Tales from Bentonville, Chapter 97
By David Lee
Warning:
This story contains scenes of love and sexual interaction. Much of this involves males with other males. If the reading or possessing of such material as this is illegal in your country, state, province, county, municipality, etc., please leave this site immediately and do not proceed further. If you are under the legal age to read this, please do not do so. It is not my intention to offend anyone or to get you in trouble.
The author retains all rights to this original story. Please do not publish without explicit authorization from me.
Disclaimer:
This story is completely fictional. Most of the places mentioned, and none of the characters exist in real life. Some may possess physical or personality characteristics of people I know or have known. But if you see yourself in this story, your imagination is better than mine!
"Tales from Bentonville" is a romantic story centering on the lives of high school kids. Lovers of other ages may appear, but not normally in a cross-generational sense. References to sex with under-age kids may be made for the sake of the story line. However, I feel that child molestation is a crime and should not be glorified or tolerated.
This is my fifth attempt at writing fiction. My other stories on Nifty include: "Zeke" (August 29, 2005), "Always and Forever" (March 25, 2004) under High School, "Brad and Alan's Canoe Trip" (April 23, 2004) under Camping, and "Jacob and Jacques" (May 30, 2004) under High School. Some characters from previous stories may have cameo roles in this one. However, you need not read them first.
Our only reward for contributing to Nifty is your e-mails. Please write if you like the story. Please include the name of the story in the title of your e-mail. I get a lot of spam!
Finally, thanks and hugs to Tom and David who edit for me so that there are fewer mistakes! They not only proof-read, but make other valuable suggestions.
dlee169@hotmail.com
Tales from Bentonville, Chapter 97
Mike went home Sunday night so that he wouldn't miss school on Monday. Brent had urged him not to push his parents too far by begging to stay. Since Mike, Sr. was in their corner, it would be nice to keep his support and hopefully gain Brenda's as well. Jodie was hard to read, and Brent didn't want to come out to her during her current state of turmoil.
Mike went to homeroom early on Monday in order to set straight any false rumors that might be circulating about Brent. Brent's close buddies who had visited him in the hospital had the facts straight, so that most of what was being passed around by lunch time was pretty close to the truth.
Brent returned to school on Tuesday. His doctor gave him a medical excuse to stay away for the rest of the week if he absolutely had to, but encouraged him to go back to a normal routine as quickly as he could. Brent was also excused from physical activities for the rest of the month, but was allowed to participate as much as he felt like, as long as he didn't overdo.
It wasn't all that difficult for Brent to face his schoolmates because Mike was there most of the time to support him. It was ironic in a way that Mike was being the strong, outgoing person in their relationship at the moment because it was usually the other way around.
When the special announcement came in second hour that there would be tryouts the next afternoon for a junior edition of the swing choir, it was Mike who almost insisted they both audition.
"There's gonna be more girls than boys who will try out and lots will get in and they'll need as many guys to balance the group. I think we stand a good chance." Mike said with confidence.
Passing to their third hour class, the two were flagged down by Jared and Logan.
"Are you guys going to try out for swing choir?" Logan asked. "We are."
"Yeah," Jared agreed. "Logan's grandmother says that only `fags' go in for that kind of dancing, so he hopes to be in it just to piss her off."
"Na, that's not the only reason." Logan said with a cheeky grin. "I really love to sing and I've got enough rhythm to learn the steps. I'll bet some of the senior guys will help us if we ask them to."
Mike and Brent caught up with Colt and Dane before school was out to ask if there happened to be some night that they could all get together to practice. Dane said that he would make some calls and see what he could organize.
It was an interesting mix of gay and straight guys who met in DJ's basement after dinner that evening. At Greta's invitation, Jared had stayed to eat dinner at her place with the four guys who lived there during the school year. She had offered her guest room for him to sleep as well. His parents were happy to give their permission for him to stay in town so that he wouldn't have to come home late and get up early to make it to school again the next day.
Logan arrived around 7:00 with Mike and Brent in Mike's dad's car. Jerry and Trent came soon after. There was plenty of talking and joking around, but there was lots of serious work too. Dane and Colt showed the video of the routine they had done on the cruise ship so that the younger guys in the group could get an idea of the kinds of moves they might be expected to do. Then they put on some music and demonstrated before lining everyone up to practice.
