Simon's Journal

Volume IV

Thirteen Summer Days
A New Beginning

Written by Danny

Chapter – 11

Monday

"Good, now run! The enemy is coming! Run! Don't go out in the street! Go toward the building! SIMON! GO TOWARD THE BUILDING!"

"Shut up! You are totally distracting me!" I growled.

BJ chanted with excitement, "You're gonna get shot! You're gonna get shot!"

"I'm trying!" I whimpered.

"You're gonna get shot!!!!" he sang out again.

I frothed, "SHUT UP! I'm not going to get shot!"

"Yeah right!" he caroled.

"My high score is better than yours!" I bragged.

"Shoot that guy!"

"What guy?" I asked.

BJ howled, "The one up there!"

"Which way is up?" I asked.

"Oh dear lord help me! Up is up you bonehead!" BJ seethed.

"I got him!" I hailed and then added, "And don't think for a second that I didn't hear you praying just then."

I could tell he was trying to hide his laughter from me.

"Did you also hear me call you a bonehead?"

"Shut up!"

"There is another! Look out he's going to shoot you!" BJ bellowed.

I spun around but couldn't see, "Where! I..."

"Ah you got shot!" BJ announced.

"That's `cause you kept yelling at me!" I defended.

My avatar fell to the ground as the enemy ran up and fired again to finish me off.

"Ah, you died!" BJ said sorrowfully.

"Aaaah! I'm dead!" I mourned.

"That was a good game! Wanna play another?" BJ asked.

"Nah! I think I am good to sleep again. Besides, I'm being too loud. I don't want to wake up mom and dad." I said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure I don't want to wake them." I joked.

"OH MY GOD!" BJ cried out.

I laughed, "Yeah, I am good. I stopped shaking and everything; so I think I can get some rest now. And BJ? Thanks for staying up with me."

"No problem. That's what best friends are for!" BJ said with a yawn.

"Get some rest and I'll see you in a few hours!" I said.

"You too buddy! Signing off!" BJ said and with a BLIP he had left the online game.

I pulled off my computer headset, set it on the keyboard, and clicked off the computer screen without shutting off the computer or the running programs before making my way back to bed.

I had slept that entire evening and through the night; but about 2AM I had awoke again though this time I was soaking wet from sweat and shaking like a chiwawa. My heart was beating so frantically that I honestly thought I was dying. Part of me wanted to cry out for mom and dad, but I knew they were so very tired too. It took some doing but I got out of bed, pulled off my wet cloth diaper and then slipped into a pair of GoodNites.

I remember thinking how thin they felt. I have to remember to tell mom to stop buying the thin GoodNites. I'd much rather have those European style Pull-Ups that Jamie wears. They are thicker, hold loads more pee, and don't leak nearly as much as GoodNites do.

I sat down at my desk and turned on the computer. As I waited for it to boot up I thought about possibly calling Brother Vincent at `The Ranch' again, but didn't want to wake him up in the middle of the night again. I am sure he wouldn't have cared, but I cared.

Thankfully, when I signed onto Instant Messenger BJ was still online. I fired off a quick message to him. He had been about to log out and go to bed when he saw me come online. I shared with him how I was feeling and he offered to stay on with me as long as I needed.

We talked for a few minutes, but then decided we both wanted to play an online Multiplayer war game. The nice thing about it is, once you join the game you can talk back and forth to each other without having to type. I plugged a set of ear phones with a microphone into the computer and the two of us ran around shooting bad guys for well over an hour.

After our game and after going back to bed I slept just fine and didn't wake again until after five in the morning. Thankfully, dad was up already and was able to change my very wet and messy diaper for me. As he begun to change me, I remembered that when I went to sleep, I had been in a slightly damp GoodNite, and now I was in a double thick cloth diaper with plastic pants.

"How'd you sleep last night?" he asked.

I answered him with, "Bad and good."

"Oh?" he hummed questioningly.

"I woke up feeling bad again, but luckily I was able to find BJ online and he stayed up with me. He got me feeling better and we also played a computer game."

"Yes, your mother and I could hear you." He confessed.

"You could? Sorry, I didn't mean to... I mean, I didn't want to wake you up again." I told him and then I had a thought.

"You can wake us anytime you need us." He told me.

"Am I in trouble for being on the computer without asking again?"

"I think we'll let it slide. After all, you've been getting on it quite a bit without asking." He said.

"Uh...uh...uh" I couldn't think of a single thing to say back to him.

Dad chuckled.

Dear God I am glad he chuckled.

He lifted up my right leg to clean my bottom as he said, "See, your old man doesn't miss everything now does he? Even checked up on you after you had gone back to bed. It was a good thing too because you had nearly flooded that GoodNite."

Well that answered the question as to what happened to the GoodNite and how I ended up in diapers again.

Trying to change the subject... I mean trying to get myself out of hot water, I asked, "When is BJ and his father coming?"

Dad made a funny little sound in the back of his throat which told me he hadn't missed my attempt to steer his mind away from my miss deeds.

"I just spoke with his father not more than ten minutes before you came out of your room." He said while lowering my right leg and lifting my left. "They would like to get an early start, but they did not want to wake you too early. I imagine they will be glad to hear you are up already."

"Can I call them?" I asked.

"How about, you let me finish up here first?" he teased.

As he worked he mumbled, "Probably would have been easier just to toss you in the shower or take you out back and hose you off."

"You say that all the time." I laughed.

"Yeah I guess I do."

"And I've said this before and I'll say it again. Someone needs to invent a self-cleaning diaper!" I declared.

"I'd give a year's pay for that!" Dad said and I wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Speaking of diapers." I started to say, "I think I pee too much for GoodNites. They don't hold near enough."

"It's funny that you should bring that up. I was thinking the same thing last night." Dad said and before I could say something else he said, "Those fancy foreign pants your brother has been wearing seem to be much better."

I chuckled, "Yeah exactly! That's what I want! Plus if you guys are not around I can change myself and not have to worry about leaking on the furniture."

"Good point!" he said, "I'll talk with Marsha to find out where she is getting them for Jamie. Would you like plain white? Or with some design like your GoodNites has?"

"I don't think Jamie's kind come anyway other than white." I said.

"Are you sure? I thought I saw him wearing some that looked like real underwear with a fake Y-front."

"He did?" I asked and tried to remember if I'd seen him wearing something like that when I was over there the other day.

A couple minutes later dad declared my rump and privates clean. Unlike yesterday, this time he did not give me a choice in plastic pants. I was first, creamed, powdered, taped into a disposable diaper, before he snapped on a pair of plastic pants and before letting me get up he slid a pair of board shorts over those. Once I was sitting up, he pulled a white t-shirt over my head so fast I didn't have a chance to lift my arms.

"Dad!" I moaned with my arms trapped inside my shirt.

He simply laughed, grabbed my nose and gave it a twist.

"HEY! That's attached!" I complained.

Right then mom poked her head into my room to announce that BJ was on the phone. "If you are finished getting dressed, you have a phone call from someone calling himself B.J. Do you know anyone by those initials?"

With no shoes on yet I slipped out of my room, pausing to give mom a quick peck on the cheek, and to worm my arms up into the sleeves. I then went right to the phone.

"Dang it took you long enough." BJ sang out before I could say anything.

"Morning Greeny!" I teased `cause I knew he really hated when I called him that.

"So did you sleep after our game?" he asked.

"Yep, didn't have a single dream or nightmare or nothing. Just good solid sleep!" I shared with a powerful sigh.

"Hmmm, maybe we need to play right before you sleep from now on. Maybe you won't have any more bad dreams." He suggested.

"Hey, I'd be willing to try it if it meant no more nightmares!" I said.

"You had another nightmare?" Mom asked from behind me.

Dad walked in right behind mom, kissed her and said, "Already talked with him about it. He's fine!" and then raising his voice to be sure BJ could hear him over the phone line, "That tall, weird kid who is always hanging around here helped him work through it."

"Who's he calling weird?" BJ cried out so loud that he made my ear begin to buzz.

