Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:27:25 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening 9 - 12

Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 9 -- The Camp-out.

**Author's Note:** Please read the disclaimer in Chapter 00 before you read
this.

I managed to corner Ricky alone for a second, so I could whisper in his ear
that I didn't want him to help Danny out on the hike.  I told Ricky I was
planning to test Danny's ability and survival skills out there, like I had
with him when he first arrived, so I could see how capable Danny was.
Ricky seemed to understand and rapidly agreed to my request.

We took off across the back yard and were soon entering the woods.  I took
the same circuitous route I had taken with Ricky, just to see if Danny
caught on to what I was doing, as Ricky had done.  When we got back around
to a point near where we had first started, I asked Danny how far we had
gone and if he knew where we were.  After looking at Ricky and then me, he
discovered we weren't going to give him any help, so he formulated his own
answer.

"We probably walked a mile or more," he told me, "but I have no idea where
we are."  Ricky started giggling.  "What's so dang funny?" Danny asked him,
with a tinge of bitterness in his tone.  I nodded toward Ricky, letting him
know he could tell Danny the correct answer.

"We've been walking in a circle and we're back to where we started," he
told Danny, still giggling.

"Oh, and you think that's funny do you," Danny stated, moving toward Ricky,
to do who knows what.  I didn't think he planned to hurt him, but we didn't
have time for this.  We had a lot to do before it got dark.

"That's enough for now," I said, quite loudly and VERY emphatically.
"Follow me and I'll show you where we're going to set up camp for the night
and then we'll eat."  I guess the mention of food was enough to get their
attention and distract them from this minor dispute, so they did as I
requested.

I led them to a clearing and we had to hurry to set up the tent and lay out
our sleeping bags before it got dark.  Being within the confines of the
trees, the daylight faded more quickly in here, even before the sun went
down.  After everything had been accomplished, I also had them help me
clear a spot for a campfire, line it with stones and then we scrounged up a
bunch of wood for a fire.  We didn't need the heat, but I was sure the boys
would find the light from a campfire comforting.  As soon as we had the
area prepared and enough wood set aside for the evening, I lit the fire and
dug out the food, so we could eat.

It was nothing special and it didn't need to be cooked, but there was
enough to fill two growing boys and me.  Not only was there plenty of food,
but we also had a lot of water to wash it all down with.  Both of the boys
ate more than I did, but they had also burned off more calories during the
day.  I was just pleased to see they were enjoying themselves and had such
healthy appetites.  The boys' food consumption might have also had
something to do with eating it out in the open, as the fresh air often
seemed to make everyone hungrier.

Now that we were full and settling in, the atmosphere the campfire created
also added to the mood.  Both boys were intrigued by the way the light from
the fire flickered and cast unusual shadows upon everything around us,
giving it all an eerie feeling.  It was so different from the lighting they
were used to.  Once we had finished our meal, we cleaned up our mess and
packed things away, and then I decided it was time to tell them one of my
infamous ghost stories.  My children and their friends all used to beg me
to share one of these stories whenever we camped out like this, so I
figured Danny and Ricky might enjoy one too.  However, I just informed them
I had a story to tell, but didn't warn them it was spooky.

"Not far from here is Fuller's Hollow," I began.  "Back in the early
1800's, a group of people settled there, hoping to find a better life for
their families.  One woman in this new community was a bitter, spiteful
person and she didn't get along with the others.  She would cause problems,
by spying on others and spreading rumors, which made everyone else angry.
That's why, when she became pregnant, some of the other women put a curse
on her and her unborn child.  They thought it was a way to pay her back fro
her past deeds.

"When the baby was born, the midwife who helped deliver it ran screaming
from the woman's bed.  She swore the woman had given birth to the devil.
The midwife described the baby as having hooves, a tail, and a skull that
resembled the head of a horse.  Everyone believed this had happened because
of the curse they had put on her.  Seeing they had made no secret of this
fact, they feared what the woman and child might do to get even, both now
and in the future.  They were certain, as time passed, the woman would want
revenge, but they failed to realize she was preoccupied with an even bigger
concern.

