Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 11:09:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: Pete Bruno <farmboy7456@gmail.com>
Subject: A Single Soul Chapter 6

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A Single Soul

Chapter 6- The Shoe Drops


(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dear friends, a fellow reader has caught my misuse in
writing military time. From this page forward, and even for evermore, I
will try to be consistent with the correct time, i.e., 0017 = 12:17 a.m.;
0600 = 6 a.m.; 2012 = 10:12 p.m.. Sorry for any confusion and thanks to the
reader who brought it to my attention.  Hope you all enjoy this chapter and
keep reading.  Pete


  Jim closed the door behind him and for the first time in his life he fell
to his knees sobbing.  His encounter with Frank had left him totally
undone; the man whom he loved more than his own father had totally rejected
him.  Frank told him to think of the last time he had seen Matt the summer
of their senior year.  He poured himself a few fingers of Jack and threw it
back and sank into his favorite chair and closed his eyes and let his mind
drift back all those years...

  "Hey Jimmy," Matt hollered as he ran across the parking lot.  Jim was
standing with his new girlfriend, Linda, and her twin brother who was star
quarterback, and a few other guys from the football team.  He had just
finished baseball practice and was going to go with Linda and Joe to pick
out tux's for the prom.  He was supposed to go with Matt but he had
forgotten to tell him of the change in plans.  Jim had been dating Linda
for about a month.  He was stoked to have gotten a date with such a hot
chick and thrilled with the attention he was getting from her brother, the
star quarterback and BMOC (Big Man on Campus), someone who had never really
said more than two words to him.

  Matt came to a stop in front of his longtime best friend.  "Ready, Jim?
Dad is going to be here any minute to take us to the tux place," Matt said,
panting from his run across the parking lot.

  "He doesn't need a ride.  He's going with us, MAAATTY.  Jimbo, here, has
a real girlfriend now, and he don't need you anymore," Joe said with a
snide smile.  Everybody laughed at Joe's lame attempt at humor ... even
Jim.

  Matt looked at Jim.  He didn't know... couldn't believe it.  The second
most important person in the world to him was laughing at him, laughing as
someone was making fun of him.  He had to hold it together ... he turned
beet red, but instead of causing a scene he just turned and walked away.
He was halfway toward the spot where his father was to pick him up when he
felt a hand on his shoulder.  He stopped and spun around and was staring
right in Jim's face, looking in his eyes, the eyes he knew so well and that
had witnessed so many of the same sights as his for so many years and for
the first time he didn't recognize them.

  "Matty, what the fuck did you run for?  What's the matter with you?" Jim
all but shouted at him.

  "The matter with me?" Matt asked incredulously.  "What's the matter with
you?  We've been best friends since forever; now you have a girlfriend —
that's fine — but you join that fucked up prick in mocking me and
laughing at me."  Matt was freaking out.  He was getting more upset because
tears were running down his face.

  "Why are you acting like such a fag, Matt?  They were just busting on
you."

  "Fine; if that's what you think I am, go back to your new friends since
you don't want to be seen with a fagot like me," Matt said as he turned his
back to Jim and walked to his father's waiting car.

  The ringing of James's phone brought him back.  He looked at the caller
ID and saw Linda's name; he ignored it; he'd deal with her later.  He
needed to think it through and remember things as they happened, things he
hadn't thought of in years.  He kind of understood when Matt decided not to
double date for the prom, but when Matt refused to speak to him at school
he got pissed so he let it be and went on with his life.  Matt didn't come
to any of the graduation parties but he figured that he would eventually
get over it and come around.  He went over to the house three or four times
but Uncle Frank always said that Matt wasn't at home.  Then when it was
getting close to the time that they always went to the shore and he still
hadn't heard from him, he got pissed.  `Fuck him,' Jim thought; 'if he
wants to act like that, I can ignore him the same way.'  Then before he
knew it, he was in the Corps, married, with a kid, and twenty-two years had
passed.  Why had he been so stupid?  He knew how Matt felt about that word
and that Uncle Frank felt the same way; they both told him the story and
the story of the Greatest Commandment, and then it hit him like a freight
train.

