Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:17:57 -0800 From: fritz@nehalemtel.net Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter 88 I really hate writing these stupid disclaimers, maybe even as much as you hate reading them. Therefore, just stick with me and we will get through it. If you are a minor, you should not be reading this story. In fact you shouldn't even be at this site. Having said that, should you decide to seek out this site and read these stories you must be willing to be responsible for your own actions. After all, no one put a gun to your head and forced you to come here and read this. That means thinking up a good excuse for when someone catches you here. Don't try to blame it on me; you were the one who came here. While I'm not the nicest person in the world, even I am not cruel enough to force anyone to read what follows. That brings us to what follows. I must confess that sometimes descriptions of gay sex are included in this story. Sorry about that, but then this is a gay story site so what did you expect? If gay love stories don't turn your crank, then bug out and quit reading. I'm not one to tell people to break the law, but then half of the laws are so ridiculous that they need breaking. In fact, the idiots who dreamt them up need breaking. However, I digress. What I really need to be saying is that should you have the misfortune to live where the reading of this and similar stories is against the law, you either need to leave this site or have the law changed to reflect reality. You're only other choice is to be very careful and not let anyone know you are reading this story. This story is pure fiction. If you believe that any of the characters or events described really exist, then you are even more gullible than I am. Be kind and credit me for any quotes lifted from the story. I'll confess I don't know why anyone would want to quote anything from the story, but then some people are weird, myself included. In fact, if I met me I would rank me up among the weirdest people I know. Since there is so little chance of anyone making money from a story like this, it seems really strange to ask you to share such money, but I'm not proud, I'll take money any way I can get it. Don has once again worked his magic and helped make this story readable. You owe him as many thanks as I do for his efforts. As usual just send all complaints, questions, suggestions, or comments to the same old place of "fritz@nehalemtel.net" When I get time I promise to try to answer them. With all that garbage out of the way, I hope you enjoy the following chapter. Fritz ****************************************************************** I Love Corey, Chapter Eighty-eight Since I'd stuffed myself with trout for lunch, I wasn't hungry. There was still plenty of potato salad and gobs of beans left, so I decided that the boys could fend for themselves at dinnertime. A quick conference with Kath, Uncle Matt, and Aunt Sandy confirmed that they felt the same about dinner. All of us still felt stuffed, but the trout had been delicious. A little more conferencing and it was decided that we would not go fishing tomorrow, but would instead work on Kath's house. I wasn't too sure that was a good idea, what with the giggle boxes around, but Aunt Sandy assured us she could keep them under control. Uncle Matt raised one eyebrow when she said that, so I figured he was thinking the same thing I was, i.e. that we would believe it when we saw it. I glanced at my watch and saw I still had time to call Judy. Judy seemed happy about Andrea, but was surprised when I told her I wanted her to call the hospital and have the IV removed, along with the catheter, from the boy. I explained that if my idea didn't work it wouldn't hurt him for an evening and I thought it might help. I also wanted his restraints off, so he could move around. She agreed to call and see if that could be arranged. In the back of my mind I had spent the day worrying about how to approach the problem of him not wanting to talk, and I thought I had figured out a way to build on last night. With things in motion I took a shower and managed to get most of the paint under my fingernails washed away. This might turn out to be a long boring evening, but I was ready to try again at getting some information from him. There was something in the sadness he projected that made me want to help him in any way I could. From what Judy had said, he had gotten to her in the same way. I had just finished slipping into some cords and a sport shirt when Corey walked into the bedroom. We hadn't had much of a chance to be by ourselves all day and so I grabbed him and gave him a big kiss. Naturally the giggle boxes chose that time to come busting in on us. That meant they got kisses also, although Kristen seemed to want one more than Kevin did. I told everyone not to wait up for me if it got late, and away I went for Shasta Regional. I was not popular at the hospital. First a nurse grabbed me and was venting about all the extra work I'd caused them, and then the boy's doctor was less than happy that Judy had pulled rank to get my requests Okayed, so I had to listen while they explained their grievances in great detail. After listening to them take turns berating me, I reached the boiling point. "Lets see if I have this right, it's not about helping the patient, it's about making sure you don't have to do anything extra," I snarled at them. "Is that what you are trying to tell me with all your complaints?" There were a couple of other nurses standing there and I saw grins flash across their faces before they turned away. I was wound up and wasn't ready to quit yet. "So far you haven't managed to get him to talk so I don't see that you're perfect. Now if you have some better ideas, why in hell didn't you try them? At least I'm trying to do something which is more than you appear willing to do. Instead you just want to tie him up and leave him there. What kind of people are you? Don't you care about your patients?" I was really ticked off and shouting at them by the time I finished. "You can't talk to me that way!" the doctor shouted back. "I'll see that you're never allowed in here again." "Fine, let's go see the hospital administrator and get this all straightened out.' I snapped. "I've got two witnesses to what you said and I think Mr. Linn will be most interested in hearing all about