Grandpa went to bed right after breakfast Saturday morning, and Tim and Brian did, too. They were still pretty excited about seeing the surgery, but they were also beat from having been up most of the night. They wanted us to wake them up around one o'clock, though, so we could do some stuff. "I want to go to the hospital to check on my patient," Grandma said, "and I'd like you boys to come with me, if you're willing." Denny wasn't even up yet, so she meant me and Justin. "Sure," I said. "Is this the one with the busted head?" "Yes, Kyle. His name is Ron Grisham, and he's a real sweetie," she said. "Oh, Kyle, just like you. A sweetie," Justin said in what he thought was a "gay" voice. "He's not like that, Jus," Grandma said. "He is gay, though." "We know, Grandma," I said. "All gay people know one another. We're like Black people in that respect." Rick and Kevin laughed hard, but Grandma didn't really react. When we got to the hospital, Grandma checked in at the nurses' station on the floor. She read something out of a folder that the nurse gave her, and she signed it or something. I wasn't paying that much attention to what she was doing. I figured she knew the ropes. "Ron," she said gently when we went in. She went in first. "Hi, Doc," the kid said. He was a pretty nice looking kid. His hair was short, sort of brownish-blondish, and part of it had been shaved for a bandage. I figured that was where he had taken the lick. There was another kid in the room with him, a visitor, not a patient. That boy stood up like he was fixing to leave when we came in. "Doc, this is my friend Aaron. Aaron, this is Dr. Foley," Ron said. The kid shook hands with her, which I thought was pretty cool of him to do. Not too many young kids know how to behave around adults. I know I sure didn't when I was their age. "It's nice to meet you, Aaron," she said. "These are my grandsons, Kyle Goodson and Justin Davis." The four guys shook hands and said stuff like, "What's up," "What's going on." The usual stuff guys say to one another. "Kyle was one of the boys in the picture you showed me, wasn't he," Ron asked. "Yes, he was," Grandma said. "Where's the other boy? What was his name?" "Tim. He's at home asleep. He and Brian went to the hospital with my husband last night, and they just got home around seven this morning," she said. "Is your husband sick?" Ron asked. "No, sweetie. He's a doctor, too. One of his patients got sick during the night, so he had to go take care of him. Boys, stay here while I go take care of something, will you?" "Yes, ma'am," Jus and I said together. "Your old man hit you, huh?" Justin asked. Ron got this real sad look on his face and put his head down. "I hate that son of a bitch," Aaron said. "I'd like to kill him." "Don't say that, Aaron. He was drunk," Ron said. "That don't excuse it," I said. "He clobbered you 'cause you're queer, right?" "Yes," Ron whispered. "That ain't nothing to be ashamed of. Me and Kyle are as queer as they come, and we're proud to be," Justin said. "You guys are gay?" Aaron asked, like he didn't believe what Justin had said. "Yeah, we are," I said. "Are you?" "Yeah," Aaron said. "Do you guys ever get beat up for being gay?" "Naw," Jus said. "Some guys at school were picking on our little brother and another friend of ours, but I took care of that," I said. "Of course, I guess it still could happen to any of us." "Do your parents know you're gay?" Ron asked. "Mine do, and my boyfriend's dad knows, too," I said. "They don't have a problem with it, though." "Your boyfriend is Tim, right?" "Right. What picture did you see of me?" I asked. "It was one of you and Tim. There was one of two older guys in the same frame. Her son and his guy. Doc has it in the little room where you go for her to examine you," Ron said. "She's a good doctor, ain't she?" Jus said. "The best," Ron said. "She's the only doctor I've ever gone to." "Do you have a boyfriend?" Aaron asked Jus. "Yeah. Brian. He's at home with Tim. They went in with Grandpa last night," Justin said. "It scared me to death this morning when I woke up and he wasn't in bed." "You guys sleep together?" Ron asked, sounding a little surprised. "Yeah," Jus said. "That ain't all they do in bed, either," I said. Ron and Aaron giggled a little bit, and they both blushed some. They were pretty damn cute, I thought. "Like you and Tim don't," Justin said. "Sure, we do it. I ain't ashamed of what we do. We're in love," I said. "You guys are in love?" Ron asked. "Yeah. Are you guys