That house was a boy's paradise. When Kyle left the clubhouse to go back out, I did a little exploring. There was a pool table, a ping pong table, and two octagonal game tables in the main room. There was an area for darts, too. There were two enormous leather sofas that I was sure opened out into beds, and four leather club chairs, as well. There was other seating around, too. A fireplace dominated one of the long walls, and a massive entertainment center dominated the other wall. The furniture was arranged so they could take advantage of both at the same time. At one end of the building were locker rooms like you'd find in a gym. There was one for men and one for women, too. There was a shower room in the men's section that had a four-man gang shower. There were urinals and toilets in the bathroom part, but it was really kind of all one big room. I didn't go in the ladies' side. At the other end of the building was a kitchen. It had a commercial stove with six burners, two ovens, and a griddle. There was even a commercial ice machine. There was a counter that opened into the main part of the room that had a pull-down door so the kitchen could be closed off. The refrigerator was loaded with beer, soft drinks, and three or four bottles of white wine. There was a standing freezer next to that, and it was loaded, too. Next to the kitchen was a full weight room. It wasn't as big as health-club facilities, but it looked like it was pretty well equipped. When I thought about the muscles on some of those guys, I knew that room got good use. After I poked around, I went back into the living area and lay down on one of the sofas. I kept the meat on my eye, and I drifted off to sleep. I seldom dream at night, but I always dream when I take a nap. That day I dreamed of Wayne and what he had done to me. I relived in my dream everything that had happened, and it actually seemed more vivid in the dream than it had in real life. In the dream, though, Wayne pulled me up after he hit me and kissed me passionately. His tongue attacked my mouth, and he made me come a second time. "Whoa," somebody said. The dream was over, and I slowly opened my eyes. There was something heavy obstructing my left eye, and I pulled it away. It was the steak. When I could finally see, I was greeted by Kyle and the sandy-haired boy looking down at me. They were both wearing Speedos that looked more like posing briefs than bathing suits, and they were both at least partially aroused. "Wait. Don't move," Kyle said. "Let me get something to clean you up." I looked down at the wetness I felt on my stomach and chest, and it was a load of cum. My dick was still hard, and it was poking above the waistband of my bathing trunks. My God! I thought. I had had a wet dream. I'm sure my entire body turned red, and I was totally mortified. "Don't blush, dude. It ain't nothing," sandy-hair said. "I feel like a total fool and complete idiot," I said. "Why? You didn't even touch it. We watched you. You were dead asleep," he said. "Tell me your name again, please," I said. "It's Justin. Justin Davis," he said. "Justin, I'm so sorry," I said. "For what?! There ain't no shame in a wet dream, man. I don't get 'em, but Brian gets 'em all the time. He swears he dreams about me when he has those things, and that's good enough for me," he said, smiling cutely. "Here. Clean yourself up. Don't get it on the sofa, hear?" Kyle said. He handed me several paper towels. "It wouldn't be the first time," Justin said, and he and Kyle laughed. "Or the last," Kyle said, and they laughed some more. I cleaned myself up. Justin lit a cigarette, and he gave me one. "Guys, I don't know what to say," I said. "There's nothing to say. We came in here to get some beers, and we noticed you. You were kind of mumbling in your sleep, and we saw your hard-on sticking out of the top of your suit. We're the ones who should be apologizing for watching," Kyle said. "She must have been mighty hot," Justin said. I didn't respond for a second. It was pretty obvious to me that those guys were going to accept me no matter what I was, and if I was ever going to have a life as a gay man, that was a good time to get started. "He," I said. They both raised their eyebrows high and looked at each other, smiling. "Does that mean . . . " Kyle started to say. "That I'm gay? Yeah, that's what it means," I said. "Dude, all right!" Kyle said. He was pretty enthusiastic. "Welcome to the club, Bubba," Justin said. He was using what we called the Emerald Beach Grumble, and he was cute. