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Disclaimer
– If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is
a love story. Seeing, as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it
is in realistic balance in the characters’ lives. The story
contains sexual encounters between high school age minors, and has
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resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
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Trails
and Tribulations
Chapter
12
It's in the Cards
Dad
made me stay home, while Joey and Roger went to school on Tuesday,
but he promised if I didn’t have any problems, I could return
to school on Wednesday. To say I was bored, would be like saying
Justin Bieber had a few fans. Okay, I guess to be honest, for about
two hours, I did enjoy myself. I had recorded Prince of Persia: The
Sands of Time, and after breakfast, I watched the movie in my
bedroom. It was a really good place to watch it, since Jake
Gyllenhaal in my opinion, is a major hottie. While I was watching,
every time I thought about Jake being naked, the image of Joey
standing in front of me, with his crotch at eye level, his manhood
hard, and that wet spot growing, kept replacing Jake in my mind. Who
needs Hollywood actors when you have the real deal?
While I
was taking a nap, out of boredom that afternoon, I dreamed I was at
the hospital again, and Joey stood in the same spot he had been after
our kiss. This time, Roger wasn’t there. I looked up from
Joey’s hard-on to his eyes, and he moved towards me. His hands
came together at his belt; then he slowly unfastened it, unbuttoned
his pants, and slowly unzipped. He leaned against the bed, and pushed
his jeans and boxers down his thighs. I moved closer to his manhood
when it was free, and mere inches from my face. It was beautiful,
above average size, with blond hair hovering above it like a crown
with perfectly proportional balls. As I leaned forward to lick it
clean of his essence, I felt someone gently shaking me. I had been
laying on my right side facing the door, and when I opened my eyes, I
found myself in my own room, not at the hospital, and Joey’s
crotch was in my face.
I groaned and looked up into my angel’s
face.
“Hi,” I said, in a husky voice, still half
asleep, and wishing the dream I had been woken from had been for
real.
“Sorry to wake you. Should we come back later?”
Joey said, he gestured with a backward glance at Roger standing in
the doorway to let me know Roger was there, too, and then bit his
lower lip.
“No, no, I’m awake now. What’s
up?” I said.
I sat up, wiped the sleep from my eyes, and
motioned for both of them to take a seat on my bed.
“What
time is it?” I asked no one in particular.
Roger looked
at his watch, “ten after five.”
“You all are
just now getting home?” I asked.
“Mmm… no,”
Joey paused, with a smile on his lips. “Roger and I made a side
trip before we came home.”
I glanced at Roger. “Are
you trying to steal my boyfriend?”
I received a light
punch in my arm from Joey, and Roger rolled his eyes.
“No
silly, I had an appointment with my lawyer, Mr. Bennett.”
He
had my attention now. Joey sat on my bed, Indian style, with his
hands in his lap. I looked into his eyes, and I could tell he had
happy news, for they sparkled.
“Okay, what did Mr.
Bennett want?”
“Well, I didn’t tell you last
night, but yesterday afternoon, I told Mr. Bennett, the lawyer we met
at the hospital, that I would agree to testify against my parents if
the commonwealth attorney really needed me to. I asked if there was
any way I could help them, and he said that it was really in the
hands of the judge. He said that the judge would want to talk to me
before any decision was made.” Joey wore a sad smile, but
reached out and patted my knee.
“Today after school, I
met with the Family Court judge, Mr. Bennett, my parents, Miss
Anderson, and Aunt Alice. After I told the judge I no longer wanted
to live with my parents, he asked me why. I just told him that I
didn’t feel wanted or safe there anymore.” He said,
sadly, but plowed on. “The judge reviewed the doctor’s
notes and the recommendation of Miss Anderson to end my parent’s
custodial rights. He stated it wasn’t something he did lightly,
but for my safety and my future, I needed to be away from them.”
When he finished, his lower lip was quivering. “After…
after that…” He cleared his throat, and paused to
compose himself. “About an hour later, they had another meeting
to do with the criminal side of things.” Joey finally finished
the sentence in tears.
“Oh baby, come here.” I
said, gathering him in my arms. He laid his head on my chest and his
tears soaked my tee-shirt. “Joey, just remember you’re
not alone. No matter what, I will never turn my back on you. I love
you, and so do other people, not because of what you have been
through, but because of who you are, baby.”
“That’s
right!” Roger spoke up, and put his arm around Joey and me.
“Besides, you always have us. We are the three musketeers!”
He announced.
