Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 04:18:50 -0800
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Sixty-nine

	Here I go, another disclaimer.  I know you're tired of them.  So am
I, but alas, they serve an useful purpose.  They use up some of the reject
words I have just lying around.
	All you youngsters better get your lazy backsides out of here.  You
might get caught.  Then you would have to explain why you were here,
reading the story.  Unless you can think up a good excuse, it is just
easier to leave.  Of course if you are of legal age, you are free to
remain.
	For those of you who get all upset from reading stories that
contain descriptions of gay sex, you had better leave also.  This story
does contain such things from time to time.  It is not my intention to
offend you, and by leaving you will escape that fate.  Of course if those
descriptions don't offend you, you are once again free to remain.
	There is one other reason you might need to leave.  There are areas
that prohibit the reading of stories such as this one, and if you happen to
live in such an area, you had better leave before you are caught.  Don't
give the bigots a chance to brag over catching you.  It really accomplishes
nothing except to show how narrow minded they are.  Now that I have run
everyone off, I suppose I should finish the disclaimer but I'm not sure
why.  I suppose habit is as good a reason as any.
	The storyline and the characters do not exist.  It, and they are
not based on any actions or any persons, living or dead.  That makes it
fiction.  If you think you see such a resemblance to anyone, or any
happening, it is accidental and was not intended.  I don't know how to make
it any clearer than that.
	Please feel free to read and enjoy the story.  Just do me the
courtesy of crediting me for any quotes that you use from it, and request
permission before posting it elsewhere.  I'm open to any suggestions on how
to make money from it and will be more than happy to share such riches with
any person who actually comes up with a legitimate plan of action regarding
ways to become enriched by this story.
	Don is once again busy, trying to find and point out all my
mistakes.  That makes him a very busy person.  Finding mistakes is easy,
but finding all of them takes time and requires lots of work.  I thank him
for his efforts and so should you.
	Feel free to email with any suggestions, comments, questions, or
complaints.  I try to answer all such emails but must warn you that, if you
do not put I love Corey in the subject line, I probably will not see your
email.  Owing to the large amount of spam, I just delete emails in which I
don't recognize the sender or the subject.  Send such emails to
fritz@nehalemtel.net In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the following
chapter.  Fritz
******************************************************************************

		I Love Corey, Chapter Sixty-nine

	Outside of having a sore face and a black eye, I felt pretty good
when I woke up.  A good night's sleep, cuddled up with Corey, had revived
me.  I stumbled to the bathroom to get ready to face the day.  While my
cheek was a little sore, it didn't bother me much to shave and soon I was
headed for the kitchen to start the coffee and read the paper.
	I had just poured my first cup of coffee when Corey, closely
followed by Mark, joined me.  Corey started squeezing some oranges for
juice, and then he and Mark each grabbed a section of the paper.  When my
first cup of coffee was gone, it was time to start breakfast.  Some
oatmeal, with some raisins cooked in it and topped with part of a sliced
banana, some whole-wheat toast, and the orange juice soon filled everyone
up.  Mark had headed off to get Kyle out of bed, as soon as I started the
oatmeal, and he had succeeded by the time it was ready to eat.  Dog had
managed to get JJ and LT going, so everything seemed under control.  By the
time I left, it looked like everyone would be ready by the time the school
bus arrived.
	Jerry and I had to explain all that had happened.  Jeez, what a
pain.  Everyone had heard most of the details, so explaining it seemed sort
of pointless.  However, everyone wanted to hear everything again, and so we
did.  It didn't help that no one had any suggestions on how to prevent any
future such occurrences.  I mean how can you stop something that is totally
irrational?  There was no way to predict when someone would slip over the
edge and act in an irrational manner, so how can you prevent it.  Still
everyone wanted to talk about it, even if they had no ideas on how to stop
it.  The bell finally saved me and I headed off to class.
	The day was a mess.  It was bad enough that the rumor mill had been
hard at work and I had to explain what had happened to my classes, but it
seemed as if everyone, in authority, had to come and ask questions.  I got
pulled out of class to be questioned by a couple of policemen, a
representative of the District Attorney's office, and of course Judy.  Not
only that, some of them came back for more than one round of questions.  No
matter how hard I tried, it seemed as if I didn't even come close to
teaching anything.  It was almost as if they knew just when I was going to
get to the subject and another person would show up and interrupt me.
