Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 23:38:02 -0500
From: Sequoyah <sequoyah@charter.net>
Subject: Mountain Magic Chapter Fourteen

Mountain Magic

Chapter Fourteen

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are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and
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Other Stories
"A Special Place"
"The Concord Five"
"The Oberlin Five"
"Climbing Bear"
"Aaron and Andreas."

All these stories can be found as Adobe files in he Yahoo Group dedicated
to Sequoyah's stories, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SequoyahsPlace/, on
the Gay Writers Guild website, http://www.gaywritersguild.org/books.htm,
and on Nifty. ASP and CF in the High School section, CF in the College
section, CB in the Relationships section and AA in the Beginnings section.

Comments

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Thanks to the editors and all who have written with comments and
encouragement. "Keep those cards and letters coming!" E-mail s appreciated:
sequoyah@charter.net

Sequoyah

Chapter Fourteen

When we reached the Jeep, Hank said, "Okayyyyy, if we can get Jonathan
settled down enough to get him in the Jeep I guess we can see how excited
he gets over shirts and pants."

"Jonathan, this may be your first trip to Asheville, but you're going t'see
most of it," Jason said as we pulled out of the Asheville Mall parking
lot. He was right since we had to drive across town in yet another
direction to get to the Junior League thrift shop.

As I drove, I remembered Jason's comments about hand-me-downs and
Jonathan's excitement over having something new, and became concerned he'd
see the thrift shop as supplying more hand-me-downs and make-dos. I hoped
not, because that was the only way we could afford to buy him a decent
wardrobe. Pointless worrying, the thrift shop was another toy store for
Jonathan.

Any Saturday when Jason and/or Hank came into Asheville with me ended up
with us at least dropping by the Junior League shop and occasionally I went
by when I was alone. The members of the Junior League took turns staffing
the store, but they also had one paid employee--Mrs. Walton. She had become
a real friend who held things in the storeroom she thought we'd like. Fact
is, she had developed such an understanding of what we did and did not like
that she sometimes told one of us something we were about to buy was not a
bargain, "because you'll never wear that." And she was right!

When we walked in the shop, Mrs. Walton greeted us with, "Good morning,
Douglas, Hank, Jason, and who is this fine-looking young man you have with
you?"

Her greeting embarrassed Jonathan, who turned bright red as Hank said,
"Mrs. Walton, this is Jonathan, my new brother. Well, I guess he's OUR new
brother. Jonathan, Mrs. Walton--a good friend who keeps us in mind for
special stuff."

Jonathan shook hands with Mrs. Walton as Hank commented on the fact that
she was alone in the shop. She replied that here was no need for anyone
else since it was the day before Thanksgiving so customers would be few,
and members of the Junior League were out of town, getting ready to go out
of town or supervising the preparation of their Thanksgiving dinner.

"So you've got some things for our new brother?" Hank asked.

"I'm sure I have plenty, but you'll have to look. I have nothing put aside
in his size, of course. I'll have to be on the lookout for things for him
since he is a great deal smaller than any of you three. But you know how to
find things, so look around. Douglas, I do have something for you if you
are interested. It's in the storeroom. Come with me."

Hank and Jason were already busy helping Jonathan and having a ball. When
Mrs. Walton and I got to the storeroom, she asked, "How did the three of
you end up with a new brother? Or is he just Hank's? He sure looks more
like you and Jason than he does Hank. Every time I see that Hank I think
about how much money the Junior League ladies spend trying to be his kind
of blond, but it doesn't come in a bottle. Well, anyway, how did you three
gain another member of the family?"

Since we were in the storeroom and the other three were outside, I told
Mrs. Walton about Jonathan. I didn't tell her why he had been abused by his
family, of course, but all about what had happened and how he arrived with
nothing. "The three of us chipped in ten dollars each to spend on clothes
and the grandparents and Hank's parents are paying for his shoes," I then
told her about the deal we had gotten on the shoes. "Excellent deal and he
has three pair, but we spent more than we planned," I said.

