Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 17:04:09 -0700 From: fritz@nehalemtel.net Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Thirty If I'd have known this story would have gone on so long I'd probably never have started it because of the many warnings and disclaimers. However, each chapter requires one so here it is. If you're not of legal age I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. Since legal age varies from area to area, you'll have to determine if this applies to you. No cheating now. I wouldn't want to get you into trouble. I will say this, if you don't tell, I won't tell. If you don't like stories that contain descriptions of sex acts between males what are you doing here? After all it is a gay site and you should expect such things. However, if you arrived here by accident please leave before you are offended. I would rather not offend you but you have to help by acting in a responsible manner and heeding this warning. This story is fiction. The characters are products of my imagination. So is the story. That means that any resemblance to persons living or dead is a product of your imagination. Didn't know you had such a twisted imagination, did you? Since I made it up that makes it mine. Tell you what. I'll grant you permission to read it but you can't post it on another site, nor may you quote from it without attributing such quotes to me. Also, you may not use it in any manner that might profit or enrich you without contacting me and arranging some kind of a deal. I might share the loot. Once again my thanks to Ernie. He's kind enough to edit this story and even sends me some good jokes. How can you beat a deal like that? His rates are even reasonable. Finishing up, feel free to email with whatever comments, suggestions, questions, or complaints you have. I try to answer all such emails, even flames. The same old email address should work as long as you put the story title in the subject line. It's fritz@nehalemtel.net Hope you enjoy the following chapter. Fritz I Love Corey, Chapter Thirty When the alarm went off I couldn't believe how much better I felt. Things seemed to be getting calmed down and I hoped the worst was over. As I lay there, looking at Corey, I just wanted to hug him and kiss him. He just looked irresistible with those long eyelashes. A little playing around with him last night had improved my outlook on life. What the hell, a few kisses couldn't hurt. Well they didn't hurt but by the time we finished, we had to hurry. I jumped into my clothes and headed for the kitchen. I started throwing breakfast together. When Corey and the boys came in they looked in pretty good humor. JJ wasn't moving very well but he was at least moving. A couple more days and I thought he'd start to really improve. As LT walked past he grinned and said "Callipygian." That caused JJ to ask what the heck he was talking about and Corey and I blushed. LT's smirk was pure evil. I could see I needed to have a talk with that boy. One look at his smirk and I started laughing so hard I about spilled the orange juice. We finally got breakfast eaten and I made LT promise to tell JJ what he was talking about. The day was off to a great start. When I was ready to leave I gathered up my stuff and started for the Gator. As I started down the walk to get to the driveway where it was parked, LT stuck his head out and asked how to spell callipygian. I turned around to tell him and pointing the control in the general direction of the Gator I pressed the remote start. When I picked myself up my ears were ringing and I couldn't seem to figure out what had happened. I was trying to figure that out when Corey ran up and I could see his mouth moving. It took a few more seconds to realize he was talking. About that time I realized I could just make out his voice above the ringing in my ears. "Are you all right?" It took a few seconds to process that and when I did, I decided to check. The back of my head felt kind of funny and when I felt it, it seemed wet. Then I looked at my hand and it was covered with blood. I turned around and there sat what was left of my shiny new green Navigator. Hell, I hadn't even driven it twenty miles yet and it looked like a bomb had gone off in it. About that time I realized a bomb had gone off in it and that bomb was meant for me. Suddenly I felt sick. I just sat down on the walk and stared at the remains of my Gator. It had been parked in the driveway because the riding mower was in the garage where we were putting new drive belts and blades on it. It would have been done except for a delay in the belt order. All that was left was a pile of smoking rubble. In fact, it was hard to tell what kind of vehicle it had been. There was a trail of flaming gas running down the driveway towards the street from what must have been the ruptured gas tank. As I sat there in shock the thought kept running through my mind, I hadn't even driven it twenty miles. Another thought intruded and suddenly I wanted to make sure the garage wasn't on fire. I jumped up and then had to wait a few seconds before I could go check because I felt like I was going to black out. When the ground steadied again I took a few steps and I could see the garage door. The door was pretty well destroyed but at least it wasn't on fire. About then someone drove up and I couldn't understand him very well because my ears were still ringing but I eventually got his question. He