Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. If you are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man relations, please exit this page.
TALES FROM THE RANCH Copyrightc 2003 by Tulsa Driller 7. All rights reserved.
This is a story of men who have two common interests. You will see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is also the story of young men who love other men and their coming of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding. It is a story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's world.
This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any specific person or persons. Any similarity to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental. This work is copyrightedc by the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the author. It is assigned to the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the written permission of the author.
PLEASE: In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist. My characters have unprotected sex. I hope you use proper precautions because I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this story.
Tales from the Ranch Chapter 45: Thoughts for a Tuesday
Joey rolled out of bed and Mitsy was immediately on the floor and at the door ready to go outside.
"Hi Girl. Do you need to outside?" he asked, scratching her ears.
Mitsy thumped her tail on the floor, it was wagging so hard.
"Well, come on," he said, pulling his briefs on and opening the door into the hall. She led the way to the front door. Joey opened it just as the paperboy was tossing the paper in front of the door of the other fifth-floor unit, and then turned to do the same where Joey was standing.
"Hi," the young man said. "That's a neat dog. What's its name?" He was trying to stall so he could look at Joey standing in front of him.
"Her name is Mitsy," Joey answered.
"She's beautiful. My name's Forrest Ross," the paperboy said.
"Hi, I'm Joey Sullivan," Joey said as if it was normal to stand in the doorway in his underwear and talk to someone standing outside.
Forrest remembered when he had been delivering the paper a week or so ago and Joey opened the door to let his dog out. That time he wasn't wearing anything and Forrest couldn't help but admire the young man standing there in all his glory.
"Do you go to Davy Crockett?" Forrest asked.
"Yeah, I just started yesterday. I just moved here from Houston."
"Oh, I didn't think I'd seen you around here, before. What class are you in?"
"I'm a freshman."
"I'm a junior. What time do you eat lunch?" he asked.
"At 12:15," Joey answered.
"Neat. That's my lunch period. If you don't have anyone to eat with why don't you eat with me?"
"I'd like that, but I met some other guys yesterday. Why don't you sit with us?" Joey asked.
"I might do that. I'll watch for you," Forrest said, starting down the stairs as Mitsy arrived back at the door.
"See ya," he said.
"I'll look for you," Joey said.
Mitsy led the way to the kitchen and waited patiently as Joey scooped her dry food into the bowl and then washed out her water dish. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and turned the switch on the coffeepot, then went back to his bathroom to get ready for the day.
Forrest thought that Joey was about the best looking guy he'd ever seen and he'd seen him without clothes once and almost without clothes this morning. And all the body hair. He had been a good jackoff fantasy on more than one occasion for him. He couldn't believe that he was only a freshman and he wondered whom the other friends were that ate with Joey. He'd be sure to find that out at noon today.
Dale thought he heard voices, and then heard the front door shut. He wondered what was going on, but dismissed it from his mind. He made a mental note to ask Joey what was going on when he saw him in a few minutes.
Craig rolled around so he was facing Dale, wrapping his arms around his neck and giving him a deep, sensuous kiss. "Good morning, to you, too," Dale teased, enjoying the attention.
"I see I have your attention," he told Dale as he squeezed his cock.
"Always," Dale said, searching for Craig's lips.
It was then he noticed the beginnings of Craig's mustache and took his index finger to rub it across Craig's upper lip.
"What's this?" he teased.
"I've been waiting to see when you would notice it," Craig said. It's not growing as fast as yours, I'm afraid."
"Right now it's something you feel rather than see, since your hair is so blond," Dale told him. "But, I think it's going to be a sexy addition to your looks."
"I thought I'd try to see if I could grow one," Craig said.
"It should be fairly easy. Your beard is dark and fairly thick for the little hair that you have on your body."
"If you decide you don't like it, tell me and I'll shave it off," Craig said, giving Dale another peck on his lips. "I was just hoping I could use it to make you feel good, like you do to me."
"You're so sweet to think of something like that. It must be why I love you so much."
They would have loved to mess around, but the day was waiting for them to start. Craig pulled on his boxers and went to the kitchen for their orange juice as Dale was starting his bathroom routine. The coffee was ready to serve, so he filled two mugs and put all four containers on a tray to carry back to the bathroom.
Dale was just finishing shaving as Craig set the tray down.
"If you're ready to shower, I can shave afterward," Craig told him.
"No, go ahead. I need to use the toilet if you don't mind," Dale answered.
"Fine with me," Craig said, flipping on the switch to start the vent fan."
Soon they were both through and got in the shower together with Craig adjusting the water temperature and Dale turning on the other showerheads.
"If we don't have anything else, I want a shower like this in our new home," Dale said. "This is the greatest shower I've ever experienced."
"The plumber thought I was crazy when they were building the bathroom, but I'm pretty sure that after it was working, he took a shower while I was at work," Craig laughed.
"What? And you missed the opportunity to shower with him?" Dale teased.
"If you'd seen him, you would know that I was glad I was gone. He must have weighed at least 300 pounds."
"I can see the picture and believe me, it's not a pretty thought."
By this time they had shampooed their hair and were starting to soap each other with rich, foamy lather. This was their favorite shower activity and invariably, they each ended up with hardons. Unfortunately, most mornings they didn't have an opportunity to do anything about it, except that they had something to look forward to all day.
Joey was sitting at the kitchen counter looking at the Austin American-Statesman when Dale and Craig arrived to pour their second mugs of coffee.
"Morning, Dads," Joey said. "Did you sleep as well as I did?"
"I don't know how well you slept, but I sure did," Dale told him.
Craig nodded his head. Joey wondered if they'd made love after they went to bed. He was dying to know what that was all about. The movies he'd seen, the guys were just sucking or fucking each other.
"Did I hear you talking to someone earlier when you got up?" Dale asked.
"Yeah. Forrest Ross. He's our paperboy and was just delivering the paper when I let Mitsy out. He goes to Davy Crockett and is a junior. I told him to eat with us at lunch today."
"Good, I'm glad you are making friends quickly," Craig said.
"Me too," Dale echoed.
They warmed up the last of the cinnamon rolls Doris had helped them make on Saturday morning.
"This is the last of our own bakery effort. Anybody brave enough to try this again?" Craig asked.
"I would," Joey said. "It's fun to work with the dough and Grandma showed me the cookbook that has the step-by-step pictures. Will you help me?"
"Yeah, guess we can always call Mom if we get into trouble," Craig said.
"Do we have everything we need?" Dale asked.
"I think so. There are two kinds of flour and we have yeast, Crisco, sugar, powdered sugar, butter, cinnamon, raisins, eggs and milk," Craig said.
"I guess we can try our hand at it tonight. I didn't think there was anything hard about it, but I was so in awe of the dough that I may have missed something," Dale said.
"I think the biggest trick is making sure the dough rises properly. It seemed pretty easy to roll it out, put the topping on, then roll the dough up, cut it into slices and let it rise again before baking," said Craig.
"That's what I think, too," Joey said. You could tell he was excited about trying this again.
