Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:34:32 -0800
From: Flip McHooter <1977.flip@gmail.com>
Subject: So Cal Summer 1969-Chapter 28

The story below is a work of fiction, except the location. All characters
named are figments of my imagination. This story contains explicit sexual
situations between high school aged boys, (and some girls). If this is
illegal, etc., well you know the drill.

Also, because it's based in the past, some of it may not be politically
correct as I have tried to be true to 1969.

Thanks to everybody who has emailed me, I appreciate the tips and
feedback. Flip 1977.flip@gmail.com

Chapter 28

"Oh, no, no, no. OH FUCK!" I said, as I slouched back against the
table. "And I made you screw with him. Shit! Now I feel terrible. Why
didn't he just tell us?"

"I didn't have to do anything to him. I could tell just by looking at him
that something was wrong. He's embarrassed and humiliated and he wouldn't
talk about it. There is no way a boy his age would tell his friends."

"Damn. What can we do, Doc? How can we help him? We've gotta make this
right and help him out. He can't go on like this."

"When someone is being sexually abused, especially boys, they shut down, or
more often than not, become very aggressive to everyone around them. They
act out in ways that are not normal for them. You seem to be the only one
who cares, or at the very least, knew something was wrong with him. You
have to get through to him and help him out. He wouldn't talk to me. If he
doesn't get help, the situation is going to escalate and, I'm afraid, get
much worse."

"Man, I feel like shit. Who could be doing that to him? And why?"

"Maybe a family member or somebody from his church. It could be anyone,
though. But usually, it's somebody he's close to. It could really be
anybody, but like I said, it's most likely somebody that he knows and
trusts. Any idea who it could be?"

"Well, his mom is pretty weird. Do moms usually abuse their sons? How sick
is that?" I couldn't even imagine my mom doing something freaky like that
to me. "His little brother doesn't act like something is going on."

"Possibly. It's not often that women molest children, especially their own,
but I've heard of it before. It's possible that only he is being abused
because he is protecting his little brother by taking the abuse for
him. Some molesters like younger kids. Unfortunately, the authorities don't
take this type of thing very seriously. The abuser just denies it so it's
hard to prove. It's a he said/she said kind of thing. But it's going to be
a new decade soon, so hopefully things will begin to change."

"Okay, Doc. Thanks. We'll figure something out. I'm sorry I made you do
that to him, but I'm glad that I know what's going on now. Do me a favor,
will you? Don't tell Coach about this. Let us try and fix it first. I know
Jake and Kenji are worried and want to help. If we can't fix it, we'll talk
to Coach and get his help on this. And, oh yeah, don't get freaky with
Coach anymore, or at least, lock the freakin' door, okay?"

"Will do. Your right; we should have taken better precautions. You boys
really didn't need to see adults having sex like that."

"Yeah, well, what's done is done. Here's your ten bucks back. Sorry I was
such a doofus."

"Keep it. Just don't tell anybody what you guys saw in there, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks. And thanks for figuring out what's going on with Enzo. We'll
take care of it and help him out. I promise."

"Just make sure that you do. He needs it."

I went out the door to collect Jake and head back to the locker room to
change clothes for our Yoga and meditation session that was coming up
next. I really hoped that I'd never see that freakin doctor ever again,
although, he did help us figure out what was up with Enzo. I still had a
hard time believing he was a doctor `cause he was so greasy and squirrely,
and couldn't really believe that a doctor would film a porno. Jake and I
silently headed down the hall and on into our locker room. Enzo and Kenji
must have been here and left just before us, because the locker room was
empty. Because just Jake and I were in here, I felt comfortable to talk
with him without anybody eavesdropping. Still, I didn't talk very loud.

"What did the doctor want?" Jake asked.

"Nothing. Let me think for a second"

"No sweat," Jake said, and then smiled and held out his finger. "Does this
smell like butt to you?" He was back to being in a good mood.

"Shut up. This isn't a good time to be joking around."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Well, I have a big problem. When I was getting my physical I blackmailed
that doctor into freaking Enzo out, but it turns out that the reason Enzo
has been such an ass to everybody is because someone close to him has been
making him have sex with them," I whispered to him.

"No shit? No wonder he's so freaked out. Damn. That poor guy."

"I know. This is totally fucked up. I just wanted to get even with him for
hitting your back. I didn't expect this," I said.

"We have to do something. Shoot, I don't even know him, but we gotta help
him."

"I know, but what can we do?" I asked.

"Well," Jake said, thinking for a second and scratching the side of his
head. "Let's get him alone and then call him out on it and take it from
there. We might have to trap him or block him somehow so he has to face
us. Does Kenji know?"

"No, I don't think so. He knows something is wrong, but not what it is
exactly. I'm sure he's going to be just as surprised as we are."

"We've got to tell him what we know and get him on our side," Jake
said. "Then we all can figure out how to fix it and make it stop."

"I know. If that shit was happening to me I'd want my friends to help me
out, no matter how embarrassing the situation was."

