Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 19:50:36 -0400 (EDT) From: T Chase Subject: Nature Walk 35 The following story is a work of fiction set in the format of reality. Any resemblance to real people is entirely coincidental in nature, and is not meant to accurately reflect persons in towns, cities, or governmental areas, in which the story is staged. If sexual scenes involving male to male relationships offends you, then you should not read this story. Additionally, if you are under 18 years of age, in most states and countries, you are not allowed to read this by law. This is fiction. Don't forget, in real life, to think about 'sexual safety matters'; got condom? "Nature Walk" 35 (M/t oral high anxiety) wriTten by T. Chase McPhee % "Lights are back on!" Somebody called out. The kids jumped around, as if the Mardi Gras had just dawned. "Oh, forgot to mention it to you. Mom's expecting the bunch for dinner at six," Matty reported to the masses. "Yikes! That doesn't give us much time!" Barry replied to Matty's strictly placed invitation. "Yikes is right!" Philip repeated his father's exclamation. "C'mon guys. We gotta finish our Monopoly game!" "Want to get our own game going?" Eric gave the notion to Mark, Tom and Denis. "Sure," Denis replied for all of them. "That is, if you want to Tom?" "Okay, but none of that 'Peanuts' Monopoly game." "Nah, we can play 'Lord Of The Rings' Monopoly," Denis replied. "Cool!" "Geesh! Don't those kids ever give it a rest?" "Barry, they like it and Monopoly is more educational than many games these days." "You're right, Alonzo. Whatever happened to the days when we were kids?" "Hee heee.. you mean they didn't have Monopoly in your days, Barry?" "Oh sure. What am I thinking? Of course they did, but they didn't have this variety." "So, what did you and Steve find out, Callan? Cut a coupla thou off of the price?" Callan looks around. Seeing only Sean, Jacq, Matty and Chad on the two sofas, facing the fireplace, he leans in and says, "Nothing that a coupla fourways can't pay for itself!" "Are you serious, Callan?" "No, but I would've paid a hundred bucks to see your reaction, Alonzo!" Steve and Barry laughed along with Callan, as Alonzo warned him about getting even. Steve then led them over to the bar. "Jacq? Care for a drink?" Matty asks Steve, sarcastically, "What about us little boys? Want to see my driver's license, Steve?" He grins. Almost ready to catch his dad's reaction, Chad asks Steve, "I'll have a selzter with a twist of lime, please." Matty, knowing Chad of 'illegal' drinking age, orders up the same. Barry keeps in silence. % "How are you feeling now, Bill?" "I'm okay." "Here, I snuck some pudding out of the cafeteria for you." "Estefan?" "Yeah, amigo?" "Why are you being this way?" "What way?" "Nice to me?" "Listen, the way I see it, except for your kid brother, you don't have anybody else in the world, except... you got any friends?" "I thought I had one good friend, but he... he's not." "How old are you?" "Nineteen." "Nineteen, still in high school, right?" "Stayed back in the fifth and eighth grades." "Hey, don't look so down, amigo. You're not the only one that goes through stuff like that." "How would you know Estefan?" "Hey, listen," Estefan replies, pressing the button for the bed to do an electric sit up, "I say this because I know for a fact." Ripping the aluminum seal from the pudding cup, sticking a spoon in it, Estefan places the cup in Bill's lap, the bedcover forming a 'holder'. "C'mon, eat up." "I don't think I can." "Sure you can. I've done everything else for you but pick the spoon up. You can do it. Try at least, Bill." Bags drip into Bill's left arm, but his right arm lies there waiting for his brain to give it some direction. "Mmmm, is this pudding good!" The twenty-five year old nurse exclaims, licking the back of the spoon. Taking it in all sincerety, Bill tries moving his arm. His eyebrows show exclamation when he finds he can wiggle his fingers. Slowly his arm is pryed away from the side of the bed. "I'm doing it!" He says with a flicker of hope in his voice. However frustration takes over once again, as his hand falls in his lap, the pudding gushing