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Kyle asked. "No," I said, and I'm sure they detected the sadness in my voice. "That guy that hit you was your boyfriend, wasn't he?" Kyle said. "Let's put it this way. I wanted him to be my boyfriend," I said. "Oh," Justin said. "Where are you from?" Kyle asked. "Here. I've lived here all my life," I said. "I was born here." "Me, too. Where did you go to high school?" Kyle asked. "Rutledge," I said. "I'm from the east side of town. You're a Beach Rat, aren't you?" "Yes, sir, and proud of it," Kyle said. "Did you go to college?" "Yeah. I went to Emerald Coast and then the FSU campus here," I said. "I majored in sociology." "What is that?" Justin asked. "The study of society, social behavior," I said. "And now you do computers?" Kyle asked. "Yeah, well, there isn't much work for sociologists in Emerald Beach," I said. "I took some computer courses in college, but mostly I've gotten my certifications after college." "And you're married, or were married, or something?” Kyle said. "Yeah, legally and technically I still am married, but the divorce will be final in a couple of weeks," I said. "Guys, I've been gay all my life, and I've known that. I just didn't want to accept that about me. I mean, actually, I was fine with accepting it about me, but I couldn't let anybody else know." "We understand," Justin said. "We've talked about that." "Is it okay if we tell Tim and Brian about you?" Kyle asked. I thought for a few moments. What the fuck? I concluded. "Yeah, that would be okay," I said. "Let's keep it in the group here, though, okay? I know Kevin, Rick, and Tony are out at work, but they're bosses. I'm not. I don't want to get hassled about it." "We work for Goodson, too," Justin said. "We're all out, and we don't get picked on, do we, Kyle. That's a very liberal company. We know the owner." All of a sudden, I realized that what I thought was a coincidence about Kyle's last name maybe wasn't just a coincidence. "Kyle, are you related to the Goodson who owns the company?" I asked. "Yeah," Kyle said. "Kyle, cut the shit, asshole. His daddy owns it, and someday he's going to own it and run it, too," Justin said. "And I'm going to be right there with him, holding his dick so he can hit the urinal." They were both sitting on the floor in front of me, and Kyle slammed his body into Justin's, and they both laughed. "We'll see. We might want to sell all this shit here and buy us that place in Boston we stayed in last summer," he said. "Either way, you're going to be there, but you ain't touching my dick." "How many times have I touched your dick, Kyle? A million? How many times have you touched mine? A million?" Justin asked. "About that many," Kyle said, very deadpan. "Have you guys been, like . . . " "Naw. We ain't been lovers. We just touch each other playing around, is all," Kyle said. "Like in the pool, and what not. He and I flirt like hell, but we're both taken solid. And that's the way we both want it." "That sounds pretty good to me," I said. "How old are you guys, anyway? I can't really tell." "I'm nineteen and he's a mere eighteen," Justin said. "Yeah, nineteen going on twelve," Kyle said. Yeah? You're eighteen going on seven, Bubba," Justin said. "Does anybody know what time it is?" Kyle asked. There was a clock on the mantle, and it said it was almost four. "It's almost four o'clock," I said. "Shit, I need to go. We're going to Mass tonight," Kyle said. "We'll come home and cook that steak for you." "God, Kyle, that's about the grossest thing I ever heard," Justin said. "No, it ain't. You've heard a lot grosser stuff from me than that," he said. "True," Justin said. "Seriously, Ken. I need to square the boat away, get cleaned up, and go to church. We're going to cook after Mass, though. And give that steak to the dogs, okay? Cut it in half first, and give each one of them part of it, okay?" Kyle said. "Okay," I said, and off they went. * * * I debated a while with myself about going to Mass with them. On the one hand, those guys had been so incredibly nice to me, I wanted to be with them. On the second hand, I was pretty self-conscious about being seen in public looking like I did. The beefsteak therapy had helped reduce the swelling, but it was still ugly. On another hand, I wasn't Catholic. On another second hand, I had never been to a Catholic service, and I was curious about what it was like. In the final analysis, I decided to go. "If I go to church with y'all, I'll need some better clothes, won't I?" I asked. "No, you're fine," Kevin said. "I'm going like I am." He was in shorts and a Polo shirt that wasn't tucked in. He had on deck shoes with no socks. