RENEGADES & OUTLAWS

By Pink Panther

All the usual disclaimers apply.

A few more developments in this chapter, so read on and enjoy! I know I’m a terrible feedback junkie, but more is always welcome. Please send your comments to archimedes294@hushmail.com and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

As usual on Friday evenings, Ryan arrived at Josh’s house shortly before seven. For once, Josh’s mum was at home, and though she didn’t make a habit of walking unannounced into Josh’s room, there’d be no sex. Neither of them felt comfortable doing it with their parents around.

“What are you doing Sunday afternoon?” Josh enquired as they wandered into his bedroom.

“Dunno,” Ryan said vaguely. “I’ve always got plenty of practice to do.”

“We wondered if you might like to come to Zac’s house, to play guitar with us,” Josh suggested.

“So d’you want me to join the band then?” Ryan asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.

“Well I do,” Josh said. “Zac’s not really a guitarist; even he says that. I think we could sound much better if you joined. The other guys want you to come and play with us to see how it would work.”

“I’d love to, but I’ll have to ask mum,” Ryan said. “I don’t know if she’ll let me do it at the moment, with everything else I’ve got on.”

“But you will ask?” Josh urged.

“Yeah, of course!” Ryan said, grinning.

“Why don’t you ask Mark first, see what he thinks?” Josh suggested.

“Yeah, good idea!” Ryan agreed. “Mum’s much more likely to agree if he says it’s okay. I’ll ask him in the morning.”

“I’ve got chord charts here for some of the songs,” Josh said. “And there’s a CD of the gig we did in the summer. It’s pretty rough, but it’ll give you an idea.”

“Are we coming here tomorrow afternoon?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, that’s what we said,” Josh responded.

“Well, instead of jamming like we usually do, we could work through them,” Ryan suggested. “I’ve never tried sorting my own guitar parts before; Mark will be able to help me out.”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“I told you that was likely to happen!” Mark said when the idea was put to him. “Yeah, why not? Sounds like a lot of fun!”

“If they want me to join the band,” Ryan asked. “Will you tell mum it’ll be okay? They only rehearse twice a week; Tuesday evenings at the High School and Sunday afternoons at Zac’s house.”

“Hmmm, that depends,” Mark responded. “How good’s your time management?”

“Okay, I think.” Ryan answered, sounding rather uncertain.

“You need to think this through,” Mark cautioned. “You’ve just started at the grammar school so you’re getting far more homework than you’ve had before. You’ve also got back into playing piano, and you’re in the band at school. You’ve got a great many calls on your time. Before you take on anything else, you need to make sure you can fit everything in.”

Ryan nodded. It wasn’t what he’d hoped to hear, but he couldn’t argue.

“What I think you should do is to make a weekly planner,” Mark advised, “showing where all these activities fit. As long as I think it’ll work, I’ll ask your mum to let you give it a try. Okay?”

“Yeah, thanks!” Ryan said, grinning.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“They call this wood-shedding,” Mark said as they set up in Josh’s music room. “Putting arrangements together like this.”

They set to work. Mark listened attentively as Ryan tried to put together the guitar part for ‘Love Hurts’. It wasn’t simply a matter of copying what was on the CD; Zac had played hardly anything so he had to start from scratch. After ten minutes, he’d got a basic outline of what he needed to play, but he wasn’t satisfied with it.

“What don’t you try this?” Mark suggested, playing an amended version of the part.

“Yeah, that’s great!” Ryan enthused.

Mark took him through it. A few minutes later Ryan and Josh were playing the song perfectly, the new guitar part giving it additional punch.

“The guys are going to be well impressed when they hear that!” Josh said grinning.

They moved on to ‘Rain Keeps Falling’. The pattern was repeated. Ryan worked out a basic part, to which Mark added a few tweaks. As the afternoon progressed, Ryan became more confident. On the fifth and final song, he devised the whole part himself.

“Sounds good to me!” Mark asserted. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

They began to pack away.

“The one thing I didn’t want to do was to tell you what to play,” Mark said quietly. “I wanted you to work it out for yourself as far as you could. You’re going to knock ‘em dead tomorrow!”

“Yeah, thanks!” Ryan responded, grinning.

“Is it okay if I come along?” Mark asked. “I’ve not heard these guys yet.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ryan said. “It’ll be okay, won’t it?” he asked, turning to Josh.

Josh grinned and nodded.