"I know the prices here are very low and what we take in to sell is in
excellent condition, clean ... well, you know, you've spent enough time
here," she chuckled. "But in addition to our usual low prices, I have a
small discretionary fund. I get to put one percent of each sale into it to
help people in need. I know you all will spend what is necessary but, just
between us, I'll discount anything bought for Jonathan and, if necessary,
dip into the fund."

"You're a doll and an old softie, Mrs. Walton," I said as I grabbed her in
a hug.

"Well, since I got a hug for Jonathan, I don't know what I might get for
what I hope is for you." As she spoke, Mrs. Walton pointed to two large
boxes on a high shelf. "If you'll get the ladder and hand those two boxes
down to me, I think I have a surprise for you."

The two boxes were not extremely heavy but awkward to handle, so it was
with some difficulty I finally got them down without falling off the
ladder. Mrs. Walton put both on a worktable in the middle of the room. As
she was untying them she said, "It's a bit unusual to get things from
former Junior Leaguers--you know they get too old to belong at thirty
something?" I didn't but I nodded anyway.

"Two weeks ago Mrs. van Oppen, a former member, came in with several
boxes. All had men's clothing in them--all very nice and expensive, but
definitely for an older man. She told me she didn't know whether or not
anyone would be interested in what's in these boxes, but if I thought they
would sell, she'd leave them."

With those words, Mrs. Walton opened a box which held a black coat, like an
overcoat, and a long white scarf. I was puzzled as to why she thought I'd
have a use for what I was pretty sure was evening wear. My thoughts were
confirmed when she opened the second box, which held a formal outfit with
all the trimming, from studs and cufflinks on up.

"When I saw these things, I thought about you and your piano. Mr. Van Oppen
was an organist who gave concerts all over the world. He had this whole
ensemble tailored for him in London just before he died in an accident. It
has, as you can see, never been worn. I was sure you'd have recitals and
that sort of thing, and these would be great if they fit. I'm betting they
will--well maybe they will need minor alterations. Slip on the topcoat."

The coat felt very good but when I held out my arms, the sleeves still
covered half my hands. "Like I thought, a perfect fit or it will be when
the sleeves are shortened. I remember Mr. Van Oppen had such long
arms. Mrs. Van Oppen used to say there was a gorilla in his background. Why
don't you try on the outfit--well you can bypass the shirt and all the
do-dads, but see about the pants and coat. Go ahead, I won't be embarrassed
if you're not."

I blushed, but slipped off my shoes so I could try on the pants and
coat. The pants could not have fit better had they been tailor made for
me. "I knew if these things were put out on the floor, some kid would buy
the outfit to walk around school being different, and I thought you might
need it and could use it properly. I talked with Mrs. Van Oppen and she
said if you could use it, to give it to you for very little. We agreed on
ten dollars."

Later I would be delighted, to say the least, and thunderstruck when I
learned the "white gold and onyx" studs and cuff links were, in fact, white
gold and onyx. Grandmom, of course, would do her usual excellent
alterations--shortening the sleeves--even devising a way to do the shirt
sleeves.

When Mrs. Walton and I walked back into the store, Jason and Hank were each
holding an armload of clothes. "Jonathan has picked out both small and
medium shirts," Jason said. "He's achieving the 'it's about to swallow me'
look popular with some of his age group."

"And a lot of ours," Hank added. "But we told him he couldn't show his
crack... excuse me, Mrs. Walton," Hank said, turning bright red.

"Know exactly what you mean," she said.

As she spoke, Jonathan walked out of the fitting room, several pairs of
pants over his arm. He was so excited, he hadn't bothered to put his pants
on. "These fit," he said, handing a stack to Jason, "and these don't," he
added as he handed pants to Hank and took another stack from a chair just
outside the fitting room door.

"I would say our young brother is a bit excited," Jason chuckled.

Hank laughed and said, "He must be. He's usually so modest he makes sure he
is hidden when he gets dressed for bed. After being so excited about
getting new shoes, I was afraid he would be disappointed here."

"So was I. I was afraid he'd think this was just another way of being given
hand-me-downs," I responded.

