Transitions New Adventures

Chapter 1 - Paparazzi - Updated

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DO NOT EVER HURT A CHILD

This story is a continuation of Eric Murphey's Transitions. He graciously asked me to continue this and working with Tux Edwards, we are bringing you the next set of adventures for the Murphey's - oh, one small change. They're now the Murhphy's so you'll know you're in the new stories. We want to thank Eric for passing on the torch for this story.

If you recall, the family owns a ton of McDonald's and KFC restaurants. Joey is a pop star. Alejandro and Tran are sort of celebrities themselves due to their various activities. In this adventure, the Murphey family has been honored with doing a commercial shoot for McDonald's, but Toto, we're not in Kansas (oh, Indiana, sorry) anymore. Welcome to Hollywierd.

Say hi to us authors. We don't like hearing crickets when we post.

This story may contain sexual contact between adults and children. If you shouldn't read this, don't.

This story is an original work of fiction ©Copyright 2023 Andrew M. Thomas and Tux Edwards.

Transitions New Adventures - Chapter 1 - Paparazzi - by Tux and Andrew

Joey

Building after building goes by as our black Cadillac Escalade drives down this seven-lane downtown Los Angeles freeway. I don't know how the driver can get through these crazy people. I'm glad that McDonalds sent the car for us. Don't get me wrong, Dad's a good driver, but this traffic is horrible. My brothers, Tran and Alejandro, are bouncing off the windows trying to absorb everything we drive by. I'm excited to be here to honor Dad with his own commercial. I wish we were here for Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios, or any of the thousands of beaches, but that's not why we're here, we're here to film a commercial for McDonald's featuring Dad and one of my songs. They want to reach pre-teens and teenagers. Something without the feel of a small child. This commercial is part of a new series and I am lucky to be their star, I mean, along with Dad. They did pick him for all the work he does for charity and the good name he brings to the brand.

"God, look at all these people," says Alejandro as he ricochets from seat to seat.

Sigh, Tran is FaceTime'ing his boyfriend... again, "Tyler, we're driving through LA. I miss you too, and I can't wait to be home..." His little kissy face FaceTime calls are driving me nuts. At the airport, iMessages on the plane, and now in the car... geesh, give it a break, you two; we're only gone for two weeks.

"Poppi, look, that's amazing! I've never seen a car like that," Alejandro squeals, pointing out one of the windows at some bright neon green supercar. I've never seen anything like that up close, and my glasses are dirty so I can't quite make out the name. It was something like Pagan. Dad looks at him and holds him tight. He really loves Alejandro. He loves us all, but they have a special bond and seem to communicate without talking.

Dad looks at me and sees me watching. He smiles and asks, "You okay, Joey? You've been very quiet."

"I'm fine," I tell him with a bit of a sad tone, and I fix my glasses to a better position on my nose. I'd love to tell him that I'd give it all up, every last cent, to be able to get out of this car and go play baseball with those kids back there in that park, but I can't. He's done so much for me, for us. I'm not sure how to tell him... I just want to be a kid.

He did say I don't have to tour anymore, but I do like the attention, unlike my brothers. My seat gets pulled back a bit, and I realize that Alejandro is pulling on my seat trying to see out the window. "What's going on? You're pulling my seat."

"McDonald's," he answers in pure joy.

I look out of the window and see those Golden Arches and think, 'Great!' I really could use a chocolate shake. But something is wrong here, the building is surrounded by a six-foot black wrought iron fence, and the arches are too low. The sign stands about ten feet tall and it has wheels. We pull up and park in the nearly empty parking lot and the gates close behind us. Our driver and dad help us kids out of the Escalade, and then they begin to talk about the commercial.

Alejandro opens the door to the McDonalds, and I walk through with Tran behind me, still on his phone.

Dad politely excuses himself, walks over to Tran, and leans over Tran's shoulder. "Hi Tyler, I hope you're doing okay. I need to steal Tran away, we need to get to work here. He will call you back later."

"Bye Tyler" he says as he blows a kiss. Dad slips Tran's phone into his front pocket so we can get to work.

"Boys, pay attention," Dad instructs. After giggling a little at Tran looking so lovesick over something so silly, I look around at the inside of the Mcdonald's and notice the wrongness continues there. There are only three people in uniform, and there are a lot of people dressed in suits.

