Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2004 12:28:45 -0800 (PST) From: Thomas Gaige Subject: My Step-Brother Jacob - Chapter 58 DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it! My Step-Brother Jacob Chapter 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I ran into the ocean, I heard Andy screaming hysterically from behind me, yelling for me to stop. I kept on going. The only thought in my head was to get to the twins, and get them safely to shore. As I threw myself down on my boogie board and began paddling out toward the boys, I also heard the lifeguard's incessant shrill whistling. I kept on going. * * * Back on shore, Andy was standing in the surf, still screaming for me to come back. Finally Boner got in his face and yelled at him "SHUT UP ANDY! AND LISTEN!" Andy stopped screaming and looked at him. Steve grabbed Andy by both shoulders and looked him in the eye and said "John's a lifeguard! He and Mike got certified last summer and worked here as lifeguards all summer! John knows what he's doing! He'll be OK!" Andy stared at Steve for a minute, thinking, then looked a little relieved and said, "That's right! Mike wrote that in his journals! Oh Thank God!" Andy broke away from Steve then and shaded his eyes and looked out to sea, watching my progress, as I got closer to the twins. He didn't notice Steve and the others looking at him. Mitchell, who had run over to the lifeguard, to explain that I was going out after the boys, and that I would be OK, because I'd been a guard the previous year, ran up to the group just then. He heard what Andy had said, and was looking at Andy too. "Mike kept a journal?" Steve asked Andy, finally. Suddenly, Andy realized that in his panic, he'd told the guys about Mike's journals, which I'd asked him not to tell anyone about. He looked at Steve, and then saw that everyone else was looking at him too. "I don't suppose you guys could just forget I said that?" he asked, looking at them. "No, I thought not," Andy said, as they all remained silent, and just continued to stare at him. "I wasn't supposed to say anything about them. I wouldn't have, if I weren't so scared about John! JOHN!" Andy turned quickly then and looked to sea again, scanning the waves for me. "WHERE IS HE?" Andy yelled, when he didn't see me. "He's there," Pete said, pointing at me, as a wave settled, and I appeared behind it. "Thank God!" Andy said. "Why haven't they sent out more help?" "They can't. There're other people caught in the same rip tide further up. They're all busy," Mitchell said. "They'll be alright. John's used to this. It isn't really a full-blown rip-tide yet anyway." "Bugger! It better not become one then!" Andy said. Craig moved closer to Andy and said, "Andy, what's this about Mike keeping a journal?" Andy looked at the guys, who were all still watching him. "Bugger! Me and my big mouth! John's going to be bloody mad as Hell at me!" he said, looking at them. They all kept on looking at him. "Alright!" he said finally, "Mike kept a journal. Brian let John read it! John wasn't supposed to tell anyone!" "Well, he told you, didn't he?" Pete asked. "Do you know what was in it?" Steve asked. "Did Mike say why he killed himself?" Andy looked at them all for a minute, not knowing what to say. "I just know about them, not what was in them," Andy said finally, looking guiltily at them. They all continued to look at him yet. "Please! Please, don't tell John I let this slip!" Andy said. "If you don't know what's in the journals, how'd you know Mike had written about him and John being lifeguards in them?" Steve asked Andy's eyes got large as he looked at the guys, who all kept staring at him, with varying expressions on their faces. * * * While this exchange was taking place back on shore, I was on my boogie board, paddling as fast as I could, toward the twins. As I got closer, I realized there was a third person with them, another boy, who looked to be a little younger than they were. Between me and the boys, was the lifeguard, who was swimming toward them, making steady progress. As I continued swimming, I could feel the rip-tide pulling me away from shore and toward them, which hastened my progress. I realized though that it wasn't a full-blown rip-tide, or they'd have been pulled further out, faster. I noticed too, that we all were being dragged southward, more than out to sea now, which was a good sign. When I got within about 20 yards of the boys, I noticed that the lifeguard had stopped swimming, and seemed to be floundering. He was clutching his torpedo-shaped float under one arm. His other arm was flailing. "JOHN!" I heard the twins shouting. I paddled as fast as I could. As I got closer, I saw that all three boys appeared to be OK, and were all laying on their boogie boards. They began paddling toward me, and yelling my name. Meanwhile, the lifeguard was obviously in trouble. He was flailing yet, and looked terrified. I headed straight for him. Just as I got up to him, his arm slipped off his float, and he went under. I reached down and hooked my