By this time, they were through with their coffee and rolls and Craig put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
"Joey, if you want to invite any of your friends over after school, I'll stock up on soft drinks and snacks for you when I come home at noon to let Mitsy out," Craig told him.
"Awesome. How about my movie collection? It's still at the storage unit," Joey asked.
"I'll bring the box that has regular movies, but we're going to talk about the porn collection before I bring that home for you."
"That's okay." Then with a gleam in his eyes, he asked, "Are you and Dad Dale going to watch them first?"
"No need to, sleeping with him is like being in one."
Dale turned red in the face, but laughed.
"Gottcha," Craig snickered.
"That you did," Dale laughed and Craig and Joey joined in.
"But Craig's right. We need to establish some ground rules because these guys are going to wonder why your entire collection is gay movies. They might think you are gay and that could cause a problem - or it might not," Dale told him.
"I understand," Joey said. "No problem."
"Need a ride to school this morning, Bud?" Dale asked.
"That's fine. I just have to get my backpack. I'm ready for Mr. Shanklin's Algebra test," Joey told them.
As they started out the door, Dale gave Craig a toe-curling kiss and said, "I love you."
Joey gave him a peck on the cheek. "Bye Mom, see ya this evening."
"Young man." Craig started laughing.
"I know, Mom, I'm pushing it," he laughed as they went out the door.
Dale was doing some thinking on his way to the ranch after he dropped Joey off at school. He was supposed to see Leland Stanton at the Bank of Commerce that afternoon about investing Joey's funds for the best return.
He was intrigued about the problem with the computer lab class at school. The retail computer business was just starting to grow, but it was growing by leaps and bounds and there must be a lot of profit in it. He wondered about finding qualified technicians and sales people who were knowledgeable as well as instructors. He had some money to invest and wondered about the advisability of investing in a computer store. He was impressed with Dennis at the Electronic Home. Maybe they could hire him to work for them, if they indeed went into that business.
There had to be places in Austin that offered the services that Dale was thinking of, but certainly there was nothing like that here in Williamsport. He wondered if there was enough business to be had to take the risk.
Joey met up with Hal Shaw in English I class. Mrs. Hunt announced that the books had arrived for their next reading assignment. The class was to study some of the stories of great American authors, Eudora Welty's "The Optimist's Daughter", William Faulkner's "Travels with Charlie" and Wilma Cather's "One of Ours" were the first three offerings. The class was divided into three sections with each of that group receiving one of the novels to read, discuss and report on. Joey received a copy of the Eudora Welty book as his first. He had a week in which to read it and make notes for the report and discussion. Then everyone would trade books for another week, then again until all had read each book.
Hal got the Faulkner book and was surprised to find out that Charlie was his dog and the story was about Faulkner driving a pickup camper on trip across the United States to the west coast and back. No one he encountered knew who Faulkner was as he traveled incognito and he looked upon the experience as a chance to talk to the average Americans about almost any subject of interest and hear their opinions.
After Mark Shanklin helped the class work through the Algebra problems for the day and explained the assignment for the next day, he gave Joey the test he had promised and Joey scored a 98 on it, only because he took a shortcut in solving the problem. Mr. Shanklin praised him and told him that his former instructor probably had a different way of doing things and they hadn't talked about this before the test.
"Don't worry about it, Joey. You still got an A and that's what you were after, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just never thought about there being more than one way to work it."
"There are probably as many ways to work it as there are text books and instructors. You've proven you know the subject matter and I have no doubts but what you will pass every test in this course with flying colors."
"Thanks, Mr. Shanklin." Joey would have liked to talk about it a little bit more, but the bell rang and there wasn't time as the walk to Bruce Wilton's classroom was a little further than to the others.
Mr. Wilton was good at teaching science. He made it interesting and told the class that next week they would be working in the lab, doing simple experiments. He then worked them through the examples they would be testing and proving in the lab.
The class went quickly and it was time for lunch. Bret, Daniel, Barry and Bryce were already at the table. Joey spotted Forrest Ross, seemly by himself and motioned for him to join them at the other table. The guys all knew Forrest, but not other than by name.
It seemed like Daniel and Forrest hit it off immediately.
Discussion centered on Kent Korte and Paul Dennison. Forrest had both of them as instructors, taking Phys Ed during his freshman year and Kent Korte's Computer Lab during his sophomore year and his experience wasn't any better than Joey's.
Joey told them that he would probably be getting a computer, but didn't go into any details about it, simply telling them that there was a lot of research to be done to get the right system assembled.
Forrest had a Commodore 64, but didn't use it for much besides playing games, however, he had some knowledge of Basic computer language programs and offered to help Joey and the others to the extent he could.
That was good news for Joey.
Lunch passed quickly as their discussion was lively and covered a wide-range of subjects. It turned out that Forrest was in Boy Scouts and in the same patrol as Barry, but didn't get to participate as much as he'd like because of his paper route. Joey found out later that Forrest lived with his grandmother and that her health was poor. He took care of her and worked a lot of odd jobs, mowed yards and did what he could to earn a little money to help with her medical bills.
The warning bell rang that the lunch period would be over in 10 minutes, so the boys took their trays to the conveyor so they could be loaded into the dishwasher.
"What are you doing after school?" Forrest asked Joey.
"I don't know for sure. I think I'm supposed to do some errands with my Dad and then we're going to look at computers again," he answered.
"Cool. Do you know what you are going to get?" Forrest asked.
"We went to the Electronic Home last night and talked to a guy by the name of Dennis. He seems to be pretty smart about computers, but I'm going to see what I can find out from Mr. Korte today."
"I've talked to Dennis, too. He teaches a class at Western Junior College for the adult education course they have. I think he teaches word processing, but he knows a lot more than that."
"Where's your locker?" Joey asked, as they started down the hall.
"In 'A' wing. It's probably close to yours as I've managed to keep my same locker all three years."
Indeed they were on opposite sides of the wall and about 15 feet from each other.
"Why don't we meet here after last class? I don't have to be home until about 5:30 as the nurse comes in to help my grandmother in the afternoon."
"That's okay. See you then," Joey said as they went to their own lockers. Joey got his Texas History book and another book for his Computer Lab class. He waved at Forrest as he started down the hall to Jerry Sprague's class.
Joey took a front row seat and was just getting his book out when the last bell rang.
"Everyone put your books away," Mr. Sprague announced. "We're going to have a pop quiz," he said as he started around the room handing out two sheets to each student. There were many groans in response to this statement.
Joey was interested to see what kind of tests Jerry Sprague gave his students and he was glad that he had skimmed the first dozen chapters last night as it had refreshed his memory about various events that had occurred. He easily remembered the answers to every question, except one. He realized, as he thought about it, that it was a trick question: "What city in Texas was Davy Crockett born in." He carefully wrote "Greene County, TENNESSEE" and underlined it.
He found out the next day that he was the only one in the class who answered the question correctly. Everyone else had answered with the name of a city in Texas.
