Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 09:46:21 -0700
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Fifty-six

	Hi again.  I see you came back for more.  That means I have to go
through this whole thing again.  Might as well get started so all people
who have not yet attained legal age leave before you get both of us in
trouble.  If you refuse to leave, hide so no one knows you stayed.
	Then there is that narrow minded person who disapproves of sex acts
between males.  He better leave also or he might be offended.  Of course I
could ask him to stick around just so he would be offended but I can't hear
well enough to appreciate his screaming.
	If your paternalistic government thinks reading stories like this
are bad for you, you need to start a revolution.  Kick the idiots and
bigots out.  Make some decent laws and then go ahead and read the story.
	No actual people were used in the creation of this story.  As far
as that goes, no real happenings were used either.  Any resemblance you may
think you see to persons living or dead is a figment of your imagination.
	Since I wrote this story for your pleasure and entertainment, you
are free to read and enjoy it.  Just don't post it elsewhere without asking
me or quote from it without crediting me.  Sending me a few thousand
dollars will make one of us happy.  What, the story isn't worth that much
to you?  I can't believe that.  Actually I can but I just don't want to.
	Once again I'm keeping Ernie busy looking for errors.  I have to
admit that he doesn't have to look very hard to find some.  I'm not sure he
could avoid them if he kept his eyes closed.
	Tell you what.  Go ahead and write.  You know it will make you feel
better.  You can criticize, comment, offer suggestions, or ask questions.
Just stick I Love Corey in the subject line so you don't get deleted.
Unless I'm having a really bad day I'll probably answer you.  I will
confess that sometimes it takes me a few days to get around to answering.
After all I have to get my mind going and sometimes that takes longer than
it should.  Send your emails to fritz@nehalemtel.net Guess that's enough
for now so read and I hope enjoy the following chapter.  Fritz
******************************************************************************

		I Love Corey, Chapter Fifty-six

	Things were going pretty well.  Gail was almost caught up with her
math and Lee and his dad seemed to be getting along great.  I didn't really
get to talk with them much but from what Derrick and Kathy told me things
were going about as well as one could hope for.  I was still a little
surprised that Derrick and Kathy were accepting Lee so well.  I would have
thought that perhaps they wouldn't be willing to share their father but
that didn't seem to be the case.  I was thankful for that because Lee
needed all the help and support he could get.  I figured they would
probably have a few fights down the road but hopefully they would all be
used to each other by then and have learned to forgive and forget.  I
really didn't have any idea of how siblings managed to get along.  Being an
only child had never given me much personal experience in that.  About all
I had to go on was how my friends had gotten along with their brothers and
sisters when I was younger.
	On Friday we had left school and headed for my broker.  It didn't
take long to go over Uncle Matt's recommendations and agree on how to
handle things.  Then he started in with the boys.
	They pointed out how unfair it was that so many of the good mutual
funds didn't have a program for young people.  Chase (Chase Miller, my
broker) listened and when they ran down pointed out that they didn't have
to look only in the realm of open-ended mutual funds.  They could set up a
Roth IRA and invest in many things.
	I'd like to think that Chase would have worked with any young
person that came to him in the way he worked with my boys.  However, I just
don't know.  I had a lot of money that he invested for me so there was no
way I could know.  He might have done it to try to keep me happy or he
might have done it because he really liked working with and explaining to
them all about the world of investments.  I do know he stayed way past his
regular hours showing them what they could do with their money.  The boys
lapped up the attention and I just sat back and relaxed.
	He finally suggested something I hadn't thought of.  There is a
whole range of closed end mutual funds that one can buy.  They trade much
like stocks and you can buy as many shares as you have money.  Sometimes
they sell for less than the net asset value.  Sometimes they sell for more.
While the brokerage fees would be higher for small purchases, much like any
other small purchase of any stock, the boys would still get a much broader
diversification than would be possible from buying individual stocks.  When
they accumulated more money, they could sell the shares and put it in some
other investments if they felt they could do better.  It looked like a
pretty good deal and in fact, I ended up buying into a couple of the funds
he recommended.  He pointed out that the ones he was recommending had
historically traded much closer to their net asset value than they now were
and as long as a person had time on his side, the funds should once again
approach that value giving a double way to make money.  The funds had a
good record of making money and when a person added in the appreciation you
might get from a closing of the discount from the net asset value, the
actual return might be much better than might appear.  Of course, it might
not work out that way but Chase had a bunch of information that appeared to
suggest that his assessment seemed very likely.
	The boys were chattering like a flock of startled chickens when we
finally finished up and left.  You would have thought that they were now
rich.  I kept trying to point out that the money would be tied up for many
years but that didn't seem to slow them down.  Some of the ridiculous
statements about what they would do when they retired with all that money
about cracked me up.  They had only put up two hundred and fifty dollars
each of their own money and even by adding in the addition money I had
added I didn't see how that was going to turn into the billions they were
talking about.  In fact, I'm not sure billions was the correct term to use.
Maybe zillions.  They didn't even want to take time to stop at a restaurant
and eat.  They wanted to get home and check on how their investments were
doing.  I finally convinced them that the trading day was long over and
there would be no change until the stock market again opened and that would
be Monday.  They finally consented to eating at Italian Surprise.
