Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2012 08:05:04 -0500
From: Andrew Todd <atodd867@gmail.com>
Subject: Riding Lessons: Lessons Learned Ch. 1

This is a continuation of my first story, `Riding Lessons'. Events in this
story take place after the events in `Danny & CJ: A `Riding Lessons'
Interlude. As always, if you have any issues with romantic relationships
between young men, please do not proceed. I appreciate any and all feedback
and constructive criticism.

Riding Lessons II: Lessons Learned

By

Andrew Todd

Chapter 1

Zak pulled up in front of Mattie's house and was about to honk his horn,
when he saw Mattie come out the front door.

Mattie scrambled into the passenger seat of Zak's new Ford Escape.

"Good morning," Zak greeted Mattie, cheerfully.

Mattie looked at Zak and grinned. "Is this the most excited you've ever
been for the first day of school?"

Zak grinned back. "Oh, you have no idea. Just having the two of you with
me, I feel so much more comfortable and not as lost as I usually feel."

"Well, you'll have to help me and Spin, since it will be our first day
there."

"We've got each other's backs," Zak answered. "Spin's a freshman, but he's
going in with the same kids he was with in junior high. And you should have
no problem fitting in. I feel like I'm going in as a brand-new person this
year, but we'll see if anyone else feels the same about me."

They chattered away as they headed to Spin's house.

When they pulled up in front of Spin's house, both boys burst out laughing
as Mattie's red-headed boyfriend came tearing out of the house. Spin was
his usual hyperactive self this morning. He jumped into the backseat of the
SUV and leaned over the front seat to give Mattie a kiss.

"Morning, guys," Spin said excitedly. "Ready to rule the school?"

Zak and Mattie both turned to look at him like he was insane.

"Rule it?" Zak asked. "I'll settle for surviving it."

Mattie nodded his head in agreement. He loved his little Energizer Bunny,
but sometimes his overconfidence was a bit much.

The drive from Spin's house to the high school was only about ten minutes
and they arrived well before they had to be there.  Zak chose a parking
space far from the main building so there wouldn't be as many chances of
his new car getting scratched or damaged.

Mattie looked at Zak, who had a faraway look in his eyes. "You miss him,
don't you?" Mattie asked.

Zak nodded. "I know that it makes more sense for him to finish at the
vocational school and he is doing well there, but it would be so great if
he were here with us."

"Well, at least you'll still see him after school," Mattie said as he put
his arm around Zak's shoulder and side-hugged him.

"I know," Zak sighed. "But it's tough; we've been together practically all
day every day all summer."

They both heard the back door open.

"C'mon, guys, let's get going," Spin said excitedly as he hopped out of the
car.

Zak and Mattie both rolled their eyes as they followed Spin out of the car.

The three boys walked through the parking lot. They were a good-looking
trio who attracted a lot of looks.

Zak was the shortest of the three at 5'5". His dazzling blue eyes and
medium-length blond hair contrasted with the deep tan that he had managed
to get over a summer of working on the ranch.

Spin had hit his growth spurt during the summer and now stood at 5' 9". His
bright red hair was cut short and spiked up and his fiery emerald eyes
shined brightly in the September sun.

Mattie walked on the other side of Zak. At 6'0", he was the tallest of the
three, only two inches shorter than Zak's boyfriend, Dusty. Most of the
staring going on was directed at Mattie. His dark complexion, muscular
build and shiny black hair had the girls, and a few guys, following his
every move.

The three walked into the school together and Zak gave them each directions
to their homerooms.

They each went their separate directions, after making plans to meet up at
lunch.

The boys did not see each other again until lunch. As they were each in a
different grade, they did not have any classes together, at least in the
morning. They had managed to get their last period Phys Ed class together,
which would make it easy for them to all be ready to leave together each
day.

Zak arrived at the cafeteria first. It had been a much better morning than
he had expected. Most of the teachers he had, knew him by reputation as he
had spent the last two years jockeying for first place in his class. His
competition was Zoe Castellano. Every semester they seemed to exchange
ranks. Currently Zak was number one, but Zoe was always nipping at his
heels.

What surprised most of his teachers this morning, was Zak's change in
attitude; he had a new willingness to speak out in class and a confidence
in his answers than many of the teachers had not seen before.

Zak looked around the cafeteria and saw no sign of Spin or Mattie. He found
a small table in a corner of the room and went over and took a seat. Within
seconds, Spin was there followed shortly by Mattie.