After the class was over, Pam Thomas asked Joey, "May I walk to Mixed Chorus with you?"
"Sure," Joey said. He was anxious to get acquainted with her as he thought she was pretty and seemed to be smart, too.
"How was your first day of school, yesterday?" she asked.
"Okay until the last two classes. I had Mr. Korte for Computer Lab and Coach Dennison for Phys Ed," he said as he rolled his eyes.
"I've heard that Mr. Korte's class is easy," Pam said. "What happened?"
"I think he expects you to learn stuff on your own. He doesn't teach, he answers questions and he really doesn't care if you don't try to learn."
"I've heard that, too. I think I have to take that course next year as it's required for graduation now," Pam told him.
"Well, it's going to be a challenge for me to maintain honors status. I don't know anything about computers and he's more interested in his 'Bulletin Board' and making sure each student signs on everyday."
"I understand your concern. Good luck," she said as they arrived at the Chorus room.
"Thanks, I think," Joey grinned as they separated to find their assigned seats.
Bret punched him on the shoulder as he sat down. "What time is choir rehearsal at St. James tomorrow night?" he asked.
"Seven o'clock," Joey answered. "Are you going to join?"
"My parents said I could. Do you think Paul will let me sing in the choir? I heard something about having to pass an audition," Bret said.
"Yeah, you do and you can't miss any rehearsals unless it's an emergency," Joey said. "Why don't I meet you there at 6:30? That way Paul can hear you sing and decide if he can use you in the choir. Then you won't take up rehearsal time with an audition," Joey said.
Mrs. Morrison stood up and went to her stand. The room got quiet immediately as the kids knew she wouldn't put up with anyone who wasn't paying attention.
The young accompanist was Ron Travis and Joey found out the next evening that he studied both piano and organ with Paul, as well as singing in the choir at St. James.
Anne Morrison wasn't one to waste any time and started the choir on warm up exercises, first by section, then the entire choir. "Breathe deeply and let it all out as you sing. Without breath control, you can't sing a whole phrase," she told the group.
The first piece was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which Joey dearly loved. The piano accompaniment was sparkling and very appropriate to the different moods of the song.
The choir worked only on two selections that day, the other was "Greensleeves" (What Child is This?), another of Joey's favorites.
The class was over all too soon and he started to Kent Korte's class by himself.
Mr. Korte called the class to order, and then announced that three of the members had not accessed his Bulletin Board the previous day. "If the newest member of our class can do this, and he doesn't know anything about computers, the rest of you should be able to do this." Joey was glad that Daniel had set him up as a user when he was at his house the evening before.
That was all he had to say. He sat down at his desk and several students moved to the computers to work.
Joey stood up; taking a book called "Basic Programming Made Easy" and walked to Kent Korte's desk, standing there to be recognized.
Finally, Mr. Korte said, "Yes, do you have a question for me?"
"Yes, I do. This book was recommended so I bought it. They said I could take it back if you didn't approve of it," Joey said.
Mr. Korte took the book. "Where did you get this?" he questioned.
"At the Electronic Home," Joey said. "Dennis recommended it."
"Oh, I've never met him. He teaches some adult education class at the Junior College. Well, if he says it's good, then I guess you've bought a book," he said, handing it back to Joey.
"Can you recommend anything better?" Joey asked.
"You have the textbook for this class, don't you?"
"Yes, but I thought maybe this might be a good reference book," Joey answered.
"It might be, I have no idea. I don't know why that store should be selling books. They are in the computer business, not the book business," he said as if to dismiss Joey.
That last statement pissed Joey off, but he wisely kept his mouth shut and went back to his desk. He wanted to ask his recommendations about purchasing a computer, but decided it wasn't worth it. He probably wouldn't - or couldn't - tell him anyway.
Daniel leaned over and whispered, "What was that all about?"
Joey handed him the book he had shown Mr. Korte.
Daniel looked at the book for almost ten minutes, then handed it back. "That's a great book, where did you get it? I want a copy of this."
"At the Electronic Home. I need to talk to you after school. Do you have anything planned?" Joey asked.
"No. See you after last period," Daniel said.
Joey started reading the book he'd purchased, as he hadn't had time to look at it before then. Daniel was right. This book went directly to the examples and showed the statements to write. He looked again at the textbook for this class. It was all theory with almost no examples; certainly no complete program routines so you could better understand what you were reading. The more Joey read, the more agitated he became. He went back to the new book. It was the difference between trying to decipher a secret code and reading "See Jack run" as the new book showed complete programs. Something was wrong with this picture.
He was glad when the bell finally rang. If he could get through Phys Ed with no problems he would consider the day a success.
Bryce already was changing clothes when Joey made his way to the bench with his basket of gym clothes. Joey noticed when Bryce stripped off his boxers that his cock seemed a little bigger than the day before. He wondered if he was starting to get a boner and what had caused it.
Bryce, for his part, wondered how big Joey's cock was. Even flaccid, it looked as big as his own did when it was hard. He could feel himself boning up a little bit and Joey's hadn't even started removing his clothes yet.
They were among the first on the gym floor and, as yesterday, were practicing in front of the four basketball goals. The other boys greeted Joey and two of them made remarks about him being picked on by the coach and that he didn't deserve to be treated as he had been.
Before all the boys were out of the locker room, the shrill whistle blew. Joey predicted the next action.
"All right!!! Fall in line and count off. Joey was number seven and the final count was 27. Coach came unhinged. The whistle blew. "Who's trying to be funny?" he all but screamed. "There's supposed to be 28 of you."
No one spoke up, however, several knew that Donnie Laird was absent. No one was about to tell the coach that the count was really correct.
The whistle blew again. "All right!!! Count off again and make it come out right!!!"
The count started again and still came out with 27. Joey wanted to shout "28" just so this could end and they get on with the class.
Another whistle. "All right!!" coach screamed. "Who's absent?" He was pissed and the kids were enjoying it, not realizing that all of them were about to be punished.
One of the boys spoke up. "Donnie Laird isn't in school today?"
"Why didn't you say so?" he screamed. "You're wasting a lot of fucking time!!!"
Coach was building up a head of steam.
"All right!!! Fifteen laps for you - start now!!!" he yelled.
It was quiet on the floor except for the boy starting to run.
"So the rest of you remember not to play your little games, fall in behind him. Fifteen laps for all of you!!!"
Joey was thinking, "What an asshole!!"
Coach stood in the middle of the floor, goading them to run faster and faster. Several of the boys who did run faster passed some of the others, so it was really hard to tell who had run how many laps. Joey maintained his pace. He was afraid he'd get put on the track team if he showed too much speed and endurance.
Coach started them playing half-court basketball as they did the day before. Joey was on the shirts team today, so didn't get harassed about the hair on his chest. He was one of the lucky ones, as he soon discovered that when the coach saw someone cause a foul, they had to run ten laps.
This wasn't Phys Ed; this was a period of verbal abuse by an ignorant coach. Joey was wondering how he managed to get the boys to win a basketball game, short of a death threat if they lost.
