Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 20:32:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Thomas Gaige <togaige@yahoo.com>
Subject: My Step-Brother Jacob - Chapter 52
DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions
of sexual activities between teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years
of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this
material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you
choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it!
My Step-Brother Jacob
Chapter 52
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Uh, yeah," I said.
"Oh my God!" Jenny said, "I would never have guessed you were gay or bi
or whatever you are. I mean the way you and Lynn were. Although
everyone is wondering about Andy. A lot of people suspect that he's
gay. I mean he's not all swish and faggy, but there's something about
him - OH GOD, I'm sorry John, I didn't mean it the way it sounded!"
I chuckled as Jenny blushed deeply. I said, "that's OK, no offense
taken. Anyway, Andy's a really great guy, and I'm completely in love
with him!"
"Um, well, I'm happy for you then John," she said, looking out to sea.
"Jenny, can I ask you not to tell anyone about this please?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure, I won't tell anyone," she said, reaching down and picking up
a shell.
"Thanks Jenny, you're the greatest!" I said.
Jenny forced a smile and said, "C'mon, let's go play some volleyball!"
She took off running back to the group, with me jogging along behind her.
A new volleyball game was underway when we got back. Andy looked at us
as we returned, and missed the ball, which whizzed by his face. His
teammates all hollered at him to pay attention, as the other team
snickered. I was surprised to see Jenny go directly over to Andy. She
put an arm around him and whispered into his ear for a minute, then
hugged him. Andy smiled warmly at her, and I heard him say "Thanks".
Jenny broke away from him and ran under the net and took a position
playing against Andy's team. Andy looked at me and grinned. I grinned
back, as I joined his team.
* * *
Once we'd played a couple more games of volleyball, everyone was hot and
tired. The girls opted to lay in the sun and continue tanning, while
most of the guys decided it was time for a swim. I decided I'd best
check on the boys once too. They'd been in the ocean now for almost two
hours! We grabbed our boogie boards and headed for the swimming area.
Just as we got there, Harry washed up on the beach in front of us on his
board, followed quickly by Scott, then Jacob, and finally John. All four
of them looked exhausted, but were smiling.
"Enjoying yourselves fellas?" Legs asked, as he and the other guys walked
into the water and plowed past them.
"This is SO MUCH FUN!" Harry exclaimed.
We all grinned. I told Harry I was glad he was enjoying himself. All
the boys started chattering then, telling Andy and I all about the
waves. When they'd finally calmed down a bit, I suggested that the four
of them go rest a little while and have a soda. They thought that was a
good idea, but said they'd hoped to swim with us a while. I told them to
go rest a bit, that we could all go in again later. So they headed back
to our blankets and coolers, while Andy and I headed out into the water.
"Oh bloody hell!" Andy exclaimed as the water reached his genitals.
I snickered and said, "it'll feel warmer to you soon!"
"That's not it at all," Andy said, "I need to pee! I should've gone
before we came out here!"
I started roaring then.
"What's so bloody funny?" Andy said, looking miserably at me.
"Andy! You're standing in the world's largest toilet! Just let your
piss flow man! Look at me! I'm peeing right now!" I said.
"You ARE?" Andy asked, "oh how vile!....however...."
He stood still for a moment, and then a small smile spread across his
face, and he let out a happy little sigh.
I laughed again, and said, "OK Whizzer! C'mon! Let's ride some waves!"
"Um John, I don't know how to!" Andy said looking at me.
I noticed he quickly began studying the people around us, trying to
figure out what to do with his board.
Snickering I said, "It's easy. For now, just follow me. We'll float on
them and swim out to where the guys are. But attach the strap to your
wrist first!"
I showed him how to fasten the wrist strap. Then, I flopped down onto my
board, on my stomach, and started to paddle with my hands. Andy followed
along. Finally we reached the guys, who were all laying on their boards,
parallel to shore, looking out to sea, waiting for a good wave. We
joined them. A couple minutes went by, while we bobbed up and down on
some mediocre waves, then finally, a big one started to roll.
