Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:59:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Shiloh Creek Subject: The Boys of Twillingate Shore: Chapter Six - The Cricket Song The Boys of Twillingate Shore _____________________________ **DISCLAIMER: I own the rights to this story 100 %. This story contains strong sexual content between minors (boy-boy, boy-teen), mature language, and some violence. If you are offended by this sort of material, please do NOT read any further. If you are underage (<18; <21 in some areas), please do NOT read any further. All characters, main setting, and places or people mentioned in this story are completely, 100% fictional. If you find similarities between this story or any characters in this story in comparison to some place or someone in real life or other stories you may have read anywhere else, these circumstances are purely coincidental and do NOT reflect the intentions of the author of this story.** ---------------------------------- Hey everyone. I hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far. All comments and criticisms are more than welcome. You can just email me at the address provided. If I don't get back to you right away or at all for some reason, don't be offended. I have a very busy schedule to be honest, so I will most likely spend my free time writing as opposed to replying to all of my emails and stuff like that. Once the story is finished though, I will make it a point to reply to as many emails as I can. This sixth chapter will see a huge change in the flow of the story. Things are about to get very, very interesting for our young characters. The only thing I can say is hold on tight. A tumultuous, bumpy road lies ahead. NOTE** Remember, this IS the year 1998 in which this story is taking place. You will read a few things in this chapter and think "wow, this author's far behind," but no, the story itself is set in 1998, so just keep that in mind. ** _____________________________ Previously... "Logan, I have something for you," Richard said. Richard handed the pocket watch over to his eleven year old son, hoping this would help smooth things over a little. Logan grasped the pocket watch from his father's hand carefully, initially surprised at the heaviness of the trinket. Logan unhooked the clasp of the pocket watch and opened it up. His eyes widened as soon as she saw what was inside. It was a black and white picture of Logan and Jesse that had been taken when Jesse was fourteen and Logan was eight. They were both sitting on a white platform with a white background, several white sheets on the platform. Both of the boys were completely naked. Jesse was sitting with his legs spread and his knees bent, staring up at the camera with a bright smile on his face, his body angled in just the right way that his private parts were hidden behind his leg. Logan was sitting Indian style beside his older brother, his hands and one of the sheets positioned in a way that they covered his private parts as well. --------------------------- "Secrets aren't a bad thing to have. Sometimes, it's better to keep things secret. It keeps people you love from getting hurt, you know?" "I'm good if you're good," Cody said with a grin on his face. "Okay. I'm good then." Cody stuck his hand out towards Logan for a handshake. Logan grasped the older boy's hand and they shook on it. --------------------------- "I'm only dating Darlene because it looks good to everyone else," Cody said in a softer voice so that no one outside could even possibly accidentally hear it. "What do you mean?" Logan asked. "I mean, I don't have feelings for Darlene. Not in the way everybody else thinks." --------------------------- "Cody, there's another reason I think I'm gay," Logan admitted. "What is it?" "I can't get you out of my mind." "Same here. I can't stop thinking about you." Logan looked over at Cody and grinned slightly. They stared into each other's eyes for a few long seconds, with no words spoken. --------------------------- Logan grabbed Cody's discarded white Hanes briefs that he had set on top of his own shoes and socks before. He placed the briefs on top of his head and wore them like a hat, the elastic Hanes waistband wrapped around his head. "Hey, look! I'm a gay chef!" Logan said excitedly and then laughed. Cody rolled his eyes with a grin draped across his lips. "You are one crazy, sexy boy, you know that?" Cody said. "I try," Logan said softly as he took the briefs off his head and gave them to Cody. --------------------------- Suddenly, Julia leaned in and got up really close to Logan's ear. She whispered something that Logan actually wanted to throw up for. "Have you ever tasted real pussy before?" Julia asked. Logan felt grossed out. He was beginning to wish he had never even tried to look for a girl to dance with. He could've danced with someone desperate like Katherine or the nose-picker and at least they wouldn't have grossed him out near as much as Julia just had. "I'll take that as a no," Julia said after a few seconds of silence. "I'm actually happy to say I've never tasted pussy before," Logan said flatly. "What're you, a faggot?" Julia asked. "Or one of those fanatical Bible beaters who are against sex?" --------------------------- Logan closed his eyes as they danced together, imagining they were dancing together in the comfort of a large ballroom, with country music playing. But one thing was for certain. He was happier than he had ever been before as he danced gracefully with his boyfriend under the Twillingate Shore stars. Whether they were dancing in a grand ballroom, or behind a haystack truck, this was the best thing that had ever happened to the boy in his entire life. He felt something exceedingly strong for Cody. Something eternal. Something invincible. Something like love. _____________________________ Chapter Six "The Cricket Song" Two Weeks Later Logan and Cody were lying together in Logan's queen-sized bed, Cody on his back with his head propped up on two pillows, Logan resting his head in the crook of Cody's shoulder and his arm draped around his torso. Cody was cradling Logan's body sweetly, enjoying the aroma of Logan's long, blond hair, which smelled faintly of coconut shampoo. Logan was just wearing a white undershirt and his white BVD briefs. Cody was wearing nothing but his white Hanes briefs. The day was scorching hot, so they totally neglected the prospect of covering themselves with blankets. The central air conditioning was on inside the house, along with the buzzing electrical AC window unit inside Logan's bedroom, but the boys still felt hot anyway. The nape of Cody's neck was dampened with his sweat, which caused his the back of his hair to moisten and clump together. Logan could feel his back moistening up with his own sweat, causing the back of his shirt to dampen and become cold against the skin of his back. Even with the blinds closed, the sun's light was shining brightly through the two large windows of Logan's bedroom, warming the room up even more, illuminating the whole room vividly. Both boys were exhausted after the activities they had just engaged in together in this very bed, which also contributed to their sweating. As they lay together in bed, Logan reached down and began to mess around with the bulge in Cody's white briefs, just enjoying the feel of it under his fingers. The boys had just spent the last half hour giving each other blowjobs while Ruth went into town to help a friend of hers do something or other. "What, you're ready to go again already?" Cody asked. "I could suck you off all day, every day," Logan said proudly. "You're grandmother's gonna be back in from town any minute though," Cody said. "I know," Logan said. "I'm not gonna suck it again. I just like playing with it is all." "You're one crazy boy, Logan. But at least you're sexy as all hell." "Yeah, I have that going for me at least." The two of them got silent for a few seconds, Logan still playing the pooch of Cody's briefs, still finding enjoyment out of just goofing around with Cody's flaccid cock whether it was inside his underwear or not. "Cody, can I ask you something?" Logan asked. "You can ask me anything in the world," Cody said. "Well, you're the star quarterback for your football team, right?" "Yeah, why?" "Well, shouldn't you like... already have practice to go to and stuff?" "Oh, well, football here is a little different than it is in the south. I mean, yeah, I'm the quarterback, but have you taken a look at me lately? I'm not exactly Troy Aikman here. I'm actually one of the smallest guys on the team. But I just happen to play the best out of the rest of the guys and really, I'm not that great to be honest. That should tell you how much our team sucks." "Is it really that bad?" "I'm telling you, we have absolutely no defense. It's effing ridiculous." "I don't know anything about football," Logan said. "But I gotta say. It's kinda... sexy... to know that my boyfriend is the star quarterback, whether the team sucks or not." "Awe, that's sweet." "I do have one other question though." "Sure. Whatcha wanna know?" "Okay, so you're in high school. And according to everyone around here who knows you, you're like one of the most popular kids in this town." "Okay?" "Yeah... well, here's my question. How is it that a boy can be the star quarterback of his football team, be the most popular boy in his school, have any girl he wants at the drop of a hat, and yet, he would rather hang around all day with me?" "Why wouldn't I wanna be with you??" "Well, I was never popular in my school. I mean, I