Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 18:45:42 EDT
From: Tulsadriller7@aol.com
Subject: Tales from the Ranch, Chapter 45/?

Disclaimer:  The following story is a work of fiction.  If you
are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man
relations, please exit this page.

TALES FROM THE RANCH
Copyrightc 2003 by Tulsa Driller 7.  All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests.  You will
see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is
also the story of young men who love other men and their coming
of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding.  It is a
story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues
but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's
world.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any
specific person or persons.  Any similarity to actual persons or
events is entirely coincidental.  This work is copyrightedc by
the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the
specific written permission of the author.  It is assigned to the
Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but
it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the
written permission of the author.

PLEASE:  In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist.  My characters
have unprotected sex.  I hope you use proper precautions because
I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this
story.

Tales from the Ranch
Chapter 45:  Thoughts for a Tuesday
     Joey rolled out of bed and Mitsy was immediately on the
floor and at the door ready to go outside.
     "Hi Girl.  Do you need to outside?" he asked, scratching her
ears.
     Mitsy thumped her tail on the floor, it was wagging so hard.
     "Well, come on," he said, pulling his briefs on and opening
the door into the hall.  She led the way to the front door.  Joey
opened it just as the paperboy was tossing the paper in front of
the door of the other fifth-floor unit, and then turned to do the
same where Joey was standing.
     "Hi," the young man said.  "That's a neat dog.  What's its
name?"  He was trying to stall so he could look at Joey standing
in front of him.
     "Her name is Mitsy," Joey answered.
     "She's beautiful.  My name's Forrest Ross," the paperboy
said.
     "Hi, I'm Joey Sullivan," Joey said as if it was normal to
stand in the doorway in his underwear and talk to someone
standing outside.
     Forrest remembered when he had been delivering the paper a
week or so ago and Joey opened the door to let his dog out.  That
time he wasn't wearing anything and Forrest couldn't help but
admire the young man standing there in all his glory.
     "Do you go to Davy Crockett?" Forrest asked.
     "Yeah, I just started yesterday.  I just moved here from
Houston."
     "Oh, I didn't think I'd seen you around here, before.  What
class are you in?"
     "I'm a freshman."
     "I'm a junior.  What time do you eat lunch?" he asked.
     "At 12:15," Joey answered.
     "Neat.  That's my lunch period.  If you don't have anyone to
eat with why don't you eat with me?"
     "I'd like that, but I met some other guys yesterday.  Why
don't you sit with us?" Joey asked.
     "I might do that.  I'll watch for you," Forrest said,
starting down the stairs as Mitsy arrived back at the door.
     "See ya," he said.
     "I'll look for you," Joey said.
     Mitsy led the way to the kitchen and waited patiently as
Joey scooped her dry food into the bowl and then washed out her
water dish.  He poured himself a glass of orange juice and turned
the switch on the coffeepot, then went back to his bathroom to
get ready for the day.
     * * * * *
     Forrest thought that Joey was about the best looking guy
he'd ever seen and he'd seen him without clothes once and almost
without clothes this morning.  And all the body hair.  He had
been a good jackoff fantasy on more than one occasion for him.
He couldn't believe that he was only a freshman and he wondered
whom the other friends were that ate with Joey.  He'd be sure to
find that out at noon today.
     * * * * *
     Dale thought he heard voices, and then heard the front door
shut.  He wondered what was going on, but dismissed it from his
mind.  He made a mental note to ask Joey what was going on when
he saw him in a few minutes.
     Craig rolled around so he was facing Dale, wrapping his arms
around his neck and giving him a deep, sensuous kiss.  "Good
morning, to you, too," Dale teased, enjoying the attention.
     "I see I have your attention," he told Dale as he squeezed
his cock.
     "Always," Dale said, searching for Craig's lips.
     It was then he noticed the beginnings of Craig's mustache
and took his index finger to rub it across Craig's upper lip.
     "What's this?" he teased.
     "I've been waiting to see when you would notice it," Craig
said.  It's not growing as fast as yours, I'm afraid."
     "Right now it's something you feel rather than see, since
your hair is so blond," Dale told him.  "But, I think it's going
to be a sexy addition to your looks."
     "I thought I'd try to see if I could grow one," Craig said.
     "It should be fairly easy.  Your beard is dark and fairly
thick for the little hair that you have on your body."
     "If you decide you don't like it, tell me and I'll shave it
off," Craig said, giving Dale another peck on his lips.  "I was
just hoping I could use it to make you feel good, like you do to
me."
     "You're so sweet to think of something like that.  It must
be why I love you so much."
     They would have loved to mess around, but the day was
waiting for them to start.  Craig pulled on his boxers and went
to the kitchen for their orange juice as Dale was starting his
bathroom routine.  The coffee was ready to serve, so he filled
two mugs and put all four containers on a tray to carry back to
the bathroom.
     Dale was just finishing shaving as Craig set the tray down.
     "If you're ready to shower, I can shave afterward," Craig
told him.
     "No, go ahead.  I need to use the toilet if you don't mind,"
Dale answered.
     "Fine with me," Craig said, flipping on the switch to start
the vent fan."
     Soon they were both through and got in the shower together
with Craig adjusting the water temperature and Dale turning on
the other showerheads.
     "If we don't have anything else, I want a shower like this
in our new home," Dale said.  "This is the greatest shower I've
ever experienced."
     "The plumber thought I was crazy when they were building the
bathroom, but I'm pretty sure that after it was working, he took
a shower while I was at work," Craig laughed.
     "What?  And you missed the opportunity to shower with him?"
Dale teased.
     "If you'd seen him, you would know that I was glad I was
gone.  He must have weighed at least 300 pounds."
     "I can see the picture and believe me, it's not a pretty
thought."
     By this time they had shampooed their hair and were starting
to soap each other with rich, foamy lather.  This was their
favorite shower activity and invariably, they each ended up with
hardons.  Unfortunately, most mornings they didn't have an
opportunity to do anything about it, except that they had
something to look forward to all day.
     * * * * *
     Joey was sitting at the kitchen counter looking at the
Austin American-Statesman when Dale and Craig arrived to pour
their second mugs of coffee.
     "Morning, Dads," Joey said.  "Did you sleep as well as I
did?"
     "I don't know how well you slept, but I sure did," Dale told
him.
     Craig nodded his head.  Joey wondered if they'd made love
after they went to bed.  He was dying to know what that was all
about.  The movies he'd seen, the guys were just sucking or
fucking each other.
     "Did I hear you talking to someone earlier when you got up?"
Dale asked.
     "Yeah.  Forrest Ross.  He's our paperboy and was just
delivering the paper when I let Mitsy out.  He goes to Davy
Crockett and is a junior.  I told him to eat with us at lunch
today."
     "Good, I'm glad you are making friends quickly," Craig said.
     "Me too," Dale echoed.
     They warmed up the last of the cinnamon rolls Doris had
helped them make on Saturday morning.
     "This is the last of our own bakery effort.  Anybody brave
enough to try this again?" Craig asked.
     "I would," Joey said.  "It's fun to work with the dough and
Grandma showed me the cookbook that has the step-by-step
pictures.  Will you help me?"
     "Yeah, guess we can always call Mom if we get into trouble,"
Craig said.
     "Do we have everything we need?" Dale asked.
     "I think so.  There are two kinds of flour and we have
yeast, Crisco, sugar, powdered sugar, butter, cinnamon, raisins,
eggs and milk," Craig said.
     "I guess we can try our hand at it tonight.  I didn't think
there was anything hard about it, but I was so in awe of the
dough that I may have missed something," Dale said.