  "Oh, fuck, Matty, what have I done to you, to your dad?  What have I
done?" he said to the empty room and began to sob again and he sobbed until
he fell asleep.

  The ringing of the phone woke him up again; this time he answered.
"Hello."

  "Jim, where have you been?" a shrill voice asked from the other end of
the line.

  "I've been here, just not feeling well, and fell asleep," Jim said,
"sorry; how are you?  Are you coming home soon?"

  "No, I'm in the hospital Jim.  I went into labor yesterday; there were
complications and the baby didn't make it — something about his lungs,"
Linda said in a very cold and almost detached voice.

  "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry, I'll be up right away.  I can leave Ian with
Matt and we can be there in eight hours," Jim said, frantically trying to
think straight.

  "No, there's no need for that, there will be no funeral and I don't want
to make a fuss," Linda said.

  "Linda, what are you talking about, how can you make these decisions
without talking to me?" Jim asked.

  "Don't argue with me, Jim,it's done; Joe will be bringing me home on
Monday, but I want you to know now I'm only coming to get my things and my
son.  I'm done, Jimmy; I'm sick of the Marines; I'm sick of moving; I'm
sick of being ignored by you," Linda said.

  Jim was blown away.  Where the fuck did this come from?  "Linda, look,
it's been a bad couple of days for both of us and I feel like shit; can we
please discuss this when you get home?"

  "There's nothing to discuss, I'll be back on Sunday, and Matty and I will
be leaving on Tuesday," Linda said as cool as could be.

  "Fine; you can leave if you want but I'm telling you, and you need to pay
real close attention, you WILL NOT TAKE MY SON," Jim shouted into the
phone, but then he forced himself to breathe and calm himself.  "Look, I'm
sorry, we can work this out but I don't want to put Matty in the middle of
this," Jim said calmly.

  "I'm sorry, Jimmy, I can't stay with you and I'm not leaving my son."

  "Linda, let's just please wait till you get home and talk this through,"
Jim pleaded.

  "I'll see you on Monday at dinner time.  Goodbye," Linda said and hung
up.

  "FUCK," Jim shouted, "this day just keeps getting worse."  He went into
the bathroom and washed his face.  `Well, time to face the music,' he
thought, and headed across to see Matt and Frank.  He rang the doorbell and
waited for his fate.  Matt opened the door and was accompanied by the
chorus of the dogs barking and two boys chasing around the house.

  "Hey, Jim.  I thought I told you to just walk in," Matt said, opening the
door.  "Well anyway, say hello to Duffy — he's the black one and Danny
Boy, he's the wheaten," Matt said pointing at the puppies running around
their feet, "and of course you know Ian," he said with a laugh.

  "Well, well, couldn't do with just one I see."

  "So sue me, I'm a big softy.  They were two brothers left from a litter
and Jimmy didn't want to separate them," Matt said looking at Jim who just
burst into tears.

  Matt just grabbed him and hugged him, "What's wrong Jimmy, is everything
okay," he asked with concern.

"No it's not; listen, can we send the boys and the circus outside for a
bit?  I'd like to talk to you and your dad alone."  Just then Matty entered
the foyer and looked at his father with a shocked and concerned look on his
young face; he had never seen his big strong Marine dad cry and it kind of
rocked his world a bit.

  "Sure I'll send them out; would you like something to drink?"

  "Yeah, a little Jack if you have it."

  "Sure; go have a seat in the living room and I'll get Dad.  Okay, boys,
how about taking the puppies out back for a while?  We have some things to
talk to Papa about," Matt said.

  Matt herded the boys and the dogs outside and then went to get Jim his
drink.  He also asked his father to join them in the living room.  Jim
stood as the two entered the room and wiped his wet eyes.  Matt handed him
the drink and he threw it down in one gulp.