this and how you complain about doing something for a patient. The last time I talked with Jim that didn't appear the way he wanted this place run, but maybe things have changed in the last year or so." I was glaring right at the doctor and not backing down one inch. "I don't think Mr. Linn is interested," the doctor said with a very superior air. "Oh I think he is," I snapped. I turned to one of the nurses whose back was to me and asked her if she could help me by calling Mr. Linn and telling him Sam Lofton needed to see him. She was trying to keep a straight face when she turned to me, but it wasn't totally successful. She looked like she was about to burst and the corners of her mouth kept twitching up. She gave me a big smile and told me she would be more than happy to call him, but she reminded me that it was after hours and he was probably home by now. I'd overlooked that fact, but that didn't change my mind. "Sorry, I forgot what time it is. I'll call him myself," I said and whipped out my cell phone. Scrolling through the directory soon produced the right number and in a few more seconds I was talking to Mrs. Linn. "Hi Lisa," I started. "This is Sam Lofton. Is Jim home and may I speak with him." "Oh hi Sam, I'll get him for you." Jim and I had gotten acquainted through the Boy Scouts and had both been faced with the same problems over them. As I waited for Jim to answer I could see that the doctor finally realized he might have made a mistake. He started to leave, but by that time Jim was on the phone and I was explaining I had a problem with a Doctor Williams and what the problem was. Jim said he would be right down and take care of things. Shortly after I hung up I heard Dr. Williams being paged and ordered to report to administration. I was still trying to get myself calmed down enough to be polite. After a few more deep breaths I thought I was under control enough to speak so I turned to the nurse I'd asked to call Jim. "Sorry if I wasn't very polite, but I was a little excited. I need to know if the boy is on any special diet or anything." I asked her. She giggled, "No, he can have anything he'll eat. So far he won't eat anything." I started to head for his room when I heard her say, "Thank you." That caused me to stop and turn around. "Thank you for what? I wasn't very polite," I said. "Thank you for thinking of that boy. He's very sad and I think he needs a friend. You act like you might be one for him." With that she turned away and I was left standing there with the distinct impression that Dr. Williams wasn't very well liked by at least a few of the nurses. The door I wanted was right at the start of the hall and was ajar so I walked on over and rapped on it before entering. I didn't hear any voice telling me to enter or not enter, so I went on in and walked over to the chair and once again sat down. The boy had watched me walk in, but turned his face away just as I was sitting down, so I did exactly like I had last night and said nothing. This time it was only a few minutes before he turned back to me. "Was that you yelling?" he asked. "Sorry, but I got a little excited. Hope I didn't upset you." "I don't like Dr. Williams," he said with what can only be described as a lot of bitterness in his voice. After saying that, he once again turned his head away. After about ten minutes without saying anything he turned back to me. "Why'd you come back?" He had a puzzled sound to his voice when he asked that. "It must be a real good friend to make you come here twice." "Last night was for my friend, tonight it's for me," I answered. This time he didn't turn away and I could tell he was thinking about what I'd said. After a couple more minutes he decided to say something. "Whajaya mean it's for you?" he asked. It took me a couple of seconds to translate the `whajaya' into what do you, but once I had done that I needed to come up with an answer. "Well," I said and pausing while I tried to come up with how I wanted to explain. "As I said, last night was because a friend asked me to talk with you. Tonight is because I'm curious as to why you don't think you deserve to live. I can't think of any good reasons why you might not deserve to live and was hoping you could explain." He just turned his head away from me and said nothing. About ten minutes later I heard myself being paged over the public address system. "Guess I've got to go talk to some people. See you in a few," I told him as I walked out the door. It took about a half hour of everyone explaining what had happened before Jim was convinced he had all the information he needed. I only talked to him a few minutes during that time, but he had three other nurses to interview and Dr. Williams. He called us all in one at a time and listened to what we had to say and then asked us to sit outside while he finished his preliminary investigation. After he had spent a few minutes alone with each of us, he sent the two nurses, who had not been involved in the shouting match, back to work and called Dr. Williams and Nurse Leitner back in. I don't know what he said to them, but they didn't look happy when they came out of his office. Jim followed them out and he didn't look happy either, but he stopped glaring at their backs when the door closed and then he turned to me. "I'm sorry Sam. Some people don't have a clue how to act." "I'm the one who needs to apologize," I replied. "I interrupted your evening and it wasn't that important. I could have just overlooked it. After all, everyone has a bad day now and then and I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it." "Oh no, you were right to make a big deal out of it. