Date: Mon, 04 May 2015 23:08:43 -0700
From: h.schreiber@hushmail.com
Subject: Chapter 23 of Come Christmas Steve by Hans Schreiber

Come Christmas Steve

Chapter 23

Sex Complicates Life

The next morning, I woke before Billy and found myself in an awkward
position. Billy had his arm slung over my shoulder and his leg over
mine. His morning wood was pressed against my hip. His hot breath fell
rhythmically across my neck. I feared he would be embarrassed if he woke up
like that and I wondered if he was mistaking me for Jaime. I definitely
wished it was Steve spooning up against me instead of my little brother. It
caused me desperate longing to be held by Steve again, flesh against flesh
ready to share a hot lovemaking session together. I closed my eyes and
imagined it. I was startled from my half slumbered, day dream by Billy
pulling his leg slowly up along mine, his knee approaching my self-induced
erection. I started thinking about the night before and the long talk that
Billy and I had. He didn't need to wake in this position and rekindle his
irrational fears about being gay. Sex really complicates life, I concluded.

Slowly, I lifted Billy's arm up and off of me, then nudged my hip into his
erection while lifting my leg up.  Billy reacted as I planned, grunted and
rolled away, taking most of the covers with him. Normally, I would get
aggravated by that, but not then because I needed to get up and go pee
anyway. I stood and padded into the bathroom. I sat down and coaxed my
erection to stand down long enough to pee.

When my stream finished, I milked out the last drops. My neglected dick
started to respond and I milked a little longer. Before long, I'd stroked
myself back into a fully erect condition and my balls pulled up tight in
anticipation of a badly needed release. A familiar dull ache started from
my balls and worked up into my abdomen. I slumped down on the seat, leaned
my head back against the mustard yellow wall, closed my eyes and started
abusing myself in earnest.

It felt good, but not complete. I knew what I wanted, or needed. I got up
and started searching drawers and cupboards. What I settled on was a long
white emergency candle. My mom had a box of them in the bottom of the
cupboard for electrical outages, which happened fairly frequently in the
thick of winter. I figured this was certainly an emergency. I took one and
greased it up with Jergen's lotion then settled back into position on the
toilet seat. I moved the little stool out in front of me like I used to do
as a kid to put my feet up on. I worked the sculpted end of the candle
around my rim and then pushed it slowly inside. Once past the resistance of
the outer ring, I easily slid it up to within striking distance of my
pleasure gland. My dick immediately sprang back up to a palpitating
erection and my bulbous tip was stretched tight, turning a glossy
purple. Now I was set.

I gripped both the candle and my throbbing dick tightly. I didn't want to
accidentally lose the candle up my ass and I was in the mood for a very
physical ejaculation. I laid my head back, closed my eyes and started
working my stiff shaft with vigorous determination. At the same time, I
wriggled the candle in and out and up and down until I found the magic spot
that sent waves of pleasure rippling through my body. I began to moan
involuntarily as the anticipation germinated. My breathing grew ragged and
I blew out little puffs of air with each vicious stroke of my engorged
penis. I imagined little Billy as a naive pre-teen sneaking a peek at me
doing this very thing some five years ago. I realized how shocking such a
sight must have been to his tender, innocent psyche. I imagined him rushing
back to our room afterwards, anxious, trembling and captivated. I
envisioned him dropping his drawers like a hot rock to expose his small,
hairless and undoubtedly very stiff wiener. In my mind's eye, I saw him
pulling on his underdeveloped tool as he'd just seen me doing until he
experienced his initiatory orgasm. What must he have thought? How did he
feel? Exhilaration? Thrill? Guilt? Shame? All of it?

I recalled some of the more memorable nut busting experiences I'd had in
this very spot and position as a young boy. I recalled in great detail the
first time I'd slipped the infamous brush handle into my Netherlands.  I
relived the first time Nicolas took my small dick in his hand and
introduced me to the unique joy of being a male. Lastly, I thought of how
good Billy's man-sized erection had felt against my hip that very morning
and wished again for Steve to be inside me instead of an emergency
candle. With that thought, the chemical floodgates released and the flood
began. My brain and my body were awash with a frame shaking explosion,
curling my toes and making my hair stand on end.