"Excuse me," says a lady behind me, and I move closer to Dad. She walks by with a wardrobe rack full of different clothes that would fit us, kids. The oddest thing about this restaurant is, no one is behind the counter. Maybe they just closed so we can shoot the commercial.

"Poppi... Can we get chocolate milkshakes?" asks Alejandro, completely oblivious to our surroundings.

"I'm sorry, son," says the driver. "They don't sell chocolate shakes here."

"Oh. I thought all McDonald's had shakes."

"Alejandro, this is a movie set. "They don't sell food here; they just make commercials," Dad says, rubbing his back.

I was wanting a shake too, but now I'm as disappointed as Alejandro.

A man across the room wearing a button-up shirt sees us talking by the door. "The Murphys are here; just look at you four. You're perfect... Welcome to MockDonalds," he says as the room comes to a standstill, and they all turn to look at us. "...can I get a wardrobe here for the Murphys? Hey kiddos, you look great. Has anyone told you what you're doing today?"

"Yeah, we're making a commercial!" Alejandro says it excitedly, with a little hop. This is a change for Alejandro. Just weeks ago he was wanting to skip receiving his award for his work at the food pantry, but now he's wanting to be in this commercial. Me on the other hand, I'm tired of the spotlight keeping me from being able to do things a boy my age should do, but Dad said we would talk about what's next. The man introduces himself as the director, and as he instructs us on what we're doing, I'm fitted with an earpiece like the ones I use on stage. He has us stand behind a makeshift curtain to change into our costumes, which are just clothes. Dad comes out from behind the curtain wearing a McDonald's uniform. He looks very handsome in it. I think he needs to get these uniforms at his store.

"Okay, we're going to do six different wardrobe changes for six different commercials. The first one will be the boys entering from this direction, playing on their phones, and Joey will be singing; you'll hear the music on your earpiece. But Joey just lip-sync the words, okay, buddy?" He turns back to the man who is following him all around, and they exchange words. They picked the very first song I recorded and I know it well. I sing it about halfway through each show to keep the audience involved. I've got this. Looking around, the director says, "Places everybody!"

We arrive at our respective locations, the boys outside and Dad in the kitchen. The music starts in my ear, and I begin to sing to myself as the director yells "Action!" `We walk in laughing, playing on our phones, and I am lip-syncing the words to the song. Then I realize something... the song is the old version. It has to be one of our first studio cuts. We've changed this song so many times since then, and about the time we get to the counter, I'm way behind the music and my tempo is crazy off. I got thrown off by the change. Dad comes out with a tray with our food on it, and the director yells, "Cut!!"

The noise of everyone moving around suddenly fills the room as the director walks up to us. Dad comes around the corner to address him, asking, "What seems to be the problem?"

"Okay, Joey, buddy... I need you to mouth the words like they're in the music," the director says simply, as if it's the simplest task in the world.

"I know, but..."

And as if I'm not even talking, he just turns and walks back into his place, shouting, "Places and quiet, please!"

Dad pats my shoulder reassuringly, and we all take our places. Us boys head back through the door. While we're outside, Tran whispers in my ear, "You got this little bro?"

Not wanting to look like I can't handle it in front of my big brother, I smile and say, "Yeah, I was just caught off guard by this version of the song, that's all. I got this."

But... I didn't...

"Cut!"

"Cut!"

"CUT!!"

At this point, I just want to crawl into a hole and die. Everyone is looking at me, and I'm so embarrassed I couldn't sing it if I wanted to. "Mr. Murphy, can you talk to him, please? Take five, everyone! Reset the set!"

Dad comes to talk to me, and I just can't face him. I want to be the best for him and I know he won't be mad, but I am letting him down. I start to tear up, so I ran out the door. Outside, I walk over to a bench and sit down, trying to calm my nerves, and I hear, "Joey, can I get an autograph for my daughters? They're big fans." I smile at him before signing a simple greeting and signing it... 'Thanks for being such big fans, Joey Murphy.'

He thanks me, and then the Boom Microphone guy wants one, as do the Kraft table lady, some P.A. (whatever that means), and some guy I don't remember seeing before. He asks for one, but before I can sign it, an arm that belongs to my big brother grabs me and pulls me from the crowd.

"Come on, follow me," he says, and we run to the back of the building while our driver and a security guard stop the people from chasing us.