     "I think the biggest trick is making sure the dough rises
properly.  It seemed pretty easy to roll it out, put the topping
on, then roll the dough up, cut it into slices and let it rise
again before baking," said Craig.
     "That's what I think, too," Joey said.  You could tell he
was excited about trying this again.
     By this time, they were through with their coffee and rolls
and Craig put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
     "Joey, if you want to invite any of your friends over after
school, I'll stock up on soft drinks and snacks for you when I
come home at noon to let Mitsy out," Craig told him.
     "Awesome.  How about my movie collection?  It's still at the
storage unit," Joey asked.
     "I'll bring the box that has regular movies, but we're going
to talk about the porn collection before I bring that home for
you."
     "That's okay."  Then with a gleam in his eyes, he asked,
"Are you and Dad Dale going to watch them first?"
     "No need to, sleeping with him is like being in one."
     Dale turned red in the face, but laughed.
     "Gottcha," Craig snickered.
     "That you did," Dale laughed and Craig and Joey joined in.
     "But Craig's right.  We need to establish some ground rules
because these guys are going to wonder why your entire collection
is gay movies.  They might think you are gay and that could cause
a problem - or it might not," Dale told him.
     "I understand," Joey said.  "No problem."
     "Need a ride to school this morning, Bud?" Dale asked.
     "That's fine.  I just have to get my backpack.  I'm ready
for Mr. Shanklin's Algebra test," Joey told them.
     As they started out the door, Dale gave Craig a toe-curling
kiss and said, "I love you."
     Joey gave him a peck on the cheek.  "Bye Mom, see ya this
evening."
     "Young man." Craig started laughing.
     "I know, Mom, I'm pushing it," he laughed as they went out
the door.
     * * * * *
     Dale was doing some thinking on his way to the ranch after
he dropped Joey off at school.  He was supposed to see Leland
Stanton at the Bank of Commerce that afternoon about investing
Joey's funds for the best return.
     He was intrigued about the problem with the computer lab
class at school.  The retail computer business was just starting
to grow, but it was growing by leaps and bounds and there must be
a lot of profit in it.  He wondered about finding qualified
technicians and sales people who were knowledgeable as well as
instructors.  He had some money to invest and wondered about the
advisability of investing in a computer store.  He was impressed
with Dennis at the Electronic Home.  Maybe they could hire him to
work for them, if they indeed went into that business.
     There had to be places in Austin that offered the services
that Dale was thinking of, but certainly there was nothing like
that here in Williamsport.  He wondered if there was enough
business to be had to take the risk.
     * * * * *
     Joey met up with Hal Shaw in English I class.  Mrs. Hunt
announced that the books had arrived for their next reading
assignment.  The class was to study some of the stories of great
American authors, Eudora Welty's "The Optimist's Daughter",
William Faulkner's "Travels with Charlie" and Wilma Cather's "One
of Ours" were the first three offerings.  The class was divided
into three sections with each of that group receiving one of the
novels to read, discuss and report on.  Joey received a copy of
the Eudora Welty book as his first.  He had a week in which to
read it and make notes for the report and discussion.  Then
everyone would trade books for another week, then again until all
had read each book.
     Hal got the Faulkner book and was surprised to find out that
Charlie was his dog and the story was about Faulkner driving a
pickup camper on trip across the United States to the west coast
and back.  No one he encountered knew who Faulkner was as he
traveled incognito and he looked upon the experience as a chance
to talk to the average Americans about almost any subject of
interest and hear their opinions.
     After Mark Shanklin helped the class work through the
Algebra problems for the day and explained the assignment for the
next day, he gave Joey the test he had promised and Joey scored a
98 on it, only because he took a shortcut in solving the problem.
Mr. Shanklin praised him and told him that his former instructor
probably had a different way of doing things and they hadn't
talked about this before the test.
     "Don't worry about it, Joey.  You still got an A and that's
what you were after, isn't it?" he asked.
     "Yeah, I just never thought about there being more than one
way to work it."
     "There are probably as many ways to work it as there are
text books and instructors.  You've proven you know the subject
matter and I have no doubts but what you will pass every test in
this course with flying colors."
     "Thanks, Mr. Shanklin."  Joey would have liked to talk about
it a little bit more, but the bell rang and there wasn't time as
the walk to Bruce Wilton's classroom was a little further than to
the others.
     Mr. Wilton was good at teaching science.  He made it
interesting and told the class that next week they would be
working in the lab, doing simple experiments.  He then worked
them through the examples they would be testing and proving in
the lab.
     The class went quickly and it was time for lunch.  Bret,
Daniel, Barry and Bryce were already at the table.  Joey spotted
Forrest Ross, seemly by himself and motioned for him to join them
at the other table.  The guys all knew Forrest, but not other
than by name.
     It seemed like Daniel and Forrest hit it off immediately.
     Discussion centered on Kent Korte and Paul Dennison.
Forrest had both of them as instructors, taking Phys Ed during
his freshman year and Kent Korte's Computer Lab during his
sophomore year and his experience wasn't any better than Joey's.
     Joey told them that he would probably be getting a computer,
but didn't go into any details about it, simply telling them that
there was a lot of research to be done to get the right system
assembled.
     Forrest had a Commodore 64, but didn't use it for much
besides playing games, however, he had some knowledge of Basic
computer language programs and offered to help Joey and the
others to the extent he could.
     That was good news for Joey.
     Lunch passed quickly as their discussion was lively and
covered a wide-range of subjects.  It turned out that Forrest was
in Boy Scouts and in the same patrol as Barry, but didn't get to
participate as much as he'd like because of his paper route.
Joey found out later that Forrest lived with his grandmother and
that her health was poor.  He took care of her and worked a lot
of odd jobs, mowed yards and did what he could to earn a little
money to help with her medical bills.
     The warning bell rang that the lunch period would be over in
10 minutes, so the boys took their trays to the conveyor so they
could be loaded into the dishwasher.
     "What are you doing after school?" Forrest asked Joey.
     "I don't know for sure.  I think I'm supposed to do some
errands with my Dad and then we're going to look at computers
again," he answered.
     "Cool.  Do you know what you are going to get?" Forrest
asked.
     "We went to the Electronic Home last night and talked to a
guy by the name of Dennis.  He seems to be pretty smart about
computers, but I'm going to see what I can find out from Mr.
Korte today."
     "I've talked to Dennis, too.  He teaches a class at Western
Junior College for the adult education course they have.  I think
he teaches word processing, but he knows a lot more than that."
     "Where's your locker?" Joey asked, as they started down the
hall.
     "In 'A' wing.  It's probably close to yours as I've managed
to keep my same locker all three years."
     Indeed they were on opposite sides of the wall and about 15
feet from each other.
     "Why don't we meet here after last class?  I don't have to
be home until about 5:30 as the nurse comes in to help my
grandmother in the afternoon."
     "That's okay.  See you then," Joey said as they went to
their own lockers.  Joey got his Texas History book and another
book for his Computer Lab class.  He waved at Forrest as he
started down the hall to Jerry Sprague's class.
     Joey took a front row seat and was just getting his book out
when the last bell rang.
     "Everyone put your books away," Mr. Sprague announced.
"We're going to have a pop quiz," he said as he started around
the room handing out two sheets to each student.  There were many
groans in response to this statement.
     Joey was interested to see what kind of tests Jerry Sprague
gave his students and he was glad that he had skimmed the first
dozen chapters last night as it had refreshed his memory about
various events that had occurred.  He easily remembered the
answers to every question, except one.  He realized, as he
thought about it, that it was a trick question:  "What city in
Texas was Davy Crockett born in."  He carefully wrote "Greene
County, TENNESSEE" and underlined it.