He was glad when the whistle blew and the coach screamed for them to start for the showers, sending about ten at a time so they didn't all arrive at once. Joey thought it was the only sensible thing the coach had done all period.
Joey and Bryce arrived in the locker room together even though they hadn't been together on the gym floor. They proceeded to strip off their gym clothes and headed to the shower. Bryce was looking at Joey again and started to spring another boner. He'd noticed that lately he enjoyed looking at other young men in the shower, but had convinced himself it was only because there weren't any girls around. He quickly rinsed off, grabbed a towel on his way out of the shower and got his clothesbasket. He was half dressed by the time Joey took his place at the same bench.
"That was an interesting experience," Joey said quietly as he finished drying himself and started to dress.
"He's not a coach, he's a cross between a drill sergeant and a prison warden," Bryce said.
"I hear you," Joey agreed.
"What are you doing after school this evening?" Bryce asked.
"I'm going to meet up with Daniel and maybe Forrest. We're going to talk about the Computer Lab class. I think I've figured something out, but we need to talk about it. Do you want to join us?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, I don't have to be home right away this evening, so that would be cool."
"Let's go find the other guys. They said they'd meet me near my locker," Joey told him.
"Cool."
Dale's afternoon meeting with Leland Stanton was productive. Leland had really done his homework and had three options detailed on paper for Dale to look at. He explained the benefits of each and emphasized the high-yield municipal bond fund for the tax advantage on the money from the CD's.
"Have you heard anything from the realtor about the sale of the house?" he asked Dale.
"No, it's probably too soon. We just signed a contract last Wednesday to allow him to list it, so I'm sure it's too soon to hear anything unless he has someone standing in the wings waiting for this property to become available."
"I did some checking on his firm. They have excellent references and only list properties that meet their criteria. You were lucky to get a contract with them and they will produce a sale for you.
"That's what we've been told, so I have high hopes," Dale said.
"Now, you mentioned having some funds of your own to invest. Would you like to talk about that today?" Leland asked.
"Yes. I had a thought this morning. Joey started high school here in Williamsport yesterday and is taking a required computer lab class. From what he's told me, I have some concerns about the ability of the instructor. Joey has always been an honor student and suddenly he's in a class where the instructor is pretty blase about the class and it seems everyone is on their own and if they happen to learn something, all the better."
"It certainly isn't the first time a teacher like that led a class," Leland said.
"We looked into the purchase of a computer last night and they are not priced out of sight as far as buying one. However, I know that our family is a little unique in that the two parents have good incomes and the teenager is rich."
Both laughed.
"I know that the retail computer business is one of the fastest growing industries in the world right now. I guess what I'm wondering about is the advisability of getting into the computer business by either buying an existing business or starting a new one?" Dale questioned.
"You are right in that it's an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds with new technology being introduced everyday that makes yesterday's ideas seem like nothing. But, the personal computer is an idea that appeals to everyone. Some, because they actually understand them and others because it's something new and they have to have it, knowing they will never learn how to really make use of it."
"Do you have any suggestions?" Dale asked.
"If you were to do it, you would have to do it right. You need a reliable supplier of components and that's not as hard as it might sound. You would need a manager who knew the market and was willing to stay on top of each new development and be able to offer it immediately as soon as it was available.
"You would need a sales manager that was out beating the bushes for contracts for school computer labs, and supporting them. You need to be able to offer excellent service because if a computer dies, whether in a business or at home, they want it fixed immediately.
"And, the most important part is training customers to use the various software packages being offered. The most common are word processing, spreadsheet and data base programs, and there are more and more off-the-shelf accounting programs that are available. You need to be able to stock them and offer training in the usage of them."
"Actually, that's what started me thinking about this. Joey is enrolled in a required class and they are supposed to learn 'Basic' and write some simple programs, but the instructor is offering no help. It's kind of a learn-it-yourself project. He doesn't give anyone credit for exceptional work, but he doesn't flunk anyone, either."
"Basic has been outdated for several years, it was never really one that caught on. I'm surprised he's teaching it," Leland said.
"I think 'teaching' is a misnomer. I honestly wonder if he could even write a small program, yet he expects the students to do it on their own," Dale told him.
"It would make you think the school board had to hire a computer lab instructor. None came forth, so he got the job," Leland said.
"You may be right, but it's the students who are suffering. Joey has always been an honor student and suddenly he's confronted with something he knows nothing about and getting little help, and I'm not very happy about that," Dale told him.
"Maybe you need to get a group of parents together and go to the principal," Leland suggested.
"I'm gathering data now," Dale smiled.
"Good luck."
"What are your feelings about a computer dealer that offered a quality product to sell, a good service department and instruction in using the computer? Do you think the idea is crazy?" Dale asked.
"No, and I might be able to help you come up with the money for the start-up costs. Sure, there is a lot of risk involved, but if you could assemble the right staff, I think you could make a lot of money. Just don't lose track of the fact that you would have to be a 'service organization' and that would be the key - service and training," Leland said.
"How would I go about putting something together, outlining the idea and solution, to get some others to invest money, too? How would I determine what was needed?" Dale asked.
"That's why I'm here. I'd like to sit down with you and your partner and talk about this, because I think if it was done right, there's a lot of money to be made."
"Thanks. I'm glad to know I'm not crazy," Dale laughed.
"Why don't we get together for dinner later in the week? Thursday would work for me," Leland said after consulting his calendar."
"Let me check with Craig. I think Joey should be in on this, too, if you don't mind. He can better tell us what is going on in the schools."
"That's fine with me. Why don't we plan to get together at 6:30 on Thursday evening, then have drinks and dinner?" Leland asked.
"Let's plan on it. I'll check with Craig and Joey and let you know first thing in the morning," Dale said with a huge smile on his face. "Thanks for your help on the financial accounts for Joey."
"You are more than welcome. I appreciate the fact that Marty sent you guys to talk to me."
Dale called Craig as soon as he was back in his Blazer and ready to go to the ranch.
"Hi sweetheart. How's my stud lover?" he asked Craig when he answered.
"What if someone's tapping the cell phone frequency?" Craig said, but was pleased at the greeting.
"Then they get an earful of two horny guys talking on their cell phones," Dale said. His eyes were twinkling, but of course, Craig couldn't see that.
"What's going on?" Craig asked.
"I just got out of a meeting with Leland Stanton and have set up some of the accounts for Joey's CD funds," he said.
"Great. What else?" Craig asked, sensing that there was more.
"How would you like to open a computer store?" Dale asked.
"What?" Craig was astounded at his lover's suggestion.
"I've been doing some thinking about Joey's - and the other kids - problems with the Computer Lab class," Dale told him.
"I have to admit there is a problem, but that seems like overkill," Craig said.
"When I was meeting with Leland we talked about this. He thinks that a business that has good leadership, good product, good service and good training on the computer and software programs would make a lot of money if it was run right."
Craig could sense his excitement.
"Do you think we could do it? Who would we get to run it?" Craig asked.
