Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 09:37:27 EST
From: TulsaAuthor@aol.com
Subject: Tales from the Ranch, Book II, Chapter 2
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 2004 by Tulsa Driller. 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 to read the last chapter of this story.
Tales from the Ranch, Book II
Chapter 2: Confrontations
Joey had hung up his jacket and was getting a book out of
his locker. He was just getting ready to shut the door when
someone grabbed him by his left bicep and spun him around,
twisting his arm and slamming it into the door of the next
locker. It hurt.
"Well, if it isn't the fag from Houston!" the voice
declared. Joey didn't know who the student was, although he had
seen him before. He thought the fellow was a senior football
player. The guy was big, probably about 6'4" and weighed at
least 250 pounds. His face looked mean.
Joey was stunned.
"What are you talking about?" he gasped.
"I saw your picture in that newspaper article with the
governor and the other fags. You just think you've won. There
are a lot of people in Williamsport that think Fred Phelps is a
hero and I'm one of 'em."
Daniel's locker was about 6 feet away from Joey's and
Forrest's was about 10 feet beyond in the same direction, on the
opposite wall. Both of them were watching what was happening
with Joey and Thad Wilson, wondering what they could do. Thad
was mean, a bully who had managed to intimidate most of his
teachers, too.
"Meet me behind the gym after school is over with this
afternoon. You're going to give me a first-class blowjob, fag
boy!!" he sneered. He still had Joey's arm in a painful position
and twisted it a little harder.
"I don't do stuff like that," Joey managed to say. His arm
was really hurting by now.
"Sure you do, and if you don't do it right, then I'll beat
the shit out of you, maybe take out some of them pretty teeth.
You'll learn fast then, fag boy!!" As he said this, he kneed
Joey in his crotch.
Pain!! A lot of pain! Joey was in a position where he
couldn't move. Thad's knee had him pinned against the lockers
and his arm felt like it was about to be pulled from its socket.
Joey thought he was going to throw up. Tears were streaming down
his face and he didn't know if it was from the pain or the
humiliation.
Daniel and Forrest were standing in front of Daniel's locker
by now. They didn't think they could get Thad off Joey. And,
what would Thad do to them if they tried to help? All they could
do was for Daniel to witness the attack while Forrest went to get
help.
By this time, several other students had gathered, either
because they were going to their lockers or were on their way to
the first class of the day. All of a sudden Thad was aware of
the others who were there. He let Joey loose and he promptly
sank to his knees and up-chucked the contents of his stomach.
One of the students ran down the hall to get the janitor to
bring a mop while another ran for help, not knowing that Forrest
had already done that.
Thad sneered at the crowd of about 8 students. "Fag's don't
deserve to be treated as nice as I treated Joey. The next time,
he's going to hurt really bad." Then he smirked. "If you want
to see this queer give me a really super blowjob, he'll be doing
it out behind the gym right after the last class!" He started to
stomp off.
About that time three people came running from around the
corner. Coach Eddie Thompson, Doug Tate, the principal and Coach
Carol Holmen bringing up the rear.
"What's going on here, Wilson?" Eddie demanded.
"Out of my way, asshole!!" Thad yelled, shoving Eddie aside.
Although Thad was at least 5 inches taller than Eddie and
outweighed him by 80 pounds, Eddie grabbed his arm. He wasn't an
expert, but he knew enough of the martial arts to put Thad on the
floor before he knew what had happened to him.
Doug Tate rushed to Joey.
"Are you alright, son?" he questioned, squatting down beside
him.
Then Joey's tears really started. He hadn't cried like this
that he could ever remember. He was so ashamed, but it felt good
at the same time. All of the things that had happened in Joey's
life the last few weeks surfaced that morning while he was
sitting on the concrete floor in front of his locker.
Coach Holmen started moving the students away from the area,
toward their first period classes.
As she approached Forrest and Daniel, they let her know that
they had seen most of what had just happened but told her they
felt powerless to try to help Joey.
"Okay, you go to the Principal's office and we'll discuss
this. Mr. Tate and I'll be there as soon as we help Joey and
take care of Mr. Wilson," she told them.
Thad Wilson was screaming and swearing at Eddie. He was
totally out of control. Joey was too sick to notice what was
going on with his adversary.
Eddie told Carol that he wanted her to call the school
security officer and to notify Thad's parents that they were to
be at the school as quickly as possible as it appeared that Thad
was going to be suspended from school for threatening another
student.
Doug Tate helped Joey to his feet and took him to the school
nurse's office. The janitor arrived about that time, pushing his
cart with the bucket of water and disinfectant and other items
needed to clean up the area.
Thad tried to get up.
"Just lay there and relax. You can get up when the security
officer arrives," Eddie told him.
Thad started to get agitated again. He wanted to get up,
but at least was smart enough to know he was in trouble and
anything he did would make matters worse for him.
* * * * *
Marty was in Dale's office at the Bar-W when the telephone
rang. Dale picked up the receiver and in his usual cheery voice
said, "Bar-W Ranch, this is Dale Richards."
"Dale, this is Doug Tate," and he continued before Dale
could say anything. "Joey was accosted before first hour class
this morning. He wasn't badly hurt, but he's really shook up.
Can you come to my office and pick him up? He probably should
stay at home the rest of the day."
"Accosted?" Dale replied.
"Yeah, one of the guys off the football team. He's a bully
and causes a lot of problems with kids he doesn't like. Joey was
his latest victim. He's okay, as I said, but I think he would be
better off missing classes today. I'll see to it that he has his
assignments to work on."
Dale glanced at his watch. The day was just barely started.
"I'll be there in about 15 minutes," he told the Principal.
"Fine. Joey will be in my office. I want to talk to both
of you before he leaves."
Dale hung up the phone and Marty could see the pain on his
face.
"What's wrong?" he wanted to know.
"That was Doug Tate. Seems that one of the senior football
players decided to rough Joey up a bit. He isn't hurt, but they
are sending him home for the day."
"Did he give you the other students name?" Marty asked.
"No, he just said that the kid was a bully and there had
been problems like this before."
"Probably Thad Wilson," Marty said. "I guess we're finally
going to have to expel him from school. I think this is the
third incident with him so far this year. Coach Dennison always
came to his rescue before, but he's not with us anymore."
"I thought he was supposed to be back after Thanksgiving?"
Dale questioned.
"No, he and his wife moved away from Williamsport almost
immediately after the problem in Phys Ed. He refused our
requirement that he seek help."
"Oh," was all Dale could say.
"I'm going to the school, but will drive my own car. I hate
to get involved in stuff like this, but as a member of the school
board, it's my duty to see that the school system runs smoothly,
and it certainly doesn't sound like it is this morning."
* * * * *
Thad Wilson's stepfather, Milton Brockle, was the minister
at Faith Assembly Church. It was another non-denominational
enterprise like Jimmy Bob Jones had headed. This fellow wasn't
as visible as Jimmy Bob, or as outspoken. In fact he didn't know
that the Rev. Fred Phelps and his gang were in Williamsport until
he saw the 10 o'clock news on Friday night. He immediately drove
to the parking lot to offer them a place to stay in his church,
but the police and sheriff's departments wouldn't allow him to
get close to their vehicles. He couldn't even offer them any
assistance in the way of soft drinks or food.
When he arrived back home, he told his wife and Thad about
it. By the time they discussed it, all three had decided that
the police and sheriff's departments were way too liberal for
them. It appeared that they supported the homosexual community
as they had threatened to arrest Jimmy Bob and his side-kick when
they tried to spy on a group that was meeting at the Episcopal
Church rectory, across the street from the "fag cathedral" as
Jimmy Bob had called it.
By the time they were through with their second family
discussion on Sunday night after church, Thad was really riled
up. He was a teenager with raging hormones and although he had
threatened other boys he thought were weak, his arrogance had
decided that Joey was a queer. He was going to get his very
first blowjob. so he thought.
He thought that Joey would happily capitulate and that would
be it. What he didn't count on was an audience that had seen
most of the confrontation. or the faculty coming to Joey's rescue
and then Coach Thompson felling him like a huge tree before he
could react.
* * * * *
Dale parked the Blazer belonging to the Bar-W Ranch in the
visitor's parking lot at Davy Crockett High School. As he
started for the front door, Marty drove into the lot, giving him
a toot to let him know to wait. They walked inside and to the
Principals office together.
