Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 22:23:14 -0500
From: Alan A. <eastcoastasulax@gmail.com>
Subject: Jake Grimke Chapter 29

NOTE:  This is the fictional coming of age story of Jake Grimke as he
matures through high school, into college and eventually into
adulthood in the Baltimore, Maryland region.  It contains and embraces
accurate representations of life in Baltimore and its suburbs;
Maryland's traditional sport of lacrosse and the career path a
firefighter might follow in his profession.  All of the characters in
this story are fictional and resemblance to any one person whether
dead or alive is purely coincidental.  If you liked this installment,
please send me some feed back; I got a rough idea where this is headed
but I am always open to some suggestions. Needless to say, if you are
offended by handsome athletic young men growing up gay and the
obstacles they will encounter as well their personal triumphs, you
should use the BACK button on your browser forthwith.

Jose slipped out of the bed and dressed quietly before letting himself
out of his brother's Upper East Side penthouse and heading to the
corner bakery 17 floors below for some coffee and sweet rolls to bring
back to Jake.  When he returned he found the lacrosse player standing
at the parapet wall of the rooftop patio's southern edge staring south
towards where the twin towers of the World Trade Center had stood
nearly a decade before.

"Jake-o, breakfast," Jose said as he slid the sliding glass door open
to the patio without getting much of a response, before walking
closer, "Jake, you okay?"

"Where were you when it happened," Jake asked taking the black coffee,
sipping it.

"Fourth grade social studies with Mr. Haskell," Jose replied, "you?"

"Third grade, my eighth birthday was the 12th, the day after," Jake
started recalling, "when it all started, Dad went into work early that
day, he was gone before I got home from school which was unusual
because he usually waited for me before leaving for the night tour."

Jake continued staring straight ahead, his eyes welling up, "and Dad
didn't come home the next morning and I began to cry."

Jose moved in closer, gently hugging Jake's body as he continued to
remember out loud what happened on that tragic day, "I cried so hard
after seeing what happened on the television, hearing how many fireman
died that day.  I was too young to know that the Baltimore World Trade
Center was different than the one in here.  All I knew was that it was
my birthday and my dad wasn't home at his normal time from work."

Jake's body heaved in Jose's grip, "All the fire departments made
everybody work, nobody was allowed to be off once they reported for
duty that day.

Jose tried to console Jake as his memories overwhelmed him, "but at
least your dad came home; a lot of other dads and moms and sons and
daughters and husbands and wives didn't that day."

"I know; 343 didn't," Jake replied, added citing the number of New
York City firefighters killed that day, "think we could go down there
today?"

"You really want to?" Jose questioned.

"Yeah, I really want to," Jake asserted slightly above an audible whisper.

After finishing their coffees and sweet rolls, Jose and Jake showered
and changed into typical teenage all-American male poster boy outfits
before heading to the Hunter College Metro stop for the subway ride to
Ground Zero.

Just as they emerged from the Chambers Street stop they were greeted
with a wall of people, most moving with a destination in mind.  Jose
got his bearings after being underground and led Jake towards where
the twin towers had once stood.  As they got closer to the site, the
crowd of gathered people began to thicken in mass.  With Jake in tow,
Jose picked his way through the throng until they were just a few feet
from a wooden police barricade.

Jake saw firefighters from FDNY in their dress uniforms assembled in
ordered rows with their apparatus nearby as a mammoth crane held a
suspended load wrapped in the United States, New York and FDNY flags.
Jose let go as Jake began to straighten up into a solemn form of
attention as the breezes blew just enough of the flags shrouding the
precious cargo for Jake to realize it was a damaged ladder truck being
lowered into what was the not yet finished World Trade Center
Memorial.  Nearby, the Pipes and Drums of the famed FDNY Emerald
Society played a stirring version of "Abide With Me" as the truck was
lowered into its display space.

