Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 00:51:33 +0000
From: revjpgibson@hotmail.com
Subject: Under the Cherry Tree chapter 20

			   UNDER THE CHERRY TREE
				    By
		  Rev. Jesse Penfield Gibson, MDiv, DMin


Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.  The characters and situations are
purely imaginary.  Any resemblence to any living persion is coincidental.
This story is primarily a romance but does contain some scenes of explicit
sex, primarily homosexual but not exclusively.

Complaints, compliments and comments to revjpgibson@Hotmail.com

Please remember to give to Nifty to keep the stories coming



	                             TWENTY


	In the early morning hours, I went back to the house, which was
unlocked, and crept upstairs to my designated bed.  I heard the sounds of
sex coming from the front bedroom and I assumed that Danny was going at it.
I woke up when the morning light hit me in eye, causing me to toss and turn
so I could continue sleeping but finally I had to give up the effort.  I
dressed and headed down stairs. Going down the stairs, I could smell fresh
coffee brewing and I sleepily headed for it.  Betty Jean was in the
kitchen, stirring something in a bowl vigorously.  She told me that Xander
was outside getting eggs from the chicken coop.  I nursed a cup of hot
black coffee waiting for him to return, not wanting to talk with the family
matriarch that much.  Xander was shirtless and sweaty, his hair damp, from
a morning run when he returned with a basket of eggs.  He, as always, was
vibrant and alive.

	I sat on the front porch swing, sipping the coffee and being
silent, trying to process my feelings.  I didn't know how to view myself at
that particular moment.  Not that long ago, I had accused Reed of statutory
rape for giving a blowjob to Ian and now I had done worse.  The fact that
no one seemed like they would care also bothered me, as did Reed's taunt
about having to start younger than 15 if I wanted to protect the virtue of
a Crowe Brother.  It seemed that 12 might be too old.  When Xander came
out, I told him what had happened.

	He smiled.  "Yeah, those things can get pretty wild.  I was a year
older but it was Colin, Liam, Jimmy and my sister Siobahn.  You haven't met
her but she gave me a lesson in what to do to a pussy"

	"Your sister?"

	He shrugged.  "I didn't actually fuck her because we don't want a
two headed baby.A tongue can do a lot.  Listen, Dill, certain places and
times around here, there are no rules and there no taboos.  If you have a
problem with it, you just stay the fuck away.  But if you go, you
understand what it is.  Last night was one of those places and one of those
times.  The way things work around here is that nobody messes with the
little kids.  They can play and do whatever they want, at least about sex
play and stuff.  Karl, Ian, Cason, Leo, Tempest, Fiona, they have to
initiate it.  Really, there is nothing intergenerational that goes on
except for Grandpa and Jimmy."

	Danny wandered out onto the porch, naked.  Xander told him that I
was upset about having participating in Karl's initiation.  Danny chuckled,
"A little more than you expected?"

	"I don't understand how you could send your son off to live in the
woods with a pedophile.  I'm sorry because I don't get it," I told him.

	"That's because you think that sex is bad.  I don't.  I think it is
there to be enjoyed.  Karl has as much right to enjoy his sexuality as you
do or I do.  Little Ned, all of 2 years old, is practically addicted to
rubbing himself down there and he has as much to right to his sexuality as
you or I do.  I send my children out there to learn how to be wild, how to
be uncivilized, how to survive.  I send them out there to learn what's
important to them and what isn't.  Ask around: see if you find anybody who
thinks it was a negative experience.  There have been a couple that didn't
stay long because it didn't suit them and that's fine. Most kind of wish it
would have lasted longer."

	Xander looked at me.  "Just after my Mom died, I had my first truly
manic episode. Well, first bipolar episode.  My life was shit.  Grief
because of my mom and Kerry was only 19 and she couldn't afford to take
care of me.  My Grandparents were raising hell.  But I came here, at least
for a year, and they sent me out there to Grandpa.  He taught me how to
hunt, how to fish, how to build, how to party, he taught me how to live.  I
didn't mind the sex.  I was happy to do it.  For one thing, he is really
very sweet under that exterior and I truly think that he loves me.  I was
happy to make him happy.  I wanted to."

