Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 21:46:24 -0700
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Rough Edges  Chapter 12

Welcome back. In this chapter we leave Phil's punch and the impending
rumble and spend some time with Phil and Larry as adults. Larry has some
tough coaching decisions to make. And, what is all of this talk of marriage.

The story is mine. It contains sex between minors. Please be safe. If you
enjoy this archive of stories, please give to Nifty to keep is free for all
of us.

CHAPTER 12
INTERLUDE

<Jeffrey Bednarzyk>

Life is really good. I mean totally good. How many guys get to go to bed as
the State Tournament batboy for an awesome team like the Mustangs and
wake up finding out that instead of being the batboy they are suiting up to
play for the team? Yep, that's what happened to me and my VBBF Nicky.
That's Very Best Boy Friend for you guys who don't know.

Yeah, I'm a gay boy. I'm out and proud of it. I'm fourteen and a freshman
(at least for a couple more weeks) at Mayfield High School, home of the
mighty Mustangs. Nicky played mostly on the JV team, but got to play a
couple of varsity games. I led the JV team in hitting, was their winningest
pitcher and also play third base, but I didn't play any varsity, mostly
because I was a frosh. Coach Sanders said I'll have plenty of chances next
year.

Anyway, Nicky and I got to be batboys for the tournament because we
were batboys in middle school and were good at it. Some players would
look down at being a batboy, but Nicky and I love it. For the state
tournament we got to travel with the team and stay at the hotel with the
team and eat with the team, along with sitting in the dugout making sure
the bats were being taken care of. We even got to strut out on the field in
our full baseball unis looking important. As far as anybody knew, we were
players—which was true in a way.

But then Raul, who was the winner of yesterday's awesome 5-3 win, and
Zack who is a senior who doesn't play much, got dumb and went to some
party or something and got kicked off the team by Coach Sanders. Dad
says that just because you get older doesn't mean you get smarter, and
Raul and Zack are proof of that.

Nicky and I were rooming with Toby and Justin who are seniors and
boyfriends, even though they say they're not gay. Toby says having a
boyfriend to have sex with is easier than messing around with a girl. What I
think is that Mayfield is the best place to come out and tell everybody
you're gay because there are so many of us gay boys. Dad says everybody
thinks having so many gay boys in Mayfield has something to do with the
water, but he's really just kidding.

Nicky and I love sex. I've been doing sex since I was seven, with my BBB
(Best Big Brother) Marty who was fourteen then. He showed me how to jerk
off and gave me my first orgasm, my first blow job, and my first fuck. It
wasn't all at the same time or even the same age, though.

I was really experienced at sex by the time I got to middle school. Marty
isn't my real big brother, but he lived with us from the end of eighth grade
and all the way through high school. He's in college now, but when he
comes home from school he comes to my house because that's his home,
too.

Nicky and I do a lot of sex with each other, and like doing it with other guys,
too. They don't even have to be gay and most of them aren't. But they all
tell us that nobody gets them off better than we do. We don't fuck all of
them though. I'll only fuck Nicky, Eric, Marty, Noah, and my little brother
Sammy, who's in sixth grade and almost twelve. I turn fifteen just a couple
of days before he turns twelve.

I'm the only person who can fuck Sammy. He says brothers fucking isn't
gay, it's just brothers being nice to each other. We've been doing it since
he was like eight or nine. He fucks me, too, plus he's fucked a few girls. I
watched him fuck a girl and it was hot. I told dad once about Sammy
getting into the pants of girls back when he was ten and dad ordered little
boy size condoms from Sweden or someplace like that. He's just started to
shoot a little bit, so it's a good thing he's got the condoms. The girls really
love Sammy and love being fucked by him, and they're just eleven. Wait
until they all get older, he'll be the stud of Mayfield. The time I watched
Sammy fuck Leslie, I got to fuck her, too. That's the only time I've fucked a
girl. It was fun, but I like guys way better.

