Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2016 20:10:50 -0500 From: Pete Bruno Subject: Deer Crossing Farm Chapter 8 This work fully protected under The United States Copyright Laws ? 17 USC?? 101, 102(a), 302(a). All Rights Reserved. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the Author's consent. (See full statement at the beginning of Chapter One.) Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who have written to tell how much you're enjoying the story, I hope you stay tuned. For all the readers enjoying the stories here at Nifty, remember that Nifty needs your donations to help them to provide these wonderful stories. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html A Single Soul Book 3 Deer Crossing Farm Chapter 8 The False Witness Monday, June 14, 2010 Derrick woke at 0630, the day after his 21st birthday, wedged between Matt and Jim. It had been a wild party-well, weekend actually, for along with many wonderful gifts, he also received twenty-one loads of man cream over the weekend, compliments of almost all the male guests of the party-even the two straight boys, Billy and Tommy, coated his throat. The night ended with a round of fucking starting with Jim, followed by Barry, and then his dad, Matt, who topped him off. This was also the weekend that he had officially moved in at the farm. He had been separated from the Marine Corp on Friday and now was almost a private citizen once again; well until he completed his four years in the Individual Ready Reserve. Things were going well and he was happily moving forward with his life despite the disappointment of not being accepted at Curtis (where the acceptance rate was only 5%) and so he adjusted his plans and enrolled at Penn for the fall term; of course his late application had required a little intervention from his "grandfather" Finn. He explained to his dads that since they had been so generous, he would never have to really worry about paying for school and racking up a large debt. His new plan was to study music with a double major in education and then teach in the inner city, where music education was desperately needed. Feeling Jim's morning wood pressing into his ass, Derrick wiggled a bit and then pushed back. He might have been a little tender from the previous day's action, but he was still horny. "No time for that, buddy," Jim said, his voice groggy. "We have a full day ahead of us," he announced as he climbed over Barry on the way to the head, waking him in the process. "Let's go Princess, it's time to run," he said slapping him on the ass. "I think you're calling the wrong lover Princess, mate," Barry said as he rolled over and wagged his hard cock at Jim. "The Princess is still sleeping," he said pointing towards Matt. "Fuck you grunt," Matt exclaimed into his pillow. "We'll see who the princess is at the end of our run," he said launching himself out of bed. It had been quite hectic since the announcement of the wedding. The first order of business had been visiting his nieces and explaining that they had a stepbrother. Junior's daughters had been surprised when Jim called and asked if they would meet him and their grandfather for dinner. It was Matt's idea to break the news in the restaurant; he thought- or perhaps hoped- it would prevent there being too much of a scene. In the end, they had worried for nothing; the girls knew, or perhaps suspected, that they had a half-brother somewhere in the world. They recalled hearing their parents quarrelling and the mentioning of a baby boy. Of course no questions were asked at the time as they hadn't wanted to be accused of eavesdropping, but they always had a feeling, they said. The meeting and its revelation was all done with Jude's approval and he had even invited them to the wedding, however the sisters had declined. One of the sisters was a bit restrained and wanted to take some time to explain things to her mother and give her time to get used to the idea of them having a relationship with a stepbrother. The other sister who seemed to be a bit more outgoing did however send her best wishes and asked for his email-she thought it might be a good way to ease into a relationship by corresponding for a few months-especially while he was deployed. When Matt entered the bathroom that morning he was greeted by the sight of Jim letting loose with his morning piss while simultaneously brushing his teeth; when he was done laughing and had joined Jim in relieving himself he asked, "What's up Gunner, gotta hot date?" "No, just a lot of shit to do today. I've got that meeting with Sam Brines and Finn; we're incorporating. Then it's my turn to take the boys riding-and Jude is coming tonight," he said, his voice garbled by a mouthful of toothpaste. "So get a move on, we have to get our run in-we need to fit into our uniforms," he added, giving Matt a quick kiss as he pinched his waist, "sooner than you think." "What's that supposed to mean?" Matt asked to Jim's back as he left the bathroom. Forty-five minutes later the three sweaty lovers entered the kitchen and found