The Journal of Julian Corsair,

An Uncommonly Good Man

 

Copyright© 2014 – Nicholas Hall

 

 

Julian Corsair – Chapter Twenty-nine – "Oh, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars." – (Christopher Marlowe)

 

Zach's eyebrows shot up in questioning anticipation and his eyes sparkled with hope!

"Yes, we would," I nodded enthusiastically.

Zach scampered to the Ben's room where his belongings were temporarily stored and returned with his sketch pad. Shyly, almost humbly, he placed it on the table, waiting for our visual critique.

"They're not that good," he said apologetically, "and only in lead pencil. Any other medium would've been too obvious; you know – charcoal, which I really like, or water colors. Those tend to be messy on the hands and I would've been totally thrashed if my father spotted it."

Pauley and Ben scooted their chairs closer to the table and the sketch pad, enabling the three of us to look at the drawings together as Zach presented them to us. His delicate, long, nimble, and talented fingers flipped open the cover of the pad, revealing the first, a sketch of a comely young man from the back with his head turned looking over his left shoulder, a sensuously, welcoming, friendly smile adorning his face. The artistic detail and realistic portraiture belied the work of a fifteen year old high school student, but that of a more mature, experienced artist.

"I thought you didn't show faces?" quizzed Ben.

Laughing, Zach answered, "On this I did; it's not a frontal nude. Besides, I didn't think anyone would find where I hid them and I was right!"

Pauley leaned forward, appraising and analyzing the details of Zach's representation of the young man. The detail was so fine, so realistic as the body lines of a naked adolescent male seemed to live in front of him, noting even the faint, sparse beginnings of body hair near the ankles, the round, firm curvature of the buttocks with the cleft not overly pronounced, but natural in appearance, the developing muscles of the back and shoulders, and the wisps of sparse underarm hair poking from under his left arm, caused Pauley to comment, "He is quite lovely, you know!"

Ben and I looked closer noting the faint beginning traces of a darker moustache forming on the top lip of the lad, the beckoning eyes that twinkled and gleamed, highlighted as only an artist can do, and tousled hair, loosely combed, but not completely, lending a mischievous, recklessness to the beauty of the boy.

"Remarkable!" I said reverently.

"Neat!" commented Ben.

Zach then turned to the next sketch, revealing a frontal male nude, depicted from his knees to his neck, obviously in the early stages of adolescence, evidenced by the sparse, fine, pubic hairs beginning to form at the base of a two to two and half inch circumcised penis. The definition, the lines, the slight scar of the circumcision, and the small veins extending up from the root of the penis weren't exaggerated, nor was the small, but not too below average, scrotum containing two well developed and distended gonads, hanging low, inviting, the fine airs adorning the well- depicted orbs, accentuating the developing, but able, baby-makers. The waist of the stripling was narrow, with the hip bones protruding slightly giving definition to the pelvic area, the lower abdomen was relative flat and progressing up the torso, an "outie" belly button was evident, the stomach flat with little fat, and the chest, with small, darkening nipples, ribs faintly showing, just in the first stages of development, with promise of more to come. Zach made no comment on the portrait as we relished in the beauty of not only it, but of the teen boy portrayed.

"You're beautiful," breathed Ben, leaning toward the sketch as if to see the detail better, and casting his eyes from the sketch, directly into Zach's eyes. Zach just blushed, but made no comment.

I looked at Pauley, smiled and he smiled back. We both conjectured this was a self-portrait, but failed to make the connection until Ben commented; there was no doubt he'd made a more careful and differently oriented inspection of Zach's nakedness during our picture taking than either Pauley or I had. I transferred my gaze to Ben and noticed him readjust the bulge beginning to form in his Levis®. He was obviously smitten with Zach; and well he should be, Zach was a very attractive young man and worthy of someone else's love.

