Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2013 23:20:57 -0800
From: h.schreiber@hushmail.com
Subject: Val 'n Tyne by Hans Schreiber and Flip McHooter Chapter 23

Warning!  This story is a work of fiction written by a legal age adult. Any
similarity between the fictional characters and any live person is purely
coincidental. This story contains fictional descriptions of sexual activity
between consenting minor youth. If you are under the age of 18, and/or if
you are offended by this content, and/or if it is illegal in your
jurisdiction to possess or read such material, please leave now and do not
read this story as neither the internet host nor the author can be
responsible for your actions. Please, always practice safe sex; no
momentary thrill is worth your life.

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced
in whole or in part in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system without the written permission of the Author or Publisher,
except where permitted by law. Copyright (c) 2012 by Hans Schreiber and
Flip McHooter. This work is collaboration between Hans Schreiber and Flip
McHooter.

Please send comments to Hans at h.schreiber@hushmail.com and Flip at
1977.flip@gmail.com


				Val 'n Tyne
				Chapter 23
			Come Together, One and All

	The Sunday following the group pool party over at Nick's house, Val
and his family all rose early, dressed, ate quickly and piled into the old
family van for church services. Vi was wearing a brand new, pale blue,
springtime dress. She looked very pretty in it. It fit her developing frame
perfectly and showcased the youthful innocence she still possessed as well
as her emerging womanhood while maintaining an appropriate modesty
level. "Wow! Looking good, Sis. What's the occasion?" Val asked.

	"I just want to look good for church and Mom said it was okay if I
wore my new Easter dress."

	"Easter's not until next Sunday," Val pointed out. "Won't that
spoil the dressing up for Easter Services thing you girls do? Besides, I'm
pretty sure it's Tim you want to look good for, not anyone else at
church. Am I right?"

	"Maybe. But ... well, I got two dresses actually, so I'll still
have a new one for next week too."

	"Two dresses? What's up with that? Dad, did you score a big raise
at work or something? You holding out on me?"

	Chuckling, Val's dad responded, "I wish. I'm just finding out about
all of this myself."

	"So what am I getting for Easter?" Val chided in a good natured
tone.

	"First, you have to be willing to go shopping with me. You're too
old for me to pick out your clothes. I don't know what you older kids like
any more," Val's mom stated.

	"I hate shopping. Just surprise me." Val pondered for a minute then
added, "I used to hate it when you'd drag me shopping as a kid. You always
wanted to go to the women's section for 'just a minute' and two hours
later, I'd still be sitting outside the dressing room getting stared at by
the all the old ladies. Then you'd come out and ask me if you looked good
in this one or that one, like a twelve year old boy has any idea. I'd just
always say yes in hopes you'd buy it and then we could go." Val's dad was
literally shaking with suppressed laughter. He leaned over and caught Val's
eye in the rear view mirror and winked.

	"I'll bet Noah could help you pick something out," Vi chimed
in. "He did a great job helping Sylvia. She's looking pretty good these
days with our help."

	"No way," their dad piped up. "That's a really scary thought. No
telling what that fruit loop would come up with for Val to wear. He'd
probably end up looking like Elton John."

	Val chuckled as he thought back on some of Noah's outfits and
especially his pool party costume, not to mention the bizarre things he
wore to the basketball games. "What if I just find something online?"

	"Oh, that's a good idea, Vally. You should do that. That would save
so much time," Mrs. Hardcastle quickly agreed.

	Val pulled up some online clothing sites on his Smartphone and
browsed them, wondering what Sylvia and Tyne would think he looked good
in. Most was weird stuff Noah would wear, but he found a few things he
thought he could roll in. Before long, they arrived at the Virgin Hills
Redemption Church and went in for the services. They sat in what had become
their unofficially designated pew across the aisle from where Tim's family
sat. The end spots were spoken for by Tim and Vi, of course. When Vi walked
in, Val watched Tim's eyes widen and his smile broaden. He was clearly
impressed and couldn't take his eyes off of Vi's shapely legs. Her legs
were definitely nice for a girl her age, well conditioned from her years of
soccer play. Val smiled to himself as he watched the innocent joy of puppy
love flit back and forth across the aisle and he promptly scanned the choir
loft for Sylvia. When he caught her eye, his own smile widened and she
winked at him.

	The services were pretty good for a change. Pastor Dave delivered
an inspiring sermon on being a true believer and following your personal
convictions. One particular quote from Shakespeare stuck with him. "This
above all;" the pastor quoted, "to thine own self be true, and it must
follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."

	After the sermon, Pastor Dave announced that the Wednesday night
youth group would be meeting on Saturday instead and asked all the youth to
gather on the back lawn after services for more details. The choir numbers
were more traditional since the band was absent. Val's father was overjoyed
to see them gone. Val later learned by overhearing his mother's gossip
session that two of the band members had gone into rehab. That made Val sad
to hear. He hated seeing anyone screw up their lives with drugs.

	Val met up with Sylvia on the grass after the sermon and closing
prayer, where they hugged and smooched. They gathered with the other youth
including Tim and Vi, who were holding hands and chatting incessantly,
while Pastor Dave got their attention. Once they were mostly quiet, he
invited Wyatt, the fag tag fanatic, to explain what was going down.

	Wyatt sprang forward in his typical, highly charged exuberance and
flashed his pleasant smile. "Guys, and gals, we have a super wonderful
opportunity to do some fantastic service this Saturday. My uncle is a
fireman and they are sponsoring a community egg hunt and activity day for
the underprivileged children over at Mountain View Park. They need lots of
volunteers to help with the games and activities. I'm running the face
painting booth and will need some help with that, but there's like all
kinds of things to do. It starts at ten but we need to be there by nine to
help set up and get organized. If any of you need service hours for school,
bring your forms and my uncle will sign off for you." He was about to step
away, when he added, "Oh, and we need lots of help like I said, so if you
have friends who might help, bring them along."

	"That sounds fun, doesn't it, Val?" Sylvia said cheerfully.

	"Yeah, it kind of does - definitely a welcome change from our usual
fag tag or Bible Trivia."

	"We could get Nick and Noah to join us," Sylvia suggested.

	"And Tyne, of course," Val added.

	"Oh, yeah, Tyne too, of course. But then we'll also have to invite
Dane."

	"I suppose," Val admitted. "I'll text them all now."

	Val punched out a group message and hesitated a minute before
including Dane's number on it. His conscience wouldn't allow him to leave
him off, but he secretly hoped he would have a conflict. To his dismay,
Dane was the first one to shoot back an acceptance. Within an hour,
everyone replied that they were down for it.

	They discussed the details at school that week and they were all
looking forward to helping out with the community Easter activity. Sylvia
was going to drive Val and Vi and pick Tyney Tim up as well. Nick would be
taking the rest of the high school group. Noah's big question was what to
wear and Tyne informed him that he should probably let Nick choose his
outfit, considering there would be both children and firemen present.