	Danny looked at me.  "Nobody is being exploited.  Nobody is being
forced.  Everybody here is free to do what they want.  We've just moved
beyond petty morality.  You got your dick sucked by a boy perfectly happy
to suck your dick.  You were horny and you fucked a boy who likes to get
fucked.  You're not going to go to hell because there is no hell and we
don't give a shit because there is no reason to give a shit.  Pretty soon,
Karl will be running around in the woods naked as the day he was born and
will be as happy as he can be."

	Reluctantly, I tried to perk up and seem more cheerful.  I wasn't
that sure I completely bought into their way of looking at things.  But it
was their way and who am I to say that it is wrong for them?  Breakfast
consisted of scrambled eggs, deer sausage, grits and biscuits with jam.  It
was a pretty hearty meal and delicious.  There was a crowd around the
table: Danny, Betty Jean, their other lover named Jessica who was very
obviously pregnant, Ian, Karl, Ian's girlfriend Casey, me, Xander, and four
younger kids.  A few minutes later, Colin came in with his two wives and
two children to join in.  Ian and Karl both had enormous appetites.  I did
ask Karl if he was looking forward to going out to the woods.  He grinned
broadly and assured me that he was.  I was also surprised that Xander was
eating meat but brief lecture from Danny on the difference between hunting
for meat and the industrialization of death.  Danny, it was clear, liked to
hold forth.

	 "So, for everybody tripping tonight, that probably should be the
last meal of the day." Danny announced.

	"And what's tonight's special?" Colin asked.

	"5-MEO-DiPT.  Just finished a batch," Danny said

	Xander laughed.  "Foxy?  Boy, you know how to stick it Dylan."

	I looked at Xander, questioning.  Colin spoke up, "No thanks, Not
my cup of tea.  I don't like diarrhea and muscle cramps that much.  I'll
just have some `shrooms."

	Xander signed on though, especially after learning there was also
some drug called DPT also.  He explained to me that it wasn't as
hallucinogenic as LSD but more than E.  Even more than E, it had a positive
mood lift and euphoria.  The main thing was that the sex was amazing.
There could be some muscle tension, excess stimulation and diarrhea, so not
eating anything for 12 hours was a must.  He clearly wanted me to agree to
and I did.

	The after breakfast bath was interesting.  The amount of hot water
was limited as it was heated passively with solar power, so it was pretty
much family style bathing.  In a stone floored room, you just had to gather
around and slop yourself off in full view of everybody.  I wasn't used to
being naked publicly but I could see why Xander and his brothers developed
a positive body image.  The fact that everyone here was lean and fit made a
difference.  Nudity was natural to them and every stage of life was
represented and viewed as normal.  Of course, it was a working farm and
like every farm, the work is hard and begins early.  Everybody seemed to
have a role and chores to do.  It appeared that Xander's role was to go
shopping.  Someone from each family group came by and gave him a shopping
list.  He explained that he would be leaving with a shipment of drugs and
the payment was made via the shopping lists.  For the most part, the lists
were prosaic, staples mostly.  There were a few specialty items, some food
but a couple of books and some tools too.

	We had to head into Savannah to shop and took a SUV with Fulton
County plates to do it.  It was a "clean" vehicle, having never held any
marijuana.  Once in Savannah, Xander took me on a brief tour of some of the
squares, pointing out some architectural detail that he liked and promising
that soon we could come back for a more leisurely visit.  I had never been
before but downtown Savannah in the spring may be one of the most beautiful
cities in the country. The bookstore wasn't a chain like Books a Million
and was on a very pretty square behind the Hilton, one square over parallel
to the river from the Cathedral and one square up from Mercer House, the
site of the shooting in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
While we were there, we went over to Lafayette Square and looked at the
childhood home of Flannery O'Connor, one of my favortie writers.  The
grocery store was just outside the historic district and the neighborhood
looked rundown.  But it also looked like it was locally owned instead of
being a chain operation.  We got multiple 5 lb bags of flour, sugar, and
grits plus boxes of salt and pepper.  We had to get butter and cheese too
plus a variety of cleaning supplies. In total, it was actually a lot of
stuff.  Xander also made sure he got sweet treats for the kids too.  The
hardware store was locally owned too and then we headed back.

	We were just outside Clyo when Xander asked me if I was sure I had
no drugs on me.  "No," I said.  "Why?"

	"There's a cop on our tail" he answered calmly, sneaking a peek at
the rear view mirror.

	"What do we do?"

	He hesitated for a second.  Then he said, just as calmly as before,
"Nothing.  We'e busted. Don't say anything. Politely refuse to answer."

