Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:15:37 -0500
From: Morris Henderson <bigmoh@post.com>
Subject: an_improbable_love_chapter_8

AN IMPROBABLE LOVE

Chapter Eight

TJ closed the door to his room and called Neil.

"Hello."

"Neil, it's TJ.  Can you talk?"

"Yes.  I'm in my room reading a boring assignment, trying to stay awake
but mostly thinking about you.  What's up?  Or is that a stupid
question?"

TJ laughed.  "It's at half-mast now.  But that will change after
talking with the guy I love."

"There's that word again, TJ!  I thought we agreed not to go there for
a while."

"And I thought we agreed that it was improbable but not impossible.
Anyway, I have some great news."

TJ launched into an exuberant and detailed account of his conversation
with Isabel.

"That's wonderful!" Neil said when TJ finally stopped talking.  "I can
see why you love her so much.  She's one in a million."

"So we have a license to do whatever we want together ... as long as my
family doesn't know about it."

"And mine as well," Neil added.  "Although that is much less of a
problem since they live half way across the country."

"Where?  You never mentioned anything about your family."

"They live in Norman, Oklahoma.  That's a college town just on the
south edge of Oklahoma City.  My dad is a professor at the University
of Oklahoma.  Mom is a music teacher working for the city school
system."

"So that's where you got your brains and your musical talent."

"I don't know about either of those things but I suppose my parents
influenced me quite a bit."

"Do you have brothers and sisters?"

"An older sister, Sue.  She's married with two kids.  And a younger
brother, Jason, who is just about your age."

"Oh.  Did you ever ...."

TJ stopped before completing his question.  He was about to ask whether
Neil and his younger brother might have fooled around but realized that
was not a subject he should broach.

Guessing what his friend was about to ask, Neil laughed.

"No! I wanted to but he's not only straight but a total square.  I
think he got that from Dad, who is fervently religious.  I do believe
the poor kid hasn't even had an orgasm because he's so uptight about
sex.  He won't even use the word, masturbation.  I've heard him call it
'self-abuse'."

"That's sad.  I mean he's missing out on some great experiences.  I
think it's normal for a teenage boy to play with himself.  NOT doing it
is abnormal."

"Be careful what you say about normal and abnormal, TJ.  After all, a
lot of people think what we do is deviant."

"You're right, of course.  I'm sorry."

"I could be wrong.  But if Jason jerks off, he's very secretive about
it.  I haven't seen him nude since he was five years old.  I think if
he could, the kid would wear his underwear in the shower after gym
class."

"He's that much of a prude?"

"Yes.  I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed a bachelor because he would
be afraid to have sex with a woman."

"That's sad.  I'm sure glad you're not that way."

"Do you want to know what makes me happy, TJ?  That we met.  I'm
delighted that you're gay like me.  I'm thrilled that we can be
together.  And speaking of that, when can I see you again?"

"Anytime you want, Neil.  It's never too soon or too often."

"I was thinking this afternoon.  One of my professors is in a string
quartet.  They're giving a concert on campus Friday night.  It's sort
of obligatory that I go because the prof will no doubt ask questions
about it in class next week.  Anyway, I had this brilliant idea.  Maybe
it's off the wall but see what you think.  Suppose I invite you to go
to the concert with me.  Suppose that you spend the night.  I don't
have to elaborate on that.  Then, on Saturday, I show you around the
campus, maybe visit the Smithsonian.  That's more to please your
parents than either of us.  What did you call it?  Hiding in plain
sight?  Of course, it takes hours to see even a part of the Smithsonian
so it will be dark before we finish.  Too late to take you home.  You'd
have to stay over for another night.  I can promise your parents to get
you home in time for church on Sunday.   What do you say?"

"It's a splendid plan, Neil.  And I'm pretty sure my parents will agree
to it.  After all, they like you.  They both think you're a good
influence on me.  Of course, they would be shocked at how much I ... ah
... LIKE you.  Notice I didn't use the word, love.  I'll talk to them
tonight."

"Do you have a sleeping bag?  Not that you'll need it but it would,
shall we say, keep up appearances."

"Yes, I do.  I used it when I was a Boy Scout.  It's still down in the
basement.  I'm glad you thought of that.  I've become very dependent on
your thinking of things that might trip me up."

