Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:05:33 -0800 From: Tom Baxter Subject: Pensacola - 6 This story is fantasy. It never happened. If it is illegal or inappropriate for you to read this, don't. Any similarities between the mentoring organization mentioned in this story and any actual organization is purely coincidental. The author is not stating or implying anything about any organization. This story is the property of the author. The author encourages others to read it, download it, and even print it for their own use. Any commercial use, mass reproduction or reposting to another website, however, would require permission from the author in advance. Copyright 2009. --------------------------------- Pensacola - Chapter 6 --------------------------------- Josh had a hard time keeping his mind in the cockpit Tuesday afternoon. He couldn't wait to get home because he would finally be able to introduce Brandon to Lorna and then freely enjoy the relative luxury of his apartment with his boyfriend. The Navy had taught him to `compartmentalize', meaning to put personal issues, positive or negative, into some compartment in his mind such that those issues didn't distract him from the business of flying. Josh found that he hadn't mastered that skill yet. After a short lecture from Lt Pride about `getting his head out of his ass' before their next flight, Josh was done for the day. He had a late morning brief, so it was nearly 3:30pm before he climbed into the Beamer for his drive back to Pensacola. He text Brandon while steering the car with his knees: "hey dude, u gonna be ready-im on my way" Brandon had been anxiously biding his time all day as well and he had been home for an hour already. He text back: "jus waitin on u slow-poke, jk." 45 minutes later, Josh rounded the last bend towards Brandon's trailer. Brandon met him as always, eagerly at the car door. "Hey Josh!" Josh stepped out of the car and said "No, we should do this properly." He stuck out his hand to Brandon and said "Hi, I'm Josh Scott, your new big brother." Brandon giggled and put his hand out to shake Josh's "Hi Josh, I'm Brandon Thompson." "That uniform is hot!" said Brandon. Josh never really thought about his flight suit actually being a uniform because it was comfortable and functional unlike the uniforms he would wear for more formal work functions. "Excuse me, little brother, are you hitting on me?" Josh tried to sound shocked. "Maybe!.. Can I try that suit on later?" asked Brandon excitedly. "Sure lil buddy, but we got some things to accomplish first this afternoon, right?" "Ya, I guess we gotta go meet ur neighbor, huh?" Brandon didn't sound too enthusiastic. "Ya, and when we finish that you know what we're gonna do? Josh said when a suggestive grin. "I can't wait!" replied Brandon. They locked up the trailer and made the short drive over to Josh's. "Now remember buddy, we just met, so no crackin up bout good times last weekend an stuff" Josh reminded. "Gotcha dude, I'm on top of it!" Brandon tried to say it the way he thought Josh would. Josh and Brandon pulled up to the apartment and climbed out of the Beamer. Joe and Dave were sitting on lawn chairs, beers in hand. "Hey guys," Josh greeted them. "Hey Josh," they both replied. "So, I joined this mentoring program..." Josh began. "Ya, Lorna told us all bout it" interrupted Dave, "Is this your little brother?" "Ya it is... Brandon Thompson, this is Ensign Joe Williams and Dave Harris" Josh introduced them. "Hey dudes!" said Brandon. "So Brandon," Joe began, "is this gonna be a big change in your life, hangin out with Josh?" "Ya" said Brandon "normally I just fuck around with my friends, an now Josh is gonna help me with homework an stuff an he said I could help him study flyin stuff too." "That sounds great" Joe replied "Josh is lucky to have a study partner!" "Maybe we should go in and meet Lorna" Josh suggested. "I'll warn ya, she's gonna love the boy an your never gonna get outta there" cautioned Dave with a laugh. "We'll answer questions with one syllable responses" joked Josh. Joe laughed, Dave smiled after he took a moment to consider Josh's wit. Josh and Brandon went up the left walk towards Josh's and Lorna's front doors. "This must be him!" Lorna exclaimed "an he's cute as the day is long!" "Lorna Harris, this is Brandon Thompson" Josh introduced them. Lorna smothered Brandon with a tight hug, trapping both of his arms with hers. "Brandon! I am so happy to meet you. You are gonna have such a good time being Josh's lil brother