Around 8:00, Ellen came down with refreshments. Dane's young siblings followed close behind wanting to participate too. The twins danced with the teens to one of the songs before they would allow the older guys to stop to eat. They always loved to do that with Dane and Colt when they got the chance.
After a fifteen minute break, the guys were ready to continue and the little kids had to get ready for bed. It was obvious that the twins would like to have stayed longer, but they didn't put up a fuss.
Michael came about 9:30 to take his son and other passengers home. Logan wanted to have Jared stay at his house, so Michael had to wait until all of the calling among parents was taken care of. Because he had been raised to be mannerly, Jared was hesitant to turn down the invitation to stay at Greta's house, but Colt assured him that she would understand.
"Besides, you and Logan are the same size so you can borrow clothes for tomorrow that actually fit!"
The rest of the week went rapidly; the weekend was upon them almost before they expected it. That is not to say that they were disappointed at having some free time.
It wasn't all free, however. There was a football game on Friday night that most would attend. Even if they hadn't been interested in watching the team, they would have gone to see the halftime show because Dave was in marching band.
Joel and Alex showed up to support the football team because Iowa State had played on Thursday night and Alex could take the weekend off. Their games were frequently played on Saturday, so this was a treat.
It was a close game and many of the fans wished that Alex and Allen were still on the team. But, the ones who had taken their places played extremely well and managed to pull off a victory in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. The crowd went wild!
Alex and Joel followed the team to the locker room to congratulate them and to invite them (and a guest) to Joel's birthday party two weeks from Sunday.
At Pizza Hut during the post-game party, Joel managed to talk to Dane, Colt, Dave, Dustin, and a number of other friends to invite them as well.
"It's really exciting for me to turn 18!" he exclaimed. "Now, I won't have to worry that my parents might pull some sort of scam to attempt to control me again. Besides, my grandfather Teague is going to allow me to become more involved in company policy. And, the first thing I'm going do is establish equal rights for everyone. Gay couples will have the same right to insurance coverage as straight ones do. Grandpa didn't realize that my father had slipped in a number of anti-gay policies when he was at the helm. He's had his hands full trying to straighten out the financial mess. He wants me to be a kind of watch dog for employee rights. It's a new era!"
Joel and Alex showed up to the track meet the next morning to support those athletes as well. Again, Joel extended many birthday party invitations to guys he knew and hadn't seen the night before.
On Monday, the list of singer/dancers who made the cut was posted on the bulletin board in the school foyer. There was lots of elation and high-fiving among the freshmen and sophomores who got in. As Mike had predicted, most of the guys who tried out made the list.
Logan and Jared broke into a short version of the routine that they had learned from Colt and Dane. Others coming into school clapped in rhythm and cheered them on. Mike and Brent joined with them in dancing.
Mr. Haggerty came out to see what the ruckus was about. The freshmen boys figured that they were "road-kill" until their principal asked them to teach him some moves. For the next 10 minutes, he showed that he was a quick learner and a good sport. Several other staff members got into it too. The adults knew that nothing creates a sense of community like principals and teachers being involved with students in fun activities. Mr. Haggerty suggested that some of the swing choir kids could teach a routine to any staff members who wanted to learn and form a team that could do a short presentation at the next pep assembly. The kids went off to classes in higher spirits than usual for a Monday.
Later in the week, Jerry asked Brent if he could come over to Brent's house because he was having some weird dreams that seemed to be about Brent's father.
"If this upsets you or your mom in any way, forget that I asked."
"No, I'm okay with it and I'll double check with her, but I'm pretty sure she would be too. Since you're Carrie's boyfriend as well as the guy who knew I needed help immediately, I'm sure she'll be open to whatever you have in mind."
On Friday night, Jodie invited Jerry and Carrie over for dinner. As long as he was interested in coming over, she felt that serving a good dinner was at least a small token of her appreciation for his role in saving Brent's life.
Dinner conversation was light and mostly revolved around school activities and the like. Jodie took interest in all of the things the kids were doing.
After they'd eaten dessert and cleared the table, they adjourned to the living room. Jerry gazed around the room as if looking for something.
"There was a photo of Jack here when we cleaned up. Do you still have it?"
"Yes," Jodie signed. "I was going to destroy it, because of what he did to Brent, but I packed it away in the basement until I could decide what to do. Shall I get it for you?"