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have known what was going on. That kind of behavior is inexcusable and will not be tolerated here. If Dr. Williams had a problem with something he should have contacted me. In this case I was the one who okayed the whole thing. Judy Smelling called me and I set it up. Are you making any progress with the young man?" "I don't know Jim. I've got a few ideas on what his problems might be, but so far I don't have enough information to know for sure, or even enough to make a good guess. He seems slightly more open tonight than he did last night. I've gotten more words out of him tonight than I did last night, and in much less time. The trouble is I don't know much yet. I know he doesn't think he deserves to live and that he doesn't like Dr. Williams, but that about covers it." Jim scowled. "He doesn't need to worry about Dr. Williams. I'll see that he has another doctor. He might not ever have to worry about Dr. Williams again." The way Jim said that led me to believe that Dr. Williams had not heard the last of this. "Jim, I didn't set out to get anyone fired. All I wanted was to be treated courteously." "It isn't just you Sam. I've had some other complaints and should have done something about the problem sooner. "Changing the subject," Jim continued, "When are we going to get together? Lisa commented that we hadn't had dinner together since last summer. We haven't even talked since all the problems with the Scouts." "Jeez, I hadn't realized it had been that long. My life's been hectic since then. I've got five boys living with me, four in foster care and I don't seem to have time for anything." All the time we had been talking, we had been walking back to the boy's room. When I mentioned all the boys, Jim's face took on a look for surprise and he came to a complete stop in the middle of the hall. "You're taking care of five boys! How old are they?" Twelve to fifteen," I answered. "Good Lord! What are you, some kind of masochist?" Jim laughed. "I had all the problems I could handle when my two boys were in that age range. I can't imagine having five that age." We resumed our walking and Jim added, "I guess that explains why Judy Smelling is involved. I wondered why you were involved when she called to set things up." "Yeah, well I've gotten much better acquainted with her than I ever planned," I told him. It's a long story and we need to get together so I can fill you in. I'd say this weekend, but I've got a bunch of relatives visiting and things are a little hectic right now. I'll try to give you a call next week, okay?" "Sounds good. Lisa will be thrilled." By this time we had arrived at the boy's door. Jim walked right in with me and walked over to the bed. "You won't have to worry about Dr. Williams anymore. I'll see that you have a different doctor assigned to you. You have any problems, you just ask for Jim Linn and I'll take care of them." When he got no answer, Jim turned, told me goodnight, and left. I sat down in the chair again and resumed doing nothing. I wondered if the interruption had disrupted any progress I might have made, or even if I had made any. A few minutes later the boy once again turned to me. "Who was that man with you, that Mr. Linn?" he asked. "Jim's the man who runs this hospital," I replied. "He happens to be a friend of mine who I met while working with the Boy Scouts." "You must be important," he said. "Not hardly," I laughed. "I'm just a schoolteacher and I've got a few days off because of a fire at the school." The boy didn't say anything for a few minutes, but this time he didn't turn away. Instead he kept looking at me as though trying to see something. He kept looking at my eyes, and occasionally he would open his mouth as though to say something, and then he would almost flinch and remain silent. I was starting to think he really wanted to talk, but was afraid to do so. Finally he sighed and turned his head away again. I was disappointed because I had thought he was close to opening up and I was afraid he now wouldn't. I racked my brains to try to come up with someway to let him know he could trust me, but nothing came to mind leaving me with nothing to do except continue to sit there. This was a game of patience and I hoped I could outlast him. My sense was that all the others had tried to force him to talk and he wasn't ready to trust them. The more they pushed, the more that probably reinforced his desire to remain silent. Then again, maybe I was deluding myself and he had no intention of ever talking, but the fact that he had said a few things to me led me to believe he was desperately seeking someone to share his troubles with, but was afraid to take a chance. While it was apparent he had been hurt physically, I suspected that his greatest hurt had been mental. I wondered how he would react if I just grabbed him and hugged him for a while, but I was afraid he wasn't ready for that. He needed to accept me without being forced into it. So I continued to sit there worrying about how to get him to talk, and he was likely worrying about could he trust me enough to say anything. "I'm hungry," I said. "I didn't have any dinner tonight. Which should I order, hamburgers or pizza?" "I don't care," he said in a dead voice. "Well, if you did care which would you rather have, hamburgers or pizza?" When I didn't get any response I decided to order pizza, not because I liked it that well, but because it had a stronger odor and I had hopes that the smell of it might crack his decision to quit eating. I dug out my cell phone and ordered a large meat-lover's special, along with some Pepsi since they didn't have Coke, a couple of salads, some hot wings, and told them where to deliver it. They seemed a little skeptical about delivering to a hospital, but when I paid with plastic that seemed to go away. I figured I had enough to even fill several of the boys up, but with a little luck I might get him to eat a little. When I finished with the call I put my phone away and resumed just sitting there. The boy had turned away from me again and as soon as he could hear I was no longer on the phone he said, "Why don't you just leave me alone?" However, there wasn't as much conviction in it as there had been yesterday. Instead of anger, this time he was whining. "I suppose I could, but I've got some food coming and I have to wait for it. Besides, maybe worrying about me will help the time go faster for you. It's kind of boring in a hospital with nothing to do." I paused for a short while before adding; "You know how to get rid of me if you really want to." "I don't either know how to get rid of you," he almost shouted. "Sure you do, I told you last night. All you have to do is tell me your name and why you think you don't deserve to live. If I can't convince you that you're wrong on the living bit, then I'll leave and quit bothering you." That was the end of the conversation and I sat and waited for the pizza order. It was ten after eight before it got there, so that meant thirty-five minutes of silence. After I tipped the delivery boy I turned and asked, "Do you mind if I use your table?" Getting no answer