I laughed, "Hey, so when you and your dad picking me up?"

"Soon as you are ready! We already have the truck loaded, just waiting on you." He said.

"I have to eat breakfast." I said, "And brush my teeth and do my devotions."

"Brush your teeth, but don't eat. We have Breakfast covered!" he announced, "Can you do your devotions in the truck?"

"Uh, Okay. If you say so!" I said to the breakfast comment, "And I guess I can do devotions in the truck. I'm sure God can hear me pray even going sixty miles an hour."

BJ must have pulled the phone from his mouth because he suddenly sounded very far away, "Simon's up and nearly ready."

In the back ground I could hear his father but could not make out what he was saying.

"We'll be there in less than ten minutes." BJ said all excited.

"I'll be ready." I declared.

"Should I bring anything other than me?" I asked.

"All of your stuff is packed and sitting by the front door." Mom said.

"Oh, never mind. Mom already packed my stuff." I told BJ.

"Okay we are leaving. See you in a minute." BJ said, now very excited.

As soon as I hung up the phone with BJ I made the call to the probation department to inform them that I was leaving the house. Boy was I surprised when the person who answered already knew where I was going, how long I would be gone and even said that she hopes I have a good time.

I got a second surprise when BJ and his father pulled up out front and both BJ and Lowell were sitting in the back of a pickup truck. In the cab were BJ's father, Mr. Otteranski a.k.a. Dad #2, and Reverend Vandoan.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, I sure do have a lot of dads... There is my dad, Simon Sr., then there is BJ's father who is like a substitute Dad, and of course my biological dad, Ian. Oh and I guess it could be argued that with the way he treats me, Reverend Vandoan is like a fourth dad. I wouldn't say Tom is a dad-like-figure. He's more like the weird uncle no one admits they really have. I suppose the same logic can be applied to moms; as I seem to have a lot of those too.

Our parents talked while we boys tossed my stuff into the back of the truck. Lowell and my mom had gone back to my room to fetch me some footwear worthy of canoeing while BJ told me that a friend of his dad's loaned them the truck and the two aluminum canoes; which were on a trailer behind the truck.

"You're mom not coming?" I asked Lowell when he came jogging out with my shoes on his hands?

"Just three men and three babies!" BJ answered for him.

Before BJ knew it, I had punched him real hard in the arm. I hadn't held back at all and from the look on his face, he knew I'd put everything I had into the punch.

His eyes watered and he rubbed his arm while looking around to see if anyone other than we boys saw it. Thankfully none of the adults were paying attention right then.

"Dang Simon! I was only teasing." BJ moaned softly.

I smiled and said, "Me too. That's why I didn't hit you very hard."

Lowell, addressing BJ, said, "I told you he wouldn't think it was funny." And then addressing me he said, "He pulled the same joke with me. I told him not to do that to you."

"Dang it Simon, that really hurt!" BJ complained again.

"Want me to do the other arm so they match?" I asked BJ.

"Noo!" He whimpered and with lightning quick speed, reached out and gave me the worst Titty-Twister.

"Ah you dog!" I said while rubbing my now aching nipple.

"We are going to have the best time!" Lowell said while double fist pumping the air.

"Cool!" I said as I tossed my shoes into the bed.

I had climbed onto the back bumper about to climb in to put them on when from under a green canvas tarp popped Jamie with a loud, "SURPRISE!"

Had BJ not been right behind me, I would have fallen off the bumper and probably injured myself... AGAIN! As it was I fell backward and was caught like a baby in BJ's arms.

"JAMIE YOU LITTLE..." I shouted but I didn't finish it because I caught mom and dad both giving me the evil eye.

"You are coming too?" I asked after BJ set me down.

"Yep! Lowell begged mom until she finally said I could go."

"Crap dude you are heavy!" BJ groaned and played like he'd hurt his back when catching me.

Jamie then laughed, "BJ nearly gave it away!"

"I did?" He asked.

"Yes! You said "Just three men and three BABIES' you dorkasaurus!"

"Oooooh yeah you did say three babies!" I said to BJ and then punched his other arm.

"Hey! You already got me for calling you that!" BJ moaned and rubbed his arm.

"That was for almost blowing the surprise." I laughed and he glanced away for only a second so I popped him again right in the exact same spot. "And that's for not telling me Jamie was coming!"

"Wait, I get punched for telling you or for not telling you?" BJ said with this really funny, twisted sort of mouth action.

I then turned my attention back to my brother and asked, "What about your cast?"

Jamie held up his broken arm, "Got a new one made of some sort of plastic so I can get it wet!"

"Hey that looks like the same stuff my chest armor was made of." I said as I reached out to feel it.

"Oh yeah! Your right!" Lowell and Jamie said as one but neither tried to jinx the other.

I turned quickly and punched BJ in exact same bicep as I'd hit the two previous times.

He was hopping up and down and waving his arm like it was on fire. "Same spot! Same spot! Oh you got the same spot!"

"Meant too." I chuckled.

"Ah man! What was that one for?" he whined and began to rubbed his arm.

"For calling me fat!"

"I didn't say you are fat! I said you are heavy!" he then moved away as he mumbled, "Boy! Fat people are so sensitive."

I let that last comment go as I squealed, "This is going to be the best trip!"

I didn't care that I sounded like a giddy little girl. I was about to spend a couple days on the river with my two best friends and my bother! That is like the bestest time I can think of!

Now, if for some reason you are not me and you are reading this... STOP IT NOW! But if you don't stop and are concerned with the safety of four teenage guys riding in the back of an open pickup truck... well you should be! Riding in the bed of a truck is so incredible unsafe. However, the truck BJ's dad borrowed is completely safe! Not only does it have a bench seat going across the front of the bed with seatbelts, it also has a triple, steel tube, roll bar that is directly over the bench seat. So the four of us were completely, totally, and utterly safe!

As I was climbing into the truck BJ's father called out, "Give that walking, talking, accident his helmet now!"

BJ produced a strap-on helmet that looks sort of like a cross between a hard baseball helmet and a bicycling helmet.

"It's a kayaker's helmet!" BJ told me.

It was actually kind of cool looking and it fit perfectly without rubbing the sore spot on the back of my head in the least bit. I ended up putting it on right then and there and probably would have worn it the rest of the day had we not stopped for breakfast.

When it came time to get buckled in (after several hugs from both mom and dad), I discovered that the four of us didn't quite fit on the bench seat and there were only three seatbelts. So, since I am now the smallest, I ended up having to sit on BJ's lap. Oh sure one of us could have road up in the cab of the truck, but that wouldn't have been any fun! No, I was perfectly fine with being buckled onto BJ's lap. Actually, we kept playing like I was a wooden dummy and he was my ventriloquist. He would talk while I would move my mouth. Boy it was so funny!

I forgot about having personal devotions due to being with my friends but I am sure God understood. I also had completely forgotten about having breakfast until we pulled into the parking lot of the Rusty Chopstick restaurant which is located on the Kentucky side of Cincinnati and overlooks the Ohio River.

The Rusty Chopstick is this cool restaurant that is sort of like the International House of Pancakes but completely over the top with Asian themes. I know that sounds like a weird joining of two cultures but actually it works. Everything is decorated with Asian fantasy such as Dragons, Ninjas, Sumo Wrestlers, and Samurai Warriors. What I liked most was that the waiters and waitresses were all dressed in some sort cartoon and anime like Asian getup. Our waiter was a bit over weight but not too much; he wore a complete Ninja outfit, which included the head covering. Only his eyes and hands were uncovered.

Now let me tell you about the food! This is where things get weird. So we're in an Asian themed restaurant that mainly serves pancakes right? Well yes and no! You get pancakes but not on a plate in the traditional way... no that would be to... uh... traditional. They use the pancake like a taco shell and fill it with `breakfast' stuff.

I was completely lost when reading the menu which Jamie and I were sharing so I told our waiter that I wanted pancakes and sausage.

