Date: Fri, 27 May 2016 01:38:15 -0700
From: Jon Hold <jonhold@earthlink.net>
Subject: Modern Ranching 3 & 4

MMTT: Beginnings, Prolific authors


This story is protected by a curse! Unless you donate to Nifty, you are
allowed to read only every third word. Read more than that without donating
and all your pubic hair will fall out!


Modern Ranching
Chapters 3 & 4
by Jon Hold
Copyright ©2006, 2016 by the Author
Jonhold@earthlink.net



Chapter 3
Readjusting



Two miles from the gate into the ranch there was a small knoll with an old
oak tree right at the top. Billy was sitting under the tree with two
horses. Watching the road and praying that his brother would be alright,
whatever choices he made. His pinto mare, Queenie, lifted her head and
swiveled her ears forward. Using the binoculars Greg had given him he could
just make out the figure of someone trudging towards the ranch. He jumped
on Queenie and, leading the other horse, headed for his brother.

Tommy was red-faced and not sweating. Mr. Broadbent had told Billy about
heatstroke and how dangerous it was. He opened his canteen and emptied it
on his brothers head and shoulders to cool him down. Then he took the
canteen off the other horses saddlehorn and handed it to Tommy, who
immediately started gulping it down. Billy tried to get him to slow down
but was unsuccessful. Suddenly, Tommy stopped drinking and got a funny look
on his face, just before puking up all the water he'd drunk.

Billy held his brother and helped him wash the evil taste out of his
mouth. Then he convinced Tommy that if he just sipped the water he'd be
fine, Then he helped him get up on Sam, the second horse. "This is Sam,
Tommy. He's old and slow, but he'll get you home safely!" The boys rode
back to the ranch, both unwilling to start a conversation.

They rode as far as the barn and Billy told Tommy he'd put the horses up
and for Tommy to get to his cabin, his men were waiting for him.

It was a long, long walk to the cabin. The distance wasn't very far, but
dreading talking to those men and trying to figure out what it was it was
saying, was very foreboding. Tommy tried to figure out what he should say,
how he should say whatever it was he had to say, how he should act, what he
should do, what he shouldn't do, what he had to do, what he couldn't do at
all, and why... What... Who... Where... When... Round and round it went
inside his head until, here he stood. In front of the door. No more
excuses. It was time to face the music and Tommy wasn't sure he wanted to
face any sort of music at all.

Knock, knock, knock. Tommy taped on the door softly as he could, but it
sounded really loud to him. A voice from inside the cabin, but strangely
enough sounding just as scared and unsure as he was. "Come in, boy!"

Timidly, totally unsure of himself and what might happen inside, Tommy took
a deep breath and faced his fear. Four men were sitting on one side of the
bench seat table, staring at him. One of them said, "this is where you live
, son. You don't have to knock coming into your own home. But we appreciate
the courtesy."

Tommy took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I don't know for sure
what to do. I've learned some of the things I'm not supposed to do, but
that's probably not a lot of help figuring out what I'm supposed to do
instead. Will you please help me learn. One of the things I have learned is
how to listen."

Before men looked at each other and held a long conversation using only
their eyes, and expressions. Then one of them, the short burly one, the one
that looked like he could crush Tommy in one hand and not even notice. He
smiled and said, "that sounds a lot better, son. Wish you could've started
off saying something like that so we didn't have to go through all that
mean stuff. But that's all water under the bridge at this point. Best
forgotten, I reckon. We're still not too sure if you'll work out or
not. So, We're willing to start again from the very beginning. Is that
something you'd like to try?

Tommy just said, Yes,Sir."

 James, an older man, looked like he was the one who built the brick
shithouse in the first place quietly answered, "That it was fair to not
have us sitting in judgment of you, at least not until you get settled back
in."

 Swoosh, the tallest of the four, said, "yeah, we figured maybe we all need
a little bit more cooling down time. We talked to Cookie, and he said you
could go over there and work for him during the day, and come back here to
spend nights. We got that little cot for you, because none of us
particularly want you in bed with us."

Some how, being flatly rejected like that made him hurt inside. Hurt like
his heart was going to rip itself apart. Fighting to keep his tears from,
Tommy tried to say, "Yes, Sir", without notable success. Turning,
noticeably dejected, he shambled over to the little cot, laid down, and
immediately fell asleep. Not even covering himself and scrunched up into a
foetal position.