out all over the place. "Oh shit!" "Heeey, don't be so hard on yourself, man. You got that arm to move and I know it took a lot of brain power to do that." Right away, Estefan comes to the rescue. "C'mon now, amigo. Move that arm outta there so I can clean you up." "I d-d-don't think I can." "Okay, then you sleep with the pudding all night." Estefan watches as Bill concentrates, looking at his hand as if the staring would levitate it out of his crotch of pudding. Bill gets to the point where his arm moves backwards, falls on his thigh and slips down to the bed on the side of him. "I'm gonna be a fuckin' invalid!" "That's bullshit!" Estefan shouted to him. "You just proved to yourself that you can do it and now you're taking the easy way out again, Bill? C'mon man! Get with the program!" >From the side table Estefan appeared with another pudding. He ripped the top off, stuck the spoon in and lifted the spoon to Bill's lips. "Open up, if you want it." "Fuck it!" "Okay. No problem man. I can eat two. Just get it through your head, Bill that you 'can' do for yourself, but it's going to take hard work and a lot of therapy. Plus, it's going to take somebody else helping you along. Y'see, I know what it's like to fail and then get up, dust yourself off and move forward. You're not the only one who's failed in school. But you see, I had this dream that one day I would be a nurse. I made that dream a goal in my life. I probably could've cut it a year or two less, but I have this learning disability and I wanted to make sure that I understood everything. I figured someday somebody else's life might depend on it. Y'get what I'm talking here, Bill?" "Yeah." "So, you want to eat this or let me eat it?" After a few lightyears of silence, Bill opened up, "No, I'll eat it." Estefan knew himself to be a gay man, feeding a 'gay basher'. He wasn't looking for anything more than helping a guy develop his capabilities. Being gay didn't have anything to do with it. He's spent his college years and the six months beyond that, swearing an oath to help people. He knew the circumstances behind Bill's prognosis, taking the bullet to the head and the temporary or lifelong paralysis, whichever came into play. Still he was human and us humans have our faults. As soon as Bill was able, he would have to face the legalities of his actions and he figured this into the physical play of things. Bill had a long road ahead of himself. Being a young nineteen year old, that would be one long highway. Estefan had prepared his own mentality to overlook the racist attitude instilled in Bill, in hopes that he could help change his ways. Sometime Bill would find out that he is gay. Whether he's prepared to accept that or not would not be the problem. It's the physical that is Estefan's concern. If Bill accepted some other things along the way to improve his condition, then Bill could live with that too. % The scene looked grim over on 'the hill' . Famous for it's slight curve that had caused a few lite accidents and some close calls, this looked like a major close call. Donovon's truck had plowed through the rear end of one vehicle and slamming into the side of another. That caused a chain reaction of three vehicles behind it. Jim Faulkner lost all control, spinning around several times before his '98 Honda rammed sideways up against a group of pines. He remained unconscious in his vehicle. Two guys from the college saw him, motionless, in his yellow Honda and tried figuring out on how to get him out of it. But the back end of the car had become so disfigured, that Jim had been pressed up against the steering wheel. One of them had 'knifed' the airbag, seeing that Jim's face was pressured up against it. They worked together, to try to peel the shattered windshild away. "Take off your coat Terry." "My coat?" "Yeah, it's thicker than mine. I can use it as a glove to handle the glass." Terry Duncan quickly dismantled the ski jacket, unzipping and then peeling it from his arms. "Cold?" "No, I'm fine. Just get to this guy." "I'm gonna try. Oh man, the engines, hot!" "Lean on your coat, Max." "Oh, good idea, Terry!" So, the two coat-stripped jocks sprung into action. "Do you