Memories
By ACFan
Portions contributed by Slash

Copyright 2003 by ACFan


Dedicated to the memory of Justin Case 1956-2003

We will all miss you Justin, but your kind words and support will never be forgotten. 04/13/2003


Authors note: I wish to express my extreme gratitude to slash for his numerous contributions to this story -- they added the final touches to make this all come together. Also thanks to Art, BillW, and Jay for their assistance in editing, proofreading, and generally helping me out of a rut occasionally.Thanks to "Z", Karla, and the rest of the Library members for your support when I started this.
A HUGE thanks to Comicality for his support of all of us aspiring writers!



This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHT 2003 BY ACFAN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISTRIBUTION FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, POSTING ON SITES WHICH REQUIRE PAYMENT TO ACCESS THE SITE, DISTRIBUTION IN BOOK FORM (EITHER AS A WHOLE OR PART OF A COMPILATION) FOR A FEE, OR DISTRIBUTION ON CD,DVD,OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC MEDIA FOR A FEE, IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE AUTHORS WRITTEN CONSENT

Send comments and suggestions (flames ignored) to:AC Fan


Part I:The Gathering
Chapter Five

Hey all, this is Mike, you know, the dead guy? Hehehehe. Bet you thought I was out of this, didn't you? Actually, I thought before this chapter started I'd fill you in on some things. You see, up here we have the opportunity to have you people down there write our life experiences or those of our families for us. Well, as soon as I moved up here, I started watching over my brothers -- I was watching when they found out at the mall what happened -- and have been there every second since then. (It's cool not having to sleep -- you ever try to keep up with 2 teenagers? -- If I wasn't already dead it would kill me!) *giggle* Honestly, I love both of them very much and do whatever I can from up here to protect them.

Anyways, I was looking for someone to write this out for me, at first I wanted a guy named Comicality to do it, but he literally has a line stretching to Eternity of people waiting for him to write their stories -- it's a wonder the poor guy ever gets any sleep! I was hanging with a few of the guys here (the boys were actually sleeping for a change) when Bob made a suggestion. (You might have heard of him -- Robert Heinlein) He suggested checking out someone who had just joined the Shack -- even though the guy had never written anything, he was destined to write a few stories. I flipped on the connection and looked at whom he was talking about. (Its great up here -- our internet connection speed is measured in TB/sec!) This guy had just posted a part of his past, and I immediately saw he was the perfect match. He went by the handle of acfan -- so I started the process that allowed me to kick-start him with a dream.

Considering whom acfan is in real life, I thought it was ironic that he would write this -- and NO, I'm not telling who he is -- you have to read more chapters to find that out! The only bad part is he couldn't write a poem even with me giving him the words -- so I had to arrange for slash to do them for him -- which is double irony! (And I'm STILL not telling why it's ironic or who they are!)

Anyway, I better stop rambling here -- there's still more to tell -- so in this chapter I'm gonna have AC tell you some things bout Dan Richardson, Cory's shrink. He figures into this more than you might think -- so pay attention! I know that you want to find out what happens when Cory shows the poem to Mom -- but I'm gonna make you wait! (Hehehe, I can be sooooooo cruel sometimes!)

Later --and remember, we are watching over you! Mike

Hey, this is Dan, I heard y'all wanted to hear a little bit more about me - I have no idea why though! You already heard about the fiasco at the home - I thought I was calling in a few favors and ended up with them owing me more! I'm kind of glad it worked out in the long run; Cory was not the only kid being damaged by that place, if it wasn't for his roommate Mark he would have lost it quick. Fortunately I have friends in the court system, so when Teri went up to see Judge Lewis he immediately assigned me to Cory's case as soon as he saw what was happening.

Now for a little about myself - I'm a happily married bi- man. I finally figured it out about 5 years ago, but I am already committed to my wife and son; and have let both of them know the truth. Sharon actually told me she suspected it shortly after we were married, but our love for each other has overcome any misgivings she had. The ironic part is that my son, JJ, has come out to me - and it appears that he is fully gay. At 12 years old we have told him there is still a possibility he might be bi, but the three of us are sticking together to help him through no matter how his genes are programmed. Oops - I was telling you about me, wasn't I? I'm 38, skinny as a rail, thin face with a nose I think is WAY too large, supposedly deep brown eyes, naturally curly brown hair, and according to everyone else I have a cute butt! At six foot tall and 150 pounds I don't see how, but anyway...

Well - we hung around Terri's place until we were sure that Cory was going to be OK after the fiasco at the home. It wasn't two minutes from the time I left the driveway that my cell phone went nuts. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Judge Lewis. The first thought that came to mind was "Oh shit, Social Services want's Cory!" I answered it expecting the worst, but what I heard shocked me.