wasn't the head geek of my class or anything, and I had lots of friends there, but I wasn't popular at all. Or even known to the so-called popular kids." "You'll notice this when you start school here. Popularity is such a diverse sort of thing here. It's a lot different in tiny schools like mine, compared to schools like what you went to in Louisiana. I may be the most popular kid in the high school grades at my school, but there's like a total of under two hundred kids in the high school ages there." "That's it??" "Yeah! There's only like two thousand people in this town. And most of them are older people. I think there were only like five hundred kids in our school total this past year, from kindergarten up to twelfth grade." "That's crazy! At my school in Baton Rouge, there were at least five hundred people just in the sixth grade alone." "Such as life in the city, I guess. I wouldn't know about that though. I was born and raised a country bumpkin." Logan continued to play with Cody's penis through the white cotton material of his underwear. Cody's dick was beginning to grow rigid once again as Logan played with it. "My birthday's coming up pretty soon," Logan mentioned. "August second, right?" Cody asked. "Yep! I turn the big one-two finally," Logan said. "The big one-two?" "Twelve, silly!" "Oh, okay, I didn't understand the connection there," Cody said sarcastically. Logan rolled his eyes and chuckled childishly. "Anyway, I know what I want from you... for my birthday," Logan said, still rubbing Cody's penis through his briefs. "You keep rubbing my dick like this, you can have whatever you want in the world," Cody said. "Just name it, and it's yours." "A billion dollars," Logan suggested jokingly. "Would you like that in ones or fives?" Logan giggled. "No, I know what I want seriously," Logan said. "Actually, it's not something that you really... give." "Whatcha talkin' about, Willis?" Cody asked jokingly. "What I'm talking about is something you kinda... you know... take away," Logan said nervously, still rubbing Cody's dick. Suddenly, Cody reached down, grabbed Logan's hand firmly, and pulled it away from his cock. Logan immediately turned around to face Cody, closely gauging the older boy's reaction to his suggestion for a birthday gift. Cody bore a serious expression on his face, an expression that didn't seem to hint that Cody was in favor of this particular suggestion. "We are just talking about your pants, right?" Cody asked. "I'll take your pants away from you on your birthday?" "Umm... in a manner of speaking, I guess," Logan said. "Please tell me you're kidding," Cody said seriously. "Why?" "Logan, you're not seriously saying you want me to... you know..." "Why not?? You and Jesse did that together when you were my age." "Oh, Logan, the thing about me and Jesse... well... we were stupid, the both of us." "So you won't do this for me?" Cody stared into the younger boy's eyes in silence, not sure what to say now. As he thought about it, he knew there was nothing in the world he'd rather do. Logan had a point though. He and Jesse had in fact gone all the way together sexually, many, many times. And they were each other's firsts back in the day. And they were twelve years old too. Actually, Jesse was twelve at the time and Cody was still eleven. Jesse was almost a year older than him. But that didn't change anything. This situation just seemed different altogether. For one, Cody was nearly five years older than Logan. Secondly... what was the second reason? Perhaps age difference was the only reason for Cody's apprehension. Back when he and Jesse "deflowered" each other, he never gave it a second though. They had both acted on impulse completely, not thinking about the potential consequences. Except, there really had been no consequences. The only thing that remained now was the good memories of those days that Cody had stored in his mind. "Logan, losing your virginity is something you need to think about seriously," Cody said truthfully. "I mean, I'm not saying you haven't thought about it seriously already, but... I mean, we've only been messing around like this for a few weeks now, and... really, I just want you to make sure that you're... you know, sure." "I'm as sure about this as I'm ever going to be," Logan said simply. "For my birthday, I want you to take away my virginity. That's what I truly want." Cody remained silent for a few long seconds, just staring deeply into the younger boy's beautiful blue eyes. Finally, he mustered up the courage to say it. "Okay," Cody said. "For your birthday, I'll take your virginity away." "See? It wasn't that hard to say," Logan said. Logan wrapped his arms around Cody's torso for a nice, sweet hug. Cody hugged the boy back, still feeling a little unsure about this whole situation. He couldn't believe he had just agreed to take away the virginity of a twelve year old boy on his birthday. Something about this objective seemed all too... evil? Immoral? Forbidden? Any of those words would work for it, Cody believed. At the same time though, he felt so emotionally attached to Logan now, even thought they had only been together for a few weeks. He felt strongly about his connection with Logan, so why wouldn't it be acceptable for them to officially make love to one another? The whole idea still seemed far too... sinful. ---------------------------------- Four Hours Later Darlene sat on the passenger seat inside Cody's old Chevy, sniffling ceaselessly, her face wet with her tears. Cody sat in the driver's seat, his hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel although he was parked and the ignition was off. Tears were streaming boundlessly down Darlene's red cheeks. Her mascara was running in the direction of her tears. Her face was beet red. She felt humiliated for appearing in front of Cody looking like this, especially now. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. "Is there someone else?" Darlene asked through her tears. "Darlene --" Cody started. "No!!" Darlene exclaimed a little too loudly. "Is there... someone else?" "No. There's no one else." Darlene shook her head in disbelief. She raised her fist up to her slightly parted lips, her two front teeth beginning to dig into the skin of her middle knuckle. Her tears were flowing involuntarily now. All control of her tear glands had ben lost officially. She raised her hand up a little more and wiped her tears away as best as she could, although those tears were simply replaced by new ones that flooded down her face. "Then... if there's no one else, why are you breaking up with me?" Darlene asked. "Darlene, you and I just... we're not good together. We fight all the time, we never see eye to eye on anything: this just seems right." "What the fuck is right about this?? Here I am, leaving tomorrow for my family vacation -- the vacation you said no to by the way -- and..." Suddenly, Darlene became silent. Cody looked over at her, wondering what brilliant theory of hers was about to pop out of her mouth. "You... you knew you were gonna break up with me," Darlene declared. "You knew a ways back, didn't you!" "You want the truth? Yeah, I've known for a long while now that I wanted to break up with you. I've known since at least this past Christmas when you introduced me to your grandparents from Missouri as your `boyfriend -- for now.'" "That was just a joke! I apologized to you over and over for that, because I knew it hurt you! You're breaking up with me because of that?" "Oh no, Darlene, that's just one example off a long-ass list of shit you've pulled on me, just in the last six months or so." "Ah, okay, yeah, I'm just this horrible witch of a girlfriend, right? Is that what're you telling me now?" "I never said that. What I am saying though is that you and me do not fit together as a couple. We're not compatible in the least." "Well, why the hell have you waited so long to break up with me if you already knew you were going to do it anyway?" "Because I needed some time to think about it, Darlene. I didn't want to do this unless I was sure it was the right thing for us." "So who the hell said you get to be the one to decide what's right for us??" Cody rolled his eyes, tiring very quickly of this conversation and these little games Darlene tended to throw his way. "You think I don't know what you've been up to lately?" Darlene asked daringly. "What?" Cody asked, his heart skipping a beat suddenly. "All that time you spend at the Henderson's place? What, like six days a week for like five to seven hours a day? Or longer? I know what you're hiding from me. I'm not stupid." Cody stayed silent. He just stared at Darlene, gauging her body, hoping upon hope she wouldn't say anything about Logan. He felt as if his heart had just stopped beating altogether as he waited for Darlene to reveal whatever it was that she knew. "You've been lying like a fucking dog to me, haven't you?" Darlene asked. "Half the time you say you're at the Henderson's place, you're probably somewhere else, fucking some other girl since I wouldn't give you any." Cody actually wanted to sigh in relief when he heard those words escape from Darlene's lips. It was a horrible accusation she had just pitched his way, but not nearly as horrible as it would have been had she pitched the truth at him. "Darlene, you know I respected your decision to wait for marriage," Cody said. "Don't even act like I haven't respected that." "Then why're you fucking cheating on me with some little twat!?" "I'm not cheating on you with another girl, Darlene," Cody said truthfully. "Well then, you've probably been