"Dude, it's not embarrassing, it's just fucked up. He's a victim. Nobody
has the right to take advantage of your body unless you let them. It's not
right for somebody to control another person like that. I learned that from
Lisa when one of her boyfriend's got too serious and pushed her too
far. We'll fix it, and he'll thank us for it later. He might get mad and go
off on us, but in the end, he'll be better off for us helping him out."

"Man, that's why I love you so much! You always want to do what's right and
take care of everybody. Let's do it," I said.

We finished getting dressed and then headed over to the gym. It was kinda
funny to be in this huge room; just the four of us and Samantha out in the
middle of the big basketball court surrounded by the big roll-out
bleachers. She had set up four grass mats for us and one for her. She even
had a couple of giant fans set up and directed towards our area, `cause it
was really stuffy in here. Kenji and Enzo were already inside, doing a
couple of stretches to loosen up. It was quiet because nobody seemed to be
in the mood for talking.

Jake and I walked over to her and introduced ourselves. Thank goodness she
didn't have dried spooge on her face! I remembered her from the one time
last year when I needed help in the library for a report I was doing on the
Grizzly Flats Railroad. She was very helpful and really nice. Today she
seemed a little pre-occupied.

She told us to take a seat on a mat and then said she'd give us a short
overview about the Yoga and meditation that we would be doing. Once she got
everybody's attention, she talked a lot about the history of Yoga, but she
didn't say much about the second half of the class, just that it was
something she called guided meditation. She seemed certain that this was
going to make us all better athletes.

Then she went on to tell us some of the names of the various Yoga poses,
and sometimes we had to laugh at the funny names. Damn, there were a lot of
them, and I wondered how I was going to remember them all. But when she
demonstrated them for us, I was really impressed. She could bend her body
into all kinds of weird positions so easily, and it made me think that she
could probably eat her dinner off her butt. We started to do some more
stretching, and then got into some of the simpler poses. It was
interesting, and after we warmed up, all of us were feeling pretty good
about doing this. I started to think that this was going to be fun and a
good thing for all of us.

Then we started doing the real stuff like the Crane, where we had to
balance on our hands. That was hard, but Kenji seemed to do it okay. Then
she made us do a Half Spinal Twist and I thought my balls were going to get
crunched. The worst one, and the one that made us all laugh, was called the
Crow, and basically you lay on your neck and threw your legs over your head
like you're trying to suck yourself off! I looked over at the other guys
and it looked like Kenji could probably do that. I'd have to ask him about
that later on.

After we learned a handful of other basic poses, and how to do them right,
we took a quick break to cool down and get ready for the meditation. Jake
and I walked over to the drinking fountain and got a refreshing sip of the
cool water. It was pretty warm in here, and the big fans just seemed to
blow the hot air all around. We both agreed that so far this was working
out okay, and everybody seemed to be getting something out of it. Even Enzo
seemed to be back to his old self.

We got back to the mats and Samantha told us to sit down in the Lotus
position. She had set up a portable record player off to the side, and she
told us that we were going to listen to some music made especially for
meditation. Then she was going to `narrate' and walk us though the
meditation. When she played the album, it was a soothing mix of waves and
other nature sounds. She had us close our eyes, and then told us to relax
and take deep breaths, in through the nose and out the mouth. When we were
sufficiently relaxed, she went further, saying for us to focus on one
particular body part at a time and think of it relaxing even more.

Once we felt like Jell-O, she started in on some sort of color-chakra chant
thing that I completely couldn't figure out. For instance, the Third Eye
was indigo, but you'd think it would have been brown! But the funny thing
was, I was so relaxed that it sounded really groovy. Maybe it was her
soothing voice that was making this experience so interesting. If she asked
us to fly around the room, I bet we could have! In no time the hour session
had ended. Man, it seemed like we had just began. Wow. I felt totally
relaxed and yet, at the same time, full of energy. My mind felt really
sharp, like I had just downed five Cokes one after the other. When she told
us to stand up, we all did, everybody but Enzo that is. I looked over at
him and what I saw really disturbed me. He was hunched over and weeping
uncontrollably. Miss Sam, that's what she wanted us to call her, went over
to Enzo to try and comfort him and to find out what was wrong.

"Hey, sweetie, what's the matter?" she asked him.

"Nothing. Please, just get away from me. I'll be all right in a second," he
sniffed loudly, and then wiped his face with the back of his hands, just
like a little kid would do. Then he got up, and ran out of the gym. I guess
he was headed back to the locker room. Kenji tried to follow him, but I
grabbed the back of his t-shirt and held him in place. He stopped and gave
me a dirty look.

"Let him go. He needs his space. Besides, I need to talk with you anyway."

"Why? What's up?"

"It's not good, and you're not going to like it."