He recommended the Junior All American and for the sake of being easy I agreed to have that. Now I want you to remember that `cause I'll be back to it in a second.

BJ made a joke about since I was a Jr. that I was eating a junior meal.

After we ordered Lowell announced that he needed a change and I can attest to that as I was sitting right beside him and had heard it when it happened. I was the one to whisper to him, "You blow out your colon?" which had clued him in on the fact that he'd messed himself. How on earth he didn't know it himself is beyond my understanding. Then again, I do that a lot myself, so maybe he really didn't realize he'd pooped. Lowell's father was surprised to find that I was not in need of a change right then. As the other's all headed for the bathroom, I alone stayed at the table with BJ's old man.

He asked how I was doing and I told him that night times seemed to be the worst. I then shared with him how BJ stayed up with me last night playing video games. As soon as I told him that it occurred to me that I might have just got him in trouble.

Mr. Otteranski picked up on this and said, "Relax, his mother and I already know he stays up to all hours on that computer. As long as it isn't a school night, I don't see the harm. Plus it is nice on weekends because he sleeps so late and that means he LEAVES ME ALONE!"

He'd said that last part with this funny sounding exasperation that made me chuckle.

About this time a girl, I'd say she was fifteen walked past us. She was dressed very much like a skater with the baggy, tattered cargo shorts and faded Grateful Dead t-shirt. However it wasn't her choice of clothing that caught my eye; it was her hair. She wore it braided on both sides and the braids where so long they hung nearly too her elbows. And yet, the length wasn't what caught my attention either, it was the color. Or perhaps I should say COLORS as her hair was two-toned. The right side of her hair was fire engine red, while the left was snow white.

Our eyes met as she was passing our table and I found myself speaking before I knew I'd even had a thought, "I like your hair."

"Thanks!" she said with a sweet smile, "It's for our rally."

She then pointed across the busy restaurant to a large group of red and white haired teenagers.

"Sweeeet!" I sang out and she continued on past, bouncing with each step.

BJ's dad was eyeing the group a bit longer and I could reason that he was somehow flummoxed by it all.

"What?" I asked.

"It's the middle of summer. I'd understand that sort of school spirit during the school year, but the middle of summer?" He said in a joking manner.

I shrugged.

"I think there are a couple cans of spray paint in the truck, I could paint your hair if you like." He joked.

I shook my head and replied with, "Yeah, perhaps you shouldn't `think'. It's not really your strong suit!" which made him laugh.

I got the distinct impression that had I been closer, I probably would have got thumped for that comment.

We talked a bit more before BJ and Jamie returned without Lowell and his father.

"You should see the bathroom." Jamie exclaimed as they slid into their seats.

"The toilets don't look like toilets at all." BJ said.

"I've been in there." His father commented and then explained, "They are an Asian design. You don't sit, you squat."

"Oh I saw those online before." I said.

Jamie suddenly turned a brilliant shade of fuchsia instead of his normal sun kissed salmon.

"You sat down on it didn't you?" I asked while doing my best to hold back my laughter.

"Well I didn't know!" he said loudly and slumped in his chair as the three of us laughed at him.

"I bet more people than not have done the same thing here." BJ's dad said to Jamie.

BJ and his father continued talking about the toilet situation and while they were distracted Jamie leaned over and whispered to me.

"Don't get mad, but I need to ask you something and it is important." He said so soft that I almost didn't hear him.

"What?" I whispered back while trying to make it seem like we weren't trying to be secretive.

"I know you gave back the money, but what happened to the stash of the drug?" he asked.

Realizing why he was asking, I mean with recent events and all, it isn't a surprise that he would ask.

While shaking my head I set his mind at ease. "Not to worry, Fyer got rid of all that stuff. No one will ever have to suffer another drop of that vile stuff again!"

"What'd he do with it?" Jamie asked.

I started to question why he was asking and dropping any pretense of hiding our conversation I looked right at him and spoke in a normal voice.

"He didn't tell me and I didn't ask. He said it was gone forever and that's good enough for me."

Jamie held up his hands as though surrendering or to stop a charging rhinoceros.

"Take it easy! I was just making sure." He said defensively.

"What is gone forever?" BJ's father asked.

I came right out and told him exactly what we'd been talking about.

"Thank you God!" BJ exclaimed which made me laugh.

"There you go praying again!" I said which made him grimace.

"Yeah, we're totally wearing him down!" I thought to myself, "Before too much longer he's going to be getting saved too."

Lowell and his father came back right as our food was brought out.

Now remember I said that I'd get back to the food? Well here goes.

I had ordered the Junior All American, which was supposed to be pancakes and sausage. I even expected it to come in the form of a taco. That much I was cool with. What I got was so much more.

It went like this... a pancake about the size of my head, folded in half, filled with ground sausage, which was topped with hash browns, scrambled eggs and cheese. Now wait... I'm not done. I didn't get one but three of those. They came with four small bowls of dipping syrups; a small bowl of fruit, a small bowl of yogurt, and a small bowl of granola. And my meal was the smallest of the lot.

"Are we clearing out the walk in cooler?" Reverend Vandoan joked with our waiter.

BJ's father jumped in with, "I did tell you that they feed you well here!"

Poor Lowell and Jamie! They were both lost behind their own mountains of food, the likes of which could have fed a small country for a month.

"Kill me now!" I moaned as I leaned back in my chair and looked at my now EMPTY plates and bowls.

"I can't believe you ate all that!" Jamie asserted.

"I will never eat again!" Lowell whimpered.

I added, "Well I didn't have nearly as much as they brought you guys."

"You guys are nuts!" BJ said cheerfully, "You going to finish that?" he asked Lowell's father while pointing to an untouched breakfast taco.

"By all means! Have at it!" Reverend Vandoan said as he passed it to BJ.

"I thought you didn't eat stuff like this anymore?" I asked BJ.

Mr. Otteranski laughed, "Yeah son, tell him why you changed your mind."

There was something in those words that sounded like an interesting story but one look at BJ and I could see that he was firing daggers at his dad. That only made Mr. Otteranski laugh all the more.

"Daddy do I have to finish?" Lowell pleaded.

"Of course not!" his father said, "don't make yourself sick.

"Now you tell me!" I groaned while rubbing my bloated tummy.

With a stuffed mouth BJ said with a normal volume, "Glad I don't have to worry about changing none of your poopy diapers."

Our entire party went quiet as we sat stunned, staring at BJ. None of us could believe he'd just said that. Personally, I was thinking of dozens of ways to make him suffer in the worst ways.

Jamie was the one to break up the silence. He slammed a hand on the table which caused everything on the table to jump and rattle. He then blasted out the loudest laugh I have ever heard come out of him. His laughter instantly became infectious as we all began to laugh just as hard as Jamie was; well all of us except for BJ who seemed completely lost. Actually his puzzled expression only made us laugh all the harder.

About then our waiter came back and it took a moment for the lot of us to stop laughing enough to actually carry on a conversation with him.

Our Ninja waiter, stood there patently with a smile and I am sure he wondered what on earth could be so funny.

Once our laugher came to a slight roar our waiter announced, "Your second course will be out momentarily."

All laughter ended abruptly, replaced instead with our collective groan. Thankfully our waiter was only teasing us. He then shared with us that our bill had been paid in full and the tip had been taken care of as well.

"Are you serious?!" BJ's father asked with utter amazement.

Right then this ear piercing squeal came from my brother as he launched himself from his chair and was a good ten to twelve feet from our table before he touched the floor again. That is when Lowell and I saw where Jamie was heading—or should I say to whom he was heading for. Sitting all the way in the back of the restaurant, near the kitchen doors was none other than...

"Poppy!" I cried out and started to get up too but BJ's Father had caught hold of me. It was good that he had stopped me, because I was a fraction of a second from once again disobeying the Judge and my Probation Officer's orders not to have any contact with anyone from the Banachelli.

He'd tried to catch Lowell too but I was almost more than he could handle.