thinking about it, huh? `Oh, Darlene won't give me sex, so I better find some other girl who doesn't mind a good fucking.' Is that it?" "Look, what do you want me to say, Darlene? Huh? I mean, I've already told you that I wasn't cheating on you with another girl and I meant it. And frankly, it sucks ass that you're pulling this kind of shit on me." "You're the one breaking up with me!!" "Yeah, I'm breaking up with you. I already explained why and I don't feel like I should have to go into any more detail about it." "Fine, Cody, that's just fucking great!" Darlene exclaimed angrily. Suddenly, Darlene opened the door of the truck, jumped out, and then turned around to face Cody once again. Her face was completely distorted in fury, as if little shots of fire would beam out of her eyes and singe Cody to death. "And here's another thing, you arrogant fuckwad! A few months from now, you're gonna come crawling back to me cause you'll find out no one else in this world wants you! And when you do, I'll be the one to tell you no! You fucking cocksucker!" Darlene slammed the door of the truck as hard as she could, causing the whole truck itself to shake a little bit. Cody was left alone in the truck now. He watched as Darlene walked off towards downtown, stomping her feet on the ground childishly as she walked. Eventually, she took a turn and vanished behind a building, out of Cody's sight. Cody rubbed his temples in distress, wishing the break-up would have gone over better than that. He understood it was half his fault though. He knew there were things he could have avoided saying to her. He was quite confident that he and Darlene would probably never even be able to repair the friendship they had had before they ever started dating. With that, Cody started the ignition, rolled the windows up, and decided to go for a short drive before heading home. ---------------------------------- Logan and Ruth sat at the picnic table on the back porch eating dinner together. The umbrella was opened over the table. Although, Logan wondered why there was an umbrella at all in the first place. There were so many trees around that the sun's light would never touch the picnic table this time of day even if it wanted to. Ruth had made sandwiches with sun-dried-tomato-turkey slices, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, and provolone cheese. They ate dinner in relatively peaceful silence. The evening was a little warm, but it was very nice overall. The sky was filled with fluffy, heavenly clouds, the temperature -- while still pretty high in reality -- was reasonably low for a mid-July evening, and there was a nice breeze, causing the leaves of the giant trees to rustle and the waves of the lake to come crashing ashore. The sounds of nature were very pleasing on this peaceful evening. Logan was very pleased so far with how nice the evening had turned out, even though Cody wasn't there. "So I invited your Aunt Beth and Uncle Dixon to come over for lunch tomorrow afternoon once we get out of church," Ruth announced before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Shit. Nice evening over," Logan thought to himself. "Why?" Logan asked abruptly. "You've been here a month and a half now and you still haven't seen them," Ruth said. "Beth said she'd see if Gill wanted to come too." "They hate me, Grandma," Logan said simply. "You know this." "They do not hate you, sweetheart. No one could hate you." "Gill hates me. He said it himself last time I saw him." "Now why would Gill say something like that?" "He said I was a spoiled brat, basically. He used other words though. Worse words." "Well, now, Gill does tend to get a bit jealous. You have to understand though, Gill was never able to have the things you and Jesse had. For your birthday last year, your dad took you and Jesse on a Caribbean cruise. You know what Gill got for his eleventh birthday? Five dollars from his parents. That's it." "Five dollars?" "That's right. So you could stand to show a little more compassion for Gill. He's an only child who never got much out of life. He's just trying to figure his way is all." "I can understand that, Grandma. I still don't wanna see him though." "Well, put on your smiley face tomorrow, cause they're coming over anyway." Logan rolled his eyes, wondering how he could stand to make it through the next day with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He had been so thankful that he hadn't been forced to mingle with them as of yet, but he was wishing he could have more time to not mingle with them. They couldn't afford to make it down to Baton Rouge for Jesse's funeral, which was fine by Logan. He was more than happy to not have to accommodate those crazy people on the worst days of his young life. He wasn't sure how he would make it through a whole afternoon with them. On a Sunday no less; the day in which swearing and cursing people's names is Biblically out of the question. Logan took a huge swig of his fizzy cola, allowing the carbonation of the drink to singe the inside of his mouth. He hoped this stupid activity would help take the edge off the news his grandmother had dished out at him. It didn't work. He swallowed the cola and then took another huge sip. ---------------------------------- Cody drove aimlessly down the interstate, his mind spiraling in every which direction thinking about Logan's proposal for his birthday and the brutal ending of his year and a half long relationship with Darlene. He wondered what was going on with him. He had just broken up with a perfectly fine girl his own age in order to pursue a deeper relationship with an eleven year old boy. In hindsight, the entire notion seemed utterly ridiculous, not to mention wrong, immoral, corrupt, and the list goes on. Logan was a boy. He was inexperienced. He was still emotionally fragile after having lost his big brother. What if this new relationship between Logan and Cody was some psychological confusion for Logan that stemmed from his internal need for brotherly love? After all, Jesse was no longer around to deliver brotherly love to Logan. And Logan, being the sweet, delicate soul he was, needed that love in order to function properly. What if he was simply reaching out to Cody out of convenience? Cody had never taken a psychology class before, but he had watched enough television shows to have a basic understanding of how these things worked. If his new theory was in fact reality, then Cody had just dug himself a huge hole that he would have a tremendously difficult time climbing back out of. Then again, his feelings for Logan were genuine, totally and completely. Cody wasn't in love with Darlene. He never had those special feelings about Darlene that he now had for Logan. And Logan... that young boy was certainly a tough person to figure out sometimes, but Cody truly believed Logan's feelings for him were more authentic than what any sort of psychology would likely suggest. It's not as if Logan was an emotional basket case or anything. Wouldn't there be more distinctive signs if Logan was truly reaching out to him purely on a psychological level as opposed to on the basis of affection and love? Cody was officially confused as he contemplated these different possibilities. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. Cody noticed a Jack in the Box off of the interstate close to a large gas station fit for eighteen-wheelers. Suddenly, Cody had a hankering for a big, greasy cheeseburger. Jack in the Box would certainly hit the spot. With that, he pulled off onto the exit ramp that led to the fast food chain. As he pulled his old Chevy into the drive-thru, he began to think about the break-up with Darlene, deciding that it could not have gone that much worse, even in a hypothetical sense. He had thoroughly demolished his relationship with Darlene. They had spent many years as good friends, long before they started dating. In fact, the only reason they started dating in the first place was because of how much Darlene and Ruth and his mother and his friends bugged him about it. He never would have considered the prospect of dating Darlene had it not been for the incessant nagging from every end of his social spectrum. And now, he'd be lucky if Darlene ever spoke to him again. "What can I get for you, sir?" came the faceless voice from the intercom in front of the large menu of the Jack in the Box. ---------------------------------- Vernon, Oregon Roughly fifteen miles down the road from Twillingate Shore, Darlene sat alone in a cheap hole-in-the-wall bar in the unfortunate town of Vernon, tears still traveling down her face occasionally. She was sitting alone in a booth at the back corner of the joint, trying to appear invisible, mind the oxymoron. She had quickly grown tired of all the attention she was getting from her friends and family at home. She just wanted to be alone. She and her friends had come here many times before, because the owners here never checked for identification. To the owners, as long as the customers paid, they got served whatever they wanted, regardless of their ages (within reason of course). Darlene sat alone, her half-empty Bud Light sitting in a chilled mug in front of her, a stack of napkins sitting to the side of her that she had been using to blow her nose and wipe away her tears. She watched as sweat began to trickle down the smooth glass of the mug. The song "You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man" by Loretta Lynn was playing in the background. Darlene saw a young couple in cowboy hats sitting at the bar kissing one another passionately. Darlene