Uncaged
By Wes
Leigh featuring the contributions of Rob the Scribe
This is a work of fiction intended
solely for the entertainment of our readers; any resemblance to any real people
or places is purely coincidental. Readers who would like to chat are encouraged
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Controlled chaos was the only way to describe it.
Teenagers ran all over the place, grabbing suitcases, travel
bags and rolled up sleeping bags from their parents' cars. Hauling everything
to the large van borrowed from one of the churches in town, the youth yelled
and laughed as they jostled for position in the door of the large cargo trailer
towed behind the van, where Roderyk attempted to stash each item inside, right
up to the roof of the trailer.
Auntie was going through a stack of paperwork, checking to
see that she had permission slips for each teen going to the week-long summer
camp. "Anthony! Where's Anthony? Has anyone seen little Anthony?" she cried.
Anthony wiggled his way out of the mass of kids gathered
next to the trailer. "Here, Auntie!" He waved his hand to get her attention.
"Where is your mother, Anthony? I need her signature on this
form."
"I'll get her!" he shouted, dashing off again.
"That's it!" Rodney shouted. "The trailer is full. No more room. Everything else has to go under
your seats in the van."
The teens grabbed up the remaining sleeping bags and
suitcases and carried them to the van, helping each other to load everything
inside. Then they shoved and shouted at each other as they found seats in the
15-passenger van. Jasmine and April sat in the far back with Kitty and Rebecca.
Sarah sat in April's lap. Jared and Timothy objected loudly, claiming the girls
had ridden in the back last year too. Rodney broke up the pending argument by
promising the boys they could have the back seat on the way home, then he told
Sarah she couldn't ride in April's lap, so she grumbled and moved up a seat. Jared,
Timothy and Michael took the next seat. Aaron slid in next to his sister,
Sarah.
Anthony bashfully sidled up to Auntie. "Can I sit next to
you?" he asked.
Auntie drew the ten-year-old into a big hug. "Of course, you
can." It was his first summer camp. It had taken Auntie a bit of work
convincing the camp to accept the pre-teen, and she wanted it to be a wonderful
experience for him. "You can be my shadow the whole falutin'
time we're at camp, starting right now in the van!" She tapped Anthony on the
nose, making him giggle.
He turned and jumped up into the van, sitting in the empty
seat and beckoning for Auntie to join him.
RJ watched it all and wondered where he should sit. He could
sit with Sarah and Aaron. There was an empty seat next to them. Or with Auntie
and Anthony. Everywhere else was full. He felt a warm hand slide onto his neck
and squeeze gently. Turning, he saw Roderyk looking at him, smiling.
"It looks like I may be driving all the way with no one in
the passenger seat next to me to keep me company."
RJ grinned. "I can ride next to you and talk to you."
"I would like that."
RJ could tell Roderyk was happy this morning. Roderyk's aura
was a bright golden yellow, bright even in the early morning sunlight.
"Have we forgotten anything? Is everyone here who needs to
be here?" Roderyk shouted over the chattering teen conversations.
"NO!" several of them shouted.
"Who's missing?" Roderyk asked.
"ME!" they all shouted.
Roderyk shook his head and laughed. It was going to be an
interesting week.
͠ ͠ ͠
The drive took three hours and ended up in the hilly forests
of northern Georgia. The youngsters were practically bouncing in the seats with
excitement as they pulled into the parking lot where several other church buses
were unloading their passengers and gear.
"Everyone stay here and help
Roderyk unload the van and the cargo trailer," Auntie said. "I'm headin' in the office to get our housing assignments."
She hobbled away, leaving Roderyk supervising the unloading
mayhem. Twenty minutes later, Auntie returned with two slips of paper. She held
them over her head and said, "Girls are with me in Cabin A3 down next to the
lake. Boys are with Roderyk in Cabin B6, up on the mountain."
The boys groaned. Jared asked, "How come the boys always gotta climb up the mountain and the girls always get the
cabins down here?"
"Because we're delicate," April said, pouting and holding
out a limp arm, giving everyone else an opportunity to laugh and begin talking
all at once.
Anthony tugged on Auntie's sleeve.
"What is it, sweetie?" she asked.
Anthony's voice quivered. "I thought I was your shadow all
week. But you said all the boys would be in their cabin and you will be with
the girls."
Auntie leaned down and whispered. "I have to sleep with the
girls, or they'd be talkin' all night long and never get any shut-eye. Maybe you can sleep with the boys and make
sure they get to bed at a decent hour? Hmmm?"
