Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2020 16:01:48 -0500 From: Eric Murphey Subject: Transitions Book 2 chapter 14 Adult gay youth I thought I hate cliff hangers as you all know. I have said it enough. Its not really a cliff hanger but kind of.So its my holiday gift to you. I am soon Im thinking February or the end of January will be posting a new story. It will be complete and called It Aint Tiffanys. I think you will all enjoy it. Believe it or not the main character isnt named Eric. So be happy. Be safe and be loving Eric Donate to nifty Transitions Book 2 Chapter 14 After an hour in the air Eric wakes up feeling pretty well rested. He looks around and sees the boys at the nice table having what appears to be Rubens and fries. The flight attendant sees he is awake. "Would you like a sandwich or something to drink sir?" The nice looking young man asks. "Yes a coke and a Ruben sounds great. Thank you." "Sure thing." The young man goes to the back of the cabin and makes a coke for Eric and brings it back directly. Eric unfastens his belt and walks back to the table where the boys are. "Dad flying is so cool." Joey says. "Its not usually like this. We don't fly private." "Yeah its usually a way bigger plane and lots of people on it." Alejandro says as if he is the world traveler. Of course he has flown twice so that's twice more then the other boys. "Yes its usually kind of a pain to fly. This seems the way to go." Eric says as he sits down next to Alejandro. As he does the man sits the sandwich in front of him. Eric takes a fry and eats it. "Not bad." He says smiling. "Would you care for anything else sir?" "No I'm good. But, thank you." Eric takes a bite of the sandwich and its really good. "Dad I still dont know what to play." "How about your song?" "Nah I want to play something people know." "Buddy its completely up to you." Joey takes a bite of his sandwich and Eric can tell he is deep thought about what to sing. Tran is finishing his last bite and wipes off his hands with a moist toilette. Alejandro is halfway through his sandwich. When Eric is done with his food the flight attendant walks up to him. "Sir there is a phone call for you." "For me?" "Yes sir its the show they have some questions for you." "Oh OK." Eric goes to the air phone and talks a few minutes then puts Joey on as they want to ask him some questions to. That way the interview goes smoothly. Joey talks to them a good fifteen minutes then hangs up the phone. When they land another limo is waiting to take them to the hotel they will be staying at. The boys are all looking out the windows as they are driving. "Look Ba its really there. I thought it was just fake." Tran says pointing to the Hollywood sign. "No its real. It was actually an advertising gimmick to get people to move here. It once said Hollywood land." "Cool." Joey and Alejandro say in unison. Once they get to the hotel a nice young woman greets them and takes them to their suite. She works for the show and has already got them checked in. "Sorry for the big rush. But we start shooting in an hour and a half. So we need to get you guys to the studio and into makeup." "Makeup?" Joey says. "I'm not a girl." "Buddy they use makeup to make you look better on TV its normal, trust me." Eric says. "OK." So all they have time to do is put their bags into the room and go to the studio. "Dad I thought it would be way bigger." Joey says as they pull up to the studio. "Its pretty big." Eric says. "Its barely bigger then our house." "True. But, its OK." They all go in and follow the lady. She takes Joey to mak up and a man puts some light make up on him. "I was thinking we would have to put him in something different to wear. But, that suit looks amazing. I think he will look great on TV with that." The lady says. They all still had on their suits as they didn't really have time to change. They all go to the green room which has a TV and lots of snacks and drinks. The boys all grab a Coke and sit down and wait. "Dad I still don't know what to play." "Sing what your heart tells you to sing." "OK." A man that looks and acts like he drinks way too much coffee comes in. "OK you will be first on tonight. We start in five minutes." The man says quickly. "Kay." Joey says. A few minutes later the same man comes back and guides Joey to the area is is to wait in before he plays. Eric, Tran and Alejandro are led to the front row of the audience. "Poppi. You think hes scared?" "With Joey there is no telling." "I bet he is." After the shows host does his stand up for the beginning of the show he goes to his desk and they break for a commercial. A makeup person touches up his makeup