     He found out the next day that he was the only one in the
class who answered the question correctly.  Everyone else had
answered with the name of a city in Texas.
     After the class was over, Pam Thomas asked Joey, "May I walk
to Mixed Chorus with you?"
     "Sure," Joey said.  He was anxious to get acquainted with
her as he thought she was pretty and seemed to be smart, too.
     "How was your first day of school, yesterday?" she asked.
     "Okay until the last two classes.  I had Mr. Korte for
Computer Lab and Coach Dennison for Phys Ed," he said as he
rolled his eyes.
     "I've heard that Mr. Korte's class is easy," Pam said.
"What happened?"
     "I think he expects you to learn stuff on your own.  He
doesn't teach, he answers questions and he really doesn't care if
you don't try to learn."
     "I've heard that, too.  I think I have to take that course
next year as it's required for graduation now," Pam told him.
     "Well, it's going to be a challenge for me to maintain
honors status.  I don't know anything about computers and he's
more interested in his 'Bulletin Board' and making sure each
student signs on everyday."
     "I understand your concern.  Good luck," she said as they
arrived at the Chorus room.
     "Thanks, I think," Joey grinned as they separated to find
their assigned seats.
     Bret punched him on the shoulder as he sat down.  "What time
is choir rehearsal at St. James tomorrow night?" he asked.
     "Seven o'clock," Joey answered.  "Are you going to join?"
     "My parents said I could.  Do you think Paul will let me
sing in the choir?  I heard something about having to pass an
audition," Bret said.
     "Yeah, you do and you can't miss any rehearsals unless it's
an emergency," Joey said.  "Why don't I meet you there at 6:30?
That way Paul can hear you sing and decide if he can use you in
the choir.  Then you won't take up rehearsal time with an
audition," Joey said.
     Mrs. Morrison stood up and went to her stand.  The room got
quiet immediately as the kids knew she wouldn't put up with
anyone who wasn't paying attention.
     The young accompanist was Ron Travis and Joey found out the
next evening that he studied both piano and organ with Paul, as
well as singing in the choir at St. James.
     Anne Morrison wasn't one to waste any time and started the
choir on warm up exercises, first by section, then the entire
choir.  "Breathe deeply and let it all out as you sing.  Without
breath control, you can't sing a whole phrase," she told the
group.
     The first piece was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which
Joey dearly loved.  The piano accompaniment was sparkling and
very appropriate to the different moods of the song.
     The choir worked only on two selections that day, the other
was "Greensleeves" (What Child is This?), another of Joey's
favorites.
     The class was over all too soon and he started to Kent
Korte's class by himself.
     Mr. Korte called the class to order, and then announced that
three of the members had not accessed his Bulletin Board the
previous day.  "If the newest member of our class can do this,
and he doesn't know anything about computers, the rest of you
should be able to do this."  Joey was glad that Daniel had set
him up as a user when he was at his house the evening before.
     That was all he had to say.  He sat down at his desk and
several students moved to the computers to work.
     Joey stood up; taking a book called "Basic Programming Made
Easy" and walked to Kent Korte's desk, standing there to be
recognized.
     Finally, Mr. Korte said, "Yes, do you have a question for
me?"
     "Yes, I do.  This book was recommended so I bought it.  They
said I could take it back if you didn't approve of it," Joey
said.
     Mr. Korte took the book.  "Where did you get this?" he
questioned.
     "At the Electronic Home," Joey said.  "Dennis recommended
it."
     "Oh, I've never met him.  He teaches some adult education
class at the Junior College.  Well, if he says it's good, then I
guess you've bought a book," he said, handing it back to Joey.
     "Can you recommend anything better?" Joey asked.
     "You have the textbook for this class, don't you?"
     "Yes, but I thought maybe this might be a good reference
book," Joey answered.
     "It might be, I have no idea.  I don't know why that store
should be selling books.  They are in the computer business, not
the book business," he said as if to dismiss Joey.
     That last statement pissed Joey off, but he wisely kept his
mouth shut and went back to his desk.  He wanted to ask his
recommendations about purchasing a computer, but decided it
wasn't worth it.  He probably wouldn't - or couldn't - tell him
anyway.
     Daniel leaned over and whispered, "What was that all about?"
     Joey handed him the book he had shown Mr. Korte.
     Daniel looked at the book for almost ten minutes, then
handed it back.  "That's a great book, where did you get it?  I
want a copy of this."
     "At the Electronic Home.  I need to talk to you after
school.  Do you have anything planned?" Joey asked.
     "No.  See you after last period," Daniel said.
     Joey started reading the book he'd purchased, as he hadn't
had time to look at it before then.  Daniel was right.  This book
went directly to the examples and showed the statements to write.
He looked again at the textbook for this class.  It was all
theory with almost no examples; certainly no complete program
routines so you could better understand what you were reading.
The more Joey read, the more agitated he became.  He went back to
the new book.  It was the difference between trying to decipher a
secret code and reading "See Jack run" as the new book showed
complete programs.  Something was wrong with this picture.
     He was glad when the bell finally rang.  If he could get
through Phys Ed with no problems he would consider the day a
success.
     Bryce already was changing clothes when Joey made his way to
the bench with his basket of gym clothes.  Joey noticed when
Bryce stripped off his boxers that his cock seemed a little
bigger than the day before.  He wondered if he was starting to
get a boner and what had caused it.
     Bryce, for his part, wondered how big Joey's cock was.  Even
flaccid, it looked as big as his own did when it was hard.  He
could feel himself boning up a little bit and Joey's hadn't even
started removing his clothes yet.
     They were among the first on the gym floor and, as
yesterday, were practicing in front of the four basketball goals.
The other boys greeted Joey and two of them made remarks about
him being picked on by the coach and that he didn't deserve to be
treated as he had been.
     Before all the boys were out of the locker room, the shrill
whistle blew.  Joey predicted the next action.
     "All right!!!  Fall in line and count off.  Joey was number
seven and the final count was 27.  Coach came unhinged.  The
whistle blew.  "Who's trying to be funny?" he all but screamed.
"There's supposed to be 28 of you."
     No one spoke up, however, several knew that Donnie Laird was
absent.  No one was about to tell the coach that the count was
really correct.
     The whistle blew again.  "All right!!! Count off again and
make it come out right!!!"
     The count started again and still came out with 27.  Joey
wanted to shout "28" just so this could end and they get on with
the class.
     Another whistle.  "All right!!" coach screamed.  "Who's
absent?"  He was pissed and the kids were enjoying it, not
realizing that all of them were about to be punished.
     One of the boys spoke up.  "Donnie Laird isn't in school
today?"
     "Why didn't you say so?" he screamed.  "You're wasting a lot
of fucking time!!!"
     Coach was building up a head of steam.
     "All right!!! Fifteen laps for you - start now!!!" he
yelled.
     It was quiet on the floor except for the boy starting to
run.
     "So the rest of you remember not to play your little games,
fall in behind him.  Fifteen laps for all of you!!!"
     Joey was thinking, "What an asshole!!"
     Coach stood in the middle of the floor, goading them to run
faster and faster.  Several of the boys who did run faster passed
some of the others, so it was really hard to tell who had run how
many laps.  Joey maintained his pace.  He was afraid he'd get put
on the track team if he showed too much speed and endurance.
     Coach started them playing half-court basketball as they did
the day before.  Joey was on the shirts team today, so didn't get
harassed about the hair on his chest.  He was one of the lucky
ones, as he soon discovered that when the coach saw someone cause
a foul, they had to run ten laps.