Joey turned his head and stared at Roger. I’m
not sure if Roger was more shocked than me with what Joey did next.
He sat up and wrapped his arms around Roger’s neck and kissed
him on the cheek.
Before I could enjoy seeing Roger turn
several shades of red, my breath was taken away when Joey planted his
sweet lips on mine. Too bad it didn’t last long, but I was over
the moon that now, Joey seemed past his sadness.
“I love
you both so much! I dreamed of a boyfriend like you, Andy. And Roger,
I couldn’t have asked for a better brother.” He beamed,
and I felt awesome.
Then his smile faded. “But, there’s
more. After the meeting with the judge, my parents met with the
prosecutor, and they reached a plea agreement. They plead guilty to
child endangerment, and the commonwealth dropped all other charges.
After they have another hearing before a trial judge and if that
judge agrees, Dad will be sentenced to three years, with 32 months of
it suspended, and five years of probation, with several conditions. I
guess that means dad will have to spend six months in jail and if he
breaks any of the conditions, he’ll have to serve the full
three years. Mom was sentenced to a year, but the jail time was
suspended, with three years of probation, with some of the same
conditions as my dad has. So now, I don’t have to testify in
court. Also, my parents have to leave me alone, and not spread rumors
about me. There are other conditions, but they don’t concern
me.”
When he finished, he laid his head back on my
chest, and I wrapped my arm around him.
His voice was soft
now, “I’m just so glad it’s all over.”
“I’m
glad too. I would have liked to see them get some jail time for what
they did to you, but they are your mom and dad, so if you’re
happy with it, I am too.” I hugged him a little tighter.
Roger
reached over and ruffled Joey’s hair. “There’s more
still.” He smiled. “We’re going to try and adopt
him.”
Joey looked up at me with a huge smile. “Yeah,
that’s the best news. I’m going to have a new family. A
family that really loves me: loves me for who I am, and not for what
I am.”
His words reminded me of my experiences the last
couple of days, and then the lyrics from Chasing Cars popped into my
head.
I
need your grace
To remind me
To find my own
“Joey,
I read something in a series of stories online called, The Clan Short
Universe, that help me deal with the visions I’ve had lately.
It goes something like this, ‘…sometimes, bad things
have to happen, so that good things can happen...’ So, I’m
not worried about the future. You and I both are surrounded by people
that love us. Mom taught me that with love, all things are
possible.”
His gaze met mine; he leaned in, and planted
a soft kiss on my lips. I have no idea where Roger got it from, but
the next thing I knew, Joey and I were hit with a pillow.
“Get
a room guys! Jeez.” Roger groaned, playfully.
“We
have one, numb nuts.” I teased back.
“Andy, I’m
home.” Dad called from downstairs.
The next day at
school was uneventful, thank God. However, the afternoon at the
clinic, made up for it. Aunt Alice picked us up from school, and when
she stopped to drop us off at the clinic for our check-ups, an old
beat-up GMC pick-up truck almost hit us in the rear. We turned around
to see what all the noise was about, but the truck quickly pulled
away. It kinda looked like a truck that had been parked in the
school’s parking lot when we were picked up, but I decided it
probably wasn’t the same truck. Once we settled down from
almost getting rear ended, Aunt Alice took Roger with her to do the
grocery shopping. There was no doubt in my mind at all that Roger
wasn’t a happy camper, about having to go with his mom.
Once
inside, Joey and I approached the receptionist, introduced ourselves,
and told her our appointment times. She gestured to a seat where we
waited for a nurse to call for us.
“Lawd have mercy, if
you two youngins are lookin as fit as a fiddle.” I heard a
familiar voice sing out. Both of us blushed.
We turned to find
Nurse Nancy standing there, a clipboard in her hand, and a huge smile
on her face.
“Hi, Nurse Nancy,” I said.
“Why
don’t both of you come in together, since you’re like
brothers, and it would save everyone a heap of time.” She said,
motioning for us to follow her.
She weighed us, took our blood
pressure, temperature, and then had us sit down. She removed a few
vials from a drawer, and grabbed a plastic cord out of another
drawer.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she began,
as she tied the plastic around my arm, “but please make a fist.
I need to take a few vials of blood for the tests they wanted to run
on you.”
I didn’t mind, but it wasn’t my
favorite thing to deal with. While the blood drained into the vials,
she held my attention.
“So, Andy, have you had any
headaches? I see the swelling has gone down nicely.”
“No,
no headaches.”
“Good.”
“Is
there anything I should be worried about?”