Making sure Miss Sam wasn't listening, I went on to tell him what the
doctor had told me and Kenji seemed to think that maybe that was true. He
didn't have any idea who could be abusing him, but ruled out Enzo's dad,
because he hadn't been home much lately. Something about working a lot
downtown recently, late nights and weekends. We thanked Miss Sam while she
was busy picking up the Yoga mats, and told her we would find out what was
wrong with Enzo. Then the three of us guys stood over to the side and
hatched a plan. Even though he wasn't treating us all that great, we all
still felt really bad for him and decided that we're the only ones who
could do something about his predicament. If we didn't, who knew what else
would happen. I was really worried that he might do something stupid and
hurt somebody. Then he'd really be in trouble.

We were supposed to have swim practice in the pool later on for an hour or
so, but we were running late and when we saw Coach run by he seemed to be
preoccupied. We figured that we had some time, so we headed into our
special locker room and locked the door behind us. Nobody was in here
except for Enzo, and he was sitting on the bench with his head in his
hands. I'm not sure that he was crying anymore, but I bet he was feeling
like shit. Man, I really did feel sorry for him, even if he was being a
jerk. I looked over at Jake, and he seemed to have the same look of
compassion on his face that Kenji did. It was good to know that we were all
on the same page and wanted to help Enzo fix this problem. Whether this
idea was going to work or not remained to be seen, but I hoped it
would. Hopefully, we wouldn't fuck up an already fucked-up situation!

Kenji came around the lockers first and asked Enzo what was going on and
why was he crying. He wasn't in a mood to talk, and basically told Kenji to
get lost. That did it. It was time to put our plan into action. I wasn't
sure we could pull it off, since Enzo was bigger and heavier than us, but
it was three against one so I guess we had a chance. I whispered my
directions to Jake, and after giving me a crazy look, he rolled his eyes,
shrugged his shoulders, and whispered under his breath, "Okay." He went
over and grabbed a handful of old jockstraps that were piled in a box over
along the side of the room, waiting to be washed or given to the poor or
something. Who knows what they do with them? Maybe give them to the girls
in the sewing class so they can learn to make a quilt.

Then I waved for Kenji to come over to me, and I whispered my plan to him,
as well. He seemed to be game for it. I went over to the other side of the
locker room and got a couple of the wrestling mats from the shelf, and then
put three down on a wide area of the cement floor. If Enzo heard me, he
didn't let on. So once the three of us were ready, we assumed our
positions.

To say that the first part of our little plan worked perfectly would be an
understatement. Kenji walked up in front of Enzo, and kneeled down in front
of him, like he was going to look up into his face and say something
soothing. Jake went around the bench to the right, while I went around to
the left. In no time we had surrounded Enzo. Before he could figure out
what was going on, Jake looked at me, nodded, and grabbed one of Enzo's
arms. I took the other, and a surprisingly strong Kenji grabbed Enzo by the
ankles, holding them together so he couldn't kick free. We picked him up
and carefully backed up over to the mats that were on the floor. Enzo was
screaming and yelling and cussing us out the whole time, bucking like a
wild chimp having banana withdrawals, and I was afraid someone was going to
hear him and our plan would be shot to shit. Once he figured out that he
was overpowered, he basically went limp. That worked to our advantage.

When we set him down on the mat, Jake put his knee on Enzo's wrist and
unwound one of the stinky old jockstraps. I did the same with his other
hand while Kenji held down his legs. We were able to tie up Enzo's wrists
together pretty tightly with the straps from the jocks, and once that was
done we moved down to his legs and secured his ankles. He was still
screaming and cussing, and against my better judgment, I shoved an old jock
into his mouth. He was seething, and if this didn't work, I was going to be
dead meat! Seriously! I'd be dead and Jake would have to bury me under the
tree house next to snakey.

Once he was tied up and secured, it was up to me to start talking to him. I
didn't like doing this, but if this was going to work, I had to do it. It
was basically my idea, after all.

"Enzo, stop squirming around, man. We're not trying to hurt you. Relax, so
you don't get hurt. You're our friend, and even if you don't believe us, we
want to help."

`Yeah, Enzo, mellow out, dude," Jake said.

"Listen to what we have to say, Enzo, and then we can untie you," this was
from Kenji, who had moved around and sat down on the mat next to Enzo's
face. "Please, we're really not trying to hurt you. We're gonna try and
help you out. Please trust us."

Enzo just laid there trying to break out of the jock strap ropes, eyes
staring up at us. If he knew why we were doing this, he didn't let
on. Because he had a jock shoved in his mouth he was really breathing hard
through his nose.

"Enzo, you gotta calm down right now. We're running out of time," Jake
said. Finally, Enzo stopped squirming around and looked up at us.