He woke before dawn, shivering under the light cotton blanket someone had
covered him with. He got up and noticed that someone had put an old
straight-backed kitchen chair at the head of his bed. His clothes were
stacked, clean and neat on the seat. His fancy boots on the floor. He was
completely dressed before the cock crowed and the other men started getting
up.

Darrell just stared at the boy for a good 10 minutes. "Well, I voted
against giving you another chance. But I was outvoted. So here you are. You
screw this up, you fuck somebody else over, you bother Cookie in any way,
and I will personally kick your ass all the way to the the next town. Do we
understand each other?"

Tommy, eyes wide open, looked right at Darrell, his face blushing, and
said, "Yes, Sir. I understand."

"Good," Darrell said, "see that you don't disappoint us again. Hell son,
you do good and we might even let you live."

Swoosh grinned, "such a deal!"

James said, "you are already late to get your ass over to the mess
hall. You can tell Cookie it's our fault you were late."

Tommy thanked everybody and went out the door closing it carefully behind
himself. Then he lit out running as hard as he could for the mess all. When
he came around the side of the mess hall there was cookie on the back
porch. Peeling potatoes. Tommy started to excuse himself for being late but
cookie raised a hand holding a lethal looking potato peeler and said,
"don't you worry about it, boy. I knew those gentlemen would keep you
late. It's not my custom to punish somebody for what somebody else
did. Just be sure you don't give me an excuse to whack you with a spoon for
being late on your own. Best sit down and I'll show you how I want you to
peel these potatoes."

Tommy watched Cookie for a few minutes and then picked up one of the potato
peeler's. Cookie said, "the idea is we want to get rid of all the peeling,
and is little of the potato itself as possible. For us, that just means we
don't have to feel as many potatoes. Not like most places where any potato
cut off is a waste. Around here the pigs love potato peelings and we'd need
a ton of them if the pigs could get them."

Tommy smiled at Cookie and they both settled into peeling potatoes in quiet
comradeship. As the day went on, cookie told Tommy that when he had
outdoors chores, not working with food, that it would be okay to strip off
naked if he wanted to, but when he was working with food, he had to stay
dressed, wash his hands and anything else that might it gotten dirty. He
was to wear hairnet or a hat at all times.

 At first Tommy was sort of scared of Cookie. He'd never seen anyone that
big before, and had never been that close to a Negro before. But, working
with the big man, being around him all day he actually realized that the
only thing scary about Cookie was his chipped beef on toast. As good a cook
as Cookie was, there just wasn't that much you could do with chipped beef
on toast. If you didn't like it, you just didn't like it!

Tommy surprised himself when he realized how much he liked cooking. He
liked it when Cookie paid attention to him and taught him how to cook
something. Cookie was rather surprised when he found out he really liked
this boy. The worthless piece of shit no good lowlife scum sucker that he
was supposed to be. Once Cookie got past the kids defenses, they had a good
time. They both loved to cook, they both loved picking on each other, and
they both loved dirty jokes! One day Cookie said to Tommy, "okay, you think
you can cook? You can use anything in this kitchen except a cookbook! I
want you to come up with your own dish and serve it to everybody at
dinner. We'll find out real quick if you belong in the kitchen or not.

Tommy was kind of scared, not sure if he could cut the mustard... or
fail. As he worked on his dish, Cookie was no help at all. In fact, the way
he was looking at what Tommy was doing really unsettled the boy. Meals were
served family style, nobody wanted to have a cafeteria to eat in. So the
food in big bowls or plates was put on the tables and guys just dug into
what they wanted. One of Tommy's jobs was to make sure that there was
plenty of food on the tables anything that got empty he had to have
refilled before went all the way empty.

He was running like crazy trying to keep up with the guys and not paying a
lot of attention to what was actually going on around him beyond doing what
he was told or asked to do. Asked.got a lot faster service! Most of the
guys picked up on that! Out of background babble Tommy heard Cookies
booming voice, "thanks guys but that's not a dish I made. My apprentice
created the potato salad.

Tommy didn't really understand at first, but then he looked around and
realized, that every bowl holding the potato salad he'd made, was empty and
the refills were all gone. He didn't really understand what was going on
except think that he'd done something else wrong.

 "No shit?"

 "No way man"

"What the hell..."

It started to dawn on everybody, including Tommy, that the new dish had
been invented and made by Tommy! It finally soaked through everybody's
thick heads that they actually liked something the kid had done!