“No
dear. I’m just checking to make sure you are alright. Thank
you. That was the last one.”
She quickly bandaged my arm
and then turned her attention to Joey.
“Alright, strip
to the waist young man. I need to check your bandages, and make sure
you’re healing up nicely.”
He blushed, but was
able to slide the shirt off without my help. There were only a few
bandages now. I could see the scars that had formed over what had
been the open wounds.
“These are doing nicely. The
doctor has some cream he wants you to apply that should help
eliminate scarring. If things don’t go as he expects, you might
have to see one of the plastic surgeons.”
He blushed
again, and quickly tugged on his shirt. We were done long before our
joint appointments were supposed to be over. Nurse Nancy looked at
her watch, then turned to us and asked, “When is someone
picking you boys up?”
“We were told to call when
we were ready.” I said, not sure where this was going.
“Have
you ever been to a carnival, where people will tell you your future
for money?”
“Well, yeah I have.” I said, and
then looked at Joey, who was shaking his head.
“Would
it seem like fun if Nurse Nancy tried that for the both of you?”
She asked, smiling.
“Sure,” I laughed. “Sounds
like more fun than grocery shopping.”
Joey shrugged his
shoulders. I was comfortable with her suggestion, however Joey
appeared uneasy. His religion condemned such things, but she smiled
kindly at him, and he seemed more at ease.
“Good, let’s
go into the break room and I’ll show you an old trick from the
old country.” She said, and lead us down a hallway that opened
up into a large kitchen area with soda and snack vending machines, a
good size refrigerator, a large metal sink, multiple cabinets, and a
large, round, white, cafeteria table, that had six chairs sitting
around it. The table was large enough to easily seat eight people.
There was also a tall, wide, metal cabinet that appeared to house
lockers with six doors that had combination locks on them.
Joey
and I took a seat, and she pulled out a deck of cards from a purse in
one of the lockers. She sat opposite us, and shuffled the deck of
weird looking cards for about fifteen seconds, slid them across the
table to me and asked me to cut the deck without putting the bottom
half above the top half. She placed the bottom half on top of the
other half, and laid cards out on the table, face up. The cards were
all different, so I guessed they were face up.
She studied
them for what seemed like a long time before glancing up at
me.
“This spread is called the Celtic
Cross.
It’s one of the most popular spreads, and since I’m from
a very long line of people that can trace our family ties all the way
to the beginning of the Celtic traditions, it’s the one I like
to use.”
I observed her closely and asked, “Are we
kin?”
“In a manner of speaking. If we looked back
far enough, I’m sure our branches, of the tree touches, and
intertwine; but, there are other ways to be a family besides blood.”
She said with a smile. “I’m going to tell you what each
card means and what it means in the position it sits. Okay?”
I
nodded, not knowing what to say. I was spellbound by what laid before
me.
“Now, let me explain what I see. This first card
tells us what influences currently surround you; it’s the Nine
of Swords. It means that you know that you have troubles, but if you
don’t face them, it will lead to despair. This isn't exactly a
happy card to see, because it often shows deeply rooted emotional
pain that simply refuses to go away. Usually this is either guilt or
regret, and in either case you feel the pain because you wish you
could go back and change what happened - but you cannot. The event is
not as painful as the reminder that it is your fault, and that you
can do nothing about it. Only by accepting responsibility can you
ever hope to defeat this anguish, and in the majority of cases
submitting to the pain is worse than trying to fight it. But if you
do not, it remains to terrorize and taunt you.”
“The
second card is the Hang Man. It tells me that you are your biggest
obstacle. Just by admitting to yourself that you are afraid will give
you strength to conquer your fear. When you relinquish your desire
for control, everything begins to work as it should. In a world in
which you must run as fast as you can to stay where you are, the
Hanged Man tells you to stop struggling - and you can move
forward.”
She paused, and her face softened before she
asked. “Are you still with me sweetie?”
“I
think so.” I said, without much conviction.
“Listen
honey, you know your life better than I do. After I explain the
meanings of the cards and the positions, all you need have remember
is to use them to guide your path. Okay?”
“Yes,
ma’am. I think I understand now.”
“Okay,
child. I’m going to turn a new card to see if there’s an
influence in your life to help you with this.”
She
turned over a card that looked like a king of something.
“This
is the Emperor. He is the archetypal Father, wise in the ways of the
world and knowledgeable of how to live as part of a structure along
with everyone else. The Emperor does have a strong and powerful
heart, as every father should, but he shows this side of himself
through the imposition of strict guidelines and rules, as most
fathers do. If anything he is even more protective than the Empress,
because he has created order from chaos and wishes nothing to disturb
that order. Underneath his royal robes, hides the suit of armor which
the Emperor proudly wears when defending those under his protection.
