Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 15:17:35 +0900
From: Andrej Koymasky <andrejkoymasky@geocities.com>
Subject: corporal 20

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TRILOGY: ITALIAN BROTHERS
BOOK 1 - THE CORPORAL
By Andrej Koymasky (c) 2000
Written on October 21st 1995
Translated by the Author
English text kindly revised by a friend

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USUAL DISCLAIMER

"ITALIAN BROTHERS 1 - THE CORPORAL" is a gay story, with some parts
depicting graphic scened of sex between males.
So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not
good for you, it will be better not to read this story.

But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think
you really want to read it, please be my welcome guest.

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CHAPTER 20 - Manfredo's Return

Now Ruggiero no longer needed to use splints for his leg, and he no
longer needed to walk with the crutch, but only with a light walking
stick. He limped slightly, but he didn't feel any pain. When he went
around the city, he was respectfully greeted by everybody, as he was the
top authority in those days. All was ready for the referendum --
Garibaldi had installed himself in Naples and the Bourbon king was
fleeing by ship. Gaeta, the last fortress, also surrendered.

All provisional governors received printed samples of the referendum's
ballot paper from Naples. Ruggiero summoned the best printer in the city
and had him print all the needed ballots. Posters could be seen all over
the city announcing the date when the future of that region and of the
entire former Two Sicilies Kingdom would be determined.

Garibaldi's portraits, more or less resembling him, but unmistakable for
his red shirt, his blond beard and long hair, as well as three colors
flags and writings extolling to the United Italy, appeared all over the
city, giving it a festive atmosphere. The seats for the vote were
prepared, and Ruggiero had all of them watched by a provisional police
force made up of half former Bourbon's soldiers and half patriots.
Youths who could not yet vote marched all over the city, demonstrating
their support for the annexation and unification with extemporary
slogans, sometimes naive, sometimes amusing.

The referendum day came. People having the right to vote were going to
express their opinions between two wings of festive crowds, barely held
back by the order service. 94% of those who had the right to vote voted,
and among the young people who obtained the right for the first time,
100% of them voted. The absent were mainly old aristocrats who excused
themselves with their venerable age.

When the vote was over, the seats were closed and the counting of the
votes started. As the ballots were read, the crowd gathered under the
seats. They cheered the "yes" and whistled at the few "no". When the
counting was over, and the results had been announced to the crowd, all
the ballots and the minutes were brought to the provisional governor's
mansion under an escort. Here Ruggiero gathered a commission consisted
of judges and notaries who had to verify the ballots and the minutes and
authenticate the results. Then the results were added to get the final
figure. When the entire process that lasted all through the night into
the following morning was completed, 97.6% were "yes" votes, 0.9% were
"no" votes and spoiled or blank ballot papers made up for 1.5%.

When the results were announced, the crowd flooded the streets, dancing,
singing, in a spontaneous feast. When the legal proceedings were over,
Ruggiero and Enzo went upstairs to their apartment, exhausted.

"What a overwhelming victory!" Enzo said cheerfully, "And you thought we
run the risk to be hanged!"

"Well... evidently those watching the seats wanted the 'yes' to win, and
they succeeded."

"But how? You had the papers and the minutes carefully checked!"

"Enzo, it is not to hard to swap the box of ballot papers with an
identical one, filled with prepared papers, before opening it and
starting the counting."

"Do you think they did so?"

"Enzo, just look at the results, one seat at a time. I would say this
happened in a majority of the seats. See, in many seats, there are 100%
of 'yes' votes -- I can't believe that is possible. I think that anyway
the 'yes' would have won, there is at most 26% of 'no's in the seats
where the boxes were not swapped. Anyway... it's not me who made, or
ordered these conjuring tricks, and these are just my suspicions without
any proof. Judges and notaries authenticated everything. Our task here
is over. Now we only have to send the results to Naples and wait for
orders."

"And what will we do, afterwards?" Enzo asked. He had been asking
himself that question for several days, but Ruggiero was so busy that
Enzo didn't want to distract him from his tasks with other worries.

"Afterwards... anything you want, Love. Do you want us to go back to our
village?"

"No... we couldn't stay together like here. Here, they believe we are
brothers, and you are now officially a Rota like me. Nobody feels weird
if we live together, if we show affection for each other."