"Rather than planning to get even, the mother was more afraid that her
neighbors would wish to harm her and her child even more now, since the
midwife had claimed he was a devil.  That's why she kept her son locked up
at home, so the others couldn't get to him.  No one ever came near their
place, so the mother and son remained living in seclusion for many years.
During that time, the mother informed her son about what the others in the
community had done and how they were responsible for his current state.
That was forever burned into the boy's memory and would some day bear
fruit.

"When her son turned twelve, strange things began to happen.  One day the
boy flapped his arms, which caused them to turn into wings, similar to
those of a bat.  This gave him his chance to break free of his virtual
prison and do some exploring.  In his effort to escape the cabin, he
climbed up the chimney and made his way to freedom.

"From that day forward, every so often the devil-boy would show up
somewhere, seeking vengeance from those who had placed the curse on him and
were responsible for his pain.  At first, he would seek out only those
responsible, and once he found them, he would kill them and devour their
flesh.  However, after all of those involved had been killed, the devil-boy
continued to seek out victims, but now they were innocent people, upon whom
he projected his rage.  Eventually, he would do the same thing to them as
he had done to the others, so his murderous rampage and cannibalism
continued.

"Even though this happened many, many years ago, the Devil-Boy has been
spotted up to one hundred miles or more away from his original home, and
has even been seen around here, every now and again.  Be warned, that if
you hear the beating of large wings, you'd better run for you life, because
it's probably the Devil of Fuller's Hollow looking for his next victim."

"Dad!" Ricky screamed.  "Why did you tell us that story?  Now, I'm not
going to be able to sleep all night."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, "that was really scary.  Is it real or did you just
make that up?"

"Oh, it's real, all right," I confirmed, while trying not to smile and give
myself away.  "I remember when I was young and on a camping trip with my
scout troop, we thought we heard and saw it, but only from a distance.  We
could see it as it flew across the path of the moon, and all of us, even
our scout leaders, stayed up all night, just in case it returned."

"Did it?" Ricky asked wide-eyed, his voice a little shaky.

"Not that we ever knew of," I advised them, "although there were a lot of
weird noises all night long and we heard some animals were found dead over
the next couple of days."

"That's enough," Ricky told me.  "I don't want to hear any more."

I figured I had taken this far enough, so I stopped, and both boys scooted
closer to me, one on either side.  They soon turned the discussion to other
things, like asking me about camping trips with my older children and even
about my days as a scout, and after a while, I suggested it might be time
for our dessert.  I had packed some pudding cups and a bag of miniature
candy bars, and it turned out to be enough to satisfy them and keep them
happy until bedtime.

When it was time to turn in, the boys wanted me to sleep in the center, so
they could each snuggle up against me for protection.  They were still a
little shaken by my story, so I tried to reassure them it was ONLY a story,
but it was too little, too late.  To make them feel better, I gave in to
their request.  We placed our sleeping bags accordingly, with me between my
two sons, and climbed inside.  Almost immediately, I had an anxious son on
each side of me pressed against my ribs, so I wrapped an arm around each of
them for comfort, but it still took a while for them to fall asleep.
Eventually they did, and then I was able to do the same.

It wasn't a very good night's sleep for any of us, and I began to regret
telling them that story.  It all came to a head when Ricky woke up
screaming, about an hour before daybreak.  "What's the matter?" I asked
him.

"I heard wings flapping outside our tent," he replied.

"I'm sure it was just a bad dream," I tried to comfort him, "so go back to
sleep."

"I can't," he informed me.

"Just try," I told him.

"I can't.  I have to pee," he confessed.

"Just go out and do it away from the tent," I advised him.

"Are you nuts?" he challenged, and I could see the whites of his eyes, even
in this dim light.

"Ricky, there's nothing out there to harm you," I explained.

"Then you come with me," he shot back.

"Okay, if I have to," I said, feeling this was my penance for scaring the
daylights out of him.