"Let's just say I've learned from past mistakes.  But please don't ask
me what they were.  Maybe someday I'll tell you.  For now, I just want
to be sure to do everything right so we can be together."

"Is there something else I should bring?"

"You'll have to pack a small overnight bag.  Do you wear pajamas to
bed?"

"No."

"Do you have any?"

"Yes."

"Then pack them.  Just in case.  In fact, letting your parents see
you're packing sleep wear would be a good idea.  It would please them
to know that you planned to be modest overnight."

"I'm beginning to feel like an undercover CIA agent."

Neil laughed but chose to withhold the obvious retort to the
'undercover' reference.

"TJ," Neil continued hesitantly.  "I want you to know how much I like
you, how much I miss you, and how glad I am that we met."

"I feel the same way.  You correct me every time I say it but I'll say
it anyway.  I LOVE you, Neil Bailey."

"I'll give you a pass this time, my friend.  But only because I don't
want even a hint of an argument.  Please let me know what your parents
say.  If they have questions for me, tell them to call.  I'm really
looking forward to the weekend."

"So am I!"

They ended the call.

TJ spent the next thirty minutes planning what he would say to his
parents and the half hour after that daydreaming about how the two
would have nearly 48 hours together.  And that included two full nights
in bed!

The teen went downstairs.  He found Isabel sitting in the kitchen with
a cup of tea reading one of her romance novels.

"I assume from the grin on your face, that you called Neil."

"Yes, I did."

"And was he willing to make the same promise that you did?"

"Of course.  And he's grateful to you.  He says you're one in a
million.  By the way, he invited me to a concert on campus Friday
evening.  He wants to show me the campus on Saturday morning and then
go to the Smithsonian in the afternoon.  Do you think my parents will
let me go?"

Isabel looked at the boy studiously for a moment.  He knew what she was
thinking.  But, neither of them openly expressed their sentiments; that
would violate the agreement between them.

"I don't see why not, TJ.  Neil is, from everything I know about him, a
fine, respectable young man."

The tone of her voice and emphasis clearly indicated her deliberate
refusal to acknowledge what she had seen or that she now knew they were
both gay.

"A concert and visit to the Smithsonian would be consistent with what
your parent would want for you ... and from you."

Finishing the remainder of her tea, the woman looked at the teen with a
grin on her face and remarked while winking,  "I hope you have a good
time."

"Thanks, Isabel.  How long has it been since I told you I love you?"

Isabel looked at her watch and replied, "Just over an hour -- the same
as when I told you I loved you.  Now be off with you.  I've got a
dinner to fix."

TJ's mother, who had been shopping at the mall, arrived home just
before six in the evening.  Depositing her purchases in the master
bedroom, she went into the family room to watch the evening news.  His
father came home twenty minutes later and by 7:00 they all gathered at
the dining room table for supper.

Half way through the meal, TJ stated, "I talked to Neil today."

"Oh?  How's he doing?" his mother asked.

"He's fine.  He invited me to go to a concert on campus Friday night."

"How nice of him," his mother said.  "Would you like to go?"

"Very much!  It's a string quartet.  One of his professors is in the
group.  Neil says it should be quite interesting."

"Yes, I agree," his mother said with a sudden burst of interest.  "I
think I'm familiar with that quartet.  What's his professor's name?"

"He didn't mention a name but he said the ensemble has quite a
reputation."

"Indeed they do.  Not Kennedy Center caliber but very good.  I think
you should accept, TJ."  Turning to her husband, she said, "What do you
think, Thomas?"

Both knew that he would have to give his permission.  He relished and
often took full advantage of being the head of the household.

"Yeah.  Okay." he said without showing any interest in the topic.

TJ was emboldened by his mother's enthusiasm and his father's passive
mood.  "Neil wants to show me around the campus on Saturday morning and
thought we might go to the Smithsonian in the afternoon."

"Oh my!" his mother said.  "It sounds almost like like a weekend
visit."

Suddenly showing interest in the conversation, Thomas looked at his son
and said, "That seems to be an inordinate amount of activity for the
young man to chauffeur you about for two days in a row."