“I’ll bring the Marshall with me,” Mark said, “so you’ll be able to get a really good sound.”

“Man! That’s wicked!” Ryan breathed. “This is gonna be somethin’ else!”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Mark, Ryan and Josh arrived at The Old Farm House at quarter past two. Greg was already there, and five minutes later, Damian joined them. After setting up his amplifier, he took out his bass guitar.

“What’s that?” Josh enquired.

“Birthday present,” Damian answered, grinning broadly. “Yamaha five-string; it’s beautiful. I haven’t stopped playing it for the past two days!”

“Looks great,” Josh said. “How much was it?”

“Eight hundred,” Damian said, “less the hundred quid they gave us for the Westone. It’s not quite as good as the Overwater, but they cost over two thousand!”

By half past two, they were ready to start.

“Let’s do ‘Love Hurts’ first,” Josh suggested.

“So do I still play my guitar part?” Zac asked.

“Yeah, try it,” Mark suggested. “See how it goes.”

Greg counted them in and they kicked into it, the addition of Ryan’s punchy guitar part giving the sound a much harder edge. Greg and Damian raised their game in response, playing with greater aggression and assurance than they ever had previously. The song ended with the whole band on a high, Mark clapping appreciatively.

“Told you he was good, didn’t I?” Josh said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“I thought you’d be okay,” Damian bubbled. “I never thought you’d be that good! How did you work out the guitar part?”

“Well, Mark helped me,” Ryan admitted.

“He largely sorted it out himself,” Mark interjected. “I just tweaked it a bit.”

“I don’t care,” Greg said. “It was awesome! Made us sound like a proper rock band.”

“You’ve gotta join us, man,” Zac insisted. “Even Glen Riley’s not that good and he’s in Year Twelve.”

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Ryan assured him. “It was wicked! I want to do it, but I’ll have to ask my mum; I’ve got a lot on with just starting at grammar school.”

Over the course of the next two and a half hours they worked on all the five songs that Ryan had learned, and on every one, the band packed far more punch than it ever had previously. On some songs, Zac decided to keep his guitar part in; on others, he dispensed with it so that he could concentrate on his singing. It hardly mattered; in either case the improvement was remarkable.

Finally it was time to pack away after a very productive afternoon’s work. The drum kit was dismantled and amplifiers disconnected.

“You played very well there,” Mark said quietly as Damian put his guitar into its case.

“Thanks!” Damian said, beaming. “That’s my new baby; it makes such a difference.”

Mark looked around. Ryan and Josh seemed to have everything packed up.

“Okay, are we ready?” he asked.

“I’m staying for a bit,” Josh said, giving Mark his most innocent smile. “There are couple of things Zac and I want to work on. It’s okay; I can walk home from here in five minutes.”

Mark grinned but didn’t say anything; he knew exactly what Josh and Zac were going to be working on. After packing their gear into the back of the Mercedes, he and Ryan were on their way.

“That was excellent,” Mark commented. “The other lads are good, much better than I expected.”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. “I found it much easier playing with them than with the guys out of the school band. They’re more solid.”

“Well, it’s a different type of music, of course,” Mark countered, “But I know what you mean. So you want to join them then?”

“Yeah!” Ryan breathed. “Course I do!”

“So how have you got on with that weekly planner I asked you to make?” Mark asked.

“I’ve almost done it,” Ryan told him. “There’s just one thing I need to sort out.”

“Fair enough,” Mark responded. “Let me look at it when we get back.”

Once back at Rachel’s house, they made their way up to Ryan’s bedroom. Ryan picked up a piece of paper from his desk.

“This is it,” he said, handing it over.

“This is very neat,” Mark noted, studying it carefully. “I like that. And you seem to have everything there. What’s the bit you need to sort out?”

“Tuesday lunchtime,” Ryan said. “I need to ask Mr. Allingham if I can sit in the small music room to do my maths homework while he takes the choir rehearsal next door.”

“Oh, right!” Mark responded. “I wondered what that was doing there. My only other comment is that it’s very tight. You won’t have much time for sitting in front of the telly.”

“I don’t do that anyway,” Ryan shot back. “Most of it’s crap.”

“Even so, you’re going to need a great deal of self-discipline to stick to this,” Mark warned. “And it’s very important that you keep to these bed-times, otherwise you could get over-tired. D’you understand?”

“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed.

“Okay then,” Mark said. “Let’s go and see what your mum has to say.”