MJ and Jimmer sitting naked at the counter eating their breakfast with an equally naked Ryan in between his brothers. Ryan was in awe of the two older boys and mimicked everything they did. It was a typical morning, with Oliver and Brett feeding the babies while Al was already working on something for one of the many dinners they would be hosting over the next week. "You know," Jim said, kissing all three of the boys on their heads, "now that you have a little sister we're going to have to start wearing clothes around here pretty soon," he said. "Me too Daddy-I'm just little?" Ryan asked in between fork-fulls of French toast. "Yeah, you too big guy," Jim said ruffling the boy's hair. __________ Jim's first appointment of the day was with Sam Brines an old friend of Finn's who was now retired businessman, Rich Allgood his accountant, and Finbar. Sam was now divorced and living just a few miles away from the farm and he was also seeing Al on a regular basis. Wanting to keep active, Sam had approached Jim with the idea of forming a small real estate development company. He knew that Jim was looking for a business opportunity; the horses were really more of a hobby-and besides, Tommy really was in complete control of the day-to-day operations. Matt was busy with the family foundation and Barry was working on his own venture with a friend of Finn's-it was basically a high-tech private investigation company. Their fortune made all these ventures possible and allowed the guys to develop their interest in diverse projects that they would not have been able to had they stayed in the Marines or held down regular nine-to-five jobs. The first plan that Sam presented was to buy older homes in Newark, around the University campus, raze them, and build units with four two-bedroom apartments to rent to students. Rich thought the numbers looked good, and since they were in the position to self-finance, at least to start with, the two men formed an entity called simply, A&F Properties. When Jim proposed the name, Rich asked why he chose it; Jim's reply was that it wasn't their initials, it stood for Always Fucking. After the final papers required to form the Limited Liability Corporation had been signed and the meeting was breaking up, Rich asked Jim if he and Matt were available for another quick meeting-something had come up concerning their participation in the Little League. "So what's with the serious face, buddy?" Matt asked Rich when he came into the study and took a seat on the couch next to Jim. "It seems that our friend Shocky is at it again-I got a call on my way over here this morning. He's convinced the president to call a board meeting tonight," he said looking distinctly uncomfortable. "So what's his beef this time?" Jim asked. "Well, he found out that you had our sons and three other boys from the team swimming naked at your place. He is claiming that you and Matt were naked and swimming with them too. He wants the board to bar you from coaching, citing among other things, 'moral turpitude,'" he said, looking just a bit nervous. "I mean, I knew because you called me and I had no problem with it, but he's going to make a big deal about it." Rich looked over to Matt who sat with an indifferent look on his face and continued: "I'm pretty worried about this guys, he can make it look pretty bad-even get them to bring in the kids as witnesses. The board is meeting tonight to discuss it," Rich said, unusually bothered. "What time?" Matt asked. "1900," Rich replied, "but this meeting isn't open to the public," he added. "Well, we'll just see about that," Matt said firmly. "Don't worry about anything-I know exactly how to deal with this, just tell me where the meeting is being held and I'll handle the rest." __________ Even with the air conditioning blasting through the vents, the room felt like an oven and Rich was sweating through his shirt. The meeting had begun and, just as Matt had asked him to, he sent him a text just as Shocky began his tirade against Matt and Jim. Shocky was lasciviously telling the Board about Matt and Jim swimming naked with boys from their team at their home, without the knowledge of their parents and giving his testimony the full dramatic impact. He also accused them of attempting to introduce the children to a homosexual lifestyle and of their violating the Safe Sanctuary policies of the League. The Board members were shifting uncomfortably in their seats. He had just paused, seemingly for affect, when the door opened and the first person through it was Finn. He was followed by Matt, Jim and, surprisingly, Joel Jung and Kathy Brown-the parents of the other boys who were at the farm swimming on the day in question. When Shocky noticed the group he shouted, "You can't come in here, get out-this is not a public meeting!" His face was contorted with anger. The group simply ignored him and took seats while Finn approached the man he assumed to be the president. The name plate in front of him said 'Mr. Hyde'- and he looked it too, being short, with a pinched face, jug ears and a deeply