I moved his water glass and a couple of other items aside, and spread the pizza and other items out. I turned it so it was along side his bed rather than being partly over him. I tried a few of the hot wings and they were pretty good, but the pizza was about like normal. It was okay, but nothing to brag about. Still, it smelled good. Not only that, although the boy was turned away from me I could see enough to tell he was swallowing rather frequently. Perhaps the smell of the pizza was getting to him. "David," he said after I had been eating for about five minutes. "David what?" I asked. "My name is David, now will you leave?" "To start with you've only told me part of your name and haven't mentioned why you don't think you should live, so no, I won't leave," I answered him. With that I picked up another slice of the pizza and started in on it. He turned to face me again. "David Austin Taylor, and please don't make me tell you," he whimpered. His eyes kept darting between me and the pizza, which was a big one. It was so big I couldn't have eaten it in two meals even if I was starving. "Well David Austin Taylor, my name is Samuel Matthew Lofton, but most people call me Sam or Coach. Have a slice of pizza before it gets cold." He started to reach for a slice with his missing right hand, then blushed and made no further move towards it. His eyes were now focused on the pizza and he kept swallowing. Finally, his left hand tentatively reached out and took a slice. I wanted to jump up and down with joy because I was finally getting somewhere with him. David might have been a little awkward with his left hand, but there was nothing wrong with his mouth. It only took him three huge bites to eat the first slice, and the second slice disappeared just as quickly as the first. I pushed the wings towards him, but he ignored them and grabbed another slice of pizza which quickly joined the first two. It did take him four bites for the third slice though. I took his water glass and emptied it and filled it with Pepsi for him, and he soon emptied it also, along with another slice of pizza. Then he ate a couple of the wings and another slice of pizza. By the time he had eaten about a quarter of the pizza it was clear he was running out of room. After thinking about it I realized that his stomach had probably shrunk from not eating and that was the reason he wasn't eating as much as my boys did. As he slowed his eating he was no longer shoveling it in like a starving animal and was actually taking time to chew it a little. I wanted to giggle because in his rush he had gotten pizza sauce all over his face, including a gob right on the end of his nose, but I wasn't sure how he would take it so I managed to refrain. When he finished his second glass of Pepsi he sighed and leaned back on his pillow. I went and got a damp washcloth and gently wiped the pizza sauce off his face and hand. "Feel better?" I softly asked. He nodded. "Well, are you going to tell me about yourself? You know you're going to have to tell someone and I'm a good listener," I said. His face took on a sad expression and he answered with, "Do I gotta?" "No, you don't have to, but you are going to have to tell someone so it might as well be me. I know you don't know me, but I promise to try to help in any way I can." He didn't answer for quite a while and it looked like he was about to cry. He wasn't turned away, but was looking down and refusing to meet my gaze. I was left wondering who had hurt him so badly that he was no longer willing to trust anyone. After about five minutes I heard a small voice say, "I can't. You'll hate me." I didn't answer right away since I was trying to figure out what I could say that would convince him he could trust me and that I wouldn't hate him. "Well, I suppose I might hate you if you're a mass murderer and there's a string of dead bodies out there you're responsible for. Or I might hate you if you hurt people or abused them just for the fun of it, but somehow I just don't picture you doing that. I'll tell you what I think. I think someone has told you that you are a bad person and you believed that person, but I'm pretty well convinced that person was wrong. At the school where I teach, I'm also a counselor and some of the students come and tell me things about themselves and ask questions. Sometimes it's little things, but sometimes it's big things. So far I've never heard anything that caused me to hate anyone. I've had boys cry on my shoulder because they thought they were gay and that everyone would hate them. I've had boys tell me that they had stolen things and we made arrangement to return the item or pay for it. I suppose they told me because their conscience was bothering them, but I didn't hate them. In fact, I was proud of them for realizing they had done something wrong and wanting to try to fix it. A few have confessed to doing something to hurt someone, but I didn't hate them and tried to help them make it up to the person they hurt. So I really doubt that I'll hate you no matter what you think your problem is. I might be a little disappointed at something you've done, but most things can be fixed if a person really tries and wants to fix them." Again there was more silence. After about twenty minutes of it I decided to change plans. "David, I'm going to go home for the evening, but I'll be back tomorrow. I want you to think while I'm gone. You're going to have to tell someone what's wrong eventually, so you need to decide whom you want to tell. If you decide to tell me, I promise I'll do all in my power to help you, but if you would rather tell someone else, then just say so and tell me who you want to talk to and I'll try to get them for you. If you think you can get by without telling anyone, then think again because if you don't tell someone where you're from and what's wrong, then you'll probably be locked up in a hospital or some kind of institution. I'll leave the rest of the pizza and the wings here in case you'd like a snack." With that I leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before he could react. "Have a good night's sleep and I'll see you tomorrow." With that I turned to leave, but before I completed my turn I noticed that he had a shocked expression on his face and his mouth was hanging open. There was a nurse at the station and walked up and told her that I'd managed to get him to eat some pizza and