Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 20:56:24 -0400
From: Alan A. <eastcoastasulax@gmail.com>
Subject: Jake Grimke Chapter 36

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.

Just before dawn on the morning of the fishing trip, Jake joined his
father, John and grandfather, John Grimke Senior, in the kitchen as
they made the final preparations for their trip.  After dinner the
night before, the three had a virtual assembly line in the big beach
house kitchen building Italian-style hoagies soaked with marinated red
peppers and fresh tomatoes, spicy meats and cheese before rolling them
tight in plastic wrap to rest overnight in the fridge.  Jake helped
MIchael load one of the coolers with beer and soft drinks while John
and his father loaded the other with enough sandwiches for all the
fishermen, the boat captain, first mate and deckhand.

With such a large party heading south to Oregon Inlet, it was
necessary to take two cars.  Jake, his father, Uncle Craig and Michael
all rode in Jake's Saab while Uncle Randy and his son rode with his
father in the Senior Grimke's SUV down Route 158 and then back onto
the last little section of Route 12 into the fishing center where all
the head boats docked.  It was promising to be a beautiful day on the
ocean as they made their way to the Misty Dawn and prepared to cast
off once all the coolers and other gear was loaded aboard and safely
stowed.

Captain Glen gave his safety speech while the first mate and deckhand
made the boat ready for departure and within 15 minutes, the 60'
twin-engined Misty Dawn was in the queue to head out to the open ocean
where many of the boats brought back large yellowfin tuna the day
before.  Like many mornings, whether at home or not Jake and his dad
finished the last cups of coffee together, talking about whatever was
on the agenda for the day; after Emma and John had their own first
cups of coffee.

Together they stood out of ear shot of everybody as John started, "I
have no idea what Randy is going to do or say, but just be ready for
it.  I know you Jake, be the better man and when dealing with Randy,
it won't take much.  Just take the high road; I can tell he is itching
to pick a fight over something.  If need be, Dad and I will back you
up but just be ready, I can feel it coming."

"Copy Dad," Jake replied, looking over his shoulder at Randy who was
already having a beer, "any idea why he isn't `squared away'?"

"Lots Jake, there are lots, most of them happened outside of Graham
Terrace," John commented about his childhood home, "his stint in the
Marine Corps ended in a dishonorable discharge for drug use cause he
couldn't bring himself to get cleaned up.  That's probably the root of
all his problems; just admitting he has one."

Jake looked over his shoulder again, watching John III and Michael
enjoy the spray of the ocean as the boat rode out to deeper water
while Craig chatted with his father in law as the boats began to
separate and disappear towards their favorite fish catching spots.  In
the cockpit, Captain Glen throttled the engines back as the first mate
read the depth finder to determine the how deep the water was and
whether or not any fish were moving through the area.  At the stern,
the college-aged deckhand, Pete Greer, asked, "Who's first?"

The first fight of the day went to the Grimke patriarch after the
lines on the poles were baited. The boat gently propelled forward a
few knots as the lines trolled behind the Misty Dawn until one of the
reels began to play out, indicating a fish had taken the bait.  Greer
brought the pole down to the fighting chair and inserted the pole's
handle into the deck-mounted receiver and John Senior began reeling in
the catch while everybody else watched.

The retired Richmond fireman cranked the handle on the reel as he
brought the pole to almost vertical before lowering it and reeling
again.  Soon, the fighting yellowfin tuna could be seen near the
surface as Greer grabbed a net to help land it aboard the Misty Dawn.

"Nice job," Pete said, "she looks like she might be about 50 pounds."

Jake took out a digital camera and snapped a picture of his
grandfather holding the first catch of the day before jumping in to
help Mike unhook the fish while hearing his cousin John comment,
"that's gross!"

And of course, Michael wanted to be doing whatever Jake was doing so
he jumped in to help put the fresh caught tuna in the fish well filled
with sea water as his own father took the fight chair next and the
cycle was repeated.  And as everybody rotated through the fight chair,
there was a time when Jake and Randy were alone and without fail,
Randy started, just as Jake's father predicted.

"I don't ever want you alone near my son," Randy started.

"Pardon me?" Jake asked, not 100% sure of what he heard Randy say or
understood what Randy said.

"I said, I don't want you or your type alone near my son, ever," Randy
strongly reiterated with a loud snarl that was easily heard over the
idling diesels, "it's Liz and Craig's business if they want you
buddy-buddy with Michael, but you stay away from my John, do you hear
me, faggot?"