Finally classes were about over and all I could hope was the practice would
go better than the day had gone.
	Just as I was about to get things ready for the practice, Judy made
her third visit of the day.  To say I was somewhat surprised, when she
asked me to stop and talk with Justin, on my way home, doesn't even come
close to covering it.  Not only that, I got the distinct impression that it
wasn't just a request, but more of an order.  Granted she was polite, but
she made her request very plain.  I was informed that Justin wanted to talk
with me and she thought that I should do so.  When I agreed, she gave me a
smile and left.
	The kids were all pretty quiet during practice, but I didn't do
much to draw them out either.  I was still wondering why Justin wanted to
talk with me.  Still, we got through the practice and some of the players
were showing signs of improvement, that is if I was any judge of such
things.  Eventually practice was over and Corey, with the help of LT and
Mark, had the laundry through the washers and into the dryers so we could
leave.  I would have rather gone home and had dinner, but Judy had seemed
rather insistent so I swung past the hospital.  By having the boys with me,
I had an excuse not to stay very long.
	As we got out of the elevator, the boys started heading for the
waiting area and I turned towards Justin's room.  Judy had told me which
room he was in and it was just a couple of doors to the right of the
elevator.  A woman, about mid-thirties for age, was just stepping out of
what I thought was Justin's room.  She stopped me and also asked the boys
if they would like to go on in and visit with Justin.  The boys looked sort
of trapped, but decided to visit with him.  I was then dragged off to
listen to what Mrs. Laski had to say.
	I had no idea just what to expect, but what I got wasn't anywhere
close to any thoughts I'd had.  Mrs. Laski told me that Justin had told
them all about what had happened when he walked off, and, from what she
said, it appeared he had told it about like it happened.  In other words,
Mr. Laski had to have known the truth.  That made his actions even less
understandable.  I was trying to get some of my thoughts in order when she
continued.
	"Justin's sorry.  Please forgive him.  He wants to get back on the
team."
	"But why did his father act the way he did?"  I was really lost,
not having any idea on how to proceed.
	Mrs. Laski sighed.  "My husband is used to intimidating people.  He
thought he could force you to take Justin back without an apology.  When it
was apparent you had covered all bases, he took it out on Justin.  He was
the one that insisted that Justin throw curveballs.  Then when it didn't
work out the way he thought it would, he didn't want to admit he was
wrong."
	What a mess.  The Laski's had a lot more problems than I could
solve.  However, from some of what Judy had said, I had a hunch that I
wouldn't have to solve them by myself.  If Justin's environment didn't
improve, he wouldn't be there much longer.  Judy had made it pretty clear,
when she was talking to me, that she wouldn't tolerate any more abuse of
Justin, and would remove him from his parents if any more occurred.  The
whole situation was a mess.  Justin was caught in the middle of a situation
in which his father was trying to re-live his childhood through his son.
Then I had to add in that the father wasn't willing to follow rules, but
instead thought he could bulldoze his way through anything.  All I could
really do was feel sorry of Justin.  He could only be described as an
innocent bystander to his father's ambitions.  I couldn't think of anything
to say so I turned and headed for Justin's room.
	The boys were talking with Justin when I stuck my head through the
door.  I nodded that they should leave and give me a chance to talk with
him.  They filed out and I was left with Justin, who couldn't bring himself
to look at me.  He just looked towards his toes.
	"Hi Justin," I greeted him.
	"Hello," he muttered without raising his eyes.
	"So, how are you feeling and how soon will you get out of here?"
	"Alright I guess," he mumbled.  "Maybe tomorrow."
	So far things weren't going real well.  Justin wouldn't even look
at me and I was somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed.  I decided to take
a somewhat different tact.
	"Has the doctor given you any idea when you might be ready to start
playing ball again?"
	For the first time he raised his eyes and actually looked at me.
In fact he looked somewhat startled.
	"You mean I can play baseball again?" he asked, his voice rising
somewhat.
	"Well," I chuckled, "You will have to apologize for swearing, and I
suppose you will have to be suspended for a week or so because of it, but
since you can't play until you heal, I'd bet the suspension will be over
long before you're able to play.  Think you might be able to apologize for
swearing?"
	"I'm sorry," he mumbled, "Really sorry."
	Once again he was looking at his feet.  However, his voice was a
little stronger than it had been.