"Okay, here goes. Let me start by saying that I know how difficult this
must be for you. Actually, to tell you the truth, I really don't know. I
can't even imagine what you're going through. But know this: we want to
help you. That's the reason we're all here doing this crazy thing. That's
what friends do," I said. Man, what did I get myself into? This was tough,
and I wanted to cry, but I pressed on. "The three of us have figured out
that something is seriously wrong that's happening to you, and that's why
you've been such a prick to us lately. You're not that mean of a guy,
usually. So, after you hit Jake, we wanted to get even with you. That's
when I asked the doctor to fuck with you a little bit. But it turns out
that the doc found something with you that didn't quite add up, and it
sorta explains what's going on with you. All three of us want you to know
that whatever is going on, it's not cool, and we're going to help you put
an end to it."

Halfway through my speech, Enzo had mellowed out some, and was actually
looking at me and listening to what I was saying. But his eyes were as big
as they could get. If they got any bigger I was afraid they might pop out
of his head. I think he knew that we knew his secret, and was scared
shitless.

I took a deep breath and then sighed. It was now or never. Looking down at
him, I said, "If we take that jock out of your mouth, are you going to be
cool and talk to us?"

Tears started to form in the corner of his eyes, but he nodded to the
affirmative.

"Good. If you start screaming and yelling again, I'll have to put this
stinky thing back in." I reached down and took the jock out of his
mouth. "Are you okay, now?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to yell. Untie me."

"No, we can't do that just yet. We need you to understand that we're going
to help you get this fixed. We're on your side, man. And I don't think you
get that yet. So we've gotta talk some more first, okay?"

He took a good look around at all three of us, and then let out a long
sigh. He was still all red, and tears were starting to stream down the
sides of his face. If he didn't know before, I'm sure by now he had a
pretty good idea of what we were going to talk about next. He had to be
scared shitless.

"Okay, guys, let's sit down next to Enzo so we can all talk quietly and
figure out what's going on," I said.

Jake and I got down on the mat next to Enzo, while Kenji scooted closer and
put his hand on Enzo's forehead and wiped the hair from his eyes, letting
him know that even though he was tied up, he was in good hands. Kenji
looked like he really cared for Enzo.

"First of all," I said, "Don't be embarrassed. None of this is your
fault. Like Jake said to me earlier, the shit you're going through is
totally fucked up and out of your control. You have nothing to be
embarrassed about and we don't think anything less of you for what's going
on. It's definitely not your fault and you can't blame yourself for any of
it. We just want to make sure it ends right now and that you're
okay. Secondly, contrary to what you think, we're your friends and we care
about you. We're going to help you take care of this problem once and for
all. We got your back, man. If we didn't care, we wouldn't be doing this
and risk getting in trouble."

I took a deep breath. There was no real way to jump into this, so I just
forged ahead.

"So, can you tell us why your cock hairs are shaved off? I'm pretty sure I
know why, but we need to hear it from you."

"What the fuck are you talking about? You're fucking out of your minds!" he
yelled, and started to roll around to try and get loose again.

"I thought you might say that. Kenji, can you pull down his sweats?"

"No! Don't!"

Jake put his hands on his ankles to hold him down. There was no way we
could let him get loose now.

"Enzo, be quiet. Or I'll have to gag you again."

He didn't say anything this time, but he stopped squirming and just laid
there crying. Then he started to tremble a little bit. If this was hard for
us, this must be a thousand times harder for him.

"I'm sorry Enzo, I've gotta do this. I want you to be better." Kenji
reached over and grabbed the front of Enzo's sweat pants, and pulled them
down to show off his cock hairs, or rather, lack thereof. There were a few
small, red scars where the blade must have nicked him. The three of us sort
of gasped, seeing this muscular teen guy look like a ten year old boy in
the meat department, and I'm not talking about the grocery store. Whoever
shaved him didn't do a very good job, because he had small, weird patches
left around his shaft.

"Can you tell us what happened? Who did this to you?"

"I can't. I don't want to get anybody in trouble."

"We know, Enzo. But look, you're already in trouble. Look at you! You can't
go on like this," Jake said. "It's not right."

"He's right. Let us figure out a way to help you so no one finds out what's
going on, or we'll have to go to Coach and then he'll call the cops and
tell them what we think is happening. That would be totally embarrassing,"
I said. "Embarrassing for everybody involved, even us. And if the cops find
out, everybody at school will find out too."

"No. You can't. You can't go to the cops."

"Then who did this to you?" Kenji asked.

"No one. I did it. I was just fooling around."

"And you gave yourself a black eye too? No, I don't think so. I'm pretty
sure you know how to shave better than that. I know I do and I don't have
that much of a beard yet," I said.

"I agree," Kenji said, "I think I have three or four whiskers on my face
and I do a better job than that. C'mon Enzo, fess-up."

Nothing. He just laid there and closed his eyes, squeezing out a big tear
that rolled down his cheek and dropped on the mat. Man, I bet he wanted
curl up and die.

"Did your dad do it?" I asked.

"No!"

"Your Priest?"

"No, we don't go to church."

"Your brother Chris?" I doubted that that was even remotely possible, but
asked anyway.

"No."

"Your mom?"

Silence.

Uh-oh. He didn't answer to this one, and instead looked away, towards
Jake's side.