The meal was pretty much over and Tommy was clearing the tables when Darrel
walked up to him. Intimidated, Tommy stopped working. Looking up... really
looking! Tommy saw a huge, powerful, Man. Broad, hairy chest. Biceps like
softballs. A good looking, powerful MAN. Tommy felt motion in his
pants. Motion caused by inflation.

Darrel put his big hand on Tommy's shoulder, "Good work, Boy! You're
learning!". Giving Tommy's shake, The big man ambled out of the Dining Hall
(If you valued eating and/or had some reluctance to endure a severe
beating, you never, ever said the words "chow hall" or "mess hall" or any
variant thereof in Cookies hearing. And Cookie had real good
hearing. Cookie worked in HIS kitchen and the men ate in HIS dining room!)
leaving a flabbergasted Tommy just standing there, mouth hanging open,
confused. Trying to understand what had just happened. Cookie was walking
by. Stopped. Looked at the boy. Smiled. Lifted Tommy's lower jaw back into
its proper position. "I don't know if he likes you yet, but he approves of
your effort. If you're not careful, you just might end up with a friend."

Tommy looked questioningly at Cookie.

Cookie just went about his business, chuckling to himself.

Now Tommy had two things to try and figure out.

After work, Cookie told Tommy to take the next day off so he could have
time to do something for his men. Tommy, not too sure he understood what
was going on, thanked Cookie and went looking for his younger brother.

Tony answered the door, "Hey! Hi, Tommy! What can I do for you?"

Surprised at the greeting he got from a man who wouldn't even look at him
without an ugly look on his face last week, Tommy managed to ask if his
brother were there.

Tony turned and asked if anyone knew where Billy was at. Brad answered, "I
helped him take that dirty old rag you call a rug outside so he could try
and beat some of the filth out of it! He's probably still out back trying
to clean the Augean Stables!"

That started an argument that left Tommy just standing there in the
doorway. Amos looked up from his reading, "Knowing, Billy, he's probably
still out back working".

"Thank you, Sir!", Tommy said, pulling the half-opened door closed before
heading out back. Billy was still beating on the rug, ably assisted by his
mentor, the huge cowboy called, "Greg".



Chapter 4 Billy & Tommy


"Hi, Tommy! How's it hangin'?"

"Alone!, Can we talk sometime?"

Billy turned to face his bed mate, "Greg?"

"You guys take off. Brothers are lots more important than rug cleaning!"

"Thanks, Greg. I owe you a favor. If you ever need anything, just ask and
I'll consider your request."

By the time the rug beater got to where he had been, Billy had grabbed his
big brother's hand and disappeared around the corner of the wash room, his
laughter fading as the boys kept running. Greg smiled. He was constantly
surprised by his little buddy and he had come to love the boy's antics.

Billy led the way to the barn, Tommy close behind him. Billy stopped and
thought for a minute. Then he looked at his brother and started up the
ladder to the "Fort" he'd built out of bales of straw in the back corner of
the loft. Once they were both inside and the old blanket "door" was closed,
Tommy looked around in amazement. Shelves made out of bits and
pieces. Books, flashlight batteries, cans of food, bottles of water. Just
about anything you might need to hide out or spend an afternoon living a
boys fantasy. Anything except anything to do with fire. Billy made it clear
that if he ever found anything associated with fire he'd throw whatever it
was into the outhouse and tear down the hide-a-way!

The boys laid down on the floor and talked, catching up with each
other. Finally, Tommy asked, "How do you get along with your guys so well?

"Huuuuuuuum... Well, two main things: First, I don't take any shit from
them, Two, I do all the little tasks for them that I can, cleaning, house
and laundry, and third..."

"Hey! You said two things!"

"I lied!"

That broke the tension between the two brothers. They started
laughing—together. Really, truly, from the gut laughing. The more
tension they released the harder they laughed. Billy had been aware for
some time that it was his mother who caused most of the strife and unrest
in his family. Tommy, his belly hurting he was laughing so hard, suddenly
remembered how he and his little brother used to laugh and play together
all the time. Right up to the time their mother broke up a game they were
playing. She was quite clear that she had no intention of raising wild,
undisciplined children. SHE was going to raise only sophisticated young
gentlemen! She moved Tommy to another bedroom on a different floor of "her"
mansion and forbade visiting between the boys.