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. It's the Lord's Supper. It's not a fashion show," he said. "We do encourage shoes, but I've seen 'em there without 'em." What a difference from the church I was raised in! In mean, every man in my church had on a business suit. Some of the younger guys were brazen and came in just a dress shirt and tie, but no family men dared do that. I guess the Presbyterians were different in that regard. The Mass was pretty interesting, but they had some ceremonies I hadn't ever seen before. There were two preachers, instead of one, but only one gave the sermon. And it was short. Maybe five minutes. I liked that part. "Both of those guys up there are gay," Kyle whispered to me. "Are they boyfriends?" I whispered back. "No. They're celibate. No sex at all, except maybe jerking off solo. I'm not sure about that, but they're not boyfriends," Kyle whispered. "Cool. They sound like me," I whispered back to him. Kyle and I both started laughing, but we didn't make any noise doing it. "What are you laughing at?" Justin whispered, but in a louder whisper than Kyle and I had used. He was three people down. "Shut up. We'll tell you later," Kyle whispered back. The whispering was starting to get pretty loud because Justin was so far from us. Rick cleared his throat, but it wasn't a real throat-clearing. It was to make us shut up, and we did. After church, the two preachers came home with us. They both seemed to be in their late twenties or early thirties, and they seemed like really good guys. One was named Jerry, and one was named Vince. Neither one commented about my eye, which was a lot less swollen than it had been. Maybe that steak had worked. The first order of business was eating, and Kyle seemed to be in charge of that. The so-called Townhouse Boys had gone to church with us and were still there, and that was quite a crowd. There were, like, fifteen people there. They served great steaks, corn on the cob, some kind of vegetable casserole with lots of breadcrumbs in it, and with lots of shrimp, too. They had a green salad, rolls, the works. We ate out on the patio by the pool. "Don't feed the dogs from your plates, please," Brian said a couple of times. I noticed Justin and Kyle both ignoring Brian and handing the dogs chunks of meat. "Brian, you are too strict with the dogs," Kyle said. "I'm trying to teach them not to beg, Kyle. Those dogs should be over there lying down, not under us while we eat," Brian said. "I'm all over that, Bubba," Kyle said. "Yeah, but you and Justin have been feeding them, haven't you?" "Brian, I just heard the phone ring, and it's for you, Bubba," Kyle said. Brian laughed, and the others did, too. "Please, guys," Brian said. "I know you're doing it to tease me, but please stop." How they could resist him was totally beyond me. I think he was the best-looking boy I had ever seen, and it was pretty clear he was one of the favorites around there. "We'll stop, Little Buddy," Justin said, and they apparently did. Brian got up and opened one of the French doors into the house. "Girls, go to bed," he said, and the dogs went inside. "Brian, what the hell are you doing, man? Ain't you going to let them play with us in the pool later?" Kyle demanded. "Of course I am, Kyle, but you and Justin keep breaking the rules. We don't want them to get fat, and they will if y'all keep feeding them like that. They already had their dinner," he said. He was adamant. "I'm sorry, Bubba," Kyle said. "Me, too," Justin said. "If I'm the dog man, y'all need to do what I say about feeding them," Brian said. "Well, you're damn sure the dog man," Kyle said. "Please do what Brian says about the dogs, guys. He knows," Kevin said. "If everybody's finished, we can clear this shit away," Kyle said. "Then we can get in the pool." "Kyle, let's have the grace after meals, okay?" Kevin said. "I never heard of that before," Kyle said. "Grace after meals?" "Most Catholics don't say it, Kyle, but since we have two priests here tonight, let's do it," Kevin said. "That's fine with me," Kyle said. "Vince, would you say it, please?" Kevin asked. "Sure. "We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all your benefits, Who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen. "May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen." "Damn, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a