Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 02:34:47 -0500 From: horti Subject: Dooby rhymes with Scooby Part 24 Dooby rhymes with Scooby Part 24 By Jamie Haze Auggie and company was scheduled to arrive late afternoon while the boys were still in school. After school, there was Lacrosse and wrestling practice scheduled so it would be awhile before they got home. Carl was to meet Auggie's jet with two limos at airside since it would be parked next to his. Carl brought Darryl with him and stopped by Blair Academy to pull Billy from class early. Carl gave the two boys instructions on the way to the airport. They were to be hosts to Auggie's gang in the first limo while he would accompany Auggie and Zeek alone in the second limo so they could get to know each other and establish some sort of rules for the weekend. After the excitement of Auggie's radical method of deplaning and the self-introductions were out of the way, the cars started for home and Carl broached the subject. Auggie and Zeek laughed. Auggie answered, "Our rules are simple just like the Yankee boy's," he almost quoted, "Any can say no if they ain't interested, but that ain't happened yet as I can recall. Yo' just relax Carl and watch my boys an' your two when they climbs from the car. I expect they be smilin' an' right handy wi' each other. Don't forget they all gay an' know it so there ain't no secrets there, an' no tension." Carl thought over the evening during the week when Tom, Christian, Dooby, Cory arrived for dinner. Dooby and Cory had met his grandsons, Zack and Billy at school. Somehow the four clicked and when Zack and Billy arrived home from the Spelling estate the first time, they came bearing special gifts and Carl was still recovering from a long wonderful sleepless night. "Perhaps you're right Auggie. I'm new at this, so I guess I'll just `go with the flow' as the boys say." Auggie switched gears suddenly while he had the chance to talk privately with Carl. "By the way Carl, when's Spelling's stock goin' up for grabs? I already talked to Charlie about buyin' enough to get me a seat on the board an' when I'm lettin' mine out he's fixin' to buy enough to sit on mine. Charlie speaks mighty high of ya'll an' I'd be much obliged if you'd offer up mine as well. You might not know but I'm a bit over weight and ain't in perfect health no how so I got to go public before I pass an' my extended family ends up holdin' their bare asses wonderin' what happened after the damn government gets done with my estate and my companies." "If there's some degree of haste, just have your attorneys get in touch with mine and we'll get the ball rolling," Carl answered. "And I wish to thank you for your confidence in our bank, we'll do the best job as we know how," he added. Auggie nodded and grinned, "Maybe we all could meet this here weekend, say early Sunday morning whilst the boys is sleepin' in?" he suggested. "My legal beaver, Carter brought everythin' with him an' has the accountants on standby for seven in the AM." Carl looked confused; "You brought your attorney with you? Where is he?" Auggie nodded toward the lead car as they raced down the Interstate before rush hour. "He's one of my boys. The one that looked to be about twelve years old, although we been tellin' him he now looks about fourteen after his twenty-seventh birthday. You met him, he was surrounded by four, six footers, all his best buddies. Carter Boy got them guys twisted around his little fingers without tryin'. Yo just watch when they unload the luggage." He pointed to six book bags among other overflow that wouldn't fit in the boys' car and ended up being piled in theirs. "Them bags is my life. Carter boy will ask his guys to tote `em with a please, an' they rush to play pack mule for him." Just then they pulled up in front of Carl's home, an ancient (by American standards, almost new was British Darryl's assessment) Tudor mansion that was new when Carl was a boy. The boys boiled out of both back doors and then just stood there looking around. Darryl got them moving by asking Billy to give them a tour of the house before they all adjourned to the field house where they would play and sleep ^Ö eventually. Darryl heard some whispering. He turned to see Trasker shrug in answer to his question. "Is something wrong?" Darryl asked. "Ah, we were just kind of wonderin' about the local dress code." Trasker answered hesitantly. After weeks of constant nudity, all the Rebs were uncomfortable wearing much more than deck shoes. Darryl grinned and glanced at Billy who blushed scarlet. "To be sure. Truth to tell, there isn't one, but we shall correct that instantly." With that said he pulled his shirt over his head dropped it and then pushed his shorts down his legs without unbuttoning first. He cocked his hip at the grouped Rebels. "Well?" he asked daring them to follow suit. He didn't have to wait long. Soon there were small piles of discarded clothing dotted around the side of the limo until only Billy was still dressed in his school uniform and just then struggling with his tie. "I forgot, Billy has a valet but that chap isn't here just now. I fear our Billy needs some assistance." The Reb's didn't know then that Billy's cousin Zack was his valet, at least so far as undressing him was concerned. Billy had time to glare at Darryl briefly before he was surrounded and helped out of his clothing amidst much tickling. Billy gave up and felt his body burning from his blond hairline down as the others stepped back to get a better view of the body they'd just exposed. Billy shook himself, grabbed Darryl's hand and pulled him along leading the way to the massive front door leading into the house. Five guys hung back: Carter, Jim Bob, Eric, Fish and Spider. They followed Carter to the second car where Auggie had just settled into his scooter. Auggie introduced Carter and company properly to Carl and watched Carter's chest swell with pride. "Is there somewhere I can work?" Carter asked Carl after Carl managed to lift his eyes above everyone's waist. "What? Oh, sorry ^Ö I was staring. Forgive me but you five are magnificent. Work? Oh yes, the study or the library or any other room you wish. All our rooms are wired for plug ins." Carter climbed into the back of the car to hand out luggage and his book bags and then emerged with a lap top bag slung over one shoulder and carrying two brief cases. When finished, Carter's four partners were all well burdened. "Christ, Beaver, it would have been easier on our backs if you just invited everyone down to Coral Kay." Eric groused. Carter frowned at him and opened his mouth to say something. Auggie cut him off, "Yo' may as well forget it Carter boy, the more you be protestin', the firmer your new nickname is gonna stick." "Beaver?" Carl asked. "Short for Legal Beaver," Jim Bob explained with a giggle, for which he received an elbow to his hip, well within Carter's range. "Yes, well you can leave all your other luggage here, we'll collect all of it on the way to the field house where we have sleeping accommodations prepared. I relied heavily on Dooby's expertise there," Carl explained happily. The five young men rolled their eyes at the mention of Dooby's expertise. Carter was first to shrug, "Well, if you think about it, Dooby always handled sleeping arrangements for all of us. I never had any complaints." Carter looked around. "Where are Dooby and Cory and the rest of the gang?" Carl answered after looking at his watch, "They'll be at Lacrosse and wrestling practice just about now and home between five and five-thirty and the rest of the gang should be here about then as well." The front door opened before Darryl and Billy reached it. Alex, the former country club waiter, decked out in cross trainers and a black bow tie peeked nervously around the edge. He'd gained courage after watching everyone strip in front of the house so they were dressed, well undressed about as much as he was. "Carl retired his old staff rather recently, all except the chef, who is gay and refused to leave. So far, we've only managed to replace the butler. Darryl suddenly grabbed Alex's' wrist and pulled him forcefully from behind the door. This is Alex and my very good friend. As of just now, Alex is off duty for the rest of the weekend, so we'll all have to fend for ourselves. I hope that's alright." The Rebels gaped at Alex. He was tall, perhaps six-three. He wasn't skinny; he was nicely defined but not as a developing athlete, he just had a body that was pleasing to look at. His complexion was smooth and faultless with permanent rosy spots high on each cheekbone, which complemented his deep blue eyes that were almost hidden by long lashes. His eyebrows