"So then, do you want to remain here in Catanzaro?"

"I don't know... I don't know how it will be afterwards. And then, we
will have to look for a job, a way to support ourselves, something to
do. But I don't know what I can do. You could possibly become a lawyer,
earn good money, but I? Well, I can clean your home, prepare your meals,
keep your things and your papers in order, run errands for you. I don't
think I could do much more."

"But what would you like to do?"

"I'm not able to do anything."

"That's not true... but, anyway, what would you like to do, if you
could?"

"Perhaps... well... anything, as long as I am near you."

"No, come on -- if you had a magic wand, what would you do?"

Enzo looked at him with a smile. Like if it was a game, he answered, "If
I had a magic wand? I would have a liquor factory like that of don
Michele in Nicolosi."

"Ah, really? And why? Would you like to get drunk for free?" Ruggiero
asked, smiling.

Enzo laughed at that thought, "No. But every time I passed near there, I
could smell such good perfumes... If liquor was not so expensive, I
would have liked to take a sip, just from time to time. And then, a
distillery... it seems like something magical to me," Enzo answered.

"And would you like to be able to produce liquor? Perhaps to invent new
ones?"

"Eh, why not? It must be fun, and knowing that people appreciate
something special, your secret recipe, which only you could produce...
Isn't it so?"

"Sure, it could be amusing, and above all, earn us good money."

"If I only knew how to do that!" Enzo concluded.

Ruggiero changed the subject, but he was happy he discovered this secret
dream of his boy. So, on the following days, unbeknown to Enzo, he
started to study if and how he could make this dream a reality. He
looked for books about the distillation of alcohol, of herbs, how to
prepare infusions for liquor. He studied the regulations and laws (but
would they change?) about the production of liquor. He also managed to
get in touch with a distiller who had a small business in Catanzaro.
Doing all that without Enzo finding out was anything but simple, but
Ruggiero succeeded.

To begin such an activity they would need a starting capital that he
didn't have -- to have a suitable place, to buy the equipment and
materials, to pay an expert to start the activity. There were many
difficulties. But Ruggiero certainly was not the type who would give up
without trying first.

The day came when it was proclaimed that the entire former "Kingdom of
the Two Sicilies" entered to be part of the new "Kingdom of Italy", with
Victor Emanuel as its king. Ruggiero was requested to remain for a while
as a councilor for the new governor sent from Turin - he also was
provisional, a lean and wiry thirty-two year old Piedmontese, Count
Aimaro Provera of Santena. Together, they need to organize elections for
the representatives to send to the Parliament of the Kingdom, and the
staff for the new local administration.

The Count, lodging in the same mansion where Ruggiero and Enzo lived,
appreciated very much the work that Ruggiero carried out, and advices he
was giving him, mainly about the passage from the old Bourbons' law
system to the Piedmonteses' laws. A very delicate point was the ending
of the privileges that the old aristocracy enjoyed, mainly the fact that
the nobles also had to pay taxes on their estates. Almost all of them
vehemently protested -- some of them argued that they should not have to
pay taxes on land that was not so productive. But Ruggiero knew rather
well the problem of a land's productivity, as he worked as a "corporal"
in Sicily. So, in the presence of Count Provera, he received the
landowners one after another, to discuss with them about their estates.

Ruggiero's speech was plain and simple, "If your land is not productive
enough, try to sell it or else surrender it, in all or in part, to the
State so that you would not be asked to pay taxes on them. If on the
contrary you are able to make them produce enough, you would also earn
enough to pay taxes." The land-register inherited from the Bourbons'
administration was rather accurate about the possible productivity of
these estates. Therefore, the Piedmontese tax laws could easily be
applied. The real problem with the new system was not so much about
estates taxes. It was rather the fact that while with the customary,
unwritten law, poor people could freely gather dead wood for heating and
cooking on these estates; with the new laws, if the owners opposed, this
right would cease to exist. The concept of private property under the
Piedmonteses' laws was much stricter.

Anyway, those days saw a good share of those land, houses, cottages,
woods, warehouses, at times even entire villages, offered for sale, at
prices often really low. Ruggiero proposed that the State buy the land
and properties for which the owners could not find a buyer, with due
taxes or future taxes as payment. On these estates, generally less
productive, often covered by uncultivated woods or forests, poor people
could continue to go and gather wood to burn. Count Provera accepted
this solution since it didn't require the payment of public money. The
passage from the old system to the new one was happening without real
shocks.