boyfriends?" I asked them. The looked at each other all cute and shy. Those two were some nice boys. You could just tell. "Yeah, we are," Ron said. Aaron nodded. "Do your parents know?" I asked. "Mine know now, I guess," Ron said. "I haven't talked to them yet about it, though. I don't think my dad likes the idea." I knew he didn't mean that to be funny, but, under the circumstances, how could I not at least smile when he said that. "My mom knows," Aaron said, "and she says she just wants me to be happy." "When are you going to get out of here?" Justin asked. He didn't look like he was feeling bad to me. I wondered the same thing. "I don't know. The doctor is supposed to come see me this morning. Maybe he'll tell me then," Ron said. "I thought our grandma was your doctor," I said. "She is, but there's a hospital doctor, too. I think he's in charge of me right now," Ron said. Speak of the devil, and up he pops. "Hi, er, Ron," the guy said, looking at a folder he was carrying. He doesn't even know his damn name, I thought. Grandma needs to be here right now. "Hi, Doctor," Ron said. "Who are you boys?" he asked the rest of us. "This is my friend Aaron, and those are Dr. Foley's grandsons. She's around here someplace," Ron said. "Okay," he said. No "nice to meet you," no "how do you do," no "kiss my ass," no nothing. Just "Okay." "Er, Ron, when will your mother be here," he asked, looking at the folder again before saying his name. Damn. This guy is supposed to be smart, I thought. "I don't know for sure," Ron said. "When am I going to be able to go home?" "That's why I asked about your mother. I think you're okay to leave. You were unconscious, Ron, but it wasn't technically a coma, like I thought it was at first. If it had been, you'd have to stay a few more days. There's no swelling of your brain, and the fracture of your skull is only a hairline break. You were very lucky he didn't hit you harder. Any headache?" "I had one last night, but I'm feeling fine right now," Ron said. "I'll give you a prescription for a pain killer in case you start getting headaches. Any double vision?" "No." "Any numbness anywhere? Like in your arms or hands or legs?" "No, sir," Ron said. "That's what I thought. You were in just your underwear and a tee shirt when you came in. Do you have other clothes here?" "Yes, sir. Aaron brought me some I had left at his house," Ron said. "Well, you can go ahead and get dressed. What's your phone number? I want to call your mother." He rattled off a number, and the doctor dialed it. He got an annoyed look on his face because he must have gotten an answering machine. "Does your mother have a cell phone," he asked Ron. "Yeah." He gave him another number, but he got no answer there, either. "Try my aunt's house." He gave him the number, but that wasn't any better. Grandma came back in the room then. The doctor told her hello and said he was trying to get Ron's mother on the phone so he could discharge him. "How are your other patients," I asked. "I didn't know you had anybody in here besides this fellow," the doctor said. "Just one baby in the nursery. That's where I was," she said. "And I wanted to give these guys a chance to get to know one another a little bit." Ron's mom got there just then. We told Ron and Aaron goodbye, and we left. "What's going to happen now," Justin asked when we were in the car. "I don't know, sweetie. I honestly don't know. Pray for them, okay, guys? They need your prayers right now," she said. * * * We got back to the house around 10:30, and it was too early to get Tim and Brian up. Justin and I went up to our apartment, though, to see if we could find Denny. Sure enough, he was propped up in bed reading. "Hi," he said. "Hi, guy," Justin said. "What have you been doing? Reading?" "Yeah. What's going on?" "Nothing right now. Brian and Tim are still sleeping. They went to the hospital with Grandpa last night, and they were up all night," Jus said. "We're going to get them up around one. You can keep reading, if you want to." "Okay. Don't leave me here, though," he said. "We won't, Bubba," Jus said. Denny smiled at both of us. Tim and Brian were in our bed together. They were in each other's arms, sound asleep. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this looks kind of fishy," I said. "Yeah, but you do know better," Jus said. "They're cute, aren't they?" "Yeah. Jus, watching them is giving me a hard-on," I said. "I know. Me, too," he said. "So why are we doing it?" I asked. He chuckled. "'Cause we're horny, that's why. But you're right. Let's go." I checked him out, and, sure enough, he had a tent pole sticking down the leg of his jeans. I wondered if he was going to do something about it. After our talk the night that the others went to get the pizzas, I had thought a lot about having sex with him. I wanted to bad, but that was on a purely physical level. If he and I ever did anything like that, I don't think either of us could live with the guilt. Maybe it was time for another massage session with all four of us. We could even include Denny, if he wanted to. I was letting my mind wander. It was a classic case of thinking with the wrong head, and I knew it. "I'm ready to go now," he said. He meant his dick was down so we could go back into the house. "I need a few minutes," I said. "I'll meet you over there," he said and left. I went into the bathroom, locked the door, and took care of my problem. It had been a couple of months, but I still remembered how to do it. Tim and Brian got up without us having to go get them, and they came into the house around 11:30. The rest of us were just sitting down for lunch. It wasn't fancy, just make-'em-yourself sandwiches, some canned soup, and some potato salad Miss Odille had made for us the day before. There were some deviled eggs, too, only the New Orleans people called them stuffed eggs. It was a pretty good lunch. After lunch we went to Fort Pike. Grandpa didn't go because he had to go check on the man he had operated on. In fact, he didn't even get up for lunch. Fort Pike was a real old-time fort that had been built by President Monroe after the Battle of New Orleans. The walls were, like, ten feet thick, and it was sort of cold inside the place. Cold and damp. "This sign says the Seminoles were here on their way to Oklahoma," I said. "Some of 'em must have escaped and gone back to Tallahassee." "Very funny," Rick said. "Why did they take the Seminoles to Oklahoma?" Seth asked. "'Cause Oklahoma always has a good football team, dummy," Justin said. Everybody laughed. "It's probably because they have Seminoles on the team," Kevin said. "We studied about the Seminoles in Florida history," Brian said. "We did, too," Denny said. "Didn't you, Kyle?" "Yeah, we probably did," I said. "I don't remember much about it, though." "I do," Brian said. "Tell us, Buddy," Justin said. "Well, Andrew Jackson might be a hero in New Orleans, but he's a villain in Florida. He came to New Orleans from fighting the Creek War in Alabama and Georgia. The Creeks are Indians. He imposed a terrible peace treaty on them, and a bunch of them escaped to north Florida, which was then owned by Spain. "After he came over here for the Battle of New Orleans, he went back to where he had been. For a long time African slaves had been escaping in Alabama and Georgia, and maybe other states, too, and going down to Florida, where the Seminoles helped them. 'Seminole' means 'free people.' Anyway, around 1818, Jackson invaded north Florida, right where we live, guys, rounding up Indians. He butchered a bunch of them. That was the First Seminole War. Bear in mind, Jackson invaded a foreign country on his own authority to kill people." "What country?" I asked. "Florida. Florida wasn't part of the United States back then, Kyle. It was owned by Spain. Jackson had no business being there," Brian said. "Damn," I said. "Then, in the 1830's, the United States, which owned Florida by then, passed a law to round up all Indians east of the Mississippi River and ship them to Oklahoma. The Seminoles said no. They weren't leaving. That started the Second Seminole War. That's when they used this fort to hold Seminoles who had been caught." "This is fascinating, Brian, and so apropos for this whole trip," Grandma said. "Yes, ma'am, I know. Y'all want me to keep on?" "Well, hell, yeah, keep on, Buddy. This is good stuff to know about, especially since we're standing right here where some of it happened," Justin said. "Well, and we actually do live where some of it took place, too," Rick said. "Jackson County is just north of us, and it was named for Andrew Jackson. He was in what is now our county, too, though." "Y'all know that guy who rides out and sticks up the spear at the start of every home game for FSU?" "Chief Osceola," Kevin said. "That's right. He was a real person, Kev. He was a great leader of the Seminoles and the most famous Indian in the world. When he died in prison in Charleston, South Carolina, stories about him were in newspapers all over the