were thin but tightly arched below fine short dark brown hair that lay like a mat against his scalp. Dooby always called guys who had such cooperative hair, `smoothies' with obvious envy. Best of all Alex's cock drooped at least six inches partially hiding a very decent set of smooth balls. "We're used to doing chores," Stevie volunteered after shaking himself out of his appraisal mode, "our housekeeper, Mattie's rule is, `no chores, no food'. You haven't met her yet, but you will when you come down to visit us, maybe at Thanksgiving if ya'll aren't doing anything." Stevie and Logan were agreed that they would certainly not kick the couple out of bed if they decided to play. Stevie hoisted an eyebrow and smiled. Darryl grinned and nodded imperceptibly while he dropped his eyes to the floor. The tour ended at the outdoor pool. It was still warm enough and the pool was heated, so by the time Auggie, Zeek and Carl caught up to the boys they had happily moved to the more tactile side of getting to know Billy, Darryl and Alex more intimately, and after some hesitation the three boys reciprocated. Auggie spied a well stocked bar trolley near a table with one chair pulled back to the side. He rolled to the table and parked to watch Carl make them drinks without asking Auggie's preference because he already knew from Zeek. Auggie looked down at the double old fashion tumbler filled to the lip with well-aged Bourbon. Carl served Zeek the same. Auggie took his first sip and sighed. He pointed at the boys generally, "Your boys an' mine appear to be gettin' along nicely. I believe Stevie an' Logan have their sights set on your Darryl boy", he laughed, "an' that there Butler boy, Alex an' them boys is lookin' like they ready fo' bed too." Auggie looked at Carl and grinned. "Yo' really gonna staff your house with boys?" Carl blushed but answered honestly, "That is the current plan. The problem is I don't know where to find them discretely. I was lucky with Darryl," he lamented. Auggie grinned, "I believe we can help yo' out there if yo' know of a runaway shelter over in the city. My Stevie boy got him street smarts from livin' in one such in `lanta. He didn't really live there but they thought he did. He has him a duplex apartment up in a high-rise condo an' ten cases of condoms all curtsey of his granny. He was out lookin' for his Mr. Right. He'd go into that there shelter, find out who was new an' put the make on them if he liked their looks. I guess he had good sex with some but he was after someone that he could talk to and who could talk back, yo' know intelligent like, talk and chew gum at the same time." "Is that where he found Logan? That boy is stunning." "Yeah he is, but he found Logan boy at his Granny's. They was best friends until they was fourteen. They was bare ass swimmin' one day and Stevie boy groped his best bud. Turns out that Logan boy wanted to but wasn't ready, he got scared and ran. After that, little Logan boy kicked his own ass daily fo' two years but couldn't figure how to get back wi' Stevie boy until he came out to his parents. Since acceptable girls were out o' the pitcher, both sets o' parents decided to merge their gay sons thereby kinda keepin' it all in the family. Now if I was you, I believe I'd send them four cock magnets, Stevie, Logan, Darryl an' Alex into the city. Find a runaway shelter an' let Stevie tell `em how to register an' such. Boys will talk to other boys faster than to any do-gooder adult. If the prospects agree to go for a walk, then the boys tell the absolute truth about you, this big safe house, a steady wage an' all the sex they want in return for some simple `step n' fetch it' duties." "I know of one!" Carl announced with excitement in his voice. "A friend left his brownstone in midtown for that purpose. I contribute to the foundation regularly." "Well all righty then, as Dooby boy says. Tomorrow night. Zeek will drive." Auggie volunteered his friend. "Damn right boss man, an' I keep `em safe too." Zeek agreed. Just then Dooby, Cory and Zack appeared from around the corner of the house followed closely by Tom and Christian along with most of the Yankee boys. Dooby and Cory peeled their clothes off as they ran, all the while laughing manically when they looked over their shoulders. It soon became apparent that Tom and Christian were actually chasing them for some reason. Dooby and Cory escaped into the pool to begin greeting everyone with wet high-fives. Tom and Christian promised dire consequences in the near future before they went to greet their host for the weekend as well as Auggie and Zeek. Both boys pushed off their shorts before they sat down at the table. "What'd them boys do now to rile ya'll so?" Auggie asked with a chuckle. Tom rolled his eyes, "Your driveway is too long and much too wide Carl. After we got through the gates we let them drive and before we knew what was happening Dooby accelerated until we were even with Cory and Christian and they began a drag race all the way up here. The more we screamed and hollered, the faster they went." Zeek got up, replenished Carl and Auggie's drinks first and then handed Tom a Bourbon and Christian a beer. "Them boys can sure get into some shit. Is dat fish feedin' segment ready yet boss?" he asked Auggie. "Yup, Scott got some stuff roughed out fo' us to look at. He put `em on DVDs an' we kin take notes as we watch `em." He grinned like a lecher, "Then we can take the DVDs home to watch `em when so ever we want." Scott and Arttie arrived half an hour later. Arttie went directly to the pool, stepped out of his shorts and dove aiming at his little brother Dooby. Dooby screamed and sank in response to his brother's successful greeting honk. When he surfaced and saw Arttie, his retaliation was put on hold by a shrill whistle from the house and he saw Zack, Billie, Darryl and Alex pull them selves from the water and guessed the reason. "Snack time! Come on guys, we've got to help before they're all gone." Dooby hollered. He then led the parade of willing waiters to the house and out again most carrying a tray or platter. Andre, Carl's chef brought up the rear carrying a last tray held up high so the boy's couldn't nab samples. He placed his tray on the table in front of the men. "Keep the wolves back at least ten feet," Andre advised with a giggle and a glance at the boys who were piling small plates with assortments of finger foods. He nodded at the guests and then almost danced into the house with minimal glances at the boys. Auggie raised an eyebrow. "What's with that dude?" he asked Carl. "He's in love," Carl answered with a shrug. "He asked if he could bring in a sous chef to help him. I said yes. Andre had the young man waiting in the wings, but he promised no hanky-panky in the kitchen until all the food was served." Dinner was served in the huge dining room about two hours later, with another whistle from Andre. Andre abandoned his presentation skills in favor of quality and quantity since he was feeding a bunch of teenagers and young men for the most part. The adults all sat together at one end of the long table. Carl hosted the adults while Zack, Billy, Darryl and even Alex spread out among their contemporaries to host them. Andre served the adult end of the table before he joined his new partner who was working his way up from the other end of the table. When Alex saw that they needed help after two huge bowls of antipasto salad disappeared, and the boys began staring at the two chefs hungrily, he abandoned his meal to help out. Dooby was sitting next to Alex's place and helpfully began filling Alex's plate with whatever he was served so when Alex returned to his place he found his dinner waiting. He thanked Dooby for the curtsey and with a blush, promised Dooby and Cory seconds after Stevie and Logan. Those seconds had nothing to do with dinner and everything to do with the makeshift bed in the field house. "Until last night," Alex confided, "I was just a wannabe so I'm not very experienced." Dooby shrugged off the apology, "Everyone has to start that way. Don't worry, by morning if you pay attention, that minor problem will disappear." As the boys finished each course, they took their dishes to the kitchen, rinsed and stacked them. Dessert was fresh fruit and berry compote piled with homemade vanilla ice cream and when that was finished and the table was cleared, the boys began taking turns to see which could yawn the loudest while looking hopefully at Carl. Carl took the hint. "Coffee and brandy will be served in the field house," he intoned with a loud answering yawn as he stood up and Auggie backed away from the table. "SCOTT?" Dooby's voice echoed in the cavernous gymnasium. "What?" Scott