	As usual there was plenty left over for Dog.  He was glad to see us
and scarfed down some of the left-over pizza like it was dog candy.  Dog
seemed to much prefer people food to dog food.  I still needed to check on
what he should have for his diet.  By now his coat was glossy and the wound
on his hip had just about completely filled back in with hair.  To look at
him you would never know anything had been wrong with him.  I got to feed
him while the boys started doing more research into closed end funds.
	By the time Dog was done eating I had three boys after me.  They
wanted me to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal among other things.  I
pointed out they could get all the information they needed online but they
didn't hear me.  I'm sure the words made their eardrums vibrate but their
minds wouldn't listen.  Suggesting that they use their own money for a
subscription had about the same result.  After about so much whining and
crying I just gave up and subscribed.  At least that seemed to shut them
up.
	Corey was in a bubbly mood when we went to bed.  He was still
excited about having his very own investments.  However, that only made him
more loving.  If I had known that would have produced the results it did I
might have encouraged it a long time ago.  There were lots of kisses among
other things to demonstrate how happy he was.  As we giggled and kissed
each other it finally occurred to me that he had never had anything before
he started living with me.  Suddenly he saw that he could aspire to a lot
of things that he had never dreamed were within his grasp.  Amongst the
kissing and cuddling we did he talked about the future.  This was about the
first time he had ever done that.  Sure he had talked about next week and
even next month but now he was really looking forward.  He talked about his
hopes to be an artist and how his life might go.  However, it wasn't long
before other things became more important at the moment.
	Somehow all the talk seemed to grow less important as we continued
to kiss and snuggle together.  Any words just dried up and all that was
left was each other.  We took turns kissing and licking each other.  He
tasted good.  But then Corey always tasted good to me.  What I couldn't
understand is why he always seemed to taste better.  I mean, how could he
get better each time I made love with him?  I had no answer for that.
What's more, it didn't make any difference.  I quit worrying about it and
just enjoyed the taste of him.
	It wasn't long before the licking gave way to a little nibbling.
When he started gently chewing on my ear it sent shivers through me,
shivers that made me forget any problems I might have had.  Soon all that
was left was Corey and a feeling of warmth.  That warmth was rooted in my
love for him.  Maybe someday I would understand why he meant so much to me
but for now it didn't matter.  All that mattered was that he was in my arms
and I could run my hands over him and both smell and touch him.
	Corey soon squirmed his way on top of me.  While he had put on
weight, he still felt light.  Outside of the warmth from our contact, I
didn't even notice his weight.  That warmth was all that mattered.  The
warmth his presence made in my heart was the most important thing in my
life right now.
	He was also getting a little taller.  The six months we had been
together had been accompanied by a growth spurt.  We now lined up a lot
better.  If he turned his head up and I kept mine down we now could have
those certain parts of ours side by side and still kiss.  Had we tried the
same thing when we first met I would have been kissing his nose or maybe
even his eyebrows but now our lips could meet and we could explore each
other's mouth.
	By now we were both perspiring.  That, accompanied by our precum
produced plenty of lubrication for what came next.  As my hands fondled his
ass, Corey started to thrust against me.  The feel of his body moving
against my sensitive erection excited me to where I joined him in
thrusting.  It didn't take long until we had the timing worked out to
achieve maximum pleasure from such contact.
	Kissing was getting harder because of the movement.  That didn't
stop us but instead seemed to make us more demanding of such kisses.
During certain parts of our mutual thrusting there was considerable
pressure between our lips and other times we were almost reaching to
maintain contact.  The muffled moans had slowly turned to grunts.  I could
feel my toes start to curl downward and I was losing control over my
actions but I didn't care.  I had my hands on Corey's ass and could feel it
flex under my fingers.
	It was no longer possible to maintain our kisses.  We were panting
and straining together and Corey had his head thrown back.  His teeth were
clinched and I could hear his breath hiss in and out between those teeth.
It was hard to see because the back of my head was pushing against my
pillow but his eyes were closed and his hair was hanging almost to his
eyes.
	That feeling was starting deep inside me when I felt him stiffen.
It seemed like every muscle in his body became rigid.  That ass I had been
fondling was now as hard as a rock covered with a thin layer of padding.
	I'm not sure who started first.  I only knew that we were thrusting
together.  It was an uncontrolled thrusting, in fact almost a violent
thrusting.  His arms were pulling against my neck and I could feel my hands
trying to pull his ass into me.  His labored breathing now was filled with
explosive grunts.
	Corey collapsed against me.  My hands fell to my sides.  As my mind
started to take note of what was happening I could hear our labored
breathing start to calm.  His chin was on my shoulder and his cheek next to
mine.  It was such a soft cheek.  It only had some soft fine hair that it
would someday become whiskers.
	A shower was in order.  When Corey rolled off me during the night
it woke us up.  Being stuck together with dried cum had a tendency to do
that.  It pulled those hairs it was stuck to.  Neither of us woke up enough
at that time to want to do anything about it but when the morning rolled
around we once again thought of it and had a lot of fun in the shower.  I
guess maybe showering with Corey is my second most favorite thing to do.
This morning gave me no reason to change that opinion.