"I must admit, the idea crossed my mind as well," Jason said, before
explaining our concern to Mrs. Walton.

"Obviously you were worried for nothing," she laughed. "I have had some
customers get a bit excited when they found something they especially
liked, but never had one who couldn't keep his pants on!"

Jason took the pants Jonathan had given him to the counter, and Hank
started returning those which didn't fit to hangers and racks. Jason and I
joined him, the three of us finishing as Jonathan emerged with another
armload. "All these are ok. Now to the deciding."

Had I been buying clothes, I would have said, "I'll take this, this and
this,"but Jonathan divided a huge stack of pants into three piles--definite
yes, definite no, and definite maybe. He then went through the maybe pile a
couple more times, ending up with a yes and no pile. The three of us got
busy returning the no stack to the racks while Jonathan did his sorting
routine with the shirts. The final count was a dozen shirts and nine pairs
of pants. Not bad for someone who had nothing.

"I see you have pants and shirts, but no coat. You have that nice new
parka, but you'll need a lighter one as well. Look among the coats and see
what you can come up with," Mrs Walton said as she started refolding the
clothes, making out a ticket and bagging Jonathan's "keepers".

The coat search didn't take long at all. Jonathan found a nearly new
medium-weight jacket and it was love at first sight when he found a leather
bomber jacket. Both jackets were a perfect fit. "Shirts and pants come to
forty-six dollars," Mrs. Walton said after she had totaled the
ticket. "Jackets add fifteen more.

Jonathan got a stricken look on his face and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't
mean to get so much. We can put it back. I'll put the leather jacket back."

Hank was the acting treasurer and opened his wallet and started counting
out the clothes money. We all knew we had spent more than we had for shoes,
digging into the money the three of us had chipped in for clothes. Hank had
counted out twenty-five from the clothing fund, less than half what we
needed. He opened another side of his wallet and took out ten dollars. "We
don't have to have anything more than a malted at Sonic," he said. Jason
nodded and tossed in ten from what he might have spent at the drive-in.

"Sorry, Jonathan, I can toss in only five, since I owe most of what I have
left for my outfit," I said, handing Hank five dollars.

"Jonathan, you need to select a few shirts and/or pants to put back. We're
only eleven dollars short."

"Hank, I can put back more than that. I don't have to have all this. You
need to keep your money," Jonathan said in what sounded like a guilty
voice.

"Nothing doing, Jonathan. We came here to get clothes for you. Anything
else is extra. Besides, it's my money. If I want to spend it on a
Coldsprings freshman I can. It's your no never mind."

"You won't have to put anything back," Mrs Walton said. "This is the tenth
visit one or the other of you--or all of you older fellows--has made to the
shop, so you get everything at a discount," Mrs. Walton said and winked at
me. "With what you have given me, you only owe forty-five cents."

"I'll pay the extra," Hank laughed as he handed Mrs. Walton two quarters
and said, "Keep the change."

Mrs. Walton smiled and said, "Jonathan, I hope to see you again and, as I
do for your brothers, I'll put aside things I think you might
like. Douglas, your outfit comes to ten dollars, no discount on it."

It was not until we got everything loaded and were on our way home that
Hank asked what was in my boxes. "You'll not believe it," I said. "It is a
formal outfit--with tailcoat, vest, all the trimming--hand-tailored in
London. Never been worn."

"And, other than the prom, when will you wear it?"

"For recitals, things like that. We got enough money for a stop at Sonic?"
I asked since we were rapidly approaching the drive-in.

"We have enough for something," Jason said, "Pull in and we'll decide
what."

We pooled our money and found we had just enough to buy two shakes. I
called in our order adding, "and extra straws" since Hank and Jonathan
would share a shake as would Jason and I.

The carhop who delivered the shakes was a cute, well-built guy on
rollerblades. As he turned to skate away Jonathan licked his lips, sighed,
pushed their shake toward Hank and said, "You take the food and give me the
boy!" It was so out of character for the guy we had gotten to know in the
hospital that the three of us almost choked on our shakes. We would soon
learn our new brother had a tremendous sense of humor which popped up in
some strange places.