Okay, I know I'm giving you way too much information, but I'm not known
as Hurricane Jeffrey for nothing. I tend to run at the mouth and am in what
my dad calls perpetual motion. But it gets things done for me. I'm a straight
A student, a really good soccer player, and a really good baseball player.
Dad says he hoped being in high school would calm me down some, but no
luck with that happening. He did say I've learned to channel my energy
better though. Nicky is pretty calm, and Sammy is really calm, except when
he's having sex and then he goes totally nuts. He doesn't have any pubic
hair yet and barely cums, so wait until he hits puberty. I know since I got
pubic hair and can cum I've been even hornier than ever.

I like playing third base because that's where Marty plays. I'm hoping he
gets drafted by the pros this year and becomes the first openly gay player
ever. He says even if he gets drafted he'll probably go back to college for
his senior year. Dad says it's the smartest thing he can do.

Marty is my hero. He's an alcoholic, but hasn't had any booze since he was
in the eighth grade. That's like over seven years now. He lived with us all
those years for a lot of reasons that you can find out some other time. He's
totally like my big brother and taught me a lot. I'm not talking about just sex,
but a lot about life and overcoming shit and growing up to be an awesome
person. He's the reason I've only touched alcohol once just to try it. Boy,
was that a giant mistake.

Dad's an alcoholic, too, but he's got, like, way over twenty years sober. I've
never seen my dad drink alcohol in my life and I think that's so really cool.
I've never seen Marty drink, either, but I've seen him when he was drunk
before he decided to go to AA and become sober.

All that brings me to suiting up for the championship game today. I'd have
my uniform on anyway to be a batboy, but now it's to be on the bench as a
player. I know I won't get to play. When Nicky and I came down to
breakfast, Coach talked to us in private and told us what happened with
Raul and Zack. He said we were listed as extra players and he was suiting
us up as regular players because we were on the roster and could play if
he needed us.

"But the chances of you guys playing are slim to none," Coach Sanders told
us.

"That's cool coach," I said. "Just being suited up like a player is great for
me." Nicky said it was great for him, too. Coach Sanders smiled and told us
to relax and be part of the team. We're so lucky to have Coach Sanders. I
mean he's gay and all and sets a good example for us, but just being gay
wouldn't make him a great coach. He just knows how to talk to us and
make us all feel good, plus he really knows his baseball. And kicking Raul
and Zack off the team right before the state championship reminded
everybody he doesn't take any bullshit from anybody at any time.

"Who's gonna be the batboy?" Nicky asked.

"David," Coach Sanders told us. David was Coach Fitzgerald's son. Coach
Fitz is the head football coach and the Athletic Director at Mayfield High.
His son is twelve and cuter than you can believe. He had been batboy for a
couple varsity games. But he played middle school ball, so he really
couldn't help much once the middle school season started. He knows what
to do, though. And yeah, don't tell anybody, but he knows what to do with
his tongue and mouth, too. I've exchanged a couple of BJs with him and he
is totally hot. He's got no hair yet, but he shot a little spunk when I did him
back in April. I was hoping to get his dick in my mouth here at the
tournament, but he hung mostly around his dad. It will be cool to see him in
the dugout, but you gotta know, sexy as he is, my mind is gonna be on the
game. I want a championship trophy just like Marty has.

<Korey Corcoran>

It was tough to learn that two of our players had been suspended on the
day of the state championship game. Not that it was a surprise to Chandler
and me. After all, we were their roommates and we knew something was
going to happen when they were missing at curfew time.

Zack didn't surprise us. Nobody cared much for Zack. A lot of us were
surprised when Coach Sanders kept him. Coach usually doesn't surprise
us. He is a fair and reasonable guy, but this time he blew it.

There were times during the season that Chandler and I wanted to just kick
the crap out of Zack for being a total asshole. That usually doesn't happen
in Mayfield baseball. Ever since my twin brothers, along with Eric, Noah,
Marty, and all those guys formed the Go to State, club playing baseball for
the Mayfield Mustangs had become a really special thing. Zack's slot on
the roster would have helped the program more if it was set aside for
underclassmen to get varsity experience. Well, I guess nobody is perfect,
not even Coach Sanders.

I saw Noah and Eric after breakfast in the hotel lobby. We talked about
what had gone down. I loved those two guys. They were always nice to me
even though I was two years younger. I remember pestering my brothers to
let me hang out with all the older guys, and they were usually pretty good
about it.