"Hey, I'm not staying here alone," we heard Danny shout, as he too
scrambled from his sleeping bag, so we all went out to urinate.  The boys
wouldn't move very far away from me and did their business as quickly as
they could, and then we hustled back into the tent and crawled into our
sleeping bags again.  Although it did take a while for them to fall back
asleep, it was a couple of hours before they woke again.

By the time it was light out, the rays of the sun seemed to help to
dissolve some of their fears.  Even though they were less paranoid about
the creature appearing, they were still anxious to get back home and I
didn't need to urge them to help me pack up.  Everything was going well,
until I mentioned we needed to get home, so we could clean up and change
for church.

 "Do we have to go?" Danny whined, while trying to mimic the pathetic look
Ricky was giving me.  "Can't we just skip this week?"

"It's not going to hurt you to go," I informed them.  "Besides, no devils
are going to attack you in church."  This time they both flashed me a
disgusted look, for having brought that up again, but we were soon on our
way back to the house.

I told the boys to use their bathroom to clean up, while I used mine, but I
urged them not to dawdle.  I told them they'd be sorry if they made us
late, although I let them draw their own conclusions about what I might do
to them if that happened.  Needless to say, they were both ready in time,
looking nice in their good clothes.  I gave them each a bowl of cereal to
tide them over, telling them we'd go out for brunch once the service was
concluded.  They both seemed to like that idea.

We all loaded into the car and drove to church.  As we walked in, I was
quite proud to have people know Ricky and Danny were my sons.  Maybe I was
wrong or even 'sinful' for feeling that way, but they are two wonderful and
handsome young men and I'm thrilled to have everyone know we're a family.
I made sure to introduce them to the people I knew, which the boys
complained was everyone there, but they did seem to enjoy the attention
they were getting from telling these strangers I was their dad.

The service went quickly, which in itself was somewhat unusual, and the
boys got even more attention on the way out.  Once we had made it through
the crowd and back to my car, we went out for brunch, as I had promised
them.  I told them to order whatever they wanted, but to make sure it was
enough to tide them over until dinnertime.  The boys replied, "no problem,"
and I began to wonder if I had brought enough cash with me to fill these
two bottomless pits.

We attracted even more attention at the restaurant, as a lot more people I
knew stopped by to say 'hello' and inquire as to who my two young friends
were.  We got a few strange looks from people who were confused by the
short time we had been together, yet noticed how close we had already
become, as the boys referred to me as Dad with everyone.  I also introduced
Danny and Ricky as my sons, without going into the details of how we had
come together.  Instead, I simply preferred to say it was a long story and
I would fill them in about the details another time.

Once my two eating machines were full, I paid the bill and we left for
home.  I think we were all happy to know that we appeared to the rest of
the world, or at least a part of it, as a genuine family unit now.



Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 10 -- Brotherly Assistance.

After we got home from church that Sunday, Ricky finally got up the nerve
to have his discussion with Danny.  He waited until Danny went up to his
bedroom to change out of his good clothes and followed his brother in,
shutting the door behind him.

"Danny, can we talk?  I need to ask you some questions."  Ricky looked very
nervous, but he had managed to get the words out.

"Sure, Ricky.  What's the matter?"  Danny swallowed hard himself, thinking
Ricky had figured out he was gay and needed to ask him about it.  He looked
closely at Ricky, and after seeing how nervous he was acting, Danny began
to panic.  He was considering his options, when Ricky spoke again.

"Danny, I've been thinking about what we did when dad caught us and...
well... um...  I'd like to do... some more.  Do you think you might be
willing to do some other things with me?"  Suddenly, Danny felt relieved,
as if a burden had been lifted from his soul.  He smiled at Ricky, before
he answered him.

"Ricky, I'd like that a lot.  I really enjoyed what we did that night and I
think about it all the time.  I take it you liked it too?"  He felt
reasonably certain he already knew what Ricky's answer was going to be, but
he wanted to hear it for himself.

"Yeah, it was great," Ricky responded, enthusiastically.  "I really liked
it."

"So, you want to do more?" Danny inquired, to make sure he had heard
correctly.

"Yeah, I really do," Ricky confirmed, "if you want to."