With no fish biting for the moment, all eyes turned towards Jake and
Randy.  It took Jake about half a nano-second to comprehend that this
was the scene his father warned him that Randy was gunning for and
went into game-mode.  "Yeah, I get it Uncle Randy," Jake replied in a
cool, conversational tone, trying to diffuse the situation as he
realized all eyes were on him before he continued, "rest assured,
neither you, nor Amber or John has anything to worry about from me."

"Glad to hear it tJake, I just had to say that, you know, protect my
son ," Randy continued falling for Jake's bait, "glad you could see
things my way"

"Now Uncle Randy," Jake said calmly, "take a good look around, look at
your father, your brother and your son; I'm pretty sure they are all
impressed with the example you are setting here today."

Randy Grimke turned and looked; pretty much anybody named John Grimke
on that boat in the middle of the Gulf Stream would have preferred to
have been far, far away at that moment.  And then Randy realized how
embarrassed he was for chastising Jake about something that was only a
preconceived notion on his own radar.  Randy looked for an out but
didn't have one and began to apologize profusely to Jake, "I'm sorry,
all that came out wrong Jake."

Jake stood firm, considered the apology only superficial based on its
source but accepted it before saying to Randy with a nod towards the
assembled John Grimkes, "you owe them a much bigger apology than you
will ever owe me."

With the fight chair vacant, Jake stepped to the stern and planted
himself in it, waiting for Pete to hand him a rod to plant in the
receiver.  Within minutes, there was a bite and Jake reeled in the
largest tuna of the day, coming in at close to 62 pounds before the
Misty Dawn began the return trip to Oregon Inlet.

The whole fishing trip made Jake want to speed home to Severn even
more so or even further on to Baltimore to find refuge in Jose's arms.
 After the fish feast and clean up, Jake packed his bag and debated
leaving that night but found some comfort in having one more toss with
young Michael and an almost good night's sleep on the couch.   From
the couch he texted Jose, "I'm leaving first thing in the AM, will let
you know when I am on my way."

Jose answered back, "Cool, I got a big surprise for you."

Jake texted back, "???"

Jose replied, "It's a surprise you dumb jock!!!!  I love you Jake."

Jake typed back, "I love you too, Jose; can't wait to see and be with you!!!"

Jake flipped to an almost naked pic of Jose and smiled to himself as
he drifted off to sleep.

Michael woke up minutes after Jake had finished packing the Saab and
begged Jake for one more toss, "do you really have to go Jake?"

"Yeah Michael, I got some people to visit at home before I head to
college," Jake said with a bit of a sigh, sad to be leaving young
Michael but glad that he was leaving the pressure cooker made by his
uncle.

"I wish you could stay longer," Michael added.

"Some time when it's just you and Chloe visiting," Jake answered, "or
I can take you to a lacrosse game if you want."

"You'd do that Jake?" Michael asked.

"You bet; there's lots of lacrosse games toe watch," Jake said with a
genuine tone of promise in his voice.

Michael hugged Jake before he finished the rest of his good byes after
breakfast before heading home to Severn.  As promised, Jake called
Jose as soon as he was heading north on Route 158, reversing the
course he took with his parents a few days before.

Jose's heart belonged to Jake, he knew that when he first laid eyes on
him at the Christmas concert at Children's back in December.   Before
they officially considered themselves "together", Jose had all the
phone numbers for everybody in Jake's circle of friends;  Aaron
Beecher, Will Hurley, Erik Syms, Annie and Evan Harmes, Jackie Pence
and others including Jake's parents.  As soon as he confirmed that
Jake was definitely on the road Jose put his plan in action, first
calling Jackie.

Evan's girlfriend was thrilled to help Jose and picked him up at the
Phi Gamma Delta fraternity near the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins
University and delivered him to the Grimke house before Jake's return.
  Jackie in turned called Evan's mother, Annie, and found out where
the spare key was hidden and told Jose to look under a rock that was
directly below the garden hose faucet near the back door.  "Let me
know how it goes Jose!!!" Jackie shouted after dropping Jose off.

Jose said, "I'll text you later, thanks for your help and thanks for
being a great friend to Jake and I."