	Val forced himself to join the lunch group out by the chess tables,
and to his great relief, it was less awkward than he had imagined it would
be. Dane didn't fawn over Tyne like he thought he might and even Nick and
Noah behaved themselves in public, but to anyone with a trained eye, it was
obvious that Nick and Noah were a crazy, madly in love couple. Whenever
Dane would momentarily ogle Tyne with that semi-dreamy look and crooked
smile, it caused Val's stomach to lurch.

	Saturday morning arrived and Vi was giddy with excitement to spend
the day with Tim at the park. Val was less enthused, worried about the
awkwardness of being around Sylvia and Tyne both at the same time and in
the same place, not to mention the Dane factor. When they climbed into
Sylvia's car, she was just as excited as Vi was and she leaned over for a
quick smooch from her hot hunk. Vi giggled from the back seat. "Val and
Sylvia sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, next comes sex
and then the marriage, Uhh-huh, Uhh-huh, you know what I mean. Then comes
Val pushing a baby carriage." She sang off key, and ground around in her
seat to dramatize the sex.

	"Shut it or I'll make you walk you little dweeb," Val called back
to her. She just giggled more.

	"How cute," Sylvia said, "I haven't heard that since grade school -
slightly modified. That must be the wil.i.am remix."

	"Don't encourage her," Val warned. "It'll only get worse." He
snickered. "This really should be fun today. I like little kids. They're so
innocent and full of life."

	"I think so too. How many kids do you want of your own?" Sylvia
inquired.

	"What? None at the moment, thanks very much. But someday I'd like
to have two or maybe three. What about you?"

	"I'm thinking more like five or six," Sylvia said with her head
cocked to one side and peering in Val's direction.

	"SIX? I'm not sure that's even legal anymore, unless you're a
Mormon or a Catholic."

	Sylvia and Vi cracked up. "You're so funny," Sylvia said, giving
him a gentle shove on the arm.

	"Dang. Six kids. Wow." Val fell into silence with that thought on
his mind. He started imagining what kind of creatures he and Sylvia might
create together. It got a little weird in his head as he pictured Amazon
sized girls with beautiful long hair, who could dunk a basketball, playing
in the WNBA and sporting mustaches on their upper lips and hair growing
under their pits.

	They picked up Tim and he slid into the back seat. Vi snuggled
right up next to him, which he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he
quite obviously liked it as he wove his fingers into hers. He was dressed
sharp in tight fitting, steel grey jeans, a pair of new looking, black and
purple Van's and a dark purple, A&F shirt. His hair looked as if it had
been professionally styled with every strand set and glued into place. He
had the cutest dimples when he smiled.

	When they arrived, they saw Nick's car parked at the far end of the
lot against a curb and went to park next to him, as a favor, to protect the
driver's side from getting dinged by other potentially careless
visitors. The guys had picked up Dane from his sister's house that was
nearby Mountain View Park in the lower rent area of Hartsdale. He'd been
babysitting the triplets and smelled faintly of baby powder. They were all
milling around on the sidewalk since they didn't know anyone there. Val and
Sylvia joined them as Vi and Tim took off together toward the work
party. The older kids followed in that direction after the customary nods
and fist bumps. Tyne and Val exchanged their unique handshake they'd
created up at Mother Lode Lake and that obviously bothered both Sylvia and
Dane. Sylvia slipped her arm through Val's and pulled him away.

	They found Wyatt and his uncle, who directed them to start grabbing
tables and chairs and setting them up along the edge of the park for the
activity booths. Wyatt enlisted Dane's help to carry his face painting
stuff to one of the tables and then help him set up the booth. Wyatt was
looking pretty good with his curly, sandy blond locks and bright blue
eyes. His acne had been improving and only a few zits along his jaw line
were visible. He was wearing a crisp, green, Jesus Loves Little Children
t-shirt. He had a paw print painted on one cheek and a smiley face on the
other to show off his work. The smiley face was unique in that the smile
was a leafy vine and the eyes were little daisies. He engaged Dane in
friendly conversation, which is not hard to do, and actually acted
interested as Dane went on and on about the triplets and his family life
along with his intense love of basketball. Wyatt felt like he'd actually
attended the final championship game from Dane's play by play descriptions
and even sighed in sympathy as Dane related how the ball got stripped away
just as he went up for the final shot.

	As soon as Wyatt was able to get a word in edgewise, he asked how
Dane found out about the volunteer opportunity. Dane explained that he was
a friend of Tyne's. That meant nothing to Wyatt so Dane explained that Tyne
was a friend of Val's. Dane was pleased to hear Wyatt's reaction to Val's
name when Wyatt exclaimed, "Oh, Sylvia's boyfriend." Suddenly, Dane started
pumping Wyatt for information. He wanted to know how long they'd been a
couple, if they held hands a lot and most importantly, if Wyatt had seen
them kissing each other. Wyatt supplied all the right answers and
surprisingly added a comment about what a hot looking guy Val was.

	When the setup was done, all the volunteers spread out around the
park. A fireman announced on the portable sound system that only the
youngest children were allowed in the playground area where the eggs were
easier to find. Then he counted to three and a mad dash began as children
shrieked and ran amok with their baskets and bags in hand to collect the
brightly colored, plastic eggs full of sweets. Noah noticed a shy little
guy who kept reaching for eggs only to have them snatched away by a more
aggressive child. Noah walked up and took him by the hand and helped him
collect several eggs while staring down the little vulture who'd been
snatching them from him. The bully skulked off. The little boy gave Noah's
hand a tight squeeze and flashed him a huge smile before running off on his
own, more confident in finding and keeping more eggs by himself.

	When the whistle sounded, the hunt was over. At least officially,
it was over. The more determined seekers kept prowling about in hopes of
finding another hidden treasure that may have gone overlooked. Wyatt's
uncle met with the volunteer group and parceled them into crews. Vi and Tim
were assigned to the donut eating booth where the children had to try and
eat a whole donut tied and dangling on a string without having it fall onto
the trays below. If they succeeded, they earned a certificate for a free
dozen from the local bakery.

	Wyatt nabbed Dane and Sylvia to help in his booth. His fireman
uncle directed the other four boys to go help with the relay races and he
put Val and Tyne specifically in charge of the three legged race. Sylvia
protested that she wanted to help with the relays also, but the burly
fireman explained how the organizers wanted a male and a female volunteer
in each booth and that he already had plenty of girls helping with the
relays. Reluctantly, Sylvia went with Wyatt to help paint faces. Tyne and
Val tried really hard to not show their excitement at the idea of spending
the day with each other at the relays. It was pretty obvious through the
trained eyes of Nick and Noah and even to Dane and Sylvia.

	More than once, Sylvia had to be asked questions over and over
because her attention was focused across the field. She barely listened to
the banter between talkative Dane and flirtatious Wyatt. It clearly wasn't
Sylvia who Wyatt was trying to flirt with and she quickly slipped away from
their persistent conversations. Once the crowd of children desiring face
painting dwindled off, Sylvia excused herself to go find Val. Wyatt was
happy to see her go.