	"Apology accepted.  Now I guess I'll have to suspend you for a week
for using bad language.  Think you'll be ready to start practicing when the
week is up?"
	Justin didn't say anything but he did look up for a few seconds.
Then his eyes again dropped and I could soon see a few tears start to run
down his cheeks.  I decided maybe I needed to say more.
	"Justin, all people make mistakes.  Kids make them.  Adults make
them.  However, in this case you were caught in the middle.  You love your
dad and he gave you some bad advice.  The thing to do is learn from it and
move on.  Like I said, we all make mistakes, even parents.  Your father
just wants the best for you and he got a little carried away in trying to
get it for you..."
	Before I could get any further he interrupted, "No he doesn't.  He
just wants me to do the things he never did.  I just wish he'd leave me
alone."  I was taken aback at the bitterness and anger in his voice.  "He
doesn't care what I want, only what he wants."  With that he again fell
silent.
	A lot of thoughts went through my mind, but none of them seemed
like they would help Justin.  He seemed really down and also appeared to
have a lot of hostility towards his father.  I wanted to try to help him
but I didn't want to make things worse between his father and him, so I was
busy, trying to think of something to say that might help.
	"Look Justin, like I said, we all make mistakes.  Your father just
got caught up in wanting you to succeed and got carried away.  He wants you
to be able to do all the things he never did.  In fact, he wants you to be
better than he is.  Sometimes we make the mistake of forgetting that
everyone is unique and should be able to do those things that they want to
do.  We allow ourselves to forget how much we hated being forced to do some
things.  I'm not talking about chores or things like that, but rather
activities we enjoy.  If you don't want to play baseball, that's your
choice.  While I'd like to have you back, if you don't want to play, I can
understand it.  I never played baseball in school.  Instead I went out for
track and soccer.  There wasn't much use in trying out for football because
I was too small to be good at it.  If you'd rather play some other sport, I
can try to talk with your parents.  Hopefully they'll let you play whatever
you want to play."
	Justin looked up.  "I like baseball.  It's just that he never lets
me just play.  I always have to do it his way."
	"Well, what would you like to do?  You can try-out for any position
you want."
	"Pitching's fine.  It's just that Dad won't leave me alone."
	"Tell you what, I'll talk with your mother and see if I can't get
your father to lay off.  Then maybe you can just enjoy playing when you
heal up."  After that we talked a little more, and shortly thereafter, I
excused myself and told him I would look forward to seeing him as soon as
he was able to return to school.  Then I was left with talking with
Mrs. Laski.
	Talking with Mrs. Laski turned out to be easier than I imagined it
would be.  She had already made up her mind to talk with her husband and
her thoughts were much more detailed than mine.  We parted on a good note
and I gathered up the boys and started for the Gator.  Just as we got in
the elevator I decided to pay Terry a quick visit.  The boys didn't seem
too disappointed with that, so we went up another floor and I headed for
Terry's room.  When I got to his room, Dianne, along with Jimmy and Cindy
were there.  Terry was much more alert than the last time I had visited and
seemed glad to have more company.  If anything, he looked even worse, but
at least he was rational.  The last time I had visited him, he hadn't made
much sense.  We chatted a few more minutes and then I told Terry I had to
leave so I could fix dinner for the boys.  From the way he clung to my
hand, and the way he said good-by, I wondered if he thought this might be
the last time I saw him.  I was glad that he and Dianne had patched things
up.  At least there would be no regrets on that score.
	The boys didn't have much homework and they finished it all while I
cooked dinner.  I was pleased to notice that both Kyle and Mark were
improving and hoped they would continue to do so.  They had a ways to go,
but they were applying themselves and it was paying off.  I had the
homework almost all checked by the time the boys had the dishes picked up
and the kitchen cleaned up.
	There wasn't much on the tube, so the boys started surfing the net.
I was busy working on my lesson plans when Corey came and asked me to come
and look at something they had found.  He looked upset and I wondered what
they had found.
	One look and I could see what the problem was.  They had stumbled
upon Fred Phelps' "God Hates Fags" site.  What a cesspool of hatred and
lies.  The only thing was, they were looking to me for some kind of an
explanation about it.  How was I supposed to explain, what I considered a
deranged mind, to them?  Not only that, they wanted to know why such sites
were even allowed to exist.  I decided to start on why it was allowed to
exist first.