     This wasn't Phys Ed; this was a period of verbal abuse by an
ignorant coach.  Joey was wondering how he managed to get the
boys to win a basketball game, short of a death threat if they
lost.
     He was glad when the whistle blew and the coach screamed for
them to start for the showers, sending about ten at a time so
they didn't all arrive at once.  Joey thought it was the only
sensible thing the coach had done all period.
     Joey and Bryce arrived in the locker room together even
though they hadn't been together on the gym floor.  They
proceeded to strip off their gym clothes and headed to the
shower.  Bryce was looking at Joey again and started to spring
another boner.  He'd noticed that lately he enjoyed looking at
other young men in the shower, but had convinced himself it was
only because there weren't any girls around.  He quickly rinsed
off, grabbed a towel on his way out of the shower and got his
clothesbasket.  He was half dressed by the time Joey took his
place at the same bench.
     "That was an interesting experience," Joey said quietly as
he finished drying himself and started to dress.
     "He's not a coach, he's a cross between a drill sergeant and
a prison warden," Bryce said.
     "I hear you," Joey agreed.
     "What are you doing after school this evening?" Bryce asked.
     "I'm going to meet up with Daniel and maybe Forrest.  We're
going to talk about the Computer Lab class.  I think I've figured
something out, but we need to talk about it.  Do you want to join
us?" Joey asked.
     "Yeah, I don't have to be home right away this evening, so
that would be cool."
     "Let's go find the other guys.  They said they'd meet me
near my locker," Joey told him.
     "Cool."
     * * * * *
     Dale's afternoon meeting with Leland Stanton was productive.
Leland had really done his homework and had three options
detailed on paper for Dale to look at.  He explained the benefits
of each and emphasized the high-yield municipal bond fund for the
tax advantage on the money from the CD's.
     "Have you heard anything from the realtor about the sale of
the house?" he asked Dale.
     "No, it's probably too soon.  We just signed a contract last
Wednesday to allow him to list it, so I'm sure it's too soon to
hear anything unless he has someone standing in the wings waiting
for this property to become available."
     "I did some checking on his firm.  They have excellent
references and only list properties that meet their criteria.
You were lucky to get a contract with them and they will produce
a sale for you.
     "That's what we've been told, so I have high hopes," Dale
said.
     "Now, you mentioned having some funds of your own to invest.
Would you like to talk about that today?" Leland asked.
     "Yes.  I had a thought this morning.  Joey started high
school here in Williamsport yesterday and is taking a required
computer lab class.  From what he's told me, I have some concerns
about the ability of the instructor.  Joey has always been an
honor student and suddenly he's in a class where the instructor
is pretty blase about the class and it seems everyone is on their
own and if they happen to learn something, all the better."
     "It certainly isn't the first time a teacher like that led a
class," Leland said.
     "We looked into the purchase of a computer last night and
they are not priced out of sight as far as buying one.  However,
I know that our family is a little unique in that the two parents
have good incomes and the teenager is rich."
     Both laughed.
     "I know that the retail computer business is one of the
fastest growing industries in the world right now.  I guess what
I'm wondering about is the advisability of getting into the
computer business by either buying an existing business or
starting a new one?" Dale questioned.
     "You are right in that it's an industry that is growing by
leaps and bounds with new technology being introduced everyday
that makes yesterday's ideas seem like nothing.  But, the
personal computer is an idea that appeals to everyone.  Some,
because they actually understand them and others because it's
something new and they have to have it, knowing they will never
learn how to really make use of it."
     "Do you have any suggestions?" Dale asked.
     "If you were to do it, you would have to do it right.  You
need a reliable supplier of components and that's not as hard as
it might sound.  You would need a manager who knew the market and
was willing to stay on top of each new development and be able to
offer it immediately as soon as it was available.
     "You would need a sales manager that was out beating the
bushes for contracts for school computer labs, and supporting
them.  You need to be able to offer excellent service because if
a computer dies, whether in a business or at home, they want it
fixed immediately.
     "And, the most important part is training customers to use
the various software packages being offered.  The most common are
word processing, spreadsheet and data base programs, and there
are more and more off-the-shelf accounting programs that are
available.  You need to be able to stock them and offer training
in the usage of them."
     "Actually, that's what started me thinking about this.  Joey
is enrolled in a required class and they are supposed to learn
'Basic' and write some simple programs, but the instructor is
offering no help.  It's kind of a learn-it-yourself project.  He
doesn't give anyone credit for exceptional work, but he doesn't
flunk anyone, either."
     "Basic has been outdated for several years, it was never
really one that caught on.  I'm surprised he's teaching it,"
Leland said.
     "I think 'teaching' is a misnomer.  I honestly wonder if he
could even write a small program, yet he expects the students to
do it on their own," Dale told him.
     "It would make you think the school board had to hire a
computer lab instructor.  None came forth, so he got the job,"
Leland said.
     "You may be right, but it's the students who are suffering.
Joey has always been an honor student and suddenly he's
confronted with something he knows nothing about and getting
little help, and I'm not very happy about that," Dale told him.
     "Maybe you need to get a group of parents together and go to
the principal," Leland suggested.
     "I'm gathering data now," Dale smiled.
     "Good luck."
     "What are your feelings about a computer dealer that offered
a quality product to sell, a good service department and
instruction in using the computer?  Do you think the idea is
crazy?" Dale asked.
     "No, and I might be able to help you come up with the money
for the start-up costs.  Sure, there is a lot of risk involved,
but if you could assemble the right staff, I think you could make
a lot of money.  Just don't lose track of the fact that you would
have to be a 'service organization' and that would be the key -
service and training," Leland said.
     "How would I go about putting something together, outlining
the idea and solution, to get some others to invest money, too?
How would I determine what was needed?" Dale asked.
     "That's why I'm here.  I'd like to sit down with you and
your partner and talk about this, because I think if it was done
right, there's a lot of money to be made."
     "Thanks.  I'm glad to know I'm not crazy," Dale laughed.
     "Why don't we get together for dinner later in the week?
Thursday would work for me," Leland said after consulting his
calendar."
     "Let me check with Craig.  I think Joey should be in on
this, too, if you don't mind.  He can better tell us what is
going on in the schools."
     "That's fine with me.  Why don't we plan to get together at
6:30 on Thursday evening, then have drinks and dinner?" Leland
asked.
     "Let's plan on it.  I'll check with Craig and Joey and let
you know first thing in the morning," Dale said with a huge smile
on his face.  "Thanks for your help on the financial accounts for
Joey."
     "You are more than welcome.  I appreciate the fact that
Marty sent you guys to talk to me."
     * * * * *
     Dale called Craig as soon as he was back in his Blazer and
ready to go to the ranch.
     "Hi sweetheart.  How's my stud lover?" he asked Craig when
he answered.
     "What if someone's tapping the cell phone frequency?" Craig
said, but was pleased at the greeting.
     "Then they get an earful of two horny guys talking on their
cell phones," Dale said.  His eyes were twinkling, but of course,
Craig couldn't see that.
     "What's going on?" Craig asked.
     "I just got out of a meeting with Leland Stanton and have
set up some of the accounts for Joey's CD funds," he said.
     "Great.  What else?" Craig asked, sensing that there was
more.
     "How would you like to open a computer store?" Dale asked.
     "What?"  Craig was astounded at his lover's suggestion.
     "I've been doing some thinking about Joey's - and the other
kids - problems with the Computer Lab class," Dale told him.
     "I have to admit there is a problem, but that seems like
overkill," Craig said.
     "When I was meeting with Leland we talked about this.  He
thinks that a business that has good leadership, good product,
good service and good training on the computer and software
programs would make a lot of money if it was run right."
     Craig could sense his excitement.