We both come to a halt, rest our hands on our knees, and try to relax our breathing. Our eyes meet, we smile, and then our smiles break into laughs. "Thanks," I say in between my struggles to catch my breath and laugh. "They were worse than the little girls at my concerts."

"No problem," he responds, and we bump fists. I take a seat on the ground and lean against a yellow drive-through post. Tran arches his back, stretching it out, then asks, "So, what's the problem."

"You mean, aside from the fact that I'm out of breath and my hands hurt from signing autographs?" I ask, and we laugh as he pretends to play me the world's smallest violin to help me with my pity party.

He walks over and sits down next to me, and I offer him my post to lean on. "Come on, we all know you don't want to be here..." My heavy burden of never letting my family down shows on my face. "...but this is for Ba. They are honoring him for running his stores at the highest level and helping out the community. Don't you think it's nice that they are finally recognizing him for his hard work and want to help out?"

"You know I do," I respond quickly, wiping a couple of rogue tears away from under my glasses. "Being Joey isn't easy, and sometimes I just don't know if I can do it anymore. I just want to be me, but I don't know who that is."

Tran stands up and pulls me to my feet as I try to hide the fact that I'm crying again. He embraces me in a hug and says, "Ba won't make you perform anymore if you don't want. But today is different; it's for Ba, so let's try our best." He lets me go and walks up to the dark window. Leaning his head on it, he says, "Wow, look at this. It's another McDonald's, but this one is different from the one where we're filming in. That menu is crazy different; I can't even read it."

I copy how he stands, leaning my head on the glass and shielding my eyes from the outside light so I can see inside. "I think it's in Spanish or something. Do they have McDonald's in Spain or Mexico?"

Tran shrugs his shoulders, and we both hear our driver call to us that we're needed inside. We exchange looks, knowing exactly what the other is thinking, just before we take off running towards the front door. We push each other as we run, trying to be the first through the door.

Once inside, the heavy reality of the film set steals my laughter away, and I'm left huffing and breathing hard from the run with everyone staring at me. I swallow hard, and Tran pats my back reassuringly.

"Here's our star. Okay, everyone, take your places. We have to get through this; we have six more commercials to do," the director yells over the noise of people working. Walking up to me, he says, "Right, now Joey, I need you to sing it just like the song in your earpiece so when we add the music later, it'll match, understand?" I give him a small nod, and the kids are led outside so that we can enter when called.

I'd like to tell you it worked, and everyone was happy with me. I'd like to tell you that we did all the other commercials in one take and that we lived happily ever after... but that's not what happens.

"CUT!!!"

The sigh that comes from dad is the one he uses as a warning when he's just about had it with my attitude. This time is no different. He comes over to my side of the counter and puts his arm around me, asking, "What's going on kiddo? I've never seen you stumble like this."

All my frustration turns into anger at that moment, and I explode, "It's not my fault! I'm singing the damn words!!"

Dad stands and pulls me by my arm into the fake kitchen area and picks me up, setting me on the counter. "First off, take a deep breath. I'm not upset with you. What's going on?"

But my floodgates are open, and I'm not sure I'll be able to keep everything that bothers me from spilling out at this point. "I don't even want to do this! Why am I doing this? Isn't it supposed to be honoring you? Why am I singing anyway? This whole thing is dumb!" I shout and take out my earpiece, tossing it on the counter. My tears and snot trail down my face, and my whole body is shaking. I'm so mad, I'm not even sure Dad can understand me through my sobbing, and I don't care anymore. "You said I didn't have to perform anymore if I didn't want to, and I don't want to do this. The song is messed up... it's not even the right song. I can't sing that! I want to go home!"

Dad hugs me tight, telling me that it's all going to be okay. Then he turns away and waves the director over. They talk back and forth, and it looks like it's getting heated.

My brothers make their way over to me, and Tran takes off my glasses and begins to clean them with his shirt. "You okay?" He asks and hands them back. I shake my head, `No' as I take my glasses back. My bottom lip quivers from the futile attempt to keep me from crying. Alejandro tells me it'll be alright then begins to wander back deeper into the kitchen.

"Try and calm down, Joey. Dad is trying to get them to let us go back to the hotel and do this tomorrow after you have some time to practice," Tran says supportively. Just hearing that I will have to go through this tomorrow is upsetting, but Tran's touch seems to be calming me down.