	Dog must have heard us because he was waiting for his morning belly
rub when we finished our shower.  The sheets already needed changing so I
saw no reason to get excited over his jumping on the bed and flopping on
his back.  Seeing him there with Corey rubbing and scratching his belly
made me remember my original plans for Dog.  Boy that had been shot down.
He didn't live outside and as for staying off the bed, well that hadn't
worked out either.  However, he didn't look good against the soft blue
sheets.  Maybe I ought to put the yellow ones on the bed.  He looked a lot
better against them.  Was I going to have to buy sheets with the idea of
how Dog would look against them?
	I had breakfast started when I sent Dog to wake JJ and LT up.  I
think Dog really enjoyed that duty.  He would prance down the hall and then
there would be a few loud woofs.  Sometimes there would be a few more woofs
and finally Dog would prance back, soon followed be two boys stumbling into
the kitchen.  The smug look on Dog's face was priceless.  Today was no
exception.
	JJ and LT might have been half asleep but that didn't seem to
affect their appetites.  The eggs and sausage just kept disappearing.
Well, so did the toast and hash browns.  We even got a load of laundry
started before it was time for the first of them to go to work.
	As we did housework I started making some stock.  I was out of both
beef and chicken stock and had been reduced to using the canned kind.  It
was a poor substitute for homemade.  I loaded up the roaster with some beef
bones that I had hacked up with my cleaver and added some onions and
carrots and celery and even a few heads of garlic when the bones first
started to show a little brown.  By the time the bones were brown enough
the vegetables were cooked down to almost a mush.  The bones were just shy
of black.
	I put all the bones and vegetables in a big stock pot and covered
them with water.  I hated to spend a day making stock so I always made a
big batch.  That way I didn't have to do it very often.  When it was done I
would freeze it and when I needed it all I had to do was get it out of the
freezer and nuke it a little.  I used my big roaster because that way I
could use the big stock pot.  The stock pot was a forty quart model and was
about three quarters full when I started cooking.  I had to skim it several
times and add water but as the day went on I got a lot of housework done
while the boys worked.  The stock pot didn't require much attention but you
couldn't just go off and leave it.  By late afternoon I removed all the
bones and remains of the vegetables and started cooking it down.  If it was
cooked down it didn't require as much freezer space and it was easy to just
add some water.  I had the second pot going with some chickens and similar
vegetables cooking at the same time although I did leave out the garlic.  I
figured that as long as I was tied down with one, I might just as well do
both of them.  The chickens hadn't required as much time in the oven as the
beef bones and were just a bunch of fryers hacked up with the breast peeled
off.  I could use the breasts for other things.  A lot of people didn't
bother to brown the chickens but I thought it really added to the flavor.
	Things always work out rather strange.  I had been in and out of
the kitchen all day, fiddling with the stocks and had nothing cooked for
dinner.  Not only that, I wasn't in the mood to cook.  We ate out.  When I
thought about it that was about the way it always went when I made stock.
I couldn't remember ever cooking for myself after I spent the day making
stock.  However the boys were happy with their ribs at Old Texas Ribs.  Dog
enjoyed the bones.
	When we got home the stock was cooled enough to put in containers
for freezing.  I kept about four quarts of the beef stock out to cook on
down to Glace De Viande which some people incorrectly call Demi-glace.
Demi-glace is really just a rich stock while Glace De Viande is cooked down
to where is like a thick syrup.  All it really consists of is stock reduced
by a factor of eight to ten.  I started it cooking while we packaged and
put the rest of the stocks in the freezer.  When it was done I would pour
it into ice cubes trays and freeze it.  When frozen it could be bagged and
then all one had to do was get a cube out of the freezer and use it.  Since
it was so strong I would only put a little less than a tablespoon in each
opening in the tray.  I'd been out of it for a long time and really missed
it because it was so handy to cook with.  You could throw a cube into a
sauce and didn't have to wait for it to cook down.  If you used stock, you
had to wait for it to reduce to the proper consistency.  It was great to
use and a bitch to make owing to the length of time it took.  It wasn't
hard but you did have to watch it, especially towards the end.  I'd managed
to burn one batch and ruin it several years back.  That really sucked after
I'd put all that time into it and I wasn't about to make the mistake again.
	We kicked around what to do tomorrow while the stock slowly
thickened.  By the time the boys had decided to shoot, it was bed time.  I
turned the stove off and we headed for bed.  Corey and I enjoyed each other
but at least we managed to keep the sheets clean this time.
	By the time breakfast was over and we were ready for church, the
stock was almost cooked down to the right consistency for Glace De Viande.
I turned the stove off and we headed for church.  After the service the
boys made their usual raid on the refreshments.  Mr. Besslor was there
along with Mrs. Clammer and the Clammer boys.  Mrs. Clammer was getting
around quite well and only used a cane.  Her hip was doing well.  However,
she was still staying with Mr. Besslor.  The way they acted around each
other made it a poor bet that she would move back to her apartment.  Most
of the congregation grinned at them behind their backs.  I think we all
secretly wished them well.  I visited with them while her and my boys
plundered the refreshments.  I still had a hard time believing the change
in Mr. Besslor but I really liked it.  There was a bounce in his step and a
smile on his face.