Yeah, I had sex with a lot of the older guys, even as a little preteen. I ended
up being gay just like the twins. Noah and I have that in common. We're
both from a family with four boys and three of them being gay. That's gotta
be tough on the parents, but that's just the way it is. My oldest brother Keith
is the straight one in my family. He is twenty-four and married. He and
Sherry are planning to have a kid soon, which will make my mom and dad
happy. They really want grandkids bad.

Noah is gay and so is Nick, although Nick might be bi. The oldest brother,
Glenn, is twenty-six and is married—only it's to another guy. The straight
brother in his family is Shane who is twenty and in college. He has a
regular girlfriend. He's so straight that he and his twin sister fucked when
they were in middle school. I'm not supposed to know that. They don't go to
the same college now, but Nick thinks they still like to go at it in bed when
they're visiting home at the same time.

As for the twins, Kevin has Lars. I think they're going to be together forever.
Kraig has Hunter, but they don't see themselves as lifelong partners.
Hunter has been dating a girl and thinks he might be bi. But damn, there is
no way he can go fucking a girl the way he fucks Kraig or me—the dude is
rough and tough in bed.

While I was talking to Eric and Noah, Marty and Rich came into the hotel. I
said hi to them, but before we could talk, Hurricane Jeffrey saw, or smelled,
or sensed Marty's presence in some way. He was on top of him like flies on
shit. There is nobody like the Hurricane, and he loves every inch of Marty,
inside and out.

Anyway, Chandler is finished talking to Casey, our right fielder. He was a
bit upset about the suspensions, so Chandler played captain and talked to
him. I talked to Justin and Toby at the same time, but my talk was quicker.
They had no problem with what went down.

Nick came out of the dining room. He gave Noah a big hug. I called him
and Jeffrey over for a captain's chat with me and Chandler.

We welcomed them to the varsity. It's not like nobody else welcomed
them—in fact everybody did. It's just we wanted to give them a special
captain's welcome and tell them how we expected them to behave in the
dugout. It's not like they didn't know. I mean, everything is done the
Mayfield Mustang way from the high school varsity down to the middle
school JV. Everybody knows what's expected, which is why what Raul and
Zack did is such a total pisser. Coach Sanders didn't tell us to talk to
Jeffrey and Nick, but we knew he expected it. He'd had a coach's talk with
Chandler and me before the season started telling us what we could and
couldn't do as captains.

"You guys probably aren't going to play," Chandler told Jeffrey and Nick.

"We know, Coach told us," Jeffrey said. "We're going to yell and holler and
support you guys and stay out of the way."

"We were in the dugout yesterday," Nick reminded us.

"Yeah, and you did a great job. It's just that it's different being there as a
batboy rather than as a player," I told them.

I think Jeffrey wanted to tell us to chill out and give them credit for having a
clue. I knew that's what I would do, and I knew Jeffrey was not afraid to
express his opinion. I was sure we were sounding pretty uptight, but
Chandler and I have never been in this position before. Chandler was
smart enough to send them off with a pat on each of their butts and telling
them to be ready to help kick ass.

"You liked that didn't you?" I asked Chandler.

"You mean I liked acting like some kind of dorky teacher and telling those
two shits what they already knew?"

"No, I mean you liked patting their butts?"

Chandler gave me a big grin. "Of course I did."

<Phil Miller>

Larry had to make a tough decision with the suspensions, but it was the
right decision. He didn't make the decision alone. He asked me my opinion
first, even though I didn't have an official vote. But, I knew I carried a lot of
influence with my partner.

Larry tended to pause and think things through before making a decision. I
tended to be more impulsive—I've been known to act first and think later.
That difference showed up in our coaching styles. For example, while I was
always respectful of the umpires, I've been known to raise my voice during
a dispute. Larry was always the picture of calm and reason. I've been
tossed from a couple of games as a coach, something I was not proud of.
Larry has never been thrown out of a game. He and the umpires hold each
other in utmost respect. The point here is that Larry has actually talked an
umpire into changing a ruling, something I've never been able to do.