The only people in the room next to the Principals office
were Coach Carol Holmen talking to Forrest Ross and Daniel
Pearson. Doug's secretary was on the telephone and motioned for
them to wait. Whomever she was trying to call didn't answer the
telephone so she hung up.
"Good morning, Marty," she said. Turning to Dale she asked
more than said, "You must be Joey's brother. You look a lot like
him."
Before Dale could answer, Marty said, "Hello Cathy, where's
Doug?"
"He went to the nurse's office with Joey. They should be
back here in a few minutes," she answered.
"Yes, I'm Dale Richards," Dale managed to respond before
Marty could say anything more.
"I'm sorry, Dale. Yes, this is Joey's brother and this is
Cathy Buxton, Doug's secretary," Marty responded. I'm sorry I
thought maybe you already knew each other."
"It was easy enough to guess correctly," she smiled as she
offered her hand for Dale to shake.
"You both can go on into Doug's office and wait for him and
Joey. It's kind of busy around here this morning. Coach Holmen
is talking to Forrest and Daniel about the scuffle and we are
expecting Thad Wilson's parents to arrive shortly. She looked at
Marty. I'm sure you will want to be in on that meeting, also?"
"Yes, very definitely. Thad is going to learn the hard way
that he can't intimidate other students and cause them physical
distress while doing it."
"They took him to the Security Office and he will be brought
up here after you and Dale talk to Mr. Tate and Joey. We're
going to determine just what happened before Joey is released to
your custody," Cathy told them.
Dale immediately bristled at the words "released to your
custody". He didn't like the sound of that one bit. Marty had
somewhat the same reaction at the choice of her words.
About that time Doug arrived with Joey, his protective hand
on Joey's shoulder. Joey's shirt was wet as well as the front of
his chinos. He looked pale and shaken and Dale could smell the
lingering residue of the vomit on him.
Upon seeing Dale there, he rushed to him throwing his arms
around his neck, laying his head against Dale's shoulder and
bursting into tears again, sobs wracking his body.
Dale wrapped his arms around Joey. "It's okay, Bud, I'm
here. it's going to be okay."
"Dad, I didn't do anything to him. I swear!!" Joey cried,
releasing a new batch of tears.
"I'm going to meet with Coach Holmen and the other two boys
who witnessed the attack on Joey. I'll be back in here in a few
minutes. Do you want to join me, Marty?" Doug Tate asked.
"Yes," was Marty's simple reply as he followed Doug out and
into the next office. He wanted to get to the bottom of exactly
what had happened and Joey needed some time to settle down and
talk to Dale.
"What happened?" Dale gently asked Joey as he was holding
him. He realized that Joey was almost as big as he was as it was
the first time they'd had any physical contact other than of them
throwing an arm around the other's shoulder. Joey was a man in
physical stature, but emotionally still a teenager who had to
have help and assurance from everyone he was in contact with.
"Can we sit down, Dad?" Joey asked.
"Sure," he said, still holding Joey's hand as they moved
onto the sofa.
"I had hung up my jacket and had gotten the books I needed
for my first two classes and I was just ready to shut my locker
door when this big guy grabbed me and twisted my arm and then
slammed me against the lockers. He told me that he had seen my
picture in the paper with the governor and the other fags and
wanted me to know that he thought Fred Phelps was a hero. Then
he told me that I was gonna give him a blowjob behind the gym
after the last class is over today.
"I thought he was going to pull my arm out of its socket.
Then he yelled at some kids that were standing around and the
next thing I knew, he pinned me against the lockers with his knee
against my balls. It really hurt. and still does."
Joey had tears running down his cheeks, but he was in
control now.
"In the first place, I'm sorry you had to endure this. I
understand that this Thad Wilson will probably be suspended from
school, as you aren't the first he's hassled. Mr. Tate suggested
that you spend the rest of the day at home and he's going to get
your assignments for you before we leave. Daniel and Forrest are
talking to Coach Holmen about what they witnessed and School
Security has Thad in their custody.
"Dad, everything was going so great. Why did this have to
happen? Does this mean that other kids are going to give me and
maybe Forrest and Daniel a bad time, too?"
"Joey, there are always people out there who are jealous of
everyone else, especially those who are in the spotlight. I
don't know for sure what Thad's motive was, but he's going to be
punished. Remember Rev. Jimmy Bob Jones and Bret Jenkins
father?"
"Yeah." Joey replied, not sure what they had to do with this
problem.
"Jimmy Bob had a vendetta against gay people. He didn't
even have all of his facts straight and made a lot of noise about
Fr. Tikker supporting our group that meets at the church. He
managed to drag Bret Senior into it, against his will, and had
him convinced it was the right thing to do. Bret ended up
getting his arm broken by me because we were trying to protect
his son. He was abusing both his wife and Bret Junior. Bret has
reversed his thinking, but was ordered to get counseling for his
whole family as his outbursts have traumatized all of them."
"I remember that. Bret was afraid that his Dad would beat
him because he thought Bret tried to warn us we were being spied
on. He was afraid to go home and ended up staying at Tom and
Eddie's house that night."
"That's pretty much it. Of course, Jimmy Bob Jones had a
whole other set of problems, but he managed to keep his
congregation riled up all the time with mis-truths and crazy
ideas he had."
"Did you ever have anything like this happen to you when you
were in school?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, I did," Dale said, remembering.
"Really, Joey was stunned. He thought Dale was perfect.
"I used to get hassled by some of the kids about the fact
that I was illegitimate, born out of wedlock, and my father
wasn't around. Also, my Grandfather Richards was a truck driver,
but spent a lot of his free time at the pool hall, losing money
and drinking beer. Some kids perceived me as being a loser from
the 'other side of the tracks' and wanted nothing to do with me.
Others picked fights with me for the same reason. I had to learn
to defend myself from about the time I was in the first grade.
After I bested several boys over the next few years, the fights
stopped, but the name-calling went on until I was in high school.
I was on the baseball team and was a good player. The other boys
saw that I was valuable to the team and that was pretty much the
end of any hassling, but it still hurt because I was always kind
of an outsider."
"I'm sorry you had problems, too, Dad."
"Well, Joey, its just part of growing up. In your case, you
are new to Williamsport. I doubt that kids outside your own
little group know much about you or why you live here. You are
smart and on the honor roll. Again, kids get jealous over things
they don't understand.
"Then we come along, open a big computer store, get a lot of
publicity, some of which wasn't wanted, and again some people
want to look at the dark side of things instead of the bright
side of it."
Doug Tate and Marty walked into the room about that time.
"Are you okay, Joey?" Doug asked him.
"Yeah, my arms sore and my clothes are pretty cruddy. He
kneed me pretty hard, too."
"I'm going to suggest that you take the rest of the day off
from school as an excused absence. Betty Armstrong should have
your assignments for you when you and Dale are ready to leave.
We've heard what Daniel and Forrest had to say and we know that
you did nothing to provoke an attack. Thad will be suspended
from school this time, and will be dropped from the football
team. Unfortunately, he's hoping for a college scholarship in
football, but he's been warned about threatening other boys
before. We just will not tolerate his actions here at Davy
Crockett High School," he told them.
Marty took over the conversation. "Joey, Dale, I'm really
sorry this had to happen. Some people just never get the message
that they are responsible for their actions and Thad is going to
pay the price for it. We haven't met with his parents yet, but
it isn't as if we haven't talked to them before. His stepfather
is another Jimmy Bob Jones who has a small following of bigots in
his church. They seem to feed off each other and then set out to
rectify what they believe are things wrong with the world."
"Joey, if anyone gives you or any of your friends a bad
time, please let me know," Doug told him. "I don't care what is
said or done, we want to provide a safe and healthful environment
for students to learn in."
"Thanks, Mr. Tate," Joey said, standing up to shake his
hand. Then he shook hands with Marty.
"I'll see you back at the Bar-W, Dale. We need to finish
the meeting we started this morning," Marty said, giving him a
pat on the back as he shook his hand.
The men parted company after Dale and Doug Tate shook hands.
Joey picked up his class assignments in the student office and
Dale walked with him to his locker. He was surprised that it was
the same one he'd had for two years when he was at Davy Crockett.
He even remembered the combination.
* * * * *
Thad Wilson's mother and stepfather, Rev. Milton Brockle
arrived at the school administration office shortly after Dale
and Joey left. Doug Tate and Marty Williamson were more than
ready for their visit.