	Just then I could see the lights of the police car.  Xander eased
over to the side of the road and stopped.  It seemed like a really long
time before a fat Deputy Sheriff waddled up alongside the car and Xander
let the window down.

	"License and proof of insurance" the fat Deputy said in an
unfriendly tone.  I couldn't see his hands.

	"The license is in my wallet.  I'll get it out now," Xander told
him.  For the most part he was staring straight ahead and his tone was
oddly formal.  He handed the license to the Deputy and said, "The insurance
card is in the glove compartment.  There's also a loaded Glock G31 in there
too.  Do you want me to get the card out?"

	I didn't know anything about the gun and I was momentarily scared.
I looked over at the cop and saw that he had his gun drawn now.  That
definitely frightened me.  "I want you both out of the vehicle, passenger
first. Keep your hands where I can see them," he ordered us.

	I got out, trying to remember not to make any sudden moves but the
adrenaline was pumping.  He made me go to the front of the vehicle and put
my hands on the hood.  Then Xander got out and did the same thing.  A State
Patrol vehicle came roaring up from the direction of Clyo, his lights
going.  He came to a halt behind us and came out with his gun drawn too.  I
looked over at Xander trying to see if he thought everything was all right
but he continued to stare stone-faced ahead.

	The State Patrolman took the license and began to speak in his
radio.  "David Alexander Crowe, 036314159, date of birth 7/12/87."  Then he
demanded my license and read my information into the radio.  Just then a
second Sheriff's car pulled up, his lights going too.  The State Patrolman
retreated to his car and the second deputy, skinny and inbred looking,
watched us while the fat one searched the glove compartment.  The inbred
deputy patted us both down.

	"Do you know why I stopped you?" the fat one asked, having come
around from the other side.

	"No, sir" Xander replied.

	"Do you know how fast you were going?"

	"Yes sir"

	The fat deputy stewed a bit.  The trooper came back and handed the
licenses to the deputy.  They instructed Xander to go to the back of the
vehicle, separating us.  Cars passed us by and I can imagine what they
thought with two college aged boys and three cop cars.  The trooper stood
in front of me and asked, "Where were you two boys going?"

	"I don't know" I said.  It was technically true since I still
hadn't quite figured out the way.

	"You don't know?" the inbred deputy said, getting very close up to
me but not touching.

	"No sir, he was driving."

	"Well, where was he driving to?"

	"I don't know" I answered again.

	"You're beginning to piss me off, kid.  Do you want to piss me off?
Because nothing can be turned into something real quick if I get pisssed
off.  You don't want that, now do you?  So, I'll ask you again, where were
you headed?"

	"That way. Toward Clyo" I regretted the answer as soon as I said
it.

	"You being funny?  You think this is a joke? You need to get an
attitude adjustment, kid.  This is not a joke.  Do you see anybody
laughing?"

	"No sir"

	The Trooper came back. "The vehicle is registered to a Phillip
Nicholas Crowe."

	The inbred Deputy got in my face.  "Is this vehicle stolen?  Where
did you two get this vehicle?"

	I was stunned.  "Phillip is his brother."

	"And where is he at?  Did he give you permission to use his
vehicle?"

	"I don't know"

	The inbred Deputy shouted back toward the fat one.  "Hey Jimbo.  I
think we have probable cause here.  This vehicle may be stolen."

	The Trooper was next to him and held up his hands.  "This is a
local matter.  If you fellas got this under control, I'll be headed off."
Clearly, he wasn't comfortable with the nature of their probable cause.
The fat deputy had Xander come back to the front and put his hands on the
hood.  Nothing in Xander's bearing said anything.  He was a blank.  The
inbred deputy watched us while the fat one searched the vehicle,
periodically telling Xander that if they even found a leaf of pot that we
would be going off to jail.  Xander didn't react at all.

	The fat deputy waddled back up to the front of the vehicle.  "Where
you taking this stuff?  Back to Daddy's?"

	"Sir, I respectfully decline to answer your questions" Xander said.

	The two deputies conferred briefly and the fat one returned to the
hood of the car.  "If I call this Phillip Nicholas Crowe, what line of
bullshit is he going to give me?"

	"Sir, I respectfully decline to answer your questions"

	"You need to get a new line, kid.  That one is getting old."

	"Are we free to go?" Xander asked, still facing ahead, not looking
at the deputy and showing absolutely no emotion at all.