Of course Larry consulted Coach Hart, his JV coach and official assistant
about his decision to suspend Raul and Zack. He also didn't have an
official vote in the matter. Finally there was a meeting with Coach
Fitzsimmons, the AD, and John Wilson, the principal, who did have official
votes. Official or unofficial, the vote was 5-0 and the decision was made
before the boys' parents arrived. In essence they were toast.

Neither boy was slated to start the championship game, but both could
have come off the bench and given us needed depth. We now had a
sophomore who suited up for less than a half-dozen games and a
freshman who never even suited up varsity. Sure, there were more
experienced JV players, but Larry decided to place Nicky and Jeffrey on
the supplemental roster since they were coming along as batboys. It saved
the cost of one hotel room as well as the cost of meals. Yes, the state
reimbursed us on a per diem basis, but they would pay for only seventeen
players including the two on the supplemental roster.

Larry, Coach Hart, and I spent some of the morning talking to some of the
boys individually. Everyone seemed to be accepting of the decision. They
felt betrayed by the behavior of Raul and Zack. They were very
accommodating toward Jeffrey and Nick. While the two underclassmen
were inexperienced, they were talented players who had started for the JV
team. Not only that, everybody liked them and acknowledged their being a
part of the program in some way even before they entered middle school.

Our game didn't start until one and the players were antsy. Our captains,
Chandler and Korey, communicated at breakfast that the team would rather
watch some of the B championship game than hang around the hotel
thinking about our game. As a result, we checked out of the hotel at 10:30
and were in our seats at Gisa Stadium a little bit after eleven. The score
was tied at one and the team settled back to enjoy somebody else's game
and not have to think about their own.

I sat with Larry, Coach Hart, and Coach Fitz. As I watched the game unfold
I thought about one of the times I saw Larry be impulsive. He was only
eleven, but even then his action was out of character. We both
acknowledge to this day that his impulsive decision was huge in turning the
animosity we had for each other into what became a life-long friendship.

All I know is that on the day we faced each other in his neighborhood I was
walking the fence between listening to my big brother, who was trying hard
to act like a father figure, and telling him to fuck himself and follow the gang
of punks who got off of the bus with me. When things broke loose, it
happened so fast I didn't have time to think about my options. I just did
what I always did—I reacted. It never occurred to me at that moment, or
even for a long time afterwards, that my reaction would change the course
of my life.

It was at that point that thoughts were interrupted by a tap on my shoulder.
I turned to see who was sitting behind me. It was one of my favorite former
players, if not one of my favorite people ever, Marty Carlson.

"Hey, coach."

"Hi, Marty. Thanks for coming to the cheap seats to visit." We were sitting
on the third base side, a couple of aisles towards the outfield from third and
about fifteen rows up.

"It was a sacrifice, but for you, it was worth it."

"Where's your better half?"

"He's trading bullshit with some of the other guys. I saw you coaches down
here and figured it might be my only chance to chat."

"Rich doesn't chat with coaches?"

"He says to tell you guys hi. He had his say last night and I wanted a bit of
private time."

We exchanged some small talk. Eventually the subject turned to baseball.

"Are you looking forward to the Major League draft?"

"Nah. I don't figure to go very high. All of the teams know I plan to return to
school for my senior year, but somebody might still take a gander at me in
a middle round."

"Any idea where you'll go in the draft next year if you play out your senior
year?"

"The agent who's been helping me said I could go as high as the fourth
round, but more likely I'll go in the seventh or eighth."

I shook my head. "You were second team All-Pac 12 third baseman last
year as a sophomore. From what I've read, you could easily be first team
this year. You may even get some All-America mention. That's some pretty
good credentials for an eighth round pick."

"Well, there is the big elephant in the room that the Majors don't want to
mention."

"You mean the gay thing." Larry broke in, to give his two bits and to let us
know he was listening.

"Rich and I plan to get married after we graduate, and we won't be keeping
that a secret." He gave Larry and me a smirk and added, "This puts us
ahead of some coaches I know."

"You are planning a gay wedding even though you know it could hurt your
position in the draft?" I asked.