     "Do you think we could do it?  Who would we get to run it?"
Craig asked.
     "I'm not suggesting we quit our day jobs - yet - but it's a
great idea," Dale said, waiting for Craig to say something.
     "It is a great idea, but I have no idea how to get this off
the ground."
     "Do you know if we have anything to do on Thursday night?
Leland would like to meet with us and I insisted that Joey be
allowed to have dinner with us and talk about what's going on in
the school computer lab."
     "I think Thursday night is clear, unless Joey has something
we don't know about."
     "Well, check with him when he gets home and pencil Leland in
for Thursday night.  If it works out, I'll confirm for all of us
in the morning."
     "Okay.  Will you be home about the usual time?" he asked.
     "Should be.  The guys are plowing and preparing another
section of land this week so nothing unusual going on at the
ranch," Dale told him.
     "Okay, see you when we get home.  Don't forget that we have
to see if we can find costumes tonight.  Can't have Cinderella
going to the fancy ball naked, can we?" Craig teased.
     "If that's the case, she can stay home with me," Dale
giggled.
     "Horn dog," Craig teased.
     "You're right, thank you.  Talk later."  Dale clicked off
before Craig could reply.
     * * * * *
     Daniel, Bret and Forrest were talking to each other as Joey
and Bryce walked up.
     "Hey, guys, what's up?" Bryce asked.
     "Waitin' for you two slowpokes," Daniel said.  "What's the
matter, did you have to run laps all seventh period?"
     "Close to it," Joey told them.  "Dennison started to punish
one person for not telling him someone was absent, then decided
that the whole bunch of us would benefit by running 15 laps."
     "Yeah, then some of the others had to run laps because they
fouled another player when we were playing half-court
basketball," Bryce said.
     "Bummer," Daniel told them.
     Hal walked up about that time.  "Hey guys, what's going on?"
     "Waitin' for you so we can get the fuck out of here," Bryce
laughed.
     "What?  I can't hear you.  You didn't blow your whistle!"
Joey joked.
     Everyone laughed, even though it wasn't all that funny.
     "What are we going to do?" Daniel asked.
     For a minute no one said anything.  Joey looked at his
watch.  It was 4:10.
     "Does anyone live closer to school than me?" Joey asked.
     "Where do you live?" Hal asked.
     "The Carriage House, at 37th and Larcher."
     No one lived any closer.
     "You can come over to my place.  My Dad said he would see to
it that we had sodas and snacks."
     The boys agreed and set off for Joey's condo, joking,
pushing and carrying on with each other.  Joey didn't think he
would ever have closer friends than his circle in Houston, but
decided these guys were okay.  They were a lot of fun and each
was a lot different from the others.
     They were at the condo in just a few minutes.  Mitsy greeted
them at the door.  The boys wanted to pet her, but she wanted to
go downstairs.
     "She'll let you play with her when she comes back from
downstairs," Joey assured them.
     "She's beautiful," Hal said, the others agreeing.
     "My bathroom is in here if anyone needs to use it," Joey
said, showing them the way through his bedroom.  The large box of
regular movies was sitting in front of Joey's entertainment
center.
     "Come on out to the kitchen and let's see what there is to
eat," Joey said.  The others followed him.
     Bryce and Daniel were admiring the view from the French
doors that led to the small balcony.  "This place is awesome,"
Bryce said.  Daniel agreed.
     "Do just you and your Dad live here?" Forrest asked.
     "No, there are three of us.  Dale is my half brother and I
call him 'Dad' most of the time.  His best friend lives here,
too.  His name is Craig and he's an architect.  I call him 'my
other Dad' because he really looks after me, too.  A couple of
you know that my real father died about 2 weeks ago.  Dale didn't
even know that I existed until we tracked him down.  Dad asked
him to be my guardian and he accepted.  Otherwise, I'd probably
be living in the Foster Care System in Houston right now and
that's pretty ugly.  Both Dale and Craig are really super guys
and I love them both."
     As Joey suspected, Bryce picked up on Craig living there,
also.
     "What are they, fags?" he sneered.
     Before Joey could say anything, Bret spoke up.
     "Bryce, you are way out of line.  Didn't you just hear Joey
explain that Dale and Craig rescued him from living in the Foster
Care System?  I've met both of them when I attended church at St.
James and they are super people that I would be proud to call my
Dad or guardian, or whatever they wanted me to call them.  So, I
don't want to hear anything more about fags or queers unless you
want to talk about Rev. Jimmy Bob Jones being a pervert."
     Bryce started to protest, but Hal spoke up.  "Just because
two men happen to live together, it doesn't mean they are gay, or
whatever label you want to put on it.  Bret is right, there are
sexual predators out there and the minister at your church was
the worst because he molested little boys that didn't understand
what was going on.  What's more, he told them they would die and
burn in hell if they ever told anyone about it.  He sure screwed
up a bunch of little boys minds.
     "Yeah, I can attest to that fact.  I was one of the boys he
molested.  It started about 6 years ago and when I started
through puberty and started to grow hair and could shoot wads, he
didn't want anything more to do with me.  I've felt guilty for
years and didn't know why, because I thought it was all my
fault," Bret said with tears streaming down his cheeks.  "I've
got to start attending counseling sessions with my whole family
to try to work through this mess."
     Bryce was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
     One by one, the boys hugged Bret and told him how sorry they
were.  Bryce didn't take part in that action, but Bret didn't
think anything about it.  He was glad for the support he was
getting.
     Joey felt like the encounter was his fault; after all he had
invited the boys to his place, then told them about having two
Dads.  However, Bret and Hal had sided against the accuser and
hopefully, that would be the end of the discussion.
     He suddenly remembered Mitsy and went to the door to let her
in.  She was ready to play with all the people who had come to
visit her, sitting in front of each to shake her paw, then
rolling over so they could rub her chest and stomach.  She was
enjoying all the attention she was receiving.
     Joey was opening packages of chips and some dip, then set
glasses out on the kitchen counter and filled them with ice.
     "Come on guys, help yourselves to the goodies," Joey said.
While the other guys were helping themselves, he fed Mitsy and
gave her fresh water.
     While they were visiting in the kitchen, Craig came home.
Joey proudly introduced him.  He already knew Hal Shaw and Bret
Jenkins.  This is Bryce Barnett, Daniel Pearson and Forrest
Ross," Joey said, finishing the introductions.
     "I'm glad that Joey is making friends so quickly.  I know
that was a big concern of his in moving away from his friends in
Houston," Craig told them.
     He then asked Joey, "How was school today?"
     Joey gave him a quick report about Phys Ed.
     Surprisingly, Bryce spoke up.  "He verbally abuses all of us
and we don't ever do anything different than play half-court
basketball and run laps for punishment for whatever comes into
his feeble little mind."
     "You're kidding?" Craig asked.  No scooter basketball,
volleyball, rope climbing, trampoline, soccer, baseball,
gymnastics or wrestling?"
     "Half-court basketball and laps for punishment was all we
did when I was in that class," Forrest said.  Bret and Daniel
agreed.
     "That's not teaching physical education, that's baby-sitting
Craig said.
     "We'll let you inform him of that," Bryce said.
     They all laughed.
     "I took the new book I bought last night to show to Mr.
Korte today.  He passed it off like it was nothing, but it has
great examples and complete programs in it," Joey said.
     "I want to see that book again," Daniel told him.
     "Can I see your textbook?" Craig asked.
     "Sure, they're still in my backpack.  I'll get them," Joey
replied.
     Craig looked at the two books when Joey handed them to him.
     "This is the textbook you are using in the class?" Craig
questioned.
     "Yes," the boys replied, almost as one.