"Ahhhhh," I groaned aloud as hot white cum jettisoned up to my neck. Two,
three, four body wracking expulsions later, my taut muscles relaxed in
unison as if they were a chorus pausing for a breath. I slumped against the
toilet tank gasping in great gulps. Molten cum oozed from my shiny, purple
tip as I held my shaft in a concentrated grip, relishing the final throbs
and twitches. The load on my chest began to melt and slither down into my
blond pubes. I extracted the candle and as I did, it was propelled out with
a rather forceful passing of wind. That made me giggle. A candle in the
wind, I thought. I amused myself with the thought that maybe Elton John had
conjured up that lyric from doing the very same thing. Probably not, but a
funny thought nonetheless.

I just sat there in refractory mode, smearing the slippery cum over my
chest and massaging my sensitive nipples with my fingers. It was a
satisfying release that had been sorely needed - not like sharing it with
someone else, but certainly better than most of my solo
experiences. Reluctantly, I squeegeed as much watery cum into a pool in my
pubic patch and reeled off a wad of toilet tissue to clean up with. Once
I'd mopped up the majority of the runny stuff, I cleaned up the candle and
stuffed it under some other trash in the small blue trash can beside the
toilet. But not before lifting it to my nose and drinking in the familiar
odor, the one that was linked to the aftermath of sex in my gay brain. Then
I stepped into the shower and rinsed away the residue.

Returning to the room, I found Billy stretched out almost spread eagle and
still sound asleep. I looked at him and realized how much I loved and
appreciated him as a brother. As I pulled my jeans on, he stirred and
rubbed the sleep from his eyes with both hands. He looked over at me
looking at him and smiled.

"Good morning, bro," he said.

"Morning, you. Sleep good?"

"Yeah," he replied dreamily.

"Sweet dreams?" I asked.

"Hmmm, yeah," he answered without hesitation, "real sweet, just not long
enough." He tossed the covers aside and exposed his tented boxers. He
sported an impressive erection beneath the thin plaid fabric. "If you'll
hurry your ass up and get out of here, I might just finish it up with a day
dream."

"I'm hurrying. I wouldn't want to keep you from that," I snickered.

I tossed on a shirt but didn't button it up. I grabbed my shoes and socks
and headed to the door. "Happy ending, bro," I said with a smile. "See you
at breakfast."

I dressed in the family room and then pulled on my old coat and headed out
to do morning chores. The crisp morning air filled my lungs with a new
found optimism. Watching the sun above the mountains give its life
sustaining warmth to the frozen land below inspired me. It was time for my
sun to rise.  Whatever happened, I was going to face it with courage. I
decided to follow Whittaker's advice and start running again. After chores
were done, including Billy's share, I came in to find everyone just sitting
down to breakfast. Jaime looked much better after having a good night's
sleep. She was wearing one of my mom's robes so that Mom could wash her
clothes for her since she only had one set with her.

"How are you doing this morning?" I asked.

"Better, thanks," she responded. "My face still hurts."

"I bet it does. Billy's face hurts too," I stated.

"No it doesn't! Why'd you say that?" Billy said.

"It's been hurting me for 17 years," I joked.

"Haha, very funny, dude," he said rolling his eyes. "That jokes so old,
it's on life support."

"Have you heard anything from the sheriff or family services?" I asked of
Jaime.

"Not yet. Hopefully, we will soon. I'd like to know what's happening with
me," she commented.

"Are you going to school today?" I asked.

"No. I really don't want to ever go back. I want to finish up on some kind
of home school program if I can," she answered.

"I hope it all works out for you. It sucks not knowing what you're future
will be," I commented.

"I'm sure it must be very difficult for you too. I'm very worried about you
and Billy," Jaime said.

"We'll be fine. I have a good feeling about it all. Justice will prevail,"
I declared. I said it as much to convince myself as to quell her fears over
losing Billy.

