Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:30:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: closethecellardoor@yahoo.com
Subject: Evil is a Man:   Blood In Blood Out  chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is the first of an intended four stories.  While all of the stories
will connect, you will not necesarily have to have read one to understand
the rest.

As of my first submission, I'm in the middle of writing the second story.
If anybody out there is appreciating these, than give me an e-mail at
"closethecellardoor@yahoo.com".  If I don't get any responses, I'll
probably just quit.

Enjoy.


BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT


CHAPTER ONE

My heart pounding, my breath labored, adrenaline poured through me--I ran.
Snow covered trees all around me, almost black in the fading twilight.  All
the same, tree after tree after tree.

I clutched a knife in my hand.  There was blood on it, slippery.  I
clutched harder as I ran.

Then I stopped.  Silence broken only by my breath.  And then I heard it--a
footstep that was not my own, the crack of a branch I did not touch.

A figure appeared in front of me veiled in the darkness.  I turned around,
but there was another one behind me, all around me.

The cold glinty wink of steel, and then piercing pain as I feel to the
ground, my life leaving me.  I screamed.

*****

I sat up in the darkness.  My heart pounded, I was sweating even though the
air was cold.  I was in bed.  I clutched my torso where the blade had
pierced.  The pain was so real; I could still feel a dull ache.  What an
insane nightmare!

My bedside clock flashed four twenty-three in angry red.  My roommate was
still sleeping, snoring softly.  The whole dorm was probably asleep.

I laid back down.  I tried to think of flowery fields and butterflies to
prevent the nightmare from resuming when I shut my eyes again.  It worked.

*****

I was driving on I-80 east towards Lake Tahoe in the beat-up old Nissan I
had bought for almost nothing a month before.  It whined and trembled on
every hill, but it hadn't failed me yet.  School was out for winter break
at Berkeley, and unlike all the other kids who were going home to their
homes, I was going somewhere I'd never been before.

Money was tight in my family.  My mom was a burnt-out widow who never
finished her bachelor's degree trying to support two sons in Houston.  And
even though he spent most of his time drinking and knocking me and my
little brother around, the one good thing my dad provided for our family
was a good job and steady income.  He died in a car accident when I was
eleven and of course had no life insurance to speak of, so my mom took on
the brunt of the money-making responsibility.

Mom wanted me to start at a JC and live at home to save money; I wanted to
get as far away from home as I could and not miss out on dorm life.  So I
took the year off after graduation to work an office job so I could finally
develop a savings account, applied for scholarships, enrolled in UCB, and
here I was, 19 years old and on my first vacation from college.

So far college had been okay.  I had made all sorts of new friends quickly
and easily--I always did.  And I was enjoying my classes and recently had
declared myself a History major.  The Bay Area was beautiful in a very
different way from Texas, and it was a welcome change.  But I had expected
more.  I had thought that I was going to be surrounded by interesting,
receptive people who would open my eyes to new cultures and ideas.  Instead
I found most people just like all the ignorant jerks in high school.  I had
hoped that my roommate and I would become instant best friends, but instead
got paired with a boring bigot of a roommate who did nothing but watch TV
all day and rarely showered.

But perhaps most of all I had expected to explore my sexuality in college.
I had realized I was gay at the end of high school.  I had my first serious
girlfriend then and as we kept on moving further and further physically, I
knew I was supposed to want it, but I didn't.  It just didn't feel right.
I had always subconsciously been attracted to guys, but it wasn't until
that moment that I really understood my nature.  I broke that girl's heart
and kept myself firmly in the closet--my family and neighbors were all
homophobes, and I wasn't ready to come out.  But I looked forward to my
college days and purposefully chose a university that was a stone throw
away from San Francisco.

But of course they paired me up with a homophobic roommate.  I had hoped to
secretly sneak off to some of the gay clubs or bars in the city without
tipping off the college kids, but there was an openly gay guy on our floor,
Terence, who went to those clubs all the time.  I hated him.  He was
pretentious and a shit-talking gossiper.  I was sure he'd hear about it if
I went to a gay club, and then of course the whole building would know.
I'd be stigmatized, and I wasn't ready for that yet.

