Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:15:54 +0100
From: Nick Brady <y2kslacker@mail.com>
Subject: Marco, Marty and the Twins - Part 9

Marco, Marty & the Twins – 9

This is a continuation of Marco in the Park, originally published in Nifty
as http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/marco-in-the-park/

This is the story of a young gay couple raising a rambunctious pair of
adopted twin boys.

Please end your feedback to y2kslacker@mail.com and don't forget to support
the Nifty archive with your contributions.

Copyright 2015-2016 by Nick Brady, all rights reserved.

------------------------------------

As the end of the school year drew near the boys were trying to complete
all the requirements for Bear in their Cub Scout den. They were discussing
this with Marco.

"We have our whittling chip," Ben told him. "We know out knife safety and
have carved out some animals from soap."

Marco sighed. "I know. We have enough soap chips to prove that. How many
bars of Ivory soap did you go through?"

"I don't know exactly. We had to practice on some of them," Sam explained.

"Did Father Hoover sign you off on the Duty to God stuff? Marco asked.

"That was easy," Sam assured him. "We are in church every Sunday and are
torch bearers sometimes. He talked to us a little and said we were good for
that."

"OK, and you have memorized the Scout Promise and Scout Law. What else do
you need?"

"We can do everything else when we have our den camp out, next weekend,"
Ben said.

"What will you need for that?" Marco asked.

"We have a list," Sam told him, holding up a piece of paper they brought
home from their den meeting. He read it off.

"We need a change of clothes, a flashlight, our Bear book, notebook and
pencil, soap and a towel, and our sleeping bags and a pillow. We can put
everything in our knapsacks except the bag and pillow."

"Are you going to sleep out under the stars?" Marco wondered.

"No, Brian borrowed some tents from his scout troop. He is bringing them."
Sam told him, "but we need some cooking stuff. That's on the list too," Ben
explained. "See, a roll of aluminum foil, a fork and spoon, a frying pan
and a spatula – and our pocket knives. We get to bring our pocket knives
since we have our whittling chips."

"What are you going to cook? Do you need some food?"

"We have to give Brian ten dollars each and he is going to bring the stuff
to cook," Sam assured him.

"What are you going to cook?" Marco asked.

Sam and Ben looked at each other and shrugged. "Whatever he brings I
guess. We will find out when we get there. You are going with us aren't you
Daddy?"

Marco looked at Marty who was listening with a smile. "I suppose one of us
will. You up for camping this weekend Marty?"

Marty laughed, "You're the adventurous one. I have to go into the office
this weekend anyway. "

"Looks like I'm camping," Marco acknowledged. "Do I need to pay ten dollars
too?"

"I think you do if you want to eat," Sam grinned.

"Oh come on, you'll have fun too," Ben said.

"Where are we going?" Marco asked.

"We're going to camp up at Mohawk Park," Sam told him. "You know, that's
where the zoo is."

Marco laughed. "That sounds like a good place for you guys. Maybe you can
sleep with the monkeys."

"No, Daddy. They have places with picnic tables and everything," Ben
explained. "We are going to hike on some nature trails and stuff."

""Alright, I'm up for that. You're right. It does sound like fun," Marco
admitted.

"Go for it scout," Marty laughed.

At the Monday night den meeting Marco accompanied the boys and Brian gave
them some more details.

"OK you guys, listen up. We will cook three meals, supper Friday night,
breakfast Saturday morning and lunch Saturday noon after our hike. Supper
will be a hobo dinner. That's a hamburger patty, carrots, onions and potato
wrapped in foil and cooked on the camp fire. Breakfast will be eggs in the
hole and you will cook that in a skillet. Lunch will just be sandwiches. I
will have soda for you to drink and some orange juice for breakfast. How
does that sound?"

Bobby was a small boy with bright red hair. "How do we cook that stuff? We
don't know how to do that."

"Brian grinned. "You will after I show you how. You bring the stuff on your
list and I will supply the rest. Do you have your food money?"

The boys handed their money to Brian as he checked their names off of a
list.

"Is everybody coming? We need some dads to come along too," Brian asked.

Marco raised his hand. "I'll be coming along."