and you're gonna learn so much from him!" Lorna raved. "Hey dude" Brandon said, a little taken back. "So Brandon, are you happy with the big brother you were assigned, a Navy pilot?" Lorna asked. "Fuck ya," Brandon replied "Josh is cool as shit!" "Well I wanna see a lot of you two boys this summer!" Lorna announced. "We should bar-b-que soon" she suggested. "Ya, let's do that" agreed Josh. "I think I'll bring Brandon over to see my apartment now." "Show him that big Jacuzzi tub" Lorna suggested "I'll bet he'll think that's cool." All four apartments in the building were identical, so Lorna knew exactly what was in Josh's bathroom. "Ya, I bet he'll like that tub a lot" Josh agreed flashing a big grin to Brandon. Brandon returned a knowing smile. "Ya'll don't be strangers!" she added as they left. "Whoa dude, that lady's a trip!" said Brandon once they were in the safety of Josh's apartment. "That's the problem I've been tryin to tell you bout dude" said Josh. "So, that's why I haven't been allowed over here" figured Brandon "I bet there aint much that goes on round here that her nose aint in." "Ya Brandon, you really do understand the problem" Josh laughed. "But we've solved that one now, huh?" Josh said as he pulled Brandon into a hug and deep kiss. "I love you Josh" "I love you too, Brandon." "You hungry buddy?" "Ya, I'm starved" replied Brandon. "Let's go in the kitchen and see what we can dig up" suggested Josh. They chose spaghetti and Josh began cooking some Italian sausage that he was just going to add to some Prego sauce from a jar. Salad and bread would round out their meal. "I know you don't care for wine too much Brandon, but will you sip a little as you're eating the spaghetti?" Josh pleaded. "Sure Josh, it's not really the taste I don't like – I just don't like the smell." Josh laughed and kissed Brandon on the forehead "the smell is half the experience lil dude, we'll take this slow and eventually I will teach your pallet to appreciate wine." Brandon didn't always understand what Josh said, but thought he sounded sophisticated, just like James Bond does right before he kills a bunch of people, so Brandon thought is was all pretty cool. As they were eating dinner Josh decided to broach the subject of Brandon's language and manners. "We need to work on your language a little bit buddy." "You don't like the way I talk?" Brandon sounded a bit hurt. "Brandon, honey, I love everything about you" Josh said sincerely, "but if we could teach you to talk one way with ur with Steve and me, and another way when we're out meeting people you will be received a lot better." "If I got `received' any better over at Lorna's I'd prolly be in bed with her right now" laughed Brandon. Josh had to laugh a little picturing that one as well. "How bout this Brandon," Josh suggested. "For now, just pay attention to me when we are with other people. If you hear me dropping the `shits and fucks' from my conversation, then you try to do the same. K?" "Ok Josh" Brandon said solemnly. He knew Josh was right and he wanted to learn from him, but he wished it wasn't always so one-way, he would like to teach Josh something someday too. When they had dinner cleaned up Josh announced "So, what do we do first? Geometry or Emergency Landings." "I was kind hoping for a choice more like – you blow me or I blow you!" Brandon chuckled. "Oh, are we a little horny?" asked Josh as he began to tickle Brandon. Josh had found that pushing his fingers into Brandon's sides was tantamount to poking him with an electric cattle prod. "Fucker!" Brandon screamed as he thrashed about like a fish out of water. Josh ceased the tickle attack and sunk his tongue deep into Brandon's mouth while his hands migrated under Brandon's shirt to his chest and nipples. "Ooh!" moaned Brandon the best he could with Josh's mouth firmly planted over his. Josh paused and asked Brandon "Shall we take this into the bedroom?" Josh led the way down the hall as Brandon eagerly followed with his hands on the green flight suit covering Josh's slim muscular ass. At the foot of the bed Josh pulled Brandon's shirt over his head and then sunk his lips deep into Brandon's once again. They fell sideways onto the king sized bed still in this embrace. Josh pulled away from Brandon a little and looked into his eyes as they lay on their sides on the bed. He reached up and pulled some hair from Brandon's left eye and stroked the hair down to it's end, tucking it behind his ear. "God I love you Brandon" Josh said, "I want you by my side every minute of