"Hopefully," Dad interjected. "Hopefully."

"Chores are all done for the morning, even your share, Billy. Anything
special you need done today, Dad?"

"No. I don't have any jobs that you can go with me on. I'm going to work on
my new sprayer attachment in the shop later. You could help a bit with
that."

"Great. I'm going crazy just sitting around and waiting. I thought about
taking some online classes but I don't want to do it at MSU since I doubt
I'll ever go back there. And taking them anywhere else would just be a
waste of money until I know where I'm going once this all is behind
me. I've decided to start running again. Maybe I'll train for a marathon."

"That would be impressive," commented Dad. "When did you start running?"

"Steve liked to run and Whittaker got into it with me. The three of us ran
quite a bit at school and then after Steve disappeared, Whittaker and I did
it together. It helps clear your head and just makes you feel generally
better about everything."

"Cool, bro. You should definitely run a marathon," urged Billy.

"You should join me," I urged back.

"Maybe. Not sure that's my thing. It's totally what you're about,
though. You are definitely persistent," Billy said. "When you decide to do
something, you see it through."

"Was that a nice way to call me stubborn?" I snickered as I smeared a
massive glob of raspberry jelly on my crepe.

"Nah, bro," Billy denied. Then after a pause, "Well, maybe, but in a good
way." Dad snickered, while Mom and Jaime rolled their eyes.

We'd just finished off all the crepes and Mom was promising to teach Jaime
how to make them when a firm knock echoed from the front entry. It was
Sheriff Withers. "Come in," Dad said. We all filed into the great room with
anticipation. Jaime sat tightly against Billy on the couch and gripped his
hand. Her features were tense and strained. Billy was searching the
sheriff's face for clues.

"Jaime, we've located a safe place for you to stay. Get your things and
I'll escort you there," Sheriff Withers said sternly.

"Wait!" Billy countered, edging forward on the couch. "Why?"

Sheriff Withers didn't answer. He just stared at Billy like he was stupid.

"There's no reason she can't stay right here. She's safe and she wants to
be here. Don't you Jaime?" Billy argued.

"No, she can't and no she isn't," rebutted the sheriff.

"Bull! Give me one good reason?"

"Billy," Dad cautioned. "Stay calm."

"Get your things, Jaime. We need to be going."

"I don't have any things. My clothes are in the wash right now. All my
other stuff is at my place. Can we go by there on the way?"

"No. That's not a good idea. I don't think you should see your father right
now. It would only complicate matters," he answered.

"Wait a minute," Billy said glaringly. "How could she see her old man at
her place if you arrested him?  Didn't you arrest him like you said you
would?"

"No. But that's none of your concern, kid."

"Like hell! It's totally my concern. He abused her. You said you'd lock him
up so he couldn't get at her and hurt her any more. You lied!" Billy was
worked up.

The sheriff glared hard at Billy and then spoke in measured tones. "I went
by there and I intended to make the arrest. However, he had a different
version of the events than what I heard from you and Jaime. So based on
what he told me, I did not arrest him and I won't arrest him until I do
some further investigation. But we have a safe place for Jaime to be where
she will not be at risk, and that place certainly is not here."

"That's bullshit! What did that lying sack of shit tell you?" Billy
demanded.

"Billy, calm down!" Dad stressed.

"I can't calm down, Dad. Don't you see what's going on here? He doesn't
like us. He's got it in for us just like everyone else around here. Guilty
without a trial. Homophobic asshole. That's all he is, just like Jaime's
old man."

"That's enough out of you, kid. Jaime, let's go," the sheriff said,
standing up.

"I don't want to go. I want to stay here. Please tell me why I can't stay
here? I feel safe here," Jaime whimpered. She brushed a tear from her
cheek.

"Yeah, give us a GOOD reason," Billy demanded, pulling Jaime into him and
putting his arm protectively around her shoulder.