TJ's antennae picked up the subtle message.  His father, in his
typically oblique way, was ruling out a sleepover.

"Yeah.  It would be," he replied.  "We thought so, too.  So he
suggested that I spend the night with him.  He's got a single dorm room
but he said there was plenty of space for my sleeping bag if I didn't
mind bedding down on the floor."  Then, in an attempt to steer the
discussion his way, TJ added, "It sounds like fun.  And staying the
night would give us a lot more time to see the campus and do justice to
the Smithsonian."

"Harrumph," his stuffy, controlling father grunted.  "I don't know
about a sleepover.

"Oh, Thomas," his mother interjected.  "It does sound like a reasonable
plan.  TJ has been invited to so few overnighters and I think the
concert and the visit to the museum would be most educational."

TJ welcomed his mother's support but still worried that his straight-
laced father would veto the plan as much out of pure stubbornness as
out of any true concern for his son's welfar the Neil's inconvenience.

However, the teen was relieved to hear his father say, "Well ... I
suppose so.  But if it were anybody but Neil, young man, you would not
be going.  As it happens, I think he's a good influence on you.  After
all, your friend seems to have sparked your interest in decent music
instead of that trash that most teenagers listen to these days."

The first skirmish had been won but the boy had not achieved complete
victory since he did not yet have permission for the second night's
sleepover.  However, that was the second phase of his plan to be
implemented later.

"May I call Neil and say it's okay?"

"Yes," his mother said.  "And be sure to give him regards from both
your father and me."

"I will.  And thanks," TJ replied.

After dinner, TJ went upstairs to his room to phone his boyfriend who
answered on the second ring.  Without any customary greetings, he
gushed, "Green light for Friday night and Saturday!  Saturday night is
still to be negotiated but I'm sure I can pull it off."

"Great!," Neil replied.  "What's the hold up on Saturday night?"

"Don't worry.  The camel's nose is the tent."

"Say what?" Neil interrupted.

"Sorry.  That's a Middle East parable.  Bedouins set up a tent
at twilight but their camel got cold outside so it stuck its head in
the tent.  The Arabs thought, 'What's the harm in that.'  Before
long, the camel gradually worked its way into the tent.  The camel
entered the tent slowly and achieved its goal, which would have been
impossible if it had barged in all at once.  So Friday night is okay
but it will just take a little more time to accomplish the rest of our
objective.  I have to wait for the right opportunity to bring up the
second night.  But trust me, I'm sure there won't be a problem.  Even
if there is -- which is unlikely -- we'll sleep togethere at least
one night."

"And more.  That is, unless you want to spend all day Saturday walking
around campus and in a museum."

"What?  You have other ideas?  You should be ashamed of yourself, you
over-sexed queer."

Both laughed but then Neil said, almost predictably, "Yes, I'm horny.
But only for you.  And it's more than the sex, TJ.  I just want to
spend as much time with you as possible.  We won't have too many
opportunities to be together so I cherish every minute I can be with
you."

"That's sweet, Neil.  It almost sounds like you want to use the 'L'
word."

"I want to, TJ.  I really do.  But give me a little more time.  Okay?
I've got some issues to work through.  You know what they are."

"Yes," Neil replied.  "And I promise you that I'll do everything I can
to earn your love."

They talked for about fifteen more minutes during which TJ recounted
the conversation at the dinner table and his plan for winning
permission for Saturday night.  Neil congratulated his boy friend on
his achievement so far and his strategy for the next conversation.

TJ reasoned that his best chance of winning permission for a second
night sleepover was to convince his mother and let her persuade his
father.  He had come to realize that his mother often got what she
wanted in spite of his father's initial objections.  In recent years,
he suspected that she prevailed by withholding sex.  There were at
least a few instances where all the clues pointed in that direction.
Those situations were over more substantial issues than a mere
sleepover but she was far better equipped to obtain her husband's
approval than his son was.

Later that evening, TJ went downstairs.  As he expected, his mother was
in the family room reading while his father was occupied in his study
doing whatever lawyers do in the evening.  "Can we talk for a minute,
mother?"

"Of course, dear," she said as she laid her book aside.