As each sketch was displayed to us, about half way through the pad, the nature of the subjects began changing to landscapes, buildings, flowers, solitary objects, and all done with the same ease and exactness of the previous sketches. There was no doubt Zach was a talented young artist and, unless I missed my guess, an equally talented scholar. There was no way I could, in good conscience, allow him to return to Iowa. Uncle Julian would've had none of it of that I was certain! I could almost hear him talking to me, as he had in his journal, to rise to the attack, defend my cousin, and keep Zach with us. Not only was Zach the family Julian and I knew we had and now appearing before me (although I must admit it did lend priority to the situation), but he was a young man in need and it'd be the right thing to do! After all, hadn't strangers taken in Julian, clothed and educated him and, had he not taken me in and done the same? This he did even before he knew of our blood ties without question or covert desires.

Julian's journal wasn't only a chronicle of his life, but a road map, a guide and charge to me to continue his quest to help others; for giving to others; sharing what you have with no thought of financial or personal gain or honor and the good fortunes one experiences in life, gives honor and enjoyment in the very act itself! I was now more determined than ever to fulfill Dr. Corsair's legacy, as outlined in his written word; perpetuating it by me, giving honor and credence to the goodness of the man, my uncle, and Zach's.

"Zach," I offered, "there's little I can do until Monday. I'll contact my lawyer in La Crosse for his counsel and see where we start. In the meantime, consider yourself at home! There's a third bedroom, so move your stuff in there. What you don't have and need, we'll get for you. As for me, I'm going to bed."

"Me too," echoed Pauley.

"I think we'll stay up and talk for a while," Ben announced as we wandered down the hall.

Lying quietly in our bed, Pauley and I could hear the two boys murmuring to each other from the living room. Pauley broke our silence by whispering, "What are you going to do?"

"How about this – I locate the file Julian kept on the private investigators search for our family; call Mr. Thompson and tell him I'm e-mailing, as attachments, the photos of Zach and anything we find pertinent in the files, and wait to see what he thinks?"

"Do you want to involve the cops?" questioned Pauley cautiously. "If you do, he'll end up in foster care."

"I really don't want him to go through all of that- been there, got the t-shirt- so I'm going to try to keep the law out of it. I'm not certain Mr. Thompson would approve however. What I really want is full custody of Zach with no strings attached."

"As if they'd do that willingly," snorted Pauley.

I said nothing immediately in response, instead contemplated what was going through my mind at the moment. It was as if Uncle Julian was speaking to me words from his journal, advice to me, and said, with great satisfaction and finality, "What's the sense of having money if you can't spend it on someone you love?' and muttered aloud, "Justice will be served!" rolled over, snuggling up close to Pauley, relaxing in complete contentment as his body and mine became one again as his stiff sword of justice entered my rear courthouse door, not to argue a case, but to bring completion and satisfaction to our mutual concupiscence.

The next morning, I peeked in on Zach and saw he was sleeping the sound sleep of the innocent, snuggled up against a pillow, hugging it tightly, as if seeking security in its closeness. Stepping back quietly, I went to the kitchen to begin the day with coffee, as Pauley and I usually did.

Pauley walked up behind me in the kitchen as I fixed our morning coffee, kissed me on the side of my neck, and said softly, "I half expected to find Ben in bed with Zach, stuffed up tight and happy."

"I think it's going to happen;" I mused, "only I think Ben is going to take his time and court him. This is a new experience for both of them."

"Do you think we'll need to give them a demonstration of how a good old-fashioned fucking is done?" giggled Pauley, "If so, I could bend you over the breakfast table, feed the sausage to your buns, and loose a flood of condiments up your chute."

"I think that'll come naturally, but it sounds great!" I replied laughingly, "We will have to caution them about safe sex if they intend to have multiple partners instead of monogamy."

A couple of soft "coughs" followed by two louder "good mornings" announced the boys' presence, who, during our licentious discussion, entered the kitchen unbeknownst to us. Chairs scraped the floor and two teens were at the table, ready for breakfast, and if the looks on their faces was any indication, happy to have the companionship of each other. The courtship had begun!