receding hair line with what little hair he had, a mass of uncombed strands. Topping it all off was an upturned piggy nose which Finn thought, unkindly, made him looked like some early combined version of Mickey Mouse and Porky Pig. His sour expression did nothing to dispel this impression. "Sir, my name is Finbar O'Brien and I represent Mr. Flannery and Mr. Leo, and I'm here to inform you that I have advised them to file suit against Mr. Shocky for defamation of character and for slander." This statement had an electrifying effect on the Board. "If you allow this meeting to continue and Mr. Shocky makes one more accusation against my clients in regards to their relationship and sexuality, they will be including the Association in the suit-since, as a member of the Board of Directors, their counselors at Spencer & Welles will argue that Mr. Shocky was speaking for the Board, and he and the Board have violated their civil rights." There was a brief moment of awful silence and then assembled Board members all began to speak at once; the mention of the leading civil rights firm in the state really shook them up. Finn knew it would never come to that, but Welles was a friend, and he took Matt and Jim as clients on retainer as a favor to Finn for the princely sum of one dollar. The chattering continued until the president called for order. "Are you denying that you and those young boys," Shocky spat, pointing at Matt and Jim, "were swimming totally naked in your pool?" "Shocky! Will you shut the hell up for one minute," Hyde said, clearly frustrated with his friend and ally. "My clients are in no way denying that the boys were swimming nude," Finn stated simply. This answer he knew had them totally befuddled and this was confirmed on their faces-mouths open, but the words stillborn. But he wanted to toy with them just a little longer before, rather deliciously, revealing his evidence. Once all was revealed, he knew they would do anything to keep this from going public. "Then you'll forgive my confusion counselor," said the president rather uneasily, "but if your clients admit the children were swimming naked in their pool, I don't see the problem with Mr. Shocky's complaint; and certainly there is no defamation." "Perhaps if you were to permit me to ask a few questions, maybe we could wrap this all up tonight-privately," Finn said, rather like the proverbial spider with a fly and holding out the proverbial carrot of discretion to tempt Mr. Hyde. The Board president looked back and forth between the other members; all had the same scared shitless 'I'm not saying a thing' look on their faces. Finally Shocky had had enough and, looking directly at the president said, "This is not a trial and I will certainly not be questioned by some two-bit attorney." Expecting a reaction from Finn, he received none. He did however raise the ire of his buddy, the president, who was beginning to regret their friendship. "Sarge, I thought I told you to shut up," he said in an exasperated tone. Then turning to Finn: "While it is highly irregular, I think it would be best if we worked this situation out within the confines of this meeting," he said, causing Shocky to throw himself into a chair in disgust. "Thank you, sir," Finn replied graciously and then turned to Rich. "Mr. Allgood, did you receive a phone call from Mr. Shocky concerning the swimming party?" He had already coached all the witnesses-not to lie or to embellish, but just to answer each specific question and not elaborate. "Yes." "Would you tell us, as best as you can recall, what Mr. Shocky asked you during that call?" "He asked if it was true that my son was swimming naked with Matt and Jim and other boys," Rich answered. "And what did you tell him?" Finn asked giving Shocky more rope to hang himself. "I told him, yes, I knew the boys were swimming nude and that it was fine with me," was his short answer. "Now, did Mr. Leo at any time mention that he or Mr. Flannery would be swimming with the boys?" "No, but I know everyone in the household-I was fine with any of the adults that may have been watching the boys," Rich explained. "And can you tell us, as a board member, what Mr. Shocky told the board before we entered?" Finn asked, wanting to establish what had been said before they entered the room. "That's none of your fucking business!" Shocky snarled from his seat. "Did you not hear me tell you to not speak?" The president snapped, "Please continue Rich." And he did, reciting verbatim the inaccurate statements that Shocky made before they had arrived concerning Matt and Jim swimming naked with the young boys and their alleged attempts to introduce the boys to a homosexual lifestyle. When he was through, Finn directed his next question to Kathy Brown. "Mrs. Brown, were you aware that your son would be swimming naked as Mr. Shocky has claimed when he called and questioned you?" Finn asked, trying to suppress a smile. "No, Matt had called my husband the day before and explained that being an all-male household they boys enjoyed swimming nude and my husband said it was