every day." "Great!" Brandon laughed "then you could take my math quiz tomorrow morning!" "If I have to do that, then you have to go fly with Lt Pride!" scoffed Josh. "Who's that?" Brandon questioned. "Someone who would scare the shit out of you, sweetie, I guarantee you that!" Josh laughed. "I aint scared of nothin!" said Brandon. "Ya, uh huh!" Josh agreed sarcastically. Brandon was content as he and his boyfriend relaxed lying in Josh's comfortable bed. Brandon unzipped Josh's flight suit, raised his t-shirt and slid his hand in onto his upper body. He loved looking at and feeling Josh's chest, it was so different than his own. Where he was thin and boney, Josh was taught and powerful. As he ran his hands over Josh's skin he felt the mounds of Josh's pecs and the bump of every muscle in his abs. Brandon tried to move his arm around to Josh's side and back and got caught up in the fabric of the flight suit. "Here, let me take this off" said Josh as he peeled the flight suit down off his shoulders and then pulled it off of each leg. Brandon sighed happily and curled into the warmth and strength of Josh's chest. "Say!" said Josh, "You said you wanted to try this thing on... strip naked and we'll put you in this bag." The aviators commonly called their flight suits `bags' because they really were just big green sacks with a zipper. The only fashionable feature was an elastic strap at the waist with Velcro that allowed the pilot to cinch the flight suit down a bit to fit his particular shape. Brandon giggled as he took his clothes off. Josh smiled at Brandon's 5" boner, "The Navy didn't design these things to accommodate hard-ons! We gotta be careful not to zip that baby up in the zipper!" Brandon climbed into the legs of the flight suit and then put each arm in pulling it up onto his shoulders. He then bent over to pull his erection back as Josh reached down to zip the flight suit up. "I want to see what I look like!" said Brandon excitedly. Josh directed him to the full length mirror that was mounted on his closet door. The flight suit was obviously oversized, but Brandon liked the way he looked in it. Over his left breast was a leather patch with the Naval Officer's Crest and under it read "Ensign Joshua Scott". He stood in front of the mirror with his legs at shoulders width, and put his hands on his hips. Then with a devilish grin, he pushed his hips forward and his hard-on pushed the front of the flight suit noticeably out. "You are most definitely out of uniform with that boner Ensign Thompson!" Josh chided. Brandon laughed. Josh led Brandon back to the bed and laid him down. Flight suits were designed with a two way zipper so that a pilot could access his penis to urinate into a relief tube while strapped into the cockpit. Josh took advantage of that now by creeping the bottom zipper up a little to allow him access to Brandon's goodies. Josh had the zipper up only 2 or 3 inches, not enough for his hand to enter, so he leaned down and put his tongue through the zipper hole and started licking. Because of the excess size of the flight suit, at first all he licked was some leg, but he managed to push the flight suit up to where he contacted penile flesh. Brandon reacted by raising his knees and grabbing Josh's short hair. Josh reached up and inched the zipper up a little more such that he could get Brandon's cock into his mouth. Brandon began fucking Josh's face as he remained clamped onto his head with his hands. This scene was fulfilling a sexual fantasy of Josh's as well. How many times had he looked at the bulge and bottom zipper on the flight suit of a fellow aviator and wanted to lift it up and taste his goods? Josh was sucking Brandon like he was every aviator Josh had ever lusted over. He pushed his hands under Brandon's tight ass and tried to pull his cheeks apart through the fabric of the flight suit. The two got into a comfortable rhythm, Josh bobbing while Brandon fucked his mouth. Brandon was getting loud, as he usually did, and Josh was happy that his bed was against an exterior wall, not one that faced either Lorna or Joe's apartments. He could picture Lorna's face if she heard Brandon's moans coming through her wall. He chuckled to himself. Brandon began pulling Josh's hair as he approached orgasm. "Fuck Josh! Fuuck! Fuuuuck!" then Brandon released his load of teen spunk. Josh wanted to feel the impact of the spray on his face and pulled off, enjoying spurt after spurt of boy cum hitting him on the cheek, his nose, and his chin. Brandon continued fucking