"All right." Sheriff Withers looked at Mom and then back at Billy. "I
wasn't going to get into this in front of your mother, but since you
insist, you little shit, here it is. Jaime's father had a different
explanation about the events of last night. He informed me that you had
been raping his daughter, forcing her to have sex with you under threats of
harming her or sending naked pictures of her out in text messages.  He said
you threatened him too. He told me that he caught you in the act last night
and that he threw you out. But you came back in wielding a piece of rusty
pipe, just like the one I saw in the back of the truck you drove over there
yesterday. He described the truck and the pipe exactly. He even described
what your erection looks like. I'm not sure how he would be able to do that
if he hadn't caught you with his daughter like he claims. He said you were
swinging the pipe at him and threatened to kill him just like you'd killed
those other men. In his defense, he grabbed the spittoon and swung it at
you, but you ducked and it struck his daughter in the face instead. Then
you grabbed Jaime and pulled her out of the house and into your truck
screaming threats that if he called the police, you'd harm Jaime."

We sat in stunned disbelief. Mom started to cry softly. Dad seethed. Billy
boiled, Jaime's mouth just hung open. I started laughing. Everyone stared
at me. "Please say you're kidding. Please tell me you can't be that
ridiculously ignorant. Does Jaime look or act afraid of Billy? This is all
just an excuse to impose your asinine prejudice against me and my
brother. If he'd raped Jaime," I motioned toward Billy, "don't you think
she would have insisted on not staying here instead of begging to be with
us? And she was examined at the hospital last night. Wouldn't they have
found evidence of rape? It's all just so, so laughable."

"Listen, you miserable little fa..." Sheriff Withers stopped himself and
clenched his teeth, but his stare was icy cold. He turned to Jaime, "Has
Billy had sex with you?"

"Ever?" she cowered.

"Yes. Has he ever penetrated you?" She didn't answer verbally, but she
affirmed it with a little nod.

"Did he force you or threaten you to get it?"

"NO! Never!" Jaime answered firmly. "He'd never do that. He's not like
that. He's kind. My father's a liar and a drunk. He's lying Sheriff. You
have to believe me."

Mom gripped Dad's arm and released an uncontrollable little wail.

"Did he have sex with you yesterday?" inquired the sheriff.

"No. We didn't do it last night. That's all lies. It all happened just like
I told you. Honest."

"When's the last time he did penetrate you?" pushed the sheriff.

Mom groaned some more and Dad pressed his hand to hers.

"I don't know. A while ago, like a week maybe. It was when we met out on
the canal road. Shane needed to borrow my phone to call someone and while
he made his call, we ..." Jaime trailed off.

"You did what?" he asked.

"We had sex in the truck." Jaime blushed and bit her lip. Billy glanced at
Mom and then stared shamefully at the floor.

"In a truck? Did he initiate it? Did he force it on you?" pressed Sheriff
Withers. His head and bald scalp were now beet red.

"NO! I told you, he isn't like that. I wanted it. I wanted to do it. I had
to ask him three times before he agreed to do it because Shane was there,
outside talking on my phone."

"Who was he talking to and why didn't he use his own phone?" asked the
Sheriff.

I'd been trying to shrink and disappear from the moment, Jaime mentioned
the phone. My stomach was in knots and I was sweating. I could feel drops
of sweat forming under my arms and in my groin.

"I don't know, just some guy I guess. He never said. Maybe his phone was
dead or his minutes were gone. Billy just asked me to let him borrow it and
I really wanted to be with Billy, so I drove over there to meet them. Billy
and I, we talked for a while and then we started, you know, making out, and
then I told him I had a condom and asked him to do it with me. It'd been so
long. I love Billy, Sheriff."

Turning to me, Sheriff Sasquatch queried, "Who did you call on her phone
and why didn't you use your own phone? Was that just a ruse to lure her
over into your brother's clutches?"

There it was. The question I'd been dreading from the instant Jaime
mentioned her phone. I wondered if I should lie or hedge the truth or just
not say anything. I could see the sheriff's angered impatience growing with
each passing second of silence. Oh, it was just your twelve year old son,
Colt, I was talking to, flashed through my brain causing an inappropriate
glimmer of a grin to crease my lips.