	The fat deputy spit on the ground.  He looked back at the other
deputy.  "I guess you are."

	Quietly, we got back in the car.  One cop pulled off and away but
the fat one waited for us to go and he fell in behind us, following us.  I
breathed a sigh of relief now that the tension was over.  "He didn't even
give you ticket," I said.

	"He didn't have anything.  Joe is a pretty good lawyer and he's
made them look bad before."

	"Look, I'm sorry.  I told them that Phillip was your brother and
that's when they decided to search the car.  I know you said not to say
anything and I tried, I just didn't know how to do it."

	He smiled briefly and looked up at the rear view mirror.  "He was
going to search the car no matter what.  He thought he had something.  This
is going to take a while since he's following us."

	We continued driving much farther than I thought we ought to and I
asked Xander about it.  He said that we were leaving Effingham County and
coming back the back way.  The cop wouldn't follow us out of his
jurisdiction.  If he went to the back way, we would just have to repeat it
until the cop guessed wrong and we could go back unmolested.  It turned out
that he guessed wrong on the first attempt and we went back after a trip 30
miles out of our way.

	When we got back, Xander told his father about it.  Danny sent one
of the younger boys, named Sean, to get somebody named Charlie, who was one
of the people living on the farm.  After Charlie got there, he questioned
me pretty closely, paying particular to the inbred Deputy's mentioning
marijuana.

	"It was Jimbo, right?" Charlie said to Xander.  "Looks like the
family tree didn't branch much?"

	"Yeah,"

	"He's an idiot," Danny said, disgusted.

	"We can bust everything down if you want, send Xander back tonight
ahead of schedule," Charlie said to Danny, who was pacing the room.  "But I
don't think it means much.  If they did, it wouldn't be a low yield traffic
stop and flimsy probable cause."

	"If it means anything, I think they were kind of hoping to find
something, anything, and then use it on Dylan, to get him to talk," Xander
said.  "They really didn't ask me shit.  They weren't interested in me.
They were trying to pressure Dylan but when the big dick didn't find
anything, they didn't have shit to hold over him."

	"It sounds reasonable, Danny," Charlie opined, standing up and
walking over to the window.  "But we have the same decision to make."

	Danny thought about it for a second.  "The boys go back tomorrow
like planned. It's better at a time of our choosing.  But Dylan goes with
Colin in the lead car, all the way to Statesboro.  Text your pet monkey to
pick him up there.  Sorry, kid, but you're the weak link in this so you are
kept as far as from the drugs as possible. We're not going to break
everything down for a traffic stop by a couple of idiots."

	Xander sank onto the couch.  "Dylan going in the lead car was what
I wanted to begin with, if you remember.  This is our thing, not his.  I
was serious when I said that I would protect him no matter what."

	Charlie looked at Danny and then me.  "Okay, Xander.  Nobody is
going down in a blaze of glory if that's what you're worried about.  We pay
good money buying people off and we'll get our money's worth.  Nothing's
changed.  You just have to avoid being nicked by Larry Law Enforcement and
depend on the fundamental corruption in the system.  We understand that
you're in love with Dylan and, while we would prefer that you were
cold-blooded and ruthless like Phillip, that's not the way you're made."

	Xander shrugged.  I could tell that he was unhappy at being
lectured to.  "I know what I believe Charlie.  I know the deal.  I lived
with the fucking pigs for two fucking years.  Two fucking years and none of
you assholes did jack shit for me.  For you it's a fucking revolution,
black market and grey market bullshit.  I just hate the motherfuckers.  I
hate the redneck bullshit and random gunshots at the house because it's two
dykes that live there, the whole fucking thing.  But I found somebody who
loves me and who doesn't want to fuck with my head.  For the first time in
my whole fucking life, there's somebody, besides Kerry, that just loves me
and I'm not fucking that up.  Sure as shit not for your lame ass political
bullshit."

	Danny nodded his head, indicating to Charlie that he wanted him and
me to leave.  Charlie motioned to me and we went outside on the porch.
Charlie rolled a cigarette and popped it into his mouth.  "I guess you met
my son, Joe.  Kerry's husband.  He's a good lawyer but I'm better.  So I
take it that this relationship with you and Xander is serious?"

	"It is" I said.