"Great," Danny continued, his heart soaring.  "What if I take your clothes
off this time, and then you can help me get out of mine."

"Okay," Ricky responded, realizing he was already getting hard just
thinking about what was going to happen.  Carefully, Danny reached over and
grasped Ricky's shirt and slowly unbuttoned it, since they were both still
wearing their church clothes.  Once all the buttons were unfastened, he
pulled it off Ricky's shoulders and down his arms and then threw it on top
of his dresser.  Now that Ricky was naked from the waist up, Danny began to
run his hands up and down Ricky's smooth, hairless chest, so he could enjoy
the feel of his soft, silky skin.  Nervously, he rubbed his thumbs over
Ricky's pert, pink nubs, causing Ricky's head to sway backward and his eyes
to close, as he released an audible sigh.

Encouraged by Ricky's response, Danny moved a little closer to his brother
and began to rub his hand up and down Ricky's back, pulling his brother
tightly against himself.  Once their chests were touching, Danny let his
hands drop lower, until he was able to grab his little brother's firm ass
cheeks.  Tenderly, he started massaging them with his fingers, kneading
them as well as he could through the fabric.  Both boys were panting in
short, ragged breaths, as they not only enjoyed what was happening, but
also looked forward to what would come next.

"Ricky, would you mind if I kissed you?" Danny asked, looking deeply into
Ricky's eyes.

"You mean on the lips?" Ricky countered, not sure exactly what Danny
wanted.

"Yeah, on the lips," Danny confirmed.  "I learned about this way of kissing
that's supposed to be really hot.  Would you let me try it with you?"

"Okay, but if I don't like it, you'll stop.  Right?"

"Agreed."

Danny pulled Ricky tightly to him, tilted his head slightly and let his
lips cover his brother's lips.  Ricky had puckered up, like a little child
does before kissing a parent, but Danny parted his own lips and stuck his
tongue out to lick Ricky's full, sweet, moist lips.  When Ricky felt
Danny's tongue tracing the outline of his lips, he first stiffened, but
then relaxed his mouth and let it began to open slightly. Danny used this
opportunity to slip his tongue into Ricky's mouth.  He let his tongue roam
the soft lining of Ricky's oral cavity and flicked his tongue at Ricky's
own resting muscle.  Now, their tongues were jousting, fighting for
dominance, and the boys were learning the pleasures of their first deep
kiss.  Danny withdrew his tongue from Ricky's mouth, but Ricky's tongue
followed it back into Danny's own oral cavern.  Danny grasped Ricky's
tongue between his lips and began sucking on the pink muscle.

After doing this for a while, Danny broke the kiss and lowered his head, so
it was directly over Ricky's pink, dime sized nipple.  He let his tongue
dart out to play with the nub and then he ran his lips over and around this
sensitive area.  Once he was in position over it, Danny began to suck on
it, like a starving kitten.

"Don't stop," Ricky panted, "that feels good.  Lick it some more and then
suck on it again.  Oh, yes.  That's it.  Oh, yes, Danny, that's nice, real
nice.  Do the other one, pleeeeeeeeeze."

Ricky was getting into the action big time, and Danny was trying to push as
many of his buttons as he could.  Almost imperceptibly, Danny reached down
and unzipped and unsnapped Ricky's slacks, letting them fall towards the
floor.  Becoming aware of what had happened, Ricky kicked free of them and
now stood clad only in his bikini briefs.  Danny soon discovered Ricky's
erection was peeking out above the waistband, as Danny let his fingers
trace all around Ricky's rigid staff, while he continued to nurse on
Ricky's tender breasts.

While he was doing this, Danny gently pulled Ricky's briefs down to mid
thigh and then let them drop to the floor.  Ricky eagerly stepped out of
them as well and now stood completely naked, as Danny guided him back
toward the bed.  He positioned his brother on his back and reached down and
cupped his ball sac, rubbing the surface of the skin and rolling the marble
sized balls between his fingers.

"Make me shoot, Danny.  Please, make me shoot," the little blond whimpered.