and they are back in about two minutes. "Ladies and gentlemen. I am proud to present for his television debut. Joey Murhpey." The crowd seems to be full of preteen girls Eric notices. They scream and go wild as Joey walks out on stage and up to the grand piano set center stage. He sits on the bench and looks at the crowd. "Hi. I.m Joey Murphey. My brother Alejandro will kill me if I don't say this. But, he is right it is important. On the screen below me you will see a number to make a donation to St Jude Children's research hospital. It is really important that you help. Its OK if its only five dollars. But, they need lots of people to donate five dollars. Please make a donation to help fight childhood cancer. I learned a man named Danny Thomas started the hospital because he made a promise to St Jude if he became famous he would start a hospital for children with his name on it. So here it goes." Joey says. He puts his fingers on the keys and starts playing Ill be there. An old Jackson 5 song. He plays it lovely. When he is done the crowd goes insane. The host walks out to meet Joey as he walks towards the desk. The host holds out his hand and shakes his. Joey sits on the chair. Still not tall enough for his feet to touch the ground so he does as most boys would do. He swings his legs back and forth. The host starts out. "That was really great. I bet Michael would have loved your version of his song." "I hope so." "So tell us a bit about yourself." "Not much to tell. Im Joey I'm nine and I like to bowl." "I hear your brother Tran was just in St Jude. How is he doing?" "Hes real good. Want to meet him?" "Sure." "C'mon Tran." Joey says waving his brother to join him. "I heard you mention your other brother Alejandro. Do you want him to come up too?" "Can he? And Dad too?" "Sure the more the merrier." So the entire family walks up and gets on the stage with Joey. Its Joey first. Then Tran next to him Alejandro next and Eric at the end. "Tran how are you feeling?" The host asks him. "Pretty excited for my brother." "You think he is going to be a big star?" "I don't know. I think hes great though." Tran answers. "Tran its my understanding that you gave another boy your train set. That was really nice of you." Tran blushes at the compliment. "Yes I did. I gave it to my friend Brandon. He is at St Judes now getting treatment. He is really fun to be with and I know he really wanted a train. So I gave him mine." "Well, we have a surprise for you. The Lionel corporation heard what you did and they have a gift for you." A half a dozen crew people walk out carrying various train sets. "Wow that is so cool." "Not to mention that they are also going to donate several dozen train sets to children at St Jude and some to the hospital itself." "Wow thanks. That is so cool." Tran says grinning and getting up to check out the train sets. As Tran is looking at the sets the host asks Joey. "So Joey all the girls here want to know. Do you have a girl friend?" "Kinda. Beth, she is a girl at St Judes. She is the prettiest girl I ever met. She is going through treatments and it made her lose her hair. But, a program her mom heard about gave her a wig. She is really pretty without hair too though. Oops sorry Beth didn't mean to say you were bald. But, Hi. I miss you keep fighting."Joey says waving at the camera. "What about you Alejandro? You got a girl friend?" The host says including him. "Yep. I do. Cindy and she says we are going to get married. I believe her." "Sounds like you are already smarter then most men." The host says laughing. "Well, Cindy and I love each other a lot already. She is so nice and pretty. Why wouldn't I want to marry her? She says we are going to be doctors together." "You must make pretty good grades then." "Sure I do. I got a B once I was really upset about it. Poppi told me that B's are OK if I did my best and that's what I got. But, it wasn't my best and I let him and myself down not doing my best." "Well, we should always try our best." The host agrees. "So Mr Murhpey its my understanding this isn't your first time on TV." "No sir I have been on television several times." "Joey says that you were on TV to promote a coat drive." "That's correct." "How many coats did you guys get?" "I don't recall it was a lot though. It was Joeys idea and I just kind of went with it." "Its my understanding you own a lot of McDonald's franchises is that correct?" "Yes and we just bought a few KFC's as well." "You put collection boxes in every one of your stores?" "Sure what better way to promote it. A friend of ours Red he owns several dry cleaners and he cleaned the coats for the children." "That was nice of