After the ceremony, most of the crowd dispersed back to wherever they
came from.  Jake watched the ranks of proud firemen hug each other as
they mounted their apparatus and headed back to their stations;
knowing the camaraderie his father shares with those he works with in
the Baltimore Fire Department.  "Had enough yet, Jake?" Jose asked.

"You mind if we walk around, we've come this far," Jake pleaded,
sensing that Jose was not connecting to the significance of the event
like Jake was.

"Sure, we can do that if you like," Jose said agreeably.

The work on the memorial was continuing, and it wasn't ready to open
to the public even nearly a decade after the attack.  Throughout the
area, there were impromptu and make-shift remembrances to those who
lost friends and family that day.  There were also some formal, yet
temporary exhibits in the area that would later be incorporated into
the actual memorial that Jake and Jose perused as they toured the
World Trade Center site.

One exhibit caught Jake in particular; one that played a short video
on a flat screen monitor about one of the heros that day that wasn't a
firefighter or police officer or EMT.  The narration began with "What
would you do in the last hour of your life?"

The bio piece continued, describing a young athlete, not unlike Jake,
who excelled at lacrosse in his hometown of nearby Nyack, New York
where he was also a junior volunteer firefighter.  The testimonial to
this lacrosse player went on to elaborate how much he valued team work
and his athletic prowess while attending Boston College before he took
a job with a securities firm in Manhattan at the World Trade Center
after graduation.

When the attack began, the lacrosse player called his parents and let
them know he was okay before his volunteer firefighter training kicked
in and he began to organize an evacuation of the floor he worked on.
Instead of continuing down to ground level, he returned to the upper
floors and helped evacuate more before the South tower collapsed.  A
story in the New York Times some months after the calamity had one
victim refer to him as the "man in the red bandana" which linked the
heroic actions of this lacrosse player to his grieving parents so that
they knew how he proudly lived the last hour of his life.  His remains
were found next those of deceased New York City firefighters.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Jake thought out loud "I got you brother,
I'll be your wingman and pick up where you left off; I promise."

"You're not okay, are you?" Jose asked.

"No, I'm not," Jake said with a sigh, "but I'm done here, let's bolt."

Together they walked away, slowly back to the subway stop that brought
them down to Ground Zero, Jake's mind seared with the story of the
Boston University Eagle's lacrosse player.

"Pretty amazing Jake," Jose commented, "you're grieving for somebody
you never met."

"It's like a little piece of me died that day and I didn't even know
it until now, until I learned about this guy and what he did," Jake
said.

"You going to be okay?" Jose asked, "really, don't push yourself to be
happy.  I'm not sure you want to be right now."

They rode back in silence to the Hunter College stop before the short
walk to Alejandro's apartment building.  Once inside, Jake went for
the bed and crashed before being waken by Jose tugging at his Nike
sneaker and whispering "Hey Jake-o."

"Huh" Jake replied.

"We got a couple of hours to kill, let's do some more shopping; I'd
rather hit the real stores than all the factory stores Mom takes me to
at the outlet mall," Jose proposed.

"Sure, where to?" Jake asked, having put his grieving aside.

"Start with Fitch," Jose suggested, "I'd love to pick up a couple of
polos for fall."

"Sounds good to me," Jake said, teeming with spirit.

Another quick trip on the subway and they were near all the famous
retailers on Fifth Avenue picking through their wares and trying on
clothes and shoes and pretending they were hot models running loose in
the Big Apple.  Jake had popped out of his funk and was texting Will
that he was shopping in the real Kenneth Cole store and the real
Abercrombie and Fitch store, not the cheap outlet mall versions.

Jose found his polo shirts for fall and Jake was happy to find some
shoes at Kenneth Cole and shirts and shorts at Abercrombie and Fitch.
Upon returning again to Alejandro's apartment, they found Alejandro
and Nancy there picking up some more clothes since he was spending the
weekend with his fiance while the boys were staying at his apartment.

Of course, Nancy wanted to see what they purchased and demanded an
impromptu afternoon fashion show on the roof top patio.  Never too far
from any of her cameras, Nancy took out her big digital Nikon SLR and
began taking pictures of Jake and Jose as they posed on the roof top
terrace in various states of new clothes and then eventually in less
clothes.