	When we got home the boys each had a couple of sandwiches to last
them until dinner.  It might have been a little backward, eating dessert
first, but it didn't seem to bother them.  We got all the guns in the back
of the Gator and headed out.
	Dog didn't really like all the noise.  He was happy to spend most
of his time in the Gator.  The boys were all getting a little better but
still had a long way to go.  Still, during one of the fun shoots Corey got
lucky.  He won $1.20 and was thrilled.  He seemed to forget that he had
lost five times that much before he managed to win.  Then it didn't take
him long to lose his winnings.  Still, the boys had a good time and were
slowly getting better.  JJ and LT still seemed to be enjoying it so I was
going to have to find them each their own shotgun.  We needed to go
somewhere that there were a lot of guns for sale so they could try them to
see which ones they liked best.  I needed to check to see where the next
fair sized shoot would be.  It was either that or go to one of the stores
that sell competition guns and pay the price.
	All of a sudden it dawned on me that I didn't need to try to save
money.  I'd gone through this battle with myself before but it seemed like
it never stuck.  I would convince myself to spend some money and the next
time the subject came up I was right back to the mindset my parents had
instilled in me.  While I had managed to break that mindset when it came to
groceries, most of the time I still worried about if an item was worth that
to me.  I could have bought a brand new pickup and a new trailer to go with
it but couldn't bring myself to do so.  I knew I was acting silly but that
was just the way I thought.  I could no more do anything about it than I
could change the natural color of my hair.  Those lessons my parents had
pounded into my head were there like they were engraved in stone.
	As I stood there and watched the boys again get shot out of a fun
shoot I realized that I already had everything I had ever really wanted.  I
had Corey to love and JJ and LT to raise as my children.  Until I had them
I just hadn't known what it was that I truly wanted and needed.  Watching
them as they eagerly stepped up to shoot and the way they teased each other
over a bad shot made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  We were turning into a
family and that was what I had wanted and needed.
	It was time to head home so I called to the boys and headed for the
Gator.  Dog was glad to see me and had done his duties by the time the boys
had their guns put away.  We needed to get home so I could cook.  Bob was
coming for dinner and Mr. Besslor would be over for LT's lesson after
dinner.  The only thing wrong with my little family was that it didn't seem
like I ever had any time to just enjoy it.  I knew I could quit teaching
and devote full time to raising the boys but teaching was something I
didn't think I could give up.  Sure there were times when I could
cheerfully wring some of the students necks and I could certainly do
without the occasional back-biting that went on within the faculty but I
loved being around the students and trying to help them learn and grow.  It
was just a part of me.  I needed teaching like an artist needs his art or a
musician needs his music.  Sometimes they made me mad but others they
amazed and delighted me.  A student could go from needing his head bashed
in to making me want to hug him or her in a heartbeat.  I was thrilled for
them when I could see they suddenly understood what I was trying to teach
them.  Somehow I really needed the high that look of comprehension gave me.
	I had the potatoes in the oven and baking when Bob showed up.  The
stock was now cooked down enough so I filled the ice cube trays and froze
it.  However, I would use a little of it tonight.  We were having steaks
and I was going to fix a quick and tasty pan sauce for them.  Some diced
shallots, a little wine, some of the Glace De Viande, a little salt and
pepper and a glob of butter was all it would be.  The boys were whining
about the broccoli but I figured it was good for them.  I remembered my
mother telling me I needed to eat certain foods because they were good for
me and found myself doing the same.  I wondered what happened to that vow I
made that I would never act that way.  I also remembered whining about
things like broccoli and spinach but ate them because I wasn't willing to
incur my mother's wrath.  That made me wonder it they really were good for
me.
	Corey got Bob a beer and we visited while dinner finished cooking.
When it was served, a few glares from me and the boys each took some of the
broccoli.  They even ate it so I didn't have to use the old what about the
starving children in whatever country routine.  You know the one.  It's
when your mother tells you that you have to eat something because there are
starving children in some country and they would be thrilled to have the
food you don't like.  I snickered to myself as the boys ate their broccoli.
At least they didn't say what I had always wanted to say to Mom and that
was why didn't she send it to those starving children.  There were several
things she fixed that I would have been happy to donate my share of.
However I had gotten to where I enjoyed an occasional meal of broccoli.
Spinach I could still do without.  The only way it was edible was in a
salad and there were many of other greens I liked a lot better.  No matter
how many Popeye cartoons I had seen, I still hated canned spinach.  Fresh
spinach wasn't much better.
	Bob and Corey were in Corey's room going over Corey's art lesson
and Mr. Besslor and LT were in the family room for the music lesson so I
sat down in the living room.  Dog soon found me and the next thing I knew I
was giving him a belly rub.  He was on my lap, on his back and just
enjoying that belly rub.  About then JJ came in and sat down beside me.  I
moved Dog a little so both of us could rub and scratch him and the level of
groans went up.  He was now draped across both of our laps and really
enjoying the attention we were showing him.  Finally Dog seemed to have had
enough scratching and got down.  He curled up at our feet and promptly went
to sleep.  I just leaned back and was enjoying being alive when JJ started
talking.