Each of the boys brought their own lunches, not wanting to tempt fate by
eating cafeteria food.

"Hey, I got some great news Saturday night," Mattie spoke up.

"What's that?" Zak asked.

"My brother Charlie called. He's coming home."

"For a visit?"

"No, he's coming home for good."

Spin looked up. "I thought he was still in college."

Mattie nodded. "He was, but he's been taking summer classes the whole time
he was down there and he was able to graduate at the end of the
summer. Technically, he's graduated, and he's just been staying there to
close up his apartment and take care of some personal stuff. He should be
here in a day or two."

"That's great," said Zak. "This is the brother you're closest to, right?"

"Yes. He's about five years older than me, but we've always been the
closest. We used to spend our summers in Spain with my grandfather, even
when my other brother and my sister didn't want to go. Charlie is almost as
big a horse addict as me. In fact, he wanted to know if I knew anywhere
that he could board his horse."

"His horse?" asked Spin. "I thought you adopted Whisper so that he would
have a horse to ride when he came home."

Mattie grinned. "We did, or my parents did. But, apparently he's been a
busy little boy in Florida."

Mattie laughed while thinking about the conversation he had had the night
before with his brother. "Ok, it's a long story. I'm the first person he's
told it all to. My parents just know he graduated early. They don't know
the truth."

"The truth??" both Zak and Spin asked simultaneously.

Now Mattie was laughing. "Ok, from the beginning. Charlie wanted to study
Equine Management, so that he could own his own stable--actually, so that
we could. But my father would not hear of it; he insisted that Charlie
study business, because in his words, Equine Management is `frivolous'. So
all this time, we've all thought that he was majoring in Business at
college, but he has been pursuing his Equine Management degree. My father
is one of those who thinks that once he puts his foot down the discussion
is over and no one can defy him. Well, Charlie is his most stubborn son and
he does what he wants to do."  Mattie continued, "So, as of last week,
Charlie is a college graduate with a degree in Equine Management. Now, he's
on his way back here. He turns twenty-one next week and then he gets access
to his trust fund. That will get him free of my father. He wants to buy a
small farm around here. But until he does he needs to have a place to board
his horse."

Spin raised his hands. "Hold on. If he's been at the mercy of your dad and
he's been sneaky about school, how the hell did he get a horse?"

Mattie grinned wide. He leaned into over the table and whispered
conspiratorially, "The horse actually belongs to his boyfriend."

"His BOYFRIEND!?!?" Spin yelled in his usual subtle manner.

Zak reached over and smacked Spin on the back of the head. "Would you keep
it down?" Turning to Mattie, he said, "Ok, let's have the real story."

"Well, I guess I'm not the only one in my family who plays for our side. We
knew that Charlie had a roommate, but we always assumed he was just
that. But apparently they've been boyfriends since the end of their
freshman year. When I thought about it after, it made so much sense; he
would only come home for a week or two at the beginning of the summer and
one week at Christmas. He would always use the excuse that he was working
an internship. Which apparently he kinda was. They were both teaching
lessons at a local ranch. According to Charlie, his boyfriend is a great
rider and won lots of ribbons and events when he was in high school. When
he went to college, he sort of retired from showing and competition. The
lady that owns the farm sort of conned them into teaching a couple of
classes, until they were the main draw she had there."

"So his boyfriend is coming with him?" Zak asked.

A sad look crossed Mattie's face. "No, Charlie doesn't know where he is."

"What? How can he not know where he is?" asked Spin.

"Well, I guess in January, Charlie's boyfriend got a call that his mother
had been killed in a car accident. He was raised by his mom; he never
really talked about his dad, so Charlie wasn't clear what had happened to
him, only that he wasn't in the picture. So, of course, it was a shock to
him. Since they were between semesters, Charlie's boyfriend went home to
take care of things. He asked Charlie to take care of his horse until he
came back. But, he never came back. Charlie never heard from him
again. Charlie knows he came back just once, because he came back from
classes to find all his roommate's things were gone and he had left Charlie
a voicemail apologizing for leaving, but said he didn't have any choice. He
asked Charlie to take care of his horse and Charlie has not heard from him
since."

"Wow, that sucks," said the ever subtle Spin.

"So, he's going to come up here for good, but how is his boyfriend going to
know where he is?" asked Zak.