asked. "Where the fuck are the light switches?" "Oh, over here, I'll get them." Scott engaged the switches and overhead lights blinked to life and glowed dully while the starters heated up. Dooby rolled his eyes in the semidarkness, "Not those lights asshole, the lights you put up." "Oh, sorry, but you didn't say which lights," Scott giggled and turned off the overheads and turned on the temporary theatrical lighting he'd installed. Suddenly a large rectangle of soft blue illuminated the center of the room where two king size beds without head boards were placed end to end flanked on both sides by four queen size air mattresses. Fitted, stark white bottom sheets covered all the beds and white pillows in assorted sizes were piled on the beds. "Gentlemen of the South and fellow Yankees I give you Carl's playroom!" Dooby sang and led the way toward the beds or one giant bed. Christian frowned, "Doob, we know you tried, but as soon as someone rolls onto a crack those mattresses will separate and the guy will be laying on the floor." Dooby grinned, "Wanna bet a grand, or better yet a portrait of Sprout and I?" "Easy money for me. If I lose you get a portrait, if you lose I get a grand. I just wonder what I'll spend my winnings on," Christian mused. "Done!" Dooby agreed and began positioning guys on the floor with their backs to the very obvious cracks until all were covered. "Now, on the count of three everyone fall flat backward," he ordered. The test subjects were intrigued by Dooby's confidence so they obeyed. "One, two, THREE!" The guys allowed their bodies to fall backward and all of them bounced. The air mattresses held together. "I'll be damned," Christian mumbled, grinned and high fived Dooby. "You win twerp, now tell us how you did it." "Simple really, I got the idea from Uncle Tommy. When he was in college, he and his roommate tied their twin beds together. I tied all of these slippery mothers together with wide strips of Velcro super-glued to the sides and ends of each mattress. Zack, Billy, Darryl and Alex tested the holding power last night with me and Cory," he looked into the darkness and added, "and of course, Gramps Carl." "Dooby? Did anyone ever tell you, you have a big mouth?" Carl asked ominously from the darkness surrounding the giant bed. Tom answered from the bed since he was a test subject. "Yeah, lots of times. Like I didn't tell you that story about our beds to broadcast it to the world." "So sue me," Dooby retorted and then tried to change the subject, "Did Cory tell you that Gramps and his mom are coming home tomorrow?" He didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed Cory and pulled him down on a bed to begin making out with him. This action broke the ice as other couples joined them, all except the Rebels. They just stood watching and looking around while their erections began to grow. "Did Dooby boy think about facilities to get clean?" Auggie asked Carl quietly. "My boys was clean startin' out this mornin' but they ain't now." "Oh, oh yes of course. I knew we forgot something." Carl answered and made an announcement. "Gentlemen, there's a men's locker room through those doors on the right if you should feel the need. The shower heads have been modified for, ah, special use." There was a rush for the doors indicated. Ryan was last. He looked over his shoulder to warn, "Don't get too carried away while we're gone guys, we didn't fly up here to make it with ourselves." By the time the Rebs returned to the bed, Zack, Billy, Darryl and Alex had joined Carl on one of the beds, while Auggie and Zeek watched from the other bed alone, Carl arranged two matings; Zack mounted his cousin Billy and Alex mounted Darryl. When the two couples finished each couple switched from bottom to top all while Carl knelt between them touching both couples wherever he was inspired at the same time and in the same places. Carl looked up to see Auggie watching intently. "Natural lubrication," he explained without being asked. He continued nervously, "I thought that when your group returns that I would lend you two of my boys and you might lend me two of yours?" "I'd be willin' but its up to the boys," Auggie answered. "Yours too," he reminded Carl. Carl looked down and received four slight nods of agreement while neither Billy or Darryl missed a stroke. Carl grinned hugely and Auggie nodded happily. "That there TV set work?" Auggie asked while nodding at the big dark television. "I got me a show none o' the boys has seen as yet." He whispered to Zeek briefly and watched as he climbed off the bed to fetch a soft-sided CD carrying case from his scooter. Auggie flipped through several disk cases before he found the one he was looking for. He handed it to Zeek who turned on the system and loaded the DVD and scampered back to the bed so he wouldn't miss anything. The disc started to play at once. The scene involved four guys on a large bed joined together as two couples. Carl recognized them immediately as Carter's four lovers. Suddenly Carter sat up between them. He turned around and sat Indian fashion after scooting down the bed so he could conveniently reach between either couple's legs, which he did hesitantly, he instantly received encouraging words to continue and even to explore further. "AUGGIE!" Carter screeched and turned scarlet while the four high school friends standing closely behind him just grinned at each other over Carter's head. Auggie chose to misunderstand Carter's outrage. "Sorry Carter boy, I know it ain't too good, me settin' in my scooter instead of up high lookin' down but Spook boy our camera man, was some busy that same night, so this here will have to do." Auggie searched the naked bodies with his eyes until he spotted Spook just kneeling between Johnnie Be Good's raised legs. He pointed for Carl's benefit. Carl did a double take at seeing the young man's length and extraordinary girth. "But^Åbut^Å" Carter stammered as Jim Bob picked up his little lover and tossed him on the bed next to Auggie before following quickly. Darryl volunteered himself and Alex to switch beds when he saw their waiting partners to be. Alex followed, remaining in a daze from being a virgin a day earlier to having and experiencing anyone in the combined groups who was willing. He suddenly realized that by the time dinner was over that his and Darryl's `dance' cards were full for the night if not for the whole exciting weekend. Scott woke first in false dawn. He'd been dreaming that he had some work to do and it was imperative that he get an early start yet he was restrained by two warm bodies and couldn't move. As he surfaced and opened his eyes he saw how Arttie held him in the back tightly with an arm thrown over his body and in front he held Cory against his body while Cory used his other arm as a pillow. He threw off Arttie's arm and followed with an elbow to his gut. Arttie grunted and woke while Scott freed his arm from Cory's head. Both young men sat up to find that they were somewhere in the middle of a long spooning as if they were carefully nested sliver in a storage drawer. They both looked at the beds after standing up. Carl was all but hidden by his boys. Zack and Billie on one side while Darryl and tall Alex occupied the other. Auggie held Little Zeek in front of his massive body while James lay spooned against his back and Zeek slept behind him locking James in place. Surprisingly, no one was sleeping on the other side, the other four air mattresses; everyone seemed to gravitate to the same side during the busy night. Arttie and Scott stood briefly discussing how to wake everyone and get the boys up and moving to the showers when suddenly there was another shrill whistle from the entrance into the gym. The boys turned to see Andre standing there with his hands on his hips watching to gauge the effectiveness of his wake up call. Even Auggie jumped at the sound ejecting Little Zeek from the bed on to the nearest boys sleeping on the air mattresses below. Eric, Jim Bob, Spider, Fish and Carter took the brunt of Auggie's aerial surprise, but they were completely awake. "Everyone shower first if they want breakfast," Andre announced before he headed back to the house after sniffing the air. There was a mass movement toward the locker room and showers until only the three men remained on their beds. "Well," Auggie asked Carl, "ya'll have a good time?" Carl giggled like a boy. "It was delightful. I feel young again. Come on Auggie, let's get to the house and get cleaned up." Auggie shook his head, "Naw, I'll just wait `til the hungriest boys is gone an' then join the rest." "Don't you want some privacy?" Carl asked in surprise. Auggie blinked and grinned, "After