grace after meals," Rick said. "That's because you didn't go to Catholic schools," Kevin said. "We said it every day, but I couldn't remember the words." "It's a very nice blessing," Rick said. "I thought about my grandpa when he said that last part." "That's the point of that, Babe. You remember deceased family every time you eat," Kevin said. "For somebody who's not very religious, you know a lot," Rick said. "Yeah, I'll admit it. I do," Kevin said. "I had it all drummed into me in school." "What else did you have drummed into you at that all-boys school you went to?" Justin asked. They all laughed. "Not that, damn it," Kevin said, and they all laughed again. We had all been in bathing suits for skiing, but we had obviously changed for church. I figured we'd put our suits back on, but I was wrong. It was going to be a skinny dipping occasion. "Ken, if you feel uncomfortable swimming nude, it's okay to wear a suit," Kevin said. "I don't mind," I said. I had read that every guy likes to check out other naked guys, and I was no exception. Seeing that bunch get nude was a veritable feast for the eyes for this newly-out queer. When I saw Brian I knew how unfair nature really was. Not only was he stunningly good looking, but he had the largest penis in the pool, as well. Kyle and Justin were well endowed, too, and everybody else, including me, looked fairly average in size. "Does anyone ever get an erection?" I asked Justin. "Oh, yeah. All the time. We just ignore 'em, though. It'll go down if you leave it alone," he said. In fact, I noticed that Murray was about half hard at that moment. Justin was right. Nobody commented on it, and Murray didn't look a bit embarrassed. Denny was chasing him, and, when he finally caught him, he threw Murray in the pool. Rick had Kevin get on his shoulders. "Kyle, get up on Justin," Rick said. Kyle did as he was told, and the two pairs of fighters went at each other. Those were four very strong men, and they fought hard. Kevin finally succeeded in pulling Kyle off Justin's shoulders, and all four were winded. Kyle wanted to make it the best two out of three, but Kevin and Rick said they needed to catch their breaths. The four guys from the townhouse got out and started playing basketball. They were playing two-on-two. It was fun watching their penises flap up and down. In a little while, people started drifting away. Jerry and Vince told everybody good night, and they left. The Townhouse Boys didn't stay very long, either. By nine o'clock, everyone was gone except the residents of the house. Tim dispensed towels for us to dry ourselves with. "Who wants to shoot some pool?" Kyle asked. "I will, but I want the family to talk about something first," Justin said. "I had planned to bring this up this morning, but I really couldn't." "What do you want to talk about?" Kyle asked. "Wait till we're all inside," Justin said. Once we were inside, Rick asked if anyone wanted a nightcap. I had only had a couple of beers that afternoon and a drink before dinner, so I said I'd like one. Kevin, Justin, and Kyle said they'd have one, too. Tim got soft drinks for Brian, Denny, Murray, and himself, and Rick had a Diet Coke. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Kyle asked. "It's not really about me. It's about Murray," Justin said. Everybody looked at Murray. Murray wasn't ugly, but he didn't hold a candle to the other ones. His nose was rather large, as were his lips, and he was fat, at least by the standard of the other boys. He was very effeminate, too. He was the kind of kid other kids picked on instinctively, I thought. "What about Murray?" Rick asked. "Tell 'em what you told me last night, Murray," Justin said. "God, this is embarrassing," Murray said. "Son, come over here and sit with me," Rick said. He and Kevin were side by side on one of the sofas (the sofa of my afternoon eruption, in fact), and he pushed down so Murray could get between them. Rick put his arm around Murray. "Son, one of the things we cherish in this family is that nobody is ever embarrassed with us," Rick said. "You haven't been here very long, but you're definitely fitting in well. Please don't be embarrassed by what you've done." "It's not something I've done," Murray said. "What is it, then?" Kevin asked. "It's what somebody is doing to me at school," he said. He looked like he was scared and close to tears. "Is somebody picking on you?" Kyle demanded. He seemed a bit