"I'm not suggesting we quit our day jobs - yet - but it's a great idea," Dale said, waiting for Craig to say something.
"It is a great idea, but I have no idea how to get this off the ground."
"Do you know if we have anything to do on Thursday night? Leland would like to meet with us and I insisted that Joey be allowed to have dinner with us and talk about what's going on in the school computer lab."
"I think Thursday night is clear, unless Joey has something we don't know about."
"Well, check with him when he gets home and pencil Leland in for Thursday night. If it works out, I'll confirm for all of us in the morning."
"Okay. Will you be home about the usual time?" he asked.
"Should be. The guys are plowing and preparing another section of land this week so nothing unusual going on at the ranch," Dale told him.
"Okay, see you when we get home. Don't forget that we have to see if we can find costumes tonight. Can't have Cinderella going to the fancy ball naked, can we?" Craig teased.
"If that's the case, she can stay home with me," Dale giggled.
"Horn dog," Craig teased.
"You're right, thank you. Talk later." Dale clicked off before Craig could reply.
Daniel, Bret and Forrest were talking to each other as Joey and Bryce walked up.
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Bryce asked.
"Waitin' for you two slowpokes," Daniel said. "What's the matter, did you have to run laps all seventh period?"
"Close to it," Joey told them. "Dennison started to punish one person for not telling him someone was absent, then decided that the whole bunch of us would benefit by running 15 laps."
"Yeah, then some of the others had to run laps because they fouled another player when we were playing half-court basketball," Bryce said.
"Bummer," Daniel told them.
Hal walked up about that time. "Hey guys, what's going on?"
"Waitin' for you so we can get the fuck out of here," Bryce laughed.
"What? I can't hear you. You didn't blow your whistle!" Joey joked.
Everyone laughed, even though it wasn't all that funny.
"What are we going to do?" Daniel asked.
For a minute no one said anything. Joey looked at his watch. It was 4:10.
"Does anyone live closer to school than me?" Joey asked.
"Where do you live?" Hal asked.
"The Carriage House, at 37th and Larcher."
No one lived any closer.
"You can come over to my place. My Dad said he would see to it that we had sodas and snacks."
The boys agreed and set off for Joey's condo, joking, pushing and carrying on with each other. Joey didn't think he would ever have closer friends than his circle in Houston, but decided these guys were okay. They were a lot of fun and each was a lot different from the others.
They were at the condo in just a few minutes. Mitsy greeted them at the door. The boys wanted to pet her, but she wanted to go downstairs.
"She'll let you play with her when she comes back from downstairs," Joey assured them.
"She's beautiful," Hal said, the others agreeing.
"My bathroom is in here if anyone needs to use it," Joey said, showing them the way through his bedroom. The large box of regular movies was sitting in front of Joey's entertainment center.
"Come on out to the kitchen and let's see what there is to eat," Joey said. The others followed him.
Bryce and Daniel were admiring the view from the French doors that led to the small balcony. "This place is awesome," Bryce said. Daniel agreed.
"Do just you and your Dad live here?" Forrest asked.
"No, there are three of us. Dale is my half brother and I call him 'Dad' most of the time. His best friend lives here, too. His name is Craig and he's an architect. I call him 'my other Dad' because he really looks after me, too. A couple of you know that my real father died about 2 weeks ago. Dale didn't even know that I existed until we tracked him down. Dad asked him to be my guardian and he accepted. Otherwise, I'd probably be living in the Foster Care System in Houston right now and that's pretty ugly. Both Dale and Craig are really super guys and I love them both."
As Joey suspected, Bryce picked up on Craig living there, also.
"What are they, fags?" he sneered.
Before Joey could say anything, Bret spoke up.
"Bryce, you are way out of line. Didn't you just hear Joey explain that Dale and Craig rescued him from living in the Foster Care System? I've met both of them when I attended church at St. James and they are super people that I would be proud to call my Dad or guardian, or whatever they wanted me to call them. So, I don't want to hear anything more about fags or queers unless you want to talk about Rev. Jimmy Bob Jones being a pervert."
Bryce started to protest, but Hal spoke up. "Just because two men happen to live together, it doesn't mean they are gay, or whatever label you want to put on it. Bret is right, there are sexual predators out there and the minister at your church was the worst because he molested little boys that didn't understand what was going on. What's more, he told them they would die and burn in hell if they ever told anyone about it. He sure screwed up a bunch of little boys minds.
"Yeah, I can attest to that fact. I was one of the boys he molested. It started about 6 years ago and when I started through puberty and started to grow hair and could shoot wads, he didn't want anything more to do with me. I've felt guilty for years and didn't know why, because I thought it was all my fault," Bret said with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I've got to start attending counseling sessions with my whole family to try to work through this mess."
Bryce was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
One by one, the boys hugged Bret and told him how sorry they were. Bryce didn't take part in that action, but Bret didn't think anything about it. He was glad for the support he was getting.
Joey felt like the encounter was his fault; after all he had invited the boys to his place, then told them about having two Dads. However, Bret and Hal had sided against the accuser and hopefully, that would be the end of the discussion.
He suddenly remembered Mitsy and went to the door to let her in. She was ready to play with all the people who had come to visit her, sitting in front of each to shake her paw, then rolling over so they could rub her chest and stomach. She was enjoying all the attention she was receiving.
Joey was opening packages of chips and some dip, then set glasses out on the kitchen counter and filled them with ice.
"Come on guys, help yourselves to the goodies," Joey said. While the other guys were helping themselves, he fed Mitsy and gave her fresh water.
While they were visiting in the kitchen, Craig came home. Joey proudly introduced him. He already knew Hal Shaw and Bret Jenkins. This is Bryce Barnett, Daniel Pearson and Forrest Ross," Joey said, finishing the introductions.
"I'm glad that Joey is making friends so quickly. I know that was a big concern of his in moving away from his friends in Houston," Craig told them.
He then asked Joey, "How was school today?"
Joey gave him a quick report about Phys Ed.
Surprisingly, Bryce spoke up. "He verbally abuses all of us and we don't ever do anything different than play half-court basketball and run laps for punishment for whatever comes into his feeble little mind."
"You're kidding?" Craig asked. No scooter basketball, volleyball, rope climbing, trampoline, soccer, baseball, gymnastics or wrestling?"
"Half-court basketball and laps for punishment was all we did when I was in that class," Forrest said. Bret and Daniel agreed.
"That's not teaching physical education, that's baby-sitting Craig said.
"We'll let you inform him of that," Bryce said.
They all laughed.
"I took the new book I bought last night to show to Mr. Korte today. He passed it off like it was nothing, but it has great examples and complete programs in it," Joey said.
"I want to see that book again," Daniel told him.
"Can I see your textbook?" Craig asked.
"Sure, they're still in my backpack. I'll get them," Joey replied.
Craig looked at the two books when Joey handed them to him.
"This is the textbook you are using in the class?" Craig questioned.
"Yes," the boys replied, almost as one.