BJ's dad wrestled me down into his lap and I was forced to watch from a distance. By the time Reverend Vandoan and Lowell made it to the back of the restaurant, Jamie and Poppy where already in a full embrace. The two of them were hugging each other, bouncing in unison and turning in circles. As I lay here writing this now and replaying the scene in my mind's eye, it is actually kind of funny and also moving at the same time.

 The restaurant had gone deathly quiet as every single person, diner and worker alike, watched our little spectacle.

BJ's dad let me get to my feet again but he didn't let go of me as he stood up too. He began to walk me slowly toward the back of the restaurant and toward Poppy and the others.

However, I resisted now. In those few seconds in which he had detained me I had time to second guess my actions and now knew I shouldn't go near Poppy. Tilting my head back so that I could see BJ's dad I told him, "He's from my ship – I'm not allowed."

He smiled and made a witty gargling sound from his esophagus which reminded me of how the Star Wars bad guy, Jabba the Hutt, sounded when Princess Leia was strangling him with the very chain that bound her. BJ's father, still a bit croaky, then spoke, "Lord knows what sort of trouble you will get into if I left you sitting at this table alone. Now, I am going over there; so I guess you have no choice but to come along with me!"

He gave me a compelling knee to the backside to get me moving forward again; and when I say `compelling' I mean that even through my diaper I felt his resolve. While keeping both hands firmly attached to my trapezius muscles we made our way to the back of the restaurant. And in case you don't know what the trapezius muscles are, they are the same muscles that Spock pinches to incapacitate his adversaries.

At the back of the restaurant, what commenced was first pandemonium as the four of us hugged and carried on while Reverend Vandoan tried to figure out what the heck was happening.

"Th-this here is Poppy!" Lowell said through his happy tears.

Of all the boys that had come back with us, Poppy was the one that I had little to no idea how he was doing. Oh there were occasional stories passed down to us, but this was the very first time we had seen him.

"He came back with us!" Jamie said in a tone that reminded me of the energy of a High School Cheerleader.

And like that it became clear that everyone in the restaurant knew who we were the entire time we had been there because when Jamie said that there was a combined sound of understanding from everyone in the place as they broke into applause.

I don't know how I hadn't noticed it before then, how people had been trying to steal glances toward our table. Or how an unusual number of people had kept walking past our table from the moment we arrived. I'm sure they recognized my scarred face first and then spotted my brother and Lowell and made the connection. Though Lowell and Jamie's faces hadn't been plastered on the news as much as mine, it was enough to have them picked out of a crowd when I was nearby.

Once Reverend Vandoan realized just what was going on, he seemed to relax a lot. Actually he seemed like he was getting caught up in the emotions too.

The owner of the Rusty Chopstick had appeared and offered to move us all to the party room, which wasn't in use just then. That was good `cause we were really disrupting their business.

As we were moving toward the party room Lowell was being a dork, but he was funny too. He was waving his hands as though magically hypnotizing everyone while repeatedly chanting, "Enjoy your meals! Nothing to see here!"

We got to meet Poppy's parents and his grandparents who were up from Florida for the summer. They were the sweetest and had been the ones who'd paid for our breakfast. They had tried to remain anonymous but my dear brother had thwarted that plan.

"I can't b'lieve y'all came `ere?!" Poppy exclaimed with big round cheerful eyes.

"Poppy, I've missed you so much!" I told him.

We visited and learned that Poppy and his family had moved down to south west Kentucky to live with his Grand Parents. The move was also to escape the media. They were up in Cincinnati for the day to go to the Newport Aquarium.

Poppy said he had spotted us the second we walked in, but knowing how hard it is to hide from the media his parents and Grand Parents told him not to draw any attention to us.

About fifteen or twenty minutes of visiting and the owner again came to us, but this time it was to warn us.

In broken English he had told us, "Am fraid word get out! Is news out front!"

"Not to worry!" Reverend Vandoan said as he swiftly retrieved his cell phone from his shirt pocket and stepped away from us.

It was a quick call `cause less than a minute later he was saying something to the restaurant owner, however I couldn't hear what he said. The owner looked surprised and made a quick exit from the party room.

We had just enough time to start talking and saying our goodbyes when the owner returned looking utterly bewildered.

"They are leaving!" he exclaimed with surprise.

Everyone was looking to Lowell's father for an explanation.

With a smile that hid a million secrets he said, "Friends in high places!" while pointing to his cell phone.

"You called Tom didn't you?" Jamie said a little too loudly and maybe with a wee bit too much accusational tone to it.

Reverend Vandoan pretended to throttle my little brother the way Homer Simpson does Bart.

Poppy's parents then shared with us that Tom had been keeping contact with them and would personally check up on Poppy every couple weeks.

This was news to me and to be completely honest, it sort of shocked me. However that shock was nothing compared to the shock I got when they told us that Tom has been keeping an eye on each and every one of the boys that had returned with me from the Banachelli. To say that I found this news very interesting and thought provoking would be an incredible understatement.

With a little more visiting and difficult goodbyes we were finally ready to leave. The owner had returned and gave us all our left over foods in doggy boxes and bags.

He then said, "Next time you come you call first! I set you up in here where you get lots of privacy."

Mr. Otteranski and Poppy's father both went out first to pull the vehicles around to the front so we could all go right from the party room with as little chance of any other public interactions.

However on the way out one person stopped me. Have you ever met someone's gaze and knew in an instant that they were completely good to the core? I experienced that with this very old Asian lady who extended a trembling hand. She wasn't much taller than myself and couldn't have weighed more than 60 or 70 pounds at the most. I took her hand and she simply leaned forward and gave me a kiss on my scar. It was a really neat moment between two strangers and a moment I don't think I will ever forget.

There was a bit of a delay as more goodbyes were made while piling into the back of the pickup and getting buckled in. Both cars pulled out of the parking lot and were stopped at a red light, with Poppy and his family behind us with another car between us.

Suddenly Poppy stuck his head out the sunroof of their car and called out; "See ya tomorrow!" except none of us could hear him over the traffic.

It wouldn't be until the next day that I found out that he'd said what he said.

Back on the road again we had about thirty-five minutes to kill before we reached the area where we'd put the boats in the water. During that time we four boys entertained ourselves by talking. It started out the three of us were telling BJ about Poppy and regaling him with some of Poppy's finest moments back on the Banachelli. I haven't a clue how we got from that to the subject of me and Mary. I will say this much, it is a conversation I wish had never occurred. Why? Because it broke Lowell's heart!

"You really kissed her?" BJ asked.

"Well, she is my girlfriend." I said trying to seem cool.

"Girlfriend? Since when?" Lowell asked and I could sense he was upset, but I hadn't yet realized why or to what degree.

"Yeah, I even said so right before we kissed." I told him.

After that Lowell didn't make so much as a peep while the rest of us continued talking about Mary, girls, and stuff like that. BJ kind of got excited when he told us he was sort of going steady with Stephanie, Mary's cousin and Lowell's babysitter. The rest of the way Lowell sat over there quiet and sulking, but I didn't even realize it.

________________

Arriving at the bridge where we were going to drop into the river everything became busy-busy and I sort of didn't pay much attention to Lowell or notice that he was giving me the silent treatment. We unloaded the canoes, got our gear into them, and carried them down to the river. We had got the first canoe down on the river bank when these two guys I didn't know, showed up. They were younger than the dad type folks we boys had brought along; I'd say near twenties, and obviously stoners. Besides looking the part, you could smell the weed stench on them from a mile away. The smell was curling my nose hairs!

Jamie, BJ, and me carried the second canoe over our heads and down to the river. Well Jamie didn't really help with the canoe but he did carry down two paddles and three of the life vests. When we came up the stoners were gone and so was our truck and trailer.

"They stole the truck?" I asked loudly and emotionally.

Reverend Vandoan and Mr. Otteranski laughed at me.

"Of course not!" BJ said, making it sound like he had said, "Don't be so stupid!"

BJ's father clued me in, "Brad and Bry will meet us down river tomorrow."