"This is it!" I yelled to Andy, "Hang onto your board!"
Everyone quickly swung around so they were facing shore, then looked
behind them. Andy quickly followed suit. His eyes got huge though as he
looked behind us at the approaching wave. Quickly he looked back toward
the beach.
"I'm not so sure I want to do this John!" Andy yelled at me.
"No getting out of it now Bud! Relax! Just try to hold your balance!
You'll love it!" I hollered back.
A couple seconds later, the wave hit, and we were all riding it toward
shore. It was awesome! We were all yelling and hollering as we rode the
wave, then one by one, the guys started wiping out. Andy held on
though. In the end, only he, Turkey, and I made it all the way to shore.
When we stood up, I looked at Andy who was panting.
"Well?" I asked.
"Fucking Bloody Brilliant!" he exclaimed, grinning, "Can we go again?"
Turkey and I roared, as Andy grinned at us. When we finally stopped
laughing, we headed back out into the ocean. We spent a good hour or so
riding the waves. Andy loved it. He even liked it when he wiped out!
* * *
Eventually, we got tired, thirsty, and hungry, so one by one we all
dropped out and headed back to our spot on the beach. When we got there,
we found the boys were engrossed in digging a sand fort. We made them
stop for lunch.
Between all our coolers, we had a raft of sandwiches, sodas, and snacks.
Everyone ate well, then we all pitched in and worked on the boys' fort
with them. When we were done, it was huge! The biggest sand fort I'd
ever seen on any beach. It had pits, castles, fortress walls, and
moats. The tide had started to come in by the time we were finished with
it, and the moats kept filling with water, much to the boys' enjoyment.
Eventually Andy whispered to me, "John, I have to pee again!"
I snickered and said, "Well, there's a bathroom down there, OR we could
call it time to ride some more waves!"
"Definitely more wave riding!" Andy exclaimed.
The boys were all ready to get back in the water again too. I told
everyone they needed to reapply their sunblock though, before we went.
We all slathered ourselves, and each other up again, then headed back to
the swimming area.
As we waded in, Andy stopped as soon as the water had reached the top of
his trunks. He stood a moment, and grinned at me as he emptied his
bladder into the ocean. I stood a few feet away, and emptied my own as
well. I noticed most of the other guys were doing the same. When we'd
finished, we headed out further, and spent another hour riding the waves
with the boys. Some of my friends joined us again. Others stayed back
on the beach relaxing. Eventually, I'd had enough, and suggested that we
get out and rest a while ourselves, so we all headed back to the shore.
Andy trailed behind us, stopping to stand still a minute again in waist
deep water, before following us.
The moat on our fort was full of water when we returned, and a couple of
the front turrets had collapsed. The boys immediately went to work
repairing and bolstering the fort walls. They spent the rest of the
afternoon happily working on it.
The rest of us relaxed, lying on our towels in the sun. I was watching
the boys as I relaxed. It was funny. I noticed that whenever a good
looking guy walked by, all four of the boys stopped to stare at them a
moment. I noticed that the twins stopped and watched whenever any good
looking girls passed by as well! I found this interesting, given their
penchant for pleasuring each other. They both were most interested when
girls with larger breasts went by, especially if they were wearing a
bikini!
As the afternoon wore down, I told the boys it was almost time to go!
They were all disappointed, and Scott yelled, "but we never even flew our
kites yet!"
Chuckling I said, "Well, you've got about 20 minutes yet, so go ahead!"
They all rummaged through the bag of kites we'd brought and each found
one to fly. Andy, the guys and I watched as the four boys flew their
kites for a few minutes. Finally, I told them to reel them in. Once
they'd put them away, we packed up all our stuff, said goodbye to the
guys, and headed back to the street.
"Yuck! I'm a sticky mess!" Andy complained, as we headed for the path
through the dunes.