his hips towards Josh's face and hit Josh's chin causing him to bite his tongue a little. Brandon slumped down onto the bed as Josh remembered the towels that he had pre-positioned in his nightstand. He reached for one and wiped his face, Brandon's cock and the front of the flight suit. "Shit Brandon!" Josh exclaimed "I'm glad this isn't my only flight suit... you pumped bout a gallon of cum and made of mess of this one!" "U just got me too cited I guess" Brandon panted exhaustedly. After calming down a bit, Brandon wiggled his way out of the flight suit and once again curled into the comfortable curves of Josh's torso. "I want to feel you inside me" said Brandon softly. "What!?" replied Josh. "I want you to fuck me Josh, I feel so close to you right now, I really want to feel you inside of me, please?" "Look buddy, I don't doubt that we'll be doin that stuff, an probably soon, but we gotta work up to it slowly" Josh reasoned. "What do mean?" Brandon whined "I'm ready now!" "I'm sure you are sweetie, but I haven't even done that shit before an I can tell you that I have shoved enough stuff up my ass to guarantee you that it is going to hurt!" "I don't care Josh! I just wanna feel you inside of me!" Brandon pleaded. "But I do care honey, I promised you that I wouldn't hurt you and I meant it." Josh replied. "I'll tell you what, I will lube up a finger real well and see how you handle that, ok?" "K, Josh" Brandon replied as he raised his legs. Josh brought out a bottle of lube and soaked his right middle finger before sliding it down below Brandon's balls to his anus. Josh slowly worked the lube into the first quarter inch of Brandon's ass as he also thoroughly massaged the area. Brandon moaned slightly each time Josh's finger separated the outer rim of his sphincter. "Stick it in me Josh!" Brandon cried. Josh ventured a little bit deeper reaching his first knuckle. "Aah!" Brandon yelped and his body flinched slightly. "You ok buddy?" "Ya Josh! That's hot!" Josh slowly pushed his finger in to the second knuckle. "Aah! Aah! OOw!" Brandon cried and Josh withdrew his finger about half way out. "How are you doin Brandon, sweetie?" "God, it's so good!" panted Brandon "but ur right, it does hurt a bunch too." Josh reached his face up and kissed Brandon, their tongues danced as Brandon enjoyed the little bit of Josh's finger that was left in him. He fantasized that it was all of Josh's beautiful cock that was filling his insides. He enjoyed the sensation in his anus so much that spontaneously he experienced another orgasm. "Ugh! Aah! Ugh!" Brandon almost bit Josh's tongue. "Shit, did you shoot again you little stud?" Josh queried. "Ya, sorry dude, it was jus too good, I couldn't help myself!" Brandon apologized. "Don't apologize for having fun dude! I think it's awesome you came twice!" Josh replied. Josh reached up to the night stand and grabbed the second towel of the evening. They once again curled up tight to one another. Josh was so happy that he had his hot, teen boyfriend here in his bed without worry of the neighbors. Brandon couldn't believe how fortunate he was to continually have this mind-blowing sex with this extremely hot guy. Josh looked at the clock. "It's 8:00 buddy, we should get to work on your math." "But what bout you? You gotta get off too." Brandon said worriedly. Brandon thought that he had such a good thing going right now, he was worried that Josh might someday tire of him and it all could end. "Don't worry bout me," said Josh "you can get me off twice tomorrow" he laughed. "I wanna make sure you don't get sick of me" Brandon explained his concern. "Don't worry sweetie" replied Josh as he leaned in and kissed Brandon's forehead. "I get off just seein you happy, I'm never gonna get sick of you." It was a warm evening and they were a little sweaty from the hot sex, so they just put on their shorts and stayed shirtless. They went out to the dining room table and Brandon broke out his geometry book and notebook. "Our quiz tomorrow is on triangles" Brandon explained. "The teacher said if we could answer the problems on page 110 and really understand them, that we should have no problem with the quiz." "Ok!" said Josh, "Let's take a look at those problems." "#1" Brandon began reading the problem "if you have a triangle where the interior angles measure: A=40 degrees, B=110 degrees, and C=30 degrees, which side of the triangle is longest?" "Ok," said Josh "let's sketch it out" and he drew a triangle approximating the given angles. "Now can you see that the