"Enzo, your mom did this? Why would she do this to you?" I asked quietly.

"She didn't. I can't say. Leave me alone," he said, and really started to
ball now. He was trembling and gasping for air, so I motioned to Jake and
Kenji to help me lift his back so he would be sitting up. Once we did that,
and made sure that he was somewhat comfortable, Kenji sat back down next to
him and threw his arm around his shoulder, pulling him in tight. I still
wasn't ready to untie him yet, because I was afraid he was going to bolt
and then things would never be fixed.

We let him cry for a while and get it out, and then when he was calmed down
again, I started to ask more questions.

"So why would your mom do that to you?" I asked quietly.

"She-e, she didn't. I-I-, well, s-she made me-e do it to myself," he said,
finally.

"Why?" Jake asked gently. "Why would she make you do that?"

More silence.

"C'mon Enzo. We've come this far. Please tell us. Why would she make you do
something like that to your privates?" I asked.

"B-because s-she wants me to b-be her little b-boy."

"Why didn't you tell her no? You're bigger than her," Kenji asked.

"Because if I didn't, she said she'd start hurting C-Chrisss," he said, and
this revelation set off a whole new round of bawling.

All three of us felt like shit for this poor guy. We all reached out and
stroked his arms or legs, and tried to comfort him as best we could. I'm
pretty sure that the three of us were on the verge of crying along with
him, as well. Jake was cooing to him and telling him it was gonna be all
right. We all sat there with our arms around him, while he cried himself
out. I went over and got a clean towel and soaked it with cool water. I
handed it to Kenji who wiped up Enzo's face with it. That seemed to make
him feel better. After a few minutes he seemed to be calming down, so I had
to ask him a question that was in the back of my mind.

"Why haven't you told your dad?"

"Because it's too embarrassing and I don't want him to know what she's
doing to me. Besides, he's not around that much lately and he probably
doesn't even care. He always busy at work. And she would only deny it and
then I'd get in even more trouble. She's the one that gave me the black eye
when I sassed her the other day. She could get away with it `cause she knew
he wouldn't see it and start asking her questions. He's never home anymore
and she's been so mean lately. I don't know why."

"Well, we've got to tell him."

"No. You can't."

"We've got to do something and make this stop. What if she starts messing
with Chris and you could have stopped it?" I asked.

"No way. I'd fucking kill her if she did that to him!"

"I know. But think about it: then you'd be in even bigger shit. Probably go
to prison," I said.

"But at least Chris would be okay," he said, truly meaning it.

"No, man, he wouldn't. He wouldn't have his big brother around to protect
him. And you'd be sent to The Rock and have to join a gang, and get those
ugly tattoos and you'd probably have your cellmate Bubba's big cock up your
ass every night. You want that?"

"No. That sounds awful. I'd miss Chris, although I've been so shitty to him
lately he probably doesn't even like me anymore."

"Oh yes he does," Kenji said. "He's worried about you, just like we are. He
loves you. He told me that the other day."

"Oh, man. I'm so sorry."

"Dude, you have nothing to be sorry for so stop talking like that right
now," I said.

"So we gotta tell your dad," Jake said, standing up. "We'll all go with you
and back you up. All of us, together. Make him deal with it. Besides, this
way, nobody else finds out and this will be our secret. The four of us will
make a pact and swear ourselves to secrecy. I promise. None of us will ever
tell."

"You guys would do that for me? I've been such an ass to you
guys-especially you, Jake. And I don't even know you. Why would you do that
for me?"

"Ryan told me something earlier today, when we figured this whole thing
out, that if it were him, he hoped his friends would do the same thing,"
Jake said. "And I agreed. It's the right thing to do and we're gonna do
it."

"That's right," I said. "Friends should always have the other guys back."

He started bawling again, but I think this time it was from relief. He must
have been carrying this thing around for a long time. After he was done
crying, I was about to ask him another question when suddenly, the door to
the locker room rattled and we heard Coach yell out, "Hey, you guys in
there?"

"Yeah Coach. Gimme a sec and I'll open the door." Shit! "Untie him, Jake,"
I whispered. "Kenji, take your shirt off and dry off his face. Do it
quickly, okay?"

Everybody started to move around like jackrabbits. Once Enzo was untied,
Kenji helped him over to the bench where he sat down. Once everything
looked somewhat normal, I walked over to the door and unlocked it.

"Hey Coach," I said, trying to sound casual.

"Mr. Miller, why was the door locked?

"Oh, uh, we weren't sure if we should keep it open or locked while we were
in here changing. We didn't want the little dudes coming in here and
fooling around and figured you'd have a key when you needed to come
in. What's up? Are we going to swim now?" I said.

"Well, that's why I was looking for you," he said, looking around the
room. Luckily, Enzo's back was to him and he was leaning over so Coach
couldn't see his face. "I had to close the pool down early today because
one of the pumps that run the filters is broken and I can't add anymore
chemicals to the pool until it's fixed. Why don't we call it a day and
we'll have you guys in the pool training tomorrow? I'll have Tucker setup
two lanes just for you guys to practice in."