	"Why do my parents hate me?"
	This was a subject we had gone over before but it still seemed to
bother JJ.  Before I could answer he continued.
	"I tried to be good."  He paused briefly.  "They loved me until
they found out I was gay.  Is it so wrong to be gay?"
	"I don't think it's wrong to be gay.  Still, maybe I'm not the
right one to answer.  Instead think of the Sterretts.  They didn't seem to
have a problem with Cody.  You've seen him the last week in school.
Doesn't he now look happy?  You have to remember that there are a lot more
parents like Cody's parents than like yours.  Sometimes it just takes
parents a little time before they accept things but most of the time they
do.  You and LT are the exception.  Come on, I'll show you a web site I
found that perhaps explains it better."
	We went into the computer room and I booted up.  I started at a
site called "The Mail Crew" which has links to some excellent information
for gay young people.  The site I really wanted was "OutProud."  It tells a
lot about how most parents react to finding out their child is gay.  I
pointed out the part where the parents feel they have failed.  We talked
about a lot of things on the site and how they might be applied to JJ's
situation.  We were going over some of the things on the sites when I
noticed that LT and Mr. Besslor had joined us.  We had been so wrapped up
in what we were talking about we hadn't even heard them come in.
	Mr. Besslor started talking about how correct some of the
information was.  He told about how he had reacted to his son's sexual
orientation.  Hearing him tell about all the mistakes he had made and how
bad he felt about them was a real eye-opener.  Somehow it always makes a
bigger impact when someone you know can talk about it from a personal
perspective.  Corey and Bob joined us and the whole conversation really
took off.
	I had known that JJ still had problems with the fact that his
parents had beaten him and then skipped the area.  He still seemed to feel
it was somehow his fault.  Between the links that the "Mail Crew" provided
and the things Mr. Besslor and Bob talked about a lot of his question
seemed to be answered.
	We kept talking and no one even noticed how late it was getting.
All kinds of things were talked about and not just questions that JJ had.
All the boys talked about things that bothered them.  While Bob and I
weren't really out, still we could answer some of those questions.
Mr. Besslor could answer others from his perspective.  Mainly he tried to
tell how bad he felt over the mistakes he had made and how glad he was that
Steve was giving him another chance.  It was one of those discussions that
jumped all over the place and covered all kinds of things but had a central
theme.
	It was a little after eleven when I noticed Corey yawn.  Both Bob
and Mr. Besslor looked surprised when they learned how late it was.  With
that, the conversation ended but we agreed that we needed to do it again
and maybe even invite the Sterretts to join us.  I was sure that Cody would
benefit from a conversation like this and probably it would help his
parents.  As soon as the guests left we fell into bed.
	Monday was going pretty good.  My students were paying some
attention to me and there was no more than the usual chaos in my classes.
Nothing earth shaking had come up at the morning meeting and no life and
death situations were brought to my attention during lunch.  It just didn't
get much better than this.  Suddenly the whole thing fell apart.  My boys
couldn't keep their mouths shut and suddenly I was trying to explain the
benefits of compounding to my class.
	It wouldn't have been that hard if I had anything prepared for it
but there was no time-money program on my laptop and none in the school's
computer system.  I was down to my ever faithful HP 32S.  That poor little
calculator got another work out.  The lesson plan went out the window and I
had to show the students how to work the calculator and then explain how
time helped money grow.  It would have helped if the boys had done a better
job of explaining what I'd showed them but somehow they had left most of it
out.  About all my students seemed to know is that I had some get rich
quick scheme.  I spent both afternoon classes explaining that it wasn't a
get rich quick scheme but rather a plan that would produce a return over
time.  At first they were disappointed that they wouldn't become instant
millionaires but soon started to show some enthusiasm.  This wasn't the
first time my classes had gotten way off target and wouldn't be the last.
At least this time the subject had something to do with the subject I was
teaching.  That was better than some of the other subjects that had come up
during the last few years.  9/11 had occupied a couple of days and the
rolling black-outs during the power crisis had also taken class time.
	My classes seemed to be the lightning rod.  I suppose it was
because I tried to make my students think.  Sure they needed to learn what
I taught but if I could get them to learn to think for themselves I didn't
really care if they ever learned to solve a math problem.  It's easy to
just follow the book and concentrate on what it says but in the end all you
have is a bunch of robots that are good at solving problems that are
presented in a specific way.  My goal was to make them truly understand how
things really worked and that didn't cover just mathematics.  I wanted them
to think about everything.  I knew that had about driven Jerry crazy when I
first started teaching but so far it was working.  My students were up in
their math scores and in most cases they were scoring higher in other
subjects.  The thing that broke my heart was that every year there was
always a student or two I couldn't seem to get going.  Sometimes they were
polite but showed no interest and others they might be surly.  No matter
how hard I tried we never seemed to connect.  They just sat there and did
their work.  Sometimes they were even pretty good students.  It wasn't that
I needed them to like me.  What I wanted was for them to think and learn.
The subject was unimportant.
	In both classes I managed to get back on subject towards the end of
the period by promising to bring in some more information tomorrow.  I
could see I was going to be busy tonight.