As expected, Rachel wasn’t enthusiastic.

“Mark,” she protested, “he’s got enough to do at the moment, surely?”

“That’s true,” Mark conceded, “but this is a good opportunity for him and he’s very keen to do it. He’s spent some time working out a weekly time-planner, which I have to say he’s done very well. He’s promised he’ll stick to it, including going to bed when he’s supposed to, so I suggest you let him give it a try. If his schoolwork starts to go down, or if he’s getting too tired, he’ll have to stop.” He paused for a second. “And there won’t be any arguments, will there?” he added, turning to Ryan.

“No, I promise,” Ryan assured them.

“Well, okay then,” Rachel said, looking less than convinced. “But I will be keeping an eye on him; his schoolwork has to come first.”

“Understand?” Mark demanded, addressing himself to Ryan.

“Yep!” Ryan confirmed, a broad grin on his face.

He followed Mark towards the front door.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

“Zac says there are amplifiers at school you can use on Tuesday,” Mark said. “And I understand Josh’s mum will pick you up and drop you home?”

“Yeah,” Ryan answered. “I’ll have to call him to say I can do it.”

“Just give this your best shot, yeah?” Mark told him. “Juggling all these commitment will be tough, but it will be very good for you if you prove you can handle it.”

He strode out to his car and drove away.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“I’m going out with the girls from work on Friday,” Rachel said casually. “It’s going to be soft drinks all the way. Wish me luck!”

“You’ll be fine, mum,” Ryan assured her.

“It’s really important that I do this if I’m going to stand any chance of getting Jack to come back,” Rachel explained.

“You’ll do it, I know you will,” Ryan said supportively. “D’you want me to fix up to stay at Ashley’s?”

“Yeah, if you can,” Rachel agreed. “Don’t go asking them to pick you up after band practice though. If they don’t volunteer, you’ll have to miss it.”

“Oh, his dad will pick me up,” Ryan said casually. “He’s glad of any excuse to get out of the house at the moment. Don’t worry; it’ll be cool.”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

When Ryan arrived for band practice, he was surprised to find two different boys on bass and drums, both younger than the regular players.

“Oh, we’ll be replacing Williams and Lester after Easter,” the lad on bass explained. “Mr. Allingham wants to give us some rehearsal time.

Ryan shrugged. It made no difference to him as long as they could play. And play they could. An hour and a half later he left band practice on a high, having played at the top of his form. It was a great way to start the weekend. He made his way to the main entrance, schoolbag on his back, guitar in one hand, amplifier in the other.

Ashley was already there. He took the amplifier and they walked out to his dad’s car.

“Good evening, Ryan!” Mr. Holden said brightly. “Had a good rehearsal session?”

“Yeah, great thanks!” Ryan acknowledged, “I’m sorry to hear about the job.”

“Oh, we’ll get through it as long as it doesn’t go on too long,” Mr. Holden said. “Meanwhile, I’m enjoying being able to spend some time with the boys.”

“David’s improved a lot, hasn’t he dad?” Ashley ventured.

“Yeah, he seems to be moving in the right direction at last,” Mr. Holden agreed. “So this could have been a blessing in disguise.”

Ryan was rather taken aback by how cheerful and positive the man seemed. It wasn’t what he’d expected. Was that why Ashley always handled things so calmly? He felt sure it had something to do with it.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“So how was your night out?” Mark asked, following Rachel into her back lounge.

“It was good, thanks,” Rachel answered. “I enjoyed it just as much as usual, and I woke up this morning without a headache!

“It proves you can do it,” Mark encouraged.

“I was worried about what some of the others might say,” Rachel commented, “but nobody said a thing.”

“That’s great,” Mark said. “You probably need to do another one to feel really confident. Then you can give Jack a call. No guarantees of course, but you’ve definitely got a chance.”

“I need to be able to look him in the eye and promise it won’t ever happen again,” Rachel acknowledged. “So one more, then I’ll call him.”

“And how’s Ryan been getting on?” Mark enquired.

“He’s been as good as gold up to yet,” Rachel admitted. “I’ve been checking his homework and there’s no problem there as far as I can see, and he’s stuck to his timetable; I haven’t had to say a word. Still, it is early days.”

“It’s a promising start though,” Mark countered. “Time I went and interrupted them; we’ll need to get off to the pool in a few minutes.

He strolled through to the front lounge room, where Ryan and Josh had just finished a rendition of ‘The Lady is a Tramp’.