In this period of changes, Ruggiero had some good news -- the new king's
government, by request of General Garibaldi, decided that all the
ex-governors and officials appointed by the General, would receive
generous pay for the period they served and would continue to serve, and
also a special one-time reward. Thus Ruggiero and Enzo found themselves
in possession of a small fortune, a not really huge but anyway large sum
of money.

In a small village near Catanzaro, at the borders of the borough of
Spezzano, half way up the Sila hills, where Ruggiero went to perform an
inspection, there were an old warehouse, a stretch of land and an
annexed small warden's house for sale, near a stream of pure and fresh
water, all for a really low price. Ruggiero thought they could buy them
and went back to see them with Enzo.

"The little house is rather nice, if we restore it, it could be very
nice. I would like to live here, but what can we do with the warehouse?"
the boy asked.

"I was thinking... after we buy them, we will still have enough money. I
gathered some information, we could buy some distillers and try to
produce liquor..." Ruggiero said to him, thus revealing his project to
him.

Enzo smiled, "You are a dear man, but who knows how to make liquor? How
would we do that?"

"We can hire an old distiller whom I met, and he would help us to start
the production. We can start with just the three of us, I think, working
hard. Then if things go smoothly, we can hire more workers, a little at
a time as we grow bigger..."

"Do you really think we can succeed?" the boy asked with interest.

"We can try. If we fail, anyway, we will still have a house... Don't you
think it is worth trying?"

"But if things go bad, the house, alright, will remain ours, but how can
we earn a living? Once the new authorities are installed, we will be
without pay, both of us."

"If the distillery doesn't work, I can always work as a lawyer, or
something else. We don't have such a big risk."

"But would you like being a liquor producer rather than a lawyer?"

"Sure. I never worked as a lawyer before either. So then?"

"Let's try..." Enzo said.

They bought the estate with the two buildings. The fact that there was
also a pure water stream passing through the estate was important to
their new activity. They also bought two horses, restored the little
house and moved there. With the advice of the old distiller, they bought
the retorts and all they needed, so after a few months they could start
their production on a small scale. Enzo and Ruggiero learned the job
while working with the old master Pasquale. Ruggiero still had to work
for the government in Catanzaro, therefore he traveled back and forth.
Enzo was excited for his new job, and devoted himself to it with
enthusiasm. Ruggiero was happy seeing him so glad and satisfied.

"So then, Enzo, are you happy with your new life?" he asked him one
evening after supper while they were going to bed.

"I am -- I have you, a job, our house... what else can I possibly
desire? And you?" he asked hugging him.

"The same for me. I have a delightful lover. Blessed be the day I saw
you there on the square!"

"I was just a kid... and I'm becoming a man. You like kids better. Will
you get tired of me?"

"You still are a youth. Anyway, I am in love with you, not with any kid.
I like you so very much, also now that you are becoming a man..."

"Look how much hair is growing on my legs, on my arms..."

"I find you so terribly sexy. You are more beautiful than ever."

"Are you serious?"

"Don't you see the effect you have on me?" Ruggiero sweetly said,
starting to undress in front of him.

Enzo knelt in front of him, caressing his glorious erection, "Oh,
Ruggiero, the liquor I prefer is the one you give me..." he sighed,
greedily taking the rigid flesh pole between his lips.

"Come onto the bed..." the young man excitedly moaned, filled with
desire.

On the following morning, they were still sleeping, tenderly embraced,
when a strong knocking at the door woke them up, "Enzo! Ruggiero!" a
voice from the outside was calling.

They got up, quickly got dressed and Enzo leaned out of the window to
see who it could be at such an early hour. Sun had just come out. "Who's
there?" he asked, seeing two men at their door.

The two men tilted back their heads to look up, and Enzo recognized one
of them, "Manfredo! Wait, I'll come to open the door."

The two lovers went downstairs and welcomed the unexpected visitors,
"What a pleasure to see you again, Manfredo! How are you? Why are you
here again?"

"Enzo, Ruggiero, let me introduce you my friend. His name is Orlando
Assoro." He was a twenty-eight-year-old man, dark, virile, with
penetrating eyes, fascinating.