world. To show what low-lifes Jackson and them were, they waved a white flag in a battle to say they wanted to stop and talk with the Indians. They wanted a truce, in other words. Osceola and some of them went out to talk, and that's how they captured him. Can you believe that? They point-blank lied to them and captured Osceola. "Another famous Seminole general or leader was Billy Bowlegs." "I always wondered who that was. They have the Billy Bowlegs Festival every year," I said. "He was in the Third Seminole War in the 1840's. They captured him, but they couldn't make the Seminoles surrender. That's the only time in all the wars with the Indians that they couldn't make the Indians surrender. Technically, that war is still going on today. The two sides never signed a peace treaty." Five or six people had gathered around and were listening to Brian. That boy knew his history, and he could tell it good, too. "Son, thank you for that information," one guy said. "We're from Tampa, and we had no idea about all of that." Brian was grinning, and Justin was looking so proud you'd have thought the guy was thanking him instead of Brian. "I probably left out some parts of it," Brian said. "I did a project on the Seminoles when I was in the seventh grade. That's how I know so much about them." "Well, you did an outstanding job," the lady with the man said. "It sure gives a different face to the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, doesn't it?" "Yes, ma'am. Have you been to the battlefield? We were there yesterday," Brian said. "Not yet, but it's on our list of places to go," she said. We looked around some more. One sign said that the Confederates captured the fort during the Civil War, but they gave it back after the Union forces captured New Orleans. "This place is pretty neat," I said. "It is. I remember coming here one time on a school fieldtrip, but, of course, I didn't know anything about the history of the fort," Kevin said. "I wish Grandpa was with us," Grandma said. "I would have loved to see him listen to Brian's lecture." The next place we went that afternoon was Port Hudson. It was north of where we were, and it took us about an hour to get there. Port Hudson was a Civil War place. It's just a one-horse town on the Mississippi, but the Confederates set up artillery on some bluffs overlooking the river there to fire on Union boats that were going up and down. The Union army had 30,000 men, the sign said, and the Confederates only had 6,800. The Union army sieged the Confederates for forty-eight days, the longest siege in American military history, until they finally won. Toward the end, the Confederates were eating mules, horses, and rats. "Did you see this?" Cherie asked. "It says this was the first battle where African American troops fought on the Union side. Evidently, they did so well that it paved the way for acceptance of African American soldiers in the whole Union army. Can you imagine the military today without African Americans?" "No," Craig said. "This is some pretty amazing stuff we're seeing. Did you even know this was here?" "No, I didn't," Cherie said. "Did you, Mom?" "No, I didn't know about it either. I'm sure your father does, though," Grandma said. * * * We drove back to the city after that. We were all going out to dinner at that restaurant they liked so much. Even Seth and Curt. Craig and Cherie went home so Cherie could rest and they could get dressed. Seth and Curt did the same thing. The boys all went up to the apartment. "It was a good day, wasn't it?" I said, after Tim and I had gone into our room and I had closed and locked the door. "Babe, it was the best. This whole trip has been great, except for that kid that got beat up," Tim said. "Justin and I met him today. Grandma had to go to the hospital, and she wanted us to go with her. He's a really nice kid, Babe. We met his boyfriend, too. He wasn't in a coma, though," I said. "He wasn't? I thought Grandpa said he was unconscious." "That's not the same thing as a coma, evidently. The doctor said today he was just unconscious. I don't know what the difference is, but there must be one. The doctor said he thought he was in a coma at first, but I guess the tests they did showed that he wasn't. He got out today," I said. "Cool. Can I have a kiss?" We kissed for a long time, with plenty of tongue and rubbing each other's backs. God, he felt good in my arms. I started by taking off his shirt, and then he took mine off. The bed wasn't made from when him and Brian were