“How did the rehearsal go Tuesday?” he asked, smiling.

“It was okay,” Ryan said. “I couldn’t get a very good sound though; the amp I had to use was crap.”

“Yeah, well you don’t need to worry about that,” Mark assured him, a playful twinkle in his eye. “So what’s the plan today?”

“Well, I really need to sort out some more of the songs,” Ryan said, “but we can’t do it at Josh’s house ‘cause his mum’s going to be there.”

“We’re meant to be going the rehearsal studios anyway,” Mark said, “so as long as Josh can come with us, that’s no problem.”

Josh nodded his assent.

“Okay,” Mark said, smiling. “I’ll just give them a call; make sure they’ve got a keyboard you can use.”

“Are you coming to the rehearsal tomorrow?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, if that’s okay,” Mark said casually. “It’ll probably be the last one though. We start gigging again in a couple of weeks and I’ll be too busy.”

A few minutes later, they were on their way to the pool.

“Thanks for letting me come to the studios,” Josh whispered to Ryan. “I won’t get in the way, you know, afterwards.”

“Cool!” Ryan responded, a conspiratorial grin on his face.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“Have you brought the Marshall?” Ryan asked as they headed towards The Old Farm House.

“You’ll see,” Mark answered cryptically.

Ryan shrugged. Something was going on though he wasn’t sure what. They pulled into the drive. Mark opened the boot of the car. There was an amplifier there, but it wasn’t the Marshall.

“What’s that?” Ryan enquired.

“Remember the combined birthday and Christmas present I mentioned?” Mark asked. “Well, this is it. It’s quite old but it’s been well looked after and it sounds fantastic.”

They took it into the barn studio, Ryan quickly setting it up, eager to try it. He plugged in his guitar and played a few licks.

“Man! This is wicked!” he breathed, eyes shining. “Thanks Mark!”

“You won’t be able to use it at home,” Mark warned. “Your mum will have a fit.”

“You can keep it here if you want,” Zac said. “You can use the school amp when we rehearse there.”

Ryan nodded; there was little point in keeping it at home if he wasn’t able to use it.

By quarter past five, the rehearsal was over, with another six songs pretty much good to go. They began to pack away.

“So you’re doing the gig at school just before Christmas?” Mark asked.

“Yeah,” Zac said. “Lower School again, by popular request, that’s what Mr. Russell said. But there’s a problem. He wants us to do ninety minutes, plus a possible encore. We haven’t got enough songs. We need at least three more, plus one for the encore. I can’t just turn them out like that. I’ve written a few other songs, but they’re crap.”

“Well, you don’t want to play them if they’re not good enough,” Mark advised. “Sounds like you’ll have to borrow some.”

“I don’t want to do covers though,” Zac said, screwing his face up.

“You don’t want to think of it like that,” Mark said. “You don’t want to play stuff that everybody knows, but there are lots of great songs out there that the kids you’re playing to won’t have heard. Plus there’s nothing wrong with including a couple of classics, as long as they haven’t been done to death by other people.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Zac said, sounding far from convinced.

“And you don’t just copy the record,” Mark went on. “Josh and Ryan can do arrangements that fit your sound, your style. I’ll put a few songs onto CD and give it to Ryan. Have a listen; see if there are any you think you could do. ”

“Yeah, thanks,” Zac said, smiling. “I’ll do that.”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

September gave way to October, and almost before they knew it, the half term break was upon them. On the Saturday morning, Tommy and Gary met up at the corner of Acacia Avenue and headed towards the leisure centre. With their school football commitments, they hadn’t been able to go to the pool on a Saturday since the start of term. This was their first opportunity.

They paid for their tickets and strolled into the changing room. Mark, Ryan and Josh were already there.

“Hello lads!” Gary greeted. “We thought we might find you here.”

They began to get changed. Tommy’s pulse was racing. He stripped off his boxer briefs, looking up before putting on his new swimming shorts. Mark was definitely looking at him; Peewee had got that right. It had been several weeks since Peewee had told him about going with Mark, but the idea hadn’t gone away. It wasn’t really about the money; he’d be seeing Steve later that afternoon which would provide him with more cash than he needed. He was simply fascinated by the idea of going with someone like Mark. The thing was, would he get the opportunity to speak to him? He couldn’t say anything with the other boys around. And would he have the bottle to go through with it if the chance did arise?