	"Dane," Wyatt said as the last child left, looking like a one-eyed
pirate, "you've been such a great sport to help out today and you're such a
cutie with the kids. Thanks so much."

	"My pleasure, dude, I really enjoyed it. The kidlets are so awesome
and you're seriously artistic. I'm way amazed at some of the cool things
you painted. I never ever had a face painting. My parents never let me get
one. They said it was a waste of money for something that would just wash
off and my dad thought it was kind of sissy for boys to get one. I didn't
know you could do such awesome things for both boys and girls. My favorite
was the snake you did on that one boy so he could scare his sister with
it. How funny was that?"

	"You never had a face painting? That's so sad. Do you want one
now?"

	Dane chuckled, "Nah, better not. I'm a little old for it now."

	"How about if I give you one where no one can see it. Lift up your
shirt."

	"Nah, that's all right, really," Dane said.

	"Please, I want to do one for you since you helped me out so much
today. I hope you'll like it."

	Dane rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, if you really want to. Go
ahead." He sat sideways on a chair and pulled his shirt up. The brush
strokes tickled his back as Wyatt worked his artistic magic. When he was
finished, Wyatt took the hair dryer, set to low heat, and dried the
paint. He dabbed at it with his finger to make sure it was dry and then
pronounced it complete. Dane twisted to see what he'd gotten but he
couldn't see it.

	"Don't peek and don't show it to anyone until you get home. Then
you can check it out in the mirror." Wyatt flashed a mischievous smile and
finished packing up his paints. They all met back up by the playground and
Wyatt's uncle signed off on the community service forms for the Hartsdale
High group. On the way home, Val and Vi each jabbered about the good time
they'd had. Sylvia commented that it was okay, but she was really annoyed
about being separated from Val. In the other car, they all seemed enthused
over the activity. When they reached Dane's house, Noah prompted Tyne to
walk up to the door with Dane. Tyne flashed a sheepish 'Oh yeah, huh?' look
and climbed out. They chatted for a brief minute on the doorstep of Dane's
house, which was shielded from the roadway and neighbors, after which Dane
leaned down for a kiss. The kiss gave way to another and then another until
the two were sucking face and groping asses. Noah smiled a satisfied little
grin as Tyne and the redhead locked lips and fondled each other's tight
butts. Noah reached over for Nick's hand to give his special friend a
little squeeze. Nick lifted their hands to his smile and pressed the back
of Noah's hand softly against his smooth, puffy lips.

	Easter Sunday came and went, the following day, without fanfare. Vi
looked even lovelier than the week before and Tim was also very dapper in
his new grey slacks and pinstriped dress shirt topped off with a paisley
bow tie and black vest. Val was sporting a totally sick, retro, collared
shirt, beige with black panels on the front of it, and a pair of actual
dress slacks for the occasion that his mom bought online for him, true to
her word.

	The following week at school, the five boys all hung out at lunch
and they became more and more socially comfortable as a group. Plans were
being made for the spring break outing and the one big issue was how to get
the quads to the lake without the use of Val's truck. Sylvia acted annoyed
whenever Val mentioned the lunch group meetings during their evening study
sessions since she had second lunch and was excluded. He quickly learned to
stop talking about them.

	On Tuesday in AP math, Lukas reminded the emo chick about the
cinnamon flavored lube she was supposed to be getting for him. She rolled
her eyes and told him she'd bring it the next day. When he turned around,
Tyne couldn't resist. "You really think that frigid bitch will let you fuck
her? Good luck. You're both such pathetic losers. "

	Lukas scowled and leaned in close across the aisle, "Listen,
asswipe. Tell your fag boyfriend that I'm gonna fuck his last bitch and
then I'm gonna fuck up his current one, only on you, I'll use my fist
instead of my dick."

	"Bring it on, dickwad," Tyne shot back. "Next time I won't go so
easy on you. I'll send you to the hospital instead of jail, or maybe the
morgue."

	After class, Dane wanted to know what that was all about. "Lukas
was bragging about screwing Lizzy, and then threatened me. You work at
Subway tonight, right?"

	"Yeah, why?"

	"Bring me one of those super hot jalapeno peppers in a baggy. Don't
forget. In fact, if you can, bring it by my house tonight. I'm home alone."

	"Why?"

	"You'll see," Tyne said. "I have an idea."

	"What'll I get for it?" Dane asked ever so slyly with a flick of
his bushy red eyebrows.

	"Hmm, I'm not sure, but it'll probably be as hot as that pepper you
bring me."

	"Then I'm all over it," Dane said as he headed off to his next
class.

	The following day, Tyne fingered the pepper from Dane in his
sweater pocket while he hung out in front of the math building waiting for
the emo girl to show up. When she finally did, he intercepted her. "Hey,
can I ask you a favor?" Tyne asked.

	"What? I'm late for class," she grumbled.

	"So? You're almost always late."

	"Yeah, true. So what d'ya want?"

	"Don't tell anyone about this. but you know I'm gay, right?"

	"So?"

	"Well, I've hooked up with this hot emo guy and I was hoping I
could check out that lube stuff you're bringing for Lukas before you give
it to him. I overheard you telling him that it was way hot. Could I just
like put a drop on my finger and taste it?"

	She laughed out loud. "I thought you and that jock were a couple."
Tyne had never heard her laugh before.

	"No, we never were. That was just that stupid class assignment for
Ms. Harris' Contemporary Lifestyles class. Only Lukas still thinks
that. So, anyway, can I try some?"

	"Sure." She pulled it out and handed the small plastic bottle to
him. "Just a drop, though. I don't want Lukas to know and get all shitty
about it."

	"Yeah, yeah, thanks." Tyne took the small bottle and then said,
"Oh, one more little thing. I downloaded some tracks for when me and my boy
finally do it together. I was wondering if you could listen to a couple of
them and tell me which ones would be best? I got Fall Out Boy, All American
Rejects and Jimmy Eat World. I wanna do a mix that will get him all sexed
up, you know? I even printed out the words to some of the songs. Here,
check 'em out."

	She shrugged and said, "Yeah, you're the guy who keeps his clothes
on, right?" referring to a popular Jimmy Eat World video. When Tyne didn't
answer, she took his phone and set the dr. dre Beats over her ears as Tyne
hit play. She snatched the printed lyrics from his hand and read along,
fascinated over the actual words to songs she'd listened to so many times
but never fully understood.

	While she was occupied, Tyne surreptitiously unscrewed the top of
the lube bottle, retrieved the jalapeno pepper that he'd bitten the tip off
of, and squeezed as much spicy hot pepper juice as he could into the
bottle. Then he dropped the pepper in the bushes and replaced the cap. He
licked his lips and waited for her to finish with the songs. She handed him
back the headphones and recommended he get some stuff from Paramore instead
of what he'd downloaded. He gave her the lube, claimed it wasn't something
he thought he wanted after all, and made an excuse about needing to use the
bathroom as they went inside.

	"Where were you?" Dane mouthed as Tyne slipped into his seat.

	"Bathroom," Tyne mouthed back. Dane nodded.