So it was with the spirit of sexual frustration that I drove to Lake Tahoe
for winter break.  I had wanted to fly home, of course, but couldn't afford
to.  My mother wept on the phone when I told her--it would be the first
Christmas I spent away from her.  My little brother Jerry, a 17 year old
menace with a serious chip on his shoulder, had been acting out at home and
at school.  She thought he had been into drugs, and wanted me to come home
and straighten him out.  But I always hated that she had relied on me to
take care of Jerry when there was never anyone there to take care of me.
Still, I worried about him too and was sad not to be there to give him my
Christmas present in person.

Just when I thought I'd be alone for the holiday, I got a phone call from
Uncle Syd inviting me to spend the break with him at his house in Tahoe.  I
couldn't have been more delighted.  Syd had been around through most of my
childhood.  When my father offered me no shred of affection, Syd was there.
When dad died, Syd moved in with the family for half a year or so to help
out.  All my memories of him were extremely positive; he gave me a male
role model besides my drunken old man.

He actually isn't a blood relative of mine.  He was just a friend of Dad's
whom Jerry and I always called "uncle."  The time he spent living with us
when I was eleven and he was twenty-six was the happiest time of my life.
He actually cared about us, read to us, helped us with homework, played
videogames and football with us, and really listened to us.  I was
heartbroken when he moved out and left the city six months later.  I blamed
my mom.  She started to crush on him, I think.  She took his well-meant
affection for flirting, and when she started to put the moves on him, he
left.  It was an uncomfortable situation for him.

I hadn't seen him since then, although I talked to him often, either on the
phone or by mail.  He would always send us postcards if he went somewhere
exciting, and he always sent Jerry and me presents on our birthdays.  I've
always held him in the highest regard.

What luck that he had recently found a job (managing a body shop) and
bought a house in Lake Tahoe!  He told me he'd be delighted to have me
come, as he was planning to spend the holiday by himself.  Although he
warned me that he'd be working during the days so I'd probably get bored.
But I figured it couldn't be any worse than spending the days alone at Cal,
so I agreed.

Now I was excited to see him, although also a little nervous.  Would he
recognize me?  Would I recognize him?  Would he be disappointed with me?
Would we have nothing in common anymore?  After all, he had only a high
school education, and here I was in a university.  Oh well, all of those
questions would be answered soon enough.

It was afternoon when I got to the lake.  I wasn't prepared for how
gorgeous it would look in person.  There was a light dusting of snow on the
trees, although it didn't look like it had snowed anytime recently.  His
house wasn't lakefront property; it was more back in the woods, isolated
from the other houses.  When I pulled up to it, I noticed how small it
looked, just a tiny cabin.

As soon as I turned my car off, he was out the front door and waving
enthusiastically.  He looked exactly the same as I remembered him.  He was
wearing jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and work boots--nothing fancy.  He was
tall--6'2" I thought.  His brown hair was cut short, his skin was still
tan.  His wide smile was amazingly reassuring.

But now, eight years later, I saw him in a whole new light.  I had never
noticed how incredibly sexy Uncle Syd was until then.  His face was
gorgeous--big blue eyes, a cut jaw line, and mischievous lips.  And his
body was muscular and cut--he filled out his clothing well.  My heart
jumped as I saw this man of incredible, natural beauty come towards my car
and open my door for me.

"Hurry up and get out of the car, Jakey," he said, yanking me out of it
himself.  He quickly pulled me into a bear hug, lifted me off my feet.  As
my face landed against his thick neck, I noticed the smell of cologne.  He
smelled amazing too.

As he set me down I cursed my luck that I was going to have to spend a
month and a half with someone who would set fire to my hormones.  Why are
straight guys always the sexiest?

"Damn, kid, you sure have grown.  You look good, you really do."  In fact,
I was nothing special to look at, nothing compared to him anyway.  I had a
bland sort of face with sandy brown hair.  I was 5'9" and slim.  I kept in
shape but was certainly not cut like Syd.  I wasn't bad looking, just
average.  One of those guys that reminds you of a half a dozen other guys.
I always wished I would stand out in a crowd, but there's something to be
said for anonymity as well.

Now he was taking my suitcase and backpack out of the backseat.  I
persisted: "I can take those, Uncle Syd."

"No, no, I got them.  Come inside, Jakey, I want you to see the place."