Danny grasped the throbbing member in his hand and started to stroke it in
a smooth, steady rhythm.  Ricky was squirming and groaning from the effects
of Danny's loving touch.  The older boy's hand was stroking faster and
faster, as he felt his partner's release approaching, and he pumped with a
vigor that left no doubt that his intention was to give his brother his
desired release.

"Yes, yes, I'm almost there.  Oh, Danny, make me shoot.  Yeeeeesss.  I'm
cuuuuummming," he screamed as a jet of semen lifted off from Ricky's launch
tube.  Four or five spurts of boy juice shot from the helmet, not white
creamy strands, but immature strings of a nearly clear liquid.  Ricky's
body was stiff and arched above the bed, as Danny drained the last of the
fluid from his dick. Finally, Ricky relaxed and let his butt fall back on
the bed to rest.  As soon as Ricky had recovered from this powerful
release, Danny tossed him the towel he had used while getting ready for
church, so he could wipe up the mess.

"Thanks, bro, that was really great.  I've never felt it that strong
before.  My whole body shook and all of my muscles tightened.  It was
really awesome, man."

Ricky remained lying on the bed for several more minutes, before he was
ready to repeat the same steps on Danny.  First, he removed Danny's
clothing as lovingly and tenderly as he could.  The he rubbed up and down
Danny's smooth chest and back, before he lowered his head, so he could work
on his nipples.  Once he had completed his exploration of Danny's upper
body, Ricky reached down and gently wrapped his hand firmly around Danny's
penis, which sent shivers up and down Danny's spine.

Ricky loved the feel of Danny's longer dick in his hand and played with it
freely.  He found some drops of pre-cum on the head of Danny's prick and
instinctively used his thumb to spread it around.  Moving down with his
probing fingers, he worked Danny's gonads around in their sac, before
grasping Danny's flagpole once again.  Methodically, he moved his fist up
and down Danny's throbbing willy, until it exploded.  As the thin ropes of
ejaculate shot out of Danny's miniature cannon, a collection of white globs
accumulated and covered his chest from just below his chin down to his
pubic patch.  Ricky pulled back slightly, so he could admire his handiwork.

After Danny regained control of his senses, he cleaned up the mess he had
just made with the same towel Ricky had used, before they both slid their
briefs back up their legs, once again hiding their well-used genitalia.
Quickly, they changed into jeans and t-shirts and got ready to head back
downstairs.  Before they did, however, Danny thought he needed to do
something else, while they were still in the throes of afterglow and
reeling from the sensations that had just recently swept through their
young bodies.  "Ricky, I need to tell you something," Danny told him, in a
soft, tentative voice.

"Sure, Danny.  What is it?" Ricky wondered, suddenly confused by the way
Danny was acting.

"I've got something to tell you, but I'm not sure how you're going to take
it," Danny admitted, studying his brother.  "I hope you don't end up hating
me, after I tell you some things about me."

"Danny, I'd never hate you," Ricky assured him.  "You're my brother now,
and like Dad says, we might not like everything the other one does, but
we'll always love each other as family."

"I hope you mean that," Danny told him, while getting up his courage to
continue.  Finally, he decided he had to do it now, before he lost his
initiative.  "Ricky, what I have to tell you is... well... that... you
know... ah... I'm gay."

Ricky eyed Danny carefully, trying to understand.  "Yeah, so what?" Ricky
countered.

"It doesn't bother you that I'm gay and we've been doing these things
together?" Danny asked, amazed.

"Heck, no," Ricky advised him.  "It's not like anything we've done is
really straight, is it?  But we've both enjoyed it, so it no big deal.  It
doesn't matter to me if you're gay.  You're my brother, so that's all I
care about now."

Relieved and ecstatic, Danny hugged Ricky and kissed him again, but this
time it was to thank him, not to arouse him.  They were in a really good
mood when they came back downstairs.  When I saw Danny, I called him over
to me, as there was something we needed to discuss also.

"Danny, I would like to speak to you, if I may?"

"Sure, Dad.  What do you want?"

"I'm sure you realize your birthday will be here soon," I informed him,
"and I was wondering if you would like to have a party to celebrate it."