	On the Saturday following the Easter activity at the park, Tyne was
logging some serious zzzz's. The phone on top of the big, old, pine
nightstand next to Tyne's rumpled queen-sized bed buzzed and chirped with
annoying abandon. It was barely 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and he was
stone dead asleep, all alone, dreaming of Val doing incredibly sexy and
nasty things to his naked boy-bits. He sleepily rolled over on top of his
bone-like hard-on and swore like a fisherman stuck in a hurricane. He
reached down and jiggled his favorite jewels a bit, letting go when the
freakin' little machine buzzed once more. He reached a hand out from under
the warm covers, flopping his arm all around, feeling for the device. Once
he finally found the palm-sized intruder, he picked it up and held it out
at arm's length in front of his sleepy mug. He opened his right eye, then
focused to see who the fuck was sending him a message at that ungodly
hour. Of course, it had to be Noah. Noah, Noah, Noah. God, he loved that
skinny, hairless dude, loved him to freakin' death, but sometimes he just
wanted to choke the ever-lovin' crapola out of him.

	He squinted again, then read the words on the screen: "Crazy news,
Bitchy Bitch McBitch! Gotta tell u in person. C U in 15. BTW Get off Dane,
or get Dane off, fast! Whatever -it's all good, T. Just wash your junk and
get into something decent. And not teal! I'm sporting that today."

	"Shit! Fuck! Damn!" croaked Tyne, out into his empty bedroom. His
head was so muddled from school, homework, cooking dinner and doing laundry
for him and his mom, being insanely jealous of Sylvia, making out like
crazed, horny dogs with Dane, guilting over making out with Dane, guilting
for feeling guilty, tutoring Val, and mostly from pining over Val. That
big, stupid, hard-ass, mo-fo stud, Val, who Tyne knew wanted it just as
badly as Tyne did, but wouldn't commit. Plus, his mom was getting all up in
his business lately. The last part wasn't really so bad; she just wanted to
make sure his head was on straight, or both heads, so to speak. He wished,
like for the millionth time, that his dad was still around to be a sounding
board. It was always easier talking to his dad than his mom.

	Grudgingly, he slithered out of his toasty warm bed, stretched his
arms towards the ceiling, scratched his droopy balls, farted twice and
headed to the bathroom down the hall. He didn't have to worry about his mom
seeing him bare-assed. Oh no! She was at work, and besides, she had seen
both him and Dane when they fell asleep in front of the fireplace naked as
the day they were born a couple of weeks earlier. "That was so stupid," he
thought. "Why didn't we get up and go to my room? Stupid, stupid, stupid."
Even though his mom hadn't said anything directly about it, he knew she
knew and she knew he knew and it was all awkward.

	Coming to, he flushed the toilet, stuck his head under the faucet
and fingered his hair into place, brushed his teeth, smelled his pits and
decided he could pass on the deodorant. Then he threw on some clean clothes
that he had washed around midnight a few nights ago. Sometimes he felt like
he was at college already.

	He looked at the time on his phone, and realized he had two minutes
to grab something to eat. He knew Noah like the back of his hand, and
usually he was late, but since he'd hooked up with Nick, he'd become
amazingly punctual. Who says people can't change? He ran down the hall and
on into the kitchen where he popped a whole wheat bagel into the toaster
oven, then pulled out a plastic jar of cream cheese and a jar of raspberry
jam from the fridge and set them on the counter. The second his bagel was
ready, the doorbell rang. Tyne slathered on the cream cheese and jam,
shoved the bagel between his teeth and headed to the living room to open up
the front door.

	"What took you so long, T-Weeny?" asked Noah as he rolled his
saucer-like eyes. "We've been out here for hours. I'm gonna have to go back
home and shave my beard again."

	"You should call him T-Money," Nick said, strolling up the path to
the porch. "Got any more of those bagels?"

	"Yeah. C'mon into the kitchen. Noah, I hate to ask, but what's
going on? And why T-Money? And don't kid yourself; you can't even grow a
beard."

	"You're in the money, honey-bunny. Look." He held out an envelope
to his BFF, grinning from ear to ear.

	Tyne took it and looked at the return address of some law group on
the fanciest street in downtown Hartsdale. He shoved the half-finished
bagel in his mouth, and using both hands, opened the envelope. Digging
through a bunch of paperwork, he found a wire voucher made out to
him. "Twenty thousand dollars! Are you fucking kidding me?" Tyne's mood had
instantly improved.

	"Thank Nicky-boy here. Well, his parents - they did all the
work. And they didn't even charge you. They did it pro boner."

	"Pro bono, you nimbus," laughed Nick. "And they didn't have to work
very hard. The station practically threw the money at them. My mom says
they're sending that reporter who interviewed you off to their sister
station in Sacramento, too. Good riddance."

	"Oh man. I don't know what to say. Thanks guys. I gotta go call
your mom and thank her."

	"You can do it later. They just left for some convention in
Florida. They'll be back next week. So, you plannin' to tell Val what you
wanna do with the money?" Nick asked as he followed Noah into the kitchen.

	"I don't know. I hadn't really thought we'd get this much money, or
even if they would give us any money at all. Wow. I'm kinda in shock. So
when do I get the money?"

	"You already got it, Pinkberry brains. It was wired into your
account at the credit union. This will certainly get Val out of his funky
old, stinky-ass mood," Noah said, as he made Nick a bagel. "Do you want
some of T's warm jam and smooth white cream on your hot bun? Bottom or
top?"

	"Oh my god. You did not just say that. That's nasty. But yeah -
make yourself proud, Woody." He slipped in behind Noah, wrapped his strong
arms around him and pulled his tight little ass into his crotch. "I'll take
care of jamming my hot cream between your buns later on."

	"I juss love me my mans," Noah said in his high octane voice. "Hey!
I've got a question. Why is it that cat food doesn't come in mouse flavor?
And when it's 'new and improved' who tastes it? Because if some poor dick
has that job, they definitely need to be on that America's Dirtiest Jobs
show."

	"Nick? Did he take his pill this morning? Or did he double up?"

	"I don't know. I'm not his mother. I'm his DADDY! Should I be
watching him?" Noah flicked his eyebrows and started doing the Gangnam
dance.

	"Forget it. Forget it. I can see I can't hold any kind of sane
conversation with you two today. Do you guys need some alone time in my
room together or something? So anyway," Tyne asked, rolling his eyes and
ignoring Nick and Noah's antics, "how should we do this? I mean, I kinda
wanted it to be a surprise, but now I'm not so sure we can pull this off. I
don't know even the first thing to do about buying a truck. Especially like
that killer ride he had all tricked out and everything. Do I just get the
cash from the credit union and go to a car lot? I don't wanna waste the
money on a piece of crap. Should we go see King and see if he can help us?"

	"Sweetie! As much as I love King, I'm pretty sure we know more
about those big burly trucks than he would. I mean, he's a bit fey, don't
you think?" asked Noah.