know who this guy is?" "No. I've just seen the car around." "True, Max. You don't see many yellow Hondas on the road." "I don't see any college parking stickers on the windshield. Could be a high school kid, but too close to call. Oh shit!" "What's the matter, Max?" "Cut myself... oh fuck, it's bleeding pretty bad!" Terry, a second year medical student, having leaned in the window to check out Jim's vital signs, addressed Max. "Oh dam, Max. You did do a number on that hand. Need a tourniquet." With that, Terry strips the tee shirt up and off, then tears it in two. Quickly, he ties it around Max's arm. "Brrrr!" He exclaimed, but then Max's hand made him forget about freezing his nips off! "This should do until help arrives. If that car didn't ram my front wheel, I could get you to the hospital, Max." "Listen, my hand will be okay. I'm putting pressure on it like you said. Here, take my coat... oh shit! It's stuck to the hood!" "Yeah, it was so hot that it melted the fabric." "But Terry, your gonna freeze with no shirt on!" "I'll be alright Max." "But you're coat is filled with glass." "I'll be alright, Max." Terry could see that Max began getting to the point of panicing, what with the blood oozing out. It had slowed some, but Terry worried more about Max keeping warm. That's when he spotted the jacket on the seat of the car. "Hold on a second, Max." Whirling around the front, Terry tried the door. By whatever Miracle, it opened. "Oh fuck!" "What's the matter, Terry?" "I smell gasoline!" Looking over at the driver, Terry knew if something within the guy's system had been broken, could mean further complications. However, if he didn't act, the guy could be toast. "Max!" "Yeah, Terry?" "We've gotta get this guy out of the car." "Do you think that's wise?" "Listen, if the gas fumes make contact with that hot engine, this cab will become a broiler! I know you're bleeding and hurting, honey, but you have to help me!" "Just tell me what to do, Terry." "Okay. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to..." Max watched as Terry unzipped his pants. "What are you doing Terry?" "Just do what I say, Max, okay? I don't have time to explain." "Sure." After taking his pants off, Terry slid them under Jim. "Here, put this on." "But your barechested, Terry. You should be putting this jacket on!" "Dammit, Max, just do it!" Max did what he was told, but like he noticed when Terry bandaged up his hand, Terry's body seemed frocked with a jersey of goose pimples. "Alright, this is what you're going to do, Max. You with me?" "Sure I am, Terry." "How's the hand?" "Let's just get to it. I smell the gasoline, too!" Terry explained that, using his back against the dashboard, he was going to use his knees or feet as a catalyst to break the pinion of the seat, binding the guy to the steering wheel. When that happens, Terry would stretch upwards, allowing Max to pull on his pants, sliding the guy out. "You have to work fast, Max. I'm not going to be able to tackle this to many times." "I'll do my best." "I know you will... and oh, here's for good luck." Terry smooched a short one with Max. That propelled both into action. "Damn glass!" Terry complained. "You hurt?" "I'm alright." So, just as planned, Terry braced his back up against the dash and utilized all the muscle from years of working out. "Uggggghhhhaaahhhh... go Max!" Arching his back, Terry pressured the seat into giving. Max heaved tightly on the jeans, formerly around Terry's waist. He also tugged on the bloodied shirt. "I'm clear! I'm clear, Terry!" Terry winced as he left the car. Reaching around, he pulled a small piece of glass from his shoulder. "Terry, you're bleeding." "Forget it. C'mon, we've gotta get clear of the car." Handling the victim as gently as possible, they moved quickly across the intersection. It's then that the small crew arrived to attend to the rest of the stranded vehicles, relieving them of their victims. % Conner and his mom had just sat down in the kitchen to have a bite to eat when it seemed the whole house shook, a louder than life sound reverberating throughout their world. "What that hell was that?" "I don't know Conner. An earthquake?" "Mount St. Helen's