"Oh!" I said, feeling dumb. Of course we weren't going leave the truck and trailer on some bridge in the middle of nowhere.

"Anyone need a change before we get going?" Reverend Vandoan asked while drumming my helmet.

It didn't hurt but I still sang out with, "Owweeee!"

"Oh Simon!" he said and made like he was going to hug me, "I am so very sorry! I forgot!"

I put up a single hand to hug-block him, "Only kidding! Didn't hurt at all."

"Why you!" he said and pulled me toward him.

I thought he was going to hug me anyway but instead he reached over and around me to swat my padded backside.

THUMP! THUMP!

He gave me two swats and laughed as he said, "That'll learn you!"

"Oooooh he's needed that for ages!" Mr. Otteranski cheered.

"Hey! No fair!" I frowned and rubbed my backside.

Of course it hadn't hurt but it is like programed into a kid to automatically rub their bottom after a spanking.

"So anyone need changed?" he asked again.

Jamie piped up with pride, "My Pull-Up is bone-dry!"

I laughed to myself. I mean, Jamie has tried so hard to get re-potty trained and here he is back in a Pull-Up diaper. Maybe his mom, Marsha, gave him permission just for this trip. I honestly don't know and never thought to ask Jamie about it.

"I'm dry too!" Lowell announced with his back to us as he tried to load his arms with stuff to carry down to the river.

I then asked, "How long until our first stop?"

"Well, the river is flowing fairly swift; so I'd say we should make our lunch stop right about noon or perhaps a bit earlier." BJ's father said while looking at the mariners GPS which hung from a black and yellow cord around his neck. "So that gives us about five hours, give or take."

"In that case, I best have a change." I told Reverend Vandoan, "Don't think this one will last five hours."

"Where's your diaper bag?" he asked me.

Lowell was halfway down to the river. He'd taken my diaper bag so I had to run after him.

"Lowell? Hold up! You've got my diaper bag." I called after him.

He didn't say a single word to me. He stopped, turned, and swung the bag at me. I caught it out of the air and when I looked back, he was walking toward the river again.

"Thanks!" I said, spun around, and headed back up the hill toward the road.

We used the bridges concrete side rail as a makeshift diaper changing station. It was kind of scary but cool at the same time `cause basically all I had to do was roll to my left and I would have plunged more than a hundred feet into the river.

You might be asking yourself why we three diaper boys were not wearing Swim Diapers when we are around so much water. The simple answer to that is because Swim Diapers are not for keeping in fluids; they are for keeping in poo only. And since the whole idea of canoeing is to stay dry IN the boat, we were all clad in diapers. Well, not entirely. Jamie was wearing those Pull-Up diapers from Europe, but Lowell and I were in regular disposable diapers.

So there I was, a boy of my age, lying on what was basically a concrete wall while an older guy stripped me naked and proceeded to rub all over my bottom and boy parts with a small, thin baby-wipe. I can just imagine how that would look to anyone who happened to drive by at that opportune moment. And sure enough, right when he started to pull off my shorts, two cars passed by.

My face reddened.

Reverend Vandoan chuckled, "You can run around downtown all night with everything God gave you hanging out and it doesn't bother you at all, but getting changed on a bridge embarrasses you?"

I covered my face to hide my glowing cheeks and laughed.

While changing my wet diaper, Reverend Vandoan went from giggling, to laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"Did you pick out these pants?" he asked.

I moved my hands from my face to the back of my head and did an abdominal crunch so that I could see what he was talking about.

"Ponies?!" I exclaimed while looking at the all-white plastic pants that had prancing ponies in rainbow colors all over them.

"Sorry to tell you this, my boy, but those are not ponies; they are unicorns." Lowell's father pointed out.

I dropped myself back down, my helmet clunking against the concrete `cause my hands were once again covering my face.

"Well that's embarrassing." I moaned, "I'm going to get my dad for this!"

He tried to defend my father by saying, "I am sure he didn't do it out of spite."

From behind my hands I said, "OOOH yes he did! Why else did he insist on putting my shorts on me before I got up off the bed this morning? He never puts my pants on me while I am lying down. I am sure he did it on purpose!"

He was really laughing now as he said, "Well I have to admit, they sure look cute on you."

"UUUUUUGGGHHH! DON'T SAY THAT!" I whined quite loudly.

I then had a thought. I uncovered my eyes as though playing Peek-A-Boo.

"Hey! Weren't they Lowell's before?"

"I can honestly say that I have never seen this pair of plastic pants before. Besides, they look and feel brand new."

That meant mom or dad would have had to of bought them for me. What were they thinking?! I made a mental note to be sure to give them both an ear full when I got home.

The Reverend laughed and chuckled all through the changing while I lay there with my hands over my face. I couldn't look at him. Oh how I wish I had thought to ask him for a different pair `cause very soon I was in store for some serious teasing from the other guys.

Cleaned up, re-diapered, and my plastic pants snapped back on, Reverend Vandoan declared, "Wiped, frosted, dusted, and re-wrapped! You should be good to goooo."

The way he drug out that last word, I knew he was making a pee joke. I groaned which seemed to satisfy him.

I hopped off the concrete wall and took off for the river, leaving the Reverend to bring my diaper bag.

Having been down the embankment twice already, I felt some confidence and bound down recklessly toward the others.

Sadly, I hadn't heard Lowell's father call after me either.

When I skidded to a stop at the bottom of the hill, only feet from the water's edge all eyes were on me.

Everyone had on their life vests already and they were also all sporting helmets like the one I had been wearing much of the morning.

Jamie stared at me with massively wide eyes and flashed a smirk my way.

"What?" I asked as all those eyes on me were making me paranoid.

"Feeling a breeze?" Jamie asked.

"Huh?" I grunted and looked down.

Yep, you guessed it. I was standing there on the rocky shore in a t-shirt, Kayak helmet, socks and shoes, and my wonderful Unicorn plastic pants out there for all of them to see.

Reverend Vandoan came down the embankment waving my shorts and laughing.

"Hey speedy! You forgot your drawers!"

I suppose my proximity to the open water had somehow caused me to regress to my normal Banachelli attire but that didn't stop my head from filling with the entire supply of blood from my body.

I turned to Reverend Vandoan and looked at him desperately. He simply smiled and shrugged and tossed my shorts. I wanted to scream! But then I thought BJ was going to flip his top when both Jamie and Lowell also abandoned their shorts. With my two diaper buddies now dressed like me, I didn't feel as bad.

So there we were. Two adult men, one pimple faced teenager, and three diaper boys. Talk about your Kodak moments.

________________

While standing, watching the water flow swiftly past, I uttered something to the effect, "Who is going with who?"

Lowell quickly spoke up, "BJ and me with his dad and you guys in the other."

"Sounds good to me!" Reverend Vandoan said.

"Think there are sharks in there?" BJ asked.

"Dude it is the Ohio River! There are no sharks in rivers!" Jamie said with a bit of snottiness.

"Actually that's not true." BJ's father said in all seriousness, "Freshwater sharks are quite common in both the Ohio river and the Mississippi. And some salt water sharks have the ability to swim and survive in fresh waters as well."

"It's true, I've seem `em!" I said, which was the truth. I'd seen two sharks in the Mississippi from the deck of the Banachelli.

I was standing there a bit astounded. It had finally occurred to me that Lowell was acting distant when it came to me. But I didn't get a chance to speak with him about it `cause they were the first to get going. Lowell took the center with BJ at the bow and BJ's dad taking the rear position.

They started out kind of unsteady. Their boat was rocking back and forth and I could hear BJ's father call out, "Settle down! I really don't want to get wet!"

We watched them for half a minute before Reverend Vandoan said, "Okay, let's get this journey started!"

Jamie asked, "You want up front?"

"It's the bow and nah, you can have it! I'll take the middle." I said and then looked up to Reverend Vandoan, "I mean if you don't mind acting as our helmsmen?"

He scratched at the side of his head uncomfortably.

"Oh brother!" Jamie groaned and then asked the Reverend, "You've been in a boat before haven't you?"