"Sure Coach. That's groovy," said Jake, walking up behind me, and trying to
block Enzo from Coach's view. "We're all anxious to get in the big pool."

"Okay then, see you boys tomorrow. Lock up after you leave, all right?"

"No problem. Thanks again for what you're doing for us. The four of us
appreciate it," I said, kissing up a little bit so that maybe he would get
on his way faster.

"Okay. Bye, guys."

I shut the door behind him, and once I was sure he was gone, I asked the
guys, "So what's the plan? Enzo, we've gotta talk to your dad. How do you
want to handle this?"

"I don't know. He's always at work."

"Where does he work? Can we go find him and talk to him there? That
actually might be better than talking to him at your house with your mom
and Chris hanging around," Jake said.

"He works downtown in an office building. I think I know which one. He has
his own office, so I guess we could do it there. We'd have to take the
bus."

"No, we have a chauffeur today. Lisa is supposed to drive us around this
summer so my mom can play bridge with her friends and do all the other
society crap she likes to do. She can take us. We just have to give her a
call to pick us up. Right Jake?"

"Yeah, but she might have to bring Jordy."

"That's no biggie. As long as he's with Lisa, he's happy as a clam."
Turning to Enzo, I said, "I'm sorry we had to tie you up. But we had to do
this, you know. How are you feeling now?"

"Better. It feels good to finally get this out. Thanks, guys, I really
appreciate this. I'm sorry I've been such an asswipe to you guys. I promise
I'll make this up to you."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go and get this over with," Jake told
him, wrapping his strong arm around Enzo's shoulder like they had been best
pals forever.

We finished getting dressed in our street clothes, and then went out in the
hall to the pay phone to give Lisa a call. We told her that we had a
super-secret mission to run, and she said she was happy to come down and
get us. She went on to say that she was bored at home `cause none of her
shows were on. Something about Tricky-Dick interrupting TV and talking
about the war in Indochina. Jake hung up with her and then handed the
receiver over to Enzo. "Give your dad a call and make sure he's gonna be
there. No use going all the way down there if he's not going to be in his
office."

"Okay, thanks. Good idea. I'm really glad you dudes are going with me to do
this. I couldn't do this on my own, I just couldn't," he said, wiping
another stray tear from his eye. "I'm really scared, though."

"I know, bud, but we're gonna be right there with you," I said.

"Thanks. That makes me feels better." He fished around in his shorts for a
dime, sucked up, and made the call. He told us later that his dad wasn't
too thrilled to be interrupted at work, but Enzo told him it was important
and he didn't have a choice. Once that was done, we grabbed our gym bags
and headed out to the parking lot to wait for Lisa to show up.

It was pretty hot out here in the afternoon sun, standing on the blacktop
waiting for Lisa and worrying what was gonna happen next. But in no time,
there she was in Mom's big sky-blue station wagon. She looked really funny
in it, looking all Yoko in her big sunglasses. The microbus was a cooler
ride, but I had to admit that on hot and smoggy days like this, I liked the
air conditioning in the wagon. My parents got this station wagon last year,
because my mom wanted something contemporary with the wood paneling on the
sides, like all of the other moms at the club were driving these days. But
my dad went one step further, and got the Olds Vista Cruiser with the
skylight windows in the back and sides of the roof.

And just as I figured, Jordy was with her riding shotgun. "Hey Lisa, you
look good in the Mom-mobile! You about ready to start popping out babies
now?" I said, as we climbed in the back.

"Shut the fuck up, Ry! How come you guys are done so early?"

"Cause the pool was broken or something. You remember Enzo and his friend
Kenji?"

"Hi guys," she said, smiling at them. But that smile faded pretty fast once
she saw the look on Enzo's face. "Enzo, are you all right, baby? What's
wrong? Are you sick? You look awfully pale."

"He's fine, no big deal. It's something that the four of us have to go
fix. That's why we needed you to take us downtown," Jake told his sister.

"Okay, if you say so. Where are we headed? Not to the porno theater I
hope." If Jordy heard that, he didn't let on.

"No, nothing like that," I said, giving her a frown and nodding at Jordy.

"We have to go downtown and see Enzo's dad. We have to help him out with
some, uh, paperwork for swimming," Jake lied.

"Cool. Tell me how to get there."

Kenji and Enzo had climbed in the back and were settling in the third row
seat, while Jake and I were in the second row. "Where downtown is it?" I
turned around and asked Enzo.

"Colorado Boulevard and Raymond. I'll know the building when I see it," he
said. "It's on the north side of the street."

"Just go down here and make a right on Colorado. I'll tell you when to
park," I said, pointing towards the right.

"Okeydokey," she said. "Fasten your lap belt, little man."

"Yes, MOM!" Jordy cracked. I guess his love affair with her was coming to
an end.