Tyron was the lone black boy in the den and his father was with him. "I'm
Leroy," he introduced himself, "and I will come with Tyron."

"Great, two dads will be a big help," Brian said. "I'll need ten dollars
for each of you guys."

Alex said he couldn't make it but Marshall was coming. That made Sam, Ben,
Troy, Bobby, Tony, Marshall, Brian and the dads. That was six cubs, the Den
Chief and two dads – nine people to cook and eat.

Brian collected the money and promised to purchase everything they would
need for food.

"OK, if you bring the things on the list I gave you last time we should
have everything we need," Brian told them. "Be at the school parking lot at
five o'clock Friday evening and we will be good to go. Will you dads be
able to drive us up to Mohawk? Mrs. Hernandez will take her SUV and come
back at two o'clock Saturday for us. Three cars should be enough to get us
up there and back."

"I have a big Ford van," Leroy said. "I can take a lot of the gear."

"I have a little four door sedan," Marco volunteered. "I can take one other
boy besides the twins."

"That sounds good," Brian said. "Are there any questions?"?"

"What if somebody gets hurt?" Marco wondered.

"Good question," Brian told him. "I have a first aid kit that I will
bring. We shouldn't have any real problems. If we do, we are in the park
and they have a ranger and some resources available."

They talked a little more about the nature trail they would be hiking then
dismissed to meet again on Friday.

Thursday evening Sam and Ben sorted out what they were to take on the
overnight camping trip with their Bear den.

"We don't both need to take a frying pan," Sam complained. "We'll cook
together won't we?"

"I think so. Daddy can use our skillet too," Ben agreed."

"Does Daddy have a sleeping bag?" Sam wondered.

"He better," Ben laughed.

"I think we have everything. "How are we supposed to carry a sleeping bag
and a pillow?" Sam wondered. "Let's ask Dad."

They took their things into the living room where Marco was packing his own
bag.

"How do we carry all this stuff?" Sam asked.

Marco was stuffing his gear in a small rucksack. "You won't have to carry
your bedroll on the hike. Just stuff the bag and your pillow into a
trashbag I guess. That's what I'm going to do."

Soon there were three fat trashbags with three rucksacks nested on top
lined up by the front door, all ready for their adventure.

As soon as Sam and Ben returned from school on Friday they all put their
bags in the trunk of the Camry and left for the church. They were the only
ones there.

"Where is everybody?" Ben asked with concern.

Marco chuckled, "It's only four thirty. I think we are a little early."

"We didn't want to be late," Sam explained.

They got out of the car and sat on the school steps to wait. Within a few
minutes the others began to arrive. When they were all there, Brian had
them gather around him.

"OK, I have four nylon pop-up tents," Brian told them. "They are supposed
to sleep four but they are kind of small really. They are OK for three
people and roomy for two. Who is going to sleep together?"

Tyron spoke up. "I'm going to tent with my dad."

"Who else will sleep together? Brian asked.

Tony and Marshall stood together and raised their hands. Bobby looked at
Brian, "Can I tent with you?"

"That will work," Brian said, looking at the twins. "You guys can tent with
your dad, OK?"

"Yes," Sam and Ben said in unison.

"Looks like you are stuck with me," Marco smiled.

"Alright then, lets get loaded up," Brian instructed.

The twins and Marco's gear was already in their car. Tony's was in his
mother's car and Marshal put his in her car too. Bobby and Brian joined
Tyron and Leroy in the van and they were all ready.

"You guys follow us up to Mohawk," Brian told them. I know where we are
going, OK?"

That was fine and they formed a caravan to drive north to the old park with
Brian pointing the way. He guided them to a campsite at the north corner of
the park near the Oxley Center and they unloaded next to an old concrete
picnic table. Brian got out and indicated on which side they were to set up
the tents, making a neat row.

"First thing we want to do is set up these tents. Everybody watch me while
I set up the first one, then I will help you with the rest." Brian tossed
out the tents and pulled the first one out of the bag. "Pay attention now,
this is really easy."

He unrolled the nylon tent exposing a pile of fiberglass rods which were
connected by elastic cords. When he straightened them out they snapped
together into two long poles. He slid them into nylon sleeves on top of the
tent, allowing them to cross at the center. He slipped one end into a
pocket at the base of the tent then crossed to the other end of the pole,
bent it and slipped that into a pocket on the opposite side.