He led me into the house.  It was tiny, really more of a log cabin than
anything else.  The main room we stood in had a couch, a small TV, and a
fireplace.  Behind the couch the living room turned into the small kitchen,
where a table and three chairs appeared to be the only sitting area besides
the couch.

"It's small, I know.  But it's all I need."

"It's bigger than the dorms, that's for sure."

He pointed towards the couch.  "I warned you that you'd have to sleep on
the couch.  It's not the most comfortable, but it's sturdy."

"I'll be fine, I can sleep anywhere."

"I leave for work at about seven every morning, but I'll try to sneak out.
Are you a light sleeper?"

"No," I answered.  "As long as I don't have nightmares.  Last night I had
an awful one completely out of the blue."

"Was it about having to spend Christmas with your old Uncle Syd?"

"No, I wish I had dreamt about that.  Instead I dreamt about being murdered
by a bunch of monsters."

He laughed.  "Well, if you have nightmares here I can always sing you a
lullaby."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"Let's put your things in the bedroom."

He led me through a door and into his small bedroom.  It held a double
mattress, a dresser, and a large amount of clutter.

"Sorry about the mess."  He pushed some of his clothes aside, making a
space for my things.  "And the bathroom is through that door."

The bathroom door was open and white light shone out of it.

"You'll have to come through here to use it.  Don't worry about waking me
up, I'm a heavy sleeper.  Oh, I do have one luxury."  He led me back into
the main room and out the back door.  His backyard just seemed to fade into
the forest.  He had no fences, and no neighbors to speak of.  On the back
porch was a small Jacuzzi.  "It wasn't working when I bought the place but
I fixed it up."  His mechanical ability was endless.

"Cool."

"I hope you come to consider this your home, Jakey.  You'll be spending a
lot of time here, and you'll never be unwelcome, I promise you that.  You
know I don't have any family left.  You and your brother are all I've got.
And I'm damned lucky about that."

His sentiment made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I wanted to say
something touching in response, but I was at a loss for words.  After a
moment, he led me back into the house where he was starting to cook dinner.

"Let me help you with that," I said.

"Nope, not tonight, tonight you're my guest."

And so as he cooked and I watched him cook we took the opportunity of
catching up.  He told me about his job here and his latest string of
ex-girlfriends (Syd had always been a bit of a womanizer), and I told him
about my first semester in college.

After dinner, he asked if I wanted to go to the casinos, but I told him I
was tired from the day's journey and would rather just relax.  He agreed,
himself having work early in the morning, so he suggested we watch some TV.

"I don't get good reception and I don't have cable, but I've got a VCR and
some old movies.  Why don't you pick one out that you want to see?"

I agreed, and he went into his bedroom while I put the movie in.  When he
came out, he had changed into gym shorts and a tank top.

I realized again how horny I was.  I stared at his smooth, muscular arms
and shoulders as he sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Oh, this is a good one," he said.  I noticed the hair of his armpit
sticking out of the crevice between his bicep and pectoral.  I turned my
head to face the TV.

After a while, he grabbed the pillow that was intended for me.

"Do you mind if I use your pillow?  I'm kinda falling asleep."

"No, go ahead."

He curled up with the pillow on the armrest of the couch, planting his bare
feet against my thigh, as he was too big to curl himself up anymore.  I
looked at his big, tan feet, his muscular, slightly hairy calves, his huge
knee, the bottom of this cut thigh disappearing into his shorts where I
swear I could see an ample sized package--

I turned my head back to the TV.

When the movie finished, he was completely asleep.

"Syd, it's over."

Nothing.  I nudged his foot.

"Syd!"

He woke up, yawning.  "See, wasn't it good?  I think it's bedtime."

He lazily got up and headed towards his bedroom.  "Is there anything at all
you need?  Just come into the bathroom whenever you need to, like I said
I'm a heavy sleeper.  Tomorrow I have a date after work so I won't be back
until late.  If you get bored why don't you go to one of the casinos?  And
if you're really daring you might even want to take a trip into Reno."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"Alright goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

"Oh, and Jakey?  I'm glad you're here, kiddo."

"So am I, Syd."

He went to bed with a smile on his face.

After reading for a bit, I decided to turn in as well, but first I needed
to shower and change.  I opened the door to his bedroom cautiously and
peered inside.  He was sleeping under a mound of covers in his bed.  I
crept to my bag, removed what I needed, and went into the bathroom.  I
noticed that the bathroom door didn't have a lock on it.  I took a quick
shower and changed into my sleeping shorts before tip-toeing out of his
room and taking my place on the couch inside a sleeping bag.