sleeping, so we just pulled the covers down and got in. We snuggled and cuddled and nuzzled and played with each other's chests and necks and ears. We took the pants off each other, and then our underwear, and we rubbed our dicks together nice and slow, kissing all the while. We played for a long time, sucking and kissing and licking each other, doing all the stuff we like to do. Tim got in me from the back that time, and it was like being filled by an angel. We went at it for a good fifty minutes altogether, and we laid in each other's arms when we were finished. "I thought what you did to Justin at the river yesterday was really funny," he said. I chuckled when I remembered the look on Justin's face. "He's going to get me back, though," I said. "Well, you deserve it," he said, "but it wouldn't surprise me if he just forgot about it. He's a pretty easy-going guy, despite the big talk sometimes." "I know. Oh, I wanted to tell you about something that happened yesterday morning. Denny and I took a shower together, and I noticed he needed a shave. I was shaving him, and he got hard and came," I said. "He didn't even touch himself." "Is that what the talk was about before breakfast?" "Yeah. He was really embarrassed and ashamed. I made him feel alright about it, though, I think," I said. "Good. He's a nice kid, but I don't pay enough attention to him," he said. "Neither do I, but I'm going to try to do better," I said. We were quiet for a few minutes, but I had something on my mind. "I have a confession to make," I said. "What did you do?" he asked with a chuckle. "Justin and I came in here and saw you and Brian together in bed. Y'all were so cute like that. He and I both got hard." "Brian and I didn't do anything, Kyle," he said, a little defensive. "I know. Neither did me and Jus. His went down pretty quick, but mine didn't. I ended up jerking off," I said. He laughed. "Kyle, you don't have to tell me stuff like that, you know?" "I know. Don't be mad at me," I said. "I'm not mad at you. That's kind of flattering, in a way." "Well, I just wanted you to know," I said. "Were you thinking about having sex with Justin? Is that why yours wouldn't go down?" Shit! I didn't know what the fuck to say to that. I could lie and say I had been thinking about him, but I hadn't been. Seeing him had made me hard, but thinking about Justin had kept me that way. He laughed. "What?" "Babe, if you were thinking about Justin, it's alright with me. I've thought about what it would be like to have sex with Justin and with Brian, and I know they've thought about what it would be like to do it with you and with me. As close as we are, it's almost a miracle we aren't swapping partners all the time. All four of us love one another." "I know, but I don't love them like I love you," I said. "And I don't either," he said. "That's why the massage thing is good. It's just enough, without being all-out sex." "I was thinking earlier today that we're about due for another round of that," I said. "See. Great minds. I don't think we have time, though," he said. "No. I know we don't. We all need showers. As soon as we get home to Emerald Beach, though." "Let's go take our shower," he said.
I could not believe how much I was learning on that trip. I never did like army stuff much when I was little. Before my mama got mixed up with Jackson, we lived in a small trailer park next door to some people who had a couple of kids around my age. They used to always want to play army, but I never was much interested in it. They had seen some war movies, I think, and they were sort of like acting out what they had seen in the movies. What we were seeing in those museums, though, was good stuff. Plus, it was history, my weakest subject. Ole Brian knew his history, though. He was rattling off stuff about Andrew Jackson to beat the band. I was so damn proud of him I was about to bust. "Justin, the surgery was awesome," Brian said after we had made love when we got home on Saturday afternoon. "I want to be a surgeon like Grandpa." "Cool. Was there blood gushing everywhere?" "No, silly. They suck it up with this little vacuum thing. Tissue has blood in it, but you only get gushing blood when you cut a vein or an artery," he said. "Where were you and Tim? Could y'all see the insides of the guy?" "There were a lot of people on both sides of him, but Grandpa called us over a few times to show us what the problem was and how he was going to fix it," he said. "That man is awesome, Buddy. I want to be just like