angry. "Yeah, and I got the fucker's name," Justin said. He seemed angry, too. "Do your brothers need to step into action, Murray?" Kyle asked. "Kyle, this morning you told me to grow up. I know you were just teasing, but I'm going to say the same thing to you right now. Grow up," Rick said. "Rick, please don't pick on Kyle," Tim said. Oh, I saw this developing into a family argument. "I'm not picking on Kyle," Rick said, adamantly. "In fact, I told Kevin last night that I think Kyle is becoming more diplomatic. I shouldn't have used that expression just now, and I'm sorry." "Kyle, what did you mean by 'step into action'?" Kevin asked. "Last year some guys were picking on Chip and Denny. I talked to them and asked them to report to me if they saw people picking on other people. I made them believe I had a whole network of guys who were reporting to me and that I would get physical with those guys if I found out about them. It stopped after that, didn't it, Denny?" Kyle said. "I didn't know you had done that, but it definitely stopped," Denny said. "They were picking on us a lot, too." "See, that's the kind of thing I meant by stepping into action, Rick," Kyle said. "You and Kevin think all I know how to do is use my fists, and that ain't true, Bubba." "Kyle, I really am sorry I said for you to grow up," Rick said. "Did I hurt your feelings?" "No, you didn't hurt my feelings, but you pissed me off," Kyle said. "What are they doing to you, Murray?" "It's just one kid, Kyle. Marshall Davis," Murray said. Kyle immediately looked at Justin. "Don't look at me like that, Kyle. I don't know him. I don't know everybody named Davis in the whole fucking world, you know," Justin said. "Oh, no? I thought you did," Kyle said. "I know one Davis. Me," Justin said. "Oh, and that other guy. What's his name? Washington Davis?" "Jefferson Davis," Kyle said. "Yeah, that's it. Me and him. That's the only two Davises I know. And ole Jefferson's dead, right?" Justin asked. "You've been to his tomb. He better be dead," Kyle said. We all laughed. I thought this whole thing was hilarious. Not the part about Murray getting picked on, but the way they were discussing it. "Back to the matter at hand. Marshall Davis is picking on Murray. What is he doing to you, Murray?" Rick asked. "Calling me names. Shoving me. Knocking my books out of my arms. Trying to trip me. That kind of stuff. A couple of times he said he was going to whip my faggot ass," Murray said. "This is going to be an easy fix," Kyle said. "What are you going to do?" Rick asked. "I don't know yet, but it won't involve getting physical with him, at this point," Kyle said. "How many classes do you have with Denny or with Brady?" Brian asked. "Only one with Brady, but two with Denny," Murray said. "How many do you have with Marshall?" Kyle asked. "Only one," Murray said. "Hey, wait a minute, it's before and after that class that he picks on me, too. If I'm with Denny or Brady, he leaves me alone, if I even see him," Murray said. "What class and what period?" Kyle asked. "Biology. Second period," Murray said. "This is a snap. We'll get you in another biology class, and that'll take care of it," Kyle said. "I have Honors Biology second period," Denny said. "That's what I wanted, but they said it was full," Murray said. "It ain't going to be too full for you," Kyle said. "Five or six people got out of that class last week," Denny said. "See. There you go. You wanted the class. You need to get away from Marshall. There's now room in the class for you. This is way too easy to solve," Kyle said. "Plus, you got connections with that Miss Sally lady, don't you?" Justin said. "Miss Sally is a very, very good friend of mine. That's true. But this family has resources, not connections. Miss Sally's a resource, not a connection," Kyle said. "What's the difference?" Justin asked. "I don't know. Two different words, so they must be different, somehow," Kyle said. "Ken, you look like you're about to burst out laughing," Kevin said, grinning at me. "I am. I can't believe what I'm hearing. They're incredible," I said. "Well, you can believe it, Bubba, 'cause it's going to happen," Kyle said. "That's not what I meant, Kyle. I know it's going to happen. I meant I can't believe you all are just solving this problem like this," I said. "Who is Miss Sally?" Murray asked. "She's the principal," Kyle said. "You know her?" Murray asked, incredulously. "Yeah. She's my friend. And her only child is a gay man, too," Kyle said. "She don't allow