Thoughts of Syd's body flashed through my mind.  I felt guilty about
them--Syd was the sweetest guy and totally straight.  I wanted to jack off,
that always curbed my libido, but it felt disrespectful to do that here.  I
decided tomorrow I would take Syd's advice and go into Reno.  I had already
looked up a gay bar there online, and I knew I'd be completely incognito in
a city where no one knew me.  Tomorrow would be a thrilling day.

*****

I swirled the ice around my glass, looking for the last drop of bourbon and
seven.  The alcohol was making me feel more comfortable.  I sat alone at a
table in the bar.  There weren't too many guys here--of course it was a
weeknight.  I had ordered myself a drink and had yet to speak with any
patrons.  I needed to get up, to make the first move.  I'm not going to
impress anyone on my looks alone.

Just as I pushed away from the table I noticed a man standing close to me.
"Hey," he said as he smiled.  He was young looking, probably around my age.
And he was definitely gothic.  His hair was died black and spiked tall.
His face was covered with alternating white and black make-up.  His clothes
were black as well, with rips and chains adorning.  He was slim, and about
my height.

"Oh, hi, I'm Jake," I said, taken a little off guard.

"Victor.  With a K."  He sat down at my table and pointed at my drink.
"Can I get you another?"

"No thanks, I've had enough and I have a long drive ahead of me tonight."

"Where do you live?"

"I'm here for the holidays at Tahoe," I said.  "But I'm a student at UC
Berkeley."

"Oh, a scholar.  Where you pay to get brainwashed, is that it?"

"I don't think--"

"I'm just fucking around.  I like you, you're a fresh face.  Do you have
much experience in these kind of places?"

"No, this is my first time."

"You're innocent.  I like that."

By this time I was sure he was coming on strong.  Thing was I wasn't really
attracted to him, although I was definitely getting turned on by the fact
alone that he was so in to me.  "What about you?  Is this your haunt?"

"This is a shithole.  This whole town is a shithole.  Decaying rot."

That's the sort of how the conversation went on from there, with me being
courteous and him being cryptic and heavy.  Eventually I told him I needed
to use the john and went to piss out my bourbon and seven.

The bathroom was spacious but filthy.  I found a stall and started to let
loose.  As I looked down at my right hand holding my dick, another hand
reached around from behind me and grabbed it as well.  I jumped a bit and
piss landed outside of the bowl before I recovered.

"You looked like you needed a hand," Viktor said into my ear from behind.
It annoyed me that I didn't hear him come in.

"No, actually I've done this before, thanks."  I pulled away from him and
finished up.  When I had zipped up, he was still standing behind me,
grinning.  "Look, I need to take things more slowly.  Can you handle that?"

"I can handle anything you throw my way."

"Good," I said.  "I'm leaving for tonight.  Here, let me give you my cell
number."

I scribbled it down for him after we left the bathroom.

"Goodbye, innocent one," he said in his creepy tone of voice.

*****

When I got back to the house, I noticed a woman driving away.  Probably the
end of Syd's date.  I wondered if he had gotten lucky.

The living room light was on when I come into the house but Syd was in his
bedroom.  I could hear the shower running.  I needed to shower as well, so
I watched TV until I heard the shower turn off and Syd get into bed.  I
entered the dark room quietly, and Syd quickly turned on a bedside lamp.

"Don't worry, I'm not asleep yet," he said.  He was sitting up in bed with
his bedcovers pulled up around his waist.  Instantly my eyes roamed over
his bare torso.  The counters of his well-developed pecs and abs, his
nipples, the light amount of hair traveling from his chest down beneath the
covers.  "Did you have a good time in Reno, Jakey?"

"Yeah, I enjoyed myself."

"You met a girl there, didn't you?  I can see it in your face," he smirked
at me, and I just smiled, embarrassed.  If he only knew.  "I knew it!  Well
don't think you can go back there tomorrow night.  I don't have any plans
and I want us to spend it together."