Andy, I think even you know who this card represent – your
father.”
I smiled at her and nodded. Joey squeezed my
hand under the table. We had been holding hands since we both sat
down, but out of sight.
“She’s right. I feel
there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you, Andy.” Joey
said, and squeezed my hand again, which I returned, with a
smile.
“Okay, in the third position is Death, but don’t
freak out on me. It doesn’t mean you’re going to die,
like most people think. In the Tarot, as in reality, Death is nothing
more than a transition to the next level of life. Whether you believe
that a soul goes to heaven or back to Earth to be reincarnated, the
fact remains that the soul lives on. The candle is extinguished, but
only because the day has come. The river shown on many versions of
the Death card is a symbol, showing that life will go on, no matter
what disastrous things happen. The river water will reach the sea,
rise into the clouds, then rain onto the land to flow into the river
again. Nothing is destroyed, because nothing can be destroyed - there
can be only transformation. In this position…”
“Nurse
Nancy,” a lady at the door paused to see if she had Nurse
Nancy’s attention, when Nurse Nancy turned to consider her, she
continued, “your next appointment is ready, and the Doctor will
be ready to see the boys in about five minutes.”
“Thank
you, I’ll be with my next patient in about five minutes, too,
and I’ll send the boys back to the examination room.” She
said, before turning back towards us, and patted a card with her
right hand that looked like a Queen sitting on a throne with a cup in
her hand.
“Andy, to quickly sum up what I see in the
cards is this: you have been troubled by the death of your mother,
but something recently happened that has helped you through it. It
has given you a new beginning, which is what The Sun here means in
this position. You have a lot of people willing and able to help you
now and in the future. I see your dad, a pastor or religious man of
some type, a woman or mother type, and many others as guides and
helpers. There’s more troubles coming, but these people will
help you through it. I also see a very long, healthy, loving,
relationship.” She said, reaching over to take my hands. And
then she said something in a language I didn’t understand, but
it sounded like some old forgotten language. I didn’t know how
I knew that, but somehow I did. I also knew for some reason that it
was a blessing, so I bowed my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I
noticed that Joey had bowed his as well.
She led us back to
the same examination room we had been in. A minute later, the doctor
walked in and took a quick look at us both. He told us we were doing
fine. Joey asked him about camping this weekend, and the doc told us
he didn’t see any reason we couldn’t, as long as we kept
Joey’s back cleaned and bandaged. So, with our promise to do as
he asked, he gave the idea his okay. He also told me I was cleared to
go about my normal activities, and wrote a note for school lifting
all restrictions.
I was excited about the camping trip with
Joey. However, I knew we needed our parent’s approval, too, but
I didn’t think Dad would object; Aunt Alice was another story.
I wasn’t sure how she felt about allowing Joey to romp about in
the woods with Roger and me. If everything worked out, we could go
camping Friday after school, since we didn’t have to work for
Mr. Horn, with the team playing an away game this week. That way we
could hike around Saturday morning, head home Saturday afternoon and
still get Joey to church on Sunday morning. The key was going to be
Aunt Alice.
* * * * * * * * * *
Coach Nettles was well
liked by most and tried to get along with everyone. He was the kind
of coach that didn’t believe winning was everything. That’s
why he didn’t have to think twice about suspending JT from the
football team during the same week he was suspended from
school.
After hearing the reasons surrounding JT’s
suspension from Mr. Horn, Coach Nettles waited to cool off before
talking to the boy. Coach had a cousin in Johnson City, Tennessee,
who had been picked on during his high school years. Finally it
became too much for him and he ran away from home. No one had heard
from him in years.
The coach and his cousin had been as close
as two boys can be, even with the distance between them. The two had
been inseparable at all the family reunions while they were growing
up. They even wrote each other at least once a week, before there was
the internet. When the coach learned that his cousin ran away, it
hurt him that he hadn’t been able to help, and that his cousin
hadn’t told him what was going on.
From that point on in
coach’s life, he made it a point to try and help those who
needed it, and to stop bullies from hurting others. While in college,
he learned how to deal with both the bullies and the bullied. He
found out that there is always a reason behind a bully’s
actions and learned how to de-program most of them.