"Please, if it's not too much trouble."
Brent's mother returned a few minutes later with the requested picture. Jerry looked at it intently, almost as if in a trance.
"Would you mind if I borrowed it for a few days? I think that it might help me make a connection of some sort. I'd also like an object or piece of clothing that he used a lot."
Jodie went in search of a hunting cap that her husband had loved. She was surprised that it was still there; that he hadn't taken it with him.
"I've heard that you have a gift, Jerry. Perhaps you can give us a lead on where Jack is."
"Perhaps. By the way, how did you know? I've tried to keep a low profile because people are likely to think I'm strange. I mean, it's not like "I see dead people" or anything. And, I can't control it, but I can focus it to some degree."
"My mother was in the nursing home recovering from surgery and old Mrs. Ennis was in there at the same time. Nothing ever happens in Bentonville that she doesn't get wind of. Plus, she tells even more than she knows!"
"Ah, yes," Jerry replied. "Poor Logan does have a cross to bear with her for his grandmother."
Around 9:00, Jerry and Carrie thanked their hostess for a lovely dinner and departed for home. Well, they didn't go right home, because they hadn't had a chance to be alone for several days. Needless to say, the car windows got fogged over on that cool autumn evening.
It was in the early pre-dawn hours when Jerry suddenly cried out and sat bolt-upright in bed. He quickly got out a small recording device to talk into. He gave a detailed description of everything he had sensed. He wanted to have a record of it before the vision faded away.
When he had finished, he crept quietly up to the kitchen to make a snack before returning to his bed. He was pleased that his awakening had not disturbed anyone else in the household. Since his bedroom was down in the walkout basement, it was pretty well isolated from the other sleeping quarters. That had frequently been a blessing, especially on nights when he was out with Carrie a bit later than he was supposed to be.
Jerry fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Having poured out all of the detail into the recorder, he experienced a great feeling of relief.
Several hours later, he awakened sensing the sunshine filling his room.
After the track meet and lunch, Jerry called Brent's house to ask if he could come over. He said that he thought he might have some information that could help.
Carrie went with him to her aunt's house and Mike was there when they arrived. The four of them, along with Brent's mother, sat around the kitchen table. Jodie had soft drinks and tea available as well as a batch of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.
Jerry's face flushed as he started.
"Okay, please promise me that you won't think I'm too weird. Carrie has come to accept me like I am and I know it won't embarrass her, but I know this is going to sound strange to the rest of you. Also, some of what's on this disk may be hard for you to hear. I know that he hurt Brent very bad, but I'm also aware that people can't simply turn off years of feelings even if someone's done something evil."
All heads nodded in agreement. Jodie thought about the handsome man that she had loved, who had given her a son who had a number of his features. Brent swallowed a lump in his throat as he remembered pleasant times with his father. Carrie frowned slightly thinking that Jack had always seemed remote to her. Mike held his tongue, but pondered how much he would like to beat the shit out of the man!
The sound of Jerry's voice coming from the recorder, jolted them all back to the present. He was describing a feeling of pain and anguish; suffering and finally cold nothingness.
He also mentioned fleeting visions of sand, water, and palm trees.
"This may or may not be true, and it may or may not relieve your anxieties, but I feel that Jack has been killed and that it was not a pleasant passing. I think that he is somewhere in a tropical setting and no one there probably knows who he is – other than the men who brought him there."
"How well do you know Sheriff Larkin?" Jodie asked.
"Quite well," Jerry responded. "I've found him to be a reasonable and intelligent man who accepts the possibility of things that are not provable by scientific testing."
"I think we need to tell him about this," Jodie responded. "He could check further than the US to see if there's an unidentified – uh – person some place warm."
"It's okay, Mom, you can say `unidentified body' because I'm not going to freak out if he's dead. After what he did to me, I'll have a difficult time forgiving him either way. It would be easier knowing that he's gone for good."
Jodie nodded with tears in her eyes. Her tears were mostly for her boy who had barely survived his father's beating, but a few were for her husband who might have died slowly and painfully.
Knowing that his boyfriend was hurting inside more than he let on, Mike invited Brent to come over after lunch and to sleep over on Saturday night. Jodie took the opportunity to spend that time at her mother's house in Cosgrove. She could help get some sorting and packing done so that her mother could move into her house in Bentonville before winter came. Those were things that needed doing. Besides, it would give her something to take her mind off of her own problems.