Back in Deep Cove we all went to Hank's and Jonathan's place where the four
of us helped Jonathan put away his new things. It took a while since he
kept getting excited over a shirt or pair of pants. He so reminded me of a
young kid. Of course he was young, but I mean really young, like nine or
so. After everything was put away, Jason said, "Douglas, we need to get on
home. I'm hungry and I'm sure Granddad would like to be surprised by not
having to do our chores."

Thanksgiving morning dawned sunny but cold. Jason and I were up early and
took care of the morning chores before breakfast. After breakfast, the
family sat around the table, drinking coffee and talking. Grandmom got up
from time to time to attend to her cooking, but she had done a great deal
of preparation the day before and was just putting the finishing touches to
her part of the Thanksgiving dinner. Finally our conversation turned to
Jonathan, as I suspected it would.

"Hate to bring up gossip," Granddad said, "but I heard about our new boy
when I was at the feed store yesterday. Smitty said Mr. Henderson from The
Circle of God's Chosen came in for some feed since their regular delivery
was held up. A young fellow--longish hair, earring, pierced eyebrow--came
in, and when Mr. Henderson saw him Smitty said he got fire in his eye and
started preaching about the evils Satan uses to snare young people,
especially young men. Ranted and raved for ten minutes about young boys
being lured into sin by evil, unsaved sissy boys. 'The high school's full
of Satan's sissy boy servants,' Henderson preached. Before he finally wound
down, Smitty said he finally started shaking his head saying, 'Even one
from my own loins will be cast into hell's fire. We tried hard to save his
immortal soul but he's damned, damned to the eternal flames.' Think he was
talking about Jonathan? You two have any idea what he was ranting about?"

I looked at Jason to see if he gave any indication of what we should say,
but he was looking at his plate. Since Jason was making no response, I
shrugged and said, "He probably was talking about Jonathan, but I can't be
sure. Don't know what he means about sissy boys. When I started at
Coldsprings I was called sissy at first. Finally only that jerk Jerry and
his hangers-on called me that. I don't think it meant anything other than
the fact that I dressed differently. So far as I know, Jonathan has never
been called sissy at school.  Anyway, who has the foggiest idea what that
man Henderson was ranting and raving about? Long hair? Earring? Body
piercing? Who knows? But, regardless of what he meant, he certainly had no
reason to beat Jonathan as he did."

"We can all agree on that," Grandmom said.

Jason chimed in, "If you're worried, we do know for a fact that Jonathan
has done nothing criminal. Truth be told, he's so naive and innocent I
don't think he'd be able to do something illegal if he tried."

"You've been around long enough, Granddad, to have seen a lot of young boys
growing up. I suspect you can guess the general problem if you recall he is
a young boy/man," I added.

"Just what I suspected," Granddad grinned and said. "At his age sex is
involved in everything."

Grandmom laughed as she said, "Think you can depend on that."

"Same thing might be said of our age," I laughed.

"Yeah, seems I remember that--a bit hazy and vague, but I think I can
remember that if I try," Granddad grinned.

"Don't know that it is that vague or requires a lot of thinking," Grandmom
chuckled.

Granddad actually blushed as he responded, "Sara, not in front of the
children!"

When we finally got control of ourselves after a good laugh, Granddad said,
"I wasn't the least bit worried about some terrible thing Jonathan had done
or was. When my two grandsons and Hank Dennison stand up for someone the
way you all have for Jonathan, that's enough for me. No, my concern was the
possibility someone else was involved who needs help, protection,
whatever. Is there?" I'm sure Jason gave an inward sigh, as I did, at
Granddad's response.

"No, it's all Jonathan's problem," Jason said, "and now that he has a
family, he can handle it."

I thought we had done a very good job of explaining yet not explaining
Jonathan's situation. Plus I was sure we both felt really proud of
Granddad's trust in us. For the time being, we both knew Granddad well
enough to know he would not pry. For the present he was satisfied but,
sooner or later, more of Jonathan's story would have to be told. And there
was also our own situation. I wondered if Granddad's trust in us would be
enough to get all of us over that.