"Of course I have! It's just that I'm not the best helmsman." Reverend Vandoan confessed.

"Not to worry! You'll do great and we want our biggest guy in the back anyway." I said and then added, "Just remember to stay low in the boat to keep our center mass low to the water."

I said that last part directly at Jamie who knew I was remembering the time he and I were in a row boat in the middle of the night heading back to the Banachelli. It had been very over cast so there were no stars and no moon to light our way. Jamie, in an effort to try to spot the ship had stood up. A fraction of a second later he was in the water. Thankfully I hadn't gone in, but I did lose one of the oars.

Jamie climbed into our canoe first while Reverend Vandoan and I pushed it off the bank and into the current. I climbed in next followed by the preacher man. We did that like we'd been boating together all our lives. None of us got so much as a shoelace wet.

"Jamie, you keep a weathered eye ahead and let me know if you see rocks, logs, or anything under the water that I need to avoid." Reverend Vandoan instructed.

Being the middle guy my job was basically to paddle and stay low. Beyond that, there wasn't much else for me to do.

We went a total of about an hour down the river before we had to stop, Lowell had soiled himself and he was making a big fuss about it.

But that isn't the notable part of our unplanned stop. We in the second canoe came around the bank to find those in the first canoe climbing from their boat. They had run their canoe up onto a small gravely beach, which was about four or five hundred feet up river from a huge, camouflaged structure that unless you knew what you were looking at, the average person would never even notice it was there.

However, despite its camouflage, three of us knew what it was, but the other three in our party didn't have a clue it was even there.

"Um..." I said, trying to think how to react or if I should even say anything.

"Something wrong Simon?" Reverend Vandoan asked as he directed our canoe toward the small beach.

"Yes, but first you have to promise not to kill Lowell."

"Why would I kill Lowell?"

I sighed hard and loud, "For the sake of honesty..." I trailed off as I second guessed whether to tell that we were about to pass the camouflaged Banachelli. At the same time I was also thinking about Lowell's poopy butt and wondered if he had once again soiled himself on purpose just so we could stop here.

Yep, that's right! I said the Banachelli! Apparently Fyer had it moved farther down river after I had effectively told Tom how to get to it a few days ago.

Jamie had dropped his head. It was almost like he was preparing himself for the coming storm. He knew I was about to tell the others about the huge hidden ship.

As the bottom of our boat bottomed out on the rocky beach I turned in the canoe enough to allow me to look the Reverend in the eyes. I then pointed down river and said, "Lowell probably made us stop here on purpose." I sighed again before saying, "You should know that my ship is right there."

Reverend Vandoan was at first rather confused but once he realized I wasn't pulling his leg he became very un-amused over it all. It took another ten or fifteen seconds before he was able to finally make out the hidden ship. What gave it away was the huge shadow that it cast over the river.

"I-I didn't realize it was so... so big!" he said and that was all he had to say about the ship.

He became so dejected by it that after changing his son, he made Jamie and Lowell swap boats. Boy Lowell was not happy about that at all.

Though I hadn't heard him do so, the Reverend must have told BJ's father about the Banachelli too because he couldn't stop staring downriver.

After a minute or so, BJ and Jamie wandered up river away from the Banachelli to take a leak. They hadn't gone far, only about twenty feet or more. I felt oddly proud of my little brother for being able to hold his pee. I know he and his mom have sure been working hard to get him re-potty trained. Then I thought that he was probably peeing so that he wouldn't end up wetting his Pull-Up sometime further down the river.

As we were about to set off again BJ's father finally exclaimed, "I don't get it! I mean, I see it, but I don't... Well, how the hell did they manage that?"

And by `manage that' he was meaning the inventive way Fyer came up with for hiding the ship in plain sight.

"Manage what?" BJ asked since he was now the only one that couldn't see the monster ship hiding there in plain sight.

"Never you mind and get in the boat!" BJ's father said.

However Jamie, who had taken the middle spot in their boat which I think he was glad as he was able to relax more, must have clued BJ in because I could read in BJ's eyes that he was finally seeing it too.

I moved up to the bow of our canoe because Lowell's father told him to sit in the middle. Lowell slunk down in the middle of it and sulked. He was not a happy boy at all.

"What am I supposed to do here?" Lowell asked.

Now, had we not already shoved off, I am sure his father would have given him a swat for that tone of his. He did however say in a very fatherly tone, "Just sit there. If we need someone to do something stupid again, we'll know where to find you."

I believe that was the first time I have ever heard something so harsh come out of Reverend Vandoan.

Ten minutes or so on down the river, with the Banachelli no longer in view; Reverend Vandoan must have cooled off for the most part.

He said to me, "Simon, thank you for being honest with me back there. I'm sure that was hard for you to do. And thank you for not trying to run back to that ship."

I laughed... I actually laughed out loud. I hadn't thought for a millisecond about fleeing to the safety of the ship.

"What's so funny?" Lowell snapped with a snivel to his voice.

It was clear he was still upset.

I confessed to everyone that I hadn't been thinking of running at all.

"Honest! It never crossed my mind at all. I just didn't want to get in trouble `cause the Judge and my Probation Officer said I am not supposed to be near it or have contact with any of them."

Lowell, still using the same tone added, "You were talking to Poppy! I thought you weren't supposed to do that either but you did!"

It was a very valid observation on his part. Technically by socializing with Poppy at the restaurant, I had disobeyed the judge's orders. But Mr. Otteranski had given me an excuse for that at the restaurant so I didn't really feel all that guilty about it.

I'll also add that right after Lowell said that last bit I heard a snap of fingers followed by Reverend Vandoan saying, "That is two and you don't want to get to three."

I knew he was addressing his son, but that tone made me feel like I was in trouble too.

Another half a minute passed followed by a loud throat clearing behind me. Reverend Vandoan then announced, "This is supposed to be fun Lowell, so I'm giving you a free pass. Just don't make me regret it alright?"

I had my back to them so I don't know if Lowell nodded or what. I do know he didn't say anything.

"Good! And Simon? Not to worry!" Reverend Vandoan said, "You are with an officially deputized officer of the court during this trip. And as so, I have the authority to say `Yay' or `Nay' in matters pertaining to you."

We had caught up to the others by this time and were almost neck and neck and less than ten feet apart. Which means they were close enough to hear what we'd been talking about.

"What's that mean?" BJ, Jamie, and I asked at once, which helped lighten the mood considerably as all three of us looked at each other with astonishment.

I turned enough to see as Reverend Vandoan laid his oar in his lap, placed a hand over his heart and raising a single index finger into the air. He then proclaimed with authority, "It means that as far as you are concerned, I am the decider of things to be decided and the okayer of things to be okay——ered!"

Dropping that pose and taking up his oar again `cause we were turning sideways toward the other canoe, he then looked down at me and said almost like they do on TV when they are blabbing the small print on medical drug commercials, "That is until I drop you back on door stoop. You might also keep in mind the words `Dead or Alive' were brought up."

"Sooo you are saying you are `THE MAN'?" BJ asked with a snorting laugh.

I sang out, "Look out boys! There's a new sheriff in town!"

The Rev hooked his thumb under his imaginary lapel and stuck his nose in the air, "Indeed I am!"

BJ's dad grumbled out, "Well, how about you decide to get us out of the way of that garbage barge coming up the river?"

"Simon! You are supposed to be watching for that stuff!" Reverend Vandoan expressed with what sounded like anger. Of course he was only teasing and I knew he was.

I turned back around and as though I was back on the Banachelli I bellowed out aloud, "GARBAGE SCOWL DEAD AHEAD MR. DECIDER!"

Jamie, thinking we were on a Star Ship and not a river, thundered out, "Raise shields! Evasive maneuvers Mr. Chekov! All hands brace for impact!"

Mr. Otteranski doing a very bad impersonation of Scotty from the original Star Trek said, "I'm give'n her all she's got, but it's just not enough captain!" and then splashed Jamie with his oar!