Doug Tate gave them a veiled greeting. "Hello, Rev. and
Mrs. Brockel. I wish I could say that I'm glad to see you, but
given the circumstances of this meeting, I'm not. Thad attacked
one of our freshman students this morning. There were witnesses
to this and the victim did nothing to provoke the confrontation.
"What are you talking about?" an angry Rev. Brockle asked.
This man was easily a foot shorter than his stepson and probably
100 pounds lighter.
"Thad attacked Joey Sullivan this morning before first hour
class. He twisted his arm, inflecting a lot of pain, kneed him
in the groin and threatened to make him to perform a sexual act
on him after last class this evening," replied Doug.
"So it sounds to me that the little faggot got what was
coming to him," was the reply.
"Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I know that
Thad has managed to get one girl pregnant and tried to rape
another young lady. He has threatened to make some other young
men perform sexual acts for his pleasure," Doug told them. He
was angry.
Thad's mother tried to say something and was cut short by
Marty.
"We now know that Coach Paul Dennison intervened and managed
to collect funds from the parents of other boys on the football
team. Those funds were used to pay for an abortion and used as
'hush money' for the girls and their parents," he told them.
Marty was mad.
"So?" an irate Rev. Brockle asked.
"SO!!" Marty almost shouted. "If I had been aware of the
problem at the time it existed, I would gladly have paid for an
attorney for the families of those two girls. Your son can't
bully his way through this school and get away with it."
"You are just a rich SOB that wants the world to run his
way!!" Milton Brockle shouted.
"I can assure you, sir, that I have the backing of the
community behind me, otherwise I wouldn't be on the school board.
There is no excuse in Williamsport or any other populated area
for your sons' behavior or your attitude!" Marty was really
angry.
"I stand behind my stepson. Joey Sullivan is part of the
scum of the earth, along with the rest of the people who are
opening that new computer store. I'll personally see to it that
their business fails."
This really made Marty bristle.
"You, the Reverend Mister Brockle, are too late. Fred
Phelps and his gang were laughed out of town and the store had a
very successful weekend for sales. I don't think that you are
going to cause them any problems. People seem to largely ignore
ignorant bigots like you and your congregation."
This soon developed into a shouting match that could be
heard out into the hall, however, at this hour of the day the
hall was totally empty.
"So why are we here?" Milton Brockle asked.
Doug Tate quickly jumped into the melee. "Thad is being
suspended from school for three weeks. He will not be playing on
the high school football team for the rest of the season."
"You can't do that!! The school needs him to win their
games and he is in an ace position for football scholarships to
three colleges." Those were the first words spoken by Thad's
mother.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but you are going to have to face the fact
that Thad is going to have to pay for his actions. He is
suspended for the rest of the first semester and can make
application to become a new senior at the beginning of the second
semester. He will have to meet with the Davy Crockett school
tribunal, which consists of Administration, Student Government
and Instructors," Doug continued.
"That's a crock of shit!" Rev. Bockle raged. "There are
Christian schools that my son can attend and they will recognize
him for the student he is."
"Then, sir, I encourage you to get him enrolled as quickly
as possible," Doug Tate replied.
Marty offered the minister and his wife his hand to shake,
hoping that this would be the last they would hear of Thad
Wilson.
Rev. Brockle grudgingly offered his hand to Doug Tate and
Marty Williamson. He knew he had been defeated. Now all he had
to do was wait for his stepson to be brought from confinement.
* * * * *
Although there had only been a handful of witnesses to the
altercation Joey had with Thad, the story spread like wildfire
through the students that Monday morning. Many of the students
were puzzled because Joey appeared to be a person who could take
care of himself and hold his own in a scuffle. Since most did
not know the details of the story, it was a mystery to them.
* * * * *
As they were on their way home, Joey was looking at his
homework assignments. "Dad, the only real homework I have is a
chapter in Algebra. The rest are reading assignments."
"So, what do you want to do?" Dale asked him.
"I don't want to stay home by myself. Can I either go to
the store or tag along with you today?"
"You're welcome to do either, but I have a lot of things to
accomplish at the Ranch today so I probably wouldn't be very good
company. I need to check on Michael and Pat to see about their
progress. They should be ending up the fieldwork this week. We
have people coming from a new ranch in Oklahoma this afternoon.
They've bought 150 horses, pregnant mares, and yearlings, along
with several stallions and then want to look at cattle, too. I
won't be directly involved, but want to meet with them as they
could become a very good customer of the Bar-W."
"Wow, that's neat!" Joey replied. He was still fascinated
with anything to do with the ranch. He had hoped that Dale would
saddle up a couple of horses and they could ride, but it didn't
sound like his Dad had the time for that.
"Why don't you just drop me off at home? I want to get out
of these clothes and take a hot shower; maybe it will make me
feel better. I'll do my homework and then maybe Dad Craig will
come home for lunch and he can take me to the store later."
"That's okay with me," Dale told him. "I want you to call
Craig as soon as you can and tell him what happened. He'll be
concerned about what happened, too."
Dale drove into the parking lot to let Joey out of the
Blazer after making sure he had his key. "Don't let this get you
down, Bud," he told Joey. "I'm glad you weren't hurt."
"I'll be fine. My arms just a little sore from being
twisted around. I'm okay otherwise."
Joey started to the stairway and gave Dale a big wave as he
drove onto the street to go to the Bar-W Ranch.
* * * * *
Joey let Mitsy out of the apartment and followed her back
down the stairs. It was a nice day and he wanted to sit in the
sun for a little bit. The warmth felt good on his shoulders,
arms and back. Mitsy quickly took care of her needs and was back
to where Joey was sitting on the ground. She wanted to play and
Joey wished he had her ball with him. She settled for being
petted and rolled onto her back so he could rub her chest and
stomach. Joey played with her for about 15 minutes and then
decided that he was hungry. When he stood up to go to the
stairway, Mitsy led the way and was waiting in front of the door
when he got there.
He wasted no time in stripping out of his clothes and left
them in a pile to go to the laundry hamper. When he went into
his bathroom he positioned the mirror so he could look at
himself. He was going to have a big bruise. It already looked
red where he'd been shoved into the lockers.
The hot water felt good, almost like it was washing away the
incident of the morning. His thoughts turned to what might
happen. Would other kids treat him as Thad had? He wished that
he were at school. He wanted to discuss the happening with his
pals.
After pulling on a clean pair of boxer shorts and socks, he
remembered that Dale had told him to call Craig. He picked up
the receiver and punched the speed dial code for Craig's office.
Craig answered the phone on the third ring, as it was Sherry's
day off.
"Hi Dad," Joey tried to sound like he felt great.
"Well hi, yourself." Craig looked at his watch. It was
9:20. "Where are you?" he asked, sensing there was a problem.
"I'm at home. One of the senior football players jerked me
around before school started. Mr. Tate, Coach Thompson and Coach
Holmen came to my rescue. Mr. Tate called Dad Dale and he came
to the school to get me. I'm out of school on an excused absence
for the day."
Craig was concerned. "Are you hurt? Do you need to go to
the doctor?"
Joey gave him a brief synopsis of what had happened.
" Did Dale go back to his office? Do you want me to come
home?" he asked without giving Joey a chance to answer.
"No, you don't need to do that. I need to do my Algebra
assignment. The rest of my homework is just reading new
chapters. Are you still going to come home for lunch?" Joey
asked, hoping Craig would.
"Sure. I always go home to let Mitsy out. Do you want to
rest this afternoon or do you want to do something else?"
"I'd thought about going to the store to see if I could help
there. Do you think that would be okay?" Joey questioned.
"I don't know why not, but you're worked really hard this
last month in getting the store ready to open, along with helping
your grandparents get settled." Craig thought of something else.
"Maybe we should keep this quiet from your grandparents. Mom
will go into a tizzy if she thinks you got hurt, and Dad will be
right behind her. Okay?" Craig wanted to know.
"Sure, I don't want to be treated like a baby," Joey said,
getting the meaning of what Craig had asked.
"Tell you what. Why don't you get your homework finished?
How long do you think it will take?" Craig wanted to know.
"Maybe about an hour. There's nothing new in Algebra to
learn, this is just a recap of the last section of the book.
Some of the other stuff, like history, I've already read ahead of
the rest of the class 'cause it's interesting."
"How would you like for me to order a picnic lunch and we'll
strike out to wherever and enjoy this nice day? We've all been
so busy that we haven't had time for each other lately."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Joey was excited.
"Should I call Dale and see if he wants to join us?"
"That would be great, but he told me that a new ranch in
Oklahoma is buying 150 horses and they are coming to get them
this afternoon," Joey told him.