With Jose safely in the Grimke house she sped away before any of the
neighbors suspected anything could be happening.  Once inside, Jose
took three almost wilted red rose buds and began to tear off the
petals, starting at the garage door where he usually entered the
Grimke house with Jake and made a path up to the second floor and
Jake's room.  He returned, planting a small tea light candle every two
feet or so, illuminating the path of rose petals that led upstairs to
Jake's bedroom.

Jose heard the Saab pull up the driveway, music blaring and got an
almost predictable text, "home now, will let you know when I am on my
way to FIJI."

"Okay, see you soon sexy," Jose texted back as fast as he could.

In less than a minute, Jose could hear the back door opening as he
waited upstairs for Jake.  He could make out a "what the
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck is this," that Jake uttered as he tried to figure
out what he was walking into before hearing, "JOSE?"

Jake smiled, remembering what Jose texted the night before, "Jose?"

He slowly followed the trail of rose petals and tea lights before
bounding up the stairs and turning into his bedroom to find Jose in
black Nike shorts and a snug purple FIJI tee shirt.

"Hi," they said together with huge beaming smiles as Jake moved in to
kiss Jose hard on the lips.

"Hope you are surprised," Jose said.

"Very!" Jake exclaimed, "probably go down as the most memorable
surprise of my entire life."

"I missed you a ton and then some," Jose said in between the kisses,
"how was the vacation?"

"It was fun until my Uncle Randy opened his mouth, but let's not talk
about that now, let's just be us," Jake answered answered with a plea.

"Of course," Jose replied and began to kiss Jake all over his face and
head as Jake just melted in Jose's grip.

"Love you Jose," was all Jake could muster as Jose worked to create
new memories and banish bad ones further into the back of Jake's head.

Before long, they were naked, taking turns kissing each other all
over.  Neither was a total top or bottom or always in control; their
bodies and positions where constantly moving, each striving to satisfy
the other, moving however necessary to meet those goals.  Soon they
were taking turns entering each other, trusting each other, listening
to each other as they shared themselves with each as intimately as two
men could.  With both men having spent themselves pleasuring each
other, Jose got up and snuffed out what was left of the candles before
crawling back into Jake's big bed and holding his muscled form against
his own and dozing off for a post-coital nap.

Distant thunder woke Jake first and a few seconds later Jose,
reminding Jake to run down to his car and raise the convertible top.

"Rose petals and candles?" Jake asked, sitting next to Jose on the bed
when he returned.

"Saw it in a movie once, figured I couldn't go wrong," Jose replied,
"except maybe burn down the fireman's house."

"That was by far the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me and
after my visit with Uncle Randy, it was the brightest spot in the last
24 hours," Jake confessed.

"Want to talk about it?" Jose asked.

"Nope, would rather just be with you than take away our precious time
together explaining family dynamics years in the making.  I'm sure you
got one or two stories yourself," Jake said with confidence.

"You are 1000% correct Jake-o, 1000%," Jose started, "not worth the
time and effort."

"You okay with me going to U-Va?" Jake boldly asked.

"No, I wish you were with me at Hopkins but it is what it is," Jose
said without any hesitation.

"Maybe I could transfer," Jake suggested.

"No," Jose said firmly, "do what you have to do, do what you want to
do.  I'm going to be here for you, I promise you that.  I love Jake
Grimke and I will be here for him forever."

"What if.......?" Jake asked.

"Let's cross that bridge if we have to," Jose replied, "you are an
honorable man Jake, I'm proud to be with you and will be with you in
any way, shape or form I can, I promise you that Jake, totally promise
you, always and forever, just like you and Evan say to each other."

A tear formed in Jake's eye as he replied, "I never thought I'd be
comfortable sharing `always and forever' with anybody else; but; I for
you Jose, I can and I will. I love you Jose, always and forever."

"Always and forever Jake," Jose replied and kissed Jake long and passionately.

After the kiss, Jake asked, "how did you get here, how did you get in?"

"Jackie hooked me up," Jose said, proud that he had networked into
Jake's friends.

"We have a date this weekend before I head to Charlottesville," Jake
reminded Jose,

"I know, the Plebes get their first weekend pass this Friday night,"
Jose said, "Jackie reminded me on the trip down here."

"We got to see Evan, all of us, before you go back to Hopkins, before
I go to U-Va and before Jackie leaves for Brandeis," Jake stated
firmly.

"Looking forward to it," Jose said, "but until then, we have this time
to ourselves; just you and me, just us."

"I love you Jose," Jake said and plunged his mouth to Jose's lips.