"I called Neil to tell him that I could come to the concert and stay
overnight.  He said to thank you for letting me.  He also suggested
that it might be fun to go to a movie Saturday evening.  It's been ages
since he's been to a movie.  And I'd really like to do it.  He's fun to
be with ... and it would be like a little vacation for both of us.  He
promised to have me home on Sunday morning in time for church.  Is that
okay with you?"

"I think so.  I can tell from your enthusiasm that you really want to
do it.  And I know that you both would both enjoy it."

Do you think father would object?"

"I have no idea," his mother replied.  She paused for a moment with a
serious expression.  "Come sit down, dear.  There's something I want to
say.  I've thought about it a long time and now seems like the perfect
opportunity to mention it."

TJ was puzzled but took a seat and waited for his mother to continue.

"I realize that you and your father don't get along.  It's not that you
argue and fight.  It's just that you two don't ... how shall I put
this?  You haven't bonded like most boys do with their fathers.
However, he does love you.  And I think you feel the same way about
him.  You know, sometimes it's hard to show your feelings.  For the
last few years ... ever since you've become a young man and not a child
... your father sees you as a miniature adult.  I believe he's
forgotten what it's like to be fifteen.  He's forgotten what boys your
age need and are interested in ... like sports, being accepted by their
peer group, current music, the latest clothing styles, and all of that.
If his expectations for you seem demanding, it's not because he doesn't
love you.  It's because he wants you to be more like him.  I think he
wants you to be a 30-year-old teenager if that makes any sense."

"I never thought of it that way," TJ said pensively.  "I suppose I
thought that he was just demanding ... and unforgiving whenever I made
a mistake.  And then there's the way he cross-examines me like he would
some defendant and he's trying to get me to trip myself up.  I feel
like he doesn't trust me, that I'm guilty until proven innocent."

"I've sensed that, TJ.  But believe me.  He DOES care deeply for you
and he only wants you to be successful and happy.  Being lawyerly at
home with his family is just something that he brings home from work.
I've talked to him about it and he's agreed to be more careful.  I'm
sure he has been but there are occasional relapses.  Please try to be
patient with him."

"I will.  And thanks for the advice.  I feel a lot better."

"Now," his mother said.  "About Saturday night.  If your father says
no, you'll understand why."

TJ thought for a moment.  "Not really.  If he wants me to be a
responsible adult, if he expects me to be successful and happy,
shouldn't he give me a little freedom to make friends -- as long as
they are respectable friends?"

"You make a good point, TJ.  In fact ... don't be offended ... but your
argument sounds quite lawyer-like.  I would venture a guess that your
father would be proud of your logic.  However, considering his nature,
he might dig in his heels and fight back.  That's what opposing
attorneys do in the courtroom."

TJ hung his head.  His hopes for a second night's sleepover now seemed
dim.  More significantly, his hopes for a healthier relationship with
his father suffered another blow.

"Let me talk to him, son.  I've had more experience persuading him.  If
he still objects, I'm sure I can change his mind.  Just give me a
little time.  I may have to wait for the right moment but I'm sure I
can win him over to the idea."

Smiling broadly, the boy gave his mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek,
and enthusiastically said, "Thanks!  A million.  I love you."

"Now off to bed, dear.  You may have the answer you want in the
morning.

The love-struck teen went back to his room to get ready for bed.  He
was elated at how well his plan had worked.  His mother had agreed to
the second night sleepover and, even better, offered to talk to his
father without TJ asking her to do it.  Of course, the insight about
his father's attitude, behavior, and expectations was a bonus he didn't
expect.  He thought about calling Neil, not just to tell him about the
conversation with his mother but simply to talk to him.  However, he
decided to wait until the next day when he might have a definitive
answer about Saturday night.

As he lay in bed he amused himself with the idea that his mother would
be particularly friendly and alluring as she and his father got ready
for bed.  With a young guy's overactive imagination, he pictured her
showing just enough affection to arouse her husband.  Then, she would
casually remark, 'by the way, TJ asked if he could stay another night
with Neil.  I think it's a good idea, don't you?'  As she said that,
her hand would sensually drift down her partner's chest toward his
crotch.  He would be powerless to resist either the idea or her
advances.

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

Thanks to Baruch for his valuable suggestions for this chapter.
I accept responsibility for any remaining flaws.
                         Morris Henderson