"I'd forgotten about that. He thinks that this may be an
important new customer. Tell, you what, I'll call anyway just to
make sure he doesn't feel left out."
"That's cool. What's time will you be here?" Joey asked
Craig.
"How about 10:45 or a little after that? I need to talk to
Don about some changes in a building for a new client. I think
what he wrote and what he means are two different things and I
need to resolve it before I put anything into the computer.
"Cool. That should be about the right amount of time for me
to get finished with my homework."
"You think about where we might go and what we might do this
afternoon. This may be last the super-nice day we'll get to
enjoy for awhile," Craig told him.
"See ya later," Joey said as they each broke the connection.
* * * * *
Craig called Trisha at LeGourmet to order a picnic basket.
He had called Dale to tell him what he had planned. He could
tell that Dale was disappointed, but his reason was that he had
been away from the ranch too much the last month and also that he
wanted to meet the men who were buying the horses in the
afternoon.
He was a little upset and wanted to remind Dale that even
though he had officially been on vacation for a couple of weeks,
that he had gone to the office for a couple of hours each day.
He loved Dale for his sense of duty to others, especially Marty.
Dale was loyal and the first person in line to help someone when
they needed something.
However, Craig was glad to have a chance to spend time alone
with Joey. He felt like he knew him pretty well, but all of
their lives had been so busy since Joey had moved to Williamsport
he almost felt that Joey had been neglected. This would be a
great time to talk to each other.
* * * * *
Forrest and Daniel were on their way to the cafeteria and
walked past the public phones in the hall.
"I'm going to call Joey as soon as we eat lunch," Daniel
said. "We didn't have a chance to talk to him after we talked to
Coach Holmen, Mr. Tate and Mr. Williamson. I don't know if he
was hurt or not."
"I know," Forrest answered. "That had to have hurt plenty
the way he slammed Joey into the locker and then kneed him in the
balls."
"I felt so helpless," Daniel said. "I'm not even sure that
both of us could have gotten him away from Joey without him
hurting all three of us."
"Thad is such a goon," Forrest agreed.
Bryce and Bret were coming down the hall from the other
direction and Matt was waiting for them so they could get in line
together.
As they were eating lunch, Joey's friends discussed
what had happened. Daniel and Forrest provided the eyewitness
accounts and the other boys in the group were startled that
something of that sort could happen in their school.
Bret Jenkins was really upset. He considered Joey to be a
good and true friend who had been nice to him the night at the
meeting of the Dignity/Integrity Chapter at St. James Rectory.
Their friendship had grown and he was grateful to Joey for
helping him join the choir at St. James Episcopal Church. He
considered Joey the leader of the group that ran around together.
Matt had similar thoughts. He'd met Joey for the first time
at the Halloween party at Tom and Eddie's home. This was only a
couple of evenings after he had arrived to be placed under their
care. Again, Joey hadn't questioned him about what had happened
except Matt found himself telling Joey exactly what had happened.
Joey was really upset that his father had beat him and that his
mother didn't seem to care that Matt wasn't living with them
anymore. Like Bret, Matt considered Joey the unofficial leader
of their little group.
Bryce was a little more shaken at the story. He remembered
the reason his mother had packed his family up and left his
father to serve the remainder of his term of service by himself
in Germany. He still had very mixed emotions about that. He had
enjoyed it, but his mother had agreed not to press charges
against his father. It would have ruined his career and cut her
income to nothing. Bryce didn't know the details, but really
thought his mother was being much too tough on his father. Bryce
loved his father, but knew that sexuality had entered into the
picture.
Again, Bryce admired Joey and was grateful Joey wanted to
include him in the group of students that were hired to work at
Saber Computers. Bryce wanted to work after school and on
Saturday, but his mother wouldn't hear of it.
Forrest was shocked at the ordeal Thad had put Joey through
that morning. He knew that Joey was capable of defending
himself, but Thad was much bigger and had the advantage of
surprising Joey, pinning him before he had a chance to react. He
had gladly gone to get help to stop the fight. He and Daniel saw
most of what had happened and had no reservation about telling
Coach Holmen what they had seen.
Daniel was one of the first students to talk to Joey when he
started attending Davy Crockett. They shared several common
interests, and he had especially enjoyed working with him in the
computer lab. Joey had a quick, analytical mind and was good
about helping other students who realized that he and Daniel
probably knew more than the teacher, Kent Korte.
When Joey had asked the gang if they wanted to work at the
new store, Matt was the only one who didn't want to work there.
He thought it sounded like too much to do. Daniel jumped at the
chance as he thought it would not only help him develop better
computer skills, but was a chance to be around Joey more than
just at school. He was the first student hired by Joey's
grandfather.
Forrest, of course, was elated to be asked. His paper route
was hard work, but it earned him the little money he used to help
pay for his grandmother's medications. Saber Computers paid him
a lot more and he didn't have to get up early and be out in all
kinds of weather. Frank found out that he had good skills and
asked him to work as a salesman when the store opened. He would
get a commission on the sales he helped generate in addition to
his hourly wage. Like Daniel, it was a chance to be around Joey
other than at school.
At the present time, Forrest was concerned, as he knew his
grandmother didn't have much longer to live. He was grateful to
Joey's dad, Craig, for getting Leland Stanton to help put her
affairs in order and have her property placed in trust for
Forrest. The only thing that had not been settled was where
Forrest would live when the inevitable happened. It was thought
that he could continue to live at the house, but that hadn't been
determined yet.
* * * * *
Daniel punched in the number and the phone rang 4 times
before the answering machine picked up.
"Hello," Craig's voice said. "You have reached the home of
Dale, Craig and Joey. We are unable to answer the phone right
now, but if you will leave a message and your number, one of us
will call you back as soon as we can." There was a beep and
Daniel started talking.
"Hi Joey, it's your gang calling. We're concerned about our
lack of leadership since you aren't with us today. Seriously, we
hope that you aren't hurt. We'll check back after school to find
out if you are okay."
The connection was broken.
"Do you think he's okay?" Forrest asked?
"Either he's asleep or with Dale or Craig," Matt said.
"He might be at the store, too," Bryce added.
"Hey, we didn't talk about the store," Matt stated. "Joey
told me at church yesterday morning that you were really busy on
both Friday and Saturday."
"Yeah, we were really swamped with customers. Nobody had
time to even go to lunch on Friday so Dale and Craig ordered in
pizza and salads for all of us. We took turns going back to the
classroom to eat," Daniel told them.
"Yeah, and we got to shake hands with the Governor and the
Mayor, too," Forrest proudly told them.
"Bet you didn't get a chance to shake hands with the nutty
guy from Kansas, did you?" Bryce teased.
"They didn't even get close to the store. That was so
funny, they weren't expecting the crowd to chase them back to
their bus," Forrest said.
"Yeah and then they couldn't get either vehicle started.
It's wasn't until Saturday morning that the police gave them the
distributor caps and told them to get the hell out of
Williamsport," Daniel laughed.
"Really?" Matt asked.
"How did you find that out?" Bryce wanted to know.
"Just a rumor going around," Forrest giggled.
"Wow! I'd like to have seen that scene," Matt told them.
Forrest wanted to tell him that if he had taken the job
offered at the store, he would have been there, but kept his
mouth shut. There was something different about Matt and he had
dodged some rather pointed questions from several of them.
* * * * *
Craig arrived home just after 10:30. Joey was still sitting
at the dining room table wearing only his boxers and socks. He
had completed all of his homework except for some of the reading
and he could do that later.
Mitsy was glad to see Craig and wanted to go outside so he
opened the door and watched her bound down the stairs.
"What should I wear?" Joey questioned.
"I'm going to change from these good pants into a pair of
Levis and will probably wear a sweater of some kind," Craig told
him.
"Cool," Joey told him. "That's what I'll wear, too."
As he got up from the table, Craig noticed him wince.
"Let me look at your shoulder and arm," Craig asked.
Joey turned around. Craig noticed that there was going to
be a bruise on his left arm and when he rubbed his left shoulder,
he could tell that Joey had pain. Also, the area felt warm
compared to the rest of his back.
"Let me get some lotion to put on that. I don't think it
will keep the bruise from developing, but it may keep it from
being as bad. Also, your shoulder feels hot and that's probably
from being strained." With that he told Joey to follow him into
the bathroom and directed that he sit on the stool. He rummaged
in a drawer in the linen closet and came up with two bottles,
discarding one because he thought it had an unpleasant smell that
stayed with you until it was washed off.