	"I can't believe you just said that, Noah! Besides, who knows? His
husband, what's his name? Apollo?" Tyne asked "Apollo might take him four
wheeling on their days off. Maybe they're totally into bouldering in the
mountains. King might even be all tatted up underneath those designer duds
with a giant Jeep logo on his back.  I bet he's got more freaking piercings
than you've got. But yeah, I guess you're right. More likely, he packs the
picnic basket with champagne and foist ... whatever that dead, ground up
pigeon liver is called and the only bouldering they do is between each
other's legs."

	"Well! I'm just trying to be realistic here," Noah said with a
pouty lip.

	"So stick to buttering your boyfriend's big beefy buns. Something
you actually know something about. Should we look on Craigslist?" Tyne
asked, turning to Nick and changing the subject to what was at hand.

	"No. Maybe we can go talk to Val's dad first. But we'll have to do
it when Val isn't around. Maybe you and Pops can go out shopping and he can
show you what to look for. He knows all kinds of shit about cars and
trucks. And he can make sure we don't get screwed and overpay or buy a
lemon. Or get stuck with something that was submerged in those hurricanes
last year."

	"Pops?" Noah asked. Tyne already knew the answer to that. "Really?
Pops?"

	"Yeah. That's what I call him. He's like my other dad - the 'not
afraid to get all sweaty and dirty' kind of dad. I have a white collar dad
and a blue collar dad. It's the best of both worlds."

	"Cool! But yeah, that's an awesome idea. You know, now that I think
about it, one of my dad's old cop buddies had to retire early when he got
shot in his butt cheek. He ended up opening a used car lot. He does repo's
and towing stuff too. I wonder if he might be able to send us in the right
direction. Maybe he's even got one on his lot." Tyne suggested.

        "Also," Nick added, "Dane's dad is really into cars, especially old
ones and he like collects them. He might be able to help us too." Noah gave
a disapproving look at that idea but opted to keep his mouth shut since
Tyne emphatically shook his head and said he didn't want to involve Dane's
dad in it. He wanted it to be more from him than anybody else.

	"Yeah, that might work. If it's a repo, maybe we'll get a good deal
on it. That reminds me that I went to this scrap yard with Val and Pops one
time to get some parts for their old van. He seemed to know the owner
pretty good and he sold used cars on his lot too. Anyway, let's get
going. I'll call Val along the way and see what he's up to," Nick
urged. Noah grabbed Tyne's arm and pulled him toward the doorway.

	"We should go hit my credit union first before they close. Just in
case we're able to get one today. How unbelievably amazing would that be?"

	After they went to the credit union and got a huge wad of
Benjamin's, Nick called Val to see what he was doing. He was off to a bible
study class with Sylvia and the rest of the church youth group. They
decided to try another Saturday activity in place of the Wednesday
nights. Apparently, the group was going to do some bible study first and
then head over to the mall's arcade for some pizza and games. Nick hung up
with Val and took the opportunity to call Val's 'rents and ask if they
could all go over and visit with Polly and Pops about something important
to do with Val and, of course, they agreed.

	Before heading out, Tyne called his mom and broke the good news to
her. She was thrilled for him and very proud of his generosity toward
Val. But she scolded him for even thinking about carrying that much cash
around. Tyne hung up, ignoring her request to be safe with all that cash
and smiled saying, "I love my mother. I just wish she was home more."

	"Okay, grab a tissue and dry your eyes, Mr. Sappy and let's get
going. This is soooo exciting," Noah crowed. "We're big boys now! I feel
like we just robbed a bank. Let me hold the money for a minute, please."
Noah fondled the large stack of bills and even lifted them to his nose and
inhaled."

	"Yeah good idea, Noah - rob the police credit union. You'd make a
brilliant thief. You'd probably wear a pink silk scarf over your face and
leave your phone number with any cute guy tellers," Tyne said laughing.

	"I would not. Everyone knows you don't wear a pink scarf to a bank
robbery, you wear black - with a 1/4 inch lace border. And the only guy
getting my number is Nicky. Right babe?"

	"It better be, Woody." The two quickly smooched.

	When they arrived, Polly and Buford Hardcastle invited them into
the living room. Nick showed them the letter about the insurance adjustment
first. Buford was thrilled that Nick's dad got the insurance company to go
up to a more reasonable twelve thousand for the wrecked truck. Then Tyne
explained about the settlement money that he'd gotten from the TV
station. He explained that he wanted to contribute toward a new truck for
Val.

	"Are you sure?" Val's parents kept asking. "Are you really sure?"

	Tyne convinced them that he was really sure and then asked if
Mr. Hardcastle could help them locate a good replacement truck. Buford said
he had a friend at a repo and auto scrap yard business across town and went
to call him. Polly smiled at Tyne and praised him for his selfless
willingness to help out her Val. Even though Easter and the group therapy
of hanging out with all four guys had been helping him some, he still was
often depressed and sad.

	"Well, I've got good news and bad news." Buford exclaimed upon
returning. "My friend, Buck, has the perfect truck listed for twenty-one
thousand, but he can't hold it. It will probably sell out from under us
before the insurance money comes. That could take a month or more, I'd
assume. Besides, that's probably more than you'd like to chip in."

	"Why do we have to wait? I have the cash right here, if you think
he might take twenty thousand for it? Later on, you can just pay me back
the insurance money when it shows up." Tyne suggested. "If it's really the
perfect deal, we shouldn't lose it."

	"Plus," said Noah, "We need to have it in time for our stupendous,
spring break trip to Mother Lode Lake." Both Polly and Buford looked at
each other and scowled a bit at that comment, obviously not thrilled with
the concept of their son going back up there so soon after his wreck.

	Tyne quickly stood and said, "Let's go look at it and if it's
really a good deal, let's buy it."

	Buford looked at Polly and asked, "What do you think, sweetie? Is
this crazy?"

	"Maybe hon, but he seems sincere. And after all, Tyne and Val were
both there when the truck got wrecked and later when the TV station
embarrassed both the boys. If he really wants to help Val get another
truck, we shouldn't stand in his way." Then Polly added, "Tyne dear, I
should call your mother and make sure she is okay with you spending your
money this way first."

	"No problem. Here, let me make the call and make sure she can
talk. She might be busy with a patient." Tyne dialed and when his mom
picked up, he explained why Mrs. Hardcastle needed to talk to her and then
passed the phone off. Polly walked into the other room and when she came
back, she had tears in her eyes and a joyful smile on her face.

	"So, is it a go?" Tyne asked, shifting nervously from one foot to
the other.

	Polly nodded and Buford shrugged. "I have a couple things to finish
up here. Go back to your house and wait for me and I'll be there in about
an hour. And for heaven's sake, don't go flashing that cash around. Polly,
get him one of them vanilla envelopes to put it in. This is just so
incredible," he said shaking his head. "I really don't believe this is
happening. Just incredible. Val will be shocked. I'm excited to see my boy
get back to being his happy, cheerful self again. I hope this will do it."