     He snapped the book shut.  "This isn't even a textbook.
It's a college thesis on the theory of computer science and was
written in 1977 before IBM even introduced their first personal
computer to the public."  Craig was almost livid.  He opened the
book back up to the preface.
     "This was written by John Korte as a Masters Thesis and is
dedicated to my son, Kent Korte," Craig read.  "Does he actually
teach out of this book?"
     "Not really.  Maybe that's why the book doesn't make any
sense," Daniel said.
     "How are you learning about programming in Basic?" Craig
asked.
     "He has some programs that we can download from his bulletin
board and we're supposed to come up with ideas for our own
programs by using those examples," Hal told them.
     "This is a crock of sh-.  Sorry guys, I didn't mean to say
that," Craig said, being sincere.
     "That's probably the right word," Forrest said.  All of them
laughed together.
     "We're all going to learn Basic language programming, if I
have to learn it and teach it myself.  He's going to wonder what
hit him when we're through with him," Craig said.
     "Thanks Dad," Joey said.  "Now that you've turned into
Superman, what are you going to do about Coach Dennison?"
     "One problem at a time.  Nobody's ever failed gym class.  It
doesn't count as part of your grade, just that you get a non-
grade credit for being in class," Craig told them.
     "What can we do to help with the Korte problem?" Daniel
asked.
     "Just hang loose.  I'm going to get some answers this week,
then we'll decide what to do," Craig said.  "Since he isn't
making any demands on you or giving tests, just get a copy of the
book Joey found at Electronic Home last evening.  Read it and
we'll figure out a way to help each other."
     By that time it was 5:45 and Dale walked in the front door.
He was surprised to see the group of boys in the kitchen, loading
up on snacks and soft drinks.
     Joey took care of introductions.  All the boys, especially
Bryce was in awe of Dale's appearance.  He and Forrest couldn't
get over how much Dale and Joey resembled each other.  Daniel,
Bret and Hal, of course, had seen Dale before.
     "Does anyone need a ride home?" Dale asked.
     It turned out that everyone would appreciate it, so both
Dale and Craig took their vehicles to take the five boys home,
Joey riding along with Craig as he took Hal and Bret home.
     Dale ended up with the three boys - Daniel, Bryce and
Forrest - each of who secretly thought he and Joey were hunks.
     * * * * *
     When they ended up back at the condo, Craig remarked that he
thought it was too late to make cinnamon rolls that evening and
suggested they shop for their Halloween costumes and then go to
Tony D's for dinner.  That idea got an automatic second from Dale
and Joey.
     The first stop was the Salvation Army Thrift Store to see
what people had discarded that might be of use to them.  They
told the clerk they were looking for Halloween costumes and how
they planned to dress.  The woman thought it was a great idea and
took them to the section where they had a pretty good selection
of old formals and party dresses.  She determined the size Craig
needed and came up with a really good-looking pink and white
formal.  Craig was very hesitant to try it on, but she assured
Craig that she had helped outfit other men with dresses, so he
disappeared into the fitting room.  The dress was almost made for
him and had a built-in brassiere so make it look like he had
ample boobs without augmentation.
     They found some plastic sandals with low heels to fit his 9C
feet, reminding Craig that he had to wear one and Dale had to
carry the other as he was searching for the beautiful girl who
had lost her glass slipper.  The only other thing Craig needed
was panty hose and a blond wig, aside from makeup and some
ridiculous earrings and a necklace.  The clerk suggested some
white gloves, but didn't have any.
     Dale was easy to outfit.  They could find tights at another
store that catered to large women's sizes.  He had a choice of
ruffled shirts and a colorful vest was easy to find.  A crown
shouldn't weren't a big problem as a costume shop had the shoes
and crown he needed
     Joey found tights at the same place they went for the ones
to fit Dale.  He decided to skip the shirt and found a vest that
would show off his newly furred chest.  He found some costume
slippers at the same place Dale found shoes.  Joey's had pointed,
curled-up toes, like a genie would wear.  He needed a cap of some
kind, along with a bag for his "fairy dust".
     The costume shop had a plastic bag with a shoulder strap
that would work for the fairy dust.  It just needed to be
labeled.  He finally found a cap that would do; it looked like
something Peter Pan would wear.
     They found some over-stated costume jewelry in the costume
shop.  There were earrings, necklace and bracelet to look like
gaudy diamonds.  They found the panty hose at the same shop where
Dale and Joey got their tights.  One make-up kit would do for all
three of them.  They found long white gloves and a blond wig that
was really cute to complete Craig's costume.
     The total spent on their Halloween costumes was $96.57.
     All three of them were enthused and couldn't wait until the
party on Saturday night.
     * * * * *
     Craig brought along the "textbook" Kent Korte was using in
class and they went to the Electronic Home to talk to Dennis, who
greeted them like old friends.
     "Have you decided on a computer yet?" he questioned them
after they exchanged greetings.
     "No, we're working on it though," Craig said.  "Can you talk
to us for a few minutes?"
     "Sure.  What can I tell you?" he asked.
     "Are you familiar with this book?" Craig asked, handing him
the copy of "Basic Computer Usage" from the Computer Lab class.
     Dennis looked at the book, and then started laughing.
"Where did you get this?  It's a rejected Master's Thesis from
the University of Oklahoma in 1977.  It didn't even deal with the
subject.  The man that wrote it had it published anyway and some
company was dumb enough to put it into hardback."
     Craig could hardly keep his cool.  "That's the 'textbook'
that Kent Korte is using in the Computer Lab class at Davy
Crockett High School.  It was written by his father."
     "You're shittin' me, right?"  He was incredulous.
     "Well we don't think he's teaching out of it, but every
student in the class has a copy, for whatever good it does them,
I don't know," Craig told him.
     "Wow, somebody's getting screwed over," Dennis told them.
     "Look, what do you know about Basic programming language?"
Craig demanded.
     "Enough to write a few simple routines.  It was something
developed for PC's, but never caught on because it's cumbersome
to write and test.  There are a number of newer tools available
such as dBase, FOXBASE, C, PC COBOL and PC FORTRAN.  dBase and
FOXBASE are similar and are much, much more powerful because they
can use large database files, even joining several to produce
some really complicated reports.  If you compile the programs
into an executable file with a program like the Nantucket
Clipper, it becomes a stand-alone program.  The source code is
much easier to write and test than the PC versions of mainframe
languages such as Cobol and Fortran.
     "I've not said anything because it's not my place to, but
the school system is doing the kids a disservice by allowing
Basic to be taught," Dennis said.
     "They are doing the kids an even bigger disservice because
they aren't being taught anything," Craig said.
     "Look, I'm going to talk to a school board member about
this.  Joey is in the class.  He doesn't know anything about
computers and the kids in the class are pretty helpless because
they are supposed to learn to write some routines.  The rest of
the time they spend on the computers working through tutorials
for WordStar and Lotus.  We've been told that his main concern is
that each person in the class access his Bulletin Board each day
and register as a visitor.  How much of a problem is it going to
be to prove that the textbook shouldn't be allowed in the class?"
Craig asked.
     "Probably not too much trouble.  I think the instructor of
Computer Science at Western Juco, Scott McKown, will back up what
I've said by a hundred percent," Dennis told them.
     "Thanks for your help," Dale told Dennis.  "We have another
matter to discuss with you, but tonight isn't the time.  Do you
have any evenings free?" he questioned.
     "Yes, I don't work at all on Friday," Dennis said.
     "Let me have one of your cards with a telephone number I can
call if you aren't at the store, we need to talk to you about an
idea we have and would welcome your input if you are willing to
talk to us," Dale told him.