	The boys couldn't wait to get home.  They wanted to check to see if
their money had grown.  I tried to point out that one day wouldn't make
much difference and besides, they might have lost money but that didn't
slow them down.  They exploded out of the Gator and rushed to the computer
to look up their funds.  At least by living on the west coast the markets
would be closed and they could get a closing price for the day.
	You would have thought the world ended.  They each lost almost a
dollar.  The market had drifted a little lower and their shares had drifted
with it.  I pointed out that I had lost a lot more than that and they
didn't see me whining about it but that didn't seem to help.  I gave up and
started working on some plans for tomorrow's lessons.
	I got a couple of calls from parents during the evening.  They
wanted to know what I was trying to teach their children but seemed happy
enough with my explanation.  In fact one of them wondered it maybe I would
explain it to him.  I agreed and suggested he come over for dinner Saturday
evening.  A little negotiation with his wife and we soon agreed on a time.
	The week continued along with only the morning classes on Tuesday
requiring a full discussion of time money and the afternoon classes
spending a few minutes going over the material I had prepared and brought
from home.  However, the calls in the evening picked up.  By the end of the
week I had agreed to have seventeen adults and twenty-seven students for
dinner.  The whole thing had gotten out of hand.  Dinner for four dozen
people would be somewhat of a challenge.  By Friday evening I was still
trying to figure out what to cook.  I hurried to the rental center and got
the folding chairs and card tables picked up and then headed for Downie's
to see if I could find something good to eat.  The boys were all for
hamburgers and hot dogs but I thought something that adults would be more
fond of would be a better choice.  My problem was tuning them out while I
tried to think of something that everyone would probably like and I could
manage to cook.
	Sometimes you just luck out.  Downie's had a couple of huge sirloin
roasts in the meat case.  I mean they were really big hummers.  I quickly
added up the weight of the two roasts and came up with almost twenty-seven
pounds.  That ought to do it.  Adults normally ate a little less than half
a pound of meat per meal and the various kids might eat a little more based
on my boys so into the cart they went.  Then it was time to look the rest
of the store over to see what would be good with roast beef.
	The boys about cried when I saw some nice broccoli.  Their world
was ending and they would die if I forced them to eat it again but I
explained I was going to use it for a salad.  That calmed them down
somewhat.  They looked a little happier when I grabbed some bags of baby
carrots.  I continued looking around and noticed some really nice looking
shrimp.  The boys were happy with the idea of shrimp for an appetizer.  A
bag of potatoes went in the cart and I was down to dessert.
	As I continued throwing odds and ends in the cart I kept racking my
brains for something for dessert.  Inspiration failed me and I finally
grabbed some containers of ice cream.  If the dinner had been scheduled for
Sunday I would have had plenty of time to bake but with it being on
Saturday I would be busy just getting the main part of the dinner ready.  I
just wasn't sure there would be enough time or oven space to bake enough
cakes for that big a crowd.  If I did manage to find the time I could
always serve some cake with a scoop of ice cream.  I finally took my
overburdened cart to the check-out stand.
	We got home in time for Corey's art lesson.  He and Bob disappeared
into his bedroom just about that time Mr. Besslor showed up and soon I
could hear LT on the organ.  I fixed some spaghetti while the lessons were
going on.  JJ helped dice the onions and celery and even cooked the
hamburger.  We finally had the sauce cooking and it was time to think
things over.
	Mr. Besslor finished giving LT his lesson and left for home.  The
sauce was almost done so I put the pasta in the water.  Corey and Bob had
it timed perfectly.  The pasta was almost done when they came out to see
what was going on.  I had the salad made and the garlic bread heating.  It
was time to eat.
	Bob decided he'd like to attend and there were several more calls
from some parents that caused some adjustment to the number of guests.
Unfortunately the number went up.  I had the boys help bake some cakes
because I'd decided that if I got them done tonight that would make things
a lot easier.  Somehow ice cream just didn't seem like enough.  We got four
cakes baked by bed time and the number of guest climbed to fifty.  That
made a total of fifty-four people for dinner.  Thank God for paper plates.
	Sometimes things that once appeared to be a mistake turn out right.
A couple of years ago I had picked up some stainless flatware.  I fouled up
and thought there were only six each in a package so I bought more
packages.  The packages weren't very big so it appeared reasonable to me
that they would only contain six knives or forks or whatever.  I'd been
planning on having a couple dozen guests for a cook out so I grabbed four
packages each of knives, forks, and spoons.  When I got home and opened
those packages I discovered that each package contained twelve items
instead of six.  The price had been so reasonable that it just didn't seem
like there could be that many but after checking around I found that stores
like the one I had got them at catered to the restaurant business and a lot
of things were real bargains.  We had to get some of them out of the
trailer but at least there would be ample eating utensils.
	Saturday morning I panicked.  As soon as Downie's opened I dashed
down and picked up another smaller roast.  I had visions of my boys and
their classmates eating all the food and leaving nothing for the adults.  I
also grabbed some more carrots, broccoli, and another twenty pound bag of
potatoes.  Well I threw in a few more items because I didn't want to cart
to look so empty.  By now I didn't think I had bought anything unless the
cart was heaped up.  The way the boys went through food had convinced me of
that.  Then it was dash home and get the roasts started.