"You think this is all a joke?" seethed the imposing law man. "You think
this is funny, asshole?"

"No sir. Nothing funny about it, but it is ridiculous, like I said
before. You know her father is lying." I was suddenly proud of how quickly
I'd deflected.

"No, I don't know who is lying. Especially now that I know these two have
been actively screwing. I don't know if Jaime is lying now to protect
herself from Billy here if she were to tell me that he had been forcing her
into sex. These things can be complicated when sex is involved, especially
underage sex. "We already know Billy has a violent temper in him and that
he actually killed two people," he continued.

"Thugs," I interrupted. "Filthy killers themselves. They were hardly just
people and they were going to kill me and my college friend and an FBI
agent. Billy saved us. He's a hero, not a criminal."

"Whatever. That remains to be seen once he goes to trial. You still haven't
answered my question. Who were you talking to and why did you need her
phone? Was it a young boy who you wanted to lure in and rape just like you
did before to that boy in Yellowstone?" My heart nearly stopped, and I'm
certain it at least skipped a beat or two. As a bizarre punctuation to the
whole interrogation, Jaime's phone started buzzing in her pocket. She
ignored it.

"All right! That's enough of this, God Dammit!" shouted Dad. "I've had
enough. Sheriff, are either of my sons under arrest?"

"No sir. Just under suspicion."

"Well then, I suggest you stop interrogating them as if they were. Since
it's clear you have intentions of taking Jaime to another safe place, I
suggest you do so. I agree, that given the prejudice against our family at
the moment, it is better for her not to be here. And Sheriff Withers, I
think it's best if you don't come back here as well. I'm calling your
superiors and our attorney to fill them in on the proceedings here. Then,
I'm requesting that if we need any more visits from the Sheriff's office,
they send someone other than you."

"Your prerogative, sir. You should be grateful for all I've done already,
but I'm used to ingrates. Let's hope you don't need an officer in a hurry,
because I'm the closest one to you. I'll be happy to not come back here,
though. Believe me." He reached out for Jaime's hand and she shrunk away,
clutching Billy.  The sheriff extended his large paw a bit further
indicating his insistence.

"It'll be okay," Billy assured her. Then he leaned in and tenderly kissed
her cheek. She turned and kissed him back on the lips, then she
acknowledged Sheriff Withers' extended hand and stood to go with him.

She went first with Mom to the laundry and then into Mom and Dad's
bedroom. She emerged, dressed and ready to go with a plastic bag of
toiletries that Mom had put together for her.

Her phone buzzed again but again she ignored it.

After they left, Mom went to her room, distraught and crying. Dad scowled
at us and followed her. Billy and I sat in silence, shaken and frightened
from the visit. When Dad emerged, he didn't say anything to either of
us. The silence was a fate worse than the verbal lashing we'd
anticipated. Dad's weapon of choice was obvious disappointment and I'd have
gladly taken a beating from Officer Sasquatch over having to face the
daggers of Dad's disappointed glares. The silence hung with unspoken words
suspended midair and we had to push our way through them just to move
about. Billy and I busied ourselves cleaning up the kitchen while Dad
headed to his workshop.

When the kitchen was done, Billy and I both walked out to Dad's shop. Billy
decided to apologize to him for what he'd put Mom through and to see if he
needed any help. When we entered, Dad looked up at us briefly and then
looked away without a word.

"Dad," Billy began tenuously. "Dad, I'm sorry for all that. I'm sorry Mom
had to hear all that," he said. He was choking back tears and he was
completely sincere.

"Me too," Dad responded without looking at us. "You weren't raised like
that. I'm not naive, I know guys nowadays have sex pretty freely, even in
high school. But the lying and deceit bothers me," Dad said.

"Let me ask you, when you told us you were spending the night at Jaime's,
did you mean this Jaime, instead of your guy friend named Jaime?" Dad
asked. I nibbled on my lips and stared at Billy. Dad had figured it out. I
wondered if Billy would be honest.