While the guys showered and changed and enjoyed a couple of glasses of
wine with the apartment owner, Nancy busied herself uploading the
latest pictures from the Nikon to her MacBook Pro and then sent the
best of them to Jose's email address she got from Alejandro before
enjoying some wine herself.

They all shared a cab down to the theater district, with Jose and Jake
headed to see the Saturday night performance of "The Book of Mormon"
while his brother and future sister in law headed to her flat.  Jake
and Jose thoroughly enjoyed the show from excellent seats at the
O'Neill theater.

As they came out of the theater on the warm summer evening, Jake
noticed the flashing neon lights on one of the side streets and asked,
"What's over there Jose?"

"Probably some of the sex shops," Jose said with knowledgeable confidence.

"You mean like 'The Block' in Baltimore?" Jake said trying to compare
it with something he had knowledge of himself.

"Yeah, that would be a close guestimate," Jose supposed.

"Think we can go over there and check it out," Jake suggested with a
squeeze of Jose's hand.

"If you're brave enough but then again, I haven't found much that
stops you, Jake-o," Jose replied.

They headed in the direction of the flashing neon lights with Jose
reminding them they were little fish in waters infested with predators
and if Jose felt something wasn't right, they were going back to the
safety of the brighter lights and crowds found on 42nd street.  The
first shop they found obviously catered to heterosexual customers but
after a quick scan, Jose spotted the familiar rainbow flag and said to
Jake, "that one, across the street."

Jake walked in, the scent of leather and lube filling his nose densely
while his eyes bulged at the different leather coats, pants, vests and
chaps that he quickly rifled through while Jose watched.  The lacrosse
player turned and looked in the display case behind him and saw all
sizes and designs of cock rings made from different materials before
looking up and seeing the flat screen monitor playing gay porn with a
pair of jocks pissing on each other.

With his head spinning in every direction possible trying to make sure
he didn't miss anything, Jake surveyed the entire store with Jose at
his side.  It was early by gay standards on a Saturday night as men
began making purchases for whatever they were going to be doing later
in the evening with whomever.  It was getting cruisy and Jose grabbed
Jake's hand and kept him close by as Jake examined a rubbery singlet
with chunks of  the rubber material missing from where the ass cheeks
would go.

Intrepidly, Jake walked back further into the store, noting a slew of
lubricants centered on the wall interspersed with assorted jock straps
of leather and other materials and an assortment of leather harnesses
above.  Jose just let Jake's eyes wander until they worked their way
further into the back to find the collection of dildos and related
anal toys.  Jake's amazement was in no way shape or form diminished
when he saw what was available for men to put up their ass.  Dildos in
assorted sizes from normal human to Oh-My-God; butt plugs in a similar
size spectrum and other insertables.

Finally, Jake saw a black rubbery double-ended dildo, about 18" long
with a two inch or less diameter.  He looked at Jose and asked, "would
you?"

Jose had already done a few kinky things early on his sex life and
considered this a modest beginning for Jake and replied, "with you,
sure."

After finalizing their purchase on Jake's debit card, they walked out
and headed back to 42nd street to hail a cab for the trip uptown,
practically making out in the backseat of the cab on their way home.
Making out began in earnest once the elevator doors closed after Jake
and Jose cleared the lobby of the apartment building.

As soon as the elevator stopped on the penthouse floor, Jake tugged
Jose down the short hall to the apartment and pressed him hard against
the bare brick wall just inside the door and planted a deep kiss in
his Latin lover's mouth before the lights could be turned on.  After
catching their breath, Jake pulled Jose towards the bedroom and pushed
him down on the bed before imposing himself on top.

Jose responded with equal passion as Jake clamped his muscled quads
around Jose's torso and wrapped his strong arms around his upper body
and kissed harder.  As soon as Jake relaxed his grip, Jose began
unbuckling the belt and undoing the zipper on Jake's pants and then
his own letting them grind themselves together, underwear to underwear
before Jake began undoing Jose's shirt.