last night an' you still modest?" Carl began to laugh. "I guess you're right. Okay I'll wait too." The locker room door crashed open five minutes later. Dooby, holding Cory's hand led the way with Scott, Arttie, Spook and Johnnie Be Good close behind them. Auggie stopped them briefly. "What's on the table today?" he asked. "Pork chops," Dooby answered "only I'm told we're cooking them as a crown, whatever that is. Oh and since this is actually our Thanksgiving show, a turkey and a ham. This is going to be one long bitch of a day." Auggie rolled his eyes and grinned before he explained to Carl, "Dooby can't cook shit but Cory can. How some ever, Cory refused the lead because he wasn't about to stand on no box to get up to the counter. Lucky for us ole Doob's got the gift of gab plus he fucks up regular so it all works out." After another group of boys ran across the room the men headed for the showers. Auggie walked the distance while he just held Zeek's arm for balance. Spook, Arttie and Johnnie Be Good were ready and waiting at the Spelling's closest to the studio. The store had been open ten minutes but none of the waiting crowd of girls, women and a few guys went in to shop. An incessant squealing began as soon as Scott stopped his van near the doors. The sound increased when Dooby and Cory stepped out wearing huge grins, and their Spelling's jerseys, which were tucked into their favorite most comfortable and revealing shorts. Dooby's were his old red nylon and Cory wore his cotton number that Tom loved and the only shorts he'd wear. The boys waded into the crowd armed with Sharpie pens while Scott carried a stack of publicity photos to hand to the boys as needed, and they needed lots. No one took an interest in the limo that followed until it began disgorging passengers. By then Dooby and Cory had invited two of the girls to join them while they shopped for the show. Dooby asked a beautiful blonde who could have been his sister in three or four years, while Cory invited a very petite red head who was standing beside a statuesque black girl. This girl was almost six feet tall and reminded him of Mattie when she was that age. When both accepted together, Cory grinned and invited them to take his arms to guide them into the store. They continued to hold his arms as he got a shopping buggy from the lobby and followed Dooby into the store. The small plaza quickly emptied as the rest of the female horde followed the boys into the store. The store manager was gratified to see that most of the women followed pushing buggies of their own. Stores were for shopping after all and what woman could resist an almost empty store. The show began with Dooby asking Cory, "Where to?" Cory briefly leafed through the circular he held before he announced; "Produce first!" Dooby nodded and led the way. Both cameras panned the produce department that had been packed to overflowing overnight. All the vegetables sparkled with drops of water. "Okay, what do we need?" Dooby asked. Cory rattled off a list: "Asparagus, salad fixings, green beans, yellow squash, cranberries, white potatoes, sweet potatoes and rutabaga." Dooby sent his shopping date to load up on greens while he held up a bundle of asparagus. "This stuff is imported at this time of year, but just look at the quality, all the spears are the same size and so fresh the spears snap when you bend them." He demonstrated and then giggled, "OOPS!" he boomed, "Don't get caught doing this like I just did." Arttie followed his pointed finger to the produce manager who was standing at the edge of the crowd watching between fingers covering his eyes. "I think I'll just take this bundle and even the broken spear." He said soothingly and added three more bundles to the shopping buggy. When Dooby got to the fresh cranberry display, he made a face. "Eating these things even cooked is like sucking a lemon," he paused, sucked in his cheeks, made his eyes flutter and he shivered, a perfect imitation of someone sucking a lemon. "I'll fix them but I'm not planning to eat them. I just hope someone likes them. What was that last thing?" "Rutabaga." Dooby shrugged his ignorance, Cory pointed. Dooby moved to the display and hefted one of the heavy root crops. "This thing is like a cannon ball. People eat these things?" he asked after attempting to take a bite and was amazed to see that his teeth left no impressions. "Damn, I hope they soften up after they're cooked. I'll try them I guess^Å AFTER they get cooked," he added and picked out six of the smallest he could find based on Cory's suggestion in the van earlier when they discussed the menu. The last items Dooby grabbed before heading for the meat department was an assortment of fresh packaged herbs. Cory nodded appreciatively; he'd forgotten the herbs. Dooby sneaked in another plug, "Fresh herbs aren't on sale at Spelling's this week, but who can cook without them?" The meat manager met the boys in his department. "Hi Bill," Cory greeted him. "Is our order ready?" "It sure is, ready and waiting." Bill answered as he turned to the cooler case and hefted a boxed turkey first, a whole honey glazed spiral sliced ham and then two finished pork crown roasts. Dooby leaned into the camera after covering the side of his mouth so supposedly no one could hear, "We're cheating a little today, don't tell anyone, but you can order a fresh turkey from Spelling's anytime. Fresh means never frozen, ready to fix and throw in the oven the same day you want to cook it. No more days of defrosting. Also, if you want a crown roast, just order it." He picked up one of the roasts and held it out toward the camera, "Zoom in on this Arttie, damn man get out of my face, not me, the roast. Arttie's my older brother so I can talk to him like that even if he is bigger than me, I'm faster." Spook turned his camera on Arttie in time to see him hoist a finger at Dooby. "Man, Dad's going to kick your butt when he sees that out take." Dooby thought for a second and grinned evilly. "Or, knowing Scott, our producer/director and editor, it won't be an out take. You'll get a ton of mail protesting such vulgarisms on national television and Dad will still kick your butt. Now getting back to crown roasts, did I say that they or any other special cut of meat could be ordered without any additional charge?" Arttie and Spook both nodded their cameras in answer. "Well all righty then, let's move out or we won't be eating until midnight." Dooby led the way along the meat case but stopped when he saw another crown roast, this one smaller. Bill explained before Dooby could ask. "That's a lamb crown someone ordered and then canceled a bit late. It was already done." Dooby nodded and placed the small elegant roast in Cory's buggy. Further along he spied a full standing rib roast and couldn't resist. It too joined the other roasts. Dooby was careful not to look up to see Cory's reaction before he went on the defensive. "I figure we'll need it tonight since we're feeding all these Rebs and you know how much they can put away." Spook turned his camera toward the handsome Rebel contingent bolstered by Zack, Billy, Darryl and Alex and prayed that Dooby would explain them. Dooby did. "We met this bunch of guys while we were on vacation. They thought they knew how to play Lacrosse until we got done with them. We gave them some pointers though so with practice they might improve. We'll find out tomorrow when we have a match." He had to raise his voice to be heard over all the boos and catcalls coming from the back of the audience. Scott said to Cory after shutting off his microphone in the van, "Dooby was sure on a roll this morning. What got into him?" Cory grinned, "Just about everyone I think, the slut, but a nice slut," he half whispered with a giggle. Dooby joined them, waved a last time and rolled the back door closed. "Wow that was fun. Sorry I got carried away," he said to Cory, "but I figure we can fire up the grill and then use the rotisserie to do the roast so that will be out of the way. Do you think the two ovens will be enough?" he asked. "Sure, the bird will take longest so that goes in first in one oven. The crowns will take about an hour and a half so they go in the second oven on time and we can use the second shelves of either oven for whatever needs baking and the ham is already cooked and just needs to be heated through so we can nuke that at the last minute." Cory looked over the seat into the back of the van, "But," he added, "we're still going to need help with the initial prep work." Dooby shrugged, "So we'll draft some help. Even I can peel a potato with one of those scraper things. Did the stuff come in?" he asked Scott. They'd ordered caps and jerseys