a bit.
Everyone wanted to talk to the President or dad, mom mingled with the First
Lady and I found myself wandering from one hors d'ourves table to the next.
I wasn't hungry but I'd be going back to the clinic in the morning and I
didn't know when I'd be able to eat like this again so I continued to stuff
myself.  The nice thing about this party was that everyone was polite
enough, but they weren't interested in me, and the Secret Service felt safe
enough here that they weren't watching over my shoulder. I got to wander
the room without anyone taking much notice.

I stuffed myself with miniature crab cakes, stuffed mushrooms and chocolate
everything, to the point of bursting.  When my stomach started to ache, I
found a chair in the corner and sat quietly by myself.  I was starting to
relax, when Penny Mitchell headed in my direction.  Penny was a nightmare,
she was my age and her father was a Congressman from my home state,
Pennsylvania.  My family may be Republicans but we aren't right wing
whackjobs, Penny and her dad are.  I'd met her on several occasions
including last year's White House Christmas party, where she made it
abundantly clear that she liked me.  I'd neglected to tell Connor that part
of my White House party story because he would have teased me mercilessly.
I looked for a way out, but there was no escape, she took the chair next to
me.

"Hello Penny, how are you?" I asked, politely.

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking," she replied.

We sat in an awkward silence, like predator and prey.  She was clearly
waiting for me to make the first move but as I had no interest in talking
to her, that burden fell on her shoulders.  I wished I'd walked away the
moment she opened her mouth.

"So, I understand you're a gay now," she said, sweetly.

"I've always been `a gay,' I didn't just decide to become one," I said,
rolling my eyes.

"Well, if you say so," she smiled, smugly.

"Where did you hear that anyway?" I asked.

"Oh, Capitol gossip, I'm a page now, you know?" said Penny, trying to
impress me.

"Well, I'm sure that's fun, for you," I retorted.

"I've been so worried about you," said Penny.

"Oh yeah, why's that?" I asked, unsure just how much gossip about me was
going on around The Hill.

"It's this gay thing, I'm afraid for your soul Peter, you've always been
such a nice boy, I don't want you to burn in hell," said Penny, and the
funny part was that she was being sincere.

"Gee Penny thanks," I replied, sarcastically.  I told you she was a
whackjob.

"Would you like to come to church with me sometime?" she asked, "I know
you're a Methodist or something, I mean a real church."

It's amazing how different her invitation was from the first time Tyler
asked me to go to church with him, it managed to be polite and insulting
all at once.

"Uh, yeah I'll think about that," I replied, I had no intention of thinking
about it.

"Oh good, maybe Pastor Gary can help you," said Penny.

"Help me?" I asked.

"To stop being a gay," said Penny, in her insulting tone, "he's helped a
lot of boys become straight."

"I didn't just choose to be gay, I was born this way and some snake
handling whacko isn't going to change that," I snapped, she'd succeeded in
pissing me off.

"I'm sure you believe that but Pastor Gary says..." she began.

"I don't care what Pastor Gary says, he sounds like an idiot and a bigot
and he probably likes boys," I stated bluntly.

"Well my father..." she began, trying a different tactic.

"You know what, you're father is the reason why a lot of guys like me are
afraid to come out, I'm not interested in hearing any of his opinions," I
informed her, I also noticed that people around us were starting to pay
attention.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," said Penny, as she got up to leave.

"Oh, dear," said an older woman, I think she was the Secretary of
Education's wife, "It looks like you sat in some wine."

Penny turned her head and tried to look at the back of her dress, as she
turned, I caught a glimpse if the dark red stain.  There was a matching
stain on the white chair, it took me a moment to put two and two together
but sufficed to say, she hadn't sat in wine.  As soon as I figured out the
source of the red stain, I started to laugh.

"Shut up, Peter," Penny scolded.

But that only made me laugh harder, in fact, I was howling with laughter
and then the unthinkable happened.  I don't know if it was the result of
all the rich food or nerves from my confrontation with Penny, but I doubled
over and threw up, all over her shoes.

"Yuck, Peter, gross," Penny squealed and stormed off.

Yeah, throwing up is gross but ovulating on a chair, that's perfectly
acceptable.  Before I could offer that comment, Agent Stark seemed to
appear out of nowhere.  He took me by the arm and quickly guided me to the
nearest restroom.  A White House steward moved in to clean my mess before
anyone had the chance to get too grossed out by it.  The incident went
unnoticed by the majority of the guests.

The Presidential security detail consists of the president's team and then
sub-details broken off from there.  There was a sub-detail assigned to
protect the First Lady and the First Family, one to protect my father and
mother, and one to protect me.  The agents of the various details were in
constant communication with the White House command post, all of our
movements were on display on the electronic status board in the basement.
At present, the status board read:

		ZEUS: WH, East Room

		HERA: WH, East Room

		APOLLO: Harvard University, Student Center

		ARTEMIS: Columbia University, Dorm Room

		TIMBERWOLF: WH, East Room

		TULIP: WH, East Room

		FOX: WH, First Floor, Restroom



The President and his family were all given codenames in honor of the gods
of Mount Olympus, he was ZEUS, the First Lady was HERA, their son Thomas
was APOLLO and their daughter Katie was ARTEMIS.  Dad was TIMBERWOLF, mom
was TULIP and I was stuck with FOX, a codename I planned to leak to the
first reporter I had a chance to speak to.  I'd heard that the Secret
Service would change it, once it became public, I hoped to something less
cutesy.  Agent Stark reported our movement to the command post, before he
removed me from the East Room.  One of the agents assigned to guard mom had
picked it up and as a result, she was waiting for me when I emerged from
the bathroom.



"Peter, what happened, are you alright?" asked mom, putting her hand to my
forehead, checking for a temperature.

"I'm fine mom, it was just something I ate," I stated.

"Are you sure, I saw you talking to Congressman Mitchell's daughter, it
didn't look like it was going to well," said mom.

"It's fine mom, just something I ate," I replied, I didn't want to get into
it with her, she wouldn't be real proud of my manners with Penny.

Mom let the issue go and had Agent Stark put me in the car, it was time to
leave anyway, she just went back to the East Room to collect dad.

"If you ask me, the bitch had it coming," winked Agent Stark, as he put me
in the back of yet another government SUV.

My parents and I said our goodbyes that night.  Dad would be up early, he
had to start making the rounds on Capitol Hill, mostly visiting Congressmen
who might be on his conformation committee.  Mom had been invited to
breakfast with the First Lady and the cabinet spouses, and I would be
returning to Massachusetts as soon as I got dressed.  That was a nice thing
about flying with the Air Force, I didn't have to make the flight, the
flight was waiting for me.

I'm glad I didn't see my parents that morning, I'd had one of my nightmares
and I didn't want any questions about why I was drenched in cold sweat.
I've come a long way with my therapy, but the dreams won't stop, sometimes
they'll skip a night, but they always come back.  I shook of the lingering
effects of the dream on the way to Andrews Air Force Base, this part of my
dad's appointment was exciting and I wanted to make the most of it.  I
looked around excitedly as we sped through Washington D.C. I was taking in
all of the sights but the tourists were all looking at me, wondering what
government official was being whisked through town with a police escort.
They'd probably be fairly disappointed to learn that it was just me.

When we arrived at the plane I'd be taking back to Massachusetts, I climbed
aboard and once again, we were moving before I even had my seatbelt
buckled.  I snuggled up in my seat and took a nap, thinking about all of
the things I had to tell Tyler and Wendy.