"Hold that pole up," he instructed Bobby, then stuck opposite ends of the
other pole into each side of the base. Now the tent stood upright although
it was rather slack. The sides and bottom were of ripstop nylon and very
sturdy. The inside panel of the door and the top of the tent were made of
netting to allow ventilation, Reaching into the bag again he withdrew some
aluminum spikes and began to hook them into loops on the outside edge of
the tent bottom and pulled the bottom flat, stretching it taut.

"OK, there is your tent with a bottom to keep out the bugs. Now it doesn't
look like it will rain, but these tents have rain flies. Lets put that on."
He unrolled another sheet of nylon tenting and flipped it over the top of
the tent, centering it on top then pulling it down so that it fit to the
top of the tent stakes with an elastic loop. The cover was separated from
the top of the tent by the arched poles and allowed an air space over the
tent.

"That's it. Now if it rains the fly will let the water run off and you can
still get some air through the top of the tent, OK?" He bent over to one
side of the tent and proceeded to unzip a wide panel that allowed entry
into the little tent. A second inner panel was of netting and allowed light
and ventilation. "There you are," he said proudly. "Home sweet home. Now
let's set up the other three, OK? Work in pairs and I'll help you."

"Wow, that's pretty slick,"Ben exclaimed.

"He makes it look easy," Sam agreed.

"Go ahead boys, I'll watch," Marco grinned.

"Aren't you going to help?" Sam asked.

"Sure if you have a problem, but why don't you see what you can do."

They laid everything out, trying to remember what Brian had
demonstrated. They spread out the tent part and tried to figure out how to
snap the poles together. After a couple of tries they figured that
out. Marco held the tent out while they threaded the poles through the
tubes at the top. They got on opposite ends of each pole and looked for the
right loops at the bottom. After a few tries they managed to get both ends
in the right loops then started on the other pole. By the time they got
that one hooked up one end of the other pole came loose and they had to
refasten it. Suddenly, as if by magic, the tent stood upright and hung from
the poles.

"We did it," Ben exclaimed.

"It's not going to rain, do we have to put the top thing on?" Sam asked.

"I think that's part of the deal," Marco said, "Here, I'll help you."

Soon they stood back and admired their tent. When they looked around they
saw that all but one of the tents was up and Brian was helping Tony and
Marshall with it. It looked pretty good. Not exactly in a straight line,
but good enough for a first time.

"There now," Brian said with a smile. "You did good. Put your sleeping bags
in the tent you will be sleeping in and we can get dinner started. First
lets get a fire going."

Brian had come out the day before and laid out the wood for a camp fire. He
pointed to three stacks of wood next to the fire ring. "Look here. We have
three kinds of wood. Some little sticks and twigs for kindling. Some small
stuff about as big as your fingers, and some bigger firewood. First we wad
up some newspaper and make a little teepee over it with the kindling Then
we pile the medium sized stuff over that, and finally we will lean some of
the big pieces against that. Remember that to make a fire you have to have
three things, heat, air and fuel. "

He squatted down next to his creation and pulled out some big wooden
kitchen matches. "Now if I've done this right, we should have us a camp
fire." He struck a match and carefully slid it under the newspaper at the
center until it caught fire. It began to flame up and set the twigs on
fire. Brian added a few more small pieces from the side to encourage it and
the fire spread until the larger pieces began to burn and with a little
huffing and puffing, Brian soon had a roaring fire going.

He stood back with a broad smile. "There you go," he said proudly and
laughed. "That doesn't always work the first time," he admitted. Then he
turned to Marco, "Keep feeding wood to that and when you have a good fire
going, let it burn down so we have some coals, OK? In the meantime I will
show these guys how to make a hobo dinner."

Marco nodded in agreement and Brian led the young scouts over to the picnic
table.

Brian opened the ice chest he had brought and started taking out the
ingredients for their dinner. "I need some aluminum foil," he
instructed. Soon he had ten large squares of foil laid out on the table. He
opened a five pound package of ground beef and started forming it into
patties of one half pound each, which he placed at the center of each piece
of foil.