any crap, where gay kids are concerned." "Murray, Kyle was the president of the Student Government Association last year. He knows the principal very well. And he's right. She'll authorize that transfer, even if the people in Guidance balk at it," Kevin said. "Me and Miss Sally are both Beach Rats," Kyle said. "She's way cool. If I wasn't gay, I'd marry that lady." "I think Kyle has a crush on Miss Sally," Tim said. Kyle actually blushed, and that made everybody laugh. "See," Tim said. "Shut up, Babe," Kyle said. He was laughing, but I could tell Tim had touched a nerve. "Okay, but it's good to know that my only rival is a fifty-something-year-old married woman," Tim said. "Shit! Who wants to shoot pool? Do you shoot pool, Ken?" Kyle asked. "Sure," I said. "Well, come on," he said. He and I moved over to the pool table, and Murray moved over there with us. "You want to play, too?" Kyle asked him. "No. I want to say thank you for figuring out how to handle Marshall. I really do want to be in that honors course, and I really do think that will solve the problem," Murray said. "I'm going to be at school first thing in the morning," Kyle said. "It will be taken care of." Kyle was as naked as a jaybird, but Murray and I both had towels around our waists. Murray had a very obvious erection under his. "Can I have a hug?" Murray asked. "Yeah, of course," Kyle said, and they hugged. There was real affection in that hug, too. "Damn, what is this thing all about?" Kyle asked, meaning Murray's hard-on. "Don't tease me about it, Kyle," Murray said. "I ain't going to tease you, but you need to get in the house and take care of that thing. That's a serious one," Kyle said. Murray blushed. Kyle kissed him on his forehead, and Murray went inside. "All the young ones are like that. They can't control it," Kyle said. "Can you?" I asked. "No," he said, grinning.
I knew what I had to do, and it wasn't going to be hard. I didn't have a class on Monday morning until ten o'clock, so I could have slept late. But, no. I got my ass up when Tim did the day after our talk about Murray. I had something to do that day, and, like my daddy always says, you'd best do it first thing. "Are you going to school with us today, Kyle?" Brian asked. "Yeah," I said. "I'm very proud of you, Kyle," Brian said. That sort of touched my heart a little bit. I tended to take Brian for granted, but we couldn't have been who we were without him. He was the best one to take pictures of because he was so damn good looking, but he was a whole lot more than that. "Thank you, Bubba. That means a lot to me," I said, and I choked up a little bit. Justin came into the breakfast room and looked at me. "What's going on?" he asked. "Shut up. Nothing's going on. Your boyfriend is just being nice to me," I said. "He's nice to me all the time," he said. "I know. I don't want to talk about this," I said. "What'd you do? Give him a compliment?" Justin asked Brian. Brian grinned. "Yes," Brian said. "And he didn't deny it." "I figured as much. I'm surprised, though," Justin said. "I think he's getting better about that, Buddy," Brian said. The other kids were in the breakfast room by then. Nobody had cooked anything that morning, so we were eating cold cereal. I liked cereal just fine, but I was going to stop and get me a couple of sausage biscuits before I went to school. I figured some of them would do the same thing. I pulled into a visitor parking place just as the bell was ringing. It would be another ten minutes, at least, before they finished with the morning announcements. I decided to wait in the car. "Sir, you can't loiter here," a voice I recognized said. "I ain't loitering," I said. When I looked to my left, it was Bill Harmon, the School Resource Office. "Fuck. Kyle, I didn't know it was you," he said, grinning and half laughing. "Hey, Bill. I got this new ride for graduation. You like it?" "Hell, yeah, I like it. This thing cost a damn fortune," he said. "Don't tell my parents, okay?" I said. He laughed. "Did you have a good summer?" "I had a great summer," I said. "I took back up with SCUBA. Me and Philip." "Well, that's good. Are you going to take some pictures underwater?" he asked. "Yes, sir. I got me a camera I can do that with now," I said. "So, what are you doing here?" he asked. "I need to talk to Miss Sally about one of my brothers," I said. "She's going to be glad to see you, dude. She loves your ass," he said. "She ain't the only one," I said. He laughed. "Kyle, you are so bad. I don't believe