With Jose's chest exposed, Jake slowed and kissed each pec gently,
kissed and licked each nipple gently, kissed and licked each ripple of
ab gently as he finally got down to the waistband of Jose's silvery
2xist boxer briefs.  He pulled it down an inch at a time until Jose's
manhood was completely exposed and engulfed it in his mouth and then
caressed Jose's shaved balls with his tongue before going even further
down into the crack of Jose's cleaved ass.

Before he could get any further, Jake stopped to take off Jose's
shoes, socks, pants and underwear and deftly removed his own almost as
fast before rolling Jose up on to his shoulders to begin spitting and
licking his hole sending Jose into a mass of moaning muscled flesh,
with Jose's fingers pulling his cheeks apart to give Jake even better
access to the nearly hairless hole.  The middle finger from each of
Jose's hands began to rub around the outer ring of his hole while Jake
continued to swirl his tongue in the very center.

"Make love to me Jake-o," Jose pleaded.

"Yeah, you ready for that?" Jake asked taking a break from the task at
hand to look Jose in the eyes and saw the seriousness of his appeal.

"Yeah babe," Jose replied, "are you; `cause I love you Jake-o"

Jake nodded yes silently, his eyes wet and warm with a tear, hearing
for the first time in his life that another man, like him, loved him.
And with that, Jake lowered Jose's legs until they were flat on the
bed again and climbed on top of him and began making out all over
again before he reached for the lube and condoms.

Kneeling between Jose's soccer jock legs, Jake applied lube to Jose's
dick and then his balls and down into the crack of his ass before
smearing it on Jose's hole.  Jake slicked his right index finger and
worked it inside Jose's ring and probed around, making Jose wince just
a little before pulling it out to glob lube on to his own cock.  Jake
then reached for a condom but his hand was stopped by Jose's hand.

"No babe, I trust you," Jose said staring him in the eyes, "I'm clean."

Jake lubed his meaty shaft and then applied more lube to Jose's hole
and then inserted two fingers trying to get more lube inside his lover
before he made his initial insertion.  Jose reached down and held
Jake's right hand with the two fingers inside and pulled it further
inside of himself before releasing and pulling again.

"You're pretty big Jake-o," I don't want to scream like a little girl
when you get that monster in me," Jose said with a wry smile as the
bright blue-white light of the moon shone in the window.

Jake took the cue and applied more lube to his finger's as Jose
continued working his hand in and out until Jake's fingers could feel
the slickness inside Jose.  Jake ran his left hand all over Jose's
right quad, down to his knee and then grabbed the back of his right
ankle and pushed until Jose's knee bent and almost touched his left
shoulder.  After removing his slicked fingers, Jake's right hand found
Jose's left ankle and pushed back until Jose's butt was up in the air
before aiming himself squarely with Jose's hole and easing himself in
gently.

Their eyes locked, Jake reading Jose's body language as he gradually
made entry until a smile broke across Jose's face and feeling his
insides mold around his manhood.  Slowly, Jake lowered the weight of
his upper body against the underside of Jose's quads until their lips
met and they began kissing as Jake began short, gentle thrusts into
Jose.

"I love you Jake-o," Jose said as the kiss broke.

"Love you to Jose," Jake replied as the speed and depth of the
thrusting began to gradually increase.

As their comfort level increased, Jake pounded away a little harder
and a little faster.  Jose intently watched Jake's body work, drinking
in his muscles, his hair, the definition in his arms and chest,
commenting, "I am so lucky to have such a beautiful man make love to
me."

Jake smiled and licked the small puddle of sweat that had formed
between Jose's pecs and swallowed it before he planted his lips on
Jose's and proclaimed he was ready to ejaculate.

Instinctively, they grabbed and held each other together as tight as
they could, kissing as hard as they could as their bodies shook and
shuddered in the ultimate male on male pleasure.