  He asked the two to sit, took a deep breath, and started.  "Matthew,
Frank," he said nodding to the both of them, "I'm here to ask your
forgiveness.  I have hurt you both very much and I don't know if I'll ever
be able to make it up to you.  Matt, when we met the other day I honestly
didn't know what was wrong with you, why you were being so cold, and
then..."  And then he turned and addressed Frank.  "...then after our talk,
I went home and thought back to the last time I spoke to Matt, something I
haven't thought of in many years, something I had buried deep, and it
actually played in my head like a video nightmare; my heart broke as I
recalled what I said and did the last time we met.  So now it's all three
of us with a broken heart and it's all my fault for being stupid and not
following the commandment," Jim said and started to sob again.

  Both Frank and Matt rushed to him and embraced him and he continued,
"Matt, I'm so fucking sorry I ever talked to you that way, but the worse
part is, I let you go, I didn't fight for our friendship; now look what's
happened.  I wasted twenty-two years married to a selfish bitch who just
called me to tell me our baby has died and now she wants to divorce me and
take my son," he said as he continued to sob.

  Matt went to get him another drink and Frank wrapped him in both arms,
"Jimmy, I'm so sorry for your loss, but don't worry about Matty, son; Uncle
Frank won't let that happen," and hearing those words made Jim's knees
buckle.  Frank backed him to the sofa and sat down with him.

  "You've done well, son, just like I knew you would, and now everything
can start getting back to the way it should be," Frank said quietly into
Jim's ear.  "Just give it some time and everything with Matt will be fine."

  Matt came back into the room, this time with three drinks, and sat on the
other side of Jim, placing the drinks down on the coffee table.  He looked
at Jim who had pulled up his shirt to wipe his face exposing his tight
washboard stomach, and much to his dismay, Matt felt the old twitch in his
groin.

  He looked directly into Jim's eyes and took one of his hands in his,
"Jim, thank you for what you've said, and I do accept your apology, but I
think I need to apologize as well.  I was angry and hurt and I was just as
wrong as you by ignoring you and not letting you apologize to me," Matt
said with tears now running down his face.

  "No Matt, it was..."

  "Let me finish," Matt interrupted. "Listen, the commandment is 'Love your
neighbor as you would Love yourself' and don't you see, I was just as wrong
as you were for shutting you out. It came to me when I was getting the
drinks; we had both made the wrong choices and we have been punished for
the last twenty-two years for those choices, so I need for you to forgive
me for my mistake and accept my apology, too." Matt finished, still looking
in Jim's eyes, and for the first time since their reunion, he saw his old
friend's eyes without pain in them.

  Jim pulled him into a tight hug.  "Of course I do, Matty, just like you
did mine if you promise to kick my ass the next time I act like one," Jim
said as he sniffed and laughed at the same time holding on to Matt so tight
the poor guy was having trouble breathing.

  "If you don't ease up and let me breathe, the ass kicking is gonna start
now," Matt said breathlessly but with a smile.

  Jim released him and they all laughed.  Frank picked up a glass of Jack
and held it, and the guys did the same.  "Here's to a day I have prayed
for, for many years to see my two boys back together and happy," he said
with tears in his eyes, "and here's to the best thing in the world —
good friends."

  `Salute,' they all said and knocked back their drinks.

  Everybody started talking at once until Matt raised his voice and asked
for quiet.  "All right, how about we go and see the boys?  I think they
were kind of worried earlier and then later, Dad, would you mind taking
them to dinner, and let them have a sleepover here tonight, I think Jimmy
and I have some things to discuss."

  "Sure, boys; that will be fine; how about a swim?" Frank asked.

  The three men found the boys out in the back yard playing with the dogs.
When Matty saw his dad he ran over and hugged him; "Dad, is everything all
right?" he asked with a voice full of concern.

  "Sure, sport; sometimes even Marine Daddies have a bad day," he said with
a laugh as Matt and Frank joined in, "so how about it men?" he asked,
stripping off his clothes; "who's ready for a swim?"

  The boys whooped and hollered as they stripped off the little bit of
clothing they had on, followed by Frank and Matt.  Jim led the charge with
a cannon ball followed by everybody else.  The three men and two boys swam,
dove and roughhoused for a good hour before Matt got Jim in the corner of
the shallow end for a quiet talk and then called for everybody's attention
and climbed out of the pool.