	"Well guys, you've read the Bill of Rights, haven't you?"  I got
nods from a couple of them.  "I'll refresh your memories and the others can
hear it for the first time.  The first amendment says, `Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.' Let's talk about the freedom of
speech part. That means freedom of speech for everyone, not just people you
agree with.  It also means that we will encounter people saying things with
which we disagree, but in order for your rights to be protected, you have
to make sure that everyone's rights are protected.  The first amendment
gives you the right to say almost anything with a few exceptions.  You
can't slander someone, you can't shout fire in a crowded building, but most
other speech is protected.  By slander, they mean saying things that are
not true and you have no way to prove them.  You can say `I think,' and
that makes even the slander part not subject to limits.  For example, if I
say that someone stole money from me, that might be prohibited unless I can
show reason why I believe that to be true, but if I say I think he stole
money from me, that is protected.  Then I am only expressing an opinion,
not stating facts.  Opinions are protected speech.  It's a lot more
complicated than that, but you'd have to be an attorney to understand it,
and I'm not.  So, Phelps is allowed to say about anything he wants.  At
least that is what the Supreme Court has ruled."
	"But he's wrong and hateful," LT said.
	"Yup, that he is, but if you want the right to say almost anything,
you have to allow others the same right.  Will it be abused?  Of course it
will, but if you try to come up with a way to limit it, then someone else's
rights will be limited.  It's just one of those things.  If you want to be
able to say almost anything you want, you have to let others do the same
thing.  That some of those people will say what you consider stupid and
hateful things is the price you pay for your right to say what you want.
If you try to come up with rules, or laws, that stop people like Phelps
from saying what he wants to say, then you will find you can't say he is a
bigot and full of bullshit."
	"That sucks," Corey said.
	"No Corey, it doesn't.  Our founding fathers gave us a pretty good
system; in fact, I would argue that we are the freest of all the countries.
Everyone has the right to speak, but no one is required to listen to such
speech.  If you start to try to limit the freedom of speech, then you might
find that you can't criticize the government, hate groups, or many other
people or things.  All it would take is for someone to get in a position of
power and declare such things against the law by reason of the restrictions
placed upon free speech.  Sure, people say things we wish they wouldn't.
They even say things we think are hateful, but the alternative is not being
allowed to express our own opinions.  Do you want it against the law for
you to say you think Phelps is as idiot and bigot?"
	"But there must be someway to stop people like him," LT replied.
	"Look LT, a lot of people have looked at the problem.  None have
been able to come up with a way to prohibit such speech without creating
more problems than it would solve.  Most people will look at what Phelps
says and quickly realize he is a fool and just plain wrong.  Yet if you try
to stop him from saying those things, you quickly find your own rights to
speak becoming limited.  Sure he has some followers, but those people are
just as bad as he is and stopping free speech would not eliminate them."
	"But,,, well,,, well what can we do about people like him?" Kyle
asked, joining the conversation for the first time.
	"That's a good question Kyle.  You can start by making sure you
don't do the kinds of things you think Phelps is doing.  Then you can
oppose such views if someone brings them up.  I don't mean that you need to
go around on some kind of a crusade against such views.  That's up to you,
but you do need to be willing to stand up to what you think is wrong."
	Kyle looked a little lost so I decided to continue.
	"Look Kyle, what I mean is when you hear something that you
disagree with, check it out and if it seems to be wrong, challenge it.  As
long as people are willing to accept hateful statements, people will
continue to make them.  Let me tell you a little example that relates to my
father."
	"In order to understand the story, I need to fill you in a little
on Dad and Mom.  Dad was a rabid Republican.  Mom was an equally rabid
Democrat.  This took place when President Clinton was in his first term.
The folks invited some people, that had moved into our neighborhood, over
for dinner, kind of a get acquainted dinner.  Anyhow, after dinner they
were sitting around, visiting and getting further acquainted.  This fellow
started talking about how President Clinton had ordered the Arkansas State
Police to kill people and, according to him, there were people buried all
over because of those orders.  Now remember, Dad was a Republican and he
didn't care for President Clinton.  Yet he challenged the fellow on it.