He snapped the book shut. "This isn't even a textbook. It's a college thesis on the theory of computer science and was written in 1977 before IBM even introduced their first personal computer to the public." Craig was almost livid. He opened the book back up to the preface.
"This was written by John Korte as a Masters Thesis and is dedicated to my son, Kent Korte," Craig read. "Does he actually teach out of this book?"
"Not really. Maybe that's why the book doesn't make any sense," Daniel said.
"How are you learning about programming in Basic?" Craig asked.
"He has some programs that we can download from his bulletin board and we're supposed to come up with ideas for our own programs by using those examples," Hal told them.
"This is a crock of sh-. Sorry guys, I didn't mean to say that," Craig said, being sincere.
"That's probably the right word," Forrest said. All of them laughed together.
"We're all going to learn Basic language programming, if I have to learn it and teach it myself. He's going to wonder what hit him when we're through with him," Craig said.
"Thanks Dad," Joey said. "Now that you've turned into Superman, what are you going to do about Coach Dennison?"
"One problem at a time. Nobody's ever failed gym class. It doesn't count as part of your grade, just that you get a non- grade credit for being in class," Craig told them.
"What can we do to help with the Korte problem?" Daniel asked.
"Just hang loose. I'm going to get some answers this week, then we'll decide what to do," Craig said. "Since he isn't making any demands on you or giving tests, just get a copy of the book Joey found at Electronic Home last evening. Read it and we'll figure out a way to help each other."
By that time it was 5:45 and Dale walked in the front door. He was surprised to see the group of boys in the kitchen, loading up on snacks and soft drinks.
Joey took care of introductions. All the boys, especially Bryce was in awe of Dale's appearance. He and Forrest couldn't get over how much Dale and Joey resembled each other. Daniel, Bret and Hal, of course, had seen Dale before.
"Does anyone need a ride home?" Dale asked.
It turned out that everyone would appreciate it, so both Dale and Craig took their vehicles to take the five boys home, Joey riding along with Craig as he took Hal and Bret home.
Dale ended up with the three boys - Daniel, Bryce and Forrest - each of who secretly thought he and Joey were hunks.
When they ended up back at the condo, Craig remarked that he thought it was too late to make cinnamon rolls that evening and suggested they shop for their Halloween costumes and then go to Tony D's for dinner. That idea got an automatic second from Dale and Joey.
The first stop was the Salvation Army Thrift Store to see what people had discarded that might be of use to them. They told the clerk they were looking for Halloween costumes and how they planned to dress. The woman thought it was a great idea and took them to the section where they had a pretty good selection of old formals and party dresses. She determined the size Craig needed and came up with a really good-looking pink and white formal. Craig was very hesitant to try it on, but she assured Craig that she had helped outfit other men with dresses, so he disappeared into the fitting room. The dress was almost made for him and had a built-in brassiere so make it look like he had ample boobs without augmentation.
They found some plastic sandals with low heels to fit his 9C feet, reminding Craig that he had to wear one and Dale had to carry the other as he was searching for the beautiful girl who had lost her glass slipper. The only other thing Craig needed was panty hose and a blond wig, aside from makeup and some ridiculous earrings and a necklace. The clerk suggested some white gloves, but didn't have any.
Dale was easy to outfit. They could find tights at another store that catered to large women's sizes. He had a choice of ruffled shirts and a colorful vest was easy to find. A crown shouldn't weren't a big problem as a costume shop had the shoes and crown he needed
Joey found tights at the same place they went for the ones to fit Dale. He decided to skip the shirt and found a vest that would show off his newly furred chest. He found some costume slippers at the same place Dale found shoes. Joey's had pointed, curled-up toes, like a genie would wear. He needed a cap of some kind, along with a bag for his "fairy dust".
The costume shop had a plastic bag with a shoulder strap that would work for the fairy dust. It just needed to be labeled. He finally found a cap that would do; it looked like something Peter Pan would wear.
They found some over-stated costume jewelry in the costume shop. There were earrings, necklace and bracelet to look like gaudy diamonds. They found the panty hose at the same shop where Dale and Joey got their tights. One make-up kit would do for all three of them. They found long white gloves and a blond wig that was really cute to complete Craig's costume.
The total spent on their Halloween costumes was $96.57.
All three of them were enthused and couldn't wait until the party on Saturday night.
Craig brought along the "textbook" Kent Korte was using in class and they went to the Electronic Home to talk to Dennis, who greeted them like old friends.
"Have you decided on a computer yet?" he questioned them after they exchanged greetings.
"No, we're working on it though," Craig said. "Can you talk to us for a few minutes?"
"Sure. What can I tell you?" he asked.
"Are you familiar with this book?" Craig asked, handing him the copy of "Basic Computer Usage" from the Computer Lab class.
Dennis looked at the book, and then started laughing. "Where did you get this? It's a rejected Master's Thesis from the University of Oklahoma in 1977. It didn't even deal with the subject. The man that wrote it had it published anyway and some company was dumb enough to put it into hardback."
Craig could hardly keep his cool. "That's the 'textbook' that Kent Korte is using in the Computer Lab class at Davy Crockett High School. It was written by his father."
"You're shittin' me, right?" He was incredulous.
"Well we don't think he's teaching out of it, but every student in the class has a copy, for whatever good it does them, I don't know," Craig told him.
"Wow, somebody's getting screwed over," Dennis told them.
"Look, what do you know about Basic programming language?" Craig demanded.
"Enough to write a few simple routines. It was something developed for PC's, but never caught on because it's cumbersome to write and test. There are a number of newer tools available such as dBase, FOXBASE, C, PC COBOL and PC FORTRAN. dBase and FOXBASE are similar and are much, much more powerful because they can use large database files, even joining several to produce some really complicated reports. If you compile the programs into an executable file with a program like the Nantucket Clipper, it becomes a stand-alone program. The source code is much easier to write and test than the PC versions of mainframe languages such as Cobol and Fortran.
"I've not said anything because it's not my place to, but the school system is doing the kids a disservice by allowing Basic to be taught," Dennis said.
"They are doing the kids an even bigger disservice because they aren't being taught anything," Craig said.
"Look, I'm going to talk to a school board member about this. Joey is in the class. He doesn't know anything about computers and the kids in the class are pretty helpless because they are supposed to learn to write some routines. The rest of the time they spend on the computers working through tutorials for WordStar and Lotus. We've been told that his main concern is that each person in the class access his Bulletin Board each day and register as a visitor. How much of a problem is it going to be to prove that the textbook shouldn't be allowed in the class?" Craig asked.
"Probably not too much trouble. I think the instructor of Computer Science at Western Juco, Scott McKown, will back up what I've said by a hundred percent," Dennis told them.
"Thanks for your help," Dale told Dennis. "We have another matter to discuss with you, but tonight isn't the time. Do you have any evenings free?" he questioned.
"Yes, I don't work at all on Friday," Dennis said.
"Let me have one of your cards with a telephone number I can call if you aren't at the store, we need to talk to you about an idea we have and would welcome your input if you are willing to talk to us," Dale told him.