     Dennis was intrigued.  "Yes, I'll be available on Friday
evening.  Here's my home telephone number," he said writing it on
the back of a business card.
     "Thanks.  You'll be hearing from us.  Right now we are
gathering information," Dale said as he turned to lead Craig and
Joey out of the store.
     As they got in Craig's car, Joey asked, "Dad, what was all
that about?"
     "Just something we're working on to help you guys out with
the computer lab," Dale said.  "That's all I'm going to say for
now, but your Mom and I are working the problem."
     "Neat," Joey said, as Craig rolled his eyes.
     * * * * *
     Greg was still working when they arrived at Tony D's.  The
dinner crowd had vacated the restaurant and only five tables had
diners seated at them.  Greg put them in an alcove so they could
visit.
     "Can Joey have a glass of wine?" he asked.
     Joey felt very adult that Greg would even consider offering
wine to him.
     Dale looked at Craig with a question in his eyes.  Craig
nodded his head yes.
     "Just don't get him drunk.  He gets really mean and
belligerent and says embarrassing things," Dale laughed.
     All four of them laughed and Greg hoped Dale was teasing
him.
     One of the bus boys brought bread sticks and Marinara Sauce
and the bartender brought each of them a glass of red wine.
     Greg was immediately back at their table.  "We have plenty
of Chicken Saltimbocca tonight and I'd like to share it with you
so I don't have to eat it the rest of the week, although it's
very good," he teased.
     "Gee, I don't know.  It sounds good, but I was hoping for a
big juicy cheeseburger," Dale said, his eyes starting to sparkle.
     Greg looked at him.  "Mickey D's is down the street about
two blocks.  It's within walking distance and I'm sure you'll be
able to eat two of them by the time you get there."
     Joey and Craig had a hard time suppressing their laughter.
Dale joined in.
     "Point well taken," Dale said.  "I'll take the stuff you
can't sell and an Italian salad to go with it."
     Joey and Craig ordered the same.
     "What are you going to do to Mr. Korte?" Joey asked.
     "Nothing," Craig said.  "He's already done it to himself.
Just keep quiet about this, even to your friends and we'll see
how this plays out over the next few weeks."
     "What he's done is wrong and he's going to have to prove
that he's qualified to teach this class.  I don't think he can do
that," Dale said.
     "Neat," Joey said.  "I don't think he's interested in
anything except his bulletin board and checking each day to see
if everyone logged in."  He was quiet for a moment.  "I didn't do
that today.  I guess I'll be on his shit list tomorrow."
     "Oh oh," Craig said.
     "All of the computers were in use during the class and then
we went to our place after school. I didn't even think about it."
     "Don't worry about it," Dale told him.  "I think that will
be the least of his worries when this is all over.  No promises,
but I think some changes are going to have to be made.  Just do
the best you can and we'll get you guys the help you need."
     Three of the tables were vacated and Greg asked if he could
join the fellows at their table.  They all indicated he was more
than welcome to sit down.
     "What's been going on?  I haven't seen you since your
parents were here last week," Greg asked.
     "It seems like it's been a busy few days.  My parents were
here until Sunday afternoon and they were a big, big help to us
in Houston.  We've gotten Joey moved and started to school here."
     "I've never had grandparents before and Dad Craig's parents
are great," Joey said.
     "And, they've never had grandchildren before, so they think
Joey is okay, too," Craig said.
     "I admire you guys.  You've stepped forward to help Joey,
who obviously is a good kid and your parents have accepted the
fact that you guys are a couple," Greg told them.
     "We're not exactly a traditional family, but I would be
willing to bet that we are more 'normal' than most families,"
Dale said.
     The others agreed with him.
     "At least yours seems to be functional.  That's a lot more
than can be said of many that come in here to eat," Greg told
them.
     "Is it really that bad?" Craig asked.  He had a hard time
believing that as his own family was always there for each other.
He had a hard time imagining a family that wasn't supportive of
each other.
     "Believe me, when I say it is.  There was one family in here
earlier, two parents and three children from probably about 12 to
18 years old.  I don't think they spoke two words to each other
the entire time they were in here.  It was like they dared each
other to say anything."
     "That's sad," Joey said.  "My Dad and I always had lots to
talk about with each other and my two new Dads are always teasing
each other and me, too.  I know that I can count on them if
there's a problem.  They are involved with what I'm doing and I
rely on them for help, too."
     "Joey's right," Craig said.  "We're trying to work through a
problem with the computer lab class at his school.  All of the
kids need more help than they are getting in class and Dale and I
are going to see to it they all have the help they need."
     "You should run for school board," Greg said in a teasing
manner.
     "Believe me, PTA President or being on the school board have
both crossed my mind," Dale told them.
     "I'd back you for either office, although I don't think I
could help on the PTA President position.  But, I can vote as
well as the next person and would vote for you if you ran for
school board."
     "I don't think it will come to that, but I'll only say that
we think there is a problem and we'll work to get it fixed," Dale
said.
     "I'm sure you all will," Greg said.
     The salads were served at that time and it was obvious that
Greg was going to eat with them as the busboy brought four
salads.  That was fine as they enjoyed visiting with him.
     "Not to change the subject, but I understand that Tom and
Eddie may be taking some classes so they can become foster
parents," Greg said.
     "I know they interviewed with someone from the Juvenile
Placement Service in Austin.  Tom told us about it at church on
Sunday," Dale said.
     Craig spoke up.  "They are supposed to attend a couple of
seminar-type workshops that present a lot of different scenarios
of things they might encounter in dealing with foster children
and their problems.  They have applied to help gay teenage boys,
but will take whatever the juvenile system sends their way.  From
what we were told, there are few qualified homes or foster
parents to take any boys that are above twelve years old."
     "That's too bad.  I never had any problem with my parents or
grandparents when I told them that I was gay, but I know there
were a couple of boys in high school when I was a student that
didn't fare so well.  Their parents became hostile, abusive and
finally kicked them out of their house.  They were both lucky
that they could stay with friends, but I really felt sorry for
them because their parents didn't give them money to buy clothes
or schoolbooks.  Basically, there were on their own, but at least
had a warm place to sleep and were getting three meals a day."
     "Wow!" Joey said.  "I was wondering what might happen to me
if I got put in the Juvenile System in Houston.  I'm really
thankful that my two Dads rescued me from living like that."
     "I'm glad we did, too," Craig said, "even if you do give me
a bad time.  You and your brother are too much alike, and I love
you both."
     "See, Joey, I told you that your Mom really does love you,"
Dale said, grinning from ear to ear.
     Craig sat there with an exasperated look on his face, then
joined the others in laughter.
     "Hey, are you guys going to Tom and Eddie's Halloween
party?" Greg asked.
     "Yeah, we got an invitation and accepted," Dale told me.
     "We've got really cool costumes, too," Joey told him.  "We
got the stuff we need this evening."
     "Great.  I'll look forward to seeing you there.  This has
gotten to be a big event here in Williamsport.  You guys will all
have a good time," Greg said.
     Their meals arrived shortly after the busboys removed their
salad plates.  The bartender brought more wine for Dale, Craig
and Greg, then asked Joey if he wanted a soft drink or water.
     "Ginger Ale," Joey told him.
     "How's business?" Dale asked Greg.
     "We had a little bit of a slump for about three weeks after
the new chain opened here.  Then people realized their meals were
made somewhere else, quick-frozen, then micro waved and smothered
in cheese and sauce right before they were served.  Our meals are
prepared to order and served from the kitchen here."
     "We haven't been there, and I honestly think there is no
reason to, as long as you are in business here," Craig told him.