First he started out by asking him where he got the information so he,
meaning Dad, could turn such information over to the authorities so it
could be investigated and prosecuted.  Of course the fellow couldn't supply
such information.  Then Dad continued to press the issue.  He asked for the
names of any of the people killed so he could go to the press and get an
investigation started that way.  Once again the fellow couldn't supply any
information.  Then Dad asked him how he knew it was true.  The fellow's
answer, well everyone knows about it.  Dad said he didn't know about it.
The fellow said if Dad would follow the news, he would have heard all about
it.  Once again Dad pressed him for an answer and asked what news
publications had carried such news because he followed the news pretty
closely and he hadn't seen anything about it.  By now the fellow was
getting pretty angry, however Dad didn't let up.  He asked the fellow that
since he couldn't present any evidence or proof that such a thing had taken
place, what made him think it was true.  The fellow tried to avoid giving
an answer, but Dad wouldn't quit.  Finally the fellow told Dad that Clinton
was a Democrat and he would do things like that so therefore it had to be
true.  After that, he stood up, and he and his wife left.  They were mad
and the folks were mad.  When they had left, I asked Dad why he had
defended President Clinton since I knew he didn't care for him.  He told me
that whether he liked someone or not had nothing to do with it.  He told me
you should never tell lies about someone, and that you should always be
fair.  He went on to explain that being fair meant standing up for someone,
even though you might dislike him.  Of course the stories about President
Clinton were untrue, but that taught me a lesson.  Well, actually Mom and
Dad explained it more, but the lesson is this; you need to develop a moral
and ethical code, and stand by it.  That means you treat everyone fairly.
If you can't do that, then you are not a very nice person.  They went on to
explain that you should watch how a person treats the people he thinks
might be his enemies.  They told me that was a good way to learn and
understand what kind of person he really is.  If a person can't treat his
enemies fairly, then you probably shouldn't become friends with that person
because you can't depend upon him.  He may decide you are his enemy and
treat you unfairly.  To put it in context, we are talking about Fred
Phelps.  I can say I disagree with him and think he is an idiot for saying
the things he does, but I can't run around saying he kills people because I
have no evidence that he does.  If someone else says such a thing, I'll
challenge them on it.  That's being fair.  To carry it a little further, I
can't even say he is a liar because I don't know if he truly believes what
he is saying or is saying things he knows are lies.  Only if he knows what
he is saying in untrue, is he lying.  Just because I dislike him doesn't
give me the right to tell lies about him.  Now I intensely dislike him, and
think the world would be better off without his type of hatred, but that
doesn't give me the right to lie about him or anyone else.  That wouldn't
be fair.  That's the first thing you can do.  Make sure you are being fair
to everyone, not just those you think of as your friends."
	"When it comes to Fred Phelps, if someone brings him up and appears
to agree with him, ask them if they are Christians.  If they answer yes,
ask them where in the New Testament Christ condemned homosexuals.  The fact
is that Christ preached love and not hate, and He never mentioned
homosexuals.  He taught us that all men are our brothers and we need to
watch out for, and protect, and love them.  The next question is, if God
makes people, and He never makes mistakes, why did God allow homosexuals to
be born?  Those questions will leave most bigots without answers.  If they
insist on using the Old Testament, ask them about human sacrifice, multiple
wives, and not eating pork.  Those things are some of the rules that the
Old Testament teaches.  The Old Testament also accepted slavery.  I don't
think any of us want to go back to those things."
	"You mean you'd defend Fred Phelps?" Corey sputtered.
	"Yes, if he was accused of something he wasn't guilty of.  I
wouldn't really like it, but if I can't be fair to everyone, I don't have
much of a moral code."
	The conversation stalled for a while.  I could see all the boys
thinking about what I had said and wondered what was going through their
minds.
	"How about Reverend Langston?" JJ asked.
	"If someone was saying something that wasn't true, yes I would
defend him."
	"But he wouldn't defend you," LT said.
	"You don't know that for a fact LT.  He might or he might not.  You
shouldn't say things about him that you don't know to be true.  However,
what you said makes no difference.  I can't control what other people do;
only what I do.  If I'm going to be fair, I have to be fair to everyone.
If I'm not, then I can't consider myself a fair person."
	Once again they had nothing to say for a while, but just sat there
looking at each other.  I could see them trying to digest what I had said.
A couple of times one of them acted like he might say something, but
nothing came out.
	"But, well, I mean how do we know when someone is telling the
truth?" Mark finally broke the silence.