The opportunity arose sooner than he expected. As they trotted through towards the pool, Mark turned off into the toilets. Tommy realised in an instant that this was almost certainly the best chance he was going to get, if not the only one. He took a deep breath and followed him. After a cursory pee that he didn’t really need, he took his time at the wash basins, waiting for Mark to finish. After a few seconds, Mark adjusted his shorts and turned towards him. Tommy swallowed hard.

“Peewee says you might like to meet me sometime,” he said quietly. “like maybe Tuesday evenings.

For a moment Mark was caught on the hop. Was this a set-up, he wondered. But his gut feeling was that it was genuine; Josh was always telling him what a great kid Tommy was, so there probably wasn’t too much to worry about. In any case, he didn’t want to piss the kid off by turning him down.

“Yeah, fine,” he said smiling. “Outside here at half past seven?”

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed. “No problem!”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“You know when we come to the gig on Thursday?” Ryan asked. “Could Zac come with us? He really wants to see Renegade”

Alarm bells rang in Mark’s head. He didn’t doubt that Zac would enjoy seeing Renegade play live, but he doubted that was the real reason for the request. And having three of them staying over at the flat would invite questions about the sleeping arrangements; that was the last thing he needed.

“I don’t know about that,” he parried, “sounds iffy to me. Damian’s bound to be there Thursday night. What are we going to say to him?”

“It’s cool,” Ryan insisted. “Zac’s parents are away on a film shoot Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so he’s got the place to himself. So we tell Damian that you’re dropping the three of us back at Zac’s place. Damian’s not going to know we’re staying at yours, is he?”

“It could still go tits up,” Mark insisted. “We’ll be telling your mum and Josh’s mum one thing and telling Damian something completely different.”

“Mum’s never even met Damian,” Ryan argued. “We’re not going to get you into trouble, I promise. Please, Mark!”

“Oh, okay then!” Mark sighed. “Just don’t let me down!”

“We won’t!” Ryan said, grinning.

Mark sank back in his chair, wondering what he was letting himself in for.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Tommy walked purposefully towards the leisure centre. He positioned himself close to the entrance and checked his watch. It was almost twenty five past seven. Now he’d have to wait. He just hoped that Mark would be on time. If he stood there for too long, he might see someone he knew who’d ask him what he was waiting for.

The seconds ticked by. Suddenly, he spotted the Mercedes Coupe turning onto the car-park. It swung around, coming to a halt close to where he was standing. He strolled across and got in.

“Very punctual!” Mark commented, smiling. “I like that! Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Tommy said nervously.

For a few seconds there was an uneasy silence. From his dealings with Josh, Mark knew a great deal about Tommy, but if he said too much he’d give the game away. He tried the toe in the water approach.

“So have you done this before?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Tommy admitted. “I met this guy up in town a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, I see,” Mark said guardedly, sensing that there was more to it than Tommy was saying. “I have to say I’m a bit surprised. From what I’ve been told you’re a good kid, doing very well at school, captain of the football team, not the sort of boy who usually goes out looking for punters.”

“Had to,” Tommy said, shrugging. “I needed some new football boots and my mum hadn’t got the money to get me any.”

That certainly made sense, Mark considered. But how had he known where to go in order to get himself picked up? And what had Peewee said to him?

“So you’ve been talking to Peewee,” he prodded.

“Yeah,” Tommy said. “He’s been doin’ it for a while. He told me that he’d been with you a few times. I was surprised; I never thought you’d be into that.”

“Then one night he didn’t show up and I haven’t seen him since,” Mark said, smiling.

“He said you were always on at him,” Tommy said, “telling him what to do. He doesn’t like that.”

“I guessed that was the reason,” Mark responded. “But I was worried about him; he’ll get hurt if he’s not careful.”

“That’s what I’ve told him,” Tommy said. “but he’s havin’ a great time compared with what his life used to be like, so he just don’t see it.” He paused for a moment. “You can say what you like to me,” he said, grinning. “Josh is always telling me how much you’ve helped him and Ryan.”

“So it’s not just about the money then?” Mark suggested.

“Nah,” Tommy said. “I’ve got this one punter, the guy I told you about. I can manage okay on what he gives me. Oh, the money’s always useful, especially with my stepdad out bein’ out of work, but I thought you might be able to help me a bit, you know, like you help Josh and Ryan.”