"Yeah, that would be great," Danny replied, his eyes sparkling at the
thought.

"I was thinking besides Ricky and me, we'd ask Mrs. Swarthout to come too.
Is there anyone else that you'd like to invite?"

"Could I invite some of my friends from where I used to live?" he asked,
not sure if I'd allow him to do that.

"Of course," I quickly agreed.  "I'll even drive up there to pick them up
and then take them back later, so their parents won't have to worry about
transporting them."

"That would be excellent," Danny responded, greatly relieved and enthused.
Suddenly, however, he appeared to become distracted and seemed to be
thinking about something else.  "Dad?" he finally continued.

"What, Danny?"  He opened his mouth, as if he was planning to answer me,
but then stopped.  He looked across the room, to where Ricky was sitting,
but he didn't saying anything.

"Why don't we step into the office," I suggested, softly, "where you might
be more at ease?"  He nodded, so we went into the other room, shutting the
door behind us.  Once we were alone, Danny began.

"Dad, can I invite someone from school too?" he asked, looking very
hopeful.

"It's 'may I' and yes, you may," I corrected him.  "May I ask whom you're
thinking of?"

"Yep, it's Brandon O'Hara," Danny admitted, seemingly excited about the
possibility of having Brandon at his party too.

"May I ask why you decided to invite him?" I asked, a little confused.

"I really like him and was hoping that maybe we could become good friends,"
Danny explained, although I was able to read more from his words than he
was willing to admit to.

"Does this include a sexual attraction?" I asked, bluntly, getting to the
point.

Danny went flush with this question.  "Maybe," he admitted, hesitantly.  "I
was hoping he might like me in that way, too."

"Do you realize there's a rumor going around school that he is gay?" I
pressed.

"Yes.  That's why I was hoping we might hit it off," he explained.

"Did you also realize that, if you start hanging out with him," I
continued, "the rumor will probably expand to include you?"

"No, I didn't think about that," Danny admitted.  "You don't think I should
ask him, then?"

"That's not quite what I meant," I corrected.  "I just wondered if you were
ready for the questions or the actions of the other students, if they began
to believe you might be gay, too.  I mean, you haven't even been able to
admit your gay to Ricky yet."

"But I did," he blurted out, "after we got home from church."  He seemed
pleased to be able to admit that he had done this already, before the
question of Brandon came up.

"And?" I prodded.

"Oh, he's okay with it," Danny said, quite blandly.  "So, it's not a
problem with him, but I hadn't thought about the other kids at school."

"Well, you'd better be sure about what you're getting into and what you can
handle," I told him, "before you get too close to Brandon.  Danny, I'm not
saying you shouldn't or that there is anything wrong with Brandon.  In
fact, I feel that he's a very nice young man, but you can't be sure what he
might say to others about what you two may do together or what others might
suspect about your friendship."  Danny looked at me carefully, as he
thought about my words.

"Danny, I think you've learned to trust me with your secret and now you've
also included Ricky," I continued, "but if you start having sexual contact
with Brandon, you'll have to be absolutely sure you can trust him with this
information as well, unless you plan on letting everyone else know too.
Even if you decide you can trust him, you'll still have to determine how
you want to handle the rumor mill and what might be said about you.  You
might get away with denying you're gay, but I doubt that will work.  You
might even have to consider the possibility that you may have to fight to
defend yourself or Brandon, somewhere down the road.  Why don't you take a
couple of days to think about all of this, before you decide if you want to
invite him to the party or if you want to initiate a sexual encounter with
him some time later?  There's no rush in deciding about the sex, but don't
wait too long before you decide about inviting him to your party."

"Thanks, Dad.  I'll let you know in a few days.  Can I... err... May I
e-mail my other friends to ask them if they can come?"

"Yes, you may," I answered him, glad that he had corrected himself.  "As
you know, your birthday is on May 6th, which is a Wednesday, but I'd prefer
to have the party on a Saturday instead.  That means we could hold the
party on May 2nd or May 9th.  The choice is yours."

"Let's do it on May 9th," he told me.  "That's really closer to my
birthday, anyway."