	"That's a tough one Mark.  In the case of the fellow Dad argued
with, it was easy.  According to him there were lots of bodies and it is
almost impossible to keep that kind of secret.  Far too many people would
have had to be involved, and the more people that know about something, the
harder it is to keep it a secret.  Also, there were almost certainly people
on the Arkansas State Police who disliked Clinton, and they would have been
eager to tell everyone.  Other times you'll just have to use your judgment.
Maybe I can give you a few tips, but in the end, you'll have to make up
your own mind.  If you hear something you think sounds a little strange,
ask questions.  People that are lying, or repeating lies, will frequently
not have answers.  Just like Dad didn't get any good answers to where the
information came from, they will try to brush you off with phrases like
everybody knows it, or something like that.  If someone tells you someone
is a liar, ask what lies he told.  Be insistent.  If someone calls someone
else a liar, he should at least be able to tell you what he is basing it
on.  That means what he thinks the lies are.  If he can't tell you that,
then he must be a mind reader to know the person is a liar.  Since science
hasn't had very good luck at finding mind readers, it's safe to say most
people can't read minds, and so they need to be able to tell you what they
are basing it on.  If they can't produce the so-called actual lies, then
it's a pretty good bet that they don't really know any.  The political
extremists, on both sides of the isle, are great for telling lies about the
other side.  The fellow Dad was talking with was obviously such a person.
Otherwise he wouldn't have gotten mad, but would have been willing to give
some information as to why he believed such a story.  When people get mad
and won't answer, or try to dodge the questions, they probably don't have
such answers.  That makes it a pretty good bet that what they said
shouldn't be believed without a lot of checking.  You also need to consider
the persons reputation.  If they are known for telling the truth, then you
probably need to give what they say more credence.  However, even someone
known for telling the truth can be wrong.  Still, a known liar should be
treated with more skepticism than someone who normally tells the truth.  As
you get older, you'll be able to spot it easier, but everyone can be fooled
part of the time.  Just don't take everything you hear, or read, as the
absolute truth."
	Once again there was silence while they thought about what I was
telling them.  It seemed to go on for quite a while and I was beginning to
wonder if they had any more questions.  About then Dog came over and laid
his head on my lap.  That seemed like a nice break so I scooped him up for
a good belly rub.  It didn't take long until I was getting the usual moans
and groans out of him.  When I looked up, the boys were headed for the
fridge to get themselves something to drink.  They all seemed deep in
thought.  After that, they scattered out to watch some television.  Soon LT
was popping some popcorn and things were about normal.  How they could want
popcorn after their big dinner, I had no idea.  However two bags
disappeared like magic and the microwave was busy with a third.  While Dog
got some, most went into the cavernous pits known as boy stomachs.
	With the boys watching the tube, I decided to really look over the
progress on the new downstairs bedrooms.  Things were really looking nice
and it looked like Walt would be done soon.  Tomorrow the new beds should
arrive so tomorrow night the boys could move back into their old bedrooms.
With that, I threw a load of wash in the washing machine and went back
upstairs to work on my lesson plans.  It seemed like about all I ever did
anymore was wash and cook.
	The boys were pretty quite the rest of the evening.  They didn't
even seem to pay much attention to the tube.  Every time I looked in on
them, it was on but they looked like they were miles away.  No one said
much, and even when we went to bed, Corey didn't say anything, but just
curled up in his favorite place and quickly fell asleep.
	Things were back to normal in the morning, so I quit worrying about
it.  They would either come to terms with what I had told them about
fairness, or would ask more questions about it.  In the meantime, there
were the usual things to do.  I got some conversation out of Corey and
Mark, and the usual grunts out of the rest of the boys.  I really need to
find out how Mark gets Kyle out of bed.  It might come in handy some time.
I was pretty sure that Dog's big feet were what was working with JJ and LT.
Then again, maybe it was his tongue.  Oh well, if Dog failed, I guess I
would try walking on them first.  If that didn't work, I could always try
licking their ears.  With that thought in mind, I left for school,
snickering to myself.
	The day went well.  For some reason the students actually paid
attention and we covered more than I had planed.  Practice was about the
same way.  Maybe I was just getting more used to baseball practice, but I
managed to notice more about how the players were doing, and they even
seemed to be improving.  However, from what I could see and tell, they had
a long way to go.  All I could hope for was that other teams wouldn't be
that much better.  If they were, it was going to be a long season in my
opinion.  However, I really had no way to know since this was the first
time I had ever coached any baseball.