him." "Did you see the guy's heart?" "Yeah, we saw it. There was a closed-circuit video of the whole procedure, and that's mostly what Tim and I watched. Grandpa had to touch the heart a lot." "Did he let y'all touch it?" I asked. "No, we couldn't do that. But we scrubbed up just like he did. Let me tell you something. He's a big shot at that hospital, too. Everybody knew him and even the other doctors were respectful of him. He explained to us that other doctors tend to be in awe of brain surgeons and heart surgeons because there's so much to know in order to be one of those two," he said. "I'll bet he makes a lot of money, too," I said. "Tim said his dad told him that he probably makes $60,000 for a big operation like that one today," Brian said. "What!? Sixty thousand! Are you shitting me?" "That's what Tim said his dad said." "You wouldn't have to do many of those a year, now, would you?" "Well, he has expenses, though. Like malpractice insurance. He probably had to pay $10,000 in insurance just for that one operation. And he has an office, with nurses and physicians assistants, and all of that. He still makes a lot of money, though," Brian said. "Again, Doc told Tim he wouldn't be surprised if he makes two million a year." "Do you think Kevin's rich?" I asked. "I'm sure Kevin and Craig both have nice trust funds," he said. "I'll bet you their grandbaby will get a bunch, too, when it's born. You know that Kyle is rich, don't you?" "Yeah, I figured he was, but I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts Kyle doesn't have a clue about any of that stuff. How the hell did we get hooked up with all these rich people, Buddy? Huh?" "I don't know. How much have they given you?" "They've given me twenty thousand dollars between my GED and my eighteenth birthday. They're really generous, aren't they?" "They are generous, but I'll bet you they won't give Kyle anything close to that amount of money when he turns eighteen. They know you and I don't have anything , but they know Kyle is rich. I'm predicting Kyle and Tim will get another trip and that somehow you and I are going to end up going along on it, too," Brian said. "You think? Why won't they just give him money?" "I've been thinking about how these rich people do things. If you're rich and you give another rich person money, what have you really given them?" "Money." "Yeah, but they have all of that they need. But if you give them something like a trip, all set up and arranged, they're going to pretty much feel like they have to go. Sure, they could pay for the trip themselves, but maybe they wouldn't do it, you know? Maybe they would say, I'll do that some other time, and never go. It's just a theory I'm working on." "So what do you think Kyle's parents are going to give him?" I asked. "They already said. They're going to give him a condo. He's going to be eighteen years old and already own his own place. Think about that. You're eighteen. You don't own a place, do you?" "No. I own a truck, though," I said. "That's right, but you paid for that truck yourself. I expected Kevin and Rick to give you a new car or a new truck for your eighteenth birthday. When they came through with the trip to Boston, though, it all made sense to me. You earned that truck, and you're proud of it because you did. Do you think Kyle is proud of his car?" "Hell, no. That car doesn't mean shit to Kyle," I said. "That's right, because he didn't earn it. If Kevin and Rick had given you a car, it wouldn't mean nearly as much to you as your truck does. The trip, on the other hand, was great. We had a fabulous time, we learned a whole lot, we met some great people, we saw a new city, and we bonded with Kyle and Tim like never before. If they had given you money, you wouldn't have taken that trip. True, you'd have that much more money in your bank account, but would that have given you anything close to what that trip gave you? Us, really." "How'd you get to be so smart?" He laughed. "Now, really. Does what I just said make sense?" he asked. "Yeah. A lot of sense. So what do you think Kevin and Rick, and the New Orleans bunch, are going to give Kyle for his birthday? Another trip?" "Yep, and I think it's going to be for Spring Break, and I think it's going to be four tickets, two from each," Brian said. "And I'm betting on Washington, DC." "Do you think he'll take us?" I knew the answer, but I wanted to see what he would say. "No. He's going to take Cody and Alex. Of course, he's going to take us, dumbass. And we'll