"Fine.  You can tell them the party will be at 1:00, but I'll pick them up
around 12:15," I advised him.

"Okay, Dad," he agreed.  "I'll tell them to meet in front of our old school
and that's where we'll pick them up.  I think that's best, cuz some of them
live way out in the country."

"Great.  Go ahead and do that," I confirmed.  "You can go sign on and give
them all of the information."

While Danny was on the computer, I went into the other room to tell Ricky
about the party.  "Ricky, Danny's birthday is coming up and I'm going to
throw him a party on May 9th.  That's a Saturday.  He's going to invite
some of his old friends to come too.  You'll need to think about what
present you'll want to get him."

"When's his birthday really?  Is it the 9th?" Ricky asked me.  "And how am
I going to be able to buy him a present? I don't have any money."

"No, his birthday is actually on May 6th," I corrected him, "and I'll give
you the money.  I just want you to pick out the gift for him yourself."

"Oh, all right, Dad," Ricky agreed.  "I'll start thinking about what I want
to get him then.  Oh, by the way, you remember my birthday is July 7th,
right?" he added, flashing me his most innocent grin.

"Yes, Ricky, I remember," I told him.  "How in the world could I ever
forget that?"  Reacting to the sarcasm in my tone, Ricky flashed me his
'quit pulling my leg' look and went back to what he was doing.  Later that
night, I overheard Ricky pumping Danny for information.

"Danny, I know you like sports," Ricky began.  "Are you going to sign up
for any teams this summer or next year at school?"

"I want to play baseball this summer," Danny answered, "but my old glove's
kind of small for me now, so I might not be able to.  I think I want to
play soccer, basketball and lacrosse at school, though, if I can.  I'll be
a freshman next year, so I'll have to try out for the junior varsity
teams."

"Good, I want to watch you play," Ricky countered, trying to deepen his
deception.  "I think it will be fun having a brother on the team."

"How about you, Ricky?" Danny countered.  "Are you going to play any
sports?"

"Nah, I'm not that good," Ricky admitted.  "I like to watch, though."

"What if I help you learn?" Danny asked him.  "We could practice at home
and I'll help you get better.  If I did that, would you think about joining
then?"

"Yeah, I guess I might," Ricky conceded, "if I got good enough that anyone
would want me on the team."  Ricky looked seriously at Danny, trying to
judge his sincerity.  "You'd really be willing to help me get better?"

"I just told you I would, didn't I?" Danny responded, a little annoyed.
"Don't you believe me?"

"Yes, I believe you," Ricky told him.  "I was just giving you a chance to
change your mind, once you found out I wasn't very good.  I guess I like
just about any sport, but I think it would be fun if I could play the same
ones you did."

"Awesome," Danny replied, somewhat honored that Ricky would want to do
that.  "Okay, starting tomorrow I'll work with you on baseball.  My old
glove will be perfect for you."

"I don't mean to interrupt," I said, as I broke into their conversation,
"and I didn't mean to eavesdrop either, but I have an old glove, some bats,
and baseballs in the basement.  They used to belong to my older son, but I
could dig them out and you could use them, if you want."

"That would be great and we don't mind if you listen to what we talk about,
Dad," Danny told me.  "I was just planning on using a whiffle ball set I
found in the rec room, but that wouldn't really work as well, so having
some real equipment would be better.  Thanks, Dad.  You always seem to come
up with the things we really need."

"Yes, thanks, Dad," Ricky added, while giving me a wink, but he also
managed to keep his face positioned so Danny wouldn't notice his signal.
"I know Danny is good at sports, so it's going to be great that he's
helping me."  Needless to say, I already had a pretty good idea about what
Ricky wanted to buy Danny for his birthday.

I went and got those things for the boys and then they went outside to
practice.  I didn't go with them, instead preferring to peek through the
window to see how they were doing.  Just as they were at the pool, Danny
was the patient teacher and Ricky the eager student, trying his hardest to
please and impress his mentor.


E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive'
comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com - but please put the
story title in the subject line, so it doesn't get deleted as junk mail.