again?" "Let me call the police chief and see if we can find out." "I'll get the radio." Little did they know of the facts of Jim's yellow Honda taking off in flight, lighting up the early evening sky. % "Let's see now, we've got the eggs, milk, butter... Pat, did you pick up the apples?" "I don't know which ones to choose, Noah. They've got green ones, red ones, these yellow ones." "Red ones are okay. Anything but the green ones." "How many?" "About eight." "Okay." When they first arrived at Donovon's market, they allowed Patrick to ferry himself around, even after he demolished a display of Cornflakes, all neatly stacked. Noah offered to put the two crushed boxes in the cart, but a salesguy, told him 'no problem', then winked. "Patrick's doing okay, Noah." "Yeah, I think just showing some confidence in him, makes him want to do it for himself." "Cute guy, isn't he Noah?" "Yeah. You like him a lot, don't you Zach?" "I feel sorry for him." "But that's not what I asked, Zach." "Y'know you're a real smart guy, Noah." "I only see what I can see and what I see is that you're caring more beyond the friendship for Pat." "Yeah and that's where I'm running into a problem." "Oh and why's that, Zach?" "I like you a lot, too!" "Here's the apples. What else?" "Oh man, Pat. Forgot to ask you to pick out some bananas." "No problem. I can make another trip." "You're not getting tired?" "Nope. Anything for you guys!" Noah and Zack smiled, as the seventeen year old carefully made a u-turn and headed back from whence he came. "He is a cutey, isn't he?" Noah notated. "Yeah. Um, about us, Noah." "The two of us?" "Well, I was thinking the three of us, actually," Zach came out with. "Whew!" "What, Noah?" "I almost thought you didn't want to share Pat." Smiling, Zach replied, "I didn't know whether you had the same idea I had, Noah." "Hey, I played around, but never thought I'd be finding some guy before the end of my college years, Zach, let alone two guys." "Do you think Patrick is interested in 'two guys'." "I know he likes us." "Likes? Patrick loves us, Noah." "And do you love me, Zach?" "Well, it's funny. The three of us have known each other for about the same amount of time, however... I think I'm like in love with Patrick and more on the friendly side with you, Noah. Get what I mean?" "I couldn't have said it plainer. I think I'm more on the friendly side with both of you guys." "You mean you're not in love with us?" "Um, does fond count?" "Um, yeah. That's kind of close. I think I can live with it." "I mean, chances are another guy could come and sweep me off my feet, but you guys have been the highlight of my life for the past what? Day?" "Um, let's see, I think it's been a day and a night since you've rammed my Astin Martin." "Yeah, what about that anyway?" "Was my dad's. I sort of inherited it from my grandmother." "Someday I'll have to hear the story of your shady past." "And of your's?" "Touche, Zack!" The two giggled and then went to find Patrick. "I'm coming guys!" Turning in the spokes of his handicapped chair was a squashed banana. "That chair could've slipped right out from under your ass, Pat!" Knowing that Noah joked, Patrick laughed out loudly at the remark, as the twenty year old college jock squatted down to clean the slippery mass from the wheel. "Hmm... one less banana to mash!" "Eweeeee!" both Zach and Patrick replied. Suddenly a ruckus began taking place at the front of the store, near the customer service area. Women began crying out loudly. "What's happening?" Zach asked the cashier. "I'm not sure. Hold on a second." The women walked over to the customer service area. Right after talking with the head cashier, she herself burst into tears. The cashier came back. "Jake.... I can't go on... please ring for me..." "What's the matter, Wanda?" "It's Mr. Donovon... they just found out he was killed in an accident out on the hill." "Oh fucking, no!" After giving her a quick hug, Jake stepped in behind her register, keyed in some numbers and began ringing. "Oh, I'm so sorry... to keep you... waiting." Zach, as well as Noah and Patrick could see Jake trying to hold back his grief. Patrick tells him, "You can stop for a minute, if