felt sickened by the sight, so she turned and stared out the window. Nothing outside but darkness. Too many clouds out to see the stars well. The moon was either hidden or not out for the night. Darlene sniffled, grabbed a napkin, and blew her nose. She used the other end to wipe away the tears that had pooled up around her eyes. She happened to glance up at the moment a young guy walked into the bar by himself. He looked to be about twenty-one or twenty-two years old. He was wearing a pair of ripped, faded blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a grease-stained blue plaid shirt on over that, which was just hanging completely open. His hair was dark brown and disheveled and looked perhaps a little greasy. Darlene assumed that was because of whatever made his shirt all greasy, like a good-paying job at the garage or something. He walked over to the bar where that couple still sat, kissing and sucking each other's faces off. Darlene heard him order a mug of Coors Light. She stared at the older guy for some reason, entranced by his bad boy appearance. As he stood at the bar, he happened to glance her way, a serious expression draped across his stone-cold face. The bartender handed the guy his beer. With his beer in hand, he started walking towards Darlene's table. Darlene quickly stuffed her used napkins into the front pocket of her purse, trying to control herself from shedding anymore tears. She didn't want to come off as totally heartbroken to a complete stranger. "City of New Orleans" by Willie Nelson was playing in the background now. The guy sat down on the other side of the booth from Darlene. He took a sip of his beer, set it down on the table, and then looked her dead in the eyes dryly. Darlene thought there was a darkly handsome quality about this older guy. He looked at her without smiling, but nevertheless, he didn't seem like the type of guy who even knew how to smile. "Thought you looked like you could use some company," the guy said simply before taking another swig of his beer. "You're good," Darlene said. "Did your momma teach you how to read girls?" "Better than she taught me how to read books," the guy said. "Fuck, I'm not sure if my momma can read books now that I think about it." Darlene chuckled slightly and took a light sip of her Bud Light. "You're gettin' a little low there, sweets," the guy said. "Say, Charlie, get this hot young lady another -- " "Bud Light," Darlene said as he looked at her questioningly. " -- Bud Light, please, Charlie," the guy said. "Bud Light comin' up," Charlie said from behind the counter. "Thanks a lot," Darlene said. "A girl should never pay for her own drinks," the guy said. "That's mighty charming of you," Darlene said. "But I don't allow guys to pay for my drinks if they don't first tell me their name." "Gill's the name," the guy said casually. "Gill Craig." "My name's Darlene Chase," Darlene said. "Darlene... that's a pretty name. Especially for you." "Thank you. You know, I think I recognize your name from somewhere. I know I've heard it before." "I'd be surprised if every person from here to Portland didn't know my name," Gill said almost arrogantly. "Why's that?" "That's how us troublemakers are, sweet thang. We fuck things up wherever we go, then people tend to remember our names." "Oh, you're a troublemaker, huh?" "According to God and everyone else, I guess." "Nah, I know I've heard your name before. And I know I haven't seen it on a most-wanted poster or anything like that recently." "Where you live?" "Twillingate Shore," Darlene said simply. "I'm sure you know someone there." "Yeah, my grandma lives there," Gill said. "Really? Who's your grandma?" "Ruth Henderson," Gill said simply with no emotion in his voice. "Of the Henderson Road, which I'm sure you know of." "You're Ruth's grandson?" Darlene asked. "Beth Henderson's son?" "That'd be me," Gill said. "How you know so much about my family?" "Oh, my boyfriend wor -- I mean... my ex-boyfriend... works for your grandmother," Darlene informed Gill plainly. "Is that so..." Gill said more matter-of-factly. "So Cody Haynes is your EX-boyfriend?" "You know him?" "I guess you could say I've met him a few times. Not in a while though, thank God. My grandmother glorifies that little prick." "Yeah, well, that little prick dumped me today." "He must be pretty fucking stupid to dump a woman like you. What was his reason?" "Oh, he said something like `I don't think we're right together' and shit like that. He didn't even have the decency to just admit that he's fucking around on me." "Please, that little shit doesn't even deserve to talk to you. Who do you think he's fucking around with?" "I dunno," Darlene said. "He's always over at your grandmother's house -- or so he says, anyway -- teaching Logan to feed animals and stuff." "Logan?" Gill asked. "Yeah, Logan. You know, your cousin Logan? Jesse's little brother?" "Oh yeah, I forgot my little cousin was there now -- the little fucking, spoiled brat." "He seems like a nice enough kid. He's as cute as a button." "Yeah, and that's why we all love him," Gill said sarcastically. "I swear, that little fucker and Jesse always acted like they were better than anyone else." "You do know that Jesse's dead, right?" Darlene asked carefully. "Yep, and I know a lot of other things about Jesse too; shit that the family would absolutely lay fucking eggs over. Dead or not, a piece of shit is a piece of shit. Jesse's no exception in my opinion." "That seems a little harsh, Gill," Darlene said, felling a bit uncomfortable now. "Does it now? How would you like to know something completely fucked up about your ex-boyfriend? Something you would've never guessed in a thousand years..." Darlene suddenly perked up, ready to hear whatever dirt this strange guy had on Cody. She couldn't believe how coincidental it was that she ran into Gill. Perhaps he would be able to help her show Cody not to mess with her again. ---------------------------------- Logan sat on the floor of the den next to his grandmother's 2x3x5 cedar chest that contained every picture she had ever taken or that had ever been given to her that wasn't framed anywhere. Ruth had gone to bed a little while before, so Logan decided to look through some of the old pictures in the trunk. Inside the cedar chest, there were dozens of the picture albums full of pictures from times past, probably hundreds of little blue mini-albums that were generally given along with newly developed photographs, and hundreds upon hundreds of loose pictures just laying inside atop everything else. Logan pulled one of the larger picture albums out -- the one that was most easily accessible from underneath the ginormous pile of mini-albums and loose pictures. The picture album said "Thanksgiving & Christmas 1967" across the tab on the front. Logan opened the album and began to scan through the various pictures of his father at twelve years old during the holidays. There was a picture of his father wearing dorky-looking footie pajamas, holding up some random board game for the camera while standing in front of the large Christmas tree, his then-blond hair all matted and disheveled as if he had just woken up. Logan smiled at the picture, now understanding why everyone said he resembled his father. Richard looked exactly like Logan, just in the 1960's instead of the 1990's. Logan turned the page to the next row of pictures. There was one picture in particular that caught his attention -- a picture of Richard at twelve and Logan's Aunt Beth at nine. They were standing next to one another outside in the snow in front of the lighted house. Both of them were smiling brightly, each of them obviously excited about the Christmas lights for the house. Logan took special note that the house looked exactly the same then as it did now. After looking through the picture album, he placed it back into the large cedar chest and began to browse through the other picture albums. There was a little blue mini-album that said Grandkids' Visit Summer 1995 on the front. Logan's heart skipped a beat when he saw that album. He picked it up from the chest and opened it. The pictures were all together under a clear sleeve, so he took he pile of pictures out, holding the sides with his fingers, careful not to let his finger touch the filmy surfaces of the photographs. The very first picture was a picture of Logan and Jesse the day they arrived at the airport from Louisiana. Logan noted how exhausted they looked after having ridden on an airplane all morning. Logan was carrying his stuffed dog that went by the name of Wolfwolf and Jesse was carrying a can of Dr. Pepper in one hand and his backpack in the other. Logan glanced through the next few pictures, which were all taken that same day of their arrival. After a few pictures, he came across a picture that he had totally forgotten about -- a picture of him, fourteen year old Jesse, and thirteen year old Cody on the houseboat. The three boys were sitting together at the picnic table on the back deck, each of them just wearing their swim suits, their hair drenched as if they had just gotten out of the water. Logan noticed something interesting about this particular picture though -- something he was sure someone would have caught eventually. Underneath the clear picnic table on the ground, Jesse's left foot was touching Cody's right foot. They had obviously been playing footsie under the table and no one noticed. Logan noticed himself in the picture, eight years old, sitting on his chair Indian style, smiling up naively at the camera. The next few pictures were of