wanted to know if I'd called the fire department yet. That seemed like a real good idea so I pulled out my cell phone and dialed 911. It was difficult to explain to the operator because I was having such a hard time hearing her but I guess she finally understood that I needed the fire department because my car had been bombed and was now burning. I was surprised when the police showed up. After all, I'd called for the fire department. I was about to call and explain that I needed the fire department, not the police department when the officer managed to convince me they were on the way. The fire department arrived and started putting the fire out while the policeman took some pictures. All this time Corey and the boys were clustered tight to me and seemed worried about something. There was so much noise I just couldn't understand what they were asking. Then some character wanted me to get on a gurney so they could take me to the hospital. I told him I didn't want, nor need to go to the hospital and the next thing I knew the policeman and a sheriff's deputy were insisting I go to the hospital. I tried to explain I had to get to work and the boys needed me but they wouldn't seem to listen to me. A couple of them grabbed me and put me on the gurney. I thought about getting back up but I was tired. They had me on my stomach and into the ambulance before I knew what happened. About the time they started for the hospital I felt one of the EMT's working on the back of my head. God it hurt. I suddenly realized just how bad my head hurt. Not only that, my left shoulder was sore and I had a splitting headache. By the time we got to the hospital the ringing in my ears was starting to lessen. I could now hear people speak. Not that I could understand them but that was because of the medical speak, you know, all those Latin words and terms that only another practitioner of medicine could begin to understand. They weren't helping me understand what was going on. I suppose it was about like normal. First some guy asked me how I felt accompanied by some prodding and poking and then nothing. Another guy with more prodding and poking. More nothing. Finally some woman asked a bunch of questions and then once again, nothing. There I was, strapped to the gurney and no one was doing anything. If I could have gotten loose I'd have called a cab and gone home. Finally some more questions along with more prodding and poking and then I was moved to another room, actually the X-ray room more correctly called Radiology. More nothing. Eventually I was unstrapped and asked to lie on a table so they could take some pictures. They took their pictures and then more nothing. I was starting to feel somewhat better and all this nothing was getting on my nerves. It was truly penetrating that someone had tried to kill me and not only that, I had three boys who were probably upset. I decided I'd had enough. I started to get off the table and that put an end to nothing. Before my feet hit the floor there were a couple of people trying to stop me. At least the ringing was about gone and I could hear them so I could argue with them. I might have had a hard time understanding when my ears were ringing but those people had no excuse. They just flat didn't seem to understand English. The words, "I'm leaving!" seemed incomprehensible to them. We argued for a short while and I was just about to the shouting point when Dr. Vince Logan walked in. "Calm down Sam. You need a few stitches before you go anywhere." If it hadn't have been for Vince I'd have walked out. He managed to get me back on that stupid gurney and they took me to another room. Vince stitched up my head and a wound on my shoulder that I wasn't aware of. I knew it hurt but had no idea it needed stitches. He told me he used a local anesthetic but you couldn't prove it by me. The stitches hurt like hell. When he finished stitching me up there was more of the flashlight in the eye thing that had been present during those bouts of prodding and poking but at least they weren't present this time. I was tired of all that poking. However, that did nothing for my headache. Besides, he was only about the third or fourth person to do it. The real argument came when he told me he wanted to keep me for a few hours to make sure nothing else was wrong. When he promised to send one of his nurses to calm the boys down and explain I was okay, I finally relented. I definitely wasn't happy about the whole thing but at least someone was listening. Up `til now no one had paid any attention to what I said. The nurse stopped in and asked if there was anything I wanted the boys to know or do. I thought a few seconds. I knew they needed to know I was truly all right and wondered how I might send that message. Then I had it. "Tell them to keep their sorry callipygians out of trouble or I'll kick them around the house when I get home." That ought to let them know I was okay. The nurse looked blank and Vince burst into laughter. Between bouts of laughter he told her to make sure and get the message right and watch their expressions. When she left he turned to me. "What possessed you to tell her to say that?" "Well, the word came up and I knew they'd know the message was from me." After that they got me into a bed and wheeled it into a room. Vince told me to relax and rest. He'd be back to check on me after lunch and maybe I could go home then. He left mumbling something about sorry cute