There was much more to it than that, but neither brother was in an
analytical frame of mind at that moment. Another memory popped up out of
the past an the next thing Billy knew he was the subject of an all-out
tickle attack! Screaming "NOT FAIR!" while trying to protect his ribs and
armpits while struggling to get away, all at the same time totally without
any notable success. Then he remembered something Brad, the foreman, had
said, "the best defense is a good offense!" Waiting for just the right
moment Billy cut loose with a huge, odoriferous fart, right into Tommy's
face.

Eyes burning, tears running down his cheeks, gagging from the fumes caused
by SOMEBODY helping themselves to all of Cookies wonderful chili he could
eat—BEFORE Cookie had added the bean-o gas suppressor to the powerful
mixture! He'd been helping Greg with the carpets because he'd been ejected
from the house until he quit passing "that deadly gas!".

Remembering that Tommy was horribly, totally ticklish in his armpits, Billy
immediately went into attack mode. It didn't take long for Tommy to "cry
Uncle". Billy gave mercy, and led his nearly blind victim out to fresh
air. In a few minuets both boys were headed for the swimming hole, having
already stripped off their smelly clothing and left it behind.

After swimming and helping each other scrub down with fine sand from the
bottom of the swimming hole, the boys climbed to the top of a huge flat
topped granite boulder to dry in the sun... and talk.

"And number three was...?"

"Number three what?" Billy asked innocently.

Tommy gave him a big brother look that meant he was about to get pounded.

Billy just grinned back, and then started to explain: "Doing chores is
important, it lets everyone know that you're at least trying to help out by
doing your job! It's just as important for us to learn how to set sensible
limits, and not let anyone try to walk all over us.

"The third thing is trickier, Tommy. It's something you've really got to
figure out on your own. I'll help all I can, Heck, any of the guys will
help if you ask politely!

"You may have noticed that there's very few women around here."

"Yeah! Like none."

"Or even less!" Both boys grinned

"Thing is, just because there's no wimmin, it doesn't mean that the guys
don't get horney. Trust me on this! Horney is what we have the most of
around here! In my cabin we all take a shower together after dinner has
settled. We help each other bathe, we talk and bring each other up to
date... and anyone who's horney pops wood so I'll know who would like some
"Professional Attention!" As Greg calls it. Usually everyone has wood
before we finish getting undressed! The guys usually play "Rock, Paper,
Scissors" or flip a bar of soap or whatever to see who goes first, second
and like that there. Sometimes they just know who's in special need,
sometimes I have a preference. Sometimes I just save time and do all four
of them at the same time."

"ALL FOUR?"

"Yep! One in my mouth, one in each hand, and one firmly ensconced in my
ass. It can be a lot of fun, especially once you've taught your men to
trust each other. Once they realize that you're not being forced, that you
actually enjoy making them happy. That making them happy is what makes YOU
happy! Well, at that point they start giving eachother permission to talk
about anything they want or need. That leads to them giving permission to
each other to touch and help a buddy with washing his back or getting his
dick back into the right hole or whatever else might come up. If you are
good you can get your guys at ease with their buddy's to do a little
hugging and kissing.

"When it's time to sack out, YOU need to decide which bunk you want to
sleep in. And THAT can be the most fun ever!"

"You sleep with all your guys?"

BIG grin, "Well, we don't always sleep!"

"Oh, SHIT! They fuck you all night long?"

"Sometimes. Remember, Tommy, I'm telling you how I do it, NOT how you
should do it! Let's back up a little. Is there any of your guys you really
don't like?"

"It ain't like that, Billy. The guys all get along fine. They're good
men. I'm the problem. I'm the one always fucking up!"

Billy could tell that his brother was about to go off the deep end
again. He put the skids under that crap immediately. "You WERE the fuck-up
Tommy. You WERE. Past tense! It's a whole new world and all the guys are
happy to see you trying to start over with a better attitude this
time. Hell, Tommy. It's not like they've never fucked-up themselves. You
treat them fair, they'll treat you fair.

"Next important thing, What parts of sex do you especially like?"

Tommy just kind of ducked his head and shrugged his shoulders.

Billy's eyes got bright. "Tommy. Are you a virgin?"

A bright red face was Tommy's answer.