"Oh wow, you guys have to see this. There is a whole different McDonald's back here behind the one we're in," Alejandro says excitedly, already forgetting that I'm falling apart here.

"We know..." Tran and I say at the same time.

"Oh cool, the menu is in Spanish!"

"We know," we say again a little louder, and this time I giggle a little, making Tran smile.

Dad turns away from the director and practically shouts to him, "...I don't care how much money you have in this failed attempt at a day's work. We can't do it now, Joey is too upset, and with each take, he gets more upset. We will be back tomorrow, and I expect new ideas from you to make this work, not excuses or pointing the finger at my son." He comes over to us and motions for me to slide off the counter and for Alejandro to hurry and catch up to us. "I also expect the scripts and the music track to be sent to our room so Joey can practice. I'm not sure why you picked an old track, but he'll have it down tomorrow. That wasn't fair to throw that at him with no warning. I don't want to spend all day tomorrow doing this. I'm a busy man," dad says as the driver and security guard escort us to our Escalade.

The ride back to the hotel is pretty uneventful, and Alejandro pretty much sleeps on Tran's lap, exhausted from the excitement of the day and the jet lag. My head bounces on the window as I stare at the buildings and the homeless as they blur by. I'm not sure what possessed me to ask, but I did, "Dad, are you mad at me?"

A silence falls over the SUV, and then he answers, "No, you didn't expect them to have an old track. I'm upset at how they handled it. We could have been done today if they had just stopped and tried to help instead of get upset."

The driver drops us off in front of the hotel along with our luggage, and we head inside. Once we get in our room, Alejandro begins to bug Dad about us going swimming. I go out on the balcony and watch the city. At least they put us up in a decent hotel. There are bathrobes and we have two rooms that connect. There's even a balcony outside each room. We're not quite at the top of the hotel, but I can't see over some of the nearby buildings or anything. Out front are a lot of cool cars and things to look at. After a while, Tran comes out and taps my shoulder, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Hey, come on, we're going swimming while Dad takes a nap. I left him a note where we went," Tran says, and I sluggishly turn around and follow him. I pull off my shorts and underwear, tossing them on the couch. While I work on taking off my shirt without knocking off my glasses, Tran whispers, "Joey! Hurry, change, and do it quietly."

"We can't go swimming without an adult." I say to Tran.

He quickly responds, "This is a pretty nice hotel, so I'm sure they have a lifeguard and there will be other adults there. I'm sure Ba won't mind. If there isn't anyone there, we will come back and get Ba."

I'm a little worried, but we do need to relax, and Dad needs a nap. I slip on my swim trunks, grab my baseball cap, and head into the hall with my brothers. Tran takes one of the door keys, and I tackle Alejandro in the hall. After a little horseplay by snapping our towels at each other's butts, we run to catch up to Tran entering the elevator.

The swimming area is pretty nice. It has a pool, obviously, a hot tub, saunas, a fountain, and plenty of tables for sitting. There are lots of kids down here playing, running, and swimming.

Tran sees me pull my baseball cap down to cover my face, and he puts his arm around me. "It'll be okay, little brother. Just stay with me, and once you're all wet, people probably won't even recognize you. Unless you grab everyone's attention so they notice you. They're all too concerned with having a good time and aren't looking for small, stinky, tiny dicked pop stars."

I push Tran away and go for his shorts, laughing, "Well, mine looks huge next to your willie!"

So, the three of us goof around as Tran looks for a spot that is secluded in the corner, and I put my hat and glasses on the table and run, leap in the air, and cannonball into the pool. As I come up to the surface, I hear two more splashes near me. My wet blonde hair covers my eyes, and I quickly wipe it away while I tread water. Someone emerged behind me, and I can feel the water churn around me as Tran grabs me.

"See, you made a huge splash and no one recognizes you," whispers Tran.

I spin around and jump on his back, wrapping my legs around him. He doubles his effort and even stays afloat for a little while until Alejandro comes out of nowhere and jumps on my back. Well, there is no floating when that happens, and we three sink like stones. I let go of Tran and felt someone pulling at my shorts, which I quickly grabbed with one hand. Trying to swim around, I see Alejandro has a death grip on my trunks, so I grab at his. We both run out of air as we swim around trying to get each other's trunks. My head breaks the water's surface at the sound of someone whistling at me to get my attention. I wipe the water from my eyes to see my brothers next to me and a man dressed in a hotel uniform yelling at us to stop horseplay. Tran expresses regret. The man looks at us sternly and then heads back to the lobby.