	Tyne was beside himself with excitement over the concept of getting
Val a new truck. Everyone discussed it and decided to make it a huge
surprise for Val. So Nick, Noah and Tyne all headed back to Tyne's house
and waited for Val's dad to arrive. Noah had Tyne call Dane and include him
on the fun and Dane rushed right over. Tyne's mom wasn't home, as usual,
and the guys were sitting around the living room shooting the shit and
eating large bowls of Moose Tracks ice cream in celebration. When
Mr. Hardcastle finally pulled into Tyne's driveway a little after eleven
o'clock, the boys spilled out the front door before he could even get out
of his ageing family van. They all started to pile into the side door of
the van, stepping over the McDonald's wrappers and Vi's soccer cleats when
Mr. Hardcastle stopped them.

	"I was hoping you guys could drive separately and just follow me to
the repo lot. I have some other business to take care of afterwards."

	"No problemo," Noah chirped. "The Noah-mobile over there is at your
service. All aboard." Everyone groaned but stepped back to head towards
Noah's sorry heap.

	"Tyne, why don't you ride with me? I'd like to chat with you a bit,
if it's okay," Mr. Hardcastle requested before Tyne could walk away. Tyne
just shrugged his shoulders at Dane, who sadly turned around and headed to
Noah's car.

	Tyne climbed in the front passenger seat. "Sure. Thanks for helping
us do this."

	"Don't thank me, I should be thanking you. You managed to get the
insurance company to be fair in their settlement and you're contributing a
sizable sum from your own settlement with the television station. That's
very generous. But I'm still a little confused by it all."

	"Why? What do you mean - confused by what?"

	"Why you're doing all this. Why are you so willing to spend so much
of what's basically your money on getting a new truck for my son. I
understand you're hoping to attend a big name school after high school and
I know that will take a lot of money. Why wouldn't you put this money
towards that or even towards a car for yourself?"

	"It's like this: with the refund money from the insurance, I'm
putting all that into my college fund, but I really only got this
settlement money because of what happened up at the lake. They violated Val
as much as they did me and I see it as belonging to both of us. 50 -
50. Plus, I feel responsible, even though Val says I shouldn't, for talking
him into driving home that night when he knew it wasn't really safe to
go. But mostly, I just care about Val and I know he's hurting and I just
think this will really help him. Hopefully, it'll get him out of his
depression. I hate to see him so sad."

	Mr. Hardcastle studied Tyne for a minute longer than was normally
safe before turning his eyes back to his driving. "That's it. Just out of
the goodness of your heart? Nothing else?"

	"No. Like what do you mean? What else would there be?"

	"I'm not sure. I was hoping you could tell me. I'm just not used to
people behaving this generously without some underlying motive.  Especially
for someone you've only known a relatively short time. I understand why
Nick, who's been friends with Val for such a long time, would get his
parents involved to help out with the legal stuff, but you only met Val a
couple months ago. If you were doing this to help your little, fruity
friend who's driving the other car, I could see it. Noah, is it?"

	"Yes, it's Noah."

	"Yeah, well, if you were doing this for Noah, I'd get it better
because you two have been good friends a long time just like Nick and Val
have. That would make more sense to me."

	"You know, we've all known each other since grade school,
actually," Tyne clarified. He was quite mystified by where Val's dad was
going with the conversation.

	"Known each other, sure, but you never really had the same ... ahh,
interests before ... you know what I mean, I'm sure. I don't want to be
rude, but you're very different from Val. I'm not saying in a bad way, I'm
just saying ... well, just different. I love Val and I just want to make
sure there's nothing going on behind the scenes, if you get my
drift. Things that I should know about. There's nothing you're expecting in
return from my Val? This is really just about trying to help him. No
strings attached?"

	"I don't really get what you're driving at, sir, but whether you
believe it or not, my only motivation is to help Val get out of the
depression he seems to have fallen into since we went to the lake. Part of
his depression is from when his truck got wrecked while he was trying to do
something nice for me. He didn't have to take me up to the lake, but he
wanted to after he learned that my dad was going to take me there but
couldn't after getting killed during that robbery. I don't have any
different motives for doing this than Val had for what he did for me."

	"Okay then. I get it. Forget I brought it up." They drove the next
couple of miles in an uncomfortable silence. "Here we are," Mr. Hardcastle
said as he pulled into the drive, rolled down his window and pushed the
speaker button on the keypad in front of the gate. "It's Buford
Hardcastle. Tell Buck I'm here for the truck we talked about. The car
behind us is with us also."

	The speaker came back and said, "I'll let him know. You can park up
by the office." A mechanical arm lifted and they drove in. Noah, following
Buford with the other boys, pulled up behind the van.  They both parked and
everybody climbed out, excited to see what was going on in the yard. No one
paid any attention to the signs on the wall since they'd been instructed to
park by the office.

	Instantly, a hearty, robust man, smoking a fat, smelly cigar came
huffing around the corner, pulled the cigar from his thick lips, protruding
from a set of round cheeks and double chins dotted with day old stubble,
and spread his arms. "Buford! How the hell you been, old man?" He made his
way up to the group and pulled Val's dad into a man hug. He had large sweat
stains beneath each arm and smelled of motor oil.

	"Can't complain. No one listens when I do anyway. How you been?
Business good?"

	"Too good, if you know what I mean. When the economy stinks, I get
rich. Things are going to hell in a hurry, if you want my opinion, which I
know you don't, but that won't stop me from giving it to you anyway."

	"Never has before. So show me this truck you've got."

	"Follow me."

	As the guys started to walk quickly away, a goofy looking, twenty
something guy in a rainbow colored, Bob Marley t-shirt, red striped board
shorts and checkerboard Vans came out with a clipboard shoved into his
armpit. He looked like some surfer dude who should be hitting the waves at
Rincon instead of working there at the salvage yard. "Whose ride is this?"
he yelled to the group that was quickly walking away. He looked silly with
his long blond locks sticking out of his black knit cap.

	"Mine. Do I need to move it?" Noah asked over his shoulder. He
reminded him of one of his brother Booby's friends, who'd always made fun
of him over playing with his woody.

	"Nah, it's all good, brah. Just pop the hood and let me check her
out. Start it up."

	Noah looked at him quizzically, rolled his eyes then turned around
and followed his directions. He jumped back in the shit-heap and turned it
over, then released the hood latch. The guy pulled the hood up with some
effort and the springs on the hinges complained with an ear splitting
screech. The guy poked his head under the hood and grunted a few times,
making sure to keep his long, sun-bleached hair out of the belts and
fan. Then he shut the hood and walked around the piece of junk and kicked
the tires a couple of times, making sure to hike up his shorts. Buck and
Buford had long ago started off toward the sales lot, ignoring the exchange
behind them. Tyne and Dane followed the old guys, not wanting to miss out
on seeing the new truck for the first time. Nick was torn whether to leave
Noah or not, but he finally did, figuring that Noah would catch up in no
time. The surfer dude came back around and said, "Shut it off, dude. You
know, this car is totally wasted. It's got no real value except the tires
and scrap metal price. You know, brah, Buck wouldn't give you more'n say,"
The stoner paused and stared off blankly as if it hurt to think so hard,
"230 bills for it."