you have to. We have plenty of time." "I... I..." Jake tore out of there, running towards the back of the store. The three boys stood there, figuring he'd be back shortly. "Um, I'll just run this ice cream back to the frozen foods," Noah offered. "I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" Patrick addressed Zach. "No, of course you didn't Patick. As you can see all of the employees are very upset." "I am too. Mr. Donovon used to treat me nice everytime I came in here. He even said he would give a job when I got old enough." "Patrick, I'm sorry." Bending over the top of the chair, Zack made an appraisal of Patrick's feelings. He rubbed both his arms. "You've had it really rough, haven't you Patrick?" "I dunno Zach. It seems I've brought a lot of trouble on myself." "It's called growing up, Patrick. Along the way we make mistakes and learn from them." "Yeah, but I've made a really bad one." "I know you feel that way, Patrick and like I said, I'm going to be here for you to help you get through it." "Thanks Zack. You and Noah mean a lot to me, but especially you." "That means a lot for you to say that to me, Patrick." "It does?" "Yes, because for a very long time I've been without somebody to like me... love me." Patrick looks up at Zach and looks deeply into his eyes. Seemingly down to his very soul. "Zach?" "Huh?" "I... I love you Zach." Without a thought of what love is, the feeling pervaded from within him and gave him a chill. One that is a warm feeling of truth, knowing that it is there and not wondering from where it came or how it came to be. Zach, the sneak, pretended to fix something on the side of the handicap chair and as he bent over, planted a slight pec on Patrick's cheek. "I love you too, Patrick." Most people had the courtesy to do what Noah had done and returned their frozen foods, plus some others to their places on the shelves. Soon a couple of police officers entered the store. They began to ask people to leave. They understood the circumstances. Then, like Superman, a hero appeared. Zach came from the frozen food aisle, his arm coupled around Jake's shoulder, leading him back to the register area. "Okay, everybody, it's going to be a long line, but Jake will check you out." Zach had to smile and shake his head at the 'take charge' guy. As at home, Gary's and Mike's home, Noah had been the same way, making their kitchen 'his' kitchen. "Heeey, let the little ole lady in ahead of ya's. C'mon ma'm!" As if at the corner of a huge intersection, Noah began directing baskets, to form a huge chain, as if a wagon train assembling to pull out for the bold western frontier. "Yo, kid... tell your mama to go around.. no bucking in line!" The woman smiled, watching her eight year old answer Noah, "Okay, mister!" Zach helped bag their order until Noah came around to help. "You got that, Zach?" "Yeah, 'boss'!" They flashed a smile back and forth to each other. "Hell, it probably doesn't take much to run one of these things!" "It doesn't, Noah," Jake reports to him. "All it is is a computer." "Aha! My best friend!" Noah observes, then turns to Zach and Patrick, "Next to you two guys." Jake watches in between ringing, as Noah steps up to the register next to him. "Here, let me punch in Wanda's ID." "You know Wanda's ID?" "Yeah. When I started working here mine didn't take." "Okay. Here we go Jake... If it don't ring up, then it's on the house!" Like cracking his knuckles before playing the piano, Noah shoves the pen behind his ear and scans his very first item. The club card didn't work, but the customer didn't give two hoots. Noah put the box of Cheerios in her bag, without scanning it, to make up for the inconvenience. She accepted the gift. He took her cash and that began his first sale. "Call and I'll come back and pick you up, Noah." Jake calls out, "That's okay, I can give Noah a ride home." "Alright with you, Noah?" "Fine with me." Not paying attention, he scanned the pickles twice, so gave the customer a bottle of ketchup on the house! "I can hand the bags to you, Zach." "No way. You stay put, Patrick. Remember the doctor said lite duty and this is anything but light." "I feel so helpless." "Hey, hand me