As soon as Grandmom had finished her part of the Thanksgiving dinner, it
was all loaded in the Jeep and Jason and I took off for the
Dennisons'. Grandmom wanted to "freshen up", so she and Granddad were
coming later.

When we arrived at the Dennisons', we took a load of food from the Jeep and
carried it inside. We greeted everyone, helped Mrs. Dennison get the food
put away, and went back to the Jeep for more. When we finished,
Mrs. Dennison said, "Jonathan and Hank are upstairs. Go on up."

"They've been playing computer games all morning," Rosemary said, as though
she was telling a great secret.

"Who's winning?" Jason asked.

"Well," Rosemary was obviously happy at having our attention, "Hank is very
good, and Jonathan hadn't played computer games before, but Hank isn't
winning all the time now."

"No?" Jason asked.

"No, not at all. Mr. Smarty Pants Hank got beat twice already," Rosemary
said with great glee.

"Then I guess we better go up and see Hank experiencing the agony of
defeat," Jason said as he picked Rosemary up and threw her across his
shoulders. Since we had been having supper occasionally with the Dennisons,
the eight-year-old had developed a crush on Jason and let everybody know he
belonged to her. Jason was delighted to be big brother to the young girl.

When we got upstairs, Jason put Rosemary down and said, "I understand you
are no longer unbeaten in the current series, Hank."

"If this kid is as smart otherwise as he is at learning computer games, he
will be another one of those 'AP class geeks' like your boy ... brother,"
Hank said, managing to recover from what could have caused a big problem.

Rosemary was soon bored with our talk and went back downstairs. She came
back a few minutes later to tell us Mrs. Dennison had fixed some snacks for
us, since dinner was still some time away. Jonathan went with Rosemary to
bring them up.

As soon as they were gone, Hank apologized for his near-blunder. When he
did Jason said, "Look, that's the way it's likely to happen. Like when
Douglas and I forgot where we were when you walked in on us. I just hope
no-one gets hurt when a slip happens. But we'll just have to handle life as
it comes," he concluded.

To ease Hank's conscience I added, "Jonathan knows about us anyway. Telling
him about us was the way Jason got his confidence in the first place."

"That's what was going on! I really wondered about the 'Indian Medicine'
bit," Hank grinned.

It was 2:30 when we were finally called downstairs for Thanksgiving dinner.

We were all standing around the table when Mrs. Dennison nodded and
Mr. Dennison started praying. Hank once said one thing he liked about
eating at our house was that Granddad gave God credit for having some
sense. "He just says 'Thanks' and we get on with eating. Dad has to remind
God of His responsibilities, I guess," and added, "He also carefully
explains to God what He needs to do and exactly how to go about it. Treats
God like He should be in Special Ed." Since then, every time we havve
supper at the Dennisons, we have to watch it to keep from laughing out loud
at Mr. Dennison giving God His orders for the immediate and distant future.

After what seemed like ten minutes and Mr. Dennison was still praying, I
was having a hard time not laughing. Unfortunately, when Mr. Dennison said
"Amen," Hank, Jason and I looked at each other and started giggling, but
managed to keep it quiet enough until we got control.

We had just started serving our plates when Hank's brother Josh walked
in. "Am I too late for dinner?" he asked as he stood in the doorway to the
dining room. Before anyone could answer, he turned, took off his coat and
tossed it on a chair in the den.

As he came to the table Mrs. Dennison said, "Just in time," as she got up
to set another place.

"Probably would have missed out altogether," Hank whispered to his brother
when he was seated, "except Dad was praying," which set off the giggles
again.

The meal was great and we all ate too much, of course. When we had finished
and the table had been cleared except for coffee and dessert, Josh asked
Jonathan what he liked best at school, if he played sports, that sort of
thing.

Jonathan was shy at first but was soon talking up a storm, saying he liked
math and English, never played sports because he wasn't allowed to, but
liked to swim in the summer when he could, and he thought he'd like to
learn to play basketball--"and maybe baseball." When he had answered Josh's
questions, he started asking questions of Josh. The two really seemed to
hit it off.