	Noah slammed his door shut and cocked his hips. "It's not like I
needed you tell me that, dude. I already knew it's not worth shit, there's
no need to rub it in my face. It's got a lot of sentimental value for me
though. Lots of hot make-out sessions in there, if you know what I mean,
brah. Oh my god, 230 dollars is actually generous. Seriously, I wouldn't
give more than a Benjamin for it. Old Buck might just kick yer ass if he
knew you were giving away his cash like that." Noah snickered, pleased with
the confused look he'd left on the face of the surfer guy.

	As Noah started to sashay off in a bit of a huff, the guy called
after him, "Whoa, dude, leave your keys in case we need to move it before
you get back." Noah paused, rolled his eyes and tossed the keys to the guy.

	"Don't be taking it for any joy rides to the beach just to impress
the ladies," Noah quipped with a flutter of his hand toward the guy, who
was staring cockeyed toward him over his not so comical theatrics.

	"Oh, yaaah, like I'd do that, dude. Anyway, I'll need your
signature first," the guy said.

	"Whatever, we're in a hurry and I need to catch up to my friends;
I'll give you my autograph later." Noah guessed the guy must be on some
kind of commission and skipped to catch up to the rest of the entourage out
in the repo yard. On the other side of the yard, separated by a fence, was
the salvage operation.  A large crane with a magnetic disk was picking up
entire cars and placing them into a crusher where they would come out the
other end as compressed, rectangular bundles of squished metal. The noise
of the operation was incredible and the resulting image was quite
impressive. "Wouldn't it be freaky if someone was still in the car, like
sleeping in the back seat or something when they crushed it up like that?"
Noah asked in his typical random way as he caught up to Nick.

	"I think Tyne's right. I swear you skipped your pill today," Nick
laughed. "Who thinks of something grotesque like that?"

	"Whatever.  Where's the new truck? I want to see it."

	"I think that's it." Nick pointed to a pretty, metallic blue quad
cab. "So what did that guy want?"

	"Fuck if I know. I think he was stoned."

	Behind the office was a small sales lot, with maybe thirty or so
cars and trucks. These were the ones that they had repo'd and weren't
redeemed by the registered owners, and the banks and credit unions were
trying to sell them before they headed off to the auction. Most looked to
be in decent shape, but by far the standout was a 2009 Ford F-150 quad cab
in the blue flame metallic color. The color reminded Dane of Tyne's
mesmerizing eyes. "I had my boys go over it good, Buford. She's a
b-e-a-uty. I wouldn't steer ya wrong. You know that," The cigar sucking man
told Val's father.

	"All right, what's the best you can do on it? And you have clear
title, right?"

	"Oh, hell ya. I wouldn't even mess with showing it to you if I
didn't have the title. I could let her go for around, say nineteen."

	"Eighteen - off the lot, all in." Buford countered.

	"Figures. But I get the old truck to scrap out after you swap out
the stereo, exhaust, and tires, right?"

	"Like we agreed. Deal then." The two men shook on it and they all
headed back to the office.  When they got back, none of them seemed to
notice that Noah's car had been moved from the other side of the
Hardcastle's van.

	The boys were all sitting around the office texting while the men
filled out all the paperwork in another room. Tyne had carefully peeled off
180 portraits of Ben Franklin and stuffed the remaining twenty bills back
in the envelope. Buck was thrilled about getting cash. The surfer guy with
long hair and clipboard showed up with a box full of Noah's stuff. "Here's
your 'things'", the guy said with some amusement. He handed over the box to
Noah. There were two pair of soiled bikini underwear, pink and lime green,
a handful of various body rings, his odd collection of cd's and two sets of
leather cuffs connected with a chromed chain that even caused Tyne to raise
an eyebrow. "Sign here, dude" the guy said, shoving the clipboard in front
of Noah.

	"What the fuck are you doing? What made you go through my stuff,
asshole? This is bullshit." The guys sitting and waiting for Buford and
Buck to get finished with the paperwork looked back up from their phones,
wondering what was going on.

	"Hey settle down, dude. Most people clean the shit out of their car
before they bring it in to scrap it out. Trust me; it was gnarly, cleaning
this shit out - and not in a good way. I had to put the hand condoms on,"
the long haired guy spat back.

	"Hand condoms?' Tyne asked, "What's a hand condom?"

	"Rubber gloves, little dude."

	"What the fuck? I'm not scrapping my car? I need it!" Noah nearly
yelled.

	"What are you talking about, brah? You parked in the space reserved
for estimates. You went over it with me and said you were stoked to get 230
bills because you didn't think it was worth more than twenty - no wait,
fifty, yeah, fifty. That's a Benjamin, right? You said you'd sign off on it
when you got back from the yard cause you were in a hurry."

	"I never meant I wanted to scrap my car. I love that piece of
shit. Besides, I can't afford anything better. So just go put my things
back where you found them, sweetheart. You can keep the green undies for a
souvenir if you want. I don't really like them. They crawl up my crack way
too much," Noah said, shoving the box back at the guy.

	"Umm, that's sort of a problem, dude. It's headed for the bone
crusher right now."

	Noah jumped up and ran outside and looked over the fence as his
precious, piece of shit car dangled from the giant magnet. "NOOOOOOO!" he
screamed.

	Buck and Buford came running out of the office to see what was
going on when they heard Noah's yell. "What's this all about, Corey?" Buck
asked the surfer dude.

	"The dude is weird, man. He parked in the appraisal spot and I
checked it out with him. He told me he wanted to scrap his car. I gave him
a quote and we settled on 230 bills. Now he's changing his mind, I guess,"
Corey said, easily. "He said he knew it was a piece of shit and wasn't
worth fifty bucks and went to meet up with you. He said he was gonna like
tattle on me for being too generous with your money or some shit. While I
was cleaning it out, Manny came by and said he wanted the tires so we took
it to the rack next to the crusher. He took the tires off and it's just
sitting there. I think."

	"YOU THINK? It's not sitting there; it's hanging in mid-air, you
moron," screamed Noah as he got right up in the surfer dude's face. "You
can't let him crush it," Noah turned and screamed at Buck.

	"Corey, where's your radio?" Buck asked as they all crowded into
the parking lot where they could see Noah's dangling car better.

	"Um, I'm not sure. Around here someplace, I think." He fumbled
around in the pockets of his shorts before he found the walkie-talkie.

	"Give me that," Buck yelled to Corey. He pressed the button and
started to talk just as Noah's car started to swing to the right heading
straight for the crusher. "SHUT it down, NOW!"

	Luckily, the crane operator heard Buck and powered down all of the
equipment. Noah's car just dangled there in the air as everyone let out a
sigh of relief. Buck radioed directions to return the car to Noah. As they
headed back towards the office to wait for Noah's tires to be put back on
so they could drive home, Corey pulled Noah aside to show him something. He
pointed to the sign next to the office where Noah had parked.

	"See that? I was just doing my job, brah" he said
sheepishly. "Sorry about all that, dude. No hard ones over it, eh?"