the three boys playing on the houseboat and in the lake that same day. Logan remembered that day quite well now. Cody had come over that day to swim with Jesse. Logan remembered being left out of basically everything the other two boys did together, for good reason obviously. Logan never really received the opportunity to get to know Cody back then. He knew who Cody was. He was Jesse's friend. And they were always together. But Logan and Cody never really knew each other back then. There was a picture that caught Logan's eye suddenly. It was a picture of Jesse and Cody in front of the barn. They were standing just outside the barn side by side with their arms over each other's shoulders, just like best friends would do. Cody looked so cute in this picture. Logan vaguely remembered thinking of Cody as cute even back then. Cody's hair looked about the same then as it did now, just blonder and not quite as long. His face looked the same too, just more childish and not as mature. Jesse looked cute too. Honestly, he and Cody resembled each other quite a lot. They could have easily passed as brothers. Jesse looked a bit older, but he was a year older than Cody anyway. There was something else Logan noticed about this picture, in the background. The barn door was standing open and Logan's cousin Gill was standing inside next to the welding machine. He was staring in the general direction of the boys and the camera. The expression on his face was a bit disturbing to Logan. He looked so... hateful, as if he was revealing an apparent animosity towards someone. Jesse perhaps? Cody? Maybe even Ruth who was probably on the other side of the camera taking the picture? "Hmm..." Logan grunted to no one in particular. ---------------------------------- Cody arrived home just before the sun went down all the way, carrying a large plastic cup of soda from Jack in the Box in one hand. He had driven around for several hours, just thinking about everything in great detail. When he walked through the front door, he saw his parents sitting at the kitchen table together, as if in deep conversation about something. Katherine was sitting in the living room in front of the television, eating something or other, which was honestly no surprise to Cody. What struck Cody was the immediate cold stares he received from his parents once they realized his presence. They knew already? How could they possibly know already? Cody hadn't said a word to anyone he knew yet. Cody slowly walked into the kitchen, already aware that this impending conversation would be a doozie, and he stood at the threshold between the kitchen and the living room. He decided to come up with a quick excuse so that he could leave the room. "Hey Mom and Dad," Cody said. "I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna go ahead and take my shower and get ready for bed." Cody turned around and headed towards the stairs without saying another word, only to be halted by his mother's commanding voice once he started up the staircase. "Don't you walk away just yet," Linda said. Cody stopped on the fourth step of the staircase. Linda and Jack walked into the living room towards him and stood to the side of the staircase, looking up towards Cody where he stood on the fourth step. Cody could tell they were both angry. Maybe not angry really, but mostly concerned and disappointed. "What's this I hear about you breaking up with Darlene?" Linda asked, her hands propped against her hips, her arms bent at her sides. "Boy, words gets around fast in this one-horse town," Cody said. "You broke up with her??" Linda asked in a higher-pitched tone of voice. "Why? How could you do a thing like that to that poor girl?" "Yeah, what the hell, man?" Jack asked. "Now I can't use her dad's deer lease for free anymore." Linda rolled her eyes at her husband. "Cody, this is just wrong!" Linda jumped in. "Hell yeah! You know how expensive that damn deer lease is??" Jack asked. "Shit, that's an extra two hundred dollars a month for a lease I go to like, what, six or seven weekends out of the year?" "Jack, we're not talking about that!!" Linda exclaimed to her husband. "Cody, I'm still waiting to hear your reason. Why'd you break up with her?" "Because I didn't feel good about our relationship, Mom," Cody said. "We did nothing but fight and argue. It was all the time. And I got tired of it." "It certainly didn't seem that way to me," Linda said. "Every time I was around the two of you, you seemed perfectly happy." "A front," Cody said simply. "That's all it was. Mom, I just wasn't in love with Darlene. I didn't love her the way a boyfriend should love his girlfriend and it wasn't worth putting up with her bullcrap every day when I didn't feel that way for her." "I... I just never saw this coming, Cody," Linda said. "This has come as a huge shock for me and your father." "Mom, it's not the end of times just because I broke up with Darlene," Cody said. "I realize that, baby, but all of this just seems so sudden. I mean, did you give any thought to this at all before you did it?" "I've been thinking about it for months now. Ever since last Christmas at least." "Oh yeah, when Darlene introduced him to her grandparents as her `boyfriend -- for now,' whatever that bullshit was," Jack said and then chuckled slightly. Linda and Cody both rolled their eyes at Jack. "I thought that was a joke," Linda said. Jack chuckled a little harder. "Whatever it was, that was just pretty damn funny," Jack said. "Way to support me, Dad," Cody said. "Ignore him," Linda said to her son. "He's had too many beers tonight." "No such thing as too much beer," Jack said. "The point is, that's about when I started thinking about it," Cody said. "Not really about breaking up with her, but about where our relationship was headed and stuff." "So you've given this a lot of thought then," Linda said assumingly. "Of course. And Mom, it's not like Darlene's the only person left on this earth," Cody said, using the word `person' deliberately. "There are other fish in the sea." "Yeah, maybe he'll get lucky and get himself one of them Italian girls," Jack said, having pronounced Italian as `eye-talian.' "Then I can get free spaghetti." Linda sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Honey, just know that we love you, okay?" Linda said. "And... I guess we support your decision to break up with Darlene. It just came as a surprise to us, because we never saw it coming. Not in a million years." "Thank you for supporting me at least," Cody said. "Now, seriously, I'm like really tired. So I'm gonna go ahead and take my shower and stuff and then go to bed early." "Okay, sweetie," Linda said. "If you need anything, we're here for you." With that, Cody nodded politely and headed upstairs. In his bedroom, he slipped his cowboy boots off and then stripped his socks off his feet. He grabbed some clean clothes out of his bedroom and headed to the bathroom down the hall to take his shower. Once he locked himself in the bathroom, he placed his clean clothes onto the closed lid of the toilet. The bathroom seemed so cramped. Cody wished his parents had the kind of money Ruth Henderson did. Then they could afford a bigger house like hers. And maybe even a huge houseboat like hers too. The houseboat bathroom was huge; even the guest bathroom that he and Logan had fooled around in that one weekend. Cody turned on the water of the shower, knowing it would take several minutes of letting the water run freely in order for it finally heat up. After the water was turned on, Cody lifted his brown t-shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. Cody caught a glance of himself in the full-length bathroom mirror, which was mounted above the sink. He stared at his shirtless body in the mirror in almost arrogant admiration, just realizing how much more muscle he had put on lately within his abdomen, chest, and arms. He still didn't look like a bodybuilder by any such account, but he was overall satisfied with how he looked now. The muscles in his upper arms could be easily spotted now without him having to flex. Same thing with the muscles of his abdomen. He had a nice little six-pack getting ready to develop there. It still wasn't very obvious yet that it was there, but he was just happy to know a six-pack was at least in the works. His chest was beginning to expand a little. About a year before, he looked as straight and as skinny as a one-by-six piece of plywood. Now, Cody was finally beginning to get some tone to his chest and arms especially. In fact, here lately, his normal extra-small shirts were beginning to feel a little more constricting. Cody figured by anyone else's standards, he still looked like a shrimp. But he knew he was improving though. Cody unfastened the belt of his jeans, still watching himself in the mirror. He took the belt off and dropped it onto the floor on top of his discarded t-shirt. He unbuttoned and unzipped his blue jeans and then pushed them down to his ankles. He kicked the jeans off and they landed to the side of the his t-shirt and belt. Cody stared at himself in the mirror, standing there wearing nothing now but his white briefs. As he stared at his half-naked body in the mirror, he began to reflect back on earlier events from that day, specifically when he and Logan were lying in the boy's bed at his house and Logan was playing with Cody's penis through his underwear. Cody smiled thinking about Logan. He couldn't wait to see him again. Just being away from him for the past few hours, he already missed him. He would at least see him at church in the morning. He no longer