By the
time JT had entered his office, the day of the first fight, coach had
cooled down and decided what he was going to do with JT. He had
suspended him from practice and that week’s game, and punished
him with an extra ten extra laps after practice for the rest of the
year. However, what the coach hadn’t told him was if he noticed
a change for the better in JT’s attitude, he would stop the
extra laps. He believed that if a kid was given a reason and a way to
change to be a better person, they would.
When JT came to his
office, on his first day after suspension, to confess what he, Jonas,
and Kevin had done to Andy Collins and Joey Adams, the coach was both
shocked that JT had learned nothing during the past week, and
relieved that he finally got it, today. There was no doubt in coach’s
mind that JT had changed as he sat there and watched JT confess in
tears about how sorry he was, and that now he realized how wrong he
had been.
After JT had finished running his laps, at the end
of practice Wednesday afternoon, Coach Nettles called him to one
side.
“JT, how are things at home?” He asked,
placing a hand on his shoulder.
JT answered in a sad, soft,
voice. “Okay.”
“Look at me son.”
Slowly
looking up from the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with
coach, their eyes finally met. As soon as they did, the flood of
tears JT had been trying so hard to hold back gushed from his eyes.
Coach wrapped his arms around the boy, telling him everything would
work out. He had figured correctly that JT’s troubled behavior
started at home, as it usually did with kids in the same
predicament.
“Come on JT, we’ll go to my office.
We can sit down where we’ll be more comfortable and talk about
everything.”
* * * * * * * * * *
It had been
about an hour since Aunt Alice had dropped us off, so I figured she
was probably done shopping. Once we were outside of the clinic, I
called her and told her we were ready. As it turned out, Aunt Alice
and Roger were already on the way back.
I looked over at Joey.
“They’re on their way to pick us up.”
Joey
moved closer to me until our shoulders touched. From my short time
with him, it was easy to tell he had never experienced the physical
affection most of us kids received from our parents. I looked around
to see if anyone was paying any attention to us and decided, fuck it,
he was my boyfriend and I loved him. I didn’t care what anyone
else thought about it. I was no longer concerned with anyone else
except my Joey. I threw my arm around his shoulder and hugged him.
The smile I got in return, made my day, just like the smiles he gave
me at the hospital, for falling on my ass and bumping my head on the
door. I’d do anything to bring a smile to his face.
“Andy,”
Joey started, bringing me out of my thoughts, “when should we
talk to Steve and Alice?”
“Well, probably after we
tell her all the good things the doctor said, and ending with him
saying it was okay for us to go camping this weekend.”
Joey
nodded just as Roger and his mom drove up.
* * * * * * * * *
*
“I’m not sure what to make of this Joey kid.”
Randy said, as he looked back and forth between Timmy, Gary, and
Debbie.
“I think he’s sweet.” Debbie said
before taking a bite of a French fry.
“I don’t
think it matters much what we think about him. It’s clear to me
that Andy has made him a friend, and in a way, Roger and Joey are
like brothers now, right?” Gary said, after taking a drink from
his coke.
“No, but Joey is living with Roger and his
family now. I get the feeling that they’ll adopt him soon.”
Debbie said to Gary, and then she turned to Timmy sitting beside her
in the booth they were all sitting in at the Quillen Drug Store,
“Isn’t that what Roger hinted to you, Tim?”
Looking
a little put out for being put on the spot, Timmy stared at Debbie
and said, “Look, it’s not my place to say anything, but
if you asked me, I’d say Joey is queer and he’s turning
Andy into a queer too.” Everyone stopped eating and anything
else they were doing and stared at Timmy.
He threw his hands
up in defense, “Wait, before you say anything.” Timmy
looked around to make sure no one else was listening. He leaned
forward, followed by the other three, and spoke slightly above a
whisper. “I didn’t mean to say that the way I did. I
mean, I don’t care if Andy or Joey is gay or not. Andy is still
Andy.” He shook his head. “I’ll admit I didn’t
like Joey at first. He just looked like one of those pretty boys that
loved attention, but after talking to Roger some, I’ve changed
my mind for two reasons.” He held up two fingers.
“One,
Roger told me some of the stuff Joey has been through his whole life
and some really bad things he’s had to deal with the last
couple of years.” Timmy gathered his thoughts as he looked down
at the table. Having reached a decision, he examined their eyes, “I
think we should all give him a break for that, if for no other
reason. But if you need another reason, here’s number two. If
you wanna keep Andy and Roger as friends, you better be nice to Joey.
And that alone tells me that Joey is cool, no matter anything else.