	"I'm glad.  You two are good for each other, I think.  God knows
Xander could use some good.  You strike me as the kind of guy that could
very easily wind up making nuclear bombs for the government and waking up
20 or 30 years from now wondering if this is all life is.  That won't be
what happens if you hang around with Xander.  I guarantee you that it'll
always be interesting.  For most of us, anarchism is a position that we
came to intellectually or, really I suppose, psychedelically.  For him,
there's a layer of anger and resentment that finds voice by breaking the
law and he is instinctively anarchic but the real appeal to him is
artistic.  He explores the boundaries of reality for the artistic value.
Phillip, on the other hand, is motivated by cash.  He believes in nothing."

	"I don't know about the anger and resentment part," I replied,
staring at him as he stared out at the yard.

	"Sarah was abusive when she was manic.  Kerry tried to protect him
but she was young too.  Emily, her later lover, did too, which explains, in
part I guess, the loyalty that he feels toward Cassidy and Dexter.  Danny
is unwise to refer to Cassidy as his pet monkey. Their bond is far stronger
than that and Xander, after all, has the capacity to be unstable.  But his
real hatred is toward Henry Stafford, Esquire, pillar of the establishment
and the source of the family instability.  There's resentment toward Danny,
too, and his brothers to certain extent.  Don't misunderstand me, Dylan, I
don't begrudge him his grudges.  For the most part, they are well-placed
and well earned."

	"Well, if you don't mind me saying so, I don't really care about
any of that.  I know how he feels about me and I know how I feel about
him."

	Charlie turned and patted me on the shoulder.  "And that's really
all that matters."

	"And I notice that you call him Xander and everybody else calls him
Alex"

	"I call him what he wants to be called.  He was Alex when he left
and Xander when came back.  I will note that he didn't come to stay, just
visits either long or short.  If Danny still calls him Alex, I will allow
you to ponder the deeper psychological import.  Oh, and by the way, Jack,
my son, has a bit of a crush on Xander.  I'm sure he'll be bothering you
two tonight but I would appreciate it if you would be good to him."

	And nothing happened that day to follow-up the police harassment of
earlier.  Danny seemed to think that harassment was all it was.  So the
preparations continued on for a community trip that evening.  We carried
furniture outside because apparently that was where most of the activity
was going to take place.  Various people straggled over, particularly those
with guitars and other instruments.  Just like last night, there was going
to be live music from the community.  Xander took me aside and told me that
I didn't have to join in if I didn't want.  He was worried about my "set",
whether the negative experience with the cops would bleed over into the
psychedelic experience.  Actually, several people, including Danny, also
asked me about it.  Set and setting are important with psychedelics.  They
were arranging the physical setting to be conducive to the trip and they
all had considerable experience in tripping.  But a person's mental state
is also key.  Going into the experience relaxed, curious and desiring it
make for a good trip, while stress, fear, or ambivalence make for a bad
trip.  They believe that the drugs don't cause the psychedelic experience;
they merely unlock the ability of the mind to be psychedelic.  Rightly or
wrongly, I felt confident about it.  I definitely trusted Xander and I
think I was beginning to understand Danny.  A rational person might think
that odd, but I felt safe.

	Some members of the community were designated to look after the
little kids and make sure they got to bed eventually but they weren't
banned from the party.  A couple, including Danny, were designated as
pilots, which is exactly what Xander, Cass and Dex do.  Danny measured out
the fine white powder on a digital scale and then dissolved it in a
carefully measured amount of water.  Then it went into cups with exactly 10
milligrams of the drug.  He told me that 5-MeO-DiPT is not the kind of drug
you eyeball because the dose-response curve is so steep.

	Xander and I got a cup.  "Slam it down fast," Xander told me.  "It
tastes pretty bad."

	That was an understatement.  Licking the butt end of a camel would
be more pleasant than this stuff.  And the taste stuck around, too.  Danny
had a capsule in his hand for Xander.  "Are you sure this is what you want
to do?"

	"What is it?" I asked.  If Danny was worried about Xander doing it
in addition to the Foxy, I wasn't sure it was a good idea.

	Xander took the capsule and swallowed it.  "4-HO-DiPT.  It's an
ass-kicker."

	Xander wasn't the only who took that combination.  A couple of
others did too.  Apparently, it was for experienced psychonauts only.  Ian
followed us in dosing but he didn't add the other.  Karl got a half dose
and, surprisingly, so did young Jack and a pair of boys who looked like
they were 10 or 11, but they only got half doses.  That seemed wrong to me
but their parents seemed okay with it.  The musicians in the group were
once again playing Grateful Dead songs sociably but an old fashioned
stereo, a nice one, was also out on the porch.