"I'm not gonna lie anymore, Dad. Yes. I was spending the night with her and
not with my guy friend.  We've been doing it together for a couple of years
off and on," Billy admitted. "But it was never rape or forced. We both
wanted to do it. She asked me for it more than I asked her. Honest."

"I believe that part. Still the lies hurt my feelings, son. It will take
some time to repair that. You need to go talk to your mother and apologize
to her. Shane, will you help me here while Billy takes care of what he
needs to do inside?"

"Sure, Dad. What do you need?"

"Dad, I'm really sorry. Don't hate me, please?" Billy cried. He sniffed and
rubbed the tears away. "Please forgive me. I'm really sorry. I won't ever
lie to you again. I promise."

Dad turned, walked over and pulled Billy into a hug. "Make sure you
don't. I could never hate you, Billy. I love you. If I hated you, it
wouldn't hurt me so much. It's because I love you that it hurts. Now go see
your mom." Billy nodded and complied.

I spent a couple of hours working with my dad, holding pieces in place
mostly while he measured, drilled and welded things. At first we only spoke
to communicate what needed to be done. After a bit, we chatted more freely
while we did it. Dad asked me what I thought about Billy and Jaime and how
much I knew about it. I explained that I knew at Christmastime he had
created the fictitious Jaime and was using that as a way to sleep over with
the female Jaime. I admitted that Billy asked me to keep it secret and I
had. I apologized. Dad didn't seem upset with me over that. He understood
promises between guys and especially brothers. Then he asked me if I had
been sneaking off for sex with other guys when I was in high school. I
laughed. "No. Not that I wouldn't have done that, to be honest, but I
didn't have any opportunity for that. I was just trying to stay under the
radar. I didn't have the balls for that. You hit on a girl at school and if
she's not interested she can just tell you to get lost. You hit on a guy
and he turns out not to be gay like you think, and your life could be
over. So, no. I never did anything like that."

"So Steve was your first?" Dad asked.

"Well, first real thing, yeah."

"What do you mean?" Dad asked stopping work to study me.

"When I was a kid, another guy showed me about masturbating, that's all," I
answered.

"I see. Was he older, same age, younger?" Dad asked.

"Just a little older. We only did things a few times together. But that's
how I learned," I said without admitting it was Nicolas. If Dad asked me
directly, I wasn't going to lie, but I was glad that he didn't. He did ask
something that surprised me though.

"So did you teach Billy how to do it? Is that how he learned?" Dad asked.

"What? Umm, no. Well, kind of, but not on purpose," I said. I could feel
the blush in my cheeks. I didn't like the way the conversation had turned.

"How do you do something like that without doing it on purpose?" Dad asked
with a tinge of curious humor in his voice.

"I guess he spied on me doing it in the bathroom one time and so he learned
from that, but I didn't know he'd seen me. He actually just told me about
it. But we never did anything with each other. I never thought about it. We
were brothers, you know?"

"Hmm. That's good, I guess," Dad commented. He pulled on his hood and
welded a strip.  When he lifted his hood, I asked, "How come you never
talked to Billy or me about stuff growing up. Like the father-son sex talk,
I mean."  Dad sighed. "I don't know. Chicken, I guess. My dad never talked
to me. I figured it out. Guys have a way of doing that on their own. I
should have, I guess. Your mother encouraged me to with Karl, but after
that she never mentioned it again with you other boys. Do you wish I had?"

"Kind of. It might have made things easier, especially for Billy. He's kind
of confused about sex and love.  He's in love with Jaime, or he thinks he
is. He seems sincere. He's a pretty horny kid and girls just give it up to
him, I guess. That would be hard to resist."

"I see your point. I don't suppose I would have acted much differently in
his place at his age," Dad admitted. "I never had that problem as a young
man. Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. I was very shy and honestly a little
afraid of girls."

"Soooo, was Mom your first and only?" I asked with a shot to his ribs.

He chuckled. "No, but she was my second. Don't tell her, okay."