for everyone including Zack, Billy and Darryl all embroidered with their names as mementos of the visit. Scott looked up at the rear view mirror and grinned. "Yup, everything's on the set. I think I'll slow a camera down so when it gets played everyone will actually be moving like ants, almost running, like ten pounds of potatoes will get peeled in five seconds of tape. If I don't, there will be too much editing and no time for you to fuck up." Both boys nodded. "We're just lucky that this is a one hour special," he added. Cory pulled out a clipboard and began furiously rewriting Dooby's prep schedule. He included his name as Dooby's sous chef, and left three blanks before other tasks like peeling spuds until they actually reached the set and asked for volunteers. Dooby watched Cory with a silent smile. This show would be the first where Cory would actually leave his stool other than the barbeque without regard to any of the viewing public seeing how tall he wasn't when moving around the set. Dooby hugged him. "You're finally convinced that you're a tall hog, huh?" Cory grinned, but didn't answer. The monitors were still black but Johnnie Be Good had the recording system up and running when Dooby screamed, "ACTION!" "Damn it Dooby, that was my line," Scott scolded off camera in a calm voice that had become a tradition. The monitors flickered to life showing Dooby flanked by Cory with Logan on one side and Trasker with Stevie on the other. "Happy Thanksgiving!" Dooby shouted happily. "Look you guys watching, we've got so much to do for our holiday show today that we needed help, even Cory here decided to get off his, ah, stool and pitch in." "Happy Thanksgiving," Cory greeted the viewing audience and then introduced the three volunteers as he gave everyone except Dooby something to do. Stevie and Trasker began working at a folding table peeling ten pounds of potatoes, cutting them up and placing them in a big bowl of water ready to be boiled later. He and Logan were going to get the stuffing ready so the turkey could go into the oven as soon as possible. "What about me?" Dooby asked, "What do I do?" Cory grinned and presented Dooby with a bowl containing the Rutabagas. "Since you never had these before you can get them ready. It's easier to slice them first and then peel the slices. They've been dipped in wax to protect them." "From what?" Dooby asked while flipping one up like he would a softball. "I'd like to see the bug who could chew up one of these." Dooby had a cutting board on the island counter closest to where Trasker and Stevie worked at the folding table while Cory and Logan worked on the other side of the range top. Dooby's first attempt at slicing the end off failed with his knife just sliding along peeling some wax off. On his second try, he pressed the knife harder without getting a firmer grip on the Rutabaga. The knife slipped again but this time with such force it launched the rock hard veggie from Dooby's hand off the cutting board and the counter to land in the almost empty bowl of water where Trasker and Stevie were putting the cut up spuds. Trasker and Stevie got splashed, but not badly. However just knowing who caused the splash was reason for instant retaliation. Dooby had just apologized with a guilty giggle, retrieved the errant Rutabaga, covered it with a towel for a better grip and was about to try again when Trasker hit him in the face with a measuring cup full of water. Dooby blinked twice before he pounced on Trasker carrying him to the floor behind the counter. Stevie dove, Logan jumped on the threesome, and Cory followed, suddenly, there was no one visible on the set but there was lots of audio, most of which would have to be bleeped. The top of Dooby's head down to his eyes appeared briefly over the top of the counter, long enough to suggest, "Maybe we should take a commercial break here," before he screamed and disappeared again. Scott grinned and in his always calm voice, said, "You guys are the commercial remember?" When the cameras resumed taping it was obvious that there was a considerable time lapse. The spuds had been peeled and the Rutabagas had been sliced, peeled and diced. Cory and Logan were almost finished with the dressing/stuffing. Cory decided that was going to be made with oysters and apples. The oysters had been drained, and the liquid incorporated into the chicken stock, which, just then was being mixed into the mostly dry diced corn bread cubes and vegetables that had been sautéed in butter. Dooby spied the undefended oysters and each time Cory was busy explaining to the camera and not paying attention to what was going on around the kitchen, Dooby nabbed one and put it in his mouth. Logan caught him fishing in the bowl for the fourth time, nudged Cory and whispered. Dooby instantly felt the pain of a wristlock and the oysters were forgotten, as he sank to his knees. Dooby looked up at Cory to plead his case through gritted teeth, "But Cory, you know we have dates tonight." Cory released his hold with a grin. "Oh yeah, and you always need extra help, I forgot." "I do not!" Dooby protested with a straight face. He grinned suddenly and added, "Oysters are just a supplement." Cory looked at his watch. "Before the oysters kick in, you better get that big roast on the rotisserie. Here's the rub, and remember start it high to sear it and then turn it down low to slow roast it." Dooby licked his lips, which reminded Cory, "And, if there are any notches in this one, you'll have to cancel your date because everything that moves on your body will be in a cast," he warned. The unseen audience burst into laughter while clapping, which Cory acknowledged with a grin and a bow. Everyone watching gradually became aware that Cory was the actual cook while Dooby remained Dooby although he did whatever Cory told him to do. After the turkey went into the oven, the rib roast started turning and everything else was prepared as far as it could be before actual cooking began, Dooby announced a Lacrosse break between the buildings of the renovated office park. Shirts and caps were removed and set aside. Tom watched from a window as sticks and a bag of balls appeared from the limo trunk and SUV hatches but no safety equipment. He ran across the set, out the doors to the new deck that traversed the back of the building and screamed, "Where's your safety equipment?" The boys looked up at him innocently and then at Dooby for an answer. "We're just going to toss the ball around Uncle Tommy, we weren't planning a match or anything," he explained even though Tom had just interrupted a discussion about what the field boundaries and imaginary goals were. Dooby looked up at the sun ignoring his watch. "Isn't it almost lunchtime? What are we having anyway?" Tom gave up, "Pizza and our new sub sandwiches?" he answered, tongue in cheek. Dooby already knew that Tom wanted feedback on the new sandwiches before they were introduced chain wide and planned to feed the gang to get input from the growing bottomless pits looking up at him. After the cheering died he nodded and started to leave the deck. Dooby called after him, "Get the subs toasted!" Tom nodded and heard Dooby's endorsement, "Man just wait until you taste these motherfuckers, they are GREAT! Uncle Tommy thought them up and man have we got a boomer when they hit the stores. Take my advise, when Justa Pizza hits the market if you don't buy in fast, you are some dumb rednecks." Dooby backed away from the group before he added sweetly, "Oh, sorry, I forgot," he waited. "Forgot what?" Stevie asked. He was already in motion heading in Dooby's direction. "That you already know that you're dumb rednecks!" Stevie brought Dooby down within thirty feet and a giant wrestling match began, North against the South as always. Tom grinned. He knew that the longer they wrestled, the less time they would have for their planned Lacrosse match and possible injuries. "Was that there comment about Justa Pizza goin' public ole Dooby's mouth runnin' or insider info?" Auggie asked. Tom smiled benignly, "Wishful thinking, but if you're interested, maybe a five percent stake in the initial offering would get you a seat on that board too. That is of course if it ever goes public around March first next year. Want to come along and see how we're changing the format?" Auggie hit the scooters' reverse, "Come on Carl, let's go see what this boy has planned." Once in the limo, and with the partition up between them and the driver, Auggie explained his investment strategy. "It be simple really, I'm plannin' for the economy to take a shit, worse case scenario o' course," he added. First, a family can do without a cable TV. They can make do with the