“Well that’s no problem,” Mark said gently, “even if it’s only a matter of encouraging you to keep doing what you’re doing. Work hard and believe in yourself. Any idea what you want to do when you grow up?”

“I want to be a teacher,” Tommy said, “maths and games.”

“Maths is my subject,” Mark offered, “So if you have any problems in that area, you only have to ask.”

“Thanks,” Tommy said, his smile broadening.

Mark swung the car into the underground car-park of his apartment building. A couple of minutes later, he ushered Tommy into the flat.

“Wow!” Tommy breathed. “Peewee said you had a nice gaff! This place is well cool!”

“Yeah, all the boys seem to like it,” Mark commented, guiding Tommy into the kitchen. “Want a drink?”

“Please,” Tommy answered.

“Coke alright?” Mark asked.

Tommy nodded. Mark poured out two glassed of coke, handing one to Tommy. They sat at the breakfast bar, Mark allowing the boy time to relax. Tommy was surprised that Mark hadn’t rushed him straight into the bedroom; Peewee had never said anything about that. They finished their drinks.

“Ready?” Mark asked gently.

Tommy smiled, getting up off his stool. Mark guided him through the master bedroom.

“There’s a loo through there if you need it,” Mark advised, indicating the wet-room.

“I’m okay, thanks,” Tommy said, still smiling.

“Shoes and socks off,” Mark urged, quickly removing his own.

Tommy readily complied. He stood up allowing Mark to help him off with his football top. Jeans and boxer briefs soon followed, to reveal Tommy’s medium-thick five and half inch penis, with its little crop of pubic hair and low-hanging balls.

“Very impressive!” Mark whispered, running his fingers over the hard swollen object. “You are a big boy for your age. Are you thirteen yet?”

“Yeah,” Tommy said, “about a month ago.”

Mark quickly pulled off his jeans and polo shirt. He wrapped his arms around Tommy’s back, running his hands over the lad’s smooth, creamy white skin. Tommy looked up at him, licking his lips.

“Peewee says you like kissing,” he said provocatively.

“Yeah,” Mark breathed, running a finger down Tommy’s crack. “I guess he also told you I like to go all the way.”

“Yeah!” Tommy said grinning.

“So you up for that?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” Tommy said.

Mark leaned forwards, his mouth meeting Tommy’s in a delicious, sensuous kiss. Mark was enraptured; Tommy was every bit as sexy and affectionate as Josh had led him to believe. Their mouths parted. Mark discarded his boxers. They got onto the bed, Mark scooting around to take Tommy’s penis into his mouth. He sucked it slowly, taking care not to make the boy cum, gently retracting the foreskin and running his tongue over the small, shiny head. Without any prompting, Tommy returned the favour. Mark was in his element, delighted that he didn’t have to ask, much less cajole; it was all totally spontaneous.

He squeezed some KY onto his fingers, inserting first one, then two, into Tommy’s anus. As expected, he met no resistance at all.

“How d’you want me?” Tommy asked.

“How about on your tummy?” Mark suggested.

“Yeah, if you want,” Tommy agreed. “Have you got a towel? I’ll cum if you do me like that.”

“Oh, forget that then!” Mark said grinning. “I want to suck you off afterwards, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure!” Tommy responded, grinning back.

“Get on all fours!” Mark instructed.

Tommy quickly moved into position. Within a couple of seconds, Mark was inside him, holding him around the thighs, fucking him with long, powerful thrusts. Tommy moaned quietly, Mark’s hard cock stimulating his prostate. Four minutes passed, maybe five, Mark amazed that the boy was still beautifully tight, despite the number of times he’d been fucked. He increased his efforts, giving it everything he had. Within seconds, the whole room began to shake, stars flashing before him. He held on tight, burying his cock deep in Tommy’s rectum. It jerked wildly, volley after volley of thick, creamy semen flooding into the boy’s bowels. After a few seconds, he carefully withdrew, sliding off the bed to kneel on the floor.

“Come on!” he urged. “You know what I want!”

Tommy turned to face him, thrusting his throbbing penis into Mark’s waiting mouth. It was over in seconds, three jets of tangy cum splashing onto the man’s tongue. Tommy eased himself away, sitting back on his heels.

“Wow!” Mark breathed. “That was wonderful! You can’t go wasting that!”

Tommy grinned, climbing off the bed and heading for the wet-room. A few minutes later he was back.

“That’s what I used to give Peewee,” Mark said, handing him three twenty pound notes.