"Well, I don't think he thinks he'll ever see his boyfriend again,"
answered Mattie. "But, the lady that runs the farm will know where Charlie
is if the boyfriend shows up there or contacts her. Whatever happened,
Charlie figures it must be bad, because as much as he said his boyfriend
loved him, he loved that horse even more. Apparently, she was a gift for
him from the farm he rode at in high school and she would follow him around
like a puppy. Charlie seems to be the only other one who can ride her right
now. Charlie says he can see how much she misses her boy. He's hoping a
change of scenery will bring her back to her old self."

"Did he say what kind of horse she was?" Zak asked.

Mattie beamed at Zak. "She's right up your alley, Zak. She's an
Arabian. Charlie says she is the smartest most beautiful one he's ever
seen. Of course, he's probably a little biased, just like all of us about
our horses. Charlie says she is a very talented horse. I told him about you
and Apollo and he said he wants to see you and me try her. I think he's a
great rider, but he thinks she needs someone who likes hunter/jumper better
than he does."

Spin got his usual mischievous look in his emerald eyes. "So, who's the
better rider, you or Charlie?"

Mattie rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. "Well, we'd probably each say the
other was better. But I'm probably better than him at hunter/jumper and
dressage and he can run circles around me when it comes to the Spanish and
western riding. He's a lot like you; he has that reckless streak that makes
him take a lot of chances, so he's more suited to less disciplined styles."

Zak thought about meeting Mattie's brother. In his opinion, other than
Dusty, Mattie was the best rider at the ranch. If he thought that Charlie
was better than him in some disciplines then he was curious to see him in
action.

"So, what's his boyfriend's name?" Spin asked. "You keep calling him `his
boyfriend' or `Charlie's boyfriend'."

Mattie shook his head. "I don't know. Charlie never actually mentioned his
name. I think a part of him is still hiding that side of himself. I'm sure
he'll tell me when he gets here and we can have a chance to really talk."

"So when does he get here?" Zak asked.

"Hopefully, Wednesday or Thursday," Mattie answered. "Since he has to drive
up, it may take longer than that, depending on how well the mare travels."

"Well, it will be cool to have another rider," Zak said. "But, what's he
gonna tell your parents?"

"I'm supposed to be looking for an apartment for him. He's been looking
online and he sent me some leads, but he wants me to help him find
something so that he can move in pretty quickly. He says he is coming out
to my parents as soon as he signs the trust documents. That's just like
him. He wants me to find a place that's big enough for both of us."

"Both of you?" Spin asked.

Mattie looked at Spin. "I told him about me and about you and Zak and Dusty
and Nick and Noah. He's afraid that we can only keep things from my parents
for so long and he wants to be able to take me in if it comes to that."

Zak looked between Mattie and Spin. "Do you really think your parents would
kick you out?"

Mattie nodded solemnly. "My mom would be ok with it. I'm her baby and if
you ask any of my siblings I'm her favorite. She would accept it, but my
dad would not. He is very traditional and religious and would not tolerate
a homosexual child; when he finds out he has two, the shit's gonna hit the
fan. It's funny, all the money we have is from my mom's side of the
family--my father's side is poor as church mice; but since they both have
that old-school mentality, my dad controls the purse strings and my mom
will not defy my father no matter what."

"Well, if it comes to that and you can't live with Charlie, you can live
with me and my mom," Zak said.

Spin nodded. "Or with me," he added.

"Or with Dusty and his mom, " Zak volunteered. "We would never desert you."

"I know," Mattie answered, getting a little emotional. "That's why I love
you guys so much. You have made things so great for me since I came here."

The boys spent the remainder of their lunch period comparing notes about
classes and discussing their plans for Charlie's arrival.

Spin looked over at Zak. "Do we need to get Max today?"

Zak shook his head. "Nope, tomorrow."

Spin laughed, "I'm glad you guys came to your senses about taking him every
day."

"Me, too. When Joe first asked us about watching him, Dusty and I,
especially me, were so excited we just volunteered to do it every day. As
soon as it sunk in what we had committed to we both had second thoughts,
but we didn't want to go back on our word. I guess when Joe told Megan what
we had agreed to, she tore him a new one. She called me and told me that
while she appreciated the offer, she thought it was insane of Joe to think
that we would take Max every day. So, we agreed to alternate days and
weeks. So this week we have him Tuesday and Thursday and then next week
Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After the first month, we'll see how it
goes."