thought about the authenticity of Logan's feelings for him. Cody had decided for himself that Logan's feeling for him were in fact real and genuine. None of that psycho-babel stuff to get in the way. Cody felt strongly for Logan. And he knew in his heart that Logan felt the same way for him. Now that he and Darlene were no longer together, Cody figured he could stop feeling so guilty about his closeted, forbidden relationship with Logan. The two of them would now be able to enjoy their relationship together without having to feel bad about it. Cody pushed his white Hanes down to his ankles and kicked them aside towards his other clothes. He now stood staring at himself completely naked. He examined his flaccid penis in the mirror. It wasn't huge. Actually, Cody was quite certain it was of average size for someone his age and size. But he knew to Logan, it looked gigantic, which Cody found adorable. Cody could see the steam beginning to float through the air of the bathroom. The shower water was finally hot. Cody walked over to the bathtub, opened the shower certain from the back corner, and then stepped in. ---------------------------------- Darlene sat at the booth waiting for Gill to start explaining whatever dirt he had on Cody. She felt like with whatever this information was, she would probably receive the opportunity to use that information to teach Cody a valuable lesson. "What is it?" Darlene asked curiously. "About three years ago, I guess it was, my Uncle Richard's little bitch boys were staying the summer with my grandparents, like they usually did back then. Well, I was the one who worked the damn farm with my grandpa during the summer back then. Anyway, I started noticing some fucked up stuff between Jesse and Cody Haynes." "Like what?" Darlene asked curiously. "Well, you know, they were both like thirteen or something at the time, I think. And they thought they were just so fucking smart. There were times I caught them fucking holding hands under the table, the little faggots." "Cody and Jesse were holding hands?" Darlene asked in disbelief. "Oh wait, it gets worse," Gill said, almost enthusiastically. "One day, we were all on my grandpa's houseboat and I caught Cody and Jesse making out with each other in one of the bedrooms." "Making out??" "Fuck yeah! They had their tongues all in each other's fucking mouths; it was the most disgusting shit I've ever seen! Up until then at least." "You mean there's more?" "Oh, sweets, what I'm about to tell you will completely explain why Cody dumped you. I'm afraid you just don't have enough dick for him. Cause one day, I headed out to the barn to get some kerosene for my grandpa, and when I looked out the window on the second floor of the barn, I saw Jesse and Cody behind the second barn back there. Both of them had their pants down around their god-damn ankles. And my perfect, fucking little cousin Jesse had his cock shoved up your ex-boyfriend's ass." Darlene's eyes widened in complete disbelief. She couldn't comprehend Cody ever letting something like that happen. She had known Cody for most of her life and had never suspected for even a second that he could be gay, or at least even be inclined to allow some guy to penetrate him. She remembered the days in which he and Jesse Henderson were close. They were practically inseparable actually. But Darlene had never thought about the prospect of them being lovers, not back then especially. Now that she looked back on it though, it all seemed to make sense. There was no way Gill was making this up. He seemed like a pretty spiteful man in all honesty, but he didn't seem this spiteful or malicious to make something like that up. "It's all making sense to you now, isn't it?" Gill said. "Yeah, actually," Darlene said simply. "I mean, I knew Cody and Jesse back in those days. I never thought about them being together like that." "Oh they were together alright. In more ways than one." "Holy shit." "That's exactly what I was thinking back then." "I can't believe this crap. To think of Cody... holy shit." "So, here's the question of the century then. You ready to give that little shit a taste of his own medicine? Only worse?" "Payback?" "Against Cody Haynes. Since you know about this shit, we can totally fuck his world up. He'd deserve it for breaking up with you." "Why would you go through the trouble of helping me out?" Darlene asked. "This isn't really your deal." "Sure it is, sweets," Gill said simply. "A little fuckwad like that deserves whatever kinda payback's coming to him. And with my help, we can squash his little balls till he begs for mercy. So, you want my help?" Darlene gazed over at the older guy, wondering what he had in mind. She stayed silent for a few long seconds, thinking about what payback against Cody would entail. She knew it would be wrong to do so. But for some reason, the idea of revenge sounded right after what he did to her today. ---------------------------------- The Next Day Church services the next day were... awkward. In the small church, Cody and his family sat on the same pew as Logan and Ruth. Cody and Logan were sitting next to one another between Katherine and Ruth. Usually, Cody would sit in the teens' section on the other side the small auditorium between Darlene and his friend Josh. Darlene was sitting in the teens' section between two of her friends. Cody's friend Josh and Luke shot occasional questioning glances at Cody, obviously wondering what was going on; why Cody wasn't sitting with them in the teens' section and why Darlene wasn't sitting with them. Cody mouthed to them that he would explain everything later. Brother Morrison was preaching today. His sermons were generally long and drawn out and just plain boring. Logan was drawing on the worship pamphlet with a blue ink pen. He drew the head of a unicorn on one corner of the pamphlet and then showed it to Cody. Cody was actually pretty impressed with how good of a job Logan did drawing that unicorn's head. He held his thumb up and smiled at the boy. Logan smiled back sweetly. Cody noticed how cute Logan looked today. He was wearing a pair of beige khaki shorts, a navy blue polo shirt tucked into his shorts, a white t-shirt under the polo shirt, a brown belt, and a pair of brown, leather sandals without socks. Logan's hair was beginning to get really long. The very tips of his golden blond hair were now touching his shoulders. And Logan had finally perfected the waviness, just how Cody wore his hair. Logan's hair had always been as straight as a board before. Now, Logan knew how to make his hair wavy without ever having to gel it or anything. Cody had explained to him how to do it right though. Since then, he and Logan might as well have been called brothers. They had very similar hairstyles now. Only, Logan's hair was a little longer than Cody's, and Cody's hair was slightly darker in color than Logan's. Cody looked over and caught a glare from Darlene. She had been watching him from across the auditorium, which Cody found a little creepy. Darlene quickly turned around when she realized she had been caught staring. Cody felt Logan nudge him on the arm. He looked down at Logan and then at the pamphlet. Logan had drawn a heart with little sunshine streaks around it. Next to the heart, there was a small arrow pointing in Cody's general direction. The two boys smiled at one another again. After the service ended, Cody was practically dragged out of the church by his two good friends Josh and Luke, who were both his age. The three of them walked out of the church and then to the side of the building where they could talk. "Dude, what the hell's going on here?" Luke asked. "Yeah, man, why didn't you sit with us today?" Josh asked. "And why didn't you sit with Darlene?" Luke asked. "What made you wanna sit with you parents?" Josh asked. "What is this? Effing twenty questions??" Cody asked. "Well, tell us what's going on," Josh basically demanded. "Okay, you guys have to promise me you won't freak out," Cody said. "Darlene's pregnant, isn't she?" Luke guessed dumbly. "Wha -?... No, you idiot!" Cody exclaimed. "What is it then?" Josh asked. Cody took a deep breath, knowing his friends just cared about him, but also feeling somewhat annoyed that they wouldn't let him tend to his own business. "Guys, Darlene and I broke up yesterday," Cody said simply. The two other boys became very silent as they took the news in. "Dude..." Luke said. "Darlene dumped you?" "What the hell makes you think she dumped me?" Cody asked. "Well, dude, no offense, but..." Luke said and then shrugged. Josh and Cody rolled their eyes. "What happened?" Josh asked more caringly. "It just wasn't working out, guys," Cody said. "I mean, you've seen us fight and bicker like cats and dogs before. That kinda shit just kept getting worse. So I decided it was time for us to call it quits. I broke up with her, Luke, FYI." "Oh. Sorry," Luke said. "That's rough, man," Josh said. "I'm sorry that happened." "Guys, it's really for the best," Cody said. "Darlene's still not happy about the whole thing apparently, but she'll get over it soon enough." Cody stood and talked to his friends for a few more minutes. After they stopped talking, they went back to mingle with the rest of their friends. Cody said his goodbyes to Ruth and Logan, knowing he wouldn't see them until church services that evening. ---------------------------------- When Logan and Ruth arrived home, they immediately began preparing everything for lunch. Beth, Dixon and Gill would be arriving at any time. Logan set the table while Ruth finished getting the roast ready, which