"Jonathan, Rosemary is going to the movies this afternoon," Mrs. Dennison
said as we were finishing dessert. "She's going with the Cummings--Harry
and Helene. Harry is your age, I think, Helene is younger--Rosemary's
age. If you'd like to go you'll need to get your coat since Mrs. Cummings
will be here shortly."

Jonathan seemed confused and puzzled until Hank said, "Go ahead,
Jonathan. You'll have a good time, I'm sure. Go get your coat." After
Jonathan went upstairs, Hank said, "Mom, he'll need money. Give him money
for both him and Rosemary."

Mrs. Dennison gave Jonathan a couple of bills and said, "That will take
care of tickets, drinks and popcorn for you and Rosemary. We'll have to
discuss an allowance later. Enjoy the movie."

Jonathan still seemed a bit confused by all the carryings on until Hank
said, "Jonathan, Harry will keep you on the straight and narrow." Jonathan
seemed to relax a bit and quickly got caught up in the excitement when the
Cummings arrived.

As soon as Rosemary and Jonathan were gone, Hank, Josh, Jason and I cleared
the table. Granddad and Mr. Dennison had gone to the den to watch a
football game. That surprised me because Granddad had never expressed an
interest in football. When we got to the den, Josh asked, "Dad, why are you
watching football? You know it bores you stiff."

"Thought Gerald would like to watch the game," Mr. Dennison replied.

"He doesn't watch football either," I volunteered.

"Then I guess we won't bore each other," Mr. Dennison laughed.

"Good, then we can talk," Josh said. "Dad, Jonathan seems like a nice kid,
but he's a lot younger than I thought."

"Not sure that's true, Josh," Mr. Dennison answered. "I think he seems a
lot younger than he is."

"He sure does," Hank added. "He's fourteen--just barely, but he is."

"He sure seems younger," Josh said. "Why does he seem so young?"

"Not sure I'm a very good judge of that," Mr. Dennison said. "Everybody
under forty looks young to me."

"First of all, I think he has not matured as early as some of us did," Hank
said.

"Well, some of you," I said. "When I was fourteen I hadn't matured very
much, but then it hit and bingo! But, like me and Jason, he has little
facial hair and I suspect never will because he is definitely part-Indian."

"I think the main reason is he acts young. He had been kept ignorant of the
real world, living with that bunch of religious fanatics," Hank said. "I
mean he's never seen a real movie, TV, the list goes on. Now that it's all
being dumped in his lap, he either becomes very excited--not kewl--or
overwhelmed--not kewl. In time he will probably become a normal, obnoxious
teenager like the rest of us."

"What I want to know is how come he ended up in the hospital and why he's
living here," Josh said. His tone of voice clearly indicated he wasn't very
pleased with the arrangement, or perhaps felt displaced by Jonathan
becoming a part of the Dennison family. That surprised me because Hank said
he had talked to Josh and he had no problem with Jonathan moving into his
old "room", and he and Jonathan had seemed to hit it off at once.

Hank half-stood, back definitely up,, and said through clinched teeth, "He
ended up in the hospital because his father beat the living shit out of him
and left him outside in the snow to die." The defiant bite in Hank's voice
left no doubt a brotherly fight was shaping up. I hoped Mr. Dennison would
step in, but he didn't seem inclined.

"Josh," Jason said in a very calm voice, "I wouldn't like to make a big
issue out of it, but I think if you saw the kid's back, you'd understand
why he had to get away from his family, one way or the other. As you know,
Jonathan's family are members of that religious cult up in Sadie's Gap, The
Circle of God's Chosen. We've heard more and more about their rules and
lifestyle--what goes on up there--and, to tell the truth, the more I hear,
the more I am convinced the whole bunch is crazy. I'm sure you have heard
all about how we found Jonathan from Hank...." Hank nodded, but Josh was
looking at Jason and didn't indicate he had. Jason actually told all about
our finding Jonathan and visiting him in the hospital. The only detail he
didn't include was the why of Jonathan's situation. Josh was not about to
let that pass.