Dennis was intrigued. "Yes, I'll be available on Friday evening. Here's my home telephone number," he said writing it on the back of a business card.
"Thanks. You'll be hearing from us. Right now we are gathering information," Dale said as he turned to lead Craig and Joey out of the store.
As they got in Craig's car, Joey asked, "Dad, what was all that about?"
"Just something we're working on to help you guys out with the computer lab," Dale said. "That's all I'm going to say for now, but your Mom and I are working the problem."
"Neat," Joey said, as Craig rolled his eyes.
Greg was still working when they arrived at Tony D's. The dinner crowd had vacated the restaurant and only five tables had diners seated at them. Greg put them in an alcove so they could visit.
"Can Joey have a glass of wine?" he asked.
Joey felt very adult that Greg would even consider offering wine to him.
Dale looked at Craig with a question in his eyes. Craig nodded his head yes.
"Just don't get him drunk. He gets really mean and belligerent and says embarrassing things," Dale laughed.
All four of them laughed and Greg hoped Dale was teasing him.
One of the bus boys brought bread sticks and Marinara Sauce and the bartender brought each of them a glass of red wine.
Greg was immediately back at their table. "We have plenty of Chicken Saltimbocca tonight and I'd like to share it with you so I don't have to eat it the rest of the week, although it's very good," he teased.
"Gee, I don't know. It sounds good, but I was hoping for a big juicy cheeseburger," Dale said, his eyes starting to sparkle.
Greg looked at him. "Mickey D's is down the street about two blocks. It's within walking distance and I'm sure you'll be able to eat two of them by the time you get there."
Joey and Craig had a hard time suppressing their laughter. Dale joined in.
"Point well taken," Dale said. "I'll take the stuff you can't sell and an Italian salad to go with it."
Joey and Craig ordered the same.
"What are you going to do to Mr. Korte?" Joey asked.
"Nothing," Craig said. "He's already done it to himself. Just keep quiet about this, even to your friends and we'll see how this plays out over the next few weeks."
"What he's done is wrong and he's going to have to prove that he's qualified to teach this class. I don't think he can do that," Dale said.
"Neat," Joey said. "I don't think he's interested in anything except his bulletin board and checking each day to see if everyone logged in." He was quiet for a moment. "I didn't do that today. I guess I'll be on his shit list tomorrow."
"Oh oh," Craig said.
"All of the computers were in use during the class and then we went to our place after school. I didn't even think about it."
"Don't worry about it," Dale told him. "I think that will be the least of his worries when this is all over. No promises, but I think some changes are going to have to be made. Just do the best you can and we'll get you guys the help you need."
Three of the tables were vacated and Greg asked if he could join the fellows at their table. They all indicated he was more than welcome to sit down.
"What's been going on? I haven't seen you since your parents were here last week," Greg asked.
"It seems like it's been a busy few days. My parents were here until Sunday afternoon and they were a big, big help to us in Houston. We've gotten Joey moved and started to school here."
"I've never had grandparents before and Dad Craig's parents are great," Joey said.
"And, they've never had grandchildren before, so they think Joey is okay, too," Craig said.
"I admire you guys. You've stepped forward to help Joey, who obviously is a good kid and your parents have accepted the fact that you guys are a couple," Greg told them.
"We're not exactly a traditional family, but I would be willing to bet that we are more 'normal' than most families," Dale said.
The others agreed with him.
"At least yours seems to be functional. That's a lot more than can be said of many that come in here to eat," Greg told them.
"Is it really that bad?" Craig asked. He had a hard time believing that as his own family was always there for each other. He had a hard time imagining a family that wasn't supportive of each other.
"Believe me, when I say it is. There was one family in here earlier, two parents and three children from probably about 12 to 18 years old. I don't think they spoke two words to each other the entire time they were in here. It was like they dared each other to say anything."
"That's sad," Joey said. "My Dad and I always had lots to talk about with each other and my two new Dads are always teasing each other and me, too. I know that I can count on them if there's a problem. They are involved with what I'm doing and I rely on them for help, too."
"Joey's right," Craig said. "We're trying to work through a problem with the computer lab class at his school. All of the kids need more help than they are getting in class and Dale and I are going to see to it they all have the help they need."
"You should run for school board," Greg said in a teasing manner.
"Believe me, PTA President or being on the school board have both crossed my mind," Dale told them.
"I'd back you for either office, although I don't think I could help on the PTA President position. But, I can vote as well as the next person and would vote for you if you ran for school board."
"I don't think it will come to that, but I'll only say that we think there is a problem and we'll work to get it fixed," Dale said.
"I'm sure you all will," Greg said.
The salads were served at that time and it was obvious that Greg was going to eat with them as the busboy brought four salads. That was fine as they enjoyed visiting with him.
"Not to change the subject, but I understand that Tom and Eddie may be taking some classes so they can become foster parents," Greg said.
"I know they interviewed with someone from the Juvenile Placement Service in Austin. Tom told us about it at church on Sunday," Dale said.
Craig spoke up. "They are supposed to attend a couple of seminar-type workshops that present a lot of different scenarios of things they might encounter in dealing with foster children and their problems. They have applied to help gay teenage boys, but will take whatever the juvenile system sends their way. From what we were told, there are few qualified homes or foster parents to take any boys that are above twelve years old."
"That's too bad. I never had any problem with my parents or grandparents when I told them that I was gay, but I know there were a couple of boys in high school when I was a student that didn't fare so well. Their parents became hostile, abusive and finally kicked them out of their house. They were both lucky that they could stay with friends, but I really felt sorry for them because their parents didn't give them money to buy clothes or schoolbooks. Basically, there were on their own, but at least had a warm place to sleep and were getting three meals a day."
"Wow!" Joey said. "I was wondering what might happen to me if I got put in the Juvenile System in Houston. I'm really thankful that my two Dads rescued me from living like that."
"I'm glad we did, too," Craig said, "even if you do give me a bad time. You and your brother are too much alike, and I love you both."
"See, Joey, I told you that your Mom really does love you," Dale said, grinning from ear to ear.
Craig sat there with an exasperated look on his face, then joined the others in laughter.
"Hey, are you guys going to Tom and Eddie's Halloween party?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, we got an invitation and accepted," Dale told me.
"We've got really cool costumes, too," Joey told him. "We got the stuff we need this evening."
"Great. I'll look forward to seeing you there. This has gotten to be a big event here in Williamsport. You guys will all have a good time," Greg said.
Their meals arrived shortly after the busboys removed their salad plates. The bartender brought more wine for Dale, Craig and Greg, then asked Joey if he wanted a soft drink or water.
"Ginger Ale," Joey told him.
"How's business?" Dale asked Greg.
"We had a little bit of a slump for about three weeks after the new chain opened here. Then people realized their meals were made somewhere else, quick-frozen, then micro waved and smothered in cheese and sauce right before they were served. Our meals are prepared to order and served from the kitchen here."