"OK now. Lets cut up the vegetables." He produced three bags containing
potatoes, onions, and carrots.

"You should all have your pocket knives. Lets see if you can slice this
stuff up fairly small without cutting off any fingers."

He covered the rest of the picnic table with newspaper and the boys sat
down and went to work. Brian and Leroy supervised to promote a minimum of
safety as the young boys began slicing and dicing. Before long a generous
handful of potato, onion and carrots were added on top of the hamburger
patties and salt and pepper were sprinkled over the pile.

When they had completed the mix, he showed them how to fold the foil over
to make a tight package. Then additional squares of foil were wrapped from
opposite sides until everything was sealed up tight.

Now Brian directed his attention to the campfire. "Hey, that looks
great. You did a good job," he said to Marco. Most of the wood had been
consumed so that Brian was able to poke it around and create a bed of
burning coals.

"Alright, now we have a cooking fire. We are going to lay your foil
packages out on top of those coals so they can cook.

"Won't they burn up?" Bobby wondered.

"Not if you have sealed them up tight. The heat will stay inside and
everything will steam in its own juices. We'll let them sizzle for about
ten minutes then turn them over and let them cook on the other side for
another ten minutes. It will work, just wait and see."

There were some uncertain looks, but they did as he instructed, then stood
around to watch and wait. After the first ten minutes a few interesting
smells began to seep out of the foil bundles. Brian used a pair of sticks
to flip them over on the coals. After another ten minutes he declared them
ready.

"I need a spatula, who has one I can use?" Brian asked.

"Here, you can use ours," Sam said.

Brian bent over the fire and carefully scooped up each foil packet, laying
them out on the picnic table.

"They need to cool down for a few minutes. Let's build our fire back up
while we wait." More wood was piled on top of the coals and soon their fire
was blazing again.

By now they all realized they were very hungry and curious to see what
happened to the meat and vegetables inside the carefully wrapped foil
bundles.

"OK, let's eat," Brian announced and they gathered around the picnic
table. "If you know which one of these was the one you prepared then grab
it. Otherwise just get one. They should all be about the same. You can sit
at the picnic table or sit on the ground, but let me show you a good way to
eat these things."

Brian waited until everyone had claimed a foil packet, then took one that
remained. He pulled out his pocket knife and sliced an X across the
top. "Be careful now. These are going to be very hot. "Using his knife he
pried the aluminum foil back from the center revealing a steaming meal
inside.

"Now you can just eat out of the foil bundle, no plates required," he
grinned, pleased that the carefully prepared concoction had proven to be
successful.

Using their forks the boys carefully began to extract juicy bites of meat
and soft vegetables from inside the bundles.

"Mine is all scorched," Marshall complained.

"That must not have been sealed up tight," Brian explained. "That's why we
made one extra. Help yourself Marshall."

"Hey, this is pretty good," Sam declared.

"Mine needs salt," Ben said.

Brian put the salt and pepper shakers in the middle of the table. "Here you
go. You can always add it after it's cooked, but you can't take it out."

Marco and Leroy sat down out of the way and were sampling their hobo
dinners.

"This isn't bad," Marco admitted.

"Not bad at all," Leroy agreed. "I thought they would burn when they were
right on top of the coals."

"I think the foil holds in the juices and these things basically steam
inside the package. This is pretty clever. Have you been camping very
much?" Marco asked.

Leroy laughed. "I was in the Marines for four years. I did enough camping
then to last me for awhile."

"Really? That must have been interesting. What did you do in the Marine
Corps?"

"I was in Desert Storm. That was interesting."

"Wow, so you were actually in combat?"

"I was," Leroy acknowledged, the smile fading.

Marco noticed the change in expression. "What was that like?"

"I guess at the time is was pretty exciting. Nothing will get your
adrenalin flowing like getting shot at."

"Were you wounded?"

"Yeah, but nothing serious. I picked up some shrapnel from a mortar," Leroy
shrugged. "It wasn't really a big deal."

"Don't you get something for that?" Marco asked.

"A Purple Heart, yeah I got one of those."

"That makes you a war hero," Marco smiled.

"No, no, nothing like that. I was just another grunt really," Leroy
shrugged.