national stations until times is better but that don't put no food on my investor's table. Things the family can't no how do without is utilities; they need heat and lights. Next they can't never go without food and last there's paper products and cleanin' supplies. They'll always want to wash up an' wipe their asses. They ain't no more Monkey Ward catalogs around like when I was a boy. We always kept last year's in the convenience out back. We always used the black an' white pages first and colored went last `cause they scratched." He ignored Tom's laughter, "I'm serious Tommy boy. Times was easier then. We grew our food an' we ate it fresh in season then Momma an' my sisters set about puttin' stuff up for winter. We had a root cellar an' stored fruit an' vegetables like them Rutabagas Dooby boy had such a time with. Back then a candy bar was a nickel an' there was even penny candy. Now that costs a quarter an' a candy bar costs a buck each an' there ain't much to be found in the oversize wrapper." "I agree," Carl said, "I've been diversifying too, moving away from banking institutions offering credit cards even to high school kids with no income except their allowances. We are a nation being crushed with credit card debt at usurious interest rates." He smiled at Auggie; "I suspect we'll be meeting more often at board meetings in the near future." He looked up as the car rocked on Justa Pizza's driveway apron. Auggie stopped just inside the doors and inhaled deeply before he giggled, "I believe I just inhaled a hundred calories just then, but don' tell my boys." Tom escorted the store manager over to meet Auggie and Carl. "This is Bill and this is his store. He turned it around almost over night. This place has gone from no business to being the top store in this district." The men looked around to see that most of the tables were occupied with a mix of teens and families. They also saw three delivery guys lined up at a side counter waiting impatiently for pies and sub sandwiches to be belched from the oven's moving belt. "I see the new oven's online." "Yeah, thanks Tommy. We use that one mostly for delivered orders. The guys slice and box the pies or wrap the subs themselves. Of course the toasted subs don't take as long so we use a small oven in back for those." Bill kept looking over his shoulder at the prep area. The men looked as well. There were six people working two assembly lines like well-oiled, happy machines. Just then a harried young man appeared carrying a tray of subs, most were toasted others not, all looked to be overflowing with good stuff as Dooby and Cory, working as official company taste testers referred to the meat and cheeses. Bill finally bolted away from the men. "Look Tommy I gotta go or we'll get behind. Nice to meet you guys!" he called over his shoulder. Tom grinned and shouted, "Wait up, I have news." Bill stopped and turned with a questioning look, he was clearly agitated even if the agitator was the President of the company. "WHAT?" he snapped. Tommy grinned, "I just thought you should know that effective November first you are promoted to the position of District Manager. You'll be running this district, District One. Congratulations!" Bill looked like he didn't comprehended what Tom told him. He shrugged his shoulders and ran to the preparation area. "Well don't that beat all?" Auggie said with a grin. "That there boy is a worker first. He's got to get hiself through today before he starts worrin' about no promotion." One of the delivery boys recognized Tom from the time that he, Christian Cory and Dooby came in for supper, fired the manager at the time and promoted Bill on the spot so by the time his order was ready and his name was called, the whole store team knew who he was. The delivery boy, Jason, quickly placed a carton full of sandwiches on top of a stack of fifteen large pizzas and met the men at the door with the staggering load. Tom held the door open and steered him to the open back door of the limo. "Thanks for the help Jason. If I tried to carry all that I would have tripped before I got this far sure as shit." Jason blinked, "You remembered my name?" he asked very surprised. "Sure, are any of the others still working here?" Jason nodded, "Bill made Colin, the other prep guy his assistant manager, Becky went from waitress to strictly taking orders in the office where it's quieter and I kind of do quality control for the delivery stuff before it gets boxed or wrapped, and I dispatch the drivers to make them more efficient, but that's all." "Well if I were you, I'd go talk to Colin about being his assistant manager since Bill will be leaving to move up to District Manager and I imagine he'll make Colin the manager." Auggie interrupted from inside the car. "Tommy, goddamn it, let's be goin'. The pies is gettin' cold and the smells is plum killin' me." The limo appeared suddenly around the corner of a building. The boys didn't notice because a Lacrosse match was raging, the north against the south. Tom shook his head. "I knew it! As soon as my back was turned, the war started and none of them are wearing any protective gear, or lucky for us, their shirts. Just look at them," he lamented. The match stopped suddenly when one by one they noted the car's return. Everyone was covered with mud from somewhere. Dooby was almost first to the car and began to bitch Tom out. "Man, Uncle Tommy, do you realize that there are some low spots in the field? I mean it seriously slowed down the match. Look at me," he complained, "the Rebs kept tripping us up at the wrong time." His grin showed through his mud covered face before he added, "So we started tripping them up. We beat their asses fair and square!" he exclaimed while claiming the stack of pizza boxes. "Man that was a great match! Come on guys before they get cold." Dooby trotted off into the building just like the Pied Piper, and everyone followed. The show resumed with Dooby and Cory standing behind a long table set with their enormous finished Thanksgiving dinner. Both were again wearing their team Spelling jerseys but obvious spatters of dried mud remained on their faces since Artie and Spook taped every minute of the match and the show, scheduled for the Thursday before Thanksgiving, was planned as a one-hour holiday special. "ACTION!" Dooby screamed, dropped his voice to normal and grinned at the cameras before his expression changed to serious, "Obviously there's been a time lapse, all this, ah, spit, takes a long time to cook, but now it's all done and we're ready to serve it to all our friends here today because that's what Thanksgiving is all about, giving thanks. It doesn't matter who you pray to, I kind of think it's the same Big Guy who provides us all with this bounty of food and other good stuff, we all thank Him for it and for having good friends to share it with." He ended his informal prayer with another classic Dooby grin, "There's only one problem, we don't have enough plates, so anyone at the back of the line can just watch." A camera panned the line of hungry teens as they pushed and shoved each other. "Relax guys I was just kidding, there are plenty of plates but maybe not enough food! Happy Thanksgiving EVERYONE," Dooby shouted and added, "CUT, that's a wrap." "I wish you'd quit with all my lines," Scott mumbled to a blank screen but live microphone. Later, Billy shyly approached Dooby and Corey. "Um, I'm in a steeple chase next weekend and well, I was kind of wondering if you guys would like to go. I mean all you guys, not just you two guys." Dooby answered instantly, "Sure, we'd love to. One question though, what the fuck's a steeple chase?" Carl overheard and answered for his usually quiet grandson. "We have an annual event to benefit the hospital and I'm the chairman this year." He sputtered, "I mean the chairperson, I keep forgetting. It's a bunch of horse races over a long course with a lot of jumps. I would have invited you sooner, but I forgot in all the, ah, excitement. We have a tailgate party at the finish line and you all are most cordially invited." "Sure, we'd love too, but we have to do a show, every weekend or we'll get behind." Corey explained before Dooby got carried away with enthusiasm. Dooby looked enlightened. "Hey Uncle Tommy, I've got a show we need to squeeze in before Thanksgiving and the end of the football season. We should have done it earlier, a deli show. Spelling's will provide everything, we'll have a blast without cooking!" He explained his idea quickly. Spellings' could provide huge platters of finger foods for all kinds of events but there hasn't been any advertising that he'd seen. What could be better than a tailgate party? Tom nodded and