Mike and Brent spent the afternoon together enjoying the crisp, sunny day. They rode their bikes out on the newly completed recreational trail. There were quite a few people doing the same thing and that gave them pleasant company.
Mike was thrilled that Brent showed no signs of exhaustion from the exercise. It was a good sign that his body was healing rapidly. Mike hoped that his heart and soul would be restored as quickly.
After dinner, the boys retired to Mike's room for the night. Michael assumed that they probably needed time alone, so he made excuses for them based on their long ride in the fresh air. Brenda went along with it easily.
Once in the room, Mike pulled Brent into a firm embrace and kissed him deeply. Brent felt that old familiar tingling in his groin immediately.
Mike pulled back and headed for his desk.
"Don't stop, dude! You can't get me all hot and then leave me to suffer."
"No one's going to make you suffer long, but I have something to show you to see if you like the idea."
With that, Mike typed in the address of a link and hit "enter". Brent's eyes widened as he watched the short clip of a young guy giving his half-naked boyfriend a massage.
"Damn that's hot!" he exclaimed.
"That's what I want to do with you. Here's a technique that I'd like to try," Mike continued as he went to another site.
Brent began to squirm in anticipation as he watched the hands of an older guy working on the abs of some young stud. The YouTube video was not explicitly sexual, but was definitely sensuous. Brent's underwear was getting sticky imagining that is was Mike's hands brushing the top of his pubes with each pass over the lower abdominals.
It didn't take any urging to get Brent naked and lying on a beach towel face down on Mike's bed. Mike dug in the back of his closet to retrieve some unscented oil that he kept for other purposes. Soon he was working over Brent's shoulders and down his back. He paused to gently massage Brent's glutes before going on down to his calves.
When he asked Brent to turn over, he had proof positive that his efforts were appreciated. Brent's blood had almost completely taken residence below the waist. Mike worked on his nipples for a bit before moving down to his abs. Then, he tried to imitate the clock-wise motion that he had seen in the clip. Each time he made a circle, he came closer to his favorite plaything. Brent was writhing in exquisite torment as he dug his fingers into the towel under him. His moaning became more constant as he reached for his cock to jack it off.
Mike, however, stopped him from his mission.
"Oh, please let me cum, baby! I'm so close."
"Pretty soon, but I'm making you wait. We need to learn to enjoy the journey, not just the destination."
"Where did you learn that?" Brent asked – curious despite his desire to cum.
"I overheard Dane talking about it with Colt on our Wisconsin trip, but they stopped when they realized I was there. I pretended not to have heard anything."
"Hey, that distraction kept me from exploding. Was that on purpose?" Brent gasped. "Look how my cock is bouncing and throbbing like it's going to blow only it isn't."
"That bit of cooling off gives me a chance to bring you close again. This time, I promise I won't stop."
Mike's massage techniques may have been amateur by some standards, but Brent didn't know the difference. All he knew was that he was riding that wave of desire again and it was ready to crash on the shore. Seconds later, Mike licked from the underside of Brent's balls to the tip of his dripping phallus. As Brent fought to keep from crying out so loudly that the whole neighborhood would hear, he reached the point of no return. The first volley landed on his face with successive ones leaving a sticky trail down to his abs.
Mike licked his way up Brent's body vacuuming up what he could and sharing it in a deep passionate kiss. Brent's bones might as well have turned to Jell-O. He couldn't move. By the time Mike returned from the bathroom with a warm, damp cloth, Brent was already falling asleep.
Author's note: for those interested, the sites that the boys looked at are the following:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kUvYhy77OZc
and
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oKUGxvreAPE&feature=related
Thanks to all who wrote since last posting: Joe, Ricky, Russell, Carroll, Paul W, Jim We, Jim C, Tim P, Randall, Tom A, Don B, Raymond, Mark R, Daniel F, Vann, Barry, Paul R, Tim E, and Tom and David who edit. It really helps knowing that you care enough about the story to let me know.
Prayers for Ricky and Cameron...
Expect a gap in posting. I am leaving for Rome (May 9) and will be gone two weeks. I will have to write the next chapter and have it edited after I get home. I'll be cruising (not like that!) the Mediterranean and visiting some new places as well as old favorites.
David