	Since the start of baseball practice, the usual gang of boys had
not been showing up and playing basketball at home.  While it was easier on
the food supplies, I missed them.  Mrs. Mason was still working as a nurse
supervisor at the hospital, and she was getting home early enough so that
Billy and Larry had dinner at Billy's house.  The rest of the neighborhood
boys didn't seem to come over either.  Of course we were getting home a lot
closer to dinnertime and they probably were unwilling to risk missing a
bite, but still it seemed strange not to have a whole gang of boys eating
me out of house and home.  However, tonight it was just as well.  The new
beds had been delivered and the boys started moving back into their rooms
while I fixed dinner.  Well, I did have to stop and greet Dog and give him
his usual belly rub.  After that he seemed happy getting in the boys' way.
By the time dinner was ready, the boys had most of their stuff back in
their freshly remodeled rooms.  I didn't even hear very much bickering
about who was going to put what where.
	After dinner I started grading papers, while the boys picked up the
dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.  They rushed right through that job so
they could get back to arranging their rooms.  Soon I was all alone, with
Dog's head on my foot, grading papers.  Since I didn't have many papers to
do, it didn't take long, and when finished I headed for the boys' rooms to
see how things were going and how everything looked.
	The new bedsteads looked even better than I had thought they would.
The custom furniture builder had done an excellent job on them.  Even
though the bottom bed was queen sized, there was still lots of room in each
of their rooms.  JJ and LT had acquired a few posters and such to hang on
their walls, but Mark and Kyle's room still looked pretty bare.  I reminded
them that they still needed to get their homework done and returned to the
computer room to look over my notes and see if I could figure out who the
best baseball players were.  Since the first game was next Wednesday, I
needed to pick out a starting line-up and figure out whom to use as
substitutes.  While I couldn't make any final decisions, at least I could
get some idea of what would be the starting line-up.  Some of the kids had
shown real improvement and some of them had been pretty good to start with.
Now it was just a question of picking out the best and figuring out how to
try to get everyone else some playing time.  Corey and LT had done a pretty
good job of noting the strengths and weaknesses of the players, but Mark
wasn't very good at it yet.  Still, he was pretty young and he tried.
However, his handwriting was terrible, and sometimes it took a while to
figure out what he had written down.
	The boys were still fiddling around in their rooms when I had
gotten as far as I could on team evaluations.  I decided to surf the net a
little.  I hadn't had much time to do that since the boys arrived, and I
started by checking some of the sites I used to check every day.  I was so
far behind on the stories on Nifty that I decided it was a lost cause and
went on to checking some others.  Then I noticed a new link on one of them.
It was to a site called the Mail Crew.  Since it was new to me, I decided
to check it out.
	Sometimes things fall into your lap just when you need them.  We
had all been trying to figure out a way to make sure everyone had someone
to talk with since last Sunday's dinner at the Sterretts.  This site looked
like the answer to that problem.  I called the boys in and let them check
it out, and soon they were all excited about the idea.  They all agreed
that it looked like the ideal way to solve the problem.  Corey grabbed the
phone and called Cody, and soon they were jabbering away about the site,
and if they thought it would be something that they could do.  Since the
Sterretts were coming for dinner Sunday evening, we finally decided to
think about it, and talk more about it then.  That would give everyone a
couple of days to think about it and come up with questions and
suggestions.
	I was finally forced to chase the boys out so I could use my
computer.  It wasn't like they didn't have their own, and I had never
updated my own laptop to work on the wireless network.  I got a little
grumbling but they headed off to fire their own computers up, leaving me to
read all about the Mail Crew.  The information on the site suggested that
it wouldn't be that hard to organize one.  The really nice thing was that
they had a lot of do's and don'ts.  The more I read, the better the whole
idea looked.  However, it was up to the kids.  If they wanted to do it, I
would support them in any way I could, but if they decided they didn't want
to do it, well, we would just have to keep looking for another idea.  While
most of those associated with the Mail Crew appeared to be a few years
older than my boys, I didn't think that would make much difference.  The
important thing was that it looked like a good way to allow kids, who had
problems with their sexuality, a chance to interact with others with the
same questions and fears.  The fact that it was for kids and run by kids
should make it so those seeking help were less self-conscious and more
willing to open up.