"Don't call me that or I'll have to whup yer little ass."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I turn on the radio?" he asked, all sugary again.

"Just keep it low. Not all of the boys back there might like your music."
After punching the pre-set buttons, he spun the knob around until he found
a song that he liked. The little man's choice of music never failed to
amaze me, and his choice absolutely fit our crazy situation. Johnny Cash
and June Carter Cash were singing Ring of Fire. That felt exactly like
where we were going. It would be just our luck if Eve of Destruction would
play next.

Like a typical teen, she whipped out of the parking lot and in no time we
were racing down Colorado Boulevard, sailing through yellow-almost red
lights, cool air from the air conditioning blowing in our faces. When we
started getting closer to old town, Jake leaned over and whispered in my
ear, "I recognize this place. Isn't this where the porno theater is and
where we ran into my dad? Should we really be down here again?"

"Yeah, it's the same place. But there's lots of office buildings
downtown. We'll just go straight from the car to office and back. We won't
run into any of those freaky guys, I promise. Besides, if we do, there are
four of us and we'll kick their asses."

I'm not sure that made him feel much better, but he leaned back and stared
out the big window, watching the pawn shops and tattoo parlors roll
by. That's all we need, I thought. To run into Jake and Lisa's dad Ace, or
worse, Mr. Jimmy or that creep that was in the theater that Jake almost
punched out. When we got to Arroyo Parkway, Enzo told Lisa to slow down so
he could find the right building. Soon enough, it was on our right, and he
told her to pull over and park in an empty space in front. Wouldn't you
know, we were directly across the street from the Hunt Club, the bar that
someone had changed the H to a C. It looked like someone had changed it
back though, since Jake and I were down here last week.

Being in this seedy neighborhood again made me think about the time Jake
and I were here last, so I told Lisa, "You and Jordy better come inside and
wait for us in the lobby. It's not very safe out here for you guys. Lots of
druggies and panhandlers, and who knows what else. I really don't want
Jordy to see all of that shit. Besides, I'm not really sure how long we're
going to be and it will be cooler inside the building." As we were climbing
out of the car and onto the busy sidewalk, I asked the guys, "Anybody got a
couple of nickels for the meter?"

Jordy heard me and said he did, and that he wanted to put them in the
slot. Then we all followed Enzo through the big glass doors into the
multi-story brick building. Anyplace else, this would have been a nice
place, but it was dirty and was really showing its age. Luckily, inside the
lobby, there was a nice, old Italian lady at the desk reading a bible, and
after looking at us strangely, she told us what floor we needed to go
to. She showed Lisa where to sit and took an instant liking to Jordy,
giving him a couple of old comic books and a Mad magazine to read, and some
candy from someplace under the counter. It must have been really old,
`cause I don't think they get many kids in this building.

Heading over to the elevators, we were all surprised to see an old,
gray-haired elevator attendant sitting inside on a wooden stool, waiting
for someone to call for the lift. There weren't too many elevators in town
that had attendants these days, and he had to be pretty happy to still have
a job like this. He snapped to attention immediately when he saw all four
of us athletic guys heading his way. As we stepped into the car for the
ride up, he looked us up and down and then asked us what floor we
wanted. He seemed to be pretty nervous, all beady eyed and sweaty, and he
gave me the creeps. I gave him the once over and noticed that he was
wearing a nametag that said `Little Johnny'. I thought that was kinda weird
since he wasn't all that little, and was kinda old to be called Johnny. But
the ride was uneventful and in no time we were at the penthouse level,
floor ten. As we filed out, I was sure I saw a pistol in his coat pocket
when he turned sideways, but I couldn't be sure and so I bit my tongue. We
had been through so much weird shit these past few days, I just figured I
was seeing things.

Following the guys out into the hall, I noticed that it was really dark and
smoky in here. Not at all like the nice office my dad has in the bank
building on the other side of town. The long hallway was lined with benches
and big ashtrays on tall stands, and the ceiling was really high with old
swirly plaster decorations. This must had been a really nice building when
it was new. There were a few guys sitting around smoking cigars or
cigarettes and some were reading the paper. The old linoleum at our feet
was cracked and looked like it hadn't been mopped or waxed for a long, long
time. The few doors along the side had big glass panels in them, but the
glass was frosted so you couldn't really see what was going on inside. They
all had office numbers painted on them in gold lettering, and judging by
the numbers, the office we wanted was down at the other end of the hall. As
we shuffled down the hallway, it was eerily quiet, and as we walked past
the men sitting and smoking, they all stopped talking and reading and
looked up at us. I was starting to get really nervous now. Something just
didn't feel right in here and the skin on the back of my neck started to
get sweaty and the hairs on my arms stood up like dried out needles on an
old Christmas tree.