bought into the idea aloud, "There's also fried chicken, ribs, cold shrimp and all kinds of salads^Å" Dooby began shaking his head, "Nope, no salads, nope, nada, not ever. Did you ever taste Spelling's potato salad? It's gross Uncle Tommy; I think they actually use Miracle Whip instead of the one and only Hellmann's mayonnaise. My mom tried to get that stuff by me back in grammar school on a perfectly good ham sandwich. Believe me it smelled and tasted like barf going down and it tasted the same coming back up." He giggled at the memory. "After I got a teacher and the Vice-Principal sprayed when they tried to help me, they backed away from the smell and were ready to let me die right there in the middle of the school cafeteria. Man, Cory does great salads, like at our party, there weren't any leftovers." At that point Auggie entered his opinion, "I got to agree with the boys, Tommy. That there party had some good eats so far as salads go, and here sets a picky eater to boot." That comment sent all the boys into gales of laughter, at which Auggie bellowed for Zeek to get his heavy cane. "Uncle Auggie, I believe you'd eat cement if it was dipped in batter and deep-fried some," Trasker declared from a safe distance. A shrill whistle from the house worked on the boys like Pavlov's dogs even though they'd just finished a huge dinner only a few hours earlier. ### Tom saw Cory nodding his agreement between giggles. "Okay, you guys helped the bakeries, sales are way up, so now help the deli departments." He saw frowning and waved Dooby and Cory to silence before they could argue the time factor. "Look, just make, say, five pounds of each salad, slaw, potato and a macaroni and, oh, my mother's baked beans. Call her for the recipe. Write down everything you put in it and I mean quantities not pinches or dabs so we can up those to deli size batches." Dooby looked inspired, "We could do them tonight and then tomorrow we could have a cook out!" He looked at Carl, "That is, we could if you agree Gramps Carl?" "Perfect! A cookout for lunch!" "An' Dooby Boy, I believe I could set tooth to one o' them Auggie burgers I seen on the out takes if I was offered." "You've got a deal Auggie!" Dooby sang, grabbed Cory and began to wrestle him, until Dooby found himself pinned and crying `uncle' once again. "Wait, we'll have to have it at Uncle Tommy's since that's where our Lacrosse field is and we're planning a serious match for once, with rules even." "AND safety equipment?" Tom interjected with a raised eyebrow. Dooby looked haughty, or tried to. "Well of course Uncle Tommy, our coach at school would kill us if we got injured and couldn't play. They don't call us the dynamic threesome for nothing." He pulled Christian and Zack close so everyone would know who the threesome were. ### On the way into New York, Stevie clued in his three cohorts. They had lived in Georgia in the same town. They were best buddies and formed a sex club, just the four of them. Of course they were caught by bible thumping parents since they all attended the same fundamentalist church. They fled together on a bus to New York City where they unrealistically hoped to find work, live together in a small apartment and be happy. Unfortunately, none of the above happened. They were broke, scared and looking for a safe place to spend the night. The story was iron clad and further embellished by them talking to a mythical kid at Grand Central Station who gave them the address for the shelter. As the four entered, Logan and Daryl stuck like glue to Stevie's sides, while Alex towered over them all and tagged along like a mother hen. They registered with false last names and were finally led to the boy's dormitory where they found their fellow latest arrivals. The more experienced boys or longer residents, were out and doing whatever while the newbies held clutched pillows and thought of better times. There were seven boys in the room all clustered on separate beds near each other. All of them looked up at the sound of Stevie's voice, three looked away and resumed hugging their pillows. The other four however did double takes at the boys' overall appearances first, then their faces and down their bodies to gauge how well they filled out the tight jeans the four newcomers wore. Stevie was ecstatic and continued to use his somewhat Auggie accent and country bumpkin charm as he grinned at the four. "Hot damn! There's four more of us if'n my gadar's workin' correct. Don't that beat all? We're up from Georgia, we was a club that liked to do shit together, then at Leroy's" he tossed his thumb at Alex, "one night while Leroy was pluggin' me and these two perverts watched, in walked Leroy's daddy, without knockin' nor nothin', it was plumb horrifyin'. Ol', Leroy pulled outta' me so fast he exposed hiself to his daddy, all ten beautiful inches of it. Man the shit hit the fan. His daddy started on the phone callin' our dads whilst we ran pullin' on clothes. We is neighbors so we dove in our bedroom winders an' collected what would fit in knapsacks and headed out to the good ole train station. Was we lucky or what as there was a freight passin'. We managed to hold on to each other in between cars like until the train stopped. An' we bought tickets to here. Trouble was then once we got here, no one would hire our asses to do nothin' ^Ö not even sweep floors. We almost ran out o' money an' now we is here. What's you're stories?" Stevie asked eagerly but stopped any from saying anything by quickly asking the four if they'd like a burger and fries since they collectively had enough for a meal. The obvious youngest in the group of pillow huggers possibly thirteen came to life. "I have a dollar ninety-five cents, can I come too? I'm hungry!" Stevie collared the youth with his arm. The boy melted into Stevie's side as he led the way outside to a local restaurant that served everything under the sun, if the fare was Chinese, Vietnamese or American. "My name's Kurt with a `K'" the boy announced as he continued to stick to Stevie. "I didn't do nothing wrong, but my step dad did. When mom wasn't home he used me like I was some girl. At first it hurt but then I got so I kind of liked it." The boy's face scrunched up like he was about to cry. "Then there was a young guy, sixteen I think, he lived upstairs. This guy was always nice to me and I thought that if a hairy drunk with a beer belly could make me feel good, I wondered what a young guy could do. He was real handsome and had a real nice slim body with lots of muscles you couldn't see until he moved. We got to talking one day just before school started; we were sitting on the steps outside our apartments. He was wearing shorts but no shirt. He was so sexy looking and I couldn't resist. I flat out asked him if he wanted to get his rocks off with me. I still can't believe I asked that. He was all nervous and jerky at first until I threw my arm over his leg and casually kind of stroked his answer through his shorts. `My mother is home.' he kind of squeaked. `Mine ain't', I answered and took him by the hand to pull him up the stairs. He fucked me three times, actually made love to me three times if you want to know the truth." He frowned and hesitated, "We were just into the fourth shot when my step dad walked in on us," he said softly. "My step dad went ape shit and started beating on poor Carl. I kind of saw red. I picked up my table lamp and hit my step dad on the back of the head as hard as I could. The asshole was out cold, but so was Carl, and bleeding. I called nine-one-one, filled my back pack and got out of there as fast as I could." He grinned, "I snatched the asshole's wallet and took all the cash he had. That ran out yesterday so I kind of had to hit the shelter for food." "What happened to your buddy, Carl?" "I hid in an alley and saw them put him in a St. Mary's ambulance all covered up. They took my asshole step dad away in cuffs." Stevie took out his cell phone and quickly found St. Mary's number, "What's his last name?" Stevie hissed. "Bends, his last name is Bends." Kurt bubbled with saucer eyes on the cell phone. "Hey, I'd like to speak to Carl Bends, this is his brother Tom." After a short wait, a young male voice answered, "Hello?" Stevie grinned at Kurt, "Hi, I'm a friend. I have another friend here who wants to talk to you. Here's Kurt, with a `K'." He handed the phone off. While Kurt talked with Carl the other three boys whispered among themselves. They'd realized that something about the four boys wasn't right. They were too clean and while they were dressed casually they also recognized clothing logos that none of them could afford. Then there was the cell phone; one asked the others, "What runaway