I tread water to get in position to jump on Alejandro when I hear Tran say, "Um, we better get Joey out of here."

Then I see it--all the little kids, in and out of the pool, are staring at me. Whispers turn into loud talking, and some little girls, as well as one very excited boy my age, begin to point at me. The boy and his friends run and jump in the pool. I can't see where I'm going because of the water that Alejandro is kicking up in my face and me splashing up from swimming. Tran immediately pushes me toward the other end. Alejandro and then Tran swam into me. "What's going on?" I yell, and Tran grabs me from behind, helping me stay afloat.

"Hey... someone!" Tran yells. "Help!"

I turn and see a man playing with his son in the shallow end. Once our eyes connect, he recognizes the fear in my eyes and quickly looks at all the kids that are closing in on us. He hurriedly lifts his son out of the pool and rushes to our aid. The man turns and tells me to climb on his back. Then he grabs Alejandro and clears the way for us to get to the shallow end, and the kids swarm us.

"What is going on?" he asks Tran, who has me wrapped up in his arms, shielding me from the grabbing hands of my fans.

"My little brother is Joey Murphy... he's a pop singer. I thought we wouldn't be recognized here, but he's so popular I guess I was wrong," Tran yells back. At one point in all the pushing and shoving, I lost Alejandro but found him soon after as hotel people showed up to help.

"This is crazy," shouts Alejandro.

We get out of the pool, and I think everything is going well until one of the men that work for the hotel, who is like sixteen or eighteen years old, yells out..."Oh my god! You're Joey Murphy!" His outburst grabs the attention of everyone in the restaurant and the front lobby. Sigh, could this even get worse?

The hotel people slowly move us through the growing crowd of children and parents toward the elevator, and when it opens, it gets worse... Dad is standing there.

Dad appears perplexed by our presence, surrounded by hotel personnel and a screaming crowd. Knowing that we got ourselves into this, he asks, "Did you boys have fun swimming?"

Tran enters the elevator, looks at him, and shamefully says, "Sorry, Ba, I was just trying to get us out of the room so you could take a nap. I didn't think we would draw a crowd."

"Oh, there's no way he can go anywhere around here without being recognized. All my nephews and nieces love him, and I have to admit, I really like him too," admits the young man who yelled out my name when he recognized me. "Sorry, I yelled your name, I just wasn't expecting to see you in person."

"It's okay, I'm starting to think it's just something I have to get used to or spend all day hiding in my bedroom closet," My comment is supposed to be funny, but saying it hurts, and I sigh knowing that it's my reality now. Tran lays his hand on my shoulder in support, and I lean my head on his chest.

The elevator ride is pretty short and before I know it, we're walking into the room with the hotel manager and his two people. I go over and sit down on the couch, and Dad is quick to correct my mistake, "Joey, get off the couch, you're wet. Go change, and where are your glasses?"

I look around the room for some reason and admit, "I must have left them down by the pool."

The manager says something to the older man with him, and he leaves the room. "I sent my man downstairs to look for them."

"Thank you, Joey, go to your room and change," Dad says as he turns his attention to the hotel people.

I get up sluggishly and follow my brothers into our room. I can hear Dad apologizing to the manager about the trouble we caused. I had my trunks off before I even got out of the hall, and before I go in, I look back at the living room to see the teenage hotel kid staring at my naked body. I give him a mischievous smile, his jaw drops to the floor, and I can see that he wants me. Then a hand comes from the bedroom, and Tran pulls me inside.

Closing the door, Tran asks, crossly, "What are you doing?"

"Just having some fun. I think he likes me," I chuckle as I wiggle my bottom at Tran.

"Damn, Joey, you're going to get yourself, or at least your little tight ass, in every paper and tabloid in California." Now quickly change so we can get back out there. Ba is probably upset with me."

After what happened at the pool, I agreed with Tran and slowly put on some clothes. Alejandro is the first to get changed and heads back to the living room, leaving the door open. The current conversation can be heard down the hall.

"I understand, sir, but it's just not safe for your son at a hotel the size of ours. We are not equipped to handle the fan attraction that Joey Murphy generates," the manager tells Dad.

"So, you want us to pack up and move everything to a different hotel?"