One of the guys stood and held his hand up for us to stop. He seemed to
have a nicer, more contemporary suit on, a dark brown pin-stripe, and
looked younger than most of the other guys sitting around the hallway. He
wasn't wearing a hat like the other guys were wearing, but he had expensive
looking Italian loafers on his feet. I knew about those because my dad had
always wanted a pair, and he showed me once when we were shopping for
back-to-school clothes. He never got them though, because they were way too
expensive.

After looking us over, he said, "Hey, fellas. Kin I help ya's? Lookin' for
something? Sellin' Boy Scout cookies, may-bee?" The other guys in the
hallway all snickered at that.

Enzo spoke up fast, and surprisingly, didn't seem to be surprised, or
nervous, by the action going on here. "Yeah. The old lady downstairs said I
could find my dad up here. We have an appointment with him."

"That would be Mama Rosa-Maria Licata. She sent ya's up here, did she?
How's about that? These fellas have an appointment with the boss. But how's
do we know you're really his son?"

The rest of the guys sitting around the hallway suddenly took a big
interest in the four of us, dropping their racing forms and Hollywood
Reporter magazines on the bench. A couple of guys even unbuttoned their
jacket buttons. I had seen enough bad movies to know what that meant, and
it wasn't a good sign.

"My dad's Crash Ferrari. Mr. Ferrari to you. I just talked to him on the
phone. He knows we're coming up here to see him. My name's Emanuel Ferrari,
but everybody calls me Enzo."

"Oh, the Boss's son, huh? How you like that, Zero?" the guy said, to some
goon sitting on the bench and watching us intently. He was one of the guys
who unbuttoned his coat when he first saw us.

"Uh, Tony Boy, you better go check with the boss. If this is true, and this
punk is his son, ya better not keep him waitin'," said the guy named
Zero. He tipped his hat at us and gave us a wink with his good eye. His
other eye was pointing way off into left field.

"All right. You boys don't go no where's, okay?" Tony Boy said, as he
silently slinked down the dark hall.

The four of us were left standing there, and we had a second to look
around. When I did that I noticed that all eyes were still on us. This was
truly one freaky scene-just like being in an old movie. I was kinda waiting
for Jimmy Cagney to pop out any minute. I took a quick glance at the other
guys, and was surprised at how comfortable they were. If they thought this
place was weird, they weren't letting on. Very quickly, the guy named Tony
Boy came back down the hall, practically running and gesturing for us to
follow him. He was all serious now, standing up straight and ignoring his
pals hanging around. We followed him in the big door at the end of the hall
to a nicely furnished waiting room.

"Take a load off," he said, pointing to a big leather couch. "The Boss will
be out in a sec." With that, he turned and left, shutting the door quietly
behind him.

"Wow, Enzo, your dad has a lot of employees. What does he do?" asked Kenji.

"He's an accountant or an auditor. Something to do with numbers, but I'm
not real sure. He doesn't talk about it much. Man, I'm scared. Thanks for
coming guys," he said. "I couldn't do this without you."

"Don't worry about it, dude. That's what friends do. Like I said, we've got
your back," said Jake.

"That's right. Don't worry about it. This will be over before you know it,"
I said. I sure hoped so.

Just then, the door to Mr. Ferrari's office opened, and out came two big
guys. The first one out I recognized right away. It was the guy from the
tattoo parlor next door to the porno theater. I think Jake's dad called him
Sonny. Oh shit! Following him out was a bigger guy, dressed really nice in
a double breasted suit, with a small sapphire flower in his lapel. I guess
that was Mr. Ferrari, because he looked a little like Enzo, only a lot
bigger.

"Thanks for the help, Mr. Ferrari. It's nice to know that I can count on
you. Ace was right when he told me to come see you," Sonny said.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for. I'll see you real soon. If you'll
excuse me, I have to talk with these young men right now," Mr. Ferrari
said.

"You bet. Thanks again."

Ace? Did I just hear him mention Jake's dad? Jake and I had taken a quick
look at each other when Sonny came out, and then immediately looked down at
the floor. Hopefully, Sonny would head out the door without looking at
us. If he spotted us, he'd tell Jake's dad that he saw us down here and
we'd be in deep, deep shit. Luck was with us though, as he was out the door
in a flash. Hopefully, he hadn't recognized us, but I couldn't be
sure. Mr. Ferrari walked over and closed the door behind Sonny, and then
locked it. He turned around to look at us and the smile on his face
instantly disappeared.

"Gentlemen, my office. Now."



***In 1969, sexual abuse was treated very poorly, if at all. Luckily, today
things are much different and help is readily available. If you or someone
you know is being abused or neglected, here is just one source: National
Child Abuse Hotline at1-800-4-A-CHILD, or go to www.childhelp.org

***As always, a big shout out to my editors Jason T. and Hans for making
this story so much better.

***I'm going to take a couple of weeks off and the next chapter will be
posted in early January. If you're not on my notification list and you'd
like to be, send me an e-mail so I can let you know when the next chapters
are posted. It's totally confidential. Have a great Holiday and thanks for
reading! Flip 1977.flip@gmail.com