Anthony smiled and nodded. "Okay."
"But the rest of the time, I want you right by my side, alright?"
"Alright," Anthony replied. He loved Auntie. She was the
grandmother he'd never had.
Roderyk asked Jared and Timothy to lead the way to the boy's
cabin, since they'd stayed there in previous summers. All the kids picked up
their luggage and sleeping bags and began carrying them to the cabins, while
Roderyk made a final check of the van and cargo hauler, then locked everything
up, lifted his own gear, and set off after the boys.
When he arrived at the boys' assigned cabin, it was simple
and rustic, but in excellent shape. It was one large room with cots arranged
around the outside and an open area in the middle with a few chairs. He'd
camped in tents before, so this would be luxury. The boys had all claimed their
bunks. RJ pointed at a bunk next to the door. "This one is yours, Roderyk. Right
next to mine. We're gonna be roomies all week!"
"There's no bathroom," Anthony said, looking all around.
Timothy laughed. "It's in the next building. Showers and
toilets and all."
"But what if I hafta pee in the
middle of the night?" Anthony asked.
Jared put his arm around Anthony's neck. "You wake me up and
I'll take you. But just to be sure, we'll go before bedtime every night."
Anthony nodded and started unrolling his sleeping bag onto
his cot.
Timothy opened one of the windows and took a deep breath. "Mountain
air! So nice!" The scent of pine trees and mountain flowers wafted into the
cabin. Timothy turned to the room and announced, "I'm leaving the window open
at night, so it might get a little chilly in here, but that's better than
smelling Jared's farts!"
The other boys laughed and hooted.
Jared squinted at his brother. "You're the one
with stinky farts. Mine smell like roses."
Even Roderyk had to chuckle hearing that. Yes, it was going
to be an interesting week.
͠ ͠ ͠
Meals were served in an enormous cafeteria next to the
administration building. The first night featured hamburgers with all the
fixings and crinkly, golden French fries, with ice cream sundaes for dessert. The
kids stuffed themselves, as only teenagers can do, then meandered into the
auditorium for the first official camp activity, a church service complete with
a praise band playing fast-paced worship songs.
There were over a hundred youth at the camp, so it was a
loud and excited group. To stir them up even more, the song leader gave each
church group a chance to sing the chorus of one of the songs. When it came time
for youth of Riverview Community Church to sing, Roderyk and Auntie joined in,
urging their kids to out-sing the others.
When the last song had been sung (at full volume, of
course), a young man stood up to preach. It was unlike any sermon the kids had
ever heard before. The man told them that tonight was the first night of their
future as the leaders of the church. He said they would be responsible for the
years to come, and they could do things the same way they'd always been done,
or they could change it up, figure out a new way to let people know that Jesus
loved them, find better ways to serve God, and make a real difference when they
went home in a week. Then his face fell and he looked around the auditorium
with a sad expression. "I can see it in your eyes. You're not sure you can do
this. It seems too big a job for you. After all, you're just a kid. What can a
kid do?"
He sat down on the edge of the stage and looked out over the
room of young people, all silent and listening intently now. "Yeah, what can a kid
do?" Then he opened his Bible and began reading one story after another about
young people like David who was just a youth when he killed Goliath. About the
boy who shared his lunch of a few loaves of bread and fish, so that Jesus could
miraculously feed thousands of people that day. About the young pastor Timothy
(Jared nudged his brother in the side when they heard the name; they both found
it funny that Timothy had the same name as a famous guy in the Bible). Everyone said Timothy was too inexperienced
to preach, the man reminded the youth, but Paul said he wasn't.
The man stood back up and pointed at the youth sitting in
front of him. "How are you going to make a difference. You. A young,
inexperienced teenager. I'll tell you how. You let God work through you and be AMAZED
at what he does. Because I'm telling you right now, you are not on your own in
this. God will be with you. He promised he would, and he always keeps his
promises. So don't let anyone tell you that you're just a kid! You're a kid
with God on your side!"
The auditorium shook with cheers as the young people stood
to their feet and clapped.
Roderyk blinked in surprise. The camp was certainly starting
off with a bang.
͠ ͠ ͠
The next day dawned too early for everyone. With all the
excitement of the night before, few teens fell asleep until early in the morning
hours. The boys in Roderyk's cabin had talked and told jokes and stories until
late at night before finally drifting off to sleep. The following morning, it
was up to Roderyk and the other groggy-eyed chaperones to roust the youngsters
out of their sleeping bags and send them down to the cafeteria for scrambled
eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. And coffee. Everyone it seemed was
drinking coffee. Except little Anthony, who drank a tall glass of milk. He had
passed out almost right away and slept soundly through the night, not having to
wake Jared once to go pee.