	"It's okay, I guess, since it was saved at the last minute. My
freakin' heart's still racing from it. But dude, in the future, don't
assume shit. Maybe you should keep the green undies after all, to remind
yourself of what happened."

	"Yeah. Thanks brah, but I'll pass on that, I think," Corey said,
with a small smile.

	On the way home, Dane rode with Noah while Nick and Tyne drove the
truck back to Val's house. "Hey Noah," Dane said as they pulled out of the
repo lot once they had put the tires back on and turned the keys back over,
"Can I ask you something about Tyne?"

	"Sure, cutie. Fire away."

	"Do you think I've got a shot with Tyne? I'm worried he's still
hung up on Val."

	Noah pulled his door shut, eliciting a new, louder moan than usual
from the misaligned chunk of metal. "No doubt Tyne had it bad for the big
stud, but he's really into you now, I think. I mean, he'd never even think
of making out with a guy before you and Val came along. That's real
progress. You're probably just worried about this whole truck thing, but
don't let that get you down, snookums. Tyne felt this huge guilt over the
whole truck rolling incident. I think this has more to do with him trying
to make some kind of amends for Val's truck getting smashed up. In a sick,
twisted way, Tyne always felt like it was really all his fault."

	Dane let his frown creep to a tiny smile and he let out a
sigh. "Cool, I guess. I sure hope you're right. I'm really hooked on the
dude, you know?"

	"Yeah, I feel you, brah. I feel you," Noah said mimicking the
stoner back at the repo lot. That made Dane laugh and broke the somber
mood.

	They guys pulled up in front of the Hardcastle's house and were
standing around admiring the new looking, used truck just a few minutes
before Val and Vi got dropped off by Sylvia. She wanted to stay and see
what everybody was doing in the driveway, but it was her mother's birthday
and she was late to go meet her dad at the cemetery so they could put
flowers on her gravesite. Val gave her an obligatory, closed-mouth kiss
before getting out of the car and she sped off as soon as he shut his door.

	Val knew something was up the minute he got out of her car, but
couldn't for the life of him think what it might be. It was Vi who yelled
out first, "What's going on?" as she got out of the back seat and ran up
the driveway to see why everyone was there acting strange. She was on a
crazy high after making out with Tim all morning. Every chance they got to
sneak off together in the arcade, they went at it and she knew he'd gotten
a pudgy from it, feeling his little wood against her thigh.

	Everybody sort of merged together to shield Val from seeing the new
truck for as long as possible, but they all waved to Sylvia as she drove
down the street. Polly and Buford had great big smiles on their faces, and
off to the left, Nick and Noah were dancing around like five year olds
needing to pee, they were so happy. Dane and Tyne were on the other side of
his parents, Dane smiling his cute, crooked smile. But by far, the biggest
shit-eating smile was plastered across Tyne's face, hands-down.

	"Yeah, what are all you guys doing here?" asked Val as he followed
slowly behind Vi up the driveway. As he got closer, he could see the
happiness on everybody's faces was genuine and knew something big was going
on and was directed at him, but he had no idea what it was. Then suddenly
they parted and he could see a big, shiny Ford truck parked right there in
the middle of the driveway: Ford. Double cab. Almost new. Just like the one
that he had rolled except this one was a bitchin' blue metallic color. He
stopped dead in his tracks and couldn't move.

	"Ta-da!" yelled out Noah, with the others guys yelling and jumping
around and shouting and then they came running up to him to clap him on the
back and offer their congratulations. It was so fast and overwhelming that
Val just froze. His mom and dad just stood off to the side watching him and
reveling in his surprise. Polly had her hands clasped together under her
chin and looked like she was about to cry, while Buford, usually so stoic,
looked like he was about to bust with pride.

	"What the F is going on? Mom? Dad? Guys? What's up?" Val stood
there dumbfounded looking back and forth from the beautiful shiny truck to
his friends around him and then over to his family. It took a minute before
it finally sunk in that this was his truck, but he didn't know exactly how
that could be possible. Then he turned to his right to see Tyne sort of
standing off to the side by himself. He had a beaming smile and seemed to
be glowing in a strange mix of happiness and love, and indescribable
joy. Suddenly, the full realization finally sunk in, and he knew his little
one had something gargantuan to do with this.

	"Oh my god! What did you do, Tyne? You did this, didn't you?" Tyne
wasn't sure if Val was happy or mad as he made his way from the group over
to Tyne who started to back up by the tailgate of the new truck. "What's
going on?"

	"Um...we got you a new truck. Well, not a new, new truck, but a
nice used one like you had before. It was all my idea, but everyone
helped. If you're mad, you can take it out on me. Don't blame them. We all
just want to see you happy again."

	Val just stood there in front of Tyne, speechless. The front yard
was all quiet now, the seriousness of the moment not lost on anyone. Val
stood erect and pulled his shoulders back. For a moment his pride tried to
kick in and tell him he should be offended by such charity, but then his
face turned red as he pushed that stupidity away and did something totally
out of character for him. He looked Tyne deep in the eyes, those beautiful
azure-blue eyes that matched the blue flame metallic color of his new
truck, and screamed out at the top of his lungs,
"Why... you... little... freak!"

	Val reached around and grabbed Tyne by the shoulders, then lifted
him up before Tyne had any time to react or get out of the way, and then
crushed him in his strong arms, Val started to spin around and laugh like
this crazy man downtown panhandling for quarters. All the guys came running
up then, screaming and yelling and joining in on the happy celebration.

	For Val, this was even better than winning all of his basketball
games and basking in the glory of it all. What made it most special was
that Tyne had orchestrated it. Tyne had done it for him, and only him.

	And for Tyne, this was better, well, better than anything he had
ever experienced in his whole life. Then Polly started to cry. Buford
stepped up and handed Val the keys and told him to start it up. Val set
Tyne back down on the driveway and pulled his mom and dad into a hug and
then took the keys. "But, how did you get ..." Still confused, he asked, "I
thought the insurance was dicking us around and ... but ... Tyne? Tyne,
what did you do?"

	"Relax, it's all good. Nick's parents helped us out with the
insurance stuff and we got some other money we didn't expect, but we can
talk about all that later. Get in! Try it out!" Tyne commanded, still
grinning from ear to ear. Val clenched the keys in his palm and raced to
the driver's side door.

	"YES! This is F'n Awesome. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Val
cried out as he sat behind the wheel and ran his hand over the nice leather
seats. "C'mon you guys, get your butts in here, let's go for a ride." Tyne
dashed for the front passenger door and slid in.

	"Shotgun!" Tyne called after his butt was already planted in the
front seat.

				**##**##**

We hope you have enjoyed this chapter. This is NOT the final chapter, as
there is one more to go. Look for it sometime around Valentine's Day.

A special thanks to our editor, Paul S. Stevens, who recently posted a new
one-chapter story on Nifty in the Gay Male/Sci Fi and Fantasy section,
titled Eolosiss.

For comments, please email
Flip at 1977.flip@gmail.com
and Hans at h.schreiber@hushmail.com