"Dan," Judge Lewis started, "Pick up Sharon and JJ and get your butts down to the courthouse ASAP!"

"Sharon, JJ ... Why? What's happe...?"

Judge Lewis cut me off. "You know that 8 year old, so-called 'angel', that you were asking me to look into you adopting? He has two of my officers hopping on one leg and two others singing soprano right now - so get your ASSES DOWN HERE before I lose any more men!" He paused for a quick breath then said; "And IGNORE the FUCKING speed limit - JUST GET HERE!"

I was in shock - I had NEVER heard him use language like that! Before I had a chance to respond, he hung up. I called home and told Sharon to wake up JJ and be ready to go, then opened up the throttle on my Camaro and proceeded to fly low. I slid into the driveway to see an obviously confused wife and equally irritated 12 year old boy standing on the porch. I waved them into the car, and started explaining to them as I flew downtown.

"It appears that Kyle is having 'issues' with some of Urbandale's finest at the courthouse. According to Judge Lewis, two officers must have got kicked in the knee, and as he put it two others are singing soprano."

At that moment I heard barely suppressed giggles coming from the back seat. "He kicked them in the nuts, huh Dad - hehehe." Said JJ.

"I'm glad to see you're listening" I replied. "Because you are probably the only person who can calm the little shit down."

"Why is he at the courthouse?" asked Sharon.

"Well," I replied, "by the time we were done at the home tonight it ended up being shut down by the State Police!"

They both fell silent, and I knew that if they didn't find out at the courthouse what happened I would be explaining it over breakfast in the morning - I guess we will miss church again tomorrow.

An explanation is in order about Kyle; I know you are wondering how this all fits together. You see, last winter his mom was killed in an auto accident when a truck hit an ice patch on I-80. His father was a total prick and had his parental rights terminated a year ago, and there was nobody left to take care of him, so he ended up at the home. Social Services called me in because he had MAJOR problems, and after I first met with him I knew that normal therapy would not work. I brought him home over the weekend to see if maybe having another kid to talk to in a neutral environment would help - and got the shock of my life. Kyle immediately hit it off with JJ - within a couple hours they were inseperatable. We started alternating weekends - one he would come to my place, next JJ would visit him at the home on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, they would not allow JJ to sleep over or Kyle to come over every weekend, and I did not want to push my luck forcing them to - not with working with Cory at the same time. So a couple of months ago I asked Judge Lewis to look into the legality of us adopting Kyle - by that time JJ had convinced him that he could trust me. (Which put me on his short list of adult males he trusted - I was the only entry on the list.)

There was only one other person that Kyle would have anything to do with at the home, and that was Cory. For the last couple of months they had taken to sharing their appointment times - so it became a double appointment group session instead of two one-on-one sessions. It seemed to do both of them good - they helped support each other, and would yield to whichever had the most pressing thing to discuss.

As we pulled up to the courthouse, I saw an officer waving me into the "police only" spot in front of the door. "Damn," I thought, "he must have REALLY gone off the deep end!"

We walked in to find an officer blocking access to the courtroom, and could just hear the sound of Kyle mouthing off to someone inside. "OK, JJ - you go first." I said.

"Thanks Dad - nice to know that you still need me to deal with your problems!" he replied with a sarcastic grin.

JJ opened the door. "KYLE CALVIN HODGES! ZIP THAT LIP AND PLANT YOUR BUTT ON THE GROUND ... NOW!!!!" he yelled.

We followed him in the door, and I swear even the termites were frozen in shock! Kyle was sitting on the floor with a look of absolute amazement on his face - he had never seen JJ reprimand him for anything, so he knew he had really screwed up. Judge Lewis was sitting there open-mouthed, since he had never seen a display like that from JJ either!

JJ walked over to Kyle - as he walked up Kyle looked down at the floor and started crying. JJ kneeled in front of him and gently put his fingers under Kyle's chin, lifting up until they were looking eye-to-eye. "Hey little buddy - sorry I yelled, but you were so wild it was the only way to get through to you. I got outta bed and hurried over here for you, you think we can sit down and let my Dad and the judge figure out what's goin on?"

Kyle nodded his head, and then after JJ stood up he jumped up and wrapped his arms around JJ. Somehow (I still haven't figured out how) JJ carried Kyle to the witness chair and sat down with Kyle cuddling up on his lap.

Judge Lewis started shaking his head in disbelief, and then waved toward Sharon and I. "Could you two please join me in my chambers - we have some urgent things to discuss. Boys, will you be OK out here by yourselves?"

Both boys nodded, so we headed into the chambers. "Dan, Sharon ..." Judge Lewis started, "we have an urgent problem ..."