	We sat around listening to the music for about a half hour.  By
then, Xander was clearly tripping and tripping hard.  He sucked in a huge
lung full of air, and fell back on the ground with his eyes closed.  "Oh,
my fucking God," he whispered.

	"Bad?"

	"Oh, man. This is amazing," he said.

	Ian said he could feel some mellowness like with pot but I didn't
feel much of anything.  But then, in a creeping sensation, I began to feel
a little anxious and began to worry if I should have done this at all.
Xander stood up and began to wander around aimlessly, stopping to look at
random things.  I could only imagine what was going on in his brain or what
he was seeing.  But he did seem restless, perhaps even a little agitated.
That, too, worried me.  Actually, everything was beginning to worry me.

	Then it began to hit.  I could definitely feel something different.
It felt like my body was humming.  Well, it felt like the muscles of my
body were contracting in time with the music as it were.  My heart seemed
to be pounding and my pulse racing.  I put a finger above my wrist and
could tell that my pulse was actually normal.  The next 10 minutes seemed
like a lifetime.  I am becoming incredibly aware of every part of my body.
It's like I can feel every cell, every tendon in my body.  I am hyperaware
of every body function.  I am a little nauseous too.  Jack is near me and
he says something but it sounds like static.

	Then an incredible sense of euphoria envelopes me.  The visuals are
kicking in too.  There are patterns, fractal in appearance, in everything I
look at.  As I move my hand, I can see the trails that it left behind in
the air.  Colors are brighter and more intense but they are not stable.  If
I look away, a leaf changes colors entirely.  But I find everything that I
look at to be extremely pleasurable.  Ian is talking to me.  I can process
what he is saying perfectly well.  He is telling me about his first LSD
experience, which was with Xander and Phillip, and comparing it to this.  I
find what is saying to be monumentally compelling.  He asks me why I left
Reed and I tell him.  He seems fascinated by it.  Xander comes back and
falls down beside me.  I stroke the hairs on his arm and that feels amazing
too.  Jack sits down too and I am fascinated by his smooth young body,
virtually naked.

	The guitar players have abandoned their playing.  They too are
tripping.  Somebody puts the Allman Brothers on the stereo.  The long
guitar solos and improvisation of the music seems right.  I can lose myself
in the music; let it flow over me and into me.  I and the music are one.

	Then, as it intensifies, I feel overwhelmed.  Not in a bad way,
just that it is too much.  I want less stimulation, particularly less
auditory.  I want to be away from the music, not so far away that I can't
hear it but farther than I am right now.  I get Xander and we go walking.
Jack joins us and it isn't really a bother at all.  We don't go far, just
to an ancient tobacco barn near the house and well in sight and hearing of
the larger group.  There are people wandering about like we are too.  For
the next little while, he and I walk around and run into other trippers and
have a pleasant conversation or two.  I don't feel drunk or intoxicated, my
faculties are intact and I can carry on perfectly reasonable conversations,
it's just that I am overwhelmed by physical sensations and visual and
auditory stimulation.  Just walking and being active feels intensely good.

	I stay in this state for a really long time.  Of course, every
second seems like an eternity so it is hard to judge.  It was clearly
nighttime but I am jazzed and energetic.  Xander is clearly banging hard
too, much harder than me, I think.  He tells me that this is the most
intense experience he has ever had.  I reflect on it.  In some ways, acid
was more intense but in other ways less.  Ian and Karl are roughhousing
with Jack and his two friends, all happily.  Xander and I join them because
moving seems so perfect.  I pick Jack up, my hand on his butt and toss him
as he laughs.  Then we go back to melt into the music again.

	The only negative bit is that I seem to be able to follow
everyone's conversation no matter how far they are from me.  People talking
sounds like babble as one voice is over another.  It is frustrating.  The
body sensations continue.  I feel wonderful.