"Your... friend?" Ruggiero asked.

Manfredo understood the meaning of that question, "Yes, my lover. I met
him in Naples, he had been in jail for three years as he lead a
rebellion in Caltanissetta. We freed him and... you know, when I
understood he liked me... I helped him make up for the three years of
forced abstinence."

Ruggiero and Enzo smiled, "I bet you helped him make up for those years
more than abundantly," Enzo said lightly and cunningly.

Orlando blushed, Manfredo smiled, "He is fantastic. He has a thing
there, as hung as a horse and he loves riding me with it!"

Orlando blushed again, "Manfredo!" he protested in a low voice.

"Come on, Orlando, they are friends. Moreover they both know how much I
like to be mounted."

"Are you going back to Sicily?" Ruggiero asked.

"Not really. We can't go back to his town, it would be impossible to
continue living together. Possibly in some big town, Reggio or Palermo,
or even Siracusa, who knows?"

"And what would you do?"

"We still don't know. He, was a wine-maker before, he worked in
Marsala," Manfredo said, caressing his man with his eyes.

"But then... why don't you just stop here with us? We are producing
liquor, we have just started, but our first stock sold well and we have
to gradually grow. Wouldn't you like that?" Ruggiero proposed, looking
at Enzo who nodded in assent.

The two visitors seemed interested, so they showed them the little
distillery. Then invited them to stop at their place for some days, to
think about it and make a decision. Manfredo told them that when General
Garibaldi went further north from Naples, the king Victor Emmanuel went
south with his army with the pretext of stopping him, conquering the
Marche. Then he met Garibaldi, who gave him all the territories he
conquered. Alduzzo decided to enroll in the Piedmontese army, now the
Italian Army, to remain with a Venetian soldier he had a crush on. Now
both of them were somewhere up north. Enrico, the doctor, seemed to be
courting a Neapolitan young man.

Manfredo, instead, when the Garibaldian contingent had been dissolved,
wanted to go back to the south with his new lover. He loved the warm,
luminous, sunny south and his hot, luminous, sunny man. Orlando
gradually lost his previous embarrassment. He was a really pleasant
young man, cheerful, and the attraction the two lovers felt for each
other was evident. For the moment, Enzo and Ruggiero settled them in a
room on the second floor, near their own. When at night they overheard
their low pleasure moans while making love, Enzo and Ruggiero became
aroused in their room so they also united, filled with passion.

"Do you regret that I asked them to stay?" Ruggiero asked.

"Not at all, on the contrary."

"Aren't you jealous of Manfredo?" the young man asked him, somewhat
fearful.

"And you? I also had sex with him."

"I am not jealous."

"Me either. And then, as long as you love me, I don't care if even you
did try with Manfredo again."

"No, no! I have no intention to do that! I was wrong once. I don't want
to make the same mistake again. Anyway, I think that Orlando is a
terribly jealous guy. If they decided to stay, we will look for a home
for them -- I want to be alone with you, in our home."

"Yes, love, me too. When we are alone we can make love more freely, not
just at night in our bedroom," Enzo answered with a sly little smile.

Ruggiero looked at him with deep love -- he was completely conquered by
that sweet, good-hearted, beautiful boy. It was true that he had always
been attracted by young boys in the past. Enzo was becoming more and
more of a man, virile, and yet his virility was now fascinating him. In
the past, he would never just imagine being penetrated. Unconsciously,
he would have felt that as an attack against his own virility. But now
he couldn't even say whether he liked taking Enzo more or being
penetrated by him. He felt fully virile even when he could feel Enzo
inside himself. He discovered another thing with Enzo, during his
convalescence period -- the pleasure to just caress, kiss, and arouse
each other without necessarily reaching orgasm. This allowed them to
enjoy each other more often, longer, and when they let themselves go and
united completely, this brought them a more intense pleasure.

He loved Enzo, and could feel his love as something concrete, tangible,
like a second skin wrapping around him. He could feel that he is part of
him, like the air he was breathing, like the blood that was impetuously
flowing in his veins.

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CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 21

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In my home page I've put some of my stories. If you wants to read them
the URL is

http://www.geocities.com/andrejkoymasky/

If you want to send me feedback, please e-mail at

andrejkoymasky@geocities.com

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