butts and laughing. One of the nurses gave me some Tylenol and closed the blinds so the room was fairly dark. I just felt drained and exhausted. When next I noticed something, it was a voice telling someone that, "He's asleep." The voice sounded familiar and I tried to think of who it was. My eyes snapped open when I figured out it was Corey. What was he doing here? In fact, where was here? The bed sure wasn't as comfortable as mine was. It took a few seconds for my thoughts to settle. By that time I'd figured out all three of the boys were here and here was the hospital. I started to sit up and I felt like every bone in my body ached. A few grunts and groans and I managed to sit up. The dang blood pressure thing was tangled up with my arm but at least it wasn't bothering me. I'd been having dreams about someone grabbing my arm and squeezing like crazy. I heard one of the boys, I think it was LT, say something about awake now while I tried to get my head to stop spinning. In a surprisingly short time things steadied down and I looked around. There were the boys, sitting on some chairs, although what JJ was doing didn't really look like sitting, and a policeman with his head in the door. When our eyes made contact he came on in and was followed by Sheriff's Deputy Allen Carson, a friend. They had some questions for me. During the course of the conversation I got acquainted with Officer Wrangle of the City Police Department. They wanted to know if I had any ideas of who'd bombed the Gator. About all I could offer was the problem with Rev. Langston and his friends. As they questioned further, I did mention the phone calls last night over the termination of Les Jamison but told them I didn't see how that could enter into things. We were discussing things when Vince came in and checked me over. After some more of that danged flashlight thing he told me I could go home. Deputy Carson offered to haul the boys and me home. It took a few minutes to get my things and the usual problems over the paperwork but soon we were headed home. Allen was still questioning me as we drove home. When he said something about it was too bad that no one had seen anything, something clicked. "Maybe some one or rather something did," I said chuckling. "What do you mean?" "That security firm you recommended, they put in the system and there're cameras." His eyes lit up and he grabbed his mike and called Officer Wrangle. In the meantime I just sat in the back seat wondering how I could have forgotten that fact. We piled out and went inside. I immediately showed Allen the monitor station for the security system. It had five cameras overlooking various entrances and views and worked on a digital system. It took a picture every twenty seconds and stored it. The system could store fifteen days worth the pictures or they could be transferred to a CD, DVD, or another form of storage. The cameras were so small that they were almost impossible to spot and with the street light beside the driveway I should have some good pictures. I just hoped they would be good enough to help identify the bombers. While we waited for Officer Wrangle, the boys started a sandwich line. Talk about efficient, LT was buttering and putting mustard on the bread, JJ was piling various lunch meats and cheeses and Corey was slicing tomatoes and pickles. They just kept turning out sandwiches. I was surprised they worked so well together but chalked it up to the fact that food was involved. It was half past one so I knew they needed lunch but I didn't think they could eat all of those sandwiches. When Officer Wrangle showed up, the boys started handing out sandwiches and soft drinks. They'd made plenty for everybody and I noticed the two cops dove right in. While we were eating the sandwiches we started looking at the pictures. Sure enough, at two thirty-eight the first glimpse of the bombers showed. The ten inch monitor made it difficult to tell anything but there was no doubt we had the pictures. Officer Wrangle was complaining about not being able to see much but I wasn't worried. Once the pictures were identified I burned them to a DVD and took it over to the desktop. Once I had them loaded it didn't take long to enhance them with Photoshop. A little more contrast and some brightening made all the difference. That plus the twenty-one inch monitor made the pictures really good. They weren't photo quality but there was no problem seeing what was happening. The problem was the two bombers were masked. According to the time imprint on each picture it took nineteen minutes to get the door open and hook up the bomb. I kept thinking one of the bombers seemed familiar but couldn't figure out who he was. Right towards the end I heard LT's breath hiss. "Mr. Jamison! I think that's Mr. Jamison." He was right. Some of the mannerisms and the size were right. Plus I remembered seeing him wear that coat. Once it was called to my attention who he was, I spotted several things which I pointed out to the officers. The last two pictures showed a car pulling up and the bombers getting in and leaving. It took a little more work but finally we could read the license plate in one of the pictures. We went back over and burned some more DVDs so the police had copies. Plus they were the raw files. That way they could do their own enhancing if they needed to. A bunch of paperwork and copies of the enhanced files and they finally left. They needed to run the plate but it looked like they now had some solid leads. I still wondered who the other person was. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with my insurance agent and the Lincoln dealer. The dealer had just gotten in a gray Navigator about like mine except it had a moon roof. While I liked the soft grayish green I'd picked out, I could live with gray and he told me he'd get a remote start system and an alarm system installed by tomorrow evening. I don't know why I'd requested the remote start originally as it was an aftermarket product, but I was sure glad I'd done so. It had saved my life. Besides, I'm a gadget freak. This time though, I'd have an alarm system. I'd never liked them because someone was always setting them off but figured if I'd had one it might have stopped the bombers. Since there was no trade this time, the price wasn't much higher. It had a couple other options I hadn't ordered on the first one. The insurance agent was a little more difficult to deal with. The insurance company required a bunch of paperwork before they'd do anything but we managed to get the ball rolling. Hopefully they'd get it all done before I had to take some money out of my portfolio. If not, well that was just the way it was. I'd be somewhat pissed off but it wouldn't be a big hardship. He did say I could have what was left of the Gator removed as long as I had some pictures of it and the police pictures would do if that was all I could get. A few minutes with my digital camera took care of that and about the time I was finished, Jim showed up to haul it off. He quoted a storage fee and loaded it up. Another call to the insurance agent. I needed to put him on speed dial. Then there were calls about getting the driveway and garage door repaired and more calls to the agent. What a mess. I was about ready to pull my hair out when Deputy Carson called. Why was I not surprised when he told me the plate was registered to Rev. Langston? I mean I probably should have been but, after he'd turned down the deal over the bricks through the window, he ranked high on the idiot scale. How he could begin to think he might get away with something like this only confirmed that. By now we were down to getting the Ranger out of the garage. More calls to the agent and more pictures. Finally we were permitted to take the remains of the door apart and got the Ranger free. There wasn't that much room in the Supercab part but for short distances it would work. In fact, it would have to. I didn't feel like cooking so we'd have to go out for dinner. The jump seats weren't very comfortable but for a few miles they could be endured. By now it was closing time for most businesses. I wouldn't be able to do any more to take care of the mess. I realized I was exhausted. I took a deep breath and we all went inside. I decided to have a drink and relax for a few minutes. I almost had the drink mixed when the phone rang. That was just the first of many calls. Everyone seemed to want to check and see if I was okay. When Jerry called, I managed to explain I was all right and would be in tomorrow. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten to call him. There was just so much to try to take care of my mind wasn't working well. Besides, I still had a headache. After a couple of hours of almost nonstop calls I felt like screaming. Why couldn't they just leave me alone and give me time to collect my thoughts? It seemed like all my friends and most of my acquaintances had to talk to me and find out if it was true and was I all right. I finally gathered up the boys and left for dinner. I made certain to leave my cell phone home. The answering machine and voice mail would just have to handle things. We went to a somewhat small but very good Italian restaurant called Italian Surprise. They had the best pizza in the area and the rest of the menu was even better. I knew Corey loved pizza and hoped the others could find something they liked. As we went inside I realized I'd never brought Corey here. We didn't eat out that much and somehow I'd just never gotten around to it. Boy was he in for a treat. Corey and JJ both ordered pizza. I didn't bother to tell them that one would have been more than enough for the two of them. Corey had the Hawaiian and JJ had a pepperoni. I decided on Veal Scaloppini and LT had the Chicken Marcella. As the boys attacked the bread sticks and the salads I tried to think and see if there was anything I'd forgotten to take care of. I hadn't come up with anything by the time the main course arrived. I had two mouths hanging open when the pizzas were served. Even LT looked surprised. Those were no wimpy little pizzas. They were not only big around but, instead of the somewhat thin crust most pizza has, those were thick. They had enough topping piled on to where it was trying to slide off. The edges being rolled in helped stop that. The overall thickness had to be well over an inch and a half and they must have weighed over five pounds apiece. It was too bad the place didn't have take out or home delivery. I wasn't all that fond of pizza but the ones made here were an exception to that rule. I was amused with JJ. He didn't want to admit the pizza could whip him but about half of it was all he could eat. The last few bites looked like sheer agony. Corey didn't even make it that far. For that matter, neither did LT or I. When I suggested dessert, all I got was groans. It was a shame, you could get