fine, as he explained to Matt and then to me later that same day; he and my sons do it in our pool whenever-as he put it- the ladies aren't home." A satisfied smile was directed at Shocky. "And what did you tell Mr. Shocky when he asked you about the swimming party?" "I told him it was none of his F'n business-it was an end of school party and had nothing to do with Little League and then hung up on him," Kathy Brown said, now giving the Sarge an icy stare. The board members began whispering amongst themselves and Shocky began to shift uneasily in his seat. Matt continued to remain calm and passive-however he was using all of his will power not to laugh out loud, especially since he knew what was coming next. "Now, Mr. Jung, you were aware of the incident, correct?" Finn asked, knowing full well the next response was going to really set things off. "Yes, sir, Matt called me as well; I actually laughed when he explained the situation," he said looking at Finn, and then he made eye contact with Shocky. "I told him it was fine with me-nudity in our house is no big deal. I have four boys, and a wife deployed in Iraq. Unlike you, Sarge," he said now turning to him, "I don't live in a five bedroom, four-and-a half bath home in Parkview. I live in a three bedroom one-and-a-half bath 1950's Cape Cod in town-and there is no such thing as privacy. In fact almost every morning at least one of my sons is in the shower with me so we can all get to work and school on time," he said getting a chuckle out of everyone except the outraged board member. There was more whispering between the board members, and Shocky was sinking lower in his seat under the withering glare of his buddy, the board president. It was time for Finn, like a picador at a bullfight, to thrust the second sword into the bull. "Mr. Jung, were you aware, as Mr. Shocky claims, that my clients were swimming nude with the boys?" "No, because they weren't? but I was," he revealed with a grin. Now the board members were really beginning to sweat, and the blood drained from Shocky's face. "Well then," said the president cheerily and almost hopefully, "it appears that this was just one big misunderstanding that we can just put behind us; I'm sure Mr. Shocky will be happy to apologize for his error." "Really?" said Finn, rounding on the beleaguered president, "So in your mind it's perfectly acceptable for a straight married man to swim naked with these boys-but it's tantamount to moral turpitude for a gay man to do the same thing?" Finn challenged and with this challenge came a look of sheer panic on the faces of the eight remaining Board members. "Moreover," Finn said removing a sheet of paper from his folder-to reveal the smoking gun as they say on TV-and placing it in front of the president, "this is further proof of Mr. Shocky's attempt to deny my clients their civil rights-it is a petition circulated by, and signed by, Mr. Shocky himself before he even met my clients, based solely on the fact that they were gay. Oh, by the way, I think you may recognize a few other signatures on the sheet, in fact it appears that one may be your own," Finn said with a huge sense of satisfaction. The board members appeared to be totally flummoxed and no one spoke for what seemed minutes-but in reality was only seconds. With his back against the wall, the president nervously sputtered, "I think we can handle this like gentlemen-what would it take to satisfy your clients?" There was no way he was going to let this damage his political career. And with that simple question Finn knew he had won. He knew that with the testimony of the other parents proving that Shocky was guilty of lying or worse, there was no way Hyde-a powerful County Commissioner with hopes of statewide office-was going to allow this to become public. "You son-of-a-bitch," Shocky shouted at Rich as he jumped to his feet, "you said you wouldn't use that petition to blackmail me." "Nobody's blackmailing you Mr. Shocky-my clients and I are giving the board the opportunity of preventing your malicious and hateful actions from becoming public, thus harming an otherwise wonderful organization." Finn explained-and in the opinion of Matt and Jim, quite eloquently. They watched the proceedings with a mixture of pride and satisfaction in the way Finn handled the entire preceding-and took a great deal of pleasure in seeing Shocky having his ample ass barbequed. He then began to lay out his demands for satisfaction. "Firstly, we will accept nothing less than Mr. Shocky's resignation from the board and a pledge that he will not be permitted to coach any team in this organization or attend a game coached by either of my clients." Finn laid his first demand before the shell-shocked board and then continued. "Secondly, we also demand that he resign his position on the town council and not run for any other political office," Finn said dropping the nuclear bomb; "and for our part we will agree to sign a non-disclosure agreement keeping this information and the petition safely locked away from the press unless Mr. Shocky breaks