"No, sir, we only ask that you repack your items, and we will handle the rest. We will be taking you down the back elevator, into a vehicle, and hiding you once we get to our sister hotel by using the VIP elevator. This is at no cost to you. We apologize for the trouble this causes you."

Getting back into the living room, Alejandro is hanging on to Dad again, so Tran and I sit down on the couch. The teenager is staring at me, so I give him a little smile. Tran must have made the connection because he moves to the other side of the couch and puts his arm around me, pulling me into him. Tran is just glaring at the hotel teenager, and he backs down, but he tries as much as he can, he keeps slipping me a smile here and there, making me giggle.

After listening to Dad and the hotel manager talk for a while, there is a knock at the door.

Eric Murphy

An Hour Ago

I roll over and then over the other way. I just can't get comfortable, so I just get up and listen to the hotel room. It's really quiet, too quiet to have two pre-teen boys in it. Heading to the bedroom, I just get past the living room, and the phone rings. I sigh, turn, and answer it;

"Hello."

"Hello, Eric Murphy? My name is Chandler Prescott of Prescott Talent and Associates. I've heard about the problem you had at McDonald's, and I'm sorry you had to experience that. Life here is way different from life in Indiana."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Prescott, how did you learn about the taping incident this afternoon?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Murphy, I can't tell you that; what I can tell you is that my agency can handle all of the... Hollywood red tape, and you can just concentrate on your boys. With our company at your back, you won't get roped into contracts like the one that McDonald's tricked you into."

"I don't believe we were tricked. I believe it's for a good cause, and I'm happy to help, as are my boys. I do appreciate your call and don't think your services will be needed. I've handled Joey's career so far, and it hasn't been anything I can't manage so far."

"This is Hollywood, Mr. Murphy, not a twelve-stop tour. Once the show-biz-bug bites you... well, you get my meaning. I tell you what, when you realize you need me if you're going to stay in California, I'll be here for you. In the meantime, I've sent you something that you absolutely have to have here in California. It's on us, consider it a gift from one dad of three boys to another."

He hangs up before I can ask what that meant, but before I can call him back, the silence of the hotel room reminds me that I have pressing matters to figure out, like... where are my boys? In the bedroom, I find a note that reads; Ba, I'm taking Joey and Alejandro to the pool. I hope you enjoyed your nap, Tran.

I better go get them, I don't think they are allowed down at the pool by themselves. Well, Tran is fourteen, but ... the other two can be a handful, I better go help him watch them.

Joey

Knock, knock, knock. Dad slips behind the hotel manager and answers the door. A tall man dressed in a suit scans the room in a military style. I've seen it in the movies a hundred times. I know he's military because of his haircut and how he holds himself. He has dark brown hair in an almost buzz cut, but because it's a dark color, it's a noticeable hairline. His black suit is right out of Men in Black, including the little sunglasses. He and dad talk, and the man shows him his business card and a folded-up letter. Dad seems beside himself and a little overwhelmed, but gives in. He turns to me and calls me over.

"Joey, this is Mr. Peter Weller. He's your new protection detail. He will help stop what happened today at the pool."

"Hi, Mr. Weller."

"Call me Peter, please. Joey, I will never leave your side when you're out in public, and at the hotel, I'll be around to make sure your family is safe. You must stay near me all the time, okay?"

"Yes, sir, I mean Peter." Dad looks a little uneasy, and Peter picks up on it. He opens the door and says to the hotel management in the room, "Excuse me, fellas, we need a minute or two to talk privately." The manager and the bellhop teenager leave, and Peter locks the door. "Tell me what they have you doing?"

I'm told to go back and sit down next to Tran, and Dad fills Peter in on what's going on. I see Dad reading some papers and questioning peter. He shakes Peter's hand and seems to be impressed by him. "By the way, how did you know about the pool issue?"

Peter does a quick in-and-out of every room in the hotel suite and comes back to us. "Social media. When I took the job to protect your little boy, the first thing I did was join his more popular fan media. The pool party is all over it." Peter opens the door, looks down the hall, and then asks, "Can I have the room key, please, I need to get your family to a secure location." Dad doesn't even pause before pulling the key card from his wallet and handing it to him. Peter puts it in his inside jacket pocket and picks up his briefcase. Opening it, he says, "Your phones go in the case, please. You get them back after I secure them with encryption so other people can't use them to track your family." We all add our phones, and he closes the case with a click. Then, just like in the movies, he speaks into his sleeve, saying, "I'm bringing them down," and we all take off. Peter leads us down the hall, with Dad covering the rear. This is the most exciting thing we've gotten to do in California, and I'm loving it.