"But why was he beaten? I assume even a crazy person has to have a reason
for beating another human being," Josh said. One look at his face told me
there was no way a "we promised we wouldn't tell" was going to satisfy Josh
and, although we had made promises to Jonathan, Josh had to be won to our
side.

"Josh," I started and got sharp looks from both Jason and Hank, "you
mentioned how young Jonathan seems. He really does and at times I find that
very winning. It's like he is fresh--not in a bad sense--fresh like
innocent. He is very naive, so he seems young to those of us who have had a
wider experience. He's barely fourteen, but if you can think of yourself
when you were eleven or twelve and first become conscious of your
sexuality...."

"Shit--sorry Dad--shoot, Josh, you can remember when you stayed hard half
the time and half-hard the rest of the time, when all you did was daydream
about sex," Hank said, then stopped.

"Crude, Hank," Jason said, "but accurate. Anyway, I'm sure you daydreamed
about doing something bold and romantic, but probably never did anything
about it."

"Well, hardly," Josh said in a "I am a man not a kid" voice.

"Yeah, you did too," Hank laughed as he pointed at Josh. Mr. Dennison was
also laughing and slapped his leg as Josh turned red.

I thought that someone had better do something quick before Josh's
embarrassment turned to anger. "I suspect we all have done something
foolish at one time or another," Granddad said in a very quiet
voice. "Young men today don't have a monopoly on doing something foolish
over a lady love." His voice and hearty laugh took the steam out of the
situation. It helped that neither Hank nor Mr. Dennison told what
"foolishness" Josh had done over a "lady love".

"I didn't mean to embarrass anyone," I said, "just wanted to say what
Jonathan had done wasn't any more foolish than what every one of us has
done. He wrote a mush note--even Jonathan said it was real mushy so, having
seen Jonathan, you can imagine how mushy it was--to someone he had a crush
on, without intending to give it to the other person...."

"Yeah, Hank, you gave your mush note to Ginny Walters," Josh started
laughing and pointing to Hank, evening the score.

"Ok, things are going well," I thought then said, "Seems Jonathan just
stuck the note in his math notebook. Then, sometime later, he was working
on a math project and the note fell out without his knowing it. His mother
found it, gave it to his father who called the preacher/cult leader and the
three of them decided to, literally, beat the devil out of Jonathan. I
guess they decided they couldn't do it effectively, so they put him out in
the snow. He had walked several miles--eight or ten--in the cold and snow
before he collapsed where we found him."

"He didn't have any place to go, so I asked Mom and Dad about his coming to
live with us and they said ok. But I told you all that," Hank said,
obviously irritated.

"If his living here is going to create a problem, I told the boys he could
live with us and he can," Granddad said.

"No, no, it's ok," Josh said.

"Josh, I don't understand what the problem is," Mr. Dennison said.

"Frankly, I can't either," Josh said. "Well, yes I can. I just have the
feeling I had been pushed out to make room for a complete stranger."

"You haven't been pushed out, Josh, never will be. Well, maybe you've lost
your bedroom."

"I'm fine. I think what I told Hank last week I didn't really believe. I
told him I had left home for all practical purposes and I thought I
had. But I guess I wanted that to be a one-way situation. I'm really proud
my family cares for someone no-one wanted."

There was some general talk and then Josh said, "Hank, I want to beat your
butt at the computer game of your choice." When we got upstairs, Josh said,
"Hank, not interested in a game, but we need to talk."

"We'll go on downstairs," Jason said, "and leave you two to talk."

"No, I suspect you two need to be here as well," Josh replied. "After all,
Douglas, you got shoved out of your place so you can understand some of my
feelings."

"Not really, Josh. You got to remember I had just been taken in
myself. Also, Jason was a good friend, we knew each other before he came to
live at our place, unlike you and Jonathan. So it's not the same."

"And you don't feel pushed out," Josh stated a fact, didn't ask a question.
"Yeah."

"Ok, guys, I'm being completely up-front with you. What I want to tell you
has to stay in this room," Josh was very serious. We were all four sitting
in Hank's and Jonathan's living area, looking at Josh who sat with his head
in his hands.