	I patted the roasts dry and then lightly coated them with olive
oil.  A half a dozen cloves of garlic run through a garlic press was then
rubbed over each roast.  Then I applied my seasoning mix.  The boys were
busy putting two tablespoons of pepper corns, two tablespoons of dried
basil, a teaspoon each of marjoram, cayenne, and thyme in a coffee grinder
and grinding it all together.  I patted that mixture on each of the roasts
and put them in the roasters.  Then I popped them in a four hundred fifty
degree oven for about thirty-five minutes.  I was really thankful for the
restaurant type range I had because I managed to get both roasters in one
oven.  After the thirty-five minutes they appeared nicely seared so I
turned the oven down to a hundred and eighty degrees and took the first of
the boys to work.  Today it was Corey's turn to be first.  That worked out
well because he would be the first one home and by now he was better help
in the kitchen that either JJ or LT.  They were learning but Corey had
lived with me longer and had a big head start.
	It took a while but I finally got all the broccoli cleaned and cut
up into little pieces.  I was going to make a coleslaw type dressing and in
effect have broccoli slaw.  While I was preparing the broccoli I also baked
another couple of cakes.  I now had six nine by thirteen cakes, three
chocolate and three white ones.  They should serve about sixty people.
However, I had to run to the mall.  I could see I was running out of large
serving dishes.
	I found some nice big stainless bowls and grabbed a handful.  When
I was walking back to the Gator I passed the bakery.  I'd been worrying
about rolls and solved the problem by purchasing a bunch of hard French
rolls.  I wasn't sure how many I needed so I bought all they had.  Nine
dozen would have to do.
	I spent the afternoon doing all those little things like fixing the
sour-crème horseradish mixture for the roast and fixing the sauce for the
carrots.  I also peeled potatoes.  I looked in the kettle and peeled some
more.  Then I peeled a few more just to be safe.  Then there were the trays
of shrimp and dips along with some cheese sticks and crackers to fix.  I
even found time to get all the card tables and folding chairs set up.
	My living room is eighteen by twenty-four and the family room only
slightly smaller.  The kitchen/dining area is also huge.  However, by the
time everything was ready you could hardly get through the house.  I think
the only thing that kept me going was the smell of the roasts.
	I had Corey home by the time the first of the guests started
showing up.  Bob had agreed to pick up JJ and LT so at least I didn't have
to worry about them.  I hoped I hadn't forgotten anything.
	One nice thing is that I had already met most of the guests.  In
fact, about half of them had been to dinner at least once.  However they
were somewhat surprised at the number of people that were invited.  I'd
just told them that a few people were coming to dinner and why didn't they
join us when I talked with them.  It didn't take long until the house was
full.  Some of the kids were out playing basketball and some were playing
various video games.  Most of the adults were in the kitchen area talking
with me as I finished up cooking.  Thank God for Corey's help.  Things went
even better when JJ and LT showed up accompanied by Bob.  Bob and the boys
pitched right in and helped.  Soon the platters of shrimp and cheese were
out and those who wanted it could have beer or wine.  Things were just
starting to get going when the kids descended.  Those poor shrimp never had
a chance.  As far as that goes, neither did the cheese and crackers.  The
pop supply also took a hit.  I was forced to defend one platter, saying it
was for the adults.  There were several dirty looks over that announcement.
It's a good thing they backed down because I think that they could have
overpowered me.
	I set the boys to mashing potatoes while I made gravy.  I put some
of the stock I'd made, along with some wine and a few cubes of the Glace De
Viande in the pan and added some salt and pepper.  When it was hot I added
some cornstarch mixed with water.  I finished it up with some butter to
give it a sheen and a little more richness.  It turned out great.  It was
time to eat.  I put big platters and bowls of food on the island and people
started filling their plates.
	Well I guess you know I had enough.  You could have increased the
number of guests by fifty percent and I would have still had plenty.  The
kids attacked first and I think all the adults were afraid to get in their
way for fear of being trampled.  By the time the last of the adults were
going through the line, some of the kids were back for seconds.  A few of
them even made it through a third time but that still didn't empty any of
the serving dishes.  I could see I wasn't going to have to cook for a
couple of days.  There were people all over, eating and talking.  When we
were all filled up, I made the boys pick things up.  They even conned some
of their friends into helping although that might have been so the friends
could get a few more bites.  We got all the card tables folded up and moved
a bunch of the folding chairs into the living room and I got started.
	I had my laptop hooked up to the TV and it didn't take long to go
through things.  Bob helped with the questions and really, the whole thing
was sort of anticlimactic.  There were lots of questions but most of them
were simple.  The real point was to show how much money could grow over
time and that you needed to get started as soon as possible.  The only
other thing was that there are all kinds of investments and you can choose
something like government bonds with no risk or stocks and assume some
risk.  I suggested that they could talk to their banker or find a broker
and that there were a bunch of brokerage house with branches in Redding.
Someone asked how the boys' investments were doing and I told them the
market had been down three days and up two during the past week and at
present they were down sixty-eight cents each.  That got a few chuckles.