biggest angle fans out these two sides, AB and BC, creating the biggest side, AC, between them?" "Well, it's obvious in this drawing" Brandon reasoned, but what about if the angles closer in size? Like 50, 60, and ...?" "Well, in your example the third angle would have to be 70, right? Cuz they have to add up to 180, right?" "Ya," Brandon agreed "I remember learning that." "So," Josh began "the longest side would be opposite of the 70 degree angle. The longest side is always straight across from the biggest angle." "Shit," said Brandon, "It's easy when I look at it that way!" They continued through each of the twelve problems on the page ensuring that Brandon thoroughly understood not just the answer, but the concept behind each problem. "Now I wanna hear that you've aced that quiz tomorrow" announced Josh. "Thanks Josh, really! I think this is about the most ready I've ever been for a quiz. An, it was fun studyin, cuz I was doin it with u!" replied Brandon. "You wanna study Navy stuff now?" Brandon asked eagerly. "Na, I really don't have anything new tomorrow," Josh replied, "I'm just practicing stuff I already know. Let's watch a little TV before I gotta take you home." Brandon smiled and they curled up on the sofa together and watched the end of one of the `Die Hard' movies. "So should I come in and meet your mom tonight?" Josh asked Brandon as he drove him home. "Na, mom's usual day off is Thursday, but she switched a shift this week, so she's gonna be off tomorrow, so plan on comin over tomorrow afternoon an meetin her." "Sounds great!" said Josh. "Then also, I can talk you up to her tonight" added Brandon. "Brandon might be a little rough around the edges" thought Josh, "but he's pretty sharp!" They kissed and hugged goodnight in the front seat of the BMW and then Brandon stood there watching as his beloved boyfriend backed out of the driveway and sped away. Brandon went in and got ready for bed as he waited for his mom to come home. Jane looked exhausted when she came through the door about a half hour later. Brandon ran to meet her at the door "Mom!, they assigned me to a Navy pilot, an he's really cool an we studied math an had a good time!" "Whoa, that sounds great honey, but let me get in the door and wind down a bit, then you can tell me all about it" Jane replied. Brandon told Jane all about Josh and what they had done that evening, leaving out the bedroom activities, of course. Jane was surprised that Brandon could get to know Josh so well in just a few hours. She was impressed by the work they had done on Brandon's geometry as well. If he really did do well on that quiz in the morning, then this mentoring program would be even better than she could have imagined. "Can he come over to meet you tomorrow mom?" asked Brandon. "Does he have time?" she inquired "He just spent the whole afternoon with you today." "He said he would" Brandon replied "He said he wanted to spend a bunch of time with me an introduce me to all of his Navy friends too." "Well if he has time, it sounds great to me" said Jane. "Why don't you invite him to dinner?" she added. "What are you gonna make? Brandon asked apprehensively. "Don't worry honey, it will be something good!" =============== Josh was having a good flight today and he knew it. Every time Lt Pride threw something at him, Josh had the correct answer or procedure right at his fingertips. "Sometimes you're just at the top of your game!" he thought to himself. Late in the flight, Josh was in the landing pattern at Choctaw, a Navy Outlying Airfield on the eastern shore of Pensacola Bay. As Josh rounded the 90 degree position preparing to land, he ran through his landing checklist "Three down and locked, Flaps full, Prop full... wait a minute sir, the flaps are indicating that they're up, but I have the lever down." "Look out at the wing" Lt Pride prompted. "Yes sir, it looks like the flaps are up, but the lever is down, I don't understand." "Good catch Josh. A lot of guys just recite that landing checklist so fast they aren't even checking at what they say they're checking. I pulled your flap circuit breaker on the downwind to simulate a failure. Why don't you wave this one off and we'll talk about it for a moment." "Three One Seven waving off" Josh broadcast on the radio as he applied full throttle, raised the nose and pulled the landing gear handle up. "Ok Josh, like I said I pulled your flaps circuit breaker to simulate a failure here, these flaps are not gonna come down, so what are you gonna do about it?" "Full Flaps is part