hand in his armpit, and hauled him upward. He was coughing and spluttering as he broke the surface. I spun him onto his back and hooked my right arm under his right arm, up over his chest, and tucked my hand into his left armpit, resting the back of his head against my chest. Still spluttering, he cried out and tried to reach for his left leg. "Cramp?" I hollered. "Yeah! .... calf," he gasped, grimmacing. "OK, try to stretch it. Try to pull your toes up toward your knee," I said, as I looked toward the twins. The three boys were all about 10 feet from us now. "GUYS! ARE YOU OK?" I hollered. "YEAH!" John yelled back. "STAY ON YOUR BOARDS, BUT TRY TO SWIM TO US!" I yelled. "WE ARE!" Scott shouted. As the boys did their best to swim toward us, against the current, I held onto my board with my left arm, and held onto the lifeguard with my right. I kicked as best I could, aiming us in the direction of the boys. The lifeguard was still, obviously in pain, but was trying to relieve his cramp. Slowly, the distance between us and the boys diminished, and within a couple minutes, Scott reached over and grabbed the tip of my board and pulled us all together. * * * "You guys OK?" I asked. "Yeah," John said grinning. "Why wouldn't we be?" Scott asked, grinning as well. "Who's your friend?" I asked, looking at the younger boy. He looked to be about 10, and was clearly frightened yet. "Timmy. The rip pulled him out to us. Scott grabbed him, before he was pulled out further, and we started swimming parallel to shore, like you told us to," John said. "Good work! Timmy, it'll be alright. I used to be a guard. We were trained for this. Just hang onto your boards. Everyone grab the rope on this float, and don't let go, we can stay together then. We'll just ride the waves till they wash us back into shore a little further down the beach!" I said. I pushed the float toward the guys, and they all reached out and grabbed the rope attached to it. "How're you doing?" I asked the lifeguard. He looked to be about my age. He didn't seem to be in as much pain as he had been in, although he was still obviously hurting. "Better. Still hurts. You're a guard?" he asked, grimmacing. "I was last year. I'm John Wilder. Keep on pulling your toes up toward your knee. What's your name?" I asked. "Dave Johansen", he replied. "OK Dave, let me know when you think you can get up onto my boogie board on your belly" I said. "I can try now," he said. "OK, I'll put it under you, so all you have to do is roll left, then pull yourself up onto it," I said. "Ready?" "Uh huh," Dave said. I pulled my board toward Dave, and at the same time, relaxed my hold on him so he could move a little. He spun around in the water, and reached up and grabbed the board. Then, groaning, he hauled himself up onto it. "OK, good. Relax now!" I said. Dave gave me a rye smile as I loosened the wristband from my board's safety strap from my wrist, and attached it to his. Then I grabbed onto Dave's floater, and told him to grab the rope, like everyone else. Dave grabbed the rope. "Alright, is everyone OK?" I asked. Everyone indicated they were, so I said, "OK, I'm gonna swim south. Hopefully, we'll swim out of this and get back in to the beach soon. Hang onto your boards and the rope, and everyone but Dave, kick and aim toward me." I turned over, and clutching the floater, moved out in front of the group and started swimming parallel to shore. After several minutes of steady swimming, with help from the boys who were kicking, we swam out of the outgoing current, and I was able to head us diagonally into shore. As we got in closer, I realized we were getting too close to the next stone jetty that jutted out into the sea, and we all had to paddle and kick back out to sea to get safely around it. But once we were around it, I was able to aim us straight into shore. Together, the boys and I paddled and kicked until we caught a wave that we all rode together on, all the way into shore. * * * As we washed up on shore. A huge crowd of people, including a couple lifeguards, gathered around us, and dragged us out of the surf. There was pandemonium for a few minutes, as everyone was yelling, and the guards were asking about any injuries we might have. Suddenly a woman came pushing her way through the crowd shrieking "Timmy! Let me through, that's my son! TIMMY!" Chuckling, I looked at Timmy and said, "I think your mom's here!" He grinned at me, then gave me a big hug and said "Thanks for saving me!" I laughed and said, "we all saved each other, now go see your mom." Just then, a distraught looking blonde woman burst through the final layer of onlookers, and screamed "TIMMY!" "MOM!" Timmy shouted. He jumped up and ran into his mother's arms. The crowd quieted a little, as we all watched the boy and his mother have a joyous, and tearful reunion. Over the lingering noise, I suddenly heard Andy's voice yelling for me. Momentarily, Andy, Jacob, Harry, and the guys all pushed their way through the crowd. "JOHN!" I heard Andy, Jacob, and Harry all yelling at once. I got up just in time for