Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:17:26 -0400 From: rhaven Subject: The Next Tomorrow Chapter Four This is a story from imagination, nothing more; it could not exist in our reality. Be warned it is a tale of man/boy relationships with some bad language. I'd like to thank my dear friend Astral Toad for helping me with this story. Please send e-mails to: rhavenlore@hotmail.com If you like this story, please visit my site for more at www.rhavenlore.com The Next Tomorrow By Rhaven CHAPTER FOUR The sun gradually rose into the sky, sharing its light to all. I didn't want its light, I didn't want this day to come. I heard the Snyder dogs start barking, Mama Snyder was feeding them. I didn't enjoy the sounds of morning like I normally did, they seemed secluded and indifferent to me. Mom was up, I heard her moving around her room and then into the kitchen. There was no enticing aroma of eggs and bacon, only the sound of coffee percolating on the stove. I had gotten dressed in the dark, waking up at 3 am I gave up on returning to sleep, so I sat quietly on my bed and stared at my closed door. Mom didn't check on me once before I heard Debra honk her horn. I cried when the car drove away, it was the first time in my life that Mom had left the house without speaking to me. We've had fights before, I had a knack of getting in trouble at least once a week, if not more, but that never stopped us for talking. I didn't want to be mad at Mom and I especially didn't want her to be mad at me. I should have been more grown-up and gone out to talk to her. Maybe if I could explain how I felt, she would stop seeing Greg and then everything would be normal again. How could I explain anything to her? I didn't understand what I was feeling. I left the house, looking back at the plain building as if I'd never see it again. Maybe I would runaway; it was obvious that Mom didn't want me anymore. Sean was once again sitting on the granite slab called Plank. I was thankful he wasn't naked, readied to swim. "Good morning little man." He said cheerfully as I emerged from the woods. "Morning." I tried to smile, but couldn't command my lips to obey me. "Are we going for a swim this morning?" Sean arched an eyebrow and lost his smile as he looked at me. "What's wrong?" He said delicately. "Everything." I managed to say before I started crying again. Sean knelt down and wrapped his arms around me. I cried on his shoulder for several minutes before I could speak again. "I hate my life... I hate it... I hate it." "It's all right Jonah... it's all right." Sean repeated, whispering to me and rubbing my back as I cried. All my pain and fears, escaped through my tears and I couldn't stop them. "I don't... want... my Mom ... to hate me." I sobbed. Sean picked me up and started walking across the beach. I didn't care where we were going, I felt weak from all the crying, my mind numb from the invasion of uncontrolled feelings. Sean carried me through the woods as I managed to sniff back the last of the tears. I looked around and saw 14th Street and the Macnee house. I've always been afraid the Macnee house, two stories of dark and menacing windows and wood. But not even that fear would make me leave Sean. He carried me inside the house, where I was surprised to see a cheery atmosphere. I had expected cobwebs and skeletons, or even Ida Macnee's ghost haunting the staircase. The house was elegant, nothing I imagined, flowers decorated every table, and colorful paintings adorned the wood paneled walls. The furniture was a little odd; Sean carried me into the living room that had a large couch with cowboy decorated cushions and thick wooden armrests. The coffee table was a wagon wheel on its side, with a heavy glass resting on top. The only thing that could describe this room would be; the old west. From the lamp shaped like a horse to the cowhide rug on the floor, I felt like I was stepping into Roy Roger's Ranch. "Sorry about the decor, it came with the house." Sean laughed as he gently sat me on the cowboy couch. "I've had to fill the house with flowers, just to feel human again. I'm starting to have nightmares about cowboys." He smiled briefly before sitting next to me and getting a serious look on his face. "You want to tell me what has happened?" He said softly, putting his hand on my knee. I could feel my eyes tearing up again and hated myself for crying in front of him. "I'm such a cry baby." I whispered and tried to smile. "Don't you ever feel bad about crying, Jonah." Sean said very seriously. "Never listen to anyone who tells you that crying is for babies. Never be ashamed to cry." I nodded and grinned with relief. I started telling him what had happened last night with Mom and Greg, trying my best describe every moment, every detail and every word said. Sean listened quietly, nodding occasionally or frowning as I told my tale. Once I was finished I looked away from Sean, after hearing myself tell the story, I felt foolish for being so emotional. All this pain and crying because I didn't want to play football? Had I really seen Greg hit Mom and even if I did, couldn't it have been a pretend punch, like Ronnie, Mark and I did all the time? "It's all confusing isn't it?" Sean put his hand back on my knee. "Why are all the