  "Okay guys, how would you like to go out for dinner with Papa and have a
sleep-over tonight?"  Matt asked.  Well, that went just as they had
expected — the boy's whooped out again, bumped fists, then ran and
hugged their dads to thank them.

  Then on cue, Matt and Jim turned their boys around to face each other,
and then Matt took a knee behind his son so they were head-to-head.
"Jimmy, remember the other night when we were talking about how Gunner and
I used to be close friends but we weren't anymore, and I told you that
sometimes things happen, people hurt other people's feelings, and their
friendship ends?  Well, today after much too much time, Gunner and I had a
long talk about what happened.  We apologized and forgave each other; and
we learned a valuable lesson that you and Matty need to learn.  You boys
are getting to be good friends, and there will be times when you might do
something that your friend doesn't like, and if that happens, you need to
talk about it and work it out."

  Matt looked over at Jim and then his father and smiled; this was the hard
part for Matt to get through, without breaking up.  The day had been an
emotional one for him and Jim alike; during their quick talk in the pool
they admitted to each other that they had named their boys for each other,
so he took his son by the shoulders and, with a break in his voice, said,
"Now I want you to go over and give your Uncle Jim a hug." Then he heard
Jim say, "Same for me sport; go give your Uncle Matt a hug, too."

  When Matty put his arms around Matt and hugged him tight and said,
"Thanks, Uncle Matt, I'm so glad we moved here," his heart swelled as he
experienced his second cathartic moment of the day, and this sweet boy was
like a healing salve for his heart.

  Jim wrapped his huge arms around Jimmy and the boy kissed his cheek, "I'm
so glad you moved here and brought Matty, but is it all right if I call you
Uncle Gunner instead, because I think Gunner is such a cool name?"

  "Sure, buddy; I think that would be way cool, too," Jim answered.  As he
hugged the boy it was as if he had stepped through a rip in the fabric of
the time-space continuum; he held the boy but it wasn't Jimmy; it was Matt,
and they had just won their little league championship game, and they were
hugging and jumping up and down; he could smell the grass, the dirt, and
Matt's scent.

  "All right, boys, let's get dressed and feed the dogs, and then..." Frank
paused for effect, "...let's go out for dinner and rent a movie for the big
pajama party tonight."

  "Yeah, Dad," Matt said with a laugh; "Jimmy hasn't worn pj's since his
onesie's about six years ago."

  "Yeah, Uncle Frank, and since he's been hanging out here at the nudist
camp, he doesn't even want to wear underwear to bed anymore."

  "Seems they really are their daddies' boys," Frank said with a laugh.

  The guys dried off and put on their boxers while they got the boys
dressed, dogs fed, and everyone out the door.  Matt was a bit scattered all
of a sudden; his day had been filled with raw emotion since he listened to
Jim's apology, so he took a minute to gather his thoughts.

  "Jim," he said quietly, "the last few days have been quite intense, and I
would really like to take some time and talk about it all."

  "You know, Matt, I have to tell you this for what it's worth; other than
the day my son was born, this is the happiest day I've had in twenty-two
years; and you know the saddest part of all of it is, I didn't even know
how empty my life had been until I saw you again," Jim said with a very
serious look on his face.

  Matt walked over to his friend and pulled him into a hug.  "I know,
buddy, I know just how you feel, but there's a lot of things we have to
talk about."

  "Yeah we do need to talk about things, but the best part is, we're
talking," Jim said as he held his friend.

  "You're right, and boy do I have a lot of things to say," Matt said,
pulling back and giving Jim a light punch on his shoulder.

To be continued...


Authors Note: Thanks to all of you who have written to tell how much you're
enjoying the story, I hope you stay tuned. For all the readers enjoying the
stories here at Nifty, remember that Nifty needs your donations help to
provide these wonderful stories.

Also, if there are any Marines or other service members out there reading
this story who would like to help as a technical adviser, I'd be grateful;
just send me an email.