I made the zipping motion across my lips. We laughed. "Soooo, how did you
learn about things if gramps never talked to you?"

Dad sighed again and rubbed his neck. "Between you me and the fencepost?"

"Sure."

"You remember when Reverend Lewis was over?"

"How could I forget that?"

"Right," Dad chuckled. "Wellll, the friend I accused the good Reverend of
being sexual with was a school friend of mine as well. His name was
Matthew. After Will Lewis taught Matthew how to masturbate and then moved
on to more advanced things, Matthew enticed me to try some things
together. We did it together a few times. And Matthew bragged to me a lot
about what he and Will Lewis were doing. They were, umm, going the
distance, so to speak. Matthew and I only went as far as rubbing each other
off and, well, one time ..."

"It's okay, Dad. I think I know. You don't have to say it out loud."

He gave a nervous laugh. "Thanks."

I let out a slow whistle, "Wow, so you really did mess around with that
kid."

"You'd guessed that?" Dad asked.

"Not me, actually. Billy did. Or at least he wondered about it. He didn't
figure that was something your friend, Matthew, would confide in you unless
he was doing stuff with you also," I explained.

"Hmm, I hope your mom didn't put it together," Dad said.

"Nah, I don't think so. Can I ask one more thing since we're being so open
with each other?"

"I guess so. What?" Dad asked a little nervously.

"Umm, at Christmastime, after my stupid blowup, when you set up the
bunkhouse for Steve and me to use, did you realize we were gay for each
other?"

"I had my suspicions, sure," Dad admitted. "I figured you certainly might
be and well, you were in college after all, and after you stood up to me
and unloaded all your baggage from your childhood, I thought a lot about it
and decided you could make your own way from then on. I didn't realize it
might lead to the mess that's occurred since then. I might rethink that
decision if I had it to do over again."

"Well, it wouldn't have made any difference. Steve and I would have done it
back at school anyway. So it's not like you caused it by what you did for
us. That was a very nice gesture, Dad and I have to say, it makes my heart
happy to know you were accepting of who I am right off the bat. I love
you."

"I love you too, son. I love you too." Dad smiled kindly at me, pulled his
hood back down and laid down a flawless seam of weld between the support
frame and the sprayer bar, bonding them permanently together while I held
things in place.

Billy returned after about an hour or more to announce that lunch was
ready. He and Mom had prepared it together. That was a sign that things
were mended and neither Dad nor I asked for any details. Lunch was good and
the conversation was more relaxed than it had been for a while. Billy got a
text from Jaime that she was staying with a family just outside of town,
but wasn't supposed to tell him exactly where. She said she was with a nice
family who had two other foster girls and that she was happy to be there
and felt safe. She told Billy to thank us for the kindness we showed
her. Billy felt better after that and he lightened up. I mentioned I wanted
to start running and Dad said that he was headed out to test out his new
sprayer attachment at a farm across the valley. Mom offered to clear up the
dishes so Billy could join me on the run. We protested, but she insisted.

We changed, stretched and began running. Billy, being the impetuous,
competitive soul that he is, set the pace, wanting to push me to go
faster. I fell into step and then throttled back, knowing we needed to pace
for the distance. We found a compromise stride and fell into a rhythm. I
timed my breathing to match my strides and breathed in the crisp springtime
air for two strides and then vacated my lungs of the poisonous gasses on
the subsequent two strides. Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. It was the
pattern to it that appealed to me. The steadiness of the rhythm. The
knowledge that if I just kept putting one foot forward over and over, that
I could reach the journey's end. After the first mile, Billy slowed and
struggled with the pace we had set. Though he was a fit young athlete, he
was built and conditioned for short bursts as in hockey, football and
definitely baseball. This was about endurance. As we approached the grove
of ponderosa pines and blue spruce trees surrounding a small pond we'd
created, Billy needed a rest.