that bale of paper towels?" Zach smiled at Patrick, able to manuoever the bundle. With all the groceries packed, he helped get his passenger in the side, then proceeded to foldup the chair and wedge it in between the groceries, having to rearrange some. Finally Zach collapsed behind the steering wheel. "Whew! Made me work up a sweat!" "Thanks Zach." "It's no problem, Patrick." "Zach?" "Yeah?" As Zach backed out, Patrick waited so that Zach would be able to concentrate on some feelings he readied to bring out. "Okay, what's on your mind, Patrick?" "A lot of things. First thing is... do you think Noah and this guy Jake..." "Have made a connection?" "Yeah. How did you know what I was thinking, Zach?" "For one thing, Noah is a go getter. Another thing... well, while Noah sent you hustling for the apples and bananas, us two talked about you." "Me?" "Well, not just you but the three of us and how we felt about each other." "Oh." "Does that bother you, Patrick? I mean we didn't do it to talk behind your back." "No, it's not that, Zach. It's just that... I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." The thoughts started to trouble Zach. "Um, what do you mean?" "Zach, I... I like Noah and all. He's a funny guy. He likes to make people laugh. He's sensitive and caring." "Oh." Like a punch in the stomach, the air withdrew from Zach's body, taking every loving emotion from within that Patrick had put there. "Zach, I love you, but I don't love Noah. I like Noah, but.." "Oooooh man, Patrick. Don't scare me like that!" "I'm sorry. What did I do wrong, Zach?" "You didn't do anything wrong, Patrick. Oh man. You just scared me there for a moment. I thought maybe you and Noah..." "Zach, I told you I loved you. I do. I love you with all my heart. I never felt like that about any human being, ever. That's why I know this feeling is genuine." "Wow! That's blows me away Patrick! I'm feeling the same thing! Oh man, you don't know how much it means to me for you to say that!" So much that Zach had to pull off the road before his high end feeling blew all four tires! Not taking up enough time for ice cream to melt, but affording a few moments to unbuckle, the two made a quick memory. % "Geez, Max, another few seconds and we would have been fried!" "Yeah. Like burnt to a crisp!" Right after the big KA-BOOM, emergency vehicles had encroached on the scene, finding the grim news about Mr. Donovon. A young guy, looking to be about fifteen or sixteen also sat in the truck, but came out with hardly a scratch. Still he seemed to be in a state of shock. Miraculously, all others involved in the accident seemed to be in at least stable condition, including Jim Faulkner. "Hey, there's a cellphone in the pocket of this jacket, Terry." "It's turned on, too. It has some guy's number on it, Max." "Um, should we dial it?" "Might be this guy, Jim's family. I guess." Max pressed the send button. "Here, you do it, Terry." "Okay. No problem." They listened for five rings and then a women picked up. "Um, hello?" "Hello. Just a minute please." Barbra Matthews left the receiver of the phone long enough to tell Conner that a phone call had been received, ID'ed with his cell phone number. He then remembered leaving it in Jim's car and not his own. "Hello? Jim?" "No, this is not Jim. My name is Terry Duncan." "Oh. Where's Jim?" "Listen, there's been an accident and...." "Nooooooooooooo! Where's Jim? Is he...?" "Calm down please. My friend and I have his jacket and found the cellphone in it. Hello? Hello?" Conner's mother took over the phone call. "Hello?" "I'm sorry. I tried talking to the person named Conn." "That's my son, Conner. I'm Barbra Matthews. Is this about Jim? What's happened, please?" "There's been a bad accident up on the hill and..." "Oh my Lord, noooo." "The guy known as Jim is in the hospital. My friend and I pulled him out just before his car exploded." "Oh my word, Connor, that was what shook the house," Terry could hear the worried mother tell her son, "Jim's car!" In the background, Terry could here Conner ask about him, highly emotional. Terry turned to Max and said, "I think this guy, Conn, is either a good friend of this Jim's or as my gaydar is