adults acting like spoiled brats, why did this Greg think he could hit your mother and why was your mother angry with you? First off..." Sean inhaled deeply before speaking again. "Greg had no right to hit your mother. I'd be lying if I said it probably won't happen again. I don't want to scare you Jonah..." "It's okay... I'd ... I'd rather hear the truth than have it sugar coated." "How about breakfast? We can talk over some cereal." Sean stood and reached out his hand for me to take. I took his hand and he pulled me easily off the couch. The kitchen was just as odd as the living room; everything was built with rough red wood, the table, chairs, cabinets and counter, all wood. I sat down at the table while Sean grabbed the bowls, milk and cereal. "So where does your mother work?" He asked joining me at the table, with two bowls spilling over with Corn Flakes. "At Café Archer." I said with a mouthful of cereal. "Your mother..." Sean played with his spoon, as if he was thinking too hard to eat. " There is a loneliness that people fear... never finding love or losing love, it's the most painful experience we face. I think your mother is afraid that this Greg is her last chance for love..." "But I love her!" I almost screamed. "Yes... yes you do and she knows that. But there is a different kind of love that your mother desires." "And Greg is going to give her this kind of love? Look Sean..." I was getting mad, Mom didn't want love, she had plenty of that from me. "I know about sex... she's looking for sex." Sean frowned and shook his head. "There's sex, yes, but there is also more. Maybe your mother wants someone she can talk to... I know you guys talk. But something like we are doing now, talking about what's bothering you." I puckered up my lips as I thought on what Sean was saying. "I can see that, there's a lot of things I don't want to talk to Mom about, I never thought she'd be the same way. But why does it have to be Greg? He's an asshole." I shocked myself by cussing in front of Sean, but that was the only word that described Greg correctly. "He could be the only person to give your mother some attention or maybe she's attracted to him... sexually." "That's just gross... I can't imagine my Mom having sex." I made a face, but quickly laughed. "Sex is such a powerful force. It makes you weak and strong all at the same time. It can make smart men dumb and dumb men smart." Sean wasn't talking to me, he seemed to have slipped into a trance. "No one is immune to its spell, no matter how strong you think you are... it saps your strength..." His voice grew weak and he quickly shook away his trance. "Have you been in love before?" I asked quietly. "I've had sex... many times, but I've never loved anyone." He said hastily. "What about you?" I thought about the question, was a little shocked that he had asked it, but it was only fair, since I had been so bold with my question. "No one yet... I did jerk off a friend yesterday...is that considered sex?" Sean's mouth dropped open and I cringed at my audacity. Sean recovered swiftly and laughed. "You astound me little man." He said leaning back in his chair. "That is something I could never tell anyone, I'm honored that you trust me enough to tell me that." I did trust him; I loved telling him something so secret, something I would never tell anyone else. "I've never had anyone in my life I thought I could tell everything to." Sean said sadly. "You can talk to me." I grinned. "Yes I can. Thank you for that Jonah. So are you feeling any better?" He asked picking up our empty bowls. "I still don't want to play football with Greg." I mumbled. "My father once made me sing in front of this large crowd... I tried so hard to get out of it, that for punishment, I had to sing an extra song." Sean sat back down at the table and looked out the window. "I didn't want to sing, I hate everything about singing. But it was my father's dream that I... would become a singer." "What happened?" I asked. "I sang every note out of tune. He was mad at me for a month... but I never had to sing again." "So all I have to do is play as badly as I can with Greg... shouldn't be too hard, I really suck at football." "I hope I've help a little Jonah, I want you to keep me informed on what's going on, with you Mom." He got a serious look on his face, which let me know how concerned he was. "I'm sorry we didn't get to swim today." I said feeling suddenly bashful. I never had anyone worried for me, it was embarrassing, but in a good way. "No problem, there is always tomorrow and the next tomorrow." Sean smiled. "Yeah I guess, I like our swims together." I said frowning, that wasn't exactly right. "I think I like sitting on the Plank and talking more." "Well here we are talking, so apparently everything has worked out fine." Sean crossed his legs and grinned. "I have to admit, I didn't show up every morning for the swim." I laughed hard and almost fell out of my chair. "Come on, let's go back to the living room." Sean chuckled and led me back into the cowboy room. I yawned loudly, mostly faked, but I was tired from my sleepless night. "I think someone needs a nap." He said as we sat down on the couch. "You know this isn't the same as the lake." I yawned again. "Are we missing the water or