He opened the cap of the other bottle and squeezed some into
his hand, then rubbed it with the other to warm it. He started
in on Joey's shoulder, working it into the top, then down the
back, under his arm and back up the front. He accidentally
brushed Joey's left nipple, causing him to giggle.
"Ooooh, heeeehee, that feels soo good," Joey said. He could
feel his cock give a twitch in his boxers.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Craig said.
"It felt good," Joey said, sounding disappointed.
"Let me get this finished up," Craig told him. He squeezed
out more lotion and followed the same route, avoiding getting
anywhere near the nipple.
He worked for another minute, and then put the cap back on
the bottle.
"Okay, go get dressed and we'll be on our way."
Joey was semi-hard and fled the bathroom before Craig had a
chance to turn around and see him leave.
Craig took off his pants and shirt, and then went into their
walk-in closet to retrieve his Levi's and a long-sleeve pullover,
along with a pair of athletic shoes.
Joey was back in the living room headed toward the front
door when Craig walked out of their bedroom.
Mitsy was scratching at the door and Joey let her in.
"There's a map in the car, we can decide which direction to
go after we get in," Craig said.
Joey was excited to be going somewhere with Craig, by
themselves.
* * * * *
Frank and David were going over the sales figures and
reports for the first three days of the stores operation when
Leland Stanton walked in.
"Gentlemen," he greeted them. He had already talked to
Frank earlier and found out that the Sunday sales had been better
than expected, with the store selling almost $30,000 of
merchandise. There had been a smaller ad in the Sunday "Austin
American-Statesman" with coupons for computer accessories such as
modems, floppy disks, cables, and several software packages.
There was also a coupon for $100 off on any purchase of $2,000 or
more and that seemed to have generated sales of 6 computers,
along with printers and monitors.
"Morning, Leland," David said, standing to greet him and
offering his hand.
"David, Frank. Did we have a great opening, or did we have
a great opening?" Leland was all smiles.
"We had a great opening," David and Frank answered, almost
in unison, then the three of them laughed.
"Seriously, sales were about 40% more than I had dared hope
for." Leland was acting like this was his baby, and maybe it
was. He was exuberant.
"Yeah, but can we keep the sales going?" Frank asked. He
was still amazed at what he was seeing printed out on the green
bar paper.
"Of course we can," David jumped in. "I think that we are
going to have to advertise every week, probably with ads like in
yesterday's paper and then develop a direct mail list. The
coupons, even for small items seem to bring people into the
store. We sold a lot of floppy disks yesterday, along with
cables, paper and the one model of computer desk we advertised.
We had to give 5 rain checks on those, but the order was shipped
incomplete to begin with. The backordered quantity is to be
shipped tomorrow, so that should still leave us almost a dozen in
stock."
"I agree with the coupon idea. People like to save money on
everything and usually will buy things they don't really need at
the time, just because they can get it cheaper now," Frank said.
David laid out the inventory reports, showing what they had
started with, what had sold, the present stock level, the
quantity now on order with the last column showing the stock
level if the orders arrived today.
He had already used colored highlighters to indicate fast-
selling items, items that needed an increase in inventory level
and items that hadn't moved as well as expected.
Doris came in while the men were working. She had two large
pans of cinnamon rolls and wanted the men to know she was going
to put them in the break room for all of the employees to help
themselves.
They were more than ready for some of Doris' delicious
homemade cinnamon rolls and a cup of coffee. Frank thanked her
with a kiss as he took the rolls. The men followed him to the
break room after thanking Doris for thinking of them.
The three men went over the reports together with David
writing comments next to some items on the report. The big
question was how much inventory was needed and could they make a
good decision based on three days of sales for the grand opening.
Sales strategy, advertising, outside sales (to offices, schools
and businesses) and other considerations were laid out on the
table. Leland supported keeping the inventory levels high, with
the idea that people would realize they could come into the
store, have a good selection to choose from and buy it right
then.
"Interest rates are stable and good for business. You have
enough of a line of credit with the bank to cover you, so take
advantage of it. When we get into mail order after we get a
catalog ready to go, we'll need even more inventory for quick
turn-around of orders. Again, we'll want to be able to ship
ASAP to keep the customers coming back to us."
Frank and David agreed with Leland. "In order to sell
merchandise, you have to have it in stock."
Leland glanced at his watch. "Guys, I have a 10 o'clock
staff meeting about 5 minutes ago," he laughed. "I need to call
my secretary and tell everyone to wait for me," he said as he
picked up Frank's telephone.
* * * * *
After Leland left David said that he was ready for another
cup of coffee so he and Frank headed to the employee lounge.
The store had opened just a few minutes before at 10 a.m.
and there were 9 customers in the store already.
"I need to get the bank deposit ready," Frank told David.
"That's an easy job, I need to get purchase orders written
and faxed to our suppliers," David replied.
* * * * *
Dale was thinking about Joey as he drove to the field where
Michael and Pat were working. 'Were they putting Joey at risk of
being harassed by other students and maybe getting hurt by
another over-zealous bully, like this morning?' He hoped not.
'Then there was the problem of Daniel and Forrest working at the
store. Would Daniel's parents have a bad reaction as to what had
happened, with the protest from Fred Phelps and this morning's
confrontation involving Joey? Would the kids tease Daniel and
Forrest because they worked at the store?'
'There hadn't been any bad reaction at church yesterday.
Fr. Tikker had talked about tolerance in his homily. A number of
people had congratulated all of them on the successful opening of
a new business,' he further thought.
'Young people could be so cruel, even without realizing it.
Words could hurt a lot worse than a beating and a lot of people
saying "words" didn't even know what they meant.' Dale knew that
he and Craig would have to monitor this situation carefully.
* * * * *
Michael and Pat were taking a break as Dale drove up. The
tractors had been parked and both the young men were on one
tractor, each leaning against a fender with a box of cookies on
the tractor seat.
"You're just in time for a cookie and coffee break," Michael
said.
Pat handed Dale the carton of Oreos as he walked up to the
tractor.
"Thanks," Dale told them, pulling three out of the package.
"I could offer you some coffee, but we only have two mugs,"
Pat said.
"That's not a problem. The cookies are fine without it.
"We sure like our new place," Michael told him, referring to
the new crew quarter's house.
"I hope you are enjoying living there by yourselves. When
we started planning this, there were going to be four of us
living there," Dale told them.
"Four?" questioned Pat.
"Yeah, the two of you, John and me. I was going to sell my
house and live out here," Dale said.
"I thought you sold your house already," Michael asked.
"I did, but I moved in with a friend of mine and now my half-
brother, you met Joey, lives with us. It makes it a little
crowded for three of us to live in an apartment," Dale told them.
"Yeah, we remember Joey," Pat told him. "He looks just like
you, only younger."
"That's him, although he's only 14, sometimes I think he's
30," Dale laughed. "One minute he can be very adult and in total
control and the next he's a typical teenager who is into
everything," he continued.
All three of the men laughed, each remembering their teen
years.
"So, why don't you and Joey move out here? There's plenty
of room," Michael asked.
"Oh, we're doing okay. I think we'll be building a new
house that's better suited to our needs, anyway," he answered.
"You mean, for you and Joey?" Michael asked.
"No, for all three of us," Dale replied, being caught off
guard. As soon as he said that, he realized that he might have
given away a secret and started to turn red.
"So, how's the work going?" he asked, more to change the
subject than anything.
"We're making good progress. This field is about a third
done and I think we'll finish it up on Wednesday or Thursday
morning at the latest." Michael replied.
"Great," Dale told them. We have some fences to repair and
will probably want to put in a couple of gates to make it easier
to move from one field to another. That's pretty simple work and
we have a power auger to help us set the posts. After that,
we'll start in on cleaning and repairing farm equipment and some
of the outbuildings."
"What kind of building repair?" Pat asked.
"The barn where the office is needs a new roof. I think we
can do that job ourselves without having to hire a roofing
company. The pitch of the roof isn't steep, so it won't be
dangerous working up there."
"I've helped my Dad and uncle put on a roof before. It's
not hard work," Michael said.
* * * * *
Craig and Joey fastened their seatbelts prior to Craig
starting the car. "Any ideas as to where to go today?" Craig
asked.
"No, you're the driver and I don't know much about what
there is to see and do around here."
"I have an idea. The Longhorn Caverns State Park is just up
the road a little bit. Have you ever been in a cave before?"