you're really queer," he said. "Well, believe it, bubba, 'cause it's true," I said. "I know, but you seem like just such a regular guy. You know my little brother's queer, don't you?" "I had heard that," I said. "Yeah, he is, but he's still my little brother, and ain't nothing changing that," he said. "I didn't think so. Bill, are you queer?" I asked. "I'm queer for you, Kyle. I want you so bad I can't stand it," he said. I just busted up laughing. I knew that boy was joking. "I'm reporting your ass to the sheriff for sexually harassing a queer," I said. We both laughed. "I'm not really gay, but I've thought about it, you know?" "I think every guy thinks about it, Bill. You'd know, if you were. Trust me on that," I said. "Thanks. That's what my brother says, too. I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'm straight," he said. "Cool. That's about the same percent sure I am that I'm gay," I said. "I need to go talk to Miss Sally, though, so I've got to go." "Call me up sometime. We can hang out or something," he said. "I'll do it, Bill," I said. I liked that boy a lot. He was probably twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and I didn't think the girls were lining up to get a piece of him. He weighed a lot more than I thought sheriffs could weigh, but maybe they made an exception for him because he was a School Resource Officer. I decided I would call him to go out or come over. It sounded like he needed friends. "KYYYYYYYLE!" Miss Sally screamed when she saw me. That was the thing about her. She was uninhibited, and that was one of the things I liked about her. "MISS SALLLLLLLLLY," I screamed, just as loud as her. We hugged right there in the lobby of the school. She looked really good that morning. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I want to talk to you. I know I should have made an appointment, but it's kind of urgent," I said. "Well, come into my office. I've missed you," she said. "I've missed you, too," I said. I told her about the deal with Murray, and she said that was absolutely no problem. She told the lady on the desk to call Murray out of class to Guidance. I heard her do that, and I knew Murray was moving on to safety. "Tell me about your summer," she said. "Did you do any crabbing?" "Yes, ma'am, I did a little bit of crabbing, but my brothers rebelled and wouldn't pick 'em out. I switched to lobster hunting," I said. "Ohhhh. Shovelnose?" she asked. "Yes, ma'am," I said. "Do you like 'em?" "Kyle, I love them. They're the best lobsters to me," she said. "Yes, ma'am, I think so, too. You're going to have some this coming weekend," I said. "I wasn't begging," she said. "Yes, ma'am, I know you weren't, but I can get so many. I don't even know what to do with them all," I said. "If you don't get 'em this coming weekend, you'll get 'em the next time I go diving. That's a promise. Philip Andrews and Ryan Pettis are coming home for Labor Day Weekend from Tallahassee, and Philip and I will get you a bushel basket of 'em," I said. "How are Philip and Ryan doing?" she asked. "They're doing really good. I've talked to Philip a couple of times, and they are absolutely loving FSU," I said. "I don't know that I'll ever see another class quite like yours, Kyle. You and Philip set the tone for your class," she said. "I don't exactly know what you mean, but we had a good time. And we made an A in the school grade thing," I said. "Yes, we did, and I've had calls from high schools all over the state to find out how we did it. We've scheduled people from six different schools to visit us," she said. "And Kyle, having people from all over the state of Florida wanting to visit your school is about the biggest high a principal can get. It was your idea, too, wasn't it? The mentoring program." "You're the principal. You get the credit. Not me. I'm just a kid, Miss Sally. You know that," I said. "Kyle, you are so not a kid, at least the way I think of kids," she said. I laughed pretty hard at that. "I want to go to work, but my daddy won't let me," I said. "Your daddy knows what he's doing, Kyle. You don't need the money from a job, and you know it," she said. How'd she know that? "Yes, ma'am, I get pocket change. I can buy me a candy bar, if I want to," I said. "Or a candy factory?" "I'm not going there," I said. I accomplished my mission for Murray at Beachside High School that morning, and I felt really good. I stopped and got me three sausage biscuits. I went home, poured me some coffee, and ate them all up. |