"No Shit! Oh... we gotta fix that. Until you know at least a little bit
about sex and men, we're wasting our time. Come with me!" Billy grabbed
Tommy by the hand and half led, half dragged his big brother back to his
cabin. Once there he dragged Tommy over to where Daniel and Darrel, a long
term partnership were playing checkers.

"Well! You two callous fuck-ups having a good time?"

Both white haired gentlemen looked at Billy with a `What-the-fuck? Aren't
you dead yet' look on their faces.

"All four of you sick-o perverts are piss poor excuses for actual people!"

James, all 6' 9" of built like a brick shithouse studliness, got up and
headed for Billy.

"Oh! You want some of this too Mr. Torquemada? Come on! Greg's been looking
for an excuse to kick your sadistic, self-centered, thoughtless, jerky
ass!"

Swoosh, laying in his bed reading, put his book down and laughed. "Little
Bit! You about to get your own lips wrapped around that pouty asshole of
yours, and I'm gonna watch!"

"OK! Before the actual fight starts, did any of you bother talking to my
brother before condemning him and taking punitive action."

No one had anything to say.

So Billy helped them out, "Had you talked to my brother beyond giving him
orders, there's as few things you might have discovered. Like:

"1) He was raised by an indulgent, paranoid, possessive bitch who wouldn't
even let our father talk to `Her Precious Baby'.

"2) He was spoiled rotten.

"3) He's never done anything even remotely resembling work.

"4) He'd never had to deal with an adult male that wasn't a paid servant of
some sort.

"5) You perceptive "gentle?men?" didn't have the first clue that you were
dealing with a 100%, true-blue, USDA certified VIRGIN! He doesn't even know
about wanking his poor, lonely Johnson!

"You prime studs cornered him, terrified him, and then ever-so-carefully
beat the crap out of an already bruised ego. Congratulations Philistines,
you've managed to conquer a hapless virgin!

Glaring around, Billy looked at each of the four men, and his brother. In a
much quieter, less strident voice, "Tommy, you get scared, you get confused
or in over your head, don't keep it to yourself. TELL SOMEBODY. Doesn't
have to be a big deal. A simple `I'm scared' should be enough. Worse comes
to worse, you just come back to my cabin. Daniel, Darrel, I really expected
better from you. Thank god you were never a scared kid, or ever seen one!
James, go sit in the corner and try to figure out why you wanted to pick on
someone a quarter your size who's never seen a cock anywhere near the size
of yours. Kinda might sorta be sorta kinda sorta scary to a virgin who's
never been allowed to attend a gym class, public pool, or anywhere else he
might see someone naked. Swoosh, try to not say anything particularly
stupid, and, if my big brother asks you, show him how good you are at the
whole sex thing. Meanwhile my men are waiting for me."

Billy went storming out, slamming the door shut. HARD! Dead silence
prevailed as everyone tried to sort out the last five minutes. Swoosh
finally spoke up, "Hey. You really a virgin?"

James: "Swoosh! You fucking idiot! That's just the sort of thing we NOT
supposed to say!"

Darrel: "James, calm down! And you Swoosh, please take the time to think
before you open your mouth. And you have seen virgins before. Hell, you
were a virgin until I fucked your brains out.

Tommy: "You guys leave Swoosh alone. At least he's being honest.

Swoosh: "Yeah! What he said! So, are you?"

Tommy hung his head and mumbled something totally inaudible.

Swoosh: Eagerly getting up, "Yep! He's a virgin alright!"

Daniel: "Sit down Swoosh! Boy don't need you jumping his bones." Looking
Tommy over, he saw, not softness, but flaccidity. Not the hard young body
of a normal teenager. Fat or skinny, teenagers usually had muscle tone and
at least some definition. Feeling the muscles of the boys arm was like
handling soft putty. The kid was just strong enough to walk short
distances, feed himself, wipe his ass, and very little else. In contrast,
the muscles in the boys forearms were tough cords and the tissue was hard
and ridged. His ability to type and play Ninentendo were probably awesome.

Billy was an outgoing, active, strong and eager kid. Tommy was a total
couch potato---with virtually no social skills.

"Tommy, why are you and Billy so different?"

Tommy: "Billy was sent to a boarding school. The only times I got to see
him was at christmas. Even then he usually wasn't there but two-maybe three
days. Mother said that she didn't want him to teach me bad things. He got
to see Dad all the time. They'd go fishing on weekends and all sorts of
other fun things. I got to go out once. Mother told my tutor and the
chauffeur to take me to the zoo. I came back with an upset stomach from all
the junk food I ate, and sunburned like a lobster. I'd had a wonderful
time. Mother called the doctor for me and fired the tutor and the chauffeur
and it was the last time I was allowed a "Field trip".