all three of them to collide with me, wrapping their arms around me. We all hugged each other for a moment, then they all broke away from me and pounced on the twins, who thoroughly enjoyed the attention. After a minute, Andy turned back to me. "Oh my God John! You scared me to death!" Andy yelled at me. As his eyes began to water, he grabbed me and squeezed me tightly. I hugged Andy tightly and said, "you weren't worried were you? You know I know what I'm doing." "Heh," Dave said, looking up at us, "I thought I knew what I was doing too!" Andy released me then, and I squatted down next to Dave and asked him how his leg was. "Just about ready to try and get up," he said, as more lifeguards showed up, and they all hovered around us. I reached out a hand and said, "Try to stand on your right leg first." Dave grasped my hand and pulled himself up into a standing position on just his right leg. He grinned and gingerly put his left foot down. He was able to stand OK. I was expecting him to let go of my hand, but he held onto it. Dave looked at me very seriously, and his eyes watered. He squeezed my hand a little tighter and said "Thanks for everything you did. If it wasn't for you, we'd all still be out there, or worse!" "Let's not go there, OK? But you're welcome!" I said. "Hey! We would've rescued you if John hadn't," Scott piped up, grinning at Dave. "Oh really?" Dave asked, smiling a little then, "And here I thought I was gonna rescue you!" "Well, you really didn't have to. We know what to do in a rip-tide. John taught us," Scott said. "We were just going to ride it out. We knew we'd eventually wash up down the beach. We figured we'd have to come ashore at least by the time we got to Ocean Grove, and if we went that far, John could drive down and get us!" "I think we need to have a little talk about this!" I said to Scott, chuckling, as Dave laughed too. "Well... I know it's more dangerous than that, but, it all worked out OK. That's the important thing!" Scott said. "I suppose," I said. John stepped forward then and said, "Thanks for swimming out after us Dave!" "Yeah, thanks Dave!" Scott said. Dave looked embarrassed, and said, "But I didn't do anything. In fact I almost drowned myself. It was John who saved all of us!" * * * "Is that true? A civilian saved all of you?" a man in a suit with a microphone in his hand said, pushing through the crowd, and shoving the microphone toward Dave. "Can you tell us what happened?" Dave looked a little flustered, but then a bright light flashed on to my right and a man with a camera stepped forward. The man with the Microphone turned toward the Camera and started speaking into the microphone. "Mark Warfield, Channel 11 news! We're live, at the beach here in Asbury Park where apparently, just moments ago, a civilian made a dramatic rescue at sea of a lifeguard and three boys who were all perilously caught in a dangerous rip-tide in shark-infested waters, and were being pulled out to sea. With us now is the lifeguard, who originally entered the water to try and rescue the three doomed boys who were being washed away. Luck was not with the lifeguard though, as he was attacked by a vicious shark, and was pulled under several times! The lifeguard almost lost his life, and would have, if not for the young man who, with no regard for his own safety, gallantly swam out to the lifeguard and boys, and rescued them all, pulling them safely back to shore. I'm going to speak with the lifeguard who was involved now! Can you tell us in your own words, what happened?" "SHARKS???" I heard Timmy's mother cry from somewhere behind me, as I started to laugh. Dave looked a little flustered, but cleared his throat and said, "Uh, well, first of all, there were no sharks, I don't know where you heard that, but yeah, there was this sudden rip-tide. It wasn't really a full-blown one though. Anyway, I saw that there were three boys who'd gotten caught in it and were being carried out from shore. I alerted my partner, then went in after them. As I was swimming out to them, I got a charlie horse in my left calf. I didn't have a choice I had to stop swimming. So I did and was hanging onto my float trying to relax my leg, but it wasn't helping. After a couple minutes, John here, swam up to me. Thank God he did, because I slipped off my float just as he got to me. He pulled me up again, and held me up while I worked my cramp out. He told me he had been a lifeguard himself last year, so I let him take control of the situation, as I obviously was in no shape to handle things. He called to the boys, and told them to try and get to us, and he swam toward them, carrying me. We eventually all got together. John had me get onto his boogie board then, and then he and the boys all held onto the rope on my float, and together they swam parallel to the shoreline, until they got us out of the rip-tide. Then John guided us into shore." "Well, there you have it folks. There were no sharks, and the man who rescued the imperiled lifeguard and boys is actually a lifeguard himself. Never-the-less, it was