"We haven't been there, and I honestly think there is no reason to, as long as you are in business here," Craig told him.
"Thanks. I'll put you down as loyal customers. Their wait staff hasn't been trained and that's another plus for us. People are used to good service when they come here. We don't shove the food on the table, ask if there's anything else and then slap the ticket down on the table, ignoring you for the rest of the time it takes you to eat."
"What's with these chains, anyway? It's that way in every city we've eaten?" Dale asked.
"Their 'store managers manual' says that they are supposed to turn a table 6 times between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. That means six groups of customers. They don't want you to sit and visit or even have a leisurely meal. They have forty minutes to get you seated, get you something to drink, take your order, feed you and get you out the front door again. What they don't realize is that only those who want to go somewhere to eat quickly are going to be their regular customers."
"I didn't realize they had a time limit," Dale said.
"Well, they are not going to run you out of the restaurant, but they will make you feel unwelcome if you tarry too long."
"It's no wonder the good restaurants always have a line waiting to get in around 7 p.m.," Craig asked.
"I wish we had a line waiting to get in here, but we are satisfied that our customers are regular and loyal. We generally are able to seat you immediately, although the service may be a little slow when we are busy. Still we feel that our customers come here to be treated like we are glad to see them and have good food to serve them," Greg told them.
"Your food is really good," Joey said.
"Thanks. We pride ourselves on maintaining quality and we try to put out a goodly quantity, too. We use fresh ingredients and everything is prepared in our kitchen. We don't buy pre- cooked meat, like sausage for pizza, or shredded cheese. My grandparents would rather close the doors instead of compromising quality."
"Believe me. This is good quality," Craig said, the others agreeing.
"And plenty to eat, too," Dale quickly added.
"Thanks guys. It's always a pleasure to have you come in to eat. I'm sorry that I don't have a chance to see you more often, but I seem to spend more and more time here as my grandparents have pretty much retired and my parents have discovered they like to travel a little now and then," Greg told them.
By this time they were through eating. Joey was the only one who accepted the offer of dessert, spumoni ice cream.
They were the last customers to leave the restaurant and Greg gave each of them a hug as they went to the door, refusing to allow them to do anything other than leave a tip for the servers.
"See you guys Friday night. It will be a great party," Greg said as they went out the door.
"He's a neat guy," Joey said when they got in the car.
"Yeah. I think Greg's a true friend. I'm like he is; I wish we could see each other more often. He's pretty much taken over the operation of the restaurant, although he seems to arrange adequate time off to enjoy going to a party or going out of town," Craig said.
"Does he have a boyfriend?" Joey asked.
"I don't know for sure. I think he has a close friend that lives out of town, but their jobs and more than a few miles keep them from being together often," Craig answered.
"That's too bad," Dale said.
"Is it hard for gay guys to find other gay guys?" Joey asked them.
"I don't think it's a big problem in the large cities, even like Austin," Craig said. "Here, the gay population isn't as large and not everyone who is gay wants everybody in town to know about it. So, I know a lot of the younger people go to Austin and San Antonio to meet other men."
"I didn't have to go to Austin," Dale said, reaching for Craig's hand as they drove down the street.
Joey had a little bit of homework, consisting of one chapter in Algebra and then reading some of the other textbooks to catch up and review for his other classes, so he excused himself to his room to get his books. Since they hadn't put his desk in his room, he started to return to the dining room table to work on his Algebra.
His two Dads were cuddled up on the loveseat and were obviously making out with each other. Joey stood in the doorway, transfixed at what he was seeing. 'So this is what making love is all about,' he thought. His Dads were kissing each other, rubbing their hands over the others body and it almost appeared they were trying to pull each other inside themselves. Although they were fully clothed, hands were inside each other's shirts. He felt himself starting to get hard.
At some point in time, he had heard the term 'foreplay' and knew this must be what he was seeing. 'Geeze, this was hot,' he thought. He squeezed his cock through his Levis as he stood there watching.
About that time Dale opened his eyes and saw Joey standing in the doorway. He pulled his lips away from Craig, whispering, "We've got company."
Craig sat bolt upright, almost falling off the loveseat. "How long have you been standing there watching us?" Craig demanded. He wasn't mad, because he realized they should have been in the privacy of their own bedroom.
Joey was embarrassed. "Not very long. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy on you. It just looks so beautiful and I know that you guys really love each other. I just wish my Dad would have had someone to love him, like you guys have each other."
Both Dale and Craig stood up. It was obvious they were hard and they didn't try to cover themselves, as it would just draw more attention to their condition.
"We told you that you would probably see us kissing each other and being affectionate to the other, but that anything beyond that would be in the privacy of our own room. I'm glad you are accepting of our passions, but I guess we forget that we have a third person living here now," Dale told him.
Craig noticed that Joey was hard, too. "We'll try to watch it the next time and not put on a public display," he giggled.
"You need a place to study, don't you?" Dale asked.
"Yeah, my desk is still in the storage unit so I was going to use the dining room table," Joey responded.
"Come on, then. We'll get your desk and bring it to the condo tomorrow and then we can stay out of each other's way," Dale said.
"You're not mad at me, are you?" Joey questioned.
"No, not in the least. It's us that can't keep our hands off each other. I guess we just thought you were going to stay in your room to study, but you don't have any place to spread stuff out and write," Craig said.
"Yeah, I really don't. We were going to hold off on the desk until we got my entertainment center set up, then were talked about a computer and a desk for that, so I just never gave it any thought about bringing it here," Joey said.
"We'll get it for you tomorrow, so go ahead and use the dining room table. When you're through, we'll have some ice cream, okay?" Dale asked.
"Cool," Joey replied.
Dale and Craig went to the kitchen to talk about their ideas to solve the computer lab problem.
After they had their dessert, Joey started to go to his room, then gave Dale and Craig a hug in turn. "I'm sorry if you think I was spying on you. I started to come back in the living room and saw you guys. It just looked so beautiful, the way you were kissing and caressing each other. I just couldn't help but stand and look."
"Don't worry about it, bud," Dale said. "Thanks for understanding."
Joey went off to bed. As he took his Levis off, he noticed that his jockey shorts were wet both in and above the pouch. He knew it was precum and why it was there. Although he was horny, he was more tired and slipped off to sleep almost as soon as he lay down.
Dale and Craig were horny, too. They resumed what they had started earlier, but this time they were both without clothes to impede their foreplay. It was with urgency that they needed each other and ended up in a 69 position to slake their thirst for each other's love offering.
After they were spent, they nestled together and quickly went to sleep, too, content in their love for each other. Thankful for their family.
(to be continued)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the inquiries and concern about me posting this chapter late. It's the first time I've not had a new chapter posted to Nifty each Friday in a long time. My writing time has shrunk a little and I was working on another project, too. I looked forward to your emails, comments and those who want to visit, too. You are all great readers and I'm thankful for the loyal following of many people. Please contact me at TulsaDriller7@aol.com. I try to answer all emails.
Special thanks to Paul Daventon for his help in catching obvious mistakes.