"Mom took my temperature at least four or five times a day to help her
decide if `I was coming down with something.' If she determined I was, I
was subjected immediately to one or more enemas a day, moms homemade
"medicines, and every homeopathic mixture the lady at the health food store
could come up with."

Secretly, Billy set up a "Mail Drop" with one of our neighbors so we could
keep in touch with each other. I was very jealous of all the things he got
to do. He was jealous that I got to live at home. I was amazed when he said
that one of the upperclassmen taught him how to suck dick and later he told
me in explicit detail how his favorite gym teacher copped his cherry. I
asked Billy to write what he got to do in great detail.

The next letter from him had a detailed account, including every move of
the chess tournament he'd won. I ranted and raved and called him everything
but nice in my next letter. He thanked me for falling for his joke! `He
kissed and made up' by telling me every detail of how he and his classmates
jumped his gym teacher (the old one, not his favorite) and every boy took
turns raping the old curmudgeon. He also described how very hard it was to
rape the willing!

"Does that give you an idea of why we're so different?"

The guys just sat there, staring at Tommy. Swoosh finally broke the
trance... "So, you just made that up, right?"

The other guys threw stuff at Swoosh and told him to go stick his head in a
toilet.

Tommy kind of curled up and tears kept leaking down his face.

James, who Tommy came to know as a big softy, walked over to the boys bed,
picked him up, went over and sat down in Darrel's rocking chair, holding
the embarrassed young man and just sat there holding the boy—the entire
night, stroking the boy whenever he started having a nightmare. At bedtime
Darrel and Daniel came over and kissed the boy good-night, on his soft
lips. Swoosh leaned over and said, "any time you want to learn something,
ride a horse, fuck a whore or kiss a cows butt, just ask me. I'll teach you
whatever you want to learn!"

Tommy's internal alarm-clock went off promptly at 0430 (4:30am). He woke up
and tried to get out of bed. The bed grabbed him! "Beds can't do that" was
his first thought of the day. Carefully, Tommy opened his eyes He was warm
and comfy—and staring directly into James' eyes, to say almost nothing
of the big cylindrical object throbbing and pulsing against his
butt. Pushing away, Tommy said very simply, "Excuse me Mr. James. I gotta
go to work."

The boy asked Charlie if he could please have the afternoon off, he needed
to do some cleaning. Charlie took Tommy the back of his neck, "You take
care of your men good, you hear! They good men."

"Thanks Cookie" the boy said, blushing, and turning to his work. Tommy
worked hard that morning, doing his best to do a full days work that
morning. Cookie made him stop at 1130 so he could eat some lunch before he
headed to his chores. The sweating boy protested. They usually ate after
every one had eaten. Just before the meals was the busiest times in the
kitchen, and he could make some sandwiches to take with him.

Charlie bopped his boy in the back of his head, "You're a growing boy. Sit
down and eat!"

Tommy scarfed the Irish stew served over mashed potatoes and a big glass of
ice cold apple juice. Putting his dishes in the sink he yelled, "Thanks
Cookie!" and ran off towards the cabins. Billy was already there, waiting
for him. The two boys worked together ll afternoon, Billy teaching Tommy
how to run the camps commercial washing machine, hang clothes, sweep and
mop, make beds, fold and put away sun fresh clothing, and scrub the showers
until they were spotless. The boys were sitting on the porch, gossiping and
barely noticing the men coming home from work, who clouded up, seeing the
boys lazing around.

Two minutes later all four men came pouring out, looking for wise-assed
boys—who were already running away, laughing their asses off. Billy was
no dummy, and Tommy was learning fast.

After HIS men were asleep Tommy returned to his cabin, stripped off his
clothes and put them away. Taking his sunshine smelling towel, Tommy walked
naked to the showers. Ten minutes later he walked back to his bunk and hung
up his towel. Taking a deep breath, Tommy walked over to the nearest
bed. Standing there for a moment to calm his nerves, he said, almost
whispering, "Mr. James..."



-----
Man can live without air for seconds, without water for days, without food
for weeks, and without ideas for years. 
     ----Dr. Laurence J. Peter