	The song is Stormy Monday and the long, lugubrious nature of it
feels tremendous.  Xander looks at me and says, "Sex"

	It seems right.  The attraction is powerful.  I want him.  We find
a blanket and lay down in the middle of the yard.  Even though there are 20
or 25 people around us, almost all of them tripping, including Betty Jean,
we feel no shame or embarrassment about it.  We are in each other's arms,
kissing and touching as the music flows over us.  There is something
spectacularly unhurried about it.  Just kissing him is intensely
pleasurable.  In the time of 40 forever's, we have our shirts off and my
skin is touching his.  I feel the boundary between him and me has broken
down.  We are one.  I don't mind having lost myself.  The We is better than
the I.

	Others have followed our lead.  Betty Jean and another woman are in
each other's arms.  Ian and his girlfriend are making out.  Karl and Jack
and the boys are all in their underwear, all erect and wrestling each other
playfully.  I don't feel like there is anything dirty or seamy about it.
In fact, it seems almost spiritual in a way.  The shared pleasure is more
honest and real than the kinds of sexual games that all of us play.

	We were clawing all over each other as if the music was driving us
to do it.  My nipples were super sensitive and Xander was sucking them like
I imagined he would with a girl.  I'd had never really thought of my
breasts as an erogenous zone.  Eventually, we were on the ground with him
on top, sixty-nining.  Well, if I thought my nipples were sensitive, they
had nothing on my dick.  Danny brought us condoms and lube so Xander could
penetrate me.  I like bottoming but this was crazy unreal.  The pleasure
was intense, almost too intense to bear.  I could almost feel my pleasure
echoing off of him.  I could actually feel the waves of sensation from him.
We were that connected.

	When I came, it was the most intense orgasm of my life.  But more
than that, it was the longest.  Usually, it builds until I shoot then it
rapidly fades away.  This time it lingered.  When it finally did ease on
off, I felt alive and energized.  The world was a beautiful kaleidoscope.
All the sounds were lovely.  I noticed that Jack was sitting cross legged
at the head of the blanket, watching us and rubbing himself.

	"Jack," Xander said, patting the ground between us.  "Come here."

	The boy scrambled in between us and we snuggled up close to him.
He squirmed, trying to get as much contact with both of us as possible.

	"You don't have to wear your underwear, if you don't want," Xander
told him.

	I thought his eyes got very big and he looked embarrassed.  "It's
not very big,"

	"I think it's probably perfect"

	Jack stripped off his underwear, exposing his erection.  His balls
were bigger than they ought to be, at least in proportion to the penis, and
he proudly pointed out two hairs at the base of the penis, which I honestly
had to take his word for as to their existence.  He wanted us to know that
he wasn't a little kid but that he had started puberty.

	"Is this your first time tripping?" Xander asked him.  Jack nodded
yes. "Just remember that you are completely safe and surrounded by love."

	Jack hunched up and leaned toward Xander.  "I don't think I like
girls."

	Xander rubbed his hair.  "You might change your mind in a little
while.  If you don't, that's okay. Some boys only like girls. Dylan only
likes boys.  I like both.  It's all good if there's love.  You can
masturbate if you want.  It'll feel really good."

	Jack closed his eyes and began to stroke himself lovingly.  I could
tell from his breathing that he was enjoying it immensely.  We were nestled
right up against him and could feel his young muscles as they twitched.
Then he opened his eyes and looked at me.  There was a look of pleading
there.

	"Do you want me to?" I asked him.  Jack nodded.  Gently, I put my
hand down there and began to stroke his small, uncut prick.  He was lost in
rapture, feeling something so amazingly intense, probably the most
intensely good he had ever felt.  I leaned over and put it in my mouth.  He
gasped. His balls sucked up toward his head and his body began to twitch
and shudder with a dry orgasm.  His eyes closed, he let the pleasure flow
over him.  All three of us laid there, wrapped up together.

	Now that we were all satisfied, we took Jack and went around to the
back of the house to play tag.  Running and laughing naked seemed perfect
for a while, especially as we could still hear the music.  Jack was
laughing and giggling as we ran around naked.  Then Xander caught him and
whispered into his ear.  Jack came running to me and said excitedly,
"Xander says that he wants you to fuck him."

	I laughed.  "Is that all right with you?"

	Jack nodded eagerly.  "He's your boyfriend so you probably should."

	We made love a second time that night on the back porch of the
house with an audience of one: a preteen boy who pleasured himself
throughout.  He was happy and we were too.  After we were done, we
pleasured him orally again.  When we finally fell asleep, Jack was between
us, still surrounded by love.  I didn't feel guilty or ashamed.  It was a
positive experience for him and I was glad.