Craig asked.
"Hun un," Joey said. "Won't it be dark and dirty and
scary?"
"Not this one. It's well lit and they have guided tours.
This cave is really beautiful. There are some fantastic rock
formations and other things to see. It's a pretty big place and
a lot of walking. Are you up to it?" Craig wanted to know.
"Sure. That sounds super. I've seen pictures of Carlsbad
Caverns, but I've never been anywhere near a cave before. How
far away is it?
"Only a few miles. In fact I think that some of the cave
may actually be under part of the Bar-W Ranch. I know that some
of the State Park boundaries abut some of the Bar-W land. Seems
I've heard the spring that feeds the swimming hole on the river
may originate in the cave."
"That's cool," Joey said. "Let's go."
"I have a picnic lunch that I ordered from LeGourmet. We
can eat at the picnic tables close to the visitor's center. I
assume that you are hungry?" Craig said, thinking that all boys
Joey's age were always hungry.
"Yeah, actually I'm starved. I lost what little breakfast I
had this morning. I couldn't help it, I just got sick when he
roughed me up."
Craig didn't know about that. "I'm sorry, I had no idea,"
he told Joey.
He backed the car out of the parking place and entered
Larcher Drive, then made a right turn at the next stop light to
take them to Commercial and the north bound highway out of town.
After they passed the Bar-W Ranch Craig knew the Park Road was
shortly before they got to Demarco. He need not have worried;
there were signs before they got to the intersection. He made a
left turn and started down a narrow blacktop road. Joey was
watching for the visitor's center at the park, which was another
6 miles.
In a few minutes Craig pulled his car into the parking lot.
There were only eight cars parked there.
"Let's go to the visitors center and see about tours, then
we can pick up literature and look at it while we eat lunch,"
Craig said, indicating the picnic tables in a large area with
plenty of trees for shade. Most of the trees had lost their
leaves and that would allow them to soak up the warm sun while
they ate.
Joey held the door open for Craig. Two uniformed park
rangers were talking to two groups of people standing at the
counter. Two other people were looking at the rack of brochures
that had folders from all points of interest in Central Texas.
There were two different brochures for the Cavern and the
Vanishing Texas River Cruise in a separate section, along with
slides and postcards that could be purchased in the little gift
shop.
Craig noticed the sign that had their winter hours posted.
There was a tour at 1 p.m. and another at 3 o'clock. Admission
was $10.
Joey was holding one of the picture folders up, looking at
it. "Dad, look at this," he said pointing to a picture that
looked like a stone waterfall. "You would never know that
anything like that was underground right here."
"It's all caused by the minerals in the water and the
limestone. Remember, the stone quarry on the Bar-W Ranch?" Craig
asked.
"Yeah, Dad Dale said we couldn't get there anymore because
the trail was overgrown and there wasn't any quality rock left to
take out, so it was closed."
That's true. It wasn't a large quarry to begin with but
there were a lot of geological forces that had to happen in this
area to cause the hills, rock formations, this cavern and the
rivers to be formed," Craig answered.
"Sounds like you could be a tour guide," one of the rangers
said as he walked up and overheard Craig's explanation. "I'm
Ranger Kyle MacGregor," he said, smiling at the two men.
Craig offered his hand. "Good to meet you. I'm Craig
Bastian," shaking hands with the Ranger.
"I'm Joey Sullivan," he said, proudly shaking hands with
Ranger Kyle.
Both Joey and Craig were taken with the handsome man who
probably was in his late 20's.
"Are you going to take the cavern tour at 1 o'clock?" he
asked.
"Yes," Joey answered, looking at Craig.
"Good, I'm leading this tour. The people in the gift shop
took the morning tour and unless someone else shows up it looks
like the two of you will be taking the next trip by yourselves.
It's kind of slow around here in the winter months."
"I thought this was a guided tour?" Joey asked. He was
apprehensive about he and Craig going into a cave by themselves.
"It is a guided tour, I'm the guide and you're the
tourists," laughed Ranger Kyle.
"Oh," said Joey. He was relieved.
"It's such a nice day that we brought a picnic lunch and are
going to eat outside. We should still have a little time before
your tour starts, Craig told him.
"Are you fellows from around here?" the ranger asked.
"Yes, we live in Williamsport. I just moved here from
Houston, so my Dad is showing me some of the neat things there
are to see and do in this area."
Ranger Kyle almost did a double take on that statement.
Craig didn't look any older than himself and Joey looked like he
was probably in college. He hoped that these two men were the
only ones on the tour. It would give him a chance to get
acquainted with them.
Craig looked at his watch. It was almost 12-noon. That
would give them a chance to have a leisurely picnic and have time
to freshen up a bit before the tour started. "We're going to eat
lunch and we'll be back in here in plenty of time for the tour."
"Great!" Kyle said. "I'll be looking forward to showing you
this great cavern."
By this time the tourists in the office and gift shop was
down to three people, all senior citizens from Austin who had
just heard about the caverns at an AARP program a couple of weeks
earlier. The three of them spent a total of $7.50 on souvenirs,
mostly picture postcards.
The other ranger, Stan Perry, was new to the Texas Park
System and was still in training, although he had learned his job
more quickly than most. Kyle had worked for them for three
years. He had enlisted in the Air Force upon graduation from
high school, and then enrolled for a degree in geology after his
tour. He was 29 years old.
* * * * *
Craig retrieved the picnic basket from the back seat of his
car. The first thing on top of the food was a cloth table cover,
along with a supply of napkins, stainless eating utensils and
plastic plates. Tricia hadn't charged Craig a deposit on the
basket because she knew he would return them.
Soon the food was on the table. Craig had ordered fried
chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, baked beans and a
green bean salad. He had decided that smaller containers of a
variety of side dishes were better than larger quantities of a
small selection.
Joey was hungry and Craig was glad he'd had Trisha pack food
for three men. He was hungry, too, and ate more than he normally
did. But, the hour and a half walk through the cavern would
shake that down pretty quickly.
"Mmmnn, this is good chicken," Joey said, helping himself to
the third piece. "And the other stuff is good, too. Thanks for
thinking of this, Dad."
It pleased Craig that Joey called him 'Dad'. He hadn't ever
thought he would be in a situation where he would have that
title. Certainly he had never expected to have any children of
his own.
"You never did tell me how you and Dad Dale met each other,"
Joey wanted to know.
Craig felt his dick twitch at the memory.
"I'd seen Dale around town several times and had to ask
several people before I found out who he was and where he worked.
When I found out he worked for the Bar-W Ranch, I hoped I might
have a chance to meet him as I'd done quite a bit of work for
Marty on several different construction projects.
"As luck would have it, shortly after Labor Day Marty called
me to come to the ranch for a planning meeting for the new crew
quarters house Ray Evans just completed."
Joey nodded his head. His mouth was full.
"Dale was at the meeting and I found out that he was
expecting to live there. He had decided that he didn't need the
house where his mother and grandparents had lived, that a room at
the Bar-W would be fine for him.
"I remembered that my partner, Don Albrecht, had made an
offer on Dale's house. He was going to fix it up and use it for
rental property. So, after the meeting I asked Dale point blank
if he was going to sell the house to Don. He told me that he
hadn't seen an offer at that point, but knew he was interested in
buying it.
"By that time I determined that I wanted to know more about
Dale because he was handsome and extremely sexy, I thought. So,
I made a lame excuse about looking at the house on Don's behalf
so I might give him some suggestions on fixing it up."
Joey giggled. "You mean that wasn't the reason for you to
go there?"
"No, I had no interest in what Don was going to do with the
house. I just wanted to get acquainted with Dale," he smiled.
"Neat! So, did you manage to go see the house?" Joey asked.
"Oh yes," Craig laughed. "Dale immediately invited me over
that evening, suggesting that we order pizza and he could show me
the house. I immediately accepted and would have cancelled
anything else scheduled for that evening. That day seemed to
drag on and on forever, too."
"That's neat. So, do you think Dale had any idea as to why
you were really going over there?"
"Well, later I found out that he wanted to get acquainted
with me, too, but was too shy to try to contact me.
"Dad Dale, shy?" Joey asked.
"Joey, you have to realize that up to a few months ago, Dale
was a very insecure person. He had a very narrow experience with
life and although he knew a lot of people, he didn't have any
close friends. His life was his job at the Bar-W and he loved to
help coach Little League. He hadn't been away from Williamsport
very much and didn't seem interested. I guess he was just afraid
to explore the world on his own. Since then, we've taken several
trips together. His attitude about life has changed - for the
better and he's really bloomed into a great person who is
comfortable with himself."