I agreed, said goodnight, and went into the bathroom for my shower.  It was
still steamed up from Syd's shower, and as soon as I entered it I noticed a
new smell.  I looked around for its source, then noticed the garbage.  In
it was a large used condom.  That confirmed it, Syd had gotten laid
tonight.  I noticed a good amount of liquid inside.  I got the urge to
touch it, but resisted.  I set the shower a little colder than usual, and
went to bed with plenty to think about.

*****

The next day Syd came home from work in the afternoon so he could properly
show me around the lake.  He told me he had to change clothes before we
took off.  When he reappeared out of his room, he was dressed in tight
jeans, a button-up shirt, cowboy boots and hat, and a prominent belt
buckle.  The tight fitting clothes looked incredible over his contoured
physique.

"I see you still got the Texas in you."

He laughed at me.  "I try to suppress it but it always comes back.  Don't
have much of an accent anymore, I sound almost like you now."

I had trained myself as a kid to lose any trace of Texan accent I had
obtained.  It had worked; I sounded just like any of my California friends.

"Besides," he said, running a hand over his shirt, "I think women dig this
kind of thing here.  You, on the other hand, could never be mistaken for a
Texan."

"Thanks, I try."

We got in his truck, and drove to all the scenic spots of the lake.
Talking with him I realized that it was just like old times.  We were
completely at ease with each other and thoroughly enjoyed each other's
company.

For dinner he took me to a steak house on the south shore.  I told him that
I would pay for myself and he told me that would be an insult to him, that
he enjoyed taking care of me.  Following dinner he showed me around the
casinos, and then we decided to head home.

He came out of his bedroom again in his shorts and tank-top, and asked if I
was up for another movie before bed.  I agreed.

"Why don't you shower and get ready for bed before the movie?  That way if
you get tired during the movie you can go straight to sleep."

I agreed again.  After showering, I debated about what to wear.  I had just
been sleeping in a small pair of shorts, but I wasn't too thrilled about
going out there shirtless, he might get the wrong idea.  But he had surely
seen me sleeping in the morning with my shirt off, so he would be expecting
that.  I changed into my shorts and headed for the living room.

He had started the movie and I sat down.  He didn't seem to notice that I
was half-naked, which was fine by me.  A short ways into the movie he
curled up in the same position, with his head on my pillow and his feet
against my thigh.  Just this simple touch was electrifying, and this time
his feet were against my bare skin.  As they moved and shifted during the
movie, I loved the feeling of my leg hair rubbing under his skin and in
between his toes.

Towards the end of the film I was fighting to keep my eyes open.  He must
have noticed me drifting off, because he said, "there's enough room on the
couch for both of us.  Go ahead and stretch out, Jakey."

Obliging, I put my own feet onto the couch as he sat up.  I lay my head on
the armrest, my body on my side facing the TV.

"Here, put your legs like this so we can both be comfortable," he said as
he pulled my feet towards him so that they were between his back and the
back of the sofa.  He then lay down on his side with his head on the
opposite armrest and he stretched his legs out so his feet were right at my
throat.  "Can you see?"

"I'm fine," I responded.  I was thrilled at the extra skin to skin contact
this was creating.

He leaned back into my legs, putting some weight on them, and rested his
right arm over my left calf as he patted it reassuringly.  This sort of
affection was completely normal for him.  His bare feet were planted
against my chest.  They felt warm, and it was unbearable to have his toes
so close to my mouth.  This position also created a lot of contact between
my crotch and his ass.  I started to get hard--afraid he'd feel me poking
him, I squeezed my ass against the back of the couch as much as I could,
putting a few inches between my dick and him.

The movie finished too quickly.  I thought he might have fallen asleep, but
was mistaken; he leapt off the couch, grabbed my sleeping bag and draped it
over me.

"I don't want you to get cold.  I turn the heater way up but sometimes it
can still get chilly at night."  He was obviously enjoying babying me.

"Thanks," I said, pulling my knees towards my chest so he wouldn't notice
my hard-on.

"Goodnight," he said, and he went into his bedroom.

*****

The next night was Friday, and we went out for pizza when Syd got home.
While we were eating, my cell rang.  "Hello?"

"Hey sweetheart."  It was Viktor.

"Hey, hold on for a sec."  I looked at Syd.  "Hey Syd, I'm gonna take this
call outside, okay?"

A knowing grin spread across his face.  "You go right ahead.  May not be
any pizza left when you get back, though."

When I was outside, I said, "I'm back.  How've you been?"