the best cakes and pies I'd ever bought here. They just stared longingly at the remains of their meals when I suggested leaving but brightened up when I requested people bags. There were easily enough leftovers to make another meal, even if we were hungry. By the time we got home all I wanted to do was just collapse. I was beat. The stress of the day and getting banged around had taken their toll. Instead, the answering machine said I had thirteen new messages. I didn't even check the voice mail. I fixed some coffee while putting the leftovers in the refrigerator and when it was done took a cup and started on the messages. I was about half done when it dawned on me the boys were just hovering around me. When I thought about it, they hadn't left me for more than a few seconds since I'd awakened at the hospital. Even when they'd been making the sandwiches they'd kept glancing in my direction. Now I know I'm not always the brightest bulb in the universe but it suddenly penetrated that they were scared and worried. To hell with it, the calls could wait. "Hey guys, want to talk about it?" I asked softly. When I asked that, it was pretty obvious that was what they had been waiting for. We went into the living room and I couldn't figure out quite how we ought to sit. I finally selected the sofa which was about the biggest I could find when I bought it. I could lay on it and not touch either arm. JJ looked beat and I was sure has back and butt hurt so I had him lie next to one arm of the sofa and put his head in my lap. That left room for Corey and LT on the other side and I could put my arm across their shoulders. It was about the best I could do to hold all of them at the same time. Somehow I thought contact would help. There's nothing like a helping hand, or in this case arm, to help you feel better. It probably goes back to when our mothers held us and burped us by patting us on the back when we were babies. It was comforting then and the arm reminded us of it now. They kept coming back to the fact that I might have been killed. That was true, I could have been. I kept pointing out that I hadn't been and there was little chance of it happening now. Those who'd tried to kill me would most likely be arrested in a few days. After that they would probably remain in jail. Perhaps for a long time. That didn't seem to comfort them. That went back and forth for a while. I wasn't making any progress. Finally I stopped and thought for a few seconds. "Look guys. You're right. I could have been killed. I wasn't. I could also be killed every time I drive someplace, or cross a street, or mow the lawn, or even when I cook dinner. After all, that's a gas range that's in the kitchen and there is the possibility of an explosion. I could be walking down the street and a bank robber could run out of the bank and think I was in his way and shoot me. There are all kinds of ways to be killed and fortunately, most never happen. But, just because we might be killed we can't stop driving, or walking, or cooking, or any of a number of things. Not only that, if we start worrying about it, then we go through life afraid to do anything or have any fun. Any of us can be killed or die at any time. The thing to do is to try to be reasonably cautious and go on with our lives. LT, JJ, think about it. Your life was uprooted just a few days ago. Before that you wouldn't have worried about me but now you seem to be. Why? Is it because you're afraid something might happen to me or is it because you might have to live somewhere else? For that matter is it because you're afraid that something might happen to you? Even if something happened, say something happened to me, Judy would find a place for you. It might be better or it could be worse than living here. Who knows? The important thing to remember is that you have to go on no matter what happens. It's fine to have a healthy respect for whatever dangers might be out there but you can't let it rule your life. If you do that you can't seek and find happiness. You'll be too busy worrying about something happening to you." I was out of words for right now. I didn't know how to explain that one can't live one life in fear. Fear is something that becomes all consuming. You're left with no time or energy to do anything else. You end up paralyzed, doing nothing. Sure I was afraid. There may be more of those crackpots out there like those that had tried to kill me but I couldn't let them win. I had to go on and, in order to do that, I needed to put the worry out of my mind. One can never let any subject become an obsession, particularly fear. That was what had been my problem earlier in the week. When I finally put fear behind me by facing it and going forward, things, along with my attitude had improved. Sure there would be set-backs. There are always set-backs in the journey of life. Those set-backs present the opportunity to improve ourselves. By moving forward and overcoming such obstacles we improve ourselves. I just didn't know how to say it. I was sure this was something I had to get through to them with. It was something they would need to succeed in life. It wasn't just about someone hurting you. It was about facing any problem you might have and dealing with it. There would always be those who were against homosexuals. They were out there, waiting to hurt and try to destroy you. If you lived your life in fear of them, you were lost. That didn't mean you shouldn't