“Thanks, man!” Tommy said, grinning. “You’re the best!”

The journey back to Newton Valley passed quickly, each of them quite relaxed in the other’s company. Mark drove home feeling more than comfortable with the situation. Tommy was a good kid from a desperately poor background, working hard to make something of his life. He was simply helping him along the way. As far as he was concerned, it was a win-win deal.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Mark emerged from the office elevator, stepping into the foyer. It was two minutes past five. He was greeted by the sight of three boys sprawled out on the sofas, Zac on one, Josh and Ryan on the other. The security guard looked less than happy. Mark quickly scooped up his three charges, escorting them from the building. Five minutes later, they were back at the flat.

“So how have you got on with that CD?” Mark asked. “Found anything you like?”

“Yeah,” Zac enthused. “We’re definitely going to do ‘In These Flames’. That’s a brilliant song; I wish I’d written it. The words are amazing! We’re doing one of the other Richie Havens’ songs too, “Don’t Listen to Me’. We’ve been working on those two this week.

“Good choices,” Mark commented. “Great songs; and you have to do your own arrangements because the instrumentation is completely different.”

“Yeah,” Zac agreed. “We haven’t got a sitar for one thing.”

“We’ve added a coda to ‘In These Flames’,” Josh explained, “with Zac singing ‘I Still Love You’ against a big piano, bass and drums riff, and Ryan playing fill-ins.”

“More a sort of call-and response thing,” Ryan said.

“Yeah, I can see that working,” Mark said, smiling.

“There are a couple of other songs we’re thinking about,” Zac said, “but Josh has suggested that I sing ‘Eleanor Rigby’, just with Ryan on guitar. What d’you think?”

“I love it!” Mark said, beaming. “Put it right in the middle of the set; it’ll work beautifully.”

“And I thought about us doing ‘Me & Julio’ as the encore,” Josh suggested.

“Yeah, that’s another good one,” Mark agreed. “Get everyone dancing before they go home; excellent idea!”

“Well, I guess that’s about it then,” Zac said grinning. “Thanks! I wouldn’t have thought of doing anything like that.”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

The gig was as good as ever; the boys all enjoyed it enormously. Ten minutes after they’d gone off stage, Mark returned to the concert room, quickly packing away his guitars and amplifier, the boys helping him to carry them to the car.

“That was great!” Zac bubbled. “I really loved that eco-rap thing!”

“Yeah, what was that?” Ryan asked. “I’ve not heard it before.”

“Oh, ‘Damn This Traffic Jam’,” Mark said. “It’s by James Taylor; great song!”

“James Taylor?” Zac queried. “I didn’t know he wrote stuff like that! I thought you must have written it.”

“We don’t write anything!” Mark said, laughing. “We just arrange other people’s stuff.”

“I wouldn’t have known,” Zac said. “I recognised a couple of songs, but the others I didn’t know at all. It sounded great anyway.”

“Right,” Mark said. “So Damian thinks I’m taking you back to Zac’s?”

“Yeah, no problem,” the boys assured him.

“Good,” Mark said, “cause that’s what I told Shaun. I must be mad!”

A couple of minutes later, they trooped into the flat, the boys flopping down at random.

“So is it tea for everyone?” Mark asked.

“Please!” the lads chorused

Mark strolled into the kitchen to put the kettle on. He was surprised to find that Ryan had followed him.

“You know tonight?” Ryan asked quietly. “Would it be okay if we changed the sleeping arrangements?”

“Meaning?” Mark queried

“You sleep with Josh and I share the guest room with Zac,” Ryan said.

“So whose idea was that?” Mark asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, Zac suggested it,” Ryan said defensively.

“And is that what you want to do?” Mark went on.

“Yeah, well sort of,” Ryan said, sounding less than certain. “I’d like to try it anyway.”

“I thought the idea was to give Zac and Josh the chance to sleep together?” Mark countered.

“Yeah, well it was,” Ryan admitted.

“Tell Josh to come in here,” Mark instructed. “I want to speak to him.”

Ryan returned to the lounge room. Moments later Josh appeared in the kitchen.

“I presume you’ve heard about the proposed change to the sleeping arrangements?” Mark questioned.

“You mean me sleeping with you instead of Zac?” Josh clarified.

“Yeah,” Mark confirmed. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Oh yeah,” Josh said casually. “I’ve been with Zac every day this week, you know, after rehearsals. I’d like to sleep with you anyway. Then in the morning we can swap over.”