she had started cooking the evening before. Once the food was fully prepared, Logan and Ruth placed all the food at the center of the table. Everything was now ready for lunch. Logan was absolutely dreading this lunch with his aunt, uncle and cousin. He had been dreading it since the evening before when his grandmother told him about it. He just knew those trashy people would have some horrible things to say to him and about him and his family. Logan knew that his aunt and his father rarely spoke to one another. According to Richard, he and his sister had not been able to get along well with one another ever since she abandoned everything and got pregnant and married Dixon. Logan's father warned him that she was just a bitter, unhappy woman and that she tried to spread that sort of attitude to everyone around her. Logan figured that explained why his cousin Gill was the way he was. For as long as Logan could remember, Gill had always been a horrible cousin. About ten minutes later, Logan saw his Aunt Beth's old, beat up station wagon pull up into the driveway, followed closely by Gill on his motorcycle. Logan watched out the window as his Aunt Beth and Uncle Dixon got out of the car. Beth was really skinny. She looked so skinny that she almost looked sick. And her skin was now a leathery brown. According to Logan's dad, Beth was notorious for lying on top of foil wrapping in the middle of the yard on a sunny day, just to get a suntan since she couldn't afford to go to a tanning salon. The result -- she now looked as if the first few layers of her skin could be sliced off and used to make baseball skins out of. Uncle Dixon was relatively thin, but his beer gut was beginning to show big time. His black hair was thinning at the crown, just like Richard's hair had started to do recently. Gill had that bad boy look about him, just as he always had. He still had very dark hair and it was much longer now than it was the last time Logan had seen him. Logan watched with a down heart as the three black geese of the family stumbled towards the front door. When the three of them walked in, Ruth greeted them at the entryway, making sure to plant a kiss on each of them. Logan stood off to the side silently, trying to be invisible, not really keen on the idea of having to act polite and happy around these people. "You feeling better now after that fall, Dixon?" Ruth asked nicely. "Yeah, I guess I'm doin' better," Dixon said. "I gotta go back to work next week though, which I'm not supposed to be going back yet." "The doctors told him he shouldn't go back to work for at least two months after straining his back so badly, but does the garage give a rat's ass!?" Beth asked rhetorically. "Of course not! They expect him to be back to work in another week. They already told him they wouldn't pay worker's comp any longer." "Well, you seem to be getting around pretty well now," Ruth said. "You should be able to handle yourself okay in another week." "Mom, that's not the point!" Beth exclaimed. "He should still be off work for another three weeks at least! But they want him back there a whole two weeks early!" "You can't survive forever off worker's comp, honey, so maybe it's better that Dixon's going back to work earlier," Ruth pointed out. "Why don't you ever take Dixon's side, Momma?" Beth asked angrily. "Honey, don't be that way," Ruth said. "I'm only thinking of yours and Dixon's best interest here. Perhaps it'd be better that he go back to work early." The argument went on for several more minutes. Logan listened to the whole conversation, feeling ashamed of his aunt and uncle for acting so selfishly. Logan's father had always taught him that laziness brings nothing in life. "If you're not willing to do the work, well or sick, you'll always land in the poorhouse," Richard would tell him. Logan figured that was why his father was relatively wealthy and his aunt and uncle were still dirt poor. Gill was standing to the side, staying quiet. But he shot Logan this odd stare, as if he knew something Logan didn't. Logan tried to act as if he didn't notice the unsettling stare he was receiving from Gill, but he kept fidgeting instinctively. Logan realized his discomfort was probably more than obvious to Gill. Perhaps that was the point of the stare -- to make Logan feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Once the argument finally ended, Ruth told everyone to go to the table. Logan could hear the frustration seeping from his grandmother's voice. She was usually so chipper and upbeat, but it seemed as if the presence of his aunt and uncle altered his grandmother's personality in a way that Logan deemed upsetting to witness. Logan further noticed that out of the three of his family members, not one of them had said a word to him since they walked in the door, with the exception of the bizarre stares he got from Gill, which spoke louder than words in a way. But the way they ignored him; all three of them deliberately walked past him, discounting his presence altogether. Dixon sat at one end of the table. Ruth sat at the other end of the table. Gill and Beth sat on one side. Logan sat on the other side by himself, his chair shifted more towards his grandmother than towards Dixon. Logan noticed an odd, displeasing smell about these people he was forced to label as his family members; a distinctive scent that made Logan wonder if any of them practiced the fine art of showering more than once or twice a week. Logan immediately focused on breathing through his mouth only. "Logan, you haven't said anything to your aunt and uncle and cousin since they walked in," Ruth said in a fake nice tone of voice. "Don't you wanna tell them `hello'?" "Hi," Logan said simply. He received blank stares from all three of them, as if he had just stepped off a spaceship from Mars. None of them said a word in reply. After a few seconds of awkward staring, the three of them went back to conversing back and forth with Ruth. Logan was beginning to feel low about himself. But he knew not to take this personally. He knew this side of the family acted this way just because they could. They were all bitter and they smelled funny. In that respect, Logan felt somehow above these people. "Richard got himself an apartment in Portland," Ruth said. "So why doesn't he keep his kid there with him?" Dixon asked rudely, as if Logan wasn't sitting there at all listening. "He just has to travel too much," Ruth said. "Sophia was ready to retire, so Richard decided it would be better for Logan to live with family from now on, instead of going through the process of hiring a new nanny and such." "So he unloaded the kid on you, huh?" Dixon said smartly. "Dixon, you just hush," Ruth said seriously. "If you must know, it was my idea for Logan to move in here with me." Logan glanced over at Gill. He was now staring at Logan with an almost evil smile draped across his lips. Logan suddenly understood that these three people actually hated him. Even his aunt -- his father's sister, a blood-related family member -- hated him. And not just a little bit. They all hated him with a fervor. Here Logan was, living with his grandmother in the middle of nowhere, Oregon. His big brother had only been dead for five months. He hadn't seen his dad in almost two months now and he had only spoken to him on the phone four or five times since then. He had to say goodbye to Sophia and now only spoke to her over the phone once a week. These people -- supposed family members -- were showing absolutely no compassion for him whatsoever. In fact, in all likelihood, these people were secretively glad all that stuff happened to him. "So where is my brother these days?" Beth asked. "Switzerland or something?" "No, I talked to him last week," Ruth said. "He's been in Auckland for a couple of weeks now. He said he'll be there another few weeks." "I figured all the business in England took place in London," Dixon said. Logan rolled his eyes. He tried to keep his mouth shut, but he just couldn't. "Auckland is in New Zealand," Logan corrected the man. Dixon and Beth suddenly glared at the boy furiously as if he had just said something majorly offensive to them. Ruth looked over at her grandson sympathetically, realizing a thunderstorm was about to arise within her dining room. "Same damn thing," Dixon said dryly. "Actually, England's about twelve-thousand miles from New Zealand, Dixon," Logan corrected him again. "Hey!!" Beth exclaimed with a finger pointed at Logan condescendingly. "You will call him Uncle Dixon like you're supposed to! And you will show some respect for your elders, do you understand!?" Logan chuckled slightly and then rolled his eyes. "Tell you what, I'll show some respect for Dixon when he can pass a basic geography test," Logan said smartly. "Until then, the best I'll do is give him a gold star sticker if he can tell me what the capital of Oregon is." "Oh, he's a little shitfire, isn't he?" Gill asked sarcastically. "You better shut the fuck up, you little brat!" Dixon yelled at Logan. "I'm gonna come over there and wear your ass out, boy!" Beth yelled afterward. Logan crossed his arms and rolled his eyes again. "Dixon, get your belt out on him!" Beth demanded her husband. "Yeah, show that little fuckwad who's boss," Gill contributed. With that, Dixon stood up from his chair and began to unbuckle his belt. "Alright, that's enough!" Ruth yelled as she quickly stood up from her chair and banged her hands down on the wooden surface of the table. Dixon stopped unfastening his belt and stood staring at Ruth from the other side of the table. Ruth