Breakfast complete, we loaded up in my truck and drove over to Lake View to do some shopping at one of the big box stores. Zach needed underwear (boxer briefs and at the urging of Ben some string bikinis, all size "small" and then almost too big), socks, long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts (small), fall jacket and winter coat, jeans (waist-26 inch, length -28 inch), and a couple of pair of tennis shoes (size eight). He really wasn't that big of a lad. Lunch was at an "all-you-can eat" buffet and it was a good thing! What Zach lacked in size, he made up for in appetite. Ben just loaded up his plate, more than once, as usual. Teenage boys seem to have an insatiable appetite!

In the afternoon, after we returned from Lake View, we did an auto tour of Fox Creek, circled the school complex so Zach could get a look at it, and ended up at Tom and Rosa's. We called Hugh and Kathy to let them know what was happening and they drove over, leaving the rest of the family home. As Kathy put it, "We didn't want to overwhelm the poor lad."

Momma Rosa was her welcoming, hugging, warm self and made Zach feel right at home, safe among friends and family. They all sat patiently and quietly as they listened to an abbreviated version of how Zach came to live with us. Momma Rosa clucked her tongue in disgust and Tom stood up, walked over to Zach, shook his hand and hugged him, saying "you have nothing to fear from us, Zach."

We stuffed ourselves at supper and drove on home, late that evening. The next afternoon, Sunday, Ben took Zach on a boat ride around portions of the lake. Fall nippiness was in the air so the boys dressed warmly under their life jackets. After the ride, they helped Pauley and me winterize and put the boat in storage until the next spring.

Pauley and I searched the files and desk until we found the file Uncle Julian saved containing the report from the private investigators on the search for my relatives. It contained little else beyond what Zach told us and what we read in Uncle Julian's journal. I did like the manner in which the agency addressed the situation, the conclusions they reached, and the seemingly engaged and personal approach they had with Uncle Julian, as evidenced in the report and correspondence. After discussing it with Pauley, I decided to contact the same agency to do the work I needed done, depending on Mr. Thompson's response to my call on Monday.

Monday, Pauley took Zach with him to check on a couple of cottages to ensure the gates were locked up and all seemed to be in order for the winter. I spent a good hour on the telephone with Mr. Thompson explaining Zach's presence and my desire to have custody of my cousin.

"Send me the photos and anything else you have you think is pertinent and I'll get back to you," was his comments as he brought the conversation to a close.

I did as he requested and within the hour, he called back and immediately advised me to contact law enforcement officials. I nixed it, for the moment, instead offered another solution involving the private investigative agency. He wasn't very pleased with my suggestions, but agreed he'd prepare the proper paper work if I should decide to go ahead with my plans. I rang off and placed a call to the home office of the agency in Milwaukee requesting their services and arranged to meet with a representative of the firm in La Crosse on Wednesday.

Zach was in good hands with Pauley and Ben, so I left for La Crosse on Tuesday, checked my house over while there (it was rented and looking just fine), picked up the paper work from Mr. Thompson (along with another admonition to call the law), checked into my motel, and awaited the arrival of the agency representatives the next morning.

Three well-dressed, rather well-built men met me at my room and I laid out what the desired outcome was that I sought. I gave them the paperwork from Mr. Thompson, printed glossy photos of the abuse to Zach's body, and requested they also obtain copies of Zach's school records, birth certificate, and anything else they felt he might need to make his home with us. I further authorized them to use any method, pay any bribes or fees, and threaten jail to anyone who participated or condoned the abuse in order to obtain signatures on the custody agreements. My final instructions were to get this done as quietly and quickly as possible. They had my phone number and address and were to contact me when all was signed, sealed, and delivered.

I gave Pauley a quick call, left a message, and headed north. The note on the table, when I arrived home, informed me Pauley and Zach were over at Momma Rosa's for lunch and would be home before cocktail hour. True to his word, his truck, with him driving and Zach riding shotgun, wheeled to a stop in front of the house a little before four in the afternoon. Pauley bounded up the steps, wrapped his arms around me while kissing me deeply, and held my head close to his breast as he whispered loudly, "I always miss you so much!"