his agreement." Shocky jumped to his feet and moved to stand in front of Finn, pointing his finger into his chest, the veins budging in his neck, "Who do you fucking faggots think you are? I won't resign from either position-I'll take my chances in court," he spat. With the knowledge that he had won, Finn remained calm and turned to address the board once again, "Well, I thank Mr. Shocky for another quote to add to our evidence," Finn said with a wry smile, and then, "Very well gentlemen, I'm sure you'll all be thrilled when our witnesses repeat the Sarge's sales pitch to sign the petition." He turned towards Matt and asked, "Do you remember what that was, Captain?" He said, using Matt's rank just to piss off Shocky. "I sure do, it was, and this is an exact quote, 'Man, we can't have some sissy man coaching our kids-besides, he's probably a fucking perverted pedophile." There were audible gasps and moans in the room as Finn walked up to the president and handed him his card and then turned to the guys who stood along with their witnesses and started for the door. The blast of hot, humid June air engulfed the group as they left the Rec Center. It was 2030 but the temperature was still in the high eighties. Jim was enjoying the sight of the Purple Martins and Barn Swallows winging through the air, collecting their evening meal of insects against the back drop of a spectacular orange ball that was the sun setting over a field of corn-the birds always reminded him of the old World War Two movies with their long-drawn-out dog fights over the Pacific. His thoughts were interrupted by Finn, who was walking next to him as Matt was saying good-bye to Kathy Brown and assuring her that her son was not imposing. The same group of boys was at the house for a sleep-over; the guys wanted to make sure that MJ & Jimmer weren't feeling cheated with all the activity surrounding the arrival of the triplets and the up-coming wedding. Today would be the last opportunity before things really got hectic. "By the way," Finn started, "I never asked why it was Joel with boys and not you, Matt, or Bazza? Jim laughed, "Well we had agreed to let the boys come for the end of school get together-and the next day we all ended up with scheduling conflicts: Matt's first call to cancel was to Joel, he explained the situation and Joel offered to fill in since he was already off so the boys wouldn't be disappointed," He reached his motorcycle and released his helmet from its lock strap-he and Rich had ridden their bikes to the meeting. "Well, I wish I had a film of their faces when that little tidbit was revealed," Finn said and chuckled. "Can you believe that guy could be so fucking stupid?" he asked rhetorically. "What do you think they will do?" asked Jim. "My guess is that within two days they will be calling to say they will agree to our demands-Mr. Hyde is not going to let anything damage his political career-and a petty functionary like Shocky is not worth the fallout," Finn explained with a chuckle. __________ Matt and Joel came into the lower kitchen and found Al forming hamburgers and adding them to an already-filled cookie sheet to be brought out to the outdoor kitchen refrigerator, "How many burgers are you making?" Matt asked as he pulled two beers from one of the refrigerated drawers in the center island and handed one to Joel. "Hopefully enough," he said with a smile, "the party has grown since you left for the meeting. Mike and Conner decided to visit Billy, and Udo has arrived a day early. It's a good thing I buy in bulk," he said and laughed as he observed the look of amazement on Joel's face. "And by the way," he said looking at Joel, "your other two boys showed up as well." When he noticed the embarrassment-or was it annoyance on the man's face he added, "It's no big deal, they were looking for you, and since everyone was in the pool I told them to hang out." "Well thanks, I'm just?" Joel started to say when Matt interrupted. "Don't sweat it, Joel, around here two more is never a problem," and then, walking to the sliding doors in the family room, waved his guest to join him. "Let's go see what the hoodlums are up too." They could already see the action through the doors: the pool and pool deck were full of naked boys and men having a great time. Joel and Matt stood and watched the action for a minute; Jared Jung stood on Wolf's shoulders with a smile lighting his face before he dived into the deep end of the pool. "Matt, I can't thank you enough-we have been really worried about Jared. He was a preemie so he has always been smaller than his brothers-and developed much slower along with his being quite shy. Added to that, he has epilepsy and wears a hearing aid," Joel explained and Matt could hear the sadness in his voice. "I'm embarrassed to admit this, but his brothers really had little to do with him-that was until your boys came on the scene," he said as he watched his son climb back up onto Wolf's shoulders. "In the short space of time MJ and Jimmer have become friends with Jason and I have been amazed as I watched them