looked pissed off now. None of them had ever seen Ruth react so strongly to something like this. "That's it, lunch is over!" Ruth said angrily. "Beth, collect your husband and your son and get out of here!" "Excuse me!?" Beth exclaimed. "You're kicking us out? That little bastard's the one who started this shit in the first place!" "No he was not!" Ruth yelled. "You and yours came popping in here ignoring him and acting like he wasn't even here! You would've started something no matter what!" "Oh, get off it, Mom!' Beth yelled back. "You're just pissed off because we'd dare say something bad about Richard's precious little fucking brat!" "Get out of my house, now!" Ruth said, pointing towards the door. "Get out!!" Beth, Gill, and Dixon stood up from their chairs, making sure to slam the chairs into the table as hard as they could, just like the mature people they were. The three of them stomped out of the kitchen towards the front door. Ruth followed them angrily. Once they were outside, Ruth yelled something through the screen door to them. "And here's another thing!' Ruth said loudly. "Until you couple of forty year olds can prove you're more mature than an eleven year old boy, you are not welcome in this house!" "Don't you worry, Mother!" Beth said. "We won't be back as long as that fucking lowlife little shit is still here!" Without another word said, Beth and Dixon got into their car and drove off. By this time, Logan had walked up to the front door and stood next to Ruth. Logan caught a glance of Gill as he sat down on the seat of his motorcycle. Gill met Logan's stare. Gill gave that same evil smile he had given earlier, which disturbed Logan on a level he wasn't familiar with. With that, Gill started his motorcycle and drove off, leaving Ruth and Logan standing at the door alone. Once the three family members were out of sight down Henderson Road, Ruth turned around and hugged her young grandson tightly. Logan could tell she was on the verge of tears now. Logan wrapped his arms around his grandmother lovingly, trying hard to calm her down. She was obviously very shaken up now about what had just happened. "I am so sorry about this, my sweet boy," Ruth said as she hugged the boy. "I should have never let them come over here. I knew they wouldn't be able to handle it." "I love you, Grandma," Logan said simply as he hugged the woman tightly, knowing that was the best thing he could say at this point. "Oh, I love you too, baby," Ruth said. "More than you will ever know." With that, the hug ended. Sure enough, there were a few tears running down the woman's eyes. She wiped the tears away and sniffled. They stood in silence in the foyer for a few long seconds. Finally, Ruth smiled slightly at her young grandson. "Tell you what," Ruth started. "Let's finish my famous pot roast and then you and I can go out on the boat for a little while before church. Sound good to you?" "Sure, that sounds great," Logan said simply. Logan and Ruth walked back into the dining room together and finished their lunch in peace. Neither of them spoke during lunch. They didn't have to. They just simply enjoyed each other's company, the two of them and no one else. ---------------------------------- Later that evening, after the Sunday night church service, Logan went with Cody, Josh and Luke to get some ice cream at the local fast food restaurant. After they all bought their ice cream, they piled into Cody's truck -- Cody and Logan inside and Josh and Luke riding in the bed of the truck. Cody drove them down to the lakeshore, a little ways past downtown close to the turnoff of Henderson Road. The four boys sat on the tailgate facing the lake while eating their ice cream, all of them just talking and joking back and forth and just having a good time together. Logan had warmed up to Josh and Luke over the past few weeks. They were nice to him and treated him as just a part of the group now, even though he was a few years younger than them. They stayed at the lakeshore horsing around and talking for several hours. Finally at around ten o'clock at night, they decided it was time to call it a night. Cody drove Josh home first. Then he drove Luke home. Afterward, he headed back towards Logan's house to drop Logan off. When they arrived at the house, Logan could see that his grandmother's bedroom light was off, meaning that she had already gone to bed for the night. Logan and Cody sat together in silence inside the truck after Cody parked. The vivid sound of crickets chirping and singing was overwhelming. Logan was sure he could even hear the faint sound of an owl hooing off in the distance somewhere. "So, uh, you wanna come up to my room with me for a little bit?" Logan asked. "Not while you're grandmother's here," Cody said with a smirk. "She's asleep. She'll never know." "Still, it's pretty late already. I think we should just call it a night, okay?" "Okay, fair enough," Logan said with a grin. "I'll get to see you again in the morning anyway, right?" "You know it." "Cody, can I ask you something?" "What's your question?" "Well... do you... you ever think about... kissing me?" Logan asked nervously. "Every second of the day." "Really?" "Every single solitary second." "Oh. So... then why haven't you kissed me yet?" "Okay. My main reason for that is because I've been waiting for the right time. When we kiss for the first time, I want it to be because it's the perfect time... for both of us that is. Meaning, there's nothing else on this earth at that very moment that means more than for you and me to kiss." "Now that's beautiful." Logan just smiled at the older boy, feeling his heart tingle with a joy it hadn't known before. He was beginning to believe he was falling in love. "Well, I guess I better get inside," Logan said. "Yeah," Cody agreed. "Sleep well, my boy." "I will. I'll dream of you and I together." "Me too." Logan reached over and grasped the older boy's hand gently. They held each other's hands sweetly for a few seconds. Finally, Logan opened the door with his other hand, let go of Cody's hand, and then leaped out of the truck. They smiled at each other one more time and then Logan closed the passenger side door. Cody stayed still and waited for Logan to make it inside the house. Once Logan was inside and the front door was shut, Cody turned the truck's ignition over, and then drove off down Henderson Road. He made it home a few minutes later. When Cody arrived at his own house, he could see that all the lights in the house were already off. Everyone had already gone to bed. He got out of the truck and headed towards the front porch. Crickets were singing their nightly song in harmony, loudly enough on this particular night to drive Cody nuts. The moon was merely the shape of a fingernail high up in the sky. He noticed something hanging on the doorknob as he walked up the steps onto the front porch. It was a rolled up piece of paper hanging on the doorknob by means of a rubber band. Cody figured it was a random advertisement his mom had forgotten to throw away. He grabbed the piece of paper off the door and opened it up. A blank piece of paper with three words. It said: Cody, I know... Instinctively, Cody looked around him to see if anyone was watching him. He suddenly felt frightened. He knew the handwriting on the paper didn't belong to Darlene. So it had to be someone else. But who? And what did he/she/they know? He looked at the paper again. Nothing else was written. He glanced around him again. No one was around. He looked back down at the paper. The crickets were singing louder. Cody, I know... _____________________________ END OF CHAPTER SIX NEXT: Chapter Seven -- "Someone So Unforgettable, Part One" _____________________________ Preview of Chapter Seven: "Hey buddy," Richard said to his son from the other line. "I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I know it's on Sunday, but your grandmother said you're gonna be on the houseboat all weekend with Cody." "Yep, me and Cody will be getting on the boat here pretty soon actually," Logan said excitedly. "She said we could stay on the boat the whole weekend by ourselves." --------------------------- "This looks like a good spot, don't you think?" Cody asked. "With that little bit of land sticking out, I don't think anyone would think to look back here for anyone." "Yeah, it looks nice back here too," Logan said. "Plenty of swimming room and we're away from everyone and everything." "You like that, do you?" Cody said. "Oh, you bet I do. Just me and you here all weekend. No grandmothers, girlfriends, weird letters, or parents." "Well, it's your birthday weekend. We're here for the whole weekend now. What do you wanna do first?" --------------------------- Logan stepped down from the staircase and met Cody in the center of the living room -- now the dancing floor. They stood in front of each other, both of them smiling at one another brightly. "May I have the pleasure of dancing with most gorgeous boy in the room?" Cody asked romantically as he gently grasped Logan's hand, leaned down, and planted a kiss on the boy's forehand. The two of them danced slowly with one another to the song. The sky was lit up in vivid shades of golden, dark purples, bright pinks, and fiery reds. The waves of the lake were moving softly, almost in tune with the soft music that played. The breeze was moving lightly through the boys' hair as they danced. Cody looked deep into Logan's perfect blue eyes as they danced. That's why, darling, it's incredible, that someone so unforgettable thinks that I am unforgettable too... _____________________________