"Lonely.  Then again I'm always lonely.  I thought I loved my loneliness
until I met you, what do you think of that?"

I laughed.  "I think your lines need a little work."

"When are you coming back to Reno?"

"I'm not sure."

"I thought we could get together.  You could instruct me on taking it slow.
In person."

I wasn't sure what I wanted.  I wasn't entirely thrilled about getting
anymore serious with Viktor; he was definitely a little off.  But Syd's
constant presence was nothing short of torturous.  I wanted so bad to get
off, to have a quickie with Viktor and never look back.  But I wasn't wired
that way, I would regret it later.  It was either a relationship with this
guy or nothing at all, but did I really want my first relationship to be
with such a creep?

Syd came out of the parlor, smiling at me.  "Hey Jakey, I'm gonna have them
box up the rest, are you done?"

"Yeah, thanks."

He nodded and turned around to go back inside.  Surrounded by his tight
blue jeans was his muscular, perfect ass that I couldn't help stare at as
he walked inside.

"Viktor?  Yeah, I'd like to see you.  I'll call you the next time I can get
away."

"Excellent," he hissed.  "Just make sure it's after dark.  I'm not much of
a day person."

"That's fine as long as you won't try to suck my blood," I joked.

"Hmph.  No promises, sunshine."

*****

When we got home later that night Syd told me he had to go in to work in
the morning, but that he'd be home before noon.  When he was getting ready
for bed, I got another call on my cell.

"Hello?"

"Hey man."  It was my little brother, Jerry.  I was happy to hear his
voice.

"Hey bro, isn't a little late out there?"

"I'm not calling from home."  He was slurring his words; I could tell he'd
been drinking.

"You out partying, bro?"

"Yeah man.  Look, I wanted to call you to let you know I think it's totally
fucked up that you're not coming home for Christmas."  My heart sank.

"I wanted to but I couldn't afford it."

"You shoulda found a way.  It's okay.  I still love you anyway."  I felt
reassured.

"I'm here with Uncle Syd.  He's been talking about you a lot.  Want me to
put him on?"

"I don't know, I've been drinking."

"Syd doesn't care.  Let me get him."

Without thinking I just opened his door and barged in.  In front of me, lit
up by the soft bedside lamp, was Syd.  He was facing away from me, and he
was nude--changing into his gym shorts.  His smooth, muscular ass was a
sight to behold.  He didn't even have a tan line.

"Oh, sorry Syd, I'm such an idiot!"  I said as I backed out of the room and
he pulled up his shorts, never turning to face me.  The whole event lasted
for just a moment.  Would he be pissed off?

He turned around.  "It's okay, kiddo.  What did you need?"

"Uh, I, I mean, Jerry's on the phone."

"Oh, lucky me."  He came striding towards me, and lifted his hand to my
face.  It seemed like he was going to slap me, but just pressed his hand on
my shoulder.  "Jake, relax.  Really, I'm not that modest."  He grabbed the
phone from me.  "Hey Jerry, how ya doin?"

*****

When I woke up in the morning Syd was gone.  I decided to go for a jog to
release some of my tension.  As I was lacing up my sneakers Syd came home,
a bag of groceries in his arms.

"You're not leaving, are you?" He sounded disappointed.

"No, just going for a jog.  Do you want to come along?"

"No, I thought I'd cook us up some breakfast.  Got eggs and bacon and all
that good stuff."

Jogging in the woods isn't like jogging on cement.  I felt animalistic,
isolated.  But it was colder than before, and my short-sleeve shirt wasn't
cutting it.  I went back to the house sooner than I had anticipated.

Outside I could smell the bacon and hear it sizzling from outside.  When I
stepped inside, I wasn't surprised to see Syd cooking in the kitchen.  What
surprised me was seeing Syd cooking in his underwear.  A pair of black
boxer briefs.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to come back this quickly.  I stripped down so my
clothes wouldn't get splashed with grease.  Sorry."

"That's fine," I said.  I was enjoying seeing his bare muscular back and
thinly covered ass so much, I prayed that he wouldn't feel the need to put
his clothes back on.  His underwear clung so tightly to his behind,that it
went up his crack a ways.  "It's impossible to get grease stains out of
clothes," I said, trying to be encouraging.