After breakfast, the camp counselors organized a huge
recreational event in the largest field of the camp. It was a massive
free-for-all dodge ball contest ... with nerf balls. It seemed to take forever,
because it was notoriously easy to dodge the slow moving nerf balls. But
eventually, winners were declared, to the cheers of the other campers.
With dodgeball over, the counselors divided the young people
into groups according to age. Hawks, the oldest teens aged 16 and up. Badgers,
teens aged 13 to 15. Foxes, 12 and under. And the Grizzlies, all the chaperones,
ages to be kept secret! Hearing their chaperones called the Grizzlies made the
kids laugh and point and the adults smile and nod. They felt like Grizzly bears
after the night they'd had.
Each group was moved to a corner of the field and instructed
to come up with a cheer to show how they felt about being in camp. Then one at
a time, they would get a chance to yell out their cheers.
Huddled together, each group came up with some funny and
surprising cheers.
The Hawks went first: "Rising high, in the sky, Hawks will
soar, Hawks will fly!" Then they screeched out a passable imitation of the
birds of prey, making the younger kids jump and then laugh.
The Badgers gathered in a circle for their cheer. They
started soft, increasing the volume as they chanted. "Badgers ... badgers ...
BADGERS ... BADGERS!" Then they screamed and jumped into the air.
The Foxes, true to their name, were more
timid than the other groups. With lots of encouragement from their
counselors, they cried, "We are the Foxes. The wise and mighty foxes." But they
didn't sound so mighty, except for young Anthony, who shouted at the top of his
lungs, making Auntie so very proud.
Last of all, it was the Grizzlies' turn. The adults faced
the assembled youth, who waited expectantly to hear what their chaperones were
going to yell. The adults took a deep breath and shouted as one: "We love you
kids!"
Silence fell on the field as the young people, prepared to
tease their chaperones, suddenly had nothing to say, some of them struggling
not to cry. For some of the young people, it wasn't very often that they heard
an adult say they were loved.
͠ ͠ ͠
After a full morning of recreation, the camp counselors gave
them a two-hour break before lunch, recommending showers for everyone.
Roderyk led his boys up the mountain trail to their cabin
and supervised as the boys stripped off their sweaty clothes. None of them,
including little Anthony, seemed the least bit modest. They finished undressing
and wrapped towels around their waists before grabbing soap and shampoo and running
laughing to the nearby shower facility.
Roderyk took his time, as did RJ. They were last two to
strip down. It was a little awkward, pulling their underwear off in the same
room. They stood with their backs to each other, rapidly stripping off their
underwear and wrapping themselves in towels before glancing back at each other.
RJ smiled timidly, heading out the cabin door and walking down the sidewalk to
the next building. Roderyk followed, wondering why RJ seemed so much more
appealing wearing nothing but a towel.
The shower building was divided into two parts. The first half had sinks, urinals, and toilet
stalls. The back half featured two rows
of individual shower cubicles, each with a privacy curtain, separated by a long
aisle. Most of the shower cubicles were
occupied when Roderyk walked into the room. A few other cabins were using it
too, so the room was filled with steam, laughter, and the shouts of teen boys. One
of the other chaperones was in the room, reminding the boys to hurry so they'd
make it to lunch on time.
Roderyk and RJ stood next to each other, waiting for
cubicles to be vacated. Finally, two boys came out of cubicles across the aisle
from each other. RJ took one, Roderyk the other. They pulled the curtains
closed and dropped their towels, hanging them on the hooks provided just
outside the cubicle.
Roderyk noticed that his shower curtain didn't hang straight
down, leaving a bit of a gap between the edge of the curtain and the wall. He
peeked through the gap and saw a similar gap in RJ's shower cubicle. His eyes
connected with RJ's. They were naked, staring at each other across the aisle,
unable to look away.
RJ was erect, his thin 13-year-old cock pointing straight at
the ceiling. It was about five inches long, cut, with a small patch of dark
brown pubes behind it. Roderyk couldn't look away. The boy's body was divine. Simply
perfect.
RJ's eyes slowly traveled down Roderyk's muscular body and
found the man also had an erection, thick, seven inches long. As powerful as the
rest of his body. Hair everywhere. On his stomach and chest and legs and
especially around his huge boner.