I wanted to keep running, but I could see that he needed to recover and I
wanted him to want to run some more with me, so I waved him toward a bench
inside the grove. We would go there as a family and have summer picnics on
Sundays occasionally. Although the pond was too small to swim in, Dad
stocked the pond with fish and we boys and our friends had fun catching and
releasing them. I don't know about the others, but as a boy, I also used to
sneak to the spot for an occasional fapping session. It was exciting to do
it outdoors with the added risk of getting caught in the act.

I paced and stretched while Billy sat down to recover his breath and rest
his leg and buttock muscles. I realized how much lung capacity I had
already lost from not running for so long and remembered how hard it had
been when I'd first started doing it with Steve and Whittaker. As Billy's
breathing started to calm, he said, "I can't believe that dumbass sheriff
paid any attention to Jaime's father. He's such a drunken, lying
asshole. He's such a bastard. I hate him. I'd like to go shove that rusty
pipe up his scrawny ass, fill it with gunpowder and blow his ass to hell."

"Come on Billy, you really need to find alternate ways to channel your
anger. Yeah, he's an asshole and deserves whatever happens to him, but not
by your doing. Violence only causes more problems. Promise me you won't do
anything or even go confront him. It could sink your defense if you did."

"I know. I won't do anything stupid. But I can fantasize about it. How
scared were you when Sheriff Withers started asking about the phone call?"

"I was freaking out inside and trying so hard not to show it. I thought I'd
diverted him away from it, but then he came back around to it. Thank God,
Dad stepped in and put a stop to his interrogation when he did," I
answered.

"No shit. I was freaking out too. What were you going to tell him?" Billy
asked. His elbows were resting on his knees and he was craning his neck to
look up at me.

"I was going to say it was none of his business. That's what."

"Like he'd take that for an answer. I'm glad Dad told him to stay away. He
makes me nervous. It's like I feel like he's out to get us or something,"
asserted Billy.

"I know. His son, Colt, says he's totally obsessed with our cases. That
bothers me a lot and I really don't get why," I said. "Ready to get going
again?"

"Yeah, but maybe a little slower. This is kicking my butt," Billy admitted.

"I thought the pace was a little fast. If we're going to do a marathon ..."

"Whoa. Hold on. I said I'd run with you, but I'm not up for a freakin'
marathon, bro."

I laughed. "Wimp," I teased.

"Damn straight I am," he conceded.

"So you keep trying to tell me," I added and took off.

"Dickhead, wait up," Billy called. Soon we were back in stride and made it
the rest of the way home without stopping, but we did go slower. I just
seemed built for long distance running. I didn't seem to tire once I got
past the initial pain at about a mile and a half. I guessed we had run four
miles and I decided to get in the truck and clock it to see. Billy rode
with.

"Shane, do you think Jaime's gonna be all right?" Billy asked. "I'm worried
about her. What if that bastard of a father tracks her down or something."

"She'll be okay. Really, I doubt her father gives enough of a shit about
her to bother. He's probably passed out drunk," I suggested. "Sounds like
that's all he ever thinks about."

"I hope. I thought she'd have texted me again by now. You know, to let me
know how it's going," lamented Billy.

"She will. Why don't you text her?" I asked.

"Nah. I don't want to look like I'm all up in her business. You know, like
I don't trust she can handle herself. I'll wait," he said.

"Four and a half miles, almost," I declared as I parked the truck.

"No shit? Damn. I don't think I've ever run that far at once," Billy said.

I thought about saying, you didn't. You stopped and rested, but I let it
go. "Up for it again tomorrow?" I asked hopefully. It was much more fun to
run with someone else.

"We'll see. Probably."

"Cool."

We walked into the house and before the screen door could close, Mom
emerged from the kitchen,

"There you boys are. Shane, there's someone here to see you. He's in the
family room. I wondered who it could be. When I rounded the corner and saw,
my jaw dropped and my eyes bugged out. I was momentarily speechless. My
visitor just smiled up at me.


******###******

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wonder who the visitor is? Keep watch for
chapter 24 to see.

Happy Cinco de Mayo/Mother's Day/May Day/Memorial Day/Springtime

Hans h.schreiber@hushmail.com

Special thanks to my editors and Please remember to contribute to Nifty to
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