"Yeah, I always cook like this.  Just don't make the mistake of frying
bacon in the nude.  I've learned my lesson there, believe me.  Here, sit
down."

I sat at the table as Syd served me a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.  As
he did so, I sneaked a glance at his front.  He had a huge package hanging
in the pouch of his boxer briefs.  My dick sprang to life right then.
Luckily it was under the table.

"It was good to talk to Jerry last night," he said as he sat down to eat
himself.  "Too bad he's been stirring up so much trouble.  I don't want him
to go down the same road as your father."

"I don't think that's possible.  Jerry's not like Dad.  He's a good kid, he
just doesn't set limits for himself.  Ever since I left... well you know my
mom's not much of a disciplinarian."

"Yeah.  You know, it's been a long time since I've talked to Jerry.  He's
never been there when I called, never tried calling me back.  God knows I
love him like family, but I've always been so much closer to you."

"We just have more in common.  Jerrry's always resented adults a little."

Syd stayed in his underwear like that all through breakfast, even as we did
the dishes.  It was very sexy to be so close to him when he was practically
naked.

After he finally did put his clothes back on, he took me out for a long
hike up into the mountains.  The view at the top was fantastic, although I
had to work hard to keep up with him.  Syd accredited that to thinner
atmosphere at the higher elevation.

That night Syd asked me if I wanted to go in the jacuzzi with him.

"It'll feel really good after all that strenuous hiking," he said.

"I'd love to, but I didn't think to bring my swimsuit."

He considered.  "No prob, you can wear mine.  I have something else I could
wear."

I had changed into Syd's swim trunks, which were really much too large for
me, and was sitting alone in the jacuzzi.  The air was cold, so I made sure
to keep most of my body in the water at all times.

Syd came springing out of the house in a pair of white boxers.  "Boxers,
Syd?"

"What?  These are just the same as swim trunks functionally.  Hey, it's
these, or nothing at all."

I pictured that image while Syd jumped into the jacuzzi, splashing water
onto me.  "Whoops," he said.  I splashed him back.  "Okay, I deserved
that," he said.

We settled in for a moment, him shutting his eyes, and me looking at how
the water droplets clung to his nipples and chest hairs.  He opened his
eyes again.

"Oh, I forgot, if we turn out the lights we can really see the stars," he
said.  I figured I'd rather see him than the stars, but when he got up out
of the water, I wasn't displeased.  His wet boxers were clinging skin tight
to his body, and they had turned translucent.  On his backside, the fabric
was sticking up his ass crack.  On the front, I could clearly see his dark
patch of pubic hair, his huge, soft cock, and even bigger, low-hanging
balls.  I sprang a hard-on again, luckily right when he turned the porch
light off.

He was right; the night was more black and resolute than any that I had
experienced before.  The stars were magnificently bright.  I couldn't see
Syd; I could only hear his wet footsteps on the patio and then the splash
as he jumped back in the water.  He crashed into me, his bare chest hitting
my own, before getting his bearings.

"Oops, sorry.  I can't see anything."

"It's okay," I said.

He sat beside me and looked upwards.  We were sitting side by side with our
thighs, knees, and shoulders touching.  He moved a little--feeling his wet
skin rub against mine started to get me excited again and I was thankful
after all that it was so dark.

After sitting in the silence for a while my excitement dissipated.  I was
too relaxed to be turned on.  My mind floated a million different
directions, and I realized that for the first time in a long time, I felt
happy and completely at home.

Syd's voice cut through the darkness.  "Jerry told me on the phone that
your mother has a new jerk-off boyfriend."

"Yeah, I think his name is Mitchell or Matt or something.  I don't know
where she finds these losers."

"She's always been attracted to jerks," said Syd.

"I don't know how she can say she loves us even when she forces all of them
into our lives.  When Dad would hit us, she wouldn't say anything.  She
wouldn't even look."

Syd wrapped his arm around me and pulled me against him.  "Whatever hell
you went through when you were a kid, it should never have happened, but
you turned out all right.  You made it through."  He stroked my wet hair
and I leaned into the crook of his arm.

"Thanks Syd."

We stayed like that for several minutes.  Then he said, "We should get
out."

He stood up, got out of the tub, and disappeared into the darkness.  The
porch light flicked back on, and he tossed me a towel.