perhaps the sky above?" Sean asked wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "It's not that... it's nothing." I said sliding down to rest my head in his lap. I wanted to see my Tarzan, but I didn't know how to ask Sean to get naked. Sean placed his hand on my hip, pushing a finger under my shirt to rub across my stomach. I sighed heavily, rolled onto my back, and looked up at Sean. "What do you dream about?" I asked him quietly. "I have many dreams." Sean said looking around the room. "This house wasn't one of them. But... you... you are one of my dreams." "Me? Really, you've dreamed of me?" "In my dreams, I never saw the face of the boy, but here you are and I know it was meant to be." Sean leaned down and kissed my forehead. I melted like butter, that simple kiss opened my heart to emotions I'd never known before. Was it too bold for me to tell Sean that I loved him? I didn't want to scare him off, but I knew I would tell him. Love is such a powerful, stout word, so all I could say was; "You are my Tarzan." Sean seemed to understand the meaning of my words; he kissed me again on my forehead. We didn't say much after that, I closed my but didn't sleep. Sean had his hand inside my shirt and stroked my chest and stomach tenderly. I'm not sure how long we were there, an hour or several hours, but when Sean removed his hand from my shirt, I knew it hadn't been long enough. "I'm sorry little man, but I've got some business to attend to." Sean said sadly. "That's okay." I frowned and sat up. "Tomorrow?" Sean said lovingly as we walked to the door. "And the next tomorrow." I said grinning. "See you later Tarzan." "See you later Little Man." I ran down path that lead to Slinger Lake. I hated leaving Sean, I felt safe there with him. He had helped me deal with my problem with Mom and Greg, but it didn't end my fear. I really didn't want to see Greg again, but I knew that was impossible. I slowly walked the stoned beach; recall my time with Sean here. I could see us on the Plank together and that made me feel stronger. I was about to head home when Mark jumped from behind a tree. "Where you been?" Mark asked, though the tone of his voice told me it wasn't really a question. "Around." I said awkwardly. "Yeah... well... I saw you come out of the Macnee house, Jonah. Who's that guy?" Mark seemed mad. He kicked at a pebble as he waited for me to speak. "I was visiting a friend there, Mr. Ponca. He lives in the Macnee house now." I hated sharing Sean with Mark, but I knew it was useless to lie. "I didn't know anyone bought that freaky house." Mark shivered the thought of the Macnee house scared him. "It's really a nice house inside, not spooky at all." I said proudly having gone somewhere where Mark would have never gone. "I still say that place is haunted." Mark shivered again. "So Jonah... you want to go swimming?" "Not really." "We could go to the Dragon's Lair if you want." Mark said smiling sheepishly. "I don't know Mark..." "You know..." He shifted his feet nervously. "I really enjoyed what we did yesterday." Mark was whispering now. "I was wondering if maybe... maybe we could try it again." I grimaced at the thought of Mark violently jerking on my penis. "I'm not sure Mark." "Please, Jonah... I really want to...Please?" He begged. "Mark you were kind of rough last time." I said shyly, hoping I didn't hurt his feelings. "Oh... I can do better I promise." He grinned foolishly. "Okay I guess we can, but not in the tree house." I walked into the woods, shaking my head at how easily I had given in to Mark's whining. "We can do it over here." Mark already had his shorts pulled off by the time I turned around. "This is great." He said excitedly, reached over, and unzipped my shorts. My shorts and underwear were down around my ankles before I could think. Mark squeezed my limp penis and moaned. "Isn't this fun?" "A little easier there, please." I said trying to smile. Mark yanked harder and I yelped. "Sorry... sorry." He giggled and eased his hold on my penis. Once I felt that my penis was somewhat safe, I started stroking Mark's erection. "Oh yeah...that's good." Mark moaned and with his free hand, he rubbed my thigh. "Would it be neat if we could live together?" Mark whispered. "Yeah, I guess that would be neat." It was hard to talk, I was concentrating on jerking off Mark and worrying about my penis, I had no time for conversation. Mark surprised me with a wet sloppy kiss on my lips. "What... what are you doing?" "We have to kiss... it's all part of the love making." Mark smirked at my apparent ignorance. "This isn't really love making Mark." I laughed. "We're just giving each other hand jobs." Mark released my penis and stared at me, worry shaping his face. "But we're in love, right?" "Love? Are you kidding?" I started to laugh at his joke, but it hit me quickly that Mark wasn't playing with me. "Mark... we're friends... us jerking off doesn't make us lovers." "Let go of me." Mark screamed and I pulled my hand quickly away from his erection. He pulled up his shorts and dashed off into the woods. "Mark! Mark wait... Mark!" I yelled, but Mark wasn't listening. "Double hockey sticks." I cursed. I was in shock, Mark loved me? It was all I needed, another complication to add to my already complicated life.