Once we get to the parking structure, a Hummer vehicle pulls up, and we all pile in. A real Hummer! This is so cool. The driver exits and hands the key fob to Peter, who then hands the key card to the driver. As we drive away, I watch the driver head into the elevator that we just got out of and disappear as the door shuts.

We drive for about an hour, and I just have to ask, "Hey Peter, what about our bags?"

"My business partner is getting them and bringing them to us. He's not far behind us."

"Do you think this is all necessary?" Dad asks.

"This is common practice for my detailing, sir. We treat all our clients the same. Normally we are hired before you arrive, and no one knows you here, but there has been a leak at McDonald's, which has escalated the situation to level two. This means that we need to get you off the grid until things die down. Soon the paparazzi will be out in droves looking for you."

Dad turns and looks at us with a worried look, I smile at him to let him know I'm sorry. I mean, technically, this is all my fault. This is the part I hate. Singing is a lot of fun. Performing is a lot of fun; however, this part stinks. We pull into a hotel called Best Western... it doesn't even look as nice as one that Dad would take us to. A lady meets us at our parking spot and gives Peter a key.

"They are all set up, under my name, here is the key, I'm going to be posted across the street," she says, then hurries to a black car that was left running.

We get into the room, there are two beds, a TV on the wall, and a small couch. We get inside, and we boys sit down on the bed while dad paces back and forth. Peter gets in, locks the door, and moves the couch by the door. "Try and get some sleep; I'm sure you all are exhausted. I'll watch the door."

Dad sits down on the bed, and all of us boys hug him. He tells us, "It'll be okay. Let's try and get some sleep; we've got a long day tomorrow." We all strip down to our underwear and climb into one of the beds. It doesn't take long for Alejandro to crawl into bed with Dad and for Tran to wrap his arms around my waist. Soon, I feel Tran's smooth rhythmic breathing on the back of my neck.

Suddenly my eyes opened, and I was in a pool with no sides. Treading water isn't working, and it seems like the more I kick, the more I sink. The water keeps going up my nose and down my throat. I spit it out and fight to stay afloat, but hands and arms reach from the darkness and grab and claw at me, trying to pull me under. I try and scream, but more water is swallowed. Suddenly, without warning, I sit up and realize I'm in this shitty hotel room. My chest heaves, and I fight for everything I have. I slip out of the bed and am planning to crawl into bed with Dad, but there really isn't any room for me.

"Hey buddy, are you okay?"

I jump, forgetting that Peter is even in the room with us. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a nightmare."

"You look cold, do you want this blanket?" He hands me a little cover the size of a baby blanket. I take it, not sure why it would be much help, and then realize I'm naked! I forgot that we all took off our underwear when we got under the blankets. My cheeks turn ten shades of red, and I cover my little dick with my hand. "It's alright. I've seen little boys before. Use the blanket to cover yourself if you want. You can sit next to me and tell me all about it."

I wrap the blanket around my waist and sit on the other side of the couch. Peter is just in his white shirt and black pants, and his shirt has the top five buttons undone. He is wearing reading glasses, just like mine, and reading a book with an automatic rifle with a skull painted on it on the cover. He doesn't try to touch me, giving me all the space I need to feel safe. Softly I whisper, "I was drowning, and there were these arms and hands that kept pulling me back underwater."

He nods his head and lifts his arm, inviting me to lean against him so he can protect me. I question if I should go back to bed with Tran, but something inside me wants a man to cuddle up against. A man to tell me it's going to be alright. Something deep inside me tells me, that to be safe, I have to be as close to Peter as I can. Scooting my butt across the fake leather couch, the hand towel-sized blanket comes off my lap, displaying my three-inch stiffy, and before I can fix it, Peter wraps his arm around my naked body. I fit perfectly against his warm and strong form. I've never felt so at peace with a man other than Dad. Laying my head on his chest, he goes back to reading his book and gently caresses my bare butt cheek. Little by little, the rhythmic petting on my bottom relaxes me like no one ever has. Soon, I feel the lure of dreamland and am pulled in.

End of Transitions New Adventures - Chapter 1 - Andrew Thomas / Tux Edwards