stay real cheap at one of the brand hotels in that area, and Kyle will do just like he did in New York with the rooms, if he can. He couldn't do it in Boston, but he damn sure wanted to. You watch Kyle close. That sucker's a businessman from the word 'go.' If he didn't already have a fortune, he'd make one by the time he's thirty," Brian said. Phew! That was a lot to think about. I always knew Brian was smart, but I never dreamed he was as smart as he is. I got a little bit depressed all of a sudden. "Bri, where does that leave me?" "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Okay, we're all grown up, right? You and Tim are doctors, making tons of money. Kyle's making money in business. What am I doing?" "You're making money right along with Kyle. You're going to be his partner. Justin, I don't think you really appreciate what you do for the four of us," Brian said. "No, I don't guess I do," I said. "Kyle's the leader, right? Will you give him that much?" "Yeah. Of course," I said. "If the group was different. Let's say it was you and me, and Tim and Denny. Who would be the leader?" "Me?" "Of course it would be you. Or if it was Jeff instead of Denny, or Alex, or any of them. It would still be you. Do you see where I'm going?" "Not really, Little Buddy," I said. "The fact that you let Kyle be the leader just reinforces him. Anybody can 'lead' a bunch of weaklings, but having you in the crowd forces Kyle to dig deep into whatever reserves he has to be a leader that even somebody like you would follow. Am I making any sense?" "Yeah. I think I'm following you," I said. "That thing at the river yesterday sort of shows that, doesn't it?" "Bingo!!! Give the man a cigar! That's exactly what I mean, Buddy. That was funny as hell, and everybody thought so. Analyze it, though. Kyle was teasing you when we were all pissing. You told him you would throw him in if he wet you, and he didn't at first. When you trusted him to hug you, he let loose a squirt. Not enough to really mess up your clothes, but enough to say he could do it. Then he ran away before you could get him back by throwing him in the river. After that, he was intimidated by you. He kept saying for you to get it over with and do what you were going to do to him. That is a perfect illustration of what I'm saying. Kyle can only be the leader he is as long as you follow him. That's your job. To keep Kyle honest and scared." "Kyle ain't scared of me," I said. "Oh, I know he's not. 'Scared' is the wrong word. Kyle can only be as good as he is as long as there is somebody standing right behind him waiting to take over if he isn't. You're that somebody, and he knows it. You make Kyle Kyle." * * * Brian gave me food for thought for a long time to come. He said I make Kyle Kyle. I knew what he meant by that. It wasn't really like we were in competition, because we weren't. I think it meant that if Kyle dropped the ball, I was there to pick it up. I was content to let him play it, but, by God, it was mine if he dropped it. It made me feel good that I had an important role to play among the two couples. I knew I was every bit as smart as Kyle was, and he knew it, too. He and I were going to be an awesome team in this life. When Brian put on his suit to go to the restaurant, you could really tell that boy had grown. He was almost as tall as I was, and he had filled out in his chest and shoulders really nice. I heard Grandma tell Kevin he needed a new suit as soon as he got back to Emerald Beach. All the workouts we did, all the swimming and skiing, all the other physical stuff we did was really paying off for Brian, and he was turning into quite a man. Denny wore his suit more than any of us because he had to wear it to school on days when they had debates. He looked damn good, too. Craig and Cherie met us at the restaurant, and so did Seth and Curt. Nobody had changed and improved as much as Seth had, and that boy looked downright handsome in his suit. We were a proud family going into that Commander's Palace restaurant. The maitre 'd knew Grandma and Grandpa, and Craig and Cherie, and he commented on what a good looking family we were. That night I wasn't sitting in the middle of a bare bed, naked with a hard-on, covered in dried cum, in chains, shoving chicken from Popeye's into my mouth as fast as I could because I was starving. That night I was Mr. Justin Davis, Dr. Edward Foley's grandson and part of his party. I couldn't believe what love from all of them had done to me. It was like a miracle. |