Don’t forget that Andy and Roger already took on JT, Jonas, and
Kevin, at the same time, over Joey. Not to mention that’s the
second time Andy and JT have gotten into it, over Joey.”
“I
agree. I say we give Joey a chance.” Gary said, and then tapped
the table with his index finger to punctuate every word he said next.
“My cousin is gay, and anyone that gives Joey a hard time about
it, if he is, will have to deal with me too.”
“Personally,
I think they make a cute couple.” Debbie said, with a grin. The
guys groaned, rolled their eyes, and leaned back against the booth
simultaneously. Debbie just laughed at their antics.
* * * * *
* * * * *
As soon as Joey and I climbed in the back seat, Aunt
Alice turned and asked, “How did the appointments go?”
“My
back is almost totally healed up, and the doctor asked that I not be
rolling around in any pig pens in the near future.” Joey said,
with a smile.
I spoke up, “He told me I was good to go
and released me from any restrictions at school. I guess that means I
can play basketball during gym now.”
“I’m
glad to hear that, Andy. Did he have anything else to say about you,
Joey?”
“Yes, ma’am. He said if I kept my
back clean, I could go camping this weekend with Andy and
Roger.”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Even though I
couldn’t see Aunt Alice’s face, I could tell she was
smiling.
“Uh huh. He sure did. I think it would be a
good idea. It would give me a chance to get out and see more of this
beautiful place. My father never allowed me to go camping or even
have sleepovers.”
I reached over, took his hand in mine,
and gave it a squeeze. When I looked up, I saw a single tear escape
his eye and flowed down his cheek. I glanced up and saw Aunt Alice’s
eyes on us in the rear-view mirror. I could see the sadness she felt
for Joey in them.
“Well, you’ll need to talk to
your fathers, but I don’t see a problem with it either. In
fact, I think it’s a great idea.”
Joey’s
face lit up. When he turned to look at me, even his eyes smiled at
me. There was no doubt that Aunt Alice’s words had made him
very happy.
“Thank you, Aunt Alice.” Joey
said.
Roger turned around, and quickly laid out the game plan.
“We’ll talk to our dads tonight when they get home. Since
it’s only Friday night and part of Saturday, we’ll go
light with our sleeping bags, hot dogs, and snacks. There’s
plenty of water from that underground spring we found last year.”
He looked at Joey. “You’ll love it, Joey. It’s the
best water I ever had a drink of. It’s so cold, clear, and
tasty. But more than that, you’ll love the sights. It’s
really beautiful up there. It’s like a place time forgot.”
Roger was in his tour guide mode. “Even after all this time,
it’s not hard to find arrow heads. Who knows how long they have
been there. They say these mountains are the oldest in the world. The
reason they aren’t still the tallest mountains in the world
today is because the weather and water caused erosion and wore them
down to what they are today, after millions of years.”
I
slightly poked Joey in the ribs, and said with a smile, “Now,
there’s one proud hillbilly.” We all busted up laughing.
Even Aunt Alice joined in.
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
OK,
so that's it for Chapter 12. Thank you for reading and I hope you
enjoyed it. I would love to hear your feedback and comments. I
respond to every e-mail. You can email me at: billybratii@gmail.com
Depending
on my editors and beta readers, I'll probably publish a chapter every
week or two, at least for the foreseeable future.
I want to
thank Jason, Drew, Alpha, Roger, Mark, Joe, Cory, Alan, Kevin, Eric,
James C., Jon, Wagner, Tom, James F., Mick, Bobby, JT, Robert,
Bradley, Matt, Bryan, Brad, Kenneth, Peter, Steve, Paul, John, Chris,
and Ian for their kind e-mails with words of encouragement and
advice. It really helps to know that someone is reading and liking
your work. I hope my writing will bring entertainment, but also cause
you to pause and reflect.
There's a number of organizations
out there that offers help in a multitude of ways. They include, but
not limited to -The
Trevor Project
,
PFLAG,
Teen
Line,
and The
Mail Crew.
Also did you know that the most common type of cancer affecting men
between the ages of 15 and 35 is testicular cancer? Here's a link for
more information on the subject. The
Testicular Cancer Primer
Never
feel like there's no help, whatever the problem may be.
Some
other awesome sites that this story may be found on include, Gay
Authors,
Saber
Peak Ranch,
JacobMillerTex,
Crvboy,
The
Story Closet,
and Screeve.
They too have some awesome stories by some super authors.
And
don't forget to DONATEto
help keep Nifty going.
Thank you.
Billy Martin