predicting..." "Like us, huh?" "Yeah." Then Barbra came back on the phone, asking, "Are you still there, sir?" "My name's Terry. Yes, I'm here." "We're getting ready to go to the hospital. Will you meet us there?" "Sure, but um... our car was involved in the accident, so as soon as we can." "I'm sorry and thank you so much." The line went dead, after Barbra said a quickie 'bye'. "They're meeting us at the hospital, Max." "Like how are we going to get there?" "Well at least I got my pants back." "That blanket warm enough?" "Yeah, except it's blowing a draft up my back. The bandage they put on that place where the splinter of glass went in kind of makes it warmer." "Well, as soon the doc says so, you and I are going to pay a visit to Juan Delgado and soak in his jacuzzi!" "Oh Max, that would feel great. Heck, I'll put duct tape on it to relax in the jacuzzi!" "Duct tape, Terry? C'mon. Let's see if we can get a ride." % "It's too bad that Callan had to run off." "Like a fireman, a paramedic has the same kind of life sometime." "What'd he say, Alonzo? An accident?" "Yes. Up on the hill, Steve." "Um, Stevie and Alonzo honey," Bernice asks, "Ancay eway angechay ethay ubjectsay otay omethingsay oremay appyhay?" "What was that Bernice?" Matty replies, "Mom, you know nobody can understand 'pig latin' except you and I!" "You know pig latin, Matty?" "Yeah. Guess who taught me!" "Oh Matty, for heaven's sake you begged me to teach you!" "Did you, Matty?" Chad asks. "Yeah, okay. So I did." "Oooooooh, teach us something, Aunt Bernice, pleeeeeeease!" The squirts began their royal pleading, Philip the instigator, hands folded as if asking for pittence. In a real hip hop manner, Bernice says to the boys, "Onay Ebrazay akecay untilway ouyay eatway allway ouryay occolibray." "What'd she say, Matty?" Diego wonders, like the rest of the boys, even the midteeners. "Mom said 'no Zebra cake until you eat all your broccoli'!" "C'mon guys," Aidan tells them, "hold your nose and shovel it down... it works, really!" Steve, Barry, Alonzo, Jacq, Sean and even Chad giggled at the scene unfolding in front of them. All over learning pig latin. If it had been French or Chinese, now that would be an entirely difference of opinion, as far as learning anything. "Oops! Sorry... it's my cell!" Alonzo says, excusing himself from the table and going into the other room. "Can you talk it, Matty?" Frankie asks. "Sure. What do you want me to say?" "Say something like... oh nooo..." "What's the matter Frankie?" Jacq asks, detecting something strange about his sudden change in emotions. "Alonzo has bad news..." Looking down into his lap, Frankie is totally saddened. Jacq gets up from his chair and walks around to the other side of the table. Just as he crouches down next to Frankie, Alonzo comes in from the other room. "What happened Alonzo honey?" Bernice prods. "Um, I think we better handle this in the other room, gentlemen... Bernice." "Daddy, what's wrong? Frankie said you were gonna tell us bad news." "Somebody stay here with the kids?" "I'll stay here. No problem," Jacq replies, followed by Sean, whom leaves his seat for the younger side of the table. Within a couple of minutes, the adults return. "Aunt Bernice, why are you crying?" "Oooooh, it must still be the onions from the kitchen," she lied. Then she directed to Alberto, "Albertoway, it'sway imetay orfay ethay Ebrazay Akecay, easeplay?" Alberto gets up right away and heads into the kitchen. "Wow! Alberto knows pig latin, too?" "Um, yeah," Matty replies to Philip. "You guys don't have to finish your dinner. We're going to have the Zebra cake now." Somehow the excitement over Zebra Cake had dwindled. The kids, confused over the mixed feelings, wanted to hear from the older people about what the bad news had been. Jacq had taken Frankie into the other room to talk, about five mintues ago. "Daddy, what's some bad news?" "Um, give us a minute, okay sport?" "Okay daddy.... Daddy, is something happen to dad-Callan?" "Oh no, son. dad-Callan is just fine." "Why did dad-Callan run away?" "Diego, it's his job sometimes to leave in a hurry to go help people." "Did dad-Callan go to help somebody?" Like a ping pong match, everybody