still a dramatic rescue at sea here in Asbury Park today. Now, let's talk to the man-of-the-hour, John, who saved four lives here, just a little while ago!" Mark said. Mark turned to me and the camera faced me, and I was blinded by the spotlight. "What's your full name John? And tell us what prompted you to put yourself into such a dangerous situation to save four strangers!" Mark said. "Uh...My name's John Wilder. And please, don't go making a hero out of me. I just did what came naturally to me. Although I'd never met Dave, or the younger boy who were out there, the twins are very close friends of mine. I think of them as if they were my brothers. So, as soon as I saw they were in trouble, there was no question in my mind. I had to go out and pull them back in. Besides, I was a lifeguard right here on the same beach all last summer, so I've done this before, several times actually," I said. Dave stepped up beside me then and, before Mark Warfield could say anything, he said, "That's not true. John, if you hadn't come out there, I seriously don't know if I'd have made it or not. You did truly save my life. And I want to thank you!" "And you saved my Timmy too! You and your brothers did! If it wasn't for the three of you, he might have drowned!" Timmy's mother said loudly, stepping up next to Dave. "Where are these twins anyway?" Mark Warfield said, looking around. "Here Sir," John said, as he and Scott stepped over next to me. "Well folks, here you have it, Three heroes on the beach today!" Mark Warfield said. The camera panned over all of us, as Timmy and his mom, and Dave all started thanking the twins and I for helping them. At last the spotlight turned away from us, and I heard Mark Warfield signing off. * * * Eventually, things died down, and the crowd began to disperse. The lifeguard's supervisor finally arrived. He'd been handling an incident on the far end of the beach, also related to the rip-tide. "I should of known it was you!" Brendan Carmichael said, walking up to me. "Good to see you John, and thank you for pitching in!" "Hey Brendan, Good to see you too!" I said. "How are you Dave?" Brendan asked. "I'm OK Brendan, but I need to talk to you a minute. Alone." Dave said. The two stepped aside for a couple minutes. I noticed that Dave looked a little upset when they returned. Brendan, motioned me aside then. "You wouldn't be interested in guarding this summer again would you? Dave just resigned. Can't say I blame him. And, I'd have asked you, even if he hadn't," Brendan said. "If I was gonna be stateside, I would, but I'm actually only here another couple weeks, then I have to go back to England. I've been living there since my mom died," I said. "I heard about that, and about your dad. I'm really sorry John," Brendan said. "Thanks," I said, looking at my watch. Turning back to everyone else I said "I hate to break this up, but we gotta get going." Timmy and his mom, all came up to me. Timmy wrapped his arms around me and thanked me again for saving him. I hugged him back and told him I was happy to have helped, and warned him not to swim out too far anymore when he was at the beach. "He's not going in the water ever again without me!" Timmy's mom said. "Aw Mom!" Timmy said. I chuckled and mussed the boy's hair up and told him to be good for his mom. His mother wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek then. She started crying as she thanked me again for saving Timmy. After a minute, she released me. She and Timmy said goodbye to everyone and headed back up the beach to where we'd all been sitting. Dave stepped over to me then. I pulled him aside and said, "I hear you quit." "Yeah," he said, looking at me somberly. He just looked at me for a minute, and I could see he was fighting to keep from crying. It was a losing battle. Tears started to run down his cheeks. "If you hadn't gotten to me when you did, I'd be dead now. You and I both know that. The thought of it terrifies me. I'll never swim in the ocean again. And I'll never be a guard again. If I can't save myself, how could I save someone else? John, you really saved my life today! I can't thank you enough!" He said, and he started crying. I stepped closer to Dave and wrapped my arms around him. He gave way to his emotions and let me hold him while he wept softly for a couple minutes. Eventually he calmed down, and we talked a couple minutes, then we hugged each other and he said good-bye, and re-joined Brendan and a couple other guards who were still there. They got on their ATVs and headed back up the beach then. At last, it was just our group again. * * * "C'mon, we gotta get going," I said. "Uh, Horse, before we go, there's something we all need to talk about," Boner said. Andy spun around and stared at Steve with a stricken look. "I'm sorry Andy, but this is just too important. We have a right to know too!" Steve said. Andy turned to me, and I could see tears welling in his eyes. "I'm so sorry John! Somehow I always manage to fuck everything up!" Andy said... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.