chicken wings, and that he had told me his name was David. Her face broke into a big smile. We chatted for a couple of minutes with her promising to make sure his pizza was taken care of and available for him before I headed for home. Once I was in the Gator I called Judy. "He says his name is David Austin Taylor, but I still don't know where he's from or what he thinks is wrong. I managed to get him to eat part of a pizza and some chicken wings," I told her when she answered. "Yes," she said, just like the boys when they were excited. I wondered if she had her fist in the air like they normally did when they sounded that way. "Do you think you can get anymore information out of him?" "Oh I think so. I haven't even brought in the big guns yet." I was flying high because I was so happy to have gotten anything out of him. "What do you mean the `big guns'?" Judy asked. "I'll sic Kevin and Kristin on him if he doesn't tell me more. Those two will tickle him to death if he doesn't answer," I said while laughing. I was practically giddy with my success at finding out David's name. For some reason I was pretty sure it was his name from the way he'd said it. After we talked a little I decided I needed some information. "Judy, what's it going to take to get him out of there and how soon do you think it could happen if I get the right answers from him?" "The doctors said he could leave anytime once he started eating provided there was someone to take care of him and take him to therapy. I'll start calling around and see if I can find a place for him tomorrow since it sounds like you might find out all we need to know." Somehow that stunned me. I wasn't expecting that answer and I couldn't think of what to say. "Sam, are you still there?" Judy asked. That brought me out of it. "Yeah, I'm still here. How much therapy will he need and where can he get it?" Judy started telling me about what would be entailed in his therapy and how he would be taught to do things with one hand. Then she told me more would be required when he got his artificial hand, or hook. The one thing that did surprise me was when she mentioned that there was a good occupational therapist in town, but she said that wasn't much of a help because she had no one who might take him in, and she was going to have to call other offices to see if they had any foster parents willing and able to take in physically handicapped kids. We finished up our conversation and I kept driving home. I was in one of those moods where I was having a hard time sitting still and driving. I kept switching stations on the radio trying to find something appropriate for my mood, but there wasn't anything filling the bill. I wanted happy and bouncy music and there was the usual pop, county, and the innumerable talk shows of various types. I was still searching for something good to listen to when I pulled into the garage. I knew it was wrong, but I felt a little smug, no make that very smug, that I had succeeded where a bunch of professionals had failed. What would have made my day complete was if the giggle boxes weren't there and I could just crawl in bed with Corey, but I would have to wait a few days for that. I chuckled to myself as I was closing the garage door, thinking about how I'd like to ravish him. I always liked to ravish him, and somewhere in an old book I had read that word and liked it. While it can mean to force against someone's will, it can also mean to overwhelm someone with deep and pleasurable feelings or emotions. I was all for the deep and pleasurable feelings and Corey seemed to like them also judging from the grunts and squeals he normally put forth when I was attempting to do that. Actually, we seemed to have a lot of fun ravishing each other, but alas, that wasn't going to be possible as long as the giggle boxes were sleeping with us. I couldn't wait for them to get old enough to quit that, yet I loved them so much I wasn't looking forward to the day when that happened. It was a lose-lose situation, one in which I wanted them to grow up while at the same time wishing they would stay young forever. Actually, I felt the same way about Corey. When we were lying in bed and he had gone to sleep, I couldn't wait for him to grow to adulthood, but then I would think of how much I loved him as a boy and I was torn, wanting it both ways. However, since I didn't have any say in the matter, both the giggle boxes and Corey would continue to grow up and all I could do was love them and enjoy them. I must be pretty easy to read because as soon as I walked in everyone wanted to know how things had gone and they were grinning. It was like they knew I had been successful and wanted to share it with me. The giggle boxes were in the pajamas and ready for bed and Corey was going to read to them, but we all set around for a few minutes while I told them about my progress. The giggle boxes looked indignant when I told everyone about my conversation with Judy and my threat to use them as my big weapon, but soon were giggling when I told them that no one could resist their tickling. After a few minutes of filling everyone in, Corey and I scooped up the little ones and packed them off to the bedroom and dumped them in the middle of the bed. Dog was soon at their feet and Corey started reading to them. As I listened to Corey read part of "Huckleberry Finn," I couldn't help but think back to when I first knew him. Now he was a good reader and only rarely did he slow down or stumble over a word. That was a big change and it was apparent that all the effort on my part and hard work on his had paid off. The problem was that he was getting so good at reading that he had the giggle boxes enthralled and they wouldn't fall asleep. However, nature ran its course and finally Kevin drifted off, closely followed by Kristin. Dog was smart and had given up and gone to sleep much quicker. Then again, maybe Dog didn't care for "Huckleberry Finn." I was even enjoying listening to Corey read because he managed to put a lot of expression into it without sounding sappy. The thought went through my mind that he might be a pretty good actor, if he wanted to be one, since he could project emotion so well. I managed to steal a kiss from him before we left the bedroom, and then we had a wait a bit before we could leave. It was pretty apparent our kiss had been passionate and all you had to do was glance at the front