"They have to draft me coach. I'm too good not to draft, which means if
they pass me up they're obviously discriminating. They can doctor scouting
reports to drop me down a couple of notches, but they can't totally ignore
my credentials."

"Getting married could cost you a lot of money," Larry reminded him.

"I know that and Rich knows that, but you know what? Our happiness and
honesty about who we are is more important to us than money. If I'm good
enough, I'll make it to the show no matter what. I'd rather make it there as
the person I know I am rather than the person somebody else wants me to
be."

I told you Marty was one of my favorite people in the world. I wish there
was a way to get fourteen-year-olds to learn and live by the twelve steps of
recovery. Few twenty-one year olds have their collective acts together
better than Marty, and he owes that to his seven years of sobriety and
sober living and all of the AA meetings he's attended. I wish there was a
way I could get him to communicate those wonders to my brother Keegan.

<Larry Sanders>

This is my third state championship game in my seven years of coaching
high school baseball. Most coaches would be happy to make it this far once
in their career; being here for the third time is amazing to me.

The first two times I had a definite feeling of confidence. I knew the pulse of
my team and I knew they would not be easy to defeat. That didn't mean I
knew that we would win, but there was no doubt in my mind that my kids
were physically and mentally ready to play.

I didn't have that same feeling this time. While the team appeared to have
accepted the two suspensions, I've been in athletics long enough to know
that instances like that always had a mental effect. The suspensions
couldn't help but be a distraction. Therefore, I had some doubt about the
boys being mentally ready to play.

And then there was the physical readiness. I was allowed seventeen
players on the tournament roster and was permitted to suit up fifteen of
them. Including my designated hitter I would be starting ten of those fifteen.
Two of the remaining players would be my designated runners for the
pitcher and catcher. I had planned on Raul being one of those. Of the
remaining three players, two of them were an inexperienced sophomore
and a freshman who had never played an inning of varsity ball. I never
imagined I would need both of those young kids when I turned in my roster.

While the two designated runners were eligible to play as substitutes, I
knew I was going to be reluctant to use them because of the lack of depth
on the bench. Once a designated runner appeared in the game as anything
other than a DR, I could no longer use him in that capacity. I did not want to
find myself in a position where the game could hinge on Nick or Jeffrey.
That would be unfair to them and to the team.

My mom and dad came over to wish me, Phil, and the team good luck.
"When are you and Phil going to quit playing around and get married?" my
mother asked with a big grin.

"Sweetheart, now is not the time to ask that question," my father
admonished.

"Maybe adopt us a couple of grandchildren..."

My father's glare stopped her, but she didn't lose her smile. Between her
and Marty that made two votes for marriage. I had enough on my mind
without thinking of that.

"I was just trying to take the boy's mind off of baseball for a moment," my
mother said.

"I think he likes having his mind on baseball," dad told her. "Baseball is
what he does."

"Well, we'll be rooting for you," mom said. "I should have brought some
pompoms." My mother had been a cheerleader in high school and my dad
was the quarterback. Yes, they had a high school romance, but marriage
didn't come until after college. Smart folks.

They mean well. They've been completely accepting of my homosexuality
and of Phil as my partner. They love him like a—well, like a son-in-law. But
there are times my mother used to frustrate me. She seems to think she
has to emphasize her acceptance. I'm not sure if she does it to convince
herself or to convince me. I used to ask her to act like Phil and I were like
any other couple, until my father told me that maybe I should accept her for
the way she is.

"Your mother would treat you the same way if Phil was a female and was
your wife and you had two rug rats running around." He was right—I had to
accept her for who she was, just like she accepted me. Once I did that, the
frustration ended.

After my parents left, I looked over at Phil. I don't know why, but the
upcoming game gave me the same nervous feeling in the pit of my
stomach that Phil and his wanna be gangsta buddies gave me that day
they skipped the east side bus stop and rode all the way to our stop. The
funny thing was, all of us usually didn't get off at that stop, but we were all
going to mess around at my house that afternoon so we got off of the bus
together. I knew that this would end up being no good for anybody,
especially for my friends and me. I was wrong that afternoon, and I hoped I
would be just as wrong this afternoon. But, the feeling was there in my gut,
and I didn't like it.

Next: Turnaround