watched the conversation bounce back and forth between Diego and his dad. "Matter of fact yes. There was a car accident and he had to go help the people." Bernice asks, "Have you boys thought about going to Sunday School tomorrow?" The atmosphere began to lighten a little. "I'd like to try it." "I'm with Tom, if it's okay with our dad?" "Sure, Mark. I have no objections," Barry replied. Steve gave the go ahead for Eric, Denis and Aidan. "Are you going to Sunday school, too Chad?" Philip asked. "That stuff's too young for me," the high school senior replied. Bernice asked, "Y'know Chad, and Matty for that matter, they're always looking for youth group leaders." Chad renders, "I don't mind helping out with your church guys, but that religion stuff turns me off!" "Oh, well then..." Chad could see that possibly he had been a bit too blunt for Bernice's tastes. He looked at Matty, then his dad, smirking, giving the look that says, 'was I?' "Um, mom, I'm sure Chad didn't mean it that way," Matty tries muffling Chad's intentions. "Yeah, uh... 'mom', uh isn't that what church is for, like... um, like school, to learn?" "Chad!" "What squirt?" "You called Aunt Bernice, 'mom', y'know?" Philip busted his older brother. "I know." "So?" "So what squirt?" "Why did you?" "Because...." Matty giggled to himself. Did he have to bail Chad out again? "Chad called my mom 'his' mom because Chad and I are more than friends, Squirt." "More than friends? What's'at s'posed to mean, Matty?" Aidan replies, "Philip, you dope! It means they're gonna be lovers like you and me!" "Ooooooh yeah. That's what I figured!" Chad scolds his little bro, "Squirt, you can be a real dufous. So, 'mom', what's this youth counselor stuff about?" With a tinge of being unforgiving just yet, she replied, "Ouyay ouldway ebay orkingway ithway ildrenchay ofway etweenbay Iegoday andway Enis'day agesway, eachingtay emthay ingsthay aboutway ethay Iblebay, usplay oinggay onway ipstray. Ometimessay eythay ogay awayway otay ampscay." Right away all eyes went to Matty. Throwing his spoon into his almost finished bowl of Zebra cake he says, "Mom, can't you just speak English?" Chad repeats, "Yeah, mom can't you just speak English?" Matty nudged Chad in the ribs for mimicing him. "Tell us what she said, Matty!" more than one of the boys shot at him. "Oh brother.. okay, all she said is 'that Chad would be working with children of between Diego and Denis' ages and then something about teaching things of the Bible. You get to go camping." "Is that 'exactly' what she said, Matty?" "It's close enough, Chad!" However, the boys didn't really care if it was word for word. Now their energies focused on camping. Even the midteen boys talked it up. % "Conner, when we get to the hospital, don't be surprised if Jim's unconscious." "Mom... I... I'm so nervous." "I know you are dear." "Mom, you don't understand." "Oh but I do, Conner. You love Jim more than anything else in this universe, at the moment. You want to see him just as you last did when he left our house tonight." "Oooooh mom." "I'm letting you know that Terry is a nurse. He didn't seem to think Jim had anything life threatening wrong with him, but only xrays and testing can tell it like it is." "Mom, it's not only Jim that has my total heart, you know?" "I know, Conner, but I know how you feel about Jim and I want you to know that you and he have my total support." "Thanks mom. It means a lot to me for you to say that and I'm sure Jim feels the same way." As they pulled up to West Richland Memorial Hospital, the parking lot seemed like the disaster area. Ambulances, from the nearby communities of Richland Commons and Fenton City, being given priority, naturally, took up most of the space of the visitor lot. "Why don't you get out here, Conner and I'll find a spot to park?" "Okay mom. Thanks." Before Conner exited the standing vehicle, he kissed his mom on the cheek, telling her, "I love you... too!" % ontinuedcay......... Copyright 2005 T. Chase McPhee All Rights Reserved. www.assgm.net www.nifty.org Permission is NOT granted to publish this story to any PAY site, nor any site that is not listed above, without the author's prior consent.