of our pants to see that. I seriously considered dragging him off to the shower for a little ravishing, but figured that the others wanted to talk, so as soon as we got things, should I say our thingies, under control we headed back for the family room. Much as I liked and enjoyed my relatives, tonight I could have done without them. There must have been quite a bit of planning done while I was at the hospital, because I learned that tomorrow evening Andrea would be moving in and that way we wouldn't have to pick her up Saturday morning. I also learned that Debbie had plans for Saturday, so that was one stop we wouldn't have to make. I even learned that the Smellings had enjoyed their trout dinner and that Judy and Art wondered if they could come along the next time we went fishing. I made a mental note to remember to call and ask them the next time the boys and I went fishing. Obviously this weekend was out because I knew Judy was planning on leaving sometime Saturday, but I was quite confident that the boys would want to go fishing again. In turn I filled them in on how my evening had gone and explained about how I had attempted to get David to talk. It seemed that everyone was interested in him and what kind of a person he appeared to be. When I was finished filling them in on my adventures as a detective, we got around to talking about tomorrow. Kath had calmed down some on her rush to get her house finished, but was still eager. We decided that we would get an early start on the painting and with a little luck we could be done by noon. However, that plan soon went down the tube when Uncle Matt and Aunt Sandy said they wanted to talk with a realtor. We kicked that around and I suggested that there was plenty of land on my now enlarged property to build on, but they wanted to be out of town in a more rural setting. What they wanted was a piece of property which had been an old homestead where they could build. I knew money wasn't a problem because Uncle Matt had lots more than I had and I had more than anyone could need, but I didn't know of any property which fit that description which was for sale. The problem was they didn't want to be too far out of town, but they wanted to be far enough out to where there was lots of room and little chance of being crowded. We were discussing the surrounding area when Corey mentioned the place the boys had found when riding their bikes. It took me a couple of minutes to remember them telling me about riding their bikes under the power line and then finding an old homestead. They had wanted me to check it out with them, but I'd never gotten around to it. At least I now knew what he was talking about and Uncle Matt sounded interested. Funny how things go. Uncle Matt wanted an old homestead because he hoped to have an orchard without waiting for it to mature. Yet both he and Aunt Sandy wanted a modern house, in fact they wanted one they had picked out, so that meant they were really looking for a piece of property rather than a home. I pointed out there were some fruit trees on my now extended property, but those weren't enough for them. They wanted more acreage and were thinking of getting the giggle boxes some horses. I also learned that they had decided they wanted to be in my area for several reasons. They wanted the giggle boxes to have access to me and they thought it would make it better when Sara and Bruno came to visit because it would be far easier for all of us to get together. Also, they would be closer to where most of the people with whom Uncle Matt did business, but not so close that they could overrun him with little problems. Last, it would cut the travel time to visit Sandy's folks in half. I'll admit that all their arguments sounded good, but I suspected they just liked being around the boys and I liked being around the giggle boxes, so I accepted their rationalizations. It was getting late so we wandered off to bed. We now had even more to do tomorrow and had doubts we would get it all done. With a little luck we could get the painting done and then maybe sometime over the weekend we could get some of Kath's furniture moved into her house. As I drifted off to sleep I wondered if David had decided to talk to me and tell me what he was afraid of. I was so happy I had gotten a name from him that I really didn't care right now. I couldn't believe it when I woke up before the giggle boxes. While it wasn't the first time that had happened, it happened so seldom that it almost shocked me. When I rolled out of bed for my morning ablutions, Dog jumped down and headed off for his door. That sounded like a good idea and so I stopped at the toilet before my shower. Kevin was right behind me and there we stood letting our bladders empty. Nothing would do except he decided he wanted to join me in the shower, so I had a squirming six and a half year old to scrub. I finally got him clean and about the time we stepped out of the bathroom, Kristin bolted through the door. Corey wasn't in sight, so I figured he had used one of the other bathrooms so I headed towards the kitchen. Kevin was chattering away about what he wanted for breakfast and hotcakes were high on his list, like number one. That meant that my scrubbing of him was a wasted effort since I was sure he would manage to get syrup all over himself. Maybe I could get Dog to lick him clean since Dog liked syrup and Kevin. We were the first ones to make it to the kitchen and I turned the griddle on to warm it up while Kevin attacked the oranges. I managed to grab the knife and rescue his fingers and before it was done I ended up squeezing almost a case of oranges. Before long people started showing up and cooking got underway in earnest. I had some link sausages and of course a few eggs to go with the hotcakes, so it wasn't long until the giggle boxes were filling Dog up. Kevin wondered if Dog liked orange juice, but everyone told him they doubted it. Kevin put his glass down and danged if dog didn't have a few slurps, but he soon quit and went over to Kristin to see if he could get some more sausage or another bite of hotcake. Kevin never batted an eye and went right on drinking what was left of his juice. I was left shaking my head at the whole performance. Aunt Sandy just laughed and said she had grown up with dogs and she never saw anyone get sick from them. I still thought the idea of drinking from the same glass as a dog