"So, how are things going on the pony front?" Mattie asked.

Zak's eyes lit up. "I got an e-mail from Nick last night. They don't have
any ponies or even smallish horses, but there is another rescue about a
half hour from them that has two." He took out his iPhone and tapped the
screen a couple of times. He handed the phone to Mattie so that he and Spin
could see the screen.

Mattie and Spin looked at a picture of a small Paint horse.

"This one is really a small horse, not a pony. He's about 14 hands and
supposed to be very gentle. He's about 13 years old and according to what
the folks at the ranch told Nick, he's been a solid lesson horse for
years," Zak explained.

He took back his phone and slid his finger across the screen and handed it
back to Mattie. Now, they were looking at an obviously smaller, very chubby
pony. Both Mattie and Spin laughed when they saw the pony.

 "Aww," said Mattie. "He's cute."

Zak grinned. "Yeah, this one is a Shetland. He's kinda on the small side
and the owners say he's a bit of a handful."

Both Mattie and Zak turned to look at Spin.

"What?!" Spin asked.

"Where was this pony when you were learning to ride?" Mattie giggled.

"Very fucking funny," Spin answered.

Mattie looked back at Zak. "You want the Paint, don't you?"

Zak grinned and nodded. "Oh, you know me so well. I think he's the perfect
size for Maxie; he can learn on him and grow with him."

Spin interrupted. "Why don't you just take Marty?" he offered.

"We thought about that, but both Dusty and I agreed that you went through
too much to be able to keep Marty; we didn't want to take him away from
you. If we had thought of it before, then it would have been a solution,
but since you got Revanche and also got to keep Marty, it worked out
well. Besides, there are too many kids who would be pissed if they couldn't
take lessons on Marty."

Spin nodded. "Oh, that's true. The Elliot twins almost get into a fistfight
every lesson over who gets him."

Mattie and Zak laughed at the thought of the eight-year-old twins who took
lessons with Spin. They were a handful and were always getting into some
type of mischief.

"So when do we go get him?" Mattie asked.

"I was thinking we could drive over Friday night, stay with Nick's family,
and then go and check the Paint out on Saturday. We could be back Saturday
night, so you could be at Mass Sunday morning."

Mattie groaned. His parents were on him all the time about attending Mass
regularly. They would occasionally let him miss it, but they all tried to
work around it so that Mattie didn't have to deal with his parents,
actually his father's, disapproval.

"Sounds like a plan," Spin said. "Is Dusty going?"

Zak looked at him like he was nuts. Zak looked over at Mattie and nodded
towards Spin. Mattie reached over and smacked Spin on the back of the head.

"Oh, course he's going, you dope," Mattie said as he and Zak laughed.

Spin rubbed the back of his head. He had been hit in the same spot twice in
the last half hour. "You guys need to watch it, you're gonna give me a
concussion one of these days."

Zak rolled his eyes. "A concussion is a form of brain damage," he
said. "You're safe... since there is not much there to damage."

Spin pouted at his best friend and his boyfriend.

Zak laughed, "So, are you both heading out to the ranch with me this
afternoon?"

"Of course," Mattie answered. "Where else would we be going? What are your
plans?"

"Well, since Spin has it in his head that we should start showing, I guess
I'll be working with Apollo on my jumping and horsemanship," Zak
answered. "Mattie, are you going to show with us?"

Mattie shook his head. "No, I'm not much for the competition. I'll be there
to root you guys on though. You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"We should come up with some type of show or performance to show off for
the ranch."

Spin looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we could create our own drill team, with the three of us and
Dusty. We could also come up with different demonstrations with the horses
and then put on a show--maybe for Halloween weekend. That way we could get
people out to the ranch and they could see what we have to offer. That
would be more fun to me than competing in shows. Especially since so many
of the competitors are those annoying girls."

"That sounds like fun," Zak said. "We should check with Mr. Jones to see if
he likes that idea and then we could start planning. Maybe we could get
Charlie to participate, too, and some of the other riders at the ranch. It
could be a lot of fun."

Just then a couple of girls who rode at the Triple J came up to the table;
a cute new boy was walking with them, his head down.

"Hey, guys," one of the girls greeted the boys.

"Hey, Carmen. Hey, Denise," Zak answered. Mattie and Spin also greeted the
girls.