"So what do you do now?"

"Well, when I got out of the Marines I used my veterans benefits to go to
college. Now I'm a pharmacist at a Walmart in Tulsa."

"How did you get interested in Pharmacy?" Marco asked.

"I was a medic in the Marines."

"Really? You must have seen some bad stuff."

"I did, for sure. War is not pretty. I lost a few good friends in Iraq."

"I'm sorry," Marco apologized, "I didn't mean to pry."

"No, that's OK. Were you ever in the service?" Leroy asked.

"No, not me. I respect those who did serve, but I never wanted to do that,"
Marco admitted. "What made you decide to go into the military?"

Leroy laughed, "A Tulsa county judge suggested that I either join the
service or do some jail time for a little mischief I got into. I was kind
of young and stupid at that time."

"We all make mistakes." Marco nodded. "Your son Tyron sure looks up to
you."

Leroy looked away for a moment, " I didn't have much of a father. I decided
that if I ever had a kid I would try to be a good father."

"Were your parents divorced?"

Leroy shrugged. "They were never married. I didn't see much of my father
growing up."

"So what do you do?" Leroy asked.

"I paint," Marco said, "I'm an artist and try to sell enough paintings to
make a living at it."

"Really? That's cool. Your boys are cool too. They look a lot like you."

Marco chuckled. "They do, but actually they are adopted. My partner and I
adopted them when they were four."

"Your partner?"

Marco looked at Leroy, "I am married to another guy. We adopted Sam and Ben
so we could have kids."

"Really?" Leroy looked thoughtful. "I wouldn't have guessed that. You don't
look like you are..., well."

"I wouldn't have guessed you to be a pharmacist either," Marco
chuckled. "Stereotypes don't always hold true."

Leroy laughed. "No, I guess they don't."

"Actually, I can relate to your story. I grew up with a single mother
too. I didn't even know who my father was until after I was married."

"Yeah? So where is your father now? Do you ever see him?" Leroy wondered.

"Actually, he is in prison. I located him some time ago and try to visit
him when I can."

"Is that right? I wouldn't have guessed that either."

"So where is your father?" Marco asked. "Do you keep in touch with him?'

"No, no. To tell the truth I have two brothers and three sisters and we all
have different fathers. It was kind of messed up."

Marco laughed. "We seem to have several things in common."

"I guess we do. It's nice to meet you Marco. You are an interesting guy.".

"So are you," Marco smiled. "So how do you like your hobo dinner?"

"This is pretty good. That boy Brian is something else, isn't he?"

"He is very capable. I can't believe he put all this together by himself,"
Marco agreed.

"He is really a fine boy. I hope some of that rubs off on Tyron."

"I feel the same way. I hope Sam and Ben will stay with scouting."

Leroy nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, are you and the twins Indian, I
mean Native American?"

"We are. I am Seminole, and by coincidence so are the twins. After I
located my father I found out he has a brother in Owasso. I looked him up
and he's really a good fellow. He's gotten us into the powwows and the boys
have started dancing at some of those. It has been a good thing."

"Really? That's very interesting. So you can kind of celebrate your
heritage, right?"

"Exactly. A heritage I didn't know I had," Marco acknowledged. "It has been
nice for all of us."

"So is your partner Indian too?"

Marco laughed. "No, Marty is a paleface, but he enjoys the powwows too. He
takes a lot of photographs then later I use them as references for some of
my paintings."

"That's really cool. I would like to see some of your art."

"I have some things at a gallery in Brookside. I can give you the address
if you would like."

"I would like that. My wife Shanna is a good cook. Maybe we should get
together some time," Leroy suggested."

"That sounds like a plan. Tell me about your wife."

"We met in pharmacy school," Leroy told him. "We are both pharmacists."

Just then Brian called for their attention. "If everybody is finished with
your supper, we need to clean up." While they were eating, Brian had set
two metal buckets of water on the edge of the fire and the water was
hot. In one he had squirted some dish soap.

"Rinse your forks and stuff in the soapy water first then wipe them off and
rinse them in the other one," he instructed them. "Wrap up your leftover
foil and put that in the trash, OK? When we have finished cleaning up we
can have our Campfire."