was gross. It was fun to watch them feed Dog. They would get a bite on their fork and then extend it towards Dog. He would then very carefully take the bite making sure to never touch the fork with his teeth. Actually, he had better manners than many people, but somehow my "no feeding Dog at the table" rule had never stuck. At first the boys had been very discrete when feeding him, but the giggle boxes made no effort to hide their actions and after their first visit, neither did anyone else. I'd finally decided that it wasn't worth the effort to try to stop it and Dog appeared to really enjoy his bites. In fact, those big brown eyes had worked their magic on me and I occasionally broke down and shared with him. He always appeared very grateful for any bites he received. It wasn't like he didn't have plenty of food; it was just that he wanted people food. When the giggle boxes were here I never had to fill his dog food dish. Kyle stumbled out the door and for the bus as we were finishing cleaning up the kitchen. It was time to get to work, so we headed down to Kath's house. At least Kath now had someone to tell all her plans to so I was able to visit with Uncle Matt as we gave one of the bedrooms its second coat. First Uncle Matt told me that one of our investments had failed. There wasn't much left but we needed to decide if we wanted to buy out the other creditors and have all the remaining assets to ourselves. Uncle Matt was in favor of that because he thought the basic idea was good and he knew some people who he thought could make it work, plus the only real asset left was an airplane that needed some work done on it. When I asked about the airplane, he said that one of the original promoters had put it up as collateral for his share and it needed an annual inspection. When I asked what kind of plane it was, he replied it was Kingair Super 350 with seating for eleven passengers and was worth about $3,000,000. "So what do you mean we ought to buy the others out so we can have the plane, and do you even want a plane?" I asked. "Here's the good part Sammy, we already own half of it and we can buy the rest for $100,000 each. If we sell the plane, we make our investment back with a little profit and still have the setup for the company. They tried to throw money around instead of being sensible and I think the company will make money with better management. Besides, I always wanted to learn to fly," Uncle Matt said while grinning at me. "So how much will we have in the plane if we do buy them out?" I asked. "A little over two million, but we still have to pay for the annual inspection and I don't know what that costs. If you don't want in, will you sell me your share?" "How much is my share?" I asked. "You'll be in six hundred thousand and we'll have an airplane to use anytime we want," Uncle Matt continued to grin. "But, well but who's going to fly it?" I asked. "We can take lessons this summer," was his answer. "Think of all the places you and the boys can go with an airplane." "But aren't they expensive to run or fly or whatever?" I asked. Uncle Matt was grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, they are expensive, but that's the other part of the news. We hit it pretty big on another of our investments. Last week one of our companies got a buyout offer of twenty million and your share will be five million if we accept. I'm recommending we hold out for more and I think we can probably add another five million to the pot, maybe more. I might even be able to get another company to start bidding and who knows how much that might produce. Since we're only in a couple of million, I think you can afford a plane. I know I can. Of course we need to buy something smaller to play around with and learn in, but another hundred thou or so ought to take care of that." Uncle Matt was serious about having an airplane. He'd never mentioned it before, but his eyes were sparkling and he looked really excited. "What's Aunt Sandy say?" "She thinks it's great. Being able to fly down and visit Bruno and Sarah for a long weekend really appeals to her." I didn't know what to say. I'd never thought of having a plane or taking flying lessons. Then there were the boys to think about. Scratch that, they would love the idea. "Let me think about it," I said. "Too late, I already spent your money," he grinned. "If you really hate the idea I'll buy you out." At least that took care of worrying about it since it was a done deal. We continued painting and talked about it some more. By the time the room was finished I was getting pretty excited myself. I wondered how hard it was to learn to fly. I glanced at my watch and saw it was late enough to call a realtor. John was programmed into my cell phone so soon Uncle Matt was explaining what he was looking for and John said he would be right over. He wasn't kidding and about twenty minutes later he arrived and I introduced him to Uncle Matt. They talked for about fifteen minutes and John said he had an appointment he had to get to, but he promised to call back after lunch and he thought he might have a couple of pieces of property Uncle Matt would be interested in. Then he decided not to call and said he would come over and show them to Uncle Matt. In the meantime I kept painting on the second room of the day and when Uncle Matt joined me it wasn't long until we finished it also. A little checking and we discovered that the painting was almost complete with only some trim to finish. The paint we had applied now had to dry before the trim could be done, so our painting was pretty much over for the day. I was surprised at how fast it had gone. It was getting close to lunchtime and Aunt Sandy had managed to keep the giggle boxes from bothering anyone, but now they attacked in full force. I don't know which was the hardest to clean, the giggle boxes or the paint rollers. At least the paint rollers didn't squirm all over the place. As for what to do about Dog, it was very apparent that the giggle boxes had enlisted his aid in their efforts and I was left wondering how easily paint washed out of dog hair. He was really strange looking with various yellow spots on him, and the shade didn't really go with his burnt orange fur, not to mention how bad it looked on the parts of him which were black. When I told the boys they needed to give dog a bath and see how much paint they could wash off of him, I