Roderyk was the first to break the spell. He tugged on the shower
curtain, forcing it to close as much as possible to give him some privacy. He
heard RJ doing the same.
Roderyk's heart sank. How could he have allowed RJ to see
him like this? His cock was throbbing now, pointing up at Roderyk, accusing
him. Roderyk ignored it, applying soap vigorously to his body and trying his
best to forget the angelic being showering across from him, knowing it was an
image that would be forever etched into his memories.
͠ ͠ ͠
"Please have a seat, Pastor Johnson." Susan Daniels gestured
at a chair next to the conference room table. "Pastor Johnson, this is Bruce
Andrews, the District Attorney. Bruce, this is Pastor James Johnson from the
Riverview Community Church."
The two men shook hands, then sat down.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak with us, Pastor Johnson,"
Bruce said, flashing his well-known friendly smile, the smile that was
usually reserved for shaking hands with crowds while campaigning and issuing
press conferences from in front of the courthouse.
Pastor James nodded. "You can call me Pastor James. Most of
my parishioners do."
Bruce nodded. "Pastor James it is." He paused and looked
over at Susan. "Did Ms. Daniels explain to you why we wanted to speak with you
today?"
Pastor James nodded again. "She mentioned you have some
concerns about a member of my church, Roderyk Meyer."
"Concerns and questions," Bruce said. "As you probably know,
Mr. Meyer has been accused of inappropriate contact with RJ McMahon, a boy in
your church."
Pastor James shook his head. "There's nothing to those
accusations. As you probably know, the boy has stated repeatedly
that nothing happened between the two of them."
The District Attorney shrugged. "Victims of crimes like
these rarely admit to being harmed. They are often too embarrassed to speak
out, and it's up to the community to protect them and keep digging until we
uncover the truth."
Pastor James looked from Bruce to Susan and back to Bruce
again. "If RJ claimed that Roderyk sexually molested him, would you believe the
boy?"
"Of course," Bruce replied.
"Then why don't you believe him when he says nothing
happened?"
Bruce looked at Susan nervously. She leaned in and said,
"It's not that we don't believe him. We simply want to get to the truth. That's
why we're keeping a close eye on things. We wouldn't the boy, or any other boy,
to be hurt."
Bruce, in his most persuasive courtroom voice, added, "I'm
sure we all agree that the safety of these boys is paramount. Even now, I
understand Mr. Meyer is at a summer camp, alone with the boys of
your church."
Pastor James shook his head. "No, not alone. Ruth Meyer is
there too. They're both chaperoning the group this week."
Bruce frowned. "This is the same Ruth Meyer who has been
impeding the Sheriff's department in their investigation, isn't it?"
"Nobody is impeding anything, Mr. Andrews. Let me make
something perfectly clear to the two of you. Ruth Meyers is one of the most
upstanding, honest, responsible, respectable women in our community. If she
thought something inappropriate was going on, she'd be the first to step up and
speak out, even if it was her own nephew who went to jail over it. And speaking
of that nephew, in the short time I've known Roderyk Meyer, I've been impressed
with his discipline, integrity, and concern for the young people in his care. If
anything, he holds himself back too much. Those young people love
him and hanker for him to return their love, but he's been hurt, somewhere in
his past, and he's reserved around them. He doesn't let them get as close as
they would if they could, so if anything, I trust him more than I would trust
either of you. Have I made my position clear?"
Bruce and Susan looked at each other, realizing they had
wasted their time.
"To be honest," Pastor James added, "I'm struggling to understand
why you folks are still pursuing this. RJ told you nothing happened."
Susan leaned forward and stated, "We have an ethical
obligation to see this through. RJ might be so traumatized that he can't admit
the truth, so it's up to us to be his voice in the courtroom."
Pastor James shook his head sadly. "I think RJ is doing a fine job speaking for
himself. He doesn't need you putting
words in his mouth."
Susan turned to Bruce and sighed. Bruce stared at her, shrugged, then turned
back to Pastor James and said, "I've assigned Susan to follow the police
investigation and keep me posted on anything they find. If you see or hear
anything alarming, please give her a call."
"I will," Pastor James said, standing up and effectively
ending the meeting. "God watch over you, and have a blessed day."
"Yes, uh, you too," Bruce mumbled, unsure of himself.
Pastor James walked out of the room, silently offering up a
prayer of protection for each of the precious ones entrusted to his care.
The end of UNCAGED, Chapter Seventeen