"Awesome!" exclaimed Zach, reacting to the open affection we displayed; offering him a sight he was quite unaccustomed to when living with his parents, but would be natural for him to witness in the future at our house. I noticed his look after hearing his comments, opened my arms, inviting him in, and he did so willingly and unabashedly, receiving a loving, heartfelt hug also. They both were anxious to learn of any results of my meeting, but, alas, I had nothing concrete to offer them, but reassured them both I felt something positive would be done. I cautioned Zach it may take some time and he understood. What he really wanted was to have it over and done with and get back in school! He hadn't been wasting his time at home, however; the surroundings offered many opportunities for sketching and another trip to Lake View that morning with Pauley had replenished and added to his art supplies.

Ben came home from school and I went through it all over again since he wanted to know what was happening as well. I noticed as I visited with him, Zach pulled his chair close to Ben and smiled every time Ben looked at him. When I finished, Zach excused himself to go to the bathroom. Ben stared at him walking down the hall, glanced my way, and caught me observing him. He put his head down and blushed!

"Say it!" I encouraged.

Ben looked up, grinned, and replied, "Isn't he the most beautiful person you ever saw in your life? There are times I just want to hold him and tell him how wonderful I think he is."

"Why don't you?"

"Do you think he'd mind?"

"I think he'll love it!"

During the night, heading for the bathroom with a desperate need to relieve my full-bladder, walking by Ben's room, I noticed the door was ajar. After I drained the swamp, I stopped by the room again, ostensibly to close the door, peeked in and, snuggled up, his head tucked under Ben's chin with Ben's strong arms wrapped around him holding him gently but protectively, was a very contented, sleeping Zach!

A week went by without any word from the agency and I was growing anxious concerning the success or failure of our efforts. I waited until Friday and decided to give the agency a call and inquire on the progress. As the phone was ringing, I noticed a strange car drive down the lane and stop in front of the house. A quick glance revealed the three gentlemen I'd met with in La Crosse inside the car. I quickly disconnected my call and stepped out on the porch to invite them in.

Pauley and Zach were doing laundry so I shouted at them to join us in the kitchen. One of the men, acting as spokesman for the group, produced a file containing the pictures, the information I'd given them from home, and the signed custody agreements, along with Zach's school records and birth certificate. They even obtained his immunization record.

"Thought you might need that particular one," the spokesman said as it pointed to it, "especially if you're going to enroll him in public school. In addition, in order to make certain a record was made and kept, we registered all documents signed and notarized with the Des Moines County, Iowa Clerk of Courts and County Clerk's offices. There should be no difficulty in the future concerning the agreements. He's all yours now," he said with a grin and the three of them rose to leave.

Asking how much it cost, he tipped his head to follow them out to the car. Once outside and out of hearing of others, he offered, "They'd only take cash, so we drew on our firm's cash accounts. It'll be in the bill; not as much as you might think."

It sounded, as they quickly filled me in on what they felt I should or could know, Ezra was frightened so badly, after they threatened to call the law and turn over the photographs to them, and recommend foster care for Samuel or juvenile detention for participating in the "scourging" where they assured him he'd become the "bum boy of the ward," he and Esther signed right away. They did offer him some "compensation" for his loss which he readily accepted. The pastor quickly took the sum offered him when he was accused of pedophilia since it was might be assumed, given he was quick to "scourge" young boys, he got his rocks off in the process (an outright lie, but it worked) and signed an agreement to speak no more of the incident or suffer the consequences.

When Ben came home from school and heard the news, he was ecstatic; whooping, laughing, and grabbed Zach, hugged him tightly, and kissed him; not on the cheek, but full, on the mouth, lingering there as if savoring the taste! He suddenly realized what he'd done, pulled back, and looked at us.

"It's okay to kiss my cousin," I offered, "as long as you love him!"

"Oh, I do; I do," he said softly, his eyes filled with the sight of "the most beautiful person" he'd ever set eyes upon!

To be continued:

***

Thank you for reading Julian Corsair– Chapter Twenty-nine- – "Oh, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars." – (Christopher Marlowe)

 

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Nick Hall

 

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