include Jared in everything they do," he said with some emotion. "It has made all the difference in the world-Jared has never been happier and it seems to have rubbed off on all three of his brothers; even the older two are more engaged with him. But the most amazing thing is the reduction in the occurrence of seizures-I have to keep track of them for the doctors," Joel added, with sincerity. "It has really made things at home much better-I can't wait until my wife gets back-she's dying to meet you guys," and then with a sexy grin said, "well, that's not the only reason." Matt was bursting with pride, he couldn't be prouder of his boys-he was also thinking about Joel-he was a pretty hot man; he wasn't as tight as himself or his husbands-but he was still attractive; it was that extremely butch-straight-man thing he had going on. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone," he said opening the doors. Wolf and Udo were standing together at one end of the pool. Joel inclined his head to the two huge muscle hunks. "Looks like you have your own court eunuchs," Joel joked. Matt laughed, "You must need glasses-those boys are not missing anything, in fact I think they have more than their share." By the time Matt had introduced Joel to everyone they were both stripped and in the pool cooling off. When Jim came through the side gate and saw everyone swimming and running around naked, he gave Matt a perturbed look. Barry was nearest and noticed and, moving next to Jim he asked quietly, "What's up Gunner?" "What if Jude comes home with Grace," he said uncharacteristically uptight. "They're out to dinner with Ron and Jackie, and I don't think they will be back until later," Barry explained. "And, by the way, he has already been in the pool with the boys starkers-don't worry, mate, he's really a cool kid," Bazza said, patting his lover's shoulder. "Well that does surprise me," Jim said as he pulled off his shirt. "You up for a swim before we eat?" he asked Rich as he dropped his pants. The evening moved on and with swimming and dinner over the kids all headed for the lower level rec room to play video games while the adults sat around and discussed the events of the day. Frank and Finn joined the impromptu party along with all the college boys and Tommy. The conversation flowed easily. Finn entertained them with the retelling of 'Shocky's Waterloo' as Rich had come to refer to it and Jim was relating the story of Jude and his whirlwind romance. Al and Sam came back from the refrigerator with another round of beers, but before handing one to Joel and Rich he said, "If you guys want another one you have to stay in the guest houses." "He's right Joel, all of your boys are here, the older ones can stay with you-there are two bedrooms in each," Matt added, "and Rich, you said your wife was down the shore, so you can stay too." Both men grabbed beers signaling their acceptance. The subject returned to Jude and his upcoming wedding. The irrepressible Al leaning back in his chair took a long pull on his beer and announced, "I'm opening a new betting pool-how soon after the honeymoon does Grace announce she's in the family way?" There was a combination of laughter and chatter when Frank said, "Holy shit Al, I haven't heard that term used since my mother was alive." "He's about as old as Nonna," Matt said getting a laugh and the finger from Al. "I got ten bucks that says she has a biscuit or two in the oven by the time she gets home," Billy called out, "I mean he has told us all that he's a virgin-and I doubt he even beats off, so his boys are going to be swimming like crazy." The joking and laughing continued, with everyone having a great time, when George came through the gate with a look of concern on his face. Jim's first thought that he had received bad news from his doctors, but dismissed it quickly; if that were the case he would have told him when he was over to visit earlier that day. "What's up Dad? Jim asked with apprehension. He watched his father look around the assembled group and hesitate, and added, "Do you want to go inside?" "We may have to," he said, and then added, "It's your mother." The others looked up and Jim's stomach tightened as he waited to hear the latest drama she was going to star in. "She just called and said she's coming up tomorrow to meet 'this Jude person'," Frank said, looking defeated. "How in the fuck did she find out??" Jim stopped-the anger clear on his face and it deepened at the thought of how she found out-he was seething and ready to explode when Matt was beside him placing his hand on his shoulder. "Come on Jimmy, let's go inside and talk to Dad," he said, signaling to Barry to follow. To the rest he said: "you'll have to excuse us-but enjoy yourself, we'll be back in a few minutes." "This is not going to end well," said Al to Frank as the little group headed into the house. "That, my friend is the understatement of the year," was his reply. To be continued? Comments or questions may be sent to farmboy7456@gmail.com Please make sure to put PW@Nifty in the subject line.