	After that we ended up just visiting.  Some of the guests I managed
to get acquainted with and in the case of others we renewed our
friendships.  Now that the pressure of dinner was off I really enjoyed
talking with them.  We chatted about how each of their children was doing
in school and what they would like to see done differently.  It was really
better than a PTA meeting because we were all relaxed and just talking as
friends rather than teacher to parent.  We finally all agreed that dinner
had settled enough for dessert.  The kids had all disappeared but as soon
as I started cutting the cakes they showed up.  I have no idea how the ones
playing basketball had any idea the cakes were being cut.  Maybe they have
some kind of food radar.  The ones in the house playing the video games
might have heard but even that seems unlikely given the level of sound from
those games.  I was left wondering what kind of special power was it that
allowed children to know when there was food available.  Was it some sort
of mental telepathy?
	It was getting late by the time dessert had been eaten.  People
started leaving for home.  All of them said they had a good time and from
the sounds of their voices I was inclined to believe them.  It's hard to
cover some things up and when you are happy and have enjoyed the evening it
just seems to be apparent in your voice.  It had been a lot of work but I
really enjoyed talking with the ones I had already been acquainted with and
meeting and getting to know the others had been just as good.  Besides, I
could cross some of them off the list of those I needed to invite to
dinner.  I was falling behind on that but the boys complicated things.  I
really needed to get going on that again.  For some reason knowing the
parents seemed to solve some problems with the students.  It also made it a
lot easier to solve behavioral problems.  The feeling that I was free to
talk with the parents seemed to calm the students down and just made
everything seem to go better.  Sometimes just the suggestion that I would
call a parent solved the problem.  It also made the parents feel freer to
discuss what they perceived to be problems.
	We managed to get the left-overs put away.  It's a good thing the
new refrigerator had arrived.  Both it and the old one were stuffed.  I had
enough extra mashed potatoes to last forever.  I could have gotten by with
half the amount I had fixed.  I didn't need the extra roast and one roll
per person would have been plenty.  I was sure we would be tired of the
broccoli slaw before it was gone.  About the only thing that I had guessed
right on was the carrots.  There was only a couple of meals of them left.
	I fell into bed.  Corey squirmed around into his favorite position.
I managed to kiss the back of his head before sleep claimed me.  It had
been a busy day.

			To be continued...

	A really good site for any young person, or adult for that matter,
who has questions on how to deal with their sexuality is
http://www.themailcrew.com/ There are lots of links to articles that help
and also some good stories.  It is a site I highly recommend.  It offers
good advice on whether you should come out to your parents and offers
parents good advice on how to deal with their gay child.
	You can get how to cook the roast from the story.  Allow about six
ounces per person for adults, a little more if you think they are big
eaters but unless they are gluttons not over seven ounces.  The sour-cream
horseradish sauce is nothing more than some sour-cream and some horseradish
mixed together and allowed to sit for a couple of hours.  I like 8
oz. sour-cream and most of a small jar of horseradish.  Make it early and
keep adding horseradish until it has all the bite you like.  A little of
that on a good roast is excellent.  The slaw dressing is nothing more than
vinegar, sugar, and mayonnaise.  Take about a quarter cup of mayonnaise;
add a tablespoon of vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar.  If you want it a
little thinner add a little evaporated milk.  If you want it a little
stronger you can increase the sugar and vinegar in equal amounts.  I use
cider vinegar.  The carrot sauce appeared in an earlier chapter.
	One additional note on the roast.  If you like it rare cut the oven
back to 170.  I gave some of the directions in earlier chapters.  Use a
meat thermometer the first couple of times until you learn your oven.  If
your oven is fairly accurate, 180 will leave just a hint of pink and 170
will leave the center slightly red.  A large roast is a surprisingly cheap
meal for a big crowd.  A three dollar a pound roast only costs you a little
over a buck per person.  You can normally serve two and a half people per
pound.  A vegetable and a salad along with potatoes and gravy don't add
that much cost.  Figure about four oz. of mashed potato per person.  Twenty
pounds of potatoes will serve sixty to seventy-five people depending on
their appetites.  Unless there are a lot of big eaters the upper number
will work well.  All bets are off with teenagers.  That should give you
something to go on.
	I like the roasts because you put them in the oven in the morning
and serve them at dinner time.  The cooking time isn't critical.  I've put
them in the oven at nine and had them ready at five.  I've also started
them at six and served them twelve hours later.  You don't have to adjust
the temp.  You can make the gravy while the roasts are resting.  It's a
very easy way to entertain because you are not so rushed during the day.
Just don't panic and act like Sam.  Your initial estimates of quantity will
probably be a lot closer than if you start worrying about it.  The first
time I tried cooking for a crowd of about seventy I had enough leftovers to
feed them again.  Maybe twice.  If you happen to have a membership at
Costco, their roasts are very good and quite reasonably priced.
	One last comment.  I have never tried cooking a roast smaller than
seven pounds this way.  I would think one could probably go down to five or
so pounds but don't know.  However, I don't think it would work very well
with a thin flat roast like a lot of pot roasts are cut.  I've used
sirloin, round, standing rib, and rib eye roasts.  I love standing rib
roasts.  I just lay them bone side down in the roaster and let them cook.
Be sure to save and use the dried out drippings in the pan for gravy.
Yummy.