Jamie did start paddling for all he was worth but he didn't let the splashing go without comment.

"Captain we've been hit! We seem to be taking on some sort of wet, alien, space fluid!" he cried.

I was having trouble paddling and laughing at the same time but somehow managed.

"We're not going to make it!" Lowell cried and I was glad to see he was finally starting to have some fun again.

Of course, at no time were we in any danger, the dang barge was so far down river that we could have all taken a nap and still had plenty of time to get out of the way of that big vessel. But it was still fun to play.

Five of us paddled like mad to get from the far left side of the river to the far right side where we completely avoided both the barge and the much of the wake it made. Jamie paddled too as best he could which wasn't too bad really.

As the barge was passing us that is when we realized it wasn't `A' barge, but four and all were being pushed by a lone tugboat. The smell was bad, but not horrid. I think all of us were in awe at how big each barge was and how long it took for those four floating platforms to pass us. I could probably have walked faster than they were moving up river.

As we passed BJ cried out while holding his nose, "It smells like Simon's butt!"

"HEY! SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU SMELLED MY BUTT?" I shouted.

Everyone laughed.

Once past the barges and the wake we started to all relax a bit when Jamie again called, "Collision avoided Mr. Decider!"

"Jamie you are such a dork!" Lowell laughed.

There were a number of big boats and ships on the river. I have to say that while passing them, it is one thing to be on the deck of the Banachelli where one is several stories above the surface of the water verses being in a small, aluminum canoe. It makes one understand how the flea must feel on the back of a dog.

We had dropped into the water just North of Walnut Hills and everything, for the most part, was nice and lazy. Oh we were moving pretty fast with the current and making super good time. I'm not sure why time was an issue but Mr. Otteranski kept saying that; so apparently he had some sort of schedule in mind. Like I said, everything was calm and lazy, that is until we reached the point in the river where the Shawnee spills into the Ohio River.

The times I had been by this point while on the Banachelli, I had never experienced the turbulence that was caused by the merging of the two rivers. However, in a canoe... WOW!

So the Reverend, Lowell, and me were hugging the Ohio side of the river while Mr. Otteranski and the others were a good half a football field away from shore. Lowell, in the middle of our boat and Jamie in the middle of their boat, were both manning fishing poles in an attempt to catch lunch. Lowell wasn't having much luck and had only caught one smallish Walleye. However, my brother was like some sort of fisherman god. Every few minutes or so Jamie would sing out, "CAUGHT ANOTHER!"

Reverend Vandoan was just saying that we should head out to deeper waters when he suddenly went quiet.

As I called out, "Rough waters coming up!"

He too had seen it.

"That'll be the Shawnee." Mr. Otteranski shouted over to us.

"Already?" Reverend Vandoan shouted back.

Like I said, we'd been traveling at a fairly fast pace, but suddenly the merging current grabbed our small canoe and like we'd suddenly sprouted a rocket engine, we took off.

Lowell lost his pole from the sudden forward thrust and fell backward in the boat.

"Hang on!" his father commanded which was kind of not needed as Lowell was flat on his back and clutching either side of the canoe with talon like claws.

Amazingly we survived the burst of speed and the rough waters with none of us getting wet and it was only after we were well past the worst of it that the three of us started to wonder about the others.

"Our cooler!" Lowell shouted.

The large red and white plastic cooler was bobbing and flowing past us.

Lowell was up on his knees and used his oar to pull the chest close enough to get ahold of it.

"There they are!" Reverend Vandoan called out and pointed.

All three of them were out of their canoe and floating a distance apart from one another.

Reverend Vandoan managed to turn our boat so that we were going down the river sideways. Then we sort of paddled back and forth, catching our floating camping gear. Thankfully BJ's father had caught up with their canoe and had got back into it. He then fetched Jamie who wasn't fairing too well. He'd both swallowed a bit of the Ohio River and also had somehow hurt his arm. We all figure he probably banged his cast on the edge of the canoe as it was tipping over. Thankfully, most of our stuff was either tied to the canoe or floated.

BJ had ended up the farthest away, but he was fine. While we were trying to retrieve our stuff from the water BJ came floating down river on his back. He had managed to grab one of the tackle boxes before it could sink. He had the chest perched on his chest like an otter with a big blue and orange clam.

He was quite a ways from us and we had started to paddle toward him, but he shouted and waived, "I am ok! Get the stuff! I'll just keep floating."

He then held up his right arm. Around his wrist was the stringer which had all the fish on it that Jamie had caught.

"I saved lunch!" he said triumphantly.

"Way to go BJ!" I cheered while trying to catch one of the tents with my oar.

A few minutes after catching up with Mr. Otteranski and Jamie and having gathered up all the floating supplies, we began paddling downriver to pick up BJ. However he seemed to have vanished.

Seriously, we couldn't find him and let me tell you all five of us were extremely scared and worried. That is until Jamie spotted him.

"There he is back there!" Jamie almost screamed.

We had passed him because he wasn't in the water anymore. He was on land. Down river from the Shawnee is a long thin bit of land that is kind of smack in the middle of the river.

It was hard paddling up river, especially after all that paddling and work we had done to get all the stuff picked up. When we finally reached him the urgency of the moment wasn't over. BJ had a nasty scrape on his left shin that was bleeding quite a bit. The reason he hadn't called out when we were passing him was that when he had climbed out of the river and saw the blood, the stupid dork fainted.

He had come to right as we were rowing madly toward his island. He'd started to get up kind of fast but then he saw us and decided to just flop over onto his back and lay there on the rocks.

"I don't want to do that again!" BJ declared while Lowell and Mr. Otteranski tended to BJ's leg.

Actually it wasn't nearly as bad as we all thought, including BJ who kept going green to ghost white then green again. The water had mixed with the little bit of blood and made it seem he was gushing blood, but in fact it wasn't bleeding that much at all. I'd never known BJ to be so squeamish and I pretty much chalked his fainting up to the moment and not to his overall character.

Thankfully there was a first aid kit mounted under the rear seat of both canoes. A bit of ointment, gauze, and duct tape to keep it dry and he was good as new.

We decided that the rocky island was as good as anywhere to take a lunch break. Actually we were all pretty worn-out after that ordeal. Jamie, who's arm hadn't stopped paining him, ended up having to take a pain pill that had been sent along with him.

About ten minutes after taking the pill Jamie was pain free and feeling fine again. Thankfully, it wasn't the same pills that knock him out the way they had when I had stayed with Ian. Then again, maybe Marsha had thought of that. After all, I'm sure she didn't want him drugged out of his mind and then ending up drowning as a result.

However, the medication did have one odd side effect, it made him ravenously thirsty. I'm not talking like he drank a full canteen of water; No, I am saying he drank a full canteen of water and a half of a two liter of soda over the hour and a half that we were on that small rocky island.

With Jamie and BJ sorted out we then started to take inventory of what was lost. The only things missing were the small meal grill, the bag of charcoal and the collapsible chairs; all of which is now on the bottom of the Ohio River.

Without the grill and charcoal we had to come up with a fire the old fashion way. I scrounged up dry wood which there was quite a bit of it scattered around the shoreline of the rocky island. While I was gathering wood, BJ and his father were able to get a fire started using Mr. Otteranski's lighter.

By the way, we were all sworn to secrecy over the fact that Mr. Otteranski is smoking again. Well he was until he went into the water and his cigarettes got soaked. Thankfully the lighter wasn't affected at all.

"You holding up ok?" Reverend Vandoan asked me when I dropped a second arm load of wood near the fire.

"I'm dandy!" I held up my bandaged hand, palm toward him and then pointed at my head with the same hand. "No pain and not wet either." I then added, "I didn't end up in the river like the three stooges here." I said and had to quickly jump away as I was within reach of Mr. Otteranski.

Jamie and the Reverend had gutted and scaled the fish while the rest of us had been busy. Well not Lowell. He was the only one that didn't really help with getting Lunch ready. He was sitting beside BJ's dad, sort of lending moral support with the fire making.