of the landing checklist sir" Josh protested. "Yes it is Ensign, but they've failed! Now what are you gonna do about it!" Lt Pride yelled in his daily attempt to put Josh in the pressure cooker. Josh sat there for a moment calculating the possibilities. "Improvise!" Lt Pride directed. "Well sir, if I make the approach with no flaps, will the aircraft stay airborne at landing speed?" questioned Josh. "If you fly angle of attack, not airspeed, you will achieve the correct landing speed for the configuration" the lieutenant instructed. The Angle of Attack the lieutenant was referring to was the angle that the airflow was hitting the wing during flight. Josh pondered that thought for a moment and then said "so we're gonna be going a lot faster, but the wing will be producing the same lift as it would at the slower airspeed with the flaps down?" "That's right Ensign!" Lt Pride encouraged. Josh came through the 90 position again and ran through his checklist – carefully noting that the flaps were up this time. When he slowed the aircraft to the correct angle of attack for landing, he noted that he was flying about 15 knots faster than he had been on his previous landings but the aircraft felt pretty much the same. The lieutenant had also told him that the aircraft would be in a flatter attitude when he reached touchdown, so as he pulled the throttle to idle, he pulled back on the stick just a little bit more than usual to ensure only the main gear hit the runway. "Nice Job Josh!" the lieutenant praised "Now, take us home." Josh smiled as he jammed the throttle forward and raised the gear. "How bout my circuit breaker sir?" "Good call Ensign, check that your flap lever is up before I punch this thing back in." Josh was all smiles as he entered the Flight Student Study Center. Pete was the center of attention in there that afternoon as he bragged about being the first aviator in their class of 14 students to complete his Solo flight. "So you did it!" Josh exclaimed "How did it feel?" "Great Josh... Man, it is so cool bein up there all by yourself, no screaming instructor. You do what you want to do when you want to do it." "Cool!" said Josh. "Well I got my check ride tomorrow and if it goes anything like my 3-above hop today, I'll be Solo on Friday!" A flight that was graded with three above average maneuvers was an extremely good event. "You had another fuckin 3-above flight?" Brad asked "You gotta cool it a bit dude, you're makin the rest of us look bad." Brad was half joking, but he was kind of serious too. Josh was their buddy but he was busting their curve. "So Josh," Mark spoke up "Has anyone told you about our class volleyball party on Pensacola Beach Sunday afternoon?" "No, I hadn't heard yet" replied Josh. "Ya, were starting up bout 1:00pm. Brad, Tim and I are going over in the morning to set up a volleyball net right in front of the Beach Bar at the Holiday Inn" said Mark. "Ya, a dozen aviators with our shirts off right in front of the Beach Bar should generate some female interest, huh Josh?" Brad added. "Ya, as long as you don't get drunk and scare them all away!" laughed Josh. "Hey Josh" said Joe, "Why don't you see if Brandon can come? that might be a lot of fun for him" "Who's Brandon," asked Mark. "He's Josh's little brother from that mentoring program" Joe replied. "Ya," Josh agreed, "I should see if he could come, but you fuckers can't be a bad influence on him!" "Josh, check this out! He'll learn to drink beer, chase women, and cuss like sailor all in one afternoon. You can't buy education like that!" roared Brad. "He's got a couple of those down pretty good already, but I think they'll have a hell of a time teaching him the third" Josh laughed to himself. "I'll see you guys at the `Tie-Cutting' Friday afternoon!" Josh said as he departed. A tie-cutting ceremony was held at the Officers Club each Friday afternoon to celebrate and honor those Student Aviators that had just made their first Solo flights. At the ceremony, their on-wing flight instructors literally cut-off neckties that the student pilots added to their flight suits as they drank beer and told flying stories. It was another of those time honored traditions that the Navy was full of. Josh hit highway 90 back to Pensacola. "God it feels great when I have a flight like that!" Josh was on top of the world. He text Brandon: "Im on my way home". "come straight here, i want u to meet my mom in ur flight suit" Brandon text back. "Shit" thought Josh. He was sweaty and he had `helmet head', Josh kinda wanted