"There's a fresh water shower at the end of the path," I said, "that's
why we come to this beach entrance!"
"Really?" He asked. "Well isn't that rather nifty!"
On the other side of the dunes, we stopped and shook out our towels and
blankets. Then, we all showered the sand and salt off under the shower,
before heading to the car. We stowed everything in the trunk, except our
towels, which I made them all sit on in the car on our way
home.
* * *
It was 5:30 when we got home. Grandma was in the kitchen getting supper
ready. She told us all to go shower. Andy and I used the shower first,
finishing up quickly, so we could go run all the towels through the
laundry and help cook supper. The boys showered afterward. All of us
had sunburns, but they weren't too bad. The sunblock, which was
waterproof, seemed to have worked for the most part. I sprayed everybody
with Solarcaine though, just the same.
For supper, I grilled cheeseburgers and Grandma deep fried tater tots,
while Andy made a salad. We all wolfed down our meal. Later we watched
some TV, but each one of us dozed off early. Eventually, Grandma poked
all of us and sent us to bed. We all went willingly, and I don't think
any of us bothered with sex, we were so tired.
* * *
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast of omlets, then Grandma
insisted we all go to church.
After church, as we were getting dinner ready, Mike's brother Brian
called. He wondered if I'd be able to meet him later at Mike's grave.
He wanted to talk. I told him I was jamming with the band later, but
could meet him in the evening if he wanted. We agreed to meet at 7:00.
Oddly, he asked me to come alone. I agreed.
We had a nice baked ham dinner at 1:00. After we helped clean up, it was
time to go meet the guys. Andy was going to come with me and hang out
while we jammed. The boys wanted to go skateboarding at a park nearby.
Harry and Jacob had both brought their boards with them from London, and
the twins had their own. I grabbed my guitar, and the boys grabbed their
skateboards and we all took off. Andy and I dropped the boys at the
skate park, and continued on to Turkey's house. When we arrived,
everyone else was there except Boner and Julian, who appeared a few
minutes after we did.
After we'd all set up, Boner asked Julian to play a couple of solos for
us, which he did. He played very well, in fact, he played just as good
as Mike used to. I asked him if he could read music, and he said he
could, so I had him play some of our music. He did well with that too,
so we all joined him and played and sang a couple of songs. By the time
we'd been playing together for a half hour, it was obvious that Jewels
was one of us. We'd found our replacement for Mike. As happy as we were
about that, it also made us all extremely sad. It was like we were
saying a final good-bye to Mike again. In fact, it felt almost like we
were trying to erase Mike from everyone's memory by replacing him. As I
sat thinking about it for a moment, I had a sudden thought.
"Guys!" I said, "I think our band needs a new name! Losing Mike, and
bringing Jewels into the band changes things anyway. I'd prefer to think
that 'The Six Pack' disbanded, and that the six of us are a new band. It
doesn't mean we can't play our old music - that's our's. We own it. It
just seems to me we need to go by a new name. It could be like a sequel
to a good movie! And by not using our old name, we'd be honoring Mike's
memory."
"What do you want to call us then?" Legs asked.
"I don't know, just NOT 'The Six Pack'," I said.
"Something with 'Six' in it yet though," Craig said.
We thought a while and came up with several ideas. Nothing sounded right
until Julian said, "how about 'The Six Stars'?"
Turkey said, "Or 'The Six Shooting Stars'?"
"Or just 'The Six-Shooters'!" I said.
"I like that!" Boner said, "like 'six-shooter' revolvers!"
"Or the tall shot glasses," Legs said, "not bad, not bad at all."
"You may just have something there," Craig said.
We discussed it some more, and in the end decided that we'd change our
name to 'The Six-Shooters'. Turkey dug out a bottle of his father's
'Jack Daniels' and poured us each, appropriately so, a shooter of it. He
was going to give Andy a shooter of JD too, but Andy emphatically
declined, saying this was something very special that should be shared
only by the members of the band. Since he'd brought my camera along
though, he did take several pictures of us, as we toasted our new band -
'The Six-Shooters'.