"Wow, I would never have guessed that," Joey said.
"Well, at the time you were going to come live with us, he
was even sorry about selling his house and was going to look for
a place for you and him to live."
"Why?"
"He was afraid that you and he would impose on me. I told
him that we had agreed to become partners, lovers if you will,
and that I wouldn't hear of some crazy idea like that. We were
here for each other and getting a good kid like you was a bonus
for me."
Craig smiled at Joey. "I mean that, you are just super and
I'm proud to share everything I have with both of you."
"Thanks, Dad. I love both of you guys. You've been swell
to me and I got grandparents out of the deal, too," Joey smiled.
"That you did and they love you just as much as Dale and
me."
"So, how did the 'meeting' at Dale's house turn out?" Joey
giggled. He knew what had probably happened.
Craig turned red. "Well, we did get around to ordering
pizza a little later." His smile gave all kinds of other
information he wasn't going to volunteer.
Joey laughed and Craig joined him.
"That's cool, too. I know what gay guys do with each other
and it doesn't bother me because I know you guys love each other.
That's what's important," Joey told him.
"You, young man, are wise beyond your years."
"Thanks, Dad," Joey said sincerely.
"Now how about a big piece of apple pie?" Craig asked,
digging out two more containers of food.
"All right!!! Joey said. Craig handed him one of the
plastic trays that held a quarter of a pie. He took the other
one.
* * * * *
Craig and Joey were the only people on the tour with Ranger
Kyle. They paid their admittance fee and Kyle led the way to the
mouth of the cave and went inside. He started in with his
standard spiel about the cave, how it was thought to have
developed and was pointing out the interesting rock formations
everywhere. Finally after about 5 minutes, he turned around to
the men.
"Is it okay if I turn off the 'canned speech' and be
informal about this? I'll be glad to stop and answer any
questions you might have and there are things to tell about that
aren't in the speech we're supposed to give."
"Sure," Craig and Joey said, almost in unison.
Kyle led them deeper into the cave and showed them many
interesting formations that the usual tour group didn't see
because of not having enough space for a larger group of people
to gather. Some of the areas were not well lit and had just a
narrow access. Kyle was carrying a large lantern with a halogen
bulb that really lit up areas that were already well lit.
A little later they stopped and sat down after a climb up
some steep steps.
Ranger Kyle spoke up. "I just remembered why you guys look
familiar. You own the new computer store in Williamsport, don't
you? Your pictures were in the paper for the grand opening."
Joey beamed at having been recognized.
"Yeah, and the governor was there for the opening, along
with the mayor."
Kyle decided to plunge in with both feet. "Yes, and you had
some unwelcome visitors, too, didn't you?"
Craig gulped. "You mean Fred Phelps and his gang?"
"Yeah. It's too bad that had to happen. They should lock
up that idiot and throw the key away."
"It didn't hurt business any. We had a very successful
Friday and Saturday. I haven't seen the figures for Sunday yet,
but I'm told the store was busy," Craig continued.
"Well, I for one, am glad there were no problems and I wish
you a lot of success in that venture. I'd like to buy a PC for
Christmas, but haven't talked my roommate into it yet. Neither
of us knows very much about them."
"Here's our resident expert," Craig said, giving Joey's left
shoulder a squeeze.
Joey jerked away from Craig. "Ouuccchh!" he said, rubbing
his shoulder with his right hand.
"Oh, Joey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make your shoulder
hurt anymore than it already is."
"It's okay, you didn't know?"
"Are you okay?" Kyle asked. From the way Joey jerked away,
he knew his shoulder must really be sore. "You didn't bump into
the wall anywhere, did you?" He was afraid that he had injured
himself in the cave.
"I'm okay. I just got hurt at school this morning," Joey
told him.
"What happened?" asked Kyle.
"One of the big goons that is a senior and on the football
team roughed me up before classes started. He jerked my arm
around and pinned it against the wall. I thought it was going to
come out of the socket. It's really sore."
Kyle was surprised. "You go to high school?"
"Yes, I'm a freshman."
Kyle laughed. "I thought you were probably in college."
Joey flashed him his 1000-watt smile. He always liked it
when people thought he was older than he really was.
Kyle stood up. "We'd better finish our tour or Ranger Perry
will come looking for us if we're late getting back," he laughed.
They finished the tour on time and Ranger Kyle had shown
them a lot more of the cave than the other tour groups ever saw.
Joey and Craig thanked Kyle, each giving him a card with
their name and other information on it.
"You're an architect?" Kyle asked Craig.
"Yes, we do new construction as well as restorations of
older, historic properties."
"That's fascinating. I almost went into that field myself,
but decided that I like geology better. I really like working
for the Texas Park Department, it's almost a hands-on experience
and I still learn new things each day.
"It should be that way with any job, if you do it right,"
Craig told him.
"I'll be at the store on Saturday. Ask for me and I'll be
glad to demonstrate computers and answer your questions," Joey
said.
"We may take you up on that," Kyle told him. "We just need
to see what they can be used for and if one can really help us."
The men shook hands, and then Craig and Joey got into their
car and drove off.
* * * * *
Kyle watched them drive away. He wondered if they were
lovers. If so, both men were lucky, especially Craig. 'Joey was
a little bear cub,' he thought.
* * * * *
Craig and Joey were back in Williamsport by 3:15. Craig
stopped at LeGourmet to drop the basket off, apologizing for not
having disposed of the extra food or having cleaned up the dishes
that were inside.
"Don't worry about that," Tricia told him. "Looks like you
had about the right amount of food. I'd say you had a pretty
good idea of what you could eat."
"What can I say?" Craig replied. "We were outdoors and the
food was good."
"Glad you enjoyed it. Remember us the next time you need
food prepared for a party or picnic," she told him.
Craig thanked her once again and got back in the car with
Joey.
"Where to now?" Craig asked as he started the car.
"Dad, do you have the keys for the storage unit with you?"
Joey asked.
"Craig looked at his key ring. "Yes, I do. Why?"
"Could I get some of the movies that belonged to my Dad?" he
questioned.
Craig hesitated. "You mean the gay porn movies?" he asked.
"Yeah," Joey said, somewhat shyly.
Craig thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it doesn't
matter. You just need to keep them where they aren't easily
seen. I guess my parents won't be staying with us again, so I'm
not worried about them finding the stash. Just be really careful
who you have over to watch them with you. Remember what happened
this morning," Craig warned.
"I know," Joey said. "There are only a couple of guys that
I'd let watch them anyway.
"Well, be sure because Dale and I could get into trouble by
allowing you to have them. I'm not sure how the law reads, but
I'm sure it's something like 'contributing to the delinquency of
a minor' or some obscure law. Just be sure of the audience you
entertain."
"I will. Of all my friends, I think Forrest and Daniel
would like them the best," he grinned.
The storage units were on their way home, so Craig stopped
at the gate and entered the code to let them in. Joey's old desk
was at the front of the unit. Craig switched on the light.
"I can crawl over the desk and get to the boxes with no
problem." He proceeded to slide across the top and looked at the
boxes, which were clearly labeled. There were two boxes and both
were sealed. Craig took the top one and set it on the top of the
desk.
"I don't want you to strain your shoulder, so I'll put it in
the trunk, okay?" he asked Joey.
Craig started to crawl over the desk.
"There's another one, Joey said.
"Two boxes?" he questioned, teasing Joey.
"That's the same reaction Dad Dale had when we were boxing
them up. According to my Dad, there are a lot of classic movies
here."
"Classic isn't a word I would use to describe porn, but I've
not seen all that much of it," Craig told him.
"Some of these are supposed to be the first videotapes they
made, after they quit using real film."
"Whatever you say. Let's get these home and decide where to
hide them," Craig said. He had to climb up on the desk after he
put the box on top, and then put them on the ground so he could
open the trunk.
Joey waited until Craig had the trunk open, then shut off
the light and locked the door.
* * * * *
By the time they arrived at home Joey was getting tired.
His shoulder and side hurt. Craig made two trips to bring the
boxes out of the car, with Mitsy tagging along and riding on the
elevator with him.
"I'm going to the office for a few minutes and then will
stop at the grocery store on the way home, so I'll probably be
gone until about time for Dale to come home," Craig told Joey.
"That's fine. I'm going to take some Tylenol and rest for a
little while. I'm more tired than I thought."