     "Thanks.  I'll put you down as loyal customers.  Their wait
staff hasn't been trained and that's another plus for us.  People
are used to good service when they come here.  We don't shove the
food on the table, ask if there's anything else and then slap the
ticket down on the table, ignoring you for the rest of the time
it takes you to eat."
     "What's with these chains, anyway?  It's that way in every
city we've eaten?" Dale asked.
     "Their 'store managers manual' says that they are supposed
to turn a table 6 times between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.  That means six
groups of customers.  They don't want you to sit and visit or
even have a leisurely meal.  They have forty minutes to get you
seated, get you something to drink, take your order, feed you and
get you out the front door again.  What they don't realize is
that only those who want to go somewhere to eat quickly are going
to be their regular customers."
     "I didn't realize they had a time limit," Dale said.
     "Well, they are not going to run you out of the restaurant,
but they will make you feel unwelcome if you tarry too long."
     "It's no wonder the good restaurants always have a line
waiting to get in around 7 p.m.," Craig asked.
     "I wish we had a line waiting to get in here, but we are
satisfied that our customers are regular and loyal.  We generally
are able to seat you immediately, although the service may be a
little slow when we are busy.  Still we feel that our customers
come here to be treated like we are glad to see them and have
good food to serve them," Greg told them.
     "Your food is really good," Joey said.
     "Thanks.  We pride ourselves on maintaining quality and we
try to put out a goodly quantity, too.  We use fresh ingredients
and everything is prepared in our kitchen.  We don't buy pre-
cooked meat, like sausage for pizza, or shredded cheese.  My
grandparents would rather close the doors instead of compromising
quality."
     "Believe me.  This is good quality," Craig said, the others
agreeing.
     "And plenty to eat, too," Dale quickly added.
     "Thanks guys.  It's always a pleasure to have you come in to
eat.  I'm sorry that I don't have a chance to see you more often,
but I seem to spend more and more time here as my grandparents
have pretty much retired and my parents have discovered they like
to travel a little now and then," Greg told them.
     By this time they were through eating.  Joey was the only
one who accepted the offer of dessert, spumoni ice cream.
     They were the last customers to leave the restaurant and
Greg gave each of them a hug as they went to the door, refusing
to allow them to do anything other than leave a tip for the
servers.
     "See you guys Friday night.  It will be a great party," Greg
said as they went out the door.
     * * * * *
     "He's a neat guy," Joey said when they got in the car.
     "Yeah.  I think Greg's a true friend.  I'm like he is; I
wish we could see each other more often.  He's pretty much taken
over the operation of the restaurant, although he seems to
arrange adequate time off to enjoy going to a party or going out
of town," Craig said.
     "Does he have a boyfriend?" Joey asked.
     "I don't know for sure.  I think he has a close friend that
lives out of town, but their jobs and more than a few miles keep
them from being together often," Craig answered.
     "That's too bad," Dale said.
     "Is it hard for gay guys to find other gay guys?" Joey asked
them.
     "I don't think it's a big problem in the large cities, even
like Austin," Craig said.  "Here, the gay population isn't as
large and not everyone who is gay wants everybody in town to know
about it.  So, I know a lot of the younger people go to Austin
and San Antonio to meet other men."
     "I didn't have to go to Austin," Dale said, reaching for
Craig's hand as they drove down the street.
     * * * * *
     Joey had a little bit of homework, consisting of one chapter
in Algebra and then reading some of the other textbooks to catch
up and review for his other classes, so he excused himself to his
room to get his books.  Since they hadn't put his desk in his
room, he started to return to the dining room table to work on
his Algebra.
     His two Dads were cuddled up on the loveseat and were
obviously making out with each other.  Joey stood in the doorway,
transfixed at what he was seeing.  'So this is what making love
is all about,' he thought.  His Dads were kissing each other,
rubbing their hands over the others body and it almost appeared
they were trying to pull each other inside themselves.  Although
they were fully clothed, hands were inside each other's shirts.
He felt himself starting to get hard.
     At some point in time, he had heard the term 'foreplay' and
knew this must be what he was seeing.  'Geeze, this was hot,' he
thought.  He squeezed his cock through his Levis as he stood
there watching.
     About that time Dale opened his eyes and saw Joey standing
in the doorway.  He pulled his lips away from Craig, whispering,
"We've got company."
     Craig sat bolt upright, almost falling off the loveseat.
"How long have you been standing there watching us?" Craig
demanded.  He wasn't mad, because he realized they should have
been in the privacy of their own bedroom.
     Joey was embarrassed.  "Not very long.  I'm sorry. I didn't
mean to spy on you.  It just looks so beautiful and I know that
you guys really love each other.  I just wish my Dad would have
had someone to love him, like you guys have each other."
     Both Dale and Craig stood up.  It was obvious they were hard
and they didn't try to cover themselves, as it would just draw
more attention to their condition.
     "We told you that you would probably see us kissing each
other and being affectionate to the other, but that anything
beyond that would be in the privacy of our own room.  I'm glad
you are accepting of our passions, but I guess we forget that we
have a third person living here now," Dale told him.
     Craig noticed that Joey was hard, too.  "We'll try to watch
it the next time and not put on a public display," he giggled.
     "You need a place to study, don't you?" Dale asked.
     "Yeah, my desk is still in the storage unit so I was going
to use the dining room table," Joey responded.
     "Come on, then.  We'll get your desk and bring it to the
condo tomorrow and then we can stay out of each other's way,"
Dale said.
     "You're not mad at me, are you?" Joey questioned.
     "No, not in the least.  It's us that can't keep our hands
off each other.  I guess we just thought you were going to stay
in your room to study, but you don't have any place to spread
stuff out and write," Craig said.
     "Yeah, I really don't.  We were going to hold off on the
desk until we got my entertainment center set up, then were
talked about a computer and a desk for that, so I just never gave
it any thought about bringing it here," Joey said.
     "We'll get it for you tomorrow, so go ahead and use the
dining room table.  When you're through, we'll have some ice
cream, okay?" Dale asked.
     "Cool," Joey replied.
     * * * * *
     Dale and Craig went to the kitchen to talk about their ideas
to solve the computer lab problem.
     After they had their dessert, Joey started to go to his
room, then gave Dale and Craig a hug in turn.  "I'm sorry if you
think I was spying on you.  I started to come back in the living
room and saw you guys.  It just looked so beautiful, the way you
were kissing and caressing each other.  I just couldn't help but
stand and look."
     "Don't worry about it, bud," Dale said.  "Thanks for
understanding."
     * * * * *
     Joey went off to bed.  As he took his Levis off, he noticed
that his jockey shorts were wet both in and above the pouch.  He
knew it was precum and why it was there.  Although he was horny,
he was more tired and slipped off to sleep almost as soon as he
lay down.
     * * * * *
     Dale and Craig were horny, too.  They resumed what they had
started earlier, but this time they were both without clothes to
impede their foreplay.  It was with urgency that they needed each
other and ended up in a 69 position to slake their thirst for
each other's love offering.
     After they were spent, they nestled together and quickly
went to sleep, too, content in their love for each other.
Thankful for their family.
     * * * * *
     (to be continued)
     * * * * *
     AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Thanks for all the inquiries and concern
about me posting this chapter late.  It's the first time I've not
had a new chapter posted to Nifty each Friday in a long time.  My
writing time has shrunk a little and I was working on another
project, too.  I looked forward to your emails, comments and
those who want to visit, too.  You are all great readers and I'm
thankful for the loyal following of many people.  Please contact
me at TulsaDriller7@aol.com.  I try to answer all emails.
     Special thanks to Paul Daventon for his help in catching
obvious mistakes.