As we sat talking, a strange thing happened. Turkey's yearbook had been
sitting on a shelf. It suddenly fell off the shelf, and when it did, it
fell on the floor, face-up, open to the page that dedicated the book to
Mike. When we all looked in its direction after it fell, there was Mike
smiling at us. Everyone was spooked at first. Staring at Mike's smiling
countenance though, I got the impression it was his way of letting us
know he was still with us, and that he approved of what we were doing.
I picked up the bottle of JD and held it up to Mike and said, "You'll
always be a part of us Boob! I miss you bruv, more than you know!" Then
I took a swig.
Legs took the bottle and toasted Mike similarly. And so it went, right
around the room, until it came to Julian. Boner didn't know whether to
hand him the bottle or not, but Jewels took it, raised it and said, "I
wish I'd gotten to meet you Mike. You must've been a really great guy,
because these guys love you so much. I'm glad I'm not just a replacement
for you in your old band, and that we've formed a new one, because I know
I could never have filled your shoes!" He took a swig then too.
Everyone grinned at Julian and thanked him for his tribute.
We sat around a little longer talking. We tried to decide on a logo for
the band, but couldn't agree on revolvers or shooter-style shot glasses.
We talked about writing a new song, and dedicating it to Mike. I said
I'd work on that a little and see if I couldn't come up with a base for
it, then we could all add to it. Then we talked about practicing a
couple times a week, at least until it was time for us to go back to
England. We also wanted to try and audition again for that talent scout
who'd heard us play.
Andy had been sitting quietly behind us all the time we were talking, and
finally he said, "I don't want to butt in, but I have an idea for your
logo."
We all looked at him as he held up a sheet of paper he'd been drawing on
with a pencil. Then he launched into a description of what he'd drawn,
"I'm no artist, but this'll give you the idea. You guys said it all
yourself. The band's name could indicate pistols, or shooter glasses,
and you all want Mike to always be with you. Well, how about a pair of
crossed six-shooter pistols over a bottle of whiskey that's surrounded by
six shooter glasses. And the bottle of whiskey can have Mike's picture
on it."
We all just sat and stared for a minute, then all at once we were all
talking. Everyone thought it was a great idea. Especially Mike's
picture.
"You're fucking fantastic Andy!" Boner declared, and he got up and
grabbed Andy and gave him a noogie.
Everyone else jumped up then and gathered around Andy, telling him what a
great idea it was. Andy was all smiles. Turkey picked up the bottle of
JD, which only had a little bit left in the bottom. He handed it to Andy
and said, "You get the last swig! We may be a six member band, but
you're a part of us too!"
Andy grinned and took the bottle. He looked toward Mike's picture and
raised the bottle and said, "You will ALWAYS be with your friends Mike!
I wish we'd gotten to know one another better and had become friends.
Here's to you!" Then he downed the rest of the bottle.
We talked a little more afterward, but it was getting to be suppertime,
so we all took off. Andy and I drove by the skate park and picked up the
boys and went back to Grandma's.
* * *
We had a lunch of egg salad sandwiches and cups of Manhattan style clam
chowder for supper, with brownies and ice cream for dessert. Then I had
to leave for the cemetery to meet Brian. I felt guilty about leaving
Andy behind, but he insisted he understood, and said he was going to hang
out with the boys, so I told him I'd see him later. I took off for the
cemetery then, stopping at the store to pick up a bouquet on my way.
* * *
I saw Mike's shiny red Firebird sitting in the lane between the rows of
gravestones as I wended my way through the cemetery toward his grave.
When I got there, I parked behind it. I saw Brian sitting next to Mike's
grave. He had a bottle of Jack Daniels and a box with him. He smiled
warmly and got up as I got out of my car.
"Hey Bri, how ya doin'?" I said, when I reached him, as he grabbed me and
hugged me.