Denise gestured to the boy standing with them. "Zak, Spin, Mattie, this is
my cousin, Dylan. He just moved here over the summer."

Each boy stood up and offered Dylan his hand.

"Hey, Dylan," Spin greeted him with a slap on the back, which almost
knocked over the skinny boy. "How are you doing?"

"'m fine," Dylan mumbled, still staring at the floor.

"Aren't you in my Algebra II class?" Mattie asked.

Dylan looked up at Mattie and had a look of recognition in his eyes. "Yes,
I think so. First period, right?"

Mattie nodded. "Right."

"So you're a sophomore, Dylan?" Zak asked.

Dylan shook his head. "No, I'm a freshman; they just put me in the
sophomore Algebra II class cuz I was in advanced math at my old school."

"Cool. Then you and Spin may end up in some classes together, cuz he's a
freshman too."

Dylan just nodded.

"So, are you guys headed out to the ranch after school?" Carmen asked.

Zak nodded. "Yeah, we still work there. So we'll help Dusty with cleaning
out stalls and feedings, but most of the afternoon we spend riding or
training. Mattie and I still lead trail rides and Spin and Dusty still give
lessons."

"Mattie, why don't you teach lessons?" Denise asked.

"I don't know," Mattie answered. "Dusty and Spin were doing it when I got
here and they were doing good and it works the way things are set up now."

"So, Zak, do you miss Dusty?" Carmen asked, grinning at Zak.

Zak blushed bright red under his still dark summer tan. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, we all know you guys are boyfriends," Denise said. "It's ok
with us. At first there were a lot of jealous girls out there, cuz most of
them had their eyes on Dusty, but once you showed those stuck-up bitches
what you were made of that afternoon with Jade, they changed their tune."

Denise and Carmen laughed with the boys. They were two of the girls that
the guys actually liked because they were fun and rode for fun.

"Dylan do you ride?" Mattie asked.  "No." Dylan answered.

Denise looked at him. "You used to ride all the time."

Dylan blushed. "I know, but I gave it up."

"Why?"

"Cuz, there were no guys where I was riding and some of the kids at school
used to give me a hard time."

Zak said, "Well, that won't happen here. The three of us and my...uh,
boyfriend, Dusty all work at the Triple J. You should come out someday and
ride with us. Spin and I are getting ready to compete in some local shows,
but Mattie and Dusty mainly ride for fun. In fact, Mattie just had a great
idea you guys may be interested in."

Zak explained to everyone about Mattie's idea for doing a show on Halloween
weekend and everyone, even Dylan, agreed that it sounded like a fun idea.

"Dylan, why don't you come out to the ranch with us tomorrow afternoon?"
Zak asked. "We can show you around and maybe go on a trail ride."

"Wait. Don't we have Maxie tomorrow?" Spin asked.

"Oh, yeah, but he loves to go with us, so that will be cool."

"Joe's Max?" Carmen asked.

"Yes, we are babysitting him a few days a week to help Joe and Megan out,"
Zak answered.

"Oh, I want to come, he's such a cutie."

"Well, why don't we plan on meeting up tomorrow afternoon. I'll let Dusty
know so that he can get his work done early and go with us."

Everyone agreed it was a good plan. Dylan started to contribute to the
conversation, thinking to himself that this group of boys might actually
become friends.

The bell rang announcing the end of the lunch period and everyone got up
from the table and went their separate ways.

***

Dusty spent most of his day running errands around town. He stopped at the
feed store to place an order and the tack shops to look at boots as his
were starting to fall apart.

When he finally had finished his errands and was ready to head out to the
ranch he drove to his house to pick up Herc and then stopped over at Zak's.

Zak and his mom had given Dusty a key, so that he could pick up Loki and
bring him out to the ranch. Herc was good at babysitting his little brother
and the puppy was a little too destructive when left to his own devices.

Dusty pulled up in front of Zak's house. He got out of his truck and told
Herc to stay put in the bed of the truck. He walked around back where he
and Zak had built Loki's doghouse. Loki was running around the backyard and
made a beeline for Dusty as soon as he saw him.

"C'mon, Loki," Dusty called to the Great Dane puppy. "Let's go."

The oversized puppy followed Dusty through the gate and ran towards the
truck.

Dusty watched Loki tear across the lawn and laughed to himself.

He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye.