to clean-up a bit before meeting her. `Helmet head' described what a pilot's hair looked like after spending a couple hours smashed in a hot sweaty helmet. He text back "as long as u dont care what i look like." As rounded the last corner today, he noticed there was a car in the driveway, an old baby blue Ford Escort with a broken tail light. Josh parked just off the street on the weeds that lined the road. Brandon was out the door and headed for the Beamer. Josh got out and met him. "Now, you got to introduce me to her, Ok Brandon?" Josh reminded. "I'm on top of it!" Brandon laughed. Josh smiled, reached out and put his hand on his shoulder. Jane stepped out onto the deck to meet Josh half way. "Mom, this is Josh Scott, he's a pilot in the Navy." She shook Josh's hand and said "Nice to meet you Josh" "Nice to meet you Ms. Thompson" Josh replied. "Call me Jane, please!" she added. "So you have made a big impression on Brandon, he hasn't stopped talking about you all afternoon" said Jane. "Well he's made a big impression on me as well" said Josh. "He is a sharp young man and I'm eager to hear how that math quiz went this morning?" Josh turned towards Brandon. "He got an `A'!" Jane blurted out. "Mom, I wanted to tell him" Brandon said disappointed. "I'm sorry honey, I'm just so proud of you!" "Wow! An `A', I guess you really did learn all that stuff we were studyin" said Josh. "Ya, the teacher bout shit a brick! He prolly thought I cheated, but I didn't even have anyone beside me today" said Brandon "I hope he doesn't think you cheated, you worked hard and deserve that grade!" replied Josh. Jane served pork chops to the boys for dinner. "So where are you from Josh?" Jane asked noting that his accent was definitely not Pensacolan. "I was born and raised in Chicago" replied Josh. "Oh, I went to Chicago once, long before Brandon was even born. It was a beautiful city there along the lake." "Ya, I like Chicago, cept the winters are kinda brutal" agreed Josh. "I'll clean up the dishes if you boys want to go hang out for a while" said Jane as they finished their meal. "You wanna go get some ice cream?" Josh asked Brandon. "Sure Josh, that sounds great!" replied Brandon. "Would you like us to bring back some for you? Ms Thompson.. uh, I mean Jane" Josh asked. "No, I'll be just fine, watchin my weight you know. Thanks anyways" Jane replied. Josh drove Brandon down to the Coldstone Creamery. They each chose an ice cream, had it blended with pieces of candy and then went out to a picnic table on the patio to enjoy it. They had the patio to themselves. "I'm sorry you've had such a hard life Brandon" said Josh reflecting back on his conversation with Jane at dinner. "What do you mean?" asked Brandon. "Well your mother just never really provided for you very well" Josh explained. "I've always had what I've needed" Brandon responded defensively. "Brandon, you've said yourself that there were times you went hungry, your clothes are old and torn, you practically had to raise yourself, you've never been more than 100 miles from home, and how bout that car! She just hasn't taken very good care of you!" Josh ranted. "Fuck you Josh, we're not all as perfect as you!" yelled Brandon. "That's not what I meant Brandon, but you've got to admit that she could have done a lot better for you" Josh replied. "Ur such an asshole snob Josh, you don't even know what ur talking about. She's worked herself to death takin care of me" cried Brandon. "Well she hasn't done a very good job of it" Josh shot back. "Fuck you Josh, you fucking don't understand" screamed Brandon. "My dad was an alcoholic with a gambling problem, he racked up a huge credit card debt and then left us leaving my mom to pay it off. She had a three year old with no job and no skills. My entire life I have watched her struggle to pay rent, pay the debt and feed us. At one time she had three different jobs!" Brandon cried. "I didn't realize" said Josh. "Was ur mom around when you were growing up?" asked Brandon. "Ya, she didn't work" Josh replied. "What'd ur dad do?" Brandon inquired. "My dad's a doctor" Josh answered. "See! Ur childhood was nothin like mine! You can't judge anything bout my life cuz you know nothin about it!" Brandon yelled. Josh sat and thought about what Brandon was saying. "Ya, I think its great that you have all your stuff Josh, but if it comes along with bein stuck up like you, I'd rather have nothin" Brandon added. "What do mean?" asked Josh. "You judge everybody! Ur always makin comments bout people like `what a