"I'm OK John, how're you?" he asked when he finally released me.
"Good man," I said.
I noticed Brian's eyes looked watery. He told me to sit down, so I sat
down opposite him, on the other side of Mike's grave. I added my bouquet
of carnations to another bouquet that was lying up against Mike's
gravestone. I guessed Brian must've brought the other one. We talked a
few minutes about what we'd been doing over the last few months, then
Brian got to the point of our visit.
"I want to thank you for giving me the combination to Mike's foot
locker," Brian said, "it enabled me to finally get it open without having
to break into it."
"Glad I could help out, but like I told you, it wasn't me, it was Mike.
He told me about it when I died in the ER after Andy's father shot me. I
was at the gates of Heaven, and Lynn, my Mother, my Dad, and Mike all
came to see me. Mike told me the combination then." I said.
"Well, however you got it, I'm glad you did. That footlocker had a lot
of things in it. I finally think I know who my little brother was!"
Brian said, smiling ruefully. "I only wish I'd known him like this
before he killed himself. Maybe if I did, he wouldn't have!"
"So, what was in the foot locker?" I asked, wanting to change the
subject, and being unable to curb my curiosity at the same time.
"This bottle, for one thing," Brian said, "Apparently he kept a bottle in
there for when he felt the need for a shot. This is just the way I found
it."
Brian held up the half empty fifth of Jack Daniels.
"He'd have wanted us to share the rest of this," Brian said, as he opened
the bottle. He lifted it in a toast, and said, "Here's to you Bro!"
Then he took a big swig before handing me the bottle.
I took the bottle, and held it up. "I love you and miss you so much
Mike!" I said, then I took a long swig. When I finished, I tipped the
bottle and dribbled a tiny amount on Mike's grave, "here's some for you
too Bruv!"
Brian grinned as I handed the bottle back to him. He capped it and set
it aside. Then he opened the box.
"Along with the bottle were all kinds of things that meant something to
Mike," he said. "All kinds of treasures he collected, some porn he
didn't want Mom or Dad to find - or me either I guess - considering the
content, and all of his journals. I didn't even know he was keeping a
journal, but he has been for the past five years. He was quite a
writer. There's a couple dozen notebooks full. He wrote in them daily.
There was also an envelope addressed to you with some things in it."
He handed me a large lumpy manilla envelope. It had my name on it,
written in Mike's large scrawl. Then he handed me another smaller, flat
manilla envelope.
"The smaller one is some pictures I thought you'd like copies of, so I
had them made for you. The larger one is the envelope Mike left for
you. I didn't open it, and don't know what's in it. I figured it was
private," he said. "I did read all his journals though, cover to cover.
That's what's in this box. I thought you should read them, since you are
mentioned in them the most. You were real important to him, as you'll
see. So I'm gonna let you borrow them for a while. I'd like them back
before you go back to England though."
"Wow! Thanks! I'd love to see what Mike had to say," I said.
"Some of it might surprise you, a lot won't," Brian said. "For the
record, I wouldn't have cared if things had worked out the way he had
hoped they would. It would've been OK with me."
I looked at Brian questioningly.
"You'll see at the end. But if I were you, I'd read them in order,"
Brian said. "Oh, and I'm the only one in my family who knows about these
journals. Please don't tell anyone else about them, or about anything
you read in them. I don't want my parents to know. They're having a
hard enough time, and Mike wouldn't have wanted them to know everything
that's in them anyway."
"OK," I said.
Brian opened the bottle of JD then and took another swig, then he handed
it to me. I took a swig too, and put the cap back on, which he'd handed
me. Brian got up then and told me he thought I should keep the bottle,
and that he had to get going. He said we could get together again, after
I'd read the journals. Then he took off quickly.
I opened the envelope of pictures and took them out. There were quite a
few, and they were good. I remembered almost all of them. Most of them
were of both me and Mike. Some were of just Mike, a couple of just me,
and a few of the two of us and our friends. They were great pictures. I
was glad that Brian had them made up for me. Eventually I put them back
in the envelope and then opened the envelope from Mike.