*****

Viktor's studio apartment seemed to be in the bad part of the city.
Looking around the dark and filthy hallway, I hoped I had the right number
as I knocked on his door.

Syd had gone out for the night on a date, and I used the excuse to go back
to Reno.  Viktor had asked me to come to his place, and I agreed.

He opened the door and smiled at me.  He was wearing a similar black punk
outfit to the one he had on last time I had seen him.  His hair was just as
wild, his face just as white.

"Come in," he said.

His tiny apartment was just a bedroom with a small kitchenette attached and
a bathroom through one door.  It was painted black, and was accentuated
with white or neon colors brought to life with black lights flooding the
room.  There was music playing, some hard rock that I had never heard
before.

I sat on his bed and he got me a beer from his small refrigerator.  Again I
noticed he had none for himself.

"You're not going to join me?"

"I abstain from drinking," he said.  "I get out of hand when I do."

I toasted my beer.  "Here's to abstinence, then."  I took a large swig.

He laughed.  "You're such a fucking tease.  Fine."

He opened his fridge and took out a bottle for himself.  He popped the top,
drank a good half of the bottle before stopping, and then wiped his lips,
his eyes wide and his grin wider.

"There's nothing wrong with some indulgence, Jake."  He pulled my bottle
away from me, set both of them down, and then leaned in to kiss me.  In a
second he was on top of me, his tongue down my throat and his hand on my
dick through my pants.  He didn't give me time to relish any of it.  I
started to get hard anyway, and he rubbed harder, encouraged.

I almost gave in, but I caught myself.  I pushed him away.  "But too much
indulgence and you'll always regret it later."

He sighed.  "Speak for yourself."

"Why don't we just talk?  Don't you have anything you want to say?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"Anything.  Everything."

And so we talked, with me leading the questions and him responding with
less enthusiasm.  He told me about his family, his taste in music, his
plans for the future, but in two and a half hours he never once asked me a
question.  When I realized what I was taking part in was not a conversation
but an interrogation, I told him I had to go.

"You're leaving?  After all that, you're leaving?"

"That's right, I gotta be back tonight."

He was extremely disappointed.  But as I drove back that night, I knew that
I would have stayed if everything had gone well.  But how could I stay with
someone who was so different than me?

When I got home Syd was already asleep.  I went straight to bed, wanting to
forget about the night's embarrassments.  I knew that would be my last trip
to Reno.

*****

The next day went by fast.  I slept in late and went for a jog before Syd
got home.  He cooked dinner, and then we went out to play pool.  I almost
beat him one time.  The rest of the time he pretty much kicked my ass.

It was late when we got home, so he went to bed after taking a shower, and
I read for while.  When I decided to go to bed, I crept into the bedroom
like usual, grabbed my bed shorts, and went into the bathroom.

The hot water felt so great that half way into my shower I decided to pause
my washing and just let the water pour over my head.  Again my mind
drifted, first to thoughts of Viktor, then to thoughts of Syd, the feeling
of his touch in the jacuzzi, how crazy it was to be so close to someone so
incredibly sexy...

I heard the bathroom door open and I opened my eyes.  To my surprise, Syd
came trotting into the bathroom wearing just his boxer-briefs.  He looked
at me briefly in the shower.

"Sorry," he said, hopping towards the toilet.  "I had to pee and you were
taking forever."

"Okay," was all I said, a little dumbstruck and embarrassed.

The toilet was right next to the shower, and the shower door was clear
glass, so really the two of us we're standing right beside each other.  I
saw him reach with his hand into his fly and pull out his circumcised dick,
which seemed to be huge flaccid, aim it towards the toilet and let loose.
He was sort of shutting his eyes like the bright bathroom light was
bothering him, so I figured it was safe to stare.  His dick was so
beautiful, that even with the arch of yellow coming out of it, I wanted so
much to touch it.  He really had to piss so I got my share of watching his
dick.  When he stopped, he shook his dick some and I loved to see that huge
thing bounce.  Then he slipped it back in his boxers, flushed the toilet.
By this time I was definitely getting hard, so I turned my back to him.

Behind me he said, "Alright, kiddo, don't forget to wash behind your ears."
Then he left, and shut the door behind him.

After that I wanted nothing more than to jack off right there, but I was
sure he'd hear me, so I refrained.  When I went back through his room, he
was asleep again.

TO BE CONTINUED