shitty car' or `buy some new clothes' or `that's out of style' or `she's fat'! Not everyone's as perfect as you! We didn't all grow up in a mansion with a nanny!" "I didn't have a nanny" Josh replied defensively. Josh began to realize that maybe he had judged Jane too harshly. He couldn't even imagine being a single parent with no job and a huge debt. And now, Jane was a nurse, so in addition to paying the bills and raising Brandon all these years she must have gone to school as well. "I'm sorry Brandon" Josh apologized sheepishly. "I guess I really didn't understand." "I know you didn't Josh, but please don't say bad things bout my mom cuz she's tried so hard" Brandon pleaded. "Despite it all, I guess she did do a good job, cuz ur the smartest, nicest boy I've ever met" Josh said to Brandon. "And, ur just my rich, snobby, asshole boy friend, but I'll teach ya" Brandon replied and they both smiled. Josh was more educated, had more life experiences, and was more refined than Brandon, but here was an area where he could learn from Brandon. The teenager was much more in touch with what it was like to struggle for a living, the value of a dollar and the concept that life was not just a race for material possessions. After sitting there for a while absorbing the meaning of their conversation, they climbed into the Beamer for the ride back to Brandon's. "I hope this doesn't mean I can't buy you some stuff" asked Josh. "Fuck no!" Brandon replied "I like new shit... just don't judge me on the shit I don't have." "Cool" Josh said with understanding and respect. "Hey Brandon, Sunday the guys are playing volleyball on the beach and they specifically told me to bring you" Josh said. "They want me?" questioned Brandon. "Ya! Brad said he was gonna teach you how to drink, cuss and chase women" laughed Josh. "Ya, right!" Brandon laughed. "But really, it should be a good time" said Josh. "So we gotta figure out this weekend" Josh started. "I gotta stay Friday and Saturday nights at Navarre Beach, and that's about an hour from here. I'm thinking we don't push it and maybe just ask ur mom if you can stay with me Saturday night" "Why not Friday night instead?" Brandon asked, he wanted it to come sooner. "Friday evening I have my tie cutting at the Officer's Club, and that will go til late, so I think I'll go straight to the beach from there." "Then Saturday afternoon I can come get you, we'll spend the night at the beach, just the two of us! And then we'll go to the volleyball game Sunday afternoon." Josh detailed the plan. "Sunday's the day I normally spend with my mom, but I'll talk her into it." Brandon said. "How was the ice cream?" Jane asked when they came back into the trailer. "It was great!" replied Brandon. "Josh took me to Coldstone." "Well, that was a treat!" Jane commented. Josh looked at Jane with a new respect now that he realized the obstacles that she had overcome. "Well, I've got my check ride for my Solo tomorrow morning, so I should probably head out." Josh announced. "Well, it was so nice meeting you Josh!" said Jane. "It was nice meeting you too maam, and I have to say that you have done an outstanding job raising such a fine young man" Josh replied. "Well I don't know bout that," Jane began "Brandon has always had something missing in his life – you know, a male influence. I'm really excited about the opportunity he has with you here." "I'll try to do my best maam" Josh answered sincerely before departing. "What an outstanding young man" Jane commented to Brandon. "Ya mom, he's fuckin cool isn't he" replied Brandon. "Brandon, you know I don't like it when you talk like that!" Jane scolded. "That's what Josh said too" laughed Brandon. "Well listen to him!" Jane added. Jane was disappointed that she was going to lose her Sunday with her boy, but knew that she couldn't say no to such a terrific opportunity for Brandon. As far as Brandon going on an overnight trip with someone she just met, she just decided to go with her gut instinct and agree to it. Brandon had only spent two afternoons with his new mentor and she already was seeing changes for the good. "My little boy is becoming a man" she thought "and I sure as hell know I can't teach him how." Josh could be the answer to her prayers. ---------------------------------- The offer for a photograph of Brandon remains open for anyone that may have missed it before. Email me your request. (it's the same photo offered in previous chapters). Feel free to email me with your comments and suggestions as well. Tbax93722@hotmail.com