In a short time they were gathered around the fire eager for whatever came
next.

Brian tried to teach them a couple of songs. The first was a simple call
and response song that made them all laugh. He sang a line and they echoed
it back. It went like this:

Bill Grogan's Goat (repeat), Was feelin' fine (repeat), Ate three red
shirts (repeat), Right off the line (repeat).  Bill took a stick(repeat),
Gave him a whack (repeat), And tied that goat (repeat), To the railroad
track (repeat).  The whistle blew! (repeat), The train grew nigh (repeat),
Bill Grogan's Goat (repeat), Was doomed to die (repeat).  He heaved a sigh
(repeat), Of awful pain (repeat), Coughed up the shirts (repeat), And
flagged the train! (repeat).

They all erupted in laughter and made Brian sing it again.

"OK you guys, Now I want to teach you a skit that you can do at the next
pack meeting. Huddle up over here and you dads can be our audience."

Brian whispered some instructions to the six boys who nodded that they
understood then lined up facing Marco and Leroy.

The scout next to Brian says loudly. "We had a good time swimming at the
beach, but I have sand in my ears." Several of the other boys nod and shout
"Me too, me too."

"Well," Brian shouts, "I will show you how Scouts clean sand out of our
ears." He pretends to take a drink of water from a canteen then turns and
acts like he is blowing the water into the ear of the scout next to him.

That boy acts like he is swishing water around in his mouth then blows into
the next boy's ear. This continues until the last boy loudly gargles the
water that he secretly had in his mouth then spits it into the campfire.

They all shout, "A Scout is clean!"

It was a perfect skit – quick, simple and silly. Marco and Leroy laughed
and applauded loudly.

"Tell us a story," Bobby requested.

Brian thought for a moment then said, "OK, here is a funny one."

One hot and dry day in the Old West, this dog walks into a saloon and says,
"Gimme a root beer."

The bartender says, "I'm sorry, but we don't serve dogs here."

The dog took out a silver dollar, put it on the bar, and said, "Look, I got
the money, and I want a root beer."

The bartender said one more time, "We do not serve dogs here. Please
leave."

The dog growled at him, so the bartender pulled out a gun and shot the dog
in the foot! The dog yelped, and ran out the door.

The next day, the dog came back. This time he was dressed all in black. A
black cowboy hat, a black vest, three black cowboy boots and one black
bandage on his sore foot.

The dog looks around, waits for the talking to quiet down, and says, "I'm
lookin' fer the man who shot my paw."

The boys groaned and laughed. Marco turned to Leroy and said "That's what I
would call a shaggy dog story."

After a few more jokes and stories Brian stopped them and suggested that
they go to bed. "We are going to be up pretty early to cook breakfast and
go for a hike, so we better turn in now."

After a quick trip to the toilet Brian made sure they were all settled in
their tents. Tyron and his father Leroy were together as were Sam, Ben and
Marco. Bobby was to share a tent with Brian and Tony and Marshall in the
other.

Of course there was some talking, but they all settled down soon except for
Tony and Marshall who whispered and giggled long after the others were
quiet. After an hour of this Brian got up with his flashlight and went to
their tent.

The inner door panel was zipped up but the outer panel was laid out on the
ground. When Brian reached their tent he stuck his flashlight under the
rain fly to illuminate the inside of the tent and looked through the front
panel. Inside were Tony and Marshall both naked as the day they were born
with their hands on each other's dicks. When Brian's light fell on them
they jumped and tried to pull their sleeping bags over themselves.

Of course Brian knew what they were doing. He was not so much surprised as
irritated that they were keeping him awake. "OK you guys. When I said to be
quiet and go to sleep I meant it. Now put your pants on, shut up and go to
sleep. If I have to come over here again I will march both of you around
the campfire and call the others to get up so you can explain what you are
doing that makes you giggle like a couple of little girls."

He switched off his flashlight and returned to his tent. It became very
quiet as everyone finally fell asleep.

Marco woke up when he heard Brian scold the two gigglers. He could guess
what had happened and chuckled to himself. Boys would be boys, he
thought. His were sound asleep at his side.

Tomorrow would be another adventure.


-------------------------------------------------------

To be continued –

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