	As I was finishing up, looking over the Mail Crew's site, I could
hear a bunch of chattering coming from the kitchen.  When I checked it out,
there were five boys around the kitchen table, all with their laptops
running, and all of them seemed to be talking at once.  It actually sounded
worse than when I walked into a classroom.  I glanced around and retreated
to the family room where I found Dog.  I grinned at him, figuring the noise
was too much for him just like it was for me.  Of course he jumped up and
immediately came over to my chair, and his sad brown eyes soon accomplished
what he wanted.  I picked him up and gave him another belly rub.  His
groaning almost drowned out the waves of boy chatter coming from the
kitchen.  I swear that Dog would put up with belly rubs every ten minutes
if he could just talk us into it.
	I'd just finished rubbing Dog's belly when I heard the printer
start to work.  It went on for quite a while and I wondered what the boys
were printing out.  There was still a bunch of chatter coming from the
kitchen so I just ignored them and relaxed.  Suddenly it seemed about time
to put the clothes in the dryer so downstairs I went.  When I came back up,
the boys grabbed me.
	They were all talking at once but I managed to figure out that they
thought the idea of starting something, like the Mail Crew, was something
they wanted to do.  We kicked it around for a while and I managed to
convince them that it was something they would have to do, not me.  It
wasn't that I wasn't willing to help, but the whole idea was that the site
would be a place where kids could exchange ideas and talk without having to
worry about an adult butting in.  I told them that if someone wanted to
talk with an adult, I would be happy to do so but they had to be willing to
do most of the work.  After all, that was the whole idea, kids interacting
with other kids.
	I finally chased the boys off to bed.  Dog looked a little puzzled
because he wasn't sure just where JJ and LT were going to sleep.  However,
it didn't take him long to figure out where they were and he trotted off to
join them.  For the first time, in a couple of weeks, we were all on the
same floor again.  As I snuggled into bed with Corey, the thought went
through my mind that I could now have a lot of company.  I was gaining two
bedrooms downstairs in the basement, and although I had lost one bedroom
upstairs, I had gained one bed.  The next time all my family came there
would be plenty of beds for everyone, and now all I had left to do was to
figure out who to inflict the giggle boxes on.  I guess I could just wait
and see which bunch of boys was in the doghouse at the time.
	It was about like the usual morning.  The boys were chattering
about the Mail Crew idea, well, Corey and Mark were chattering.  As for the
other boys, once in a while JJ would grunt and there was absolutely no
response from Kyle.  I think LT was at least awake enough to hear what
Corey and Mark were saying, but I wouldn't bet on it.  I just went to
school as usual, leaving them to get themselves organized.  So far they had
managed to make it and I had faith they would manage to do so again today.
	The morning meeting was a waste of time but the rest of the day
went better than normal.  The kids paid more attention than they usually
did for a Friday, so I managed to get a little ahead on my planned lessons.
In fact, everything was going so well I was really enjoying it.  There was
a note in my mailbox to see Jerry the last period of the day, but that
wasn't unusual so I thought nothing of it.  A couple of kids stopped in
during lunch and asked some simple questions, but nothing requiring any
real counseling, just the usual type of questions that any adult could
answer off the top of his head.  In fact, I could remember asking my
parents the same questions and felt badly that they didn't feel comfortable
enough with their parents to ask them those questions.  Finally it was last
period and I headed for Jerry's office rather than setting things up for
baseball practice.
	Jerry suggested we get some coffee before talking and we stepped
into the teachers lounge and filled our mugs.  Then it was into his office
for whatever he wanted to talk about.  So far he hadn't given me any idea
of what that might be.
	"Well Sam, I really don't know how to start this.  The school board
had an executive meeting about you last night, and made some decisions.  I
don't think you'll be real happy about them but I couldn't convince the
board members to change their minds."
	His opening statement sent chills through me.  Suddenly I was
scared, scared that someone on the school board had found out about my
relationship with Corey.  The only thing was, why weren't the cops here
hauling me off?  Maybe someone on the school board wanted to try to cover
it up and didn't want the publicity and potential lawsuits such publicity
might bring.  I really wanted to set my coffee mug down, but I couldn't
move.  All I could do was sit and watch Jerry as he continued to look at
some papers on his desk.  I was sure those papers contained my future.

			To be continued...