kid still carries a cell?" That boy didn't wait for an answer; he just disappeared in the foot traffic heading back to the shelter. The two that remained were just adventurous enough to get some answers before they ran off as well. They got closer to the huddle around Kurt so they could hear what was going on. "He hit his head on the corner of the nightstand and had a bad concussion," Kurt explained with a few tears leaking. "He's going to be released tomorrow, Children's Services is coming for him. His parents don't want him back." "Does he have clothes?" Logan asked. Kurt shook his head after relaying the question. Stevie grinned at Logan, already agreeing with his lover's unspoken plan while looking for a clothing store. "Get his room number and tell him we'll be there to get him out as soon as we can." He let the conversation go on for another minute before he made a slashing motion across his neck and Kurt disconnected. Carl's escape was easier than expected. The hospital was busy, and there was still another hour of visiting time. Seven boys made their way to the fourth floor, and shortly there after, eight boys walked out directly across the sidewalk to a double-parked limo with a grinning Zeek holding the back door open. Kurt and Carl hesitated only a second before they climbed in the big car but the other two stopped and backed up until they bumped into Alex and Daryl. "We'll explain everything in the car, and if you don't want to go with us, we'll drop you off at the shelter." Alex said and gave each a gentle push. Once in the car and cold Cokes and chips were passed around, the new boys relaxed somewhat. Stevie explained that he, Logan and a few other guys worked for an elderly gentleman from Georgia while Daryl and Alex worked for another who lived in New Jersey with his two grandsons and this gentleman was interested in expanding the number of boys who lived with them. Hence the trip to the city and a visit to the runaway shelter to see if there were any new gay arrivals, Kurt looked up suddenly, "You mean he wants us as sex slaves? If he does you can let me and Carl out now!" Daryl spoke up for the first time with his very proper English accent, "Dear Carl found me in Scotland after my father disowned me for being gay. It was my first night to try my hand at being a rent boy, our term for selling my body. Granted he sneaked me here to the Colonies but then made me his ward and I am totally legal. He has never even asked me to do anything against my will, nor will he ever ask you. Since you four are estranged from your families and under age he will first seek custody of you. You will be enrolled in the same school his grandsons attend, you will be accepted there and what we do at home or not do is no one's business." Alex dipped his oar in the conversation; "I was a waiter at the country club where Carl is a member. Whenever he came in for lunch he always brought Daryl," he grinned and continued. "Which always put a serious strain on the front of my pants. Lucky for me I was wearing a short apron." Daryl giggled, "Was that the problem? And all this time I rather thought you made a fortune in tips!" "Limmey asshole," Alex quipped with a blush and noggied Daryl's head lightly while holding him in a gentle headlock, ignoring Daryl's screams of delight. "Seriously, if Carl, or I mean our boss can get this redheaded Limmey legalized between two countries, do you think he can't do it for you four across a state line?" Alex asked. David and Alan, the previously silent couple whispered together and then David spoke up to tell their story, "I was outted at school last week and yesterday two guys were beating on me when all of a sudden Alan was there to help make it a fair fight and the two decided they were late for classes, so Alan outted himself," he concluded. "Who outted you?" Logan asked. "Alan's brother," David mumbled. Alan saw all eyes fall on him. "David and I have been doing stuff together ever since we could. Last weekend I stayed over with him. We're both fourteen and his parents were going away. They figure that we can take care of ourselves if we're together. We watched the car leave the parking garage before we got naked. We kissed for the first time and then sucked each other off and then we went into a sixty-nine also for the first time. We admitted to ourselves that we really were gay and that we loved each other." He blushed, glanced at David and mumbled, "We became boyfriends. It was so cool I had to share the news with my brother as soon as I got home. I've always told him everything. I started telling him about David. I didn't get far before he went into a rage and said something like `You mean your best friend is a fag and has been hitting on you? Well don't worry about it, I'll take care of it tomorrow.' Monday, by noon most everyone knew about David. After the fight we decided to get the hell out, so we ran. We got all the way from Queens to Manhattan before we realized we didn't have a place to stay. We were in midtown wandering around looking lost. Two guys who lived at the shelter for a month recognized us for what we were and brought us in." When they entered the estate, saw the gates open automatically and the length of the drive before they saw the brightly lit mansion, they were truly impressed. "This is fucking awesome," Kurt mumbled. "Yes, well this weekend we have guests", Daryl answered. "These are two, but there are more and all are rather horny berks," he explained. The boys and young men boiled out of the house on their way to the field house just as the long car pulled up. All held partially eaten sandwiches. "HEY" Dooby exclaimed when he saw the four newcomers alight. "You guys will fit in great, come on, or do you need a snack? I bet you do." He turned and led the mob back to the kitchen just like he owned the place. He was oblivious to the fact that he and the rest of the guys were naked. The new guys weren't. They were goggle eyed at seeing so many prime naked bodies, who, if, as they were told, were all gay but not acting gay. In the kitchen again, Dooby began slicing newly baked bread, while the other guys again raided the refrigerator, pulling out sliced turkey, ham and roast beef and all the fixings for sandwiches. The four new guys hesitated all of ten seconds before they each fixed themselves a jaw-breaking sandwich stacked with meats, cheese and anything else that took their fancy. "Do you guys want to sleep with us or do you want your own rooms?" Zack asked after introductions were out of the way. He threw his arms out to encompass everyone, "We kind of sleep together, but it's up to you where you sleep." "We're new to all of this," Kurt mumbled with his mouth full. "That's okay, no sweat, Gramps has lots of rooms. We sleep in the field house across the drive. Just go upstairs, find a room no one's in and rack out. We'll see you in the morning at breakfast." Zack answered and continued, "One thing though, clothes are not required, no one will hit on you and if any of these perverts do, you can say no. That's a rule around here and in case you haven't noticed, you're kind of over dressed." The four looked at each other, blushed and slowly peeled off their clothes. The mob watched silently until the deed was done. "I have a brother!" Cory exclaimed as he looked at little Kurt with a `K'. "Damn, it's good to meet someone else with a decent sized cock! One who lives up here," he amended with a glance at James. Cory giggled and hugged Kurt impulsively. The result was a massive erection some of the others backed away from. "Holy shit!" Dooby intoned as he circled Kurt's neck with his arm while he attempted to make another sandwich with one hand, "You guys will fit right in, me especially in case Cory's busy." Cory gigged Dooby with an elbow playfully, "Relief is in sight, too much wear and tear when he's around," looking at Dooby, "is a bitch but I love him anyway!" The four newcomers were astonished when Cory melted into Dooby's arms as he finished his second giant sandwich. It looked messy, but still edible. The four newbies huddled together briefly. Somehow Kurt had become their leader and spokesman, "If it's all the same to you guys, we'd like to sleep in the field house, whatever that is." ### WOW! You guys would not believe what a great editing job friend Emoe did on this chapter. When I first looked at the returned work last night, all I saw was a sea of red corrections and I went to bed. Now this morning when reading his changes, he was right in every case. Amazing! And this week he moved AND got this done for me at the same time. THANK YOU EMOE! As always if you want on my mailing list, email me at horti123.cfl.rr.com. Jamie