recognize they were there and attempt to protect yourself. Only that you couldn't allow them to rule your life. In some senses the boys were better off than I'd been. They seemed to be accepting that they were different at an earlier age than I did. I had no idea why. For that matter, I had no idea of why it had taken me so long to recognize that I had an attraction to my own sex. I'd thought about the subject many times. I'd just never come up with an answer. Maybe it was because I was secretly afraid to face it but I didn't think so. When first I began to think I might have gay tendencies, I'd started trying to figure out why and what differences it might make to my life. Since I'd already decided I wanted to be a teacher, I kept it fairly quiet. There were some in college and a couple of my high school classmates who knew but I was never really out. It wasn't that I was actually afraid of being out, only that it might affect my chances of getting a job in my chosen profession. It was a case of trying to protect myself and going on with my life. If it ever came out I would have to deal with it. How I'd do that depended on the circumstances surrounding that event. In the meantime it was something that I didn't worry about. If it happened, it happened. I'd deal with it then. In some senses it was like today. When I got out of the hospital I'd started picking up the pieces. I'd contacted the insurance agent, taken care of replacing my Gator and continued with living. As far as I was concerned that was going forward. Maybe some of the things I'd done should have been done at a different time or in a different way but I'd done the best I could. When it was all said and done that was all I could do. That's all anyone can do. You do your best and hope its good enough. As we continued to discuss the situation I could tell the boys weren't buying it. No matter how I tried, they were still in the fear stage. All I could hope was that they were listening and someday they would remember and understand. I knew I'd keep at the argument, trying to make them understand. This was something all people needed to understand. It made no difference whether they were gay or straight, liberal or conservative, male or female, black or white. When F.D.R. said the only thing we had to fear was fear itself, he was right. Other things can be concerns, things to try to solve. Fear is that emotion that can overrule all others and cause one to be helpless to function and help one's self. I knew I'd have to revisit this subject until I made progress. Until then I was a failure at raising them. Bedtime snuck up on me. When Corey yawned and stretched I looked at my watch. Chasing Corey and LT off to take showers I turned my attention to JJ. He hadn't done much so a shower could wait another day. I changed the dressings on his back and butt and tucked him into his bed. Corey applied some of the protective spray to my shoulder and with the aid of a shower cap I got took my shower and then went to bed. The knot on my head hurt too bad to lie on my back so instead of our usual positions we wound up spooned together on our sides. I still had a headache and was exhausted but he wanted to talk. As we lay there talking the subject was the same. How one couldn't let fear affect his actions. I was out of new arguments so it was mostly a rehash of what I'd said before but it seemed to help him because it was one-on-one. I was just about to give up and drop off to sleep when there was a knock at the bedroom door. Jason was afraid. He was crying and needed comforting. I felt terrible that I hadn't noticed how the Gator blowing up had affected the boys. However that was water over the dam so to speak. I couldn't change the past so I'd just have to do the best I could to try to fix things. "Would you feel better if you slept in here?" I asked him. He sniffled out a yes. "Then don't just stand there. Come here and get in bed." As he was about to slip under the covers I noticed he had on some briefs. "I thought wearing briefs hurt?" I told him. "They do." "Then why are you wearing them?" He stammered and stuttered and couldn't really say why he was wearing them. After listening to him for a minute or so I just told him to take them off and get in bed. After all, I told him, Corey and I were naked and one more naked boy wouldn't make any difference to me and shouldn't to him. After all, he shouldn't be ashamed of his body, it was just another body. He hesitated but soon shucked his briefs and slipped into bed beside us. I would have liked to lie on my back so I could have wrapped an arm around him but my head and shoulder were too sore. I did the next best thing. A few whispered words to Corey and I soon got JJ between us. I guess you might say we had a JJ sandwich. It didn't take long until he relaxed and quit crying. We were just about asleep when there was another soft knock on the door. When I answered LT stuck his head in and asked where JJ was. The light was off so he couldn't see him. When I answered LT didn't hesitate or ask. He just came over and slipped into bed next to me. I was glad I'd gotten a king sized bed. It was now crowded. First he snuggled up behind me and then slipped back out of bed. When he slipped back in I could feel he was no longer wearing his briefs. If I hadn't been so tired and sleepy I might have said something but instead drifted off. It would have to wait for some other time. To be continued...