wasn't prepared for their reaction. Boys took off for the house dragging Dog along, and by the time the rest of us got there I could hear my shower running, along with lots of giggling. Kevin and Kristin took off to see what was going on and Kristin was giggling like crazy when she came out of my bathroom. "They're all naked and they got Dog in the shower," Kristin said with her eyes almost ready to bug out of her head. Aunt Sandy started giggling and Uncle Matt looked like he was ready to explode. I figured I'd better check because Kevin hadn't returned and Lord knows what the boys might be up to. When I looked in it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. Mark and JJ were naked in the shower with Dog, and Corey was stripped and squatting in the shower entrance holding Dog's head so he couldn't get away. The rest of the boys still had their clothes on except Kevin, who was right in the process of stripping down. Before I could say anything he finished throwing his clothes aside and crowded past Corey and was soon helping scrub poor Dog. Water was flying everywhere and I wondered how long it would take to dry out my bathroom. In times past I had suggested that they use the garden hose, but their answer was they didn't think Dog liked cold water and since that time my shower had turned into a dog bath. At least Dog was a little more resigned to his baths, but the first few times he had managed to escape and track water all over, particularly on my bed which he seemed to feel was his own personal bath towel. First he would jump on the bed, then shake himself, and then start rubbing himself on the bed. He would roll and squirm all over trying to get dry, but anymore he put up with his bath and even let them try to dry him off before he dashed for my bed. I just went and got a big stack of towels since there didn't appear much else I could do. Uncle Matt peeked in and started snickering and then Aunt Sandy did the same and her giggles increased. The boys were all so busy with Dog they didn't even seem to notice any of us. I threw a couple of towels on the floor to soak up the puddles which were now forming and I could see Corey's hair was soaked and stringing down in front of his eyes. Kevin grabbed the hand wand and started spraying and his aim wasn't very good, so most of the water landed on Corey and on the floor. I got out of there before I cracked up. "Do they always give Dog his bath in your shower?" Aunt Sandy asked. "Yeah, that's about normal except they're a little better with the sprayer than Kevin is," I answered her. "I wanted them to bathe him outside, but they were worried he might get cold, and, well you know, no matter what I suggested they decided my shower was the best place to wash him since it's the biggest. He got his first bath there and he probably will get his last there." "They don't seem very concerned about being naked," Uncle Matt said. "No, anymore they don't pay much attention. Since you guys are here they've been a little better, but they normally wander around in their briefs in the morning and it's not unusual for one of them to forget even those. I suppose part of it is that no one thinks anything about getting in the hot tub naked, so we've all seen each other and therefore it no longer bothers us." "Oh goody," Aunt Sandy said. "Maybe we can all get in the hot tub tonight." I started blushing and Uncle Matt started laughing like a fool. "What's the matter Sammy," Aunt Sandy teased. "You've got a cute derriere." By now my face was long past pink and Uncle Matt was about to choke himself to death he was laughing so hard. I couldn't think of a good reply so I tried to pull my shredded dignity together and headed for the kitchen to see about lunch. Kath was pulling out cans of soup, so I started helping her. We didn't have enough of any one kind, but Kath said just dump a couple of kinds together and it would be fine. Strangely enough she was right and it did turn out good. After tasting it I added a little pepper and it was time for lunch. I'd lost count of the cans of tuna being opened, but Kath had it figured about right. By the time the soup was history, so was the tuna salad for sandwiches. She had added some diced pickle and celery to it and the boys inhaled it. Dog joined us about halfway through lunch so I figured my bed was now a mess, but he helped the giggle boxes with their lunch, pointedly ignoring Mark, JJ, and Corey. It was very apparent that he was not a happy camper because of the bath, but I knew he would forgive them by dinnertime. That was one thing about Dog; he never held a grudge for very long. We were just putting the dishes in the dishwasher when the phone rang. Jerry was pissed. He even referred to the contractors as bastards, and in all the time I had known him I had never heard him use any profanity. The reason he had called was to tell me that the inspectors had found even more problems and there was almost no chance of using the school buildings next week. I also got filled in about the investigators, who were looking into the contractor, and heard about how the subcontractor, who had done the wiring, was bankrupt and under investigation for bribing the inspector. By the time he wound down with his ranting on the evils of accepting the lowest bid I knew I would have next week off and we would have to keep the school open past our scheduled finish date. The really sad thing was that had the new high school been completed there would have been enough room between it and the grade school to crowd everything in, but the high school was overcrowded as it was. We couldn't even use the old middle school because it had been torn down to make a place for the new high school. Jerry finally finished and hung up, leaving me to tell the boys there would be no school next week. Why was I not surprised that the news was greeted with cheers? The boys were eagerly planning what we could do next week when the phone again rang. This time it was Judy with the news that David had gone back to not talking or eating. There I stood, the phone in my hand, wondering how I got so involved and what I ought to do about it. "Sam," I heard Judy say. "Are you still there?" "Uhh, yeah, I'm still here. Just thinking," I answered. I was silent for another minute or so while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do. "Okay Judy, here's what I want to know..." To be continued...