At the next house over he saw a short blond man get into a large Ford
F-150. He didn't recognize the man, but he was sure he had seen the truck
in the neighborhood several times over the past couple of weeks. Something
about it made him nervous. Zak's neighborhood was relatively quiet and in
the few months they had been together he had met just about all his
neighbors and this was not one of them.

He hadn't gotten a good enough look at the driver's face. He quietly walked
towards the truck to see if he could get a better look.

The driver must have noticed him, because the truck started up and drove
off quickly.

Dusty was not prepared to get the license plate of the truck, so he had
nothing to report. He decided that he would just keep an eye out for it and
talk to Kate, Zak's mom, about it.

He went back to his truck, loaded Loki into the passenger seat and headed
to the ranch.

***

Dusty was just coming out of the barn flanked by Loki and Herc, when he saw
Zak's Escape come into view.

Dusty jogged over to where Zak parked the SUV. He ripped open the driver's
door and yanked Zak out of the car. He and Zak locked lips like they hadn't
seen each other in days.

Spin and Mattie watched the two making out and laughed.

Finally, Dusty set Zak down.

"God, I needed that," Zak sighed. He hugged Dusty tight. "I missed you so
much today."

Dusty returned the hug. "Missed you too, Babe. How was the first day of
school?"

"Actually, it was great. I think some of my teachers were shocked that I
wasn't the quiet little wallflower anymore."

"Good, show them what you can do," Dusty said. He looked into the truck at
Mattie and Spin. "So how was the first day for you guys?"

"Pretty good," Mattie answered.

"So you guys coming out?" Zak asked.

Spin looked nervously around. "Not until you guarantee my safety."

The three other boys laughed. Herc and Loki made a habit of going after
Spin, their human `chew toy', every time he showed up.

"Don't worry, Spin. We'll protect you," Zak laughed at his best friend.

Spin rolled his eyes. He'd heard that before. He cautiously got out of the
back seat of the SUV and watched Herc and Loki as they locked eyes on him.

"Herc," Dusty warned.

The two dogs looked at Dusty and Zak, not at all happy that they were being
denied one of their favorite activities.

Mattie got out of the passenger seat and came around the side of the car to
meet everyone. Herc and Loki walked up to Mattie and he knelt down and
greeted them.

"Why do they act so calmly with you and come gunning for me?" Spin whined.

"Maybe they feed off the personalities of the people around them," Mattie
answered.

Spin rolled his eyes and stomped off towards the barn.

"So, what are you guys doing this afternoon?" Dusty asked.

Mattie and Zak quickly explained their idea of doing an equestrian show at
the ranch to try and drum up interest and business. Dusty liked the idea
and was pretty sure that Mr. Jones would as well.

Dusty told them that Mr. Jones was gone for the afternoon, but he could
talk to him in the morning to get his ok.

Just then, Mattie's cell phone rang.

When he answered it, he got a huge grin on his face. He turned away for a
few minutes to talk. When he came back, Dusty and Zak thought his face
would split from the size of his smile.

"Who was that?" Zak asked.  "Charlie," Mattie answered. "He's on his way."

"Right now?"

Mattie nodded. "Yeah, he left early and was able to drive straight
through. He has to get the horse settled before he can go home, since my
parents don't know about her, so he needed directions. He should be here in
about a half an hour or so."

Dusty was confused. "Charlie? Your brother Charlie?"

Mattie gave Dusty the condensed version of the story he had told Spin and
Zak at lunch. He explained about Charlie and his boyfriend and his
boyfriend's horse.

"Well, if we have a new boarder, we better go get a stall ready for her,"
Dusty said. "Why don't you wait here for your brother and Zak and I can
scare up Spin and get the stall ready. There are a couple empty ones near
Whisper and Apollo; she should be ok there for now."

Dusty and Zak went into the barn to find Spin, while Mattie waited for his
brother.

About a half hour later, the three boys heard a truck pull up and went out
to meet Mattie's brother.

When they got there, they saw Mattie in an embrace with a very handsome
young man. Mattie's brother was about 6' 2" with shoulder-length black hair
and almond-shaped hazel eyes just like Mattie's.

Mattie turned to his friends with a huge grin on his face. He dragged his
brother by the hand over to his three best friends.

"Guys, this is my brother, Cha--." He stopped when he felt his brother
squeeze his hand. "Oh, I keep forgetting," he said sheepishly. "This is my
brother, CJ."