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 to contact us at weston.leigh@protonmail.com and robthescribe@protonmail.com.

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Chapter Seventeen

 

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