In the envelope was: a letter to me on a folded sheet of paper, the gold
chain necklace Mike had always worn, a rawhide bracelet he'd always worn,
his high school ring, several sheets of music written in his handwriting,
and a very strange zip-lock sandwich baggie.
The zip-lock baggie had an index card in it with a series of numbers and
letters written on it. There was another card behind it that had a dark
red stain on it. It looked like blood. There was also a chunk of hair
that looked just like Mike's hair in the bottom of the bag. That kind of
freaked me out. Attached to the outside of the bag was a note to me. It
said: "John, Can't explain this. But it's of utmost importance! You
MUST keep it always! Someday it will mean something! When it does -
you'll understand! Until then, don't tell ANYONE about this! You're the
only one I can trust with this! I'm counting on you! Thanks Bruv!
Mike"
"What the fuck?" I muttered to myself.
I read the letter then.
It said:
"Horse! If you're reading this, I'm dead. Please don't blame yourself.
I'm sorry about the letter I sent you earlier tonight, but I can't get it
back now. I don't blame you. I love you. And I know you love me. But
I know you don't love me like I love you. You love Andy that way
instead. It's OK. I'm not mad at you. I just can't live this way
though. It's my problem, not your's. Be happy with Andy. By the way,
I'm sorry I said I hated him in the letter. I don't. I think if it
wasn't for my feelings for you, I'd really have liked him a lot. Anyway,
I'll love you forever Bruv! Mike"
Tears filled my eyes as I read and re-read the short letter from Mike. I
took another swig of Mike's JD, then re-capped it, and packed everything
up, as it was starting to get dark. I put everything in the box. Then I
got up.
"I did Love you Mike. I still do. You're right though that I didn't
love you like I love Andy. I'm sorry it turned out this way. If I'd
known about your true feelings before I went to England, maybe things
would've been different. I don't know. What I really wish is that you'd
been open with me when I got here with Andy. Maybe we could've helped
you! I miss you so much! I love you so much!"
Tears started running down my cheeks, as I stood looking down at Mike's
grave. Clouds were building up in the west, and I could hear thunder
rumbling.
"I'll be back Bruv!" I said, as I turned and walked back to my car. I
set the box on the passenger seat, then got in and drove away.
* * *
Thick black clouds were rolling overhead as I neared Grandma's house,
lightning was flashing and thunder was rumbling loudly. I quickly parked
the car in the driveway, rolled up the windows, grabbed Mike's box, and
ran for the back porch. Just as I ran up the stairs and under the roof
over the deck, the heavens opened up, and it began pouring.
"Good timing!" Grandma exclaimed, as I stumbled in the back door.
"Yeah, it's really coming down," I said.
Just then there was a bright flash of lightning and a tremendous clap of
thunder and all the lights went out.
"Well, that was to be expected I guess," Grandma said, as we heard a
couple of squeals from the living room.
As the rain pounded down outside, Grandma set about lighting some
candles, and Andy and the boys all straggled into the kitchen. The twins
opted for us all to return to the livingroom to sit, rather than
gathering at the kitchen table, as the kitchen table was too close to the
windows to suit them. So we took the candles and all went into the
living room and sat down. The twins planted themselves, one on either
side of me as I snickered.
I leaned back and pulled both boys back with me. They both snuggled up
to me comfortably. We sat in the candle light chatting for a while
then. After about half an hour, the rain stopped, and a few minutes
later, the lights came back on. Things returned to normal then. Andy and
the boys immediately went back to watching the movie they had been
watching on TV, and Grandma decided to go to bed early, as she was
tired. I decided to take Mike's journals and begin reading them, so I
took the box and headed up to Lynn's room.
I flopped down on the bed and pulled the first, and oldest of Mike's
journals out of the box and started reading...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.