“Well, as long as you’re happy with it,” Mark conceded.

Mark and Josh carried the mugs of hot tea into the lounge room. Ten minutes later they were all in bed.

“You okay?” Mark asked.

“Sure,” Josh cooed, snuggling right up, his head on Mark’s chest.

“I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t been bounced into it,” Mark explained, stroking Josh’s hair, “Zac’s a pretty strong personality.”

“Oh, he doesn’t get his way all the time,” Josh asserted, “like when we were sorting out a name for the band. He wanted to call it ‘Outlawz’, with a ‘z’, but Greg and Damian wouldn’t have it. Then Damian suggested the name ‘Fireblade’ and that’s what we agreed on.”

“Oh, I see,” Mark said absently.

“I quite liked the name ‘Outlawz’,” Josh continued. “I still call Zac ‘Mr. Outlaw’. It sort of suits him.”

“Yeah, it does in a way,” Mark agreed.

“Especially when we’re . . . , you know.” Josh whispered.

For a couple of minutes they lay in silence, enjoying each other’s warmth and closeness.

“I hope you’re not expecting anything too energetic,” Mark said at last, “It’s been a long day.”

“Mmmmm!” Josh purred. “That’s okay. I bet you’ll still want to fuck me though!”

“How did you guess?” Mark asked, kissing Josh’s nose.

They slipped into a proper kiss, their lips locked together. Though not as intense and passionate as it often was, it was gentle, sensuous. They ran through their repertoire: kissing, licking, fondling, sucking; all beautifully relaxed.

“Are you going to put the condom on me?” Mark asked, handing Josh the packet.

Josh ripped it open, expertly rolling the condom onto Mark’s cock and smearing it with KY.

“I’d let you do it without one,” Josh said quietly, “I don’t think you’re going to give me anything, but Zac might notice that my bum’s all messy.”

Mark turned Josh onto his side, spooning up behind him.

“Lift your leg up,” he instructed.

Josh did as he was asked, Mark’s greasy fingers slipping into his anus, working their way round and sliding back out. Mark moved in closer, holding Josh round the top of his thigh. With one thrust he was inside.

“Oh, yes!!” he purred, “still beautifully tight! You’re such a special boy!”

He began to fuck, slipping his hand down to fondle Josh’s penis. Slowly, inexorably, the intensity began to build, the tingling in Mark’s cock increasing with every thrust. After several minutes his breathing began to shorten.

“Nearly there!” he gasped, his hot breath flooding into Josh’s nostrils. “Oh yes!!”

His cock jerked violently, his spunk flooding into the condom. In the same instant, Josh’s penis began to quiver, little drops of watery boy-cum squirting through Mark’s fingers. They lay as they were for almost a minute. Finally, Mark gently withdrew.

“I just need to get rid of this,” he whispered.

He disappeared into the wet room. After disposing of the condom he returned to his bed. Josh was already fast asleep.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“Sleep okay?” Mark croaked, stretching out an arm.

“Yeah, great thanks!” Josh assured him. “This is a wicked bed.” He paused for a second. “I like sleeping with you,” he added. “I feel sort of safe, like you’re protecting me.”

“The exact opposite of what most people would think,” Mark said sadly. “Still, that’s how it is.”

There were footsteps in the hallway.

“Sounds like Zac and Ryan are up,” Josh said.

“Hmmmm!” Mark said sleepily. “What’s the time?”

“Half past eight.”

“Guess I’d better have a pee and a shave,” Mark said with noticeable lack on enthusiasm. “You kids have worn me out.”

“I’ll just go and see what they’re up to,” Josh said, giving him a peck on the nose.

Mark wandered into the wet room. He took his time, consoling himself with the thought that he could spend the day relaxing before heading out to the gig they were playing that evening. He returned to the bedroom to find Ryan where Josh had been.

“So this is swap-over time then?” he suggested, slipping in next to him.

“Yeah!” Ryan confirmed.

“So how was your night?” Mark enquired.

“Okay,” Ryan said, sounding less than enthusiastic.

“Only okay?” Mark queried.

“Yeah,” Ryan said, screwing his face up. “All Zac wants to do is fuck. Josh said he was like that, but, well, I wanted to, you know, see for myself.”

“Well,” Mark said gently, stroking Ryan’s chest. “Maybe next time you’ll believe what Josh tells you.”