him." "Poppi tell him about the Children's Clinic." Alejandro says. "Oh yes. When Joey first came to live with us we had him play at the mall. My other son here Alejandro he went around and collected money for the children's clinic. He did it at school as well. He is a great little fund raiser. It was his idea to put the number on the screen to raise money. Joey didn't want to do it until Alejandro suggested to raise money." "Sounds like a great young man." "He sure is. All my boys are." "Joey we have to take a break but, when we come back will you sing another song for us?" "Sure its why I'm here right?" The host laughs and answers. "I suppose it is." They go to break and Eric and the boys are told to stay where they are and Joey walks back to the piano. When they come back from break Joey starts singing Somebody to Love. He hammers the keys and plays as if Freddie Mercury is channeling through him. When he is done the crowd goes wild again. He stands and takes a bow and walks back over to the hosts desk. "So Joey we have a surprise for you too." "Cool. I like surprises." A man walks out from behind the curtain. He introduces himself to Joey. "Hi Joey I am Phil Diamond of Diamond Records. I want to extend a recording contract to you. I want to make you a star." Joey smiles. "Thanks. When your a singer you travel a lot right?" "Sure you go to all kinds of cities and different countries. You have concerts all over the world. Its great fun and exciting. I wont lie its a lot of work too." "So I would be away from home a lot then?" "Yes you would." "Thanks Mr Diamond. But, I just got my family. I don't want to be gone from them. I just got really adopted today. So thanks but no." The man is shocked at the refusal. "Mr Murphey you can see he can make a lot of money." He pleads to Eric. "We don't need any money. Its Joeys decision if he wants to do it or not. I believe he told you no and I am not going to force him to do something he doesn't want to do." "Yeah besides I'm just Joey. I aint no one special." "Yes you are." Eric says. "You know what I mean dad." "What if we just record songs and release them with videos. No travel?" "Maybe I guess I have to think about it and talk to Dad see what he thinks." "You can donate a lot of money to help people then." Alejandro chimes in. "Yeah but, then I wont be around you guys as much." Joey says defending his position. "But, as poppi says..." "Yeah I know if you cant help the person in front of you. What good are you?" "Whats that?" The host asks. "Its what dad is always telling us. He says if we don't help the person in front of us. What good are we? I want to be good like dad is. So I guess if we can just do songs and not travel I will do that." "Maybe a few concerts?" The man asks with hope in his eyes. "Nah I don't think so. I would have to miss school and stuff. Dad says school is real important and he wants me to go to college and stuff too. He says he didn't and regrets it." "We can hire tutors." "No I don't think any concerts." "How about in the summer?" "Maybe. I will have to talk to dad and see what he thinks." "We will sell a lot of records either way." "Hey is the number still on the screen?" Alejandro asks. "Yes it is. We said it would be the entire time Joey was on the air." The host says. "Well, if you haven't called yet. You need to." Alejandro says. "What about you Mr Diamond. You want to help out." Alejandro puts the man on the spot. Something he is getting really good at. "Sure I will donate a thousand dollars." Alejandro looks at him and frowns. "OK how about ten thousand dollars?" This makes the boys smile. "I think that's great. Matter of fact how about everyone here. Lets collect some money for the children." Alejandro stands up and starts walking through the audience he grabbed a trash can to put money in. As he has now taken over the TV show, turning it into a fundraiser. The host doesn't know what to do so he asks Joey. "Is he always like this?" "Yeah he is. See we was all adopted...." "I heard you say today it was official?" "Yeah we went to court today. The nice judge lady asked a bunch of questions and then Dad was real our dad. Its the best day of my life. But, like I was saying we was all adopted and Alejandro and me we had it pretty rough. Lots of times we didn't have nothing to eat. Its really sad we didn't. That's why we like helping people so much. Cuz we know what its like to be hungry and wanting someone to help us and to love us. That's why I sang the song Somebody to love. Cuz like Tran here he was in the foster system for a long time. He just wanted someone to love. Someone to love him. There are lots of children out there