"Okay, try to take a nap. Maybe a hot shower would help you
relax, too. You can use the one in our bathroom, if you want."
"Wow! Okay. I like that shower. Thanks, Dad, for spending
the day with me. It was super and the picnic was good. I really
liked Longhorn Caverns. That was a neat tour."
"I enjoyed the day, too. I'll see you about 5:30 or so,"
Craig said walking out the door.
* * * * *
Joey stripped out of his clothes, picked up a bath towel and
washcloth and headed to the bathroom Craig and Dale used. He
loved that shower because it had four showerheads. He turned the
water to as hot as he could stand and allowed the pulsing water
to massage his body. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the
shower, but the water was starting to turn cool when he realized
that he'd better finish and dry himself. By this time he was so
relaxed that he was asleep within three minutes after crawling
into his bed.
* * * * *
At 4:10 p.m. the phone started ringing. Joey was asleep in
his bedroom and had the door shut. He didn't hear the insistent
ring or the answering machine.
"I guess nobody's at home," Daniel said. "Do you think they
had to put Joey in the hospital?" he asked Forrest.
"I hope not. I didn't think he was injured, just shaken
up," Forrest replied.
"Maybe he's just asleep," Daniel said.
"I hope so. I need to stop at the hospital and see if my
grandma needs anything before I go home," Forrest said.
"How's she doing?" Daniel wanted to know.
"Not very well. Her mind is still sharp, but she's getting
weaker all the time. They get her out of bed and into a
wheelchair a couple of times a day. She should be awake now
because they feed them their dinner about 5 o'clock."
"That's too bad," Daniel told him.
"The doctor said that she would never be able to go home
again and that they had done all they could for her. She's to be
moved to a rest home on Friday." Forrest had tears in his eyes
as he said that.
Daniel gave Forrest a quick hug. "Hang in there, you have a
lot of friends you can call on if you need us."
"Thanks," Forrest said. He realized that he hadn't known
any of this close-knit group until he met Joey and was invited to
eat lunch with the gang.
As they parted company, Daniel decided to stop at the condo
shared by Joey and his Dads. Daniel would like to know more
about their personal lives. Regardless, he wanted to see Joey
and find out if he was okay. They had missed having him at their
table during lunch.
Daniel rode the elevator to the top floor rather than
walking up the stairs. He rang the doorbell, but got no
response, although he couldn't hear it ring. He knocked loudly
and heard Mitsy bark, so knocked again.
He was about to turn around and leave when the door opened.
There stood Joey wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. That made
the trip worth it in Daniel's mind.
"Hi Dan," Joey said, opening the door wider. "Come on in."
"I'm sorry if I woke you up," Daniel said. "How do you
feel?"
He couldn't keep his eyes off Joey. Bryce had been right,
Joey had a lot of hair on his chest.
"I feel better. Craig took me on a picnic up to Longhorn
Caverns and then we took the cave tour. It was awesome. We were
the only ones on the tour so the guide showed us some areas of
the cave that aren't open to the public because there isn't room
for large groups. It was so neat! I'd never been in a cave
before.
"I've been there a couple of times on school tours. It is
an awesome place to visit."
"Come on to my room, I need to put some clothes on," Joey
said.
Daniel wanted to tell him not to bother. He could feel
himself getting aroused and could tell his cock was pointed down
the left leg of his Levis. Maybe it wouldn't be noticeable, and
then again maybe he hoped it would.
"I took a hot shower after Craig brought me home. He and
Dale have a totally cool shower in their bathroom. It has four
showerheads and two of them have the pulsing massage gadget."
"Neat. Can I see it?" Daniel asked.
"Sure," Joey said, laying down the Levis and shirt he was
going to put on. "Come on."
The bedroom door was open, so Joey led the way into the
bathroom and turned on the lights. The shower enclosure was
constructed of clear glass and indeed there were four
showerheads. The shower was large enough for three or four
people, too.
"This is so neat!" Daniel said. I'd like to try it out
sometime."
"I guess it would be okay, but maybe not today. I'd better
ask both of them if it's okay for you to check it out."
As they went back to Joey's room, Daniel noticed the queen-
sized bed in the room. It was the only bed. 'Hmmmm.' he
thought.
Joey pulled on a clean pair of white socks, then stood up
and pulled on his 501's and polo shirt. The bruise had turned a
deeper red color.
Daniel was looking around the room and saw the two cases on
the floor. They were marked "XXX Videos - Box 1" and there was a
"Box 2" also.
"Hey, neat!! You have a bunch of movies. Can I look and
see what you have? Are they action movies, or what?
"Yeah, they're 'action' movies, all right," Joey told him.
"Look, these belonged to my Dad. He collected 'special' movies
and he allowed me to see them, too. I hope you have an open
mind."
"I think I do," Daniel said, wondering exactly what he was
about to see.
"Well you have to promise me that you don't say anything to
anybody we can't trust to keep this among ourselves. I mean, I
think Bryce would totally freak out if he saw what's in these
boxes."
"Yeah, I'm cool. What's the big deal?"
Joey squatted down with a letter opener in hand and started
to cut the clear tape sealing the boxes shut.
"Just keep an open mind," he said as he pulled the flaps up
to reveal the contents of the box.
Daniel had squatted beside Joey, wondering what was special
about the videotapes. "Geeze." he said as Joey handed him three
boxes, all depicting male-male sex scenes. He could immediately
feel his cock getting hard faster than ever before.
"Do you like to watch stuff like this?" Daniel asked, hoping
for an affirmative answer.
"I've looked at some of them, but not all that many. Some
are male-female, but most are male-male. Dad collected all of
the movies that several directors made. He said that some were
'classics', but I don't really know what he meant by that."
"I mean, do you get turned on by them?" Daniel asked.
"Well, sure I do, by all of them. I guess it's just the
idea of people having sex with each other and getting to see it."
"And. your new Dads, Dale and Craig are cool with this?"
Daniel wanted to know.
"Well, I wouldn't say 'totally cool', but they didn't insist
that these movies be destroyed, either."
"Dale and Craig are awesome. I can't imagine my parents
letting me have anything like this," Daniel said as he was
spreading some of the tapes across the floor to better see what
was in the boxes.
"They are neat guys and they rescued me from an uncertain
future. I could have ended up in the foster care system in
Houston and that isn't a pretty picture.
"Can I ask something?" Daniel wanted to know.
"What?"
"Well, I've been thinking about things. You. Them. They
live together. There's one bed in their bedroom. They opened a
computer store, then the protest by that guy from Kansas. it
makes me wonder. Are all of you guys gay?
Joey looked at Daniel. He didn't know how to answer the
question.
* * * * *
To be continued
* * * * *
Author's Note: Thanks for the overwhelming response to the
first chapter of Book II. I received more emails than I could
answer and am sorry for that as I promised to answer each one.
I'm amazed at the number of you who wrote, wanting to know where
I'd gotten "the model" for Rev. Fred Phelps. I thought that
every card-carrying gay person in the world knew about him. Yes,
he does take his band of "merry fag bashers" all over the
country, and yes, they do picket funerals of gays and those who
publicly support gay people. His website is "godhatesfags.com"
and it's scary to look at.
My special thanks for proofreading help to Paul Daventon,
who has taken time to help me catch obvious errors. Joey and
Thomas didn't get a chance to look at this chapter as I was
trying to get it posted for your Holiday entertainment as a THANK
YOU for being such loyal readers. You people are the best!
When the first chapter of this book was released by Nifty, I
got into trouble with AOL for a "terms of service" violation for
sending mass emails. They shut down the TulsaAuthor account,
although I was able to get it restored. They won't tell me how
many emails constitute "mass mailings", but regardless I'm going
to have to find another way to notify those of you who want
notice. Any suggestions you might have will be gratefully
appreciated. I only hope that everyone who wants to read this
story can find this chapter on their own.
My eyes are doing fine. It's nice to be able to see street
signs two blocks away and to be able to comfortably drive at
night again. Now, to get the Christmas Season over with. I have
two Christmas Eve services to play at 6:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.,
with a half hour organ recital before each. A Christmas Day
(come dressed casually) service at 10:30 a.m. And two Sunday
morning services. No wonder organists are tired of Christmas
when the "last amen" is sung.
A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON TO EACH OF YOU AND YOURS. BLESS EACH
OF YOU.
Any comments are appreciated and you can reach me at
TulsaAuthor@aol.com. Thanks, David.