that need a good home and people to love them." "I suppose thats true." The host says. "No it is true. Lots of kids need our help and we are going to help them. We need to because they are right in front of us." "You know your right buddy. I would like to say publicly that I will donate a million dollars to the Dave Thomas foundation. They do great work and promote adoption." "But, you own McDonald's franchises and thats a Wendy''s cause." The host says. "So its a good program who cares who gets the credit as long as it helps the children." "That so cool dad." Joey gushes. "Yeah it is." The host says The camera is split screen and is showing Alejandro walking through the audience collecting money from the people. He is zig zagging through the crowd to get to all the people. Once he makes it allt he way through he walks up to the host. "I know you want to help too." He says smiling and putting the man on the spot. "I sure do. Im not as rich as your dad. But, I will donate ten grand to St Judes." Alejandro looks at him and smiles. "Thanks for all the kids you are going to help." This makes the man smile. "You got one lucky dad." "Nah we are the ones that are lucky. We got a great poppi." As the show is wrapping up the host says. "We are really sorry for not having our other guests on this evening. We will try to have them back tomorrow night. So thanks for watching tonight and remember call that umber on your screen." With that the show ends. After the show the host walks up to Eric. "You got some really great kids there." "Yes I do. I cant believe Alejandro hijacked your show. Sorry about that." "No its fine it was a lot of fun. Your boys are so full of excitement its contagious. I really do hope we raised a lot of money and thanks again for coming on. I just want to say that you are always welcomed back anytime. We actually may call you again very soon. I think this was the most fun I have had making this show." "Thanks. We may come back. I guess its up to the boys." "Anyway thanks a lot and I do wish you the best for your family." "Thanks." After they walk out they get back into the limo and it takes the back to the hotel. Once they are back in the room Joey says. "That was kind of fun. Dad did I mess up not taking up the man on his offer?" "I don't think so. You made a compromise and will still be recording songs and making videos." "It might be fun to do some concerts. But, I don't want to do it all the time. I want to be a kid for a while and have some fun." "I understand. You do what makes you happy. I will stand behind you no matter what you decide." "I know dad." "It will be so cool. You are going to be super famous." Alejandro says. "I don't care about that." Joey says. "Poppi can we go to the beach?" "Tomorrow. Its getting late and we need dinner yet and I know you guys have to be tired." "Yeah I'm starving Ba." "Well, lets just get room service. I dont feel like figuring out where to eat." "Cool I like room service." Joey says. Once they get back they all get what they want from room service and it arrives shortly after they order it. After they sit and watch a movie none of them have seen and laugh and have a good time. After that they all take showers and head to bed as its been a very long day. Eric is sleeping soundly when he hears Alejandro scream out. He races to the room the boys are in and Rushes to Alejadnros side. He sees he is having a nightnare. Eric wakes him quickly. "Alejandro wake up." He says shaking his son awake. Alejadnro opens his eyes and sees Eric and instantly sits up and wraps his arms around him. "Oh Poppi it was awful. You died and we was all alone. Oh poppi." Alejandro says tears streaming down his face. "I'm just fine. Its going ot be OK." Eric says soothing him and taking him onto his lap and holds him rocking him back and forth. "Oh poppi it was so bad. We had to all go back to where we was. We all got separated. You got to eat better Poppi. You just got to." Eric thinks Julia has got to stop saying these things in front of the boys. He knows she is right but, he doesn't want Alejandro scared either. "I will buddy. I will eat better." Eric says and stands up holding Alejandro. He walks back into his room carrying him and puts him on the bed and gets in next to him. Alejandro snuggles up to Eric and is back asleep in seconds. Eric whose heart is stil pounding from the fright doesn't go back to sleep so easily. It takes him a good hour to rejoin the land of Nod and when he does he has happy dreams again about the farm Eric has been sending him pictures of and telling him stories about the things they have done and the things the children are learning and doing.