Jamie, having retrieved a dry pair of Pull-Ups he'd brought along, disappeared for a few minutes only to return carrying his now very wet Pull-Up and sporting the dry pair.

At one point, when away from the others but with BJ, he made the following comment, "You should think about putting your shorts back on."

"Why?"

I know he wanted to say something about the Unicorns and rainbows but he didn't. I think it was at that moment that I decided that just to aggravate BJ, I was going to stay dressed like that for the rest of the trip.

As I was eating I started to realize how quiet Lowell was being. When I tried to engage him in conversation he pretty much ignored me. I think that was the first I realized that he mad at me over something.

After lunch and after diaper changes for Lowell and myself, we set off again. Of course I was teased about my Unicorn plastic pants again and I found out why Reverend Vandoan hadn't offered me a different pair to wear. There weren't any others. What Lowell and I were wearing were the only two pair of plastic pants. I found that surprising given that both Lowell and I had brought diaper bags which were inside white plastic garbage bags to keep them dry. I mean, what are the odds that both of our mom's would forget to pack us extra plastic pants?

As we set off this time, I joined BJ and his father in one canoe while Reverend Vandoan was stuck with Lowell and my brother. I was in the middle of our canoe, which turned out to be a very good thing, `cause shortly after we were back on the water I succumb to sleep. Any other time I am sure I would have been given a hard time or even splashed with water to wake me; but I guess everyone knew I wasn't completely rested up from the previous day's adventures. I was sitting all the way down in the canoe with my diapered backside in contact with the bottom of the boat and a cross member right behind me so I was safe and there was no risk of me tipping the boat. It must have been comfortable, `cause I slept like that for over an hour.

I honestly wish someone would have splashed me, even by mistake and woke me up `cause it seemed that from the second I went to sleep I began dreaming. It was not a good dream at all. I was dreaming about that day Rico crashed the car and how I had to kill him to put him out of his misery.

In the past, when I've dreamt about it, I typically wake up right after smashing his head, but this time I didn't. Instead, like a video on a loop, it began to play all over again from the crash, to the rock smashing Rico's head. Each time it seemed to play faster and faster.

When I woke up again the two canoes were side by side and the two adults were messing around with the electronic GPS device Mr. Otteranski had brought.

"Hey, look who's awake again!" Reverend Vandoan pointed out.

But Jamie was the one to realize something wasn't right.

"Simon? You okay?" he asked.

"W-w-were?" I started to ask.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Reverend Vandoan called out loudly when I tried to stand up in the canoe.

He'd pulled back on our boat so that he was beside me and held me down.

"It's ok Simon! You are safe!"

It took a moment for me to realize where I was and that I'd been having a nightmare again.

I held either side of the canoe so tightly that my fingers ached.

I breathed in deep and held it for several seconds before I blew it out with force. Only then did I begin to calm down.

"You alright?" Lowell's father asked.

I nodded, "Bad dream!"

Sounding both relieved and exasperated BJ said, "No kidding!"

He'd somehow turned around and was facing me while at the same time holding the two canoes together.

"How long was I asleep?" I groggily asked and rubbed at my eyes.

"All afternoon and night! We are almost home!" BJ joked.

For half a millisecond I considered that he was serious.

"Stop playing!" Mr. Otteranski said threateningly to his son.

"No I wasn't." I said and splashed him.

"About an hour I think." Reverend Vandoan commented.

"You were talking in your sleep again." BJ said and after his last joke I didn't believe him. However one glance over my shoulder to his father I realized I had been.

Addressing Mr. Otteranski, I asked, "Crud! What'd I say?"

But before he could tell me BJ made an imitation of me, "Ooooh Mary! Ooooh Mary!"

I blushed and splashed him again.

"HEY!" he complained, "You asked!"

"Was not! Mary wasn't even in my nightmare! Just me killing Rico."

The instant the words were out I knew I'd said more then I meant to say. The looks on everyone's faces seemed to somehow paralyze me. There was an extremely painful, long silence that only broke when Jamie dropped his oar into the water. Thankfully Lowell's father was able to catch it before it got away.

"Can you guys forget I said that?" I pleaded.

"God Simon!" BJ gasped!

"Hey!" Reverend Vandoan snapped at BJ and Lowell jabbed him in the back with an oar.

That was the mood breaker that was needed. Though no one spoke of it again, it was always there hanging over us like a black cloud blocking the sun from shinning on us.

We continued another hour or so before we reached the spot where BJ's father announced we'd be camping for the night. It was an elongated triangle shaped camping area with the longer part pointed almost exactly due north. From that point one side of our camp area was a twenty-foot tall wall of rock. The wall looked as though at one time in the extreme distant past, it may have been part of a bridge. Opposite the wall was the river and at the widest part of our camping area, which was probably close to 150 feet, was a wild, thorny hedge. From a distance it looks like a normal forest or wooded area like you might see along a road or walking path; thick with saplings, tall weeds and other foliage. But when you got up close there were three inch hypodermic needle like thorns everywhere except right next to the river where if you are careful, you can get past and work your way into the raw, untouched, Mother Nature. Basically we were safe on all three sides from wild life.

Right off the bat it was apparent that this was a popular spot for river goers to camp because there was a fire ring built with rocks and some trash strune around. While Lowell and BJ went off to gather firewood, and the two adults were setting up camp, Jamie and I decided to clean up the camp site. We picked up all the trash we could find and put it in one pile. Mr. Otteranski said we would burn most of it up tonight and the metal and glass stuff we'll take out with us tomorrow.

"Have you camped here before?" Jamie asked him.

"Oh yes. Had nearly twenty here once." He said.

"Wow! Bet it was crowded." I commented, which was the first I had spoken since letting that bit about Rico slip out.

"Last year, later in the summer than this and we slept under the stars so it wasn't that bad."

"No tents?" Jamie asked.

"Nope, just a sleeping bag and the stars."

"I bet the skeeters ate you alive." I commented.

"Naaaah. That's what bug spray is for."

"Oh. Yeah sure!" I said as another thought came to mind but then I let the new thought go as it was silly.

"Speaking of that." He said as he reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a can of Bugs-B-Gone and asked, "Who's first?"

"Me!" Jamie said as he scratched a bug bite on his neck.

Lowell and BJ returned with arm loads of wood right as Mr. Otteranski was finishing up dousing me in Bugs-B-Gone.

BJ got sprayed next `cause Lowell had to have his father pull a thorn out of the meaty part of that loose fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and nose picking finger.

Boy it must of hurt something powerful because he was carrying on like a little kid getting a shot at the doctors. Once it was out, his daddy kissed the sore spot, swatted his bottom and said, "Now go get anti-bug-anointed."

"Hey dad, where's the TP?" BJ asked.

"Uh, in the blue bag in one of the canoes."

BJ went to fetch the toilet paper and I watched as he headed off into the wilderness armed only with a small foldable shovel.

"Glad I don't have to poop in the woods!" Lowell commented.

I was sure BJ would say something to that but he must have not heard him.

I don't know how long he was gone, ten minutes, maybe fifteen. We'd all pretty much forgot about him as we busied ourselves with this and that. So when BJ came running back making loads of noise as he trudged over and through the vegetation and eventually into our camping area looking very panic stricken every one of us stopped what we were doing and looked his way.

BJ ran past the wall of greenery about five feet; stopped dead in his tracks and yelled, "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!!...just thought you oughta know." And then collapsed on the ground just like in Harry Potter.

Not only were we three boys laughing, but our dad's had got the joke too and were laughing at BJ. God that was so funny!

BJ sprang to his feet and took a bow while we applauded his brilliant performance.

________________

When we stopped to make camp it had still been very bright out. I'd misjudged how late it really was. My head was telling me it was only about three in the afternoon, when it was really after seven. I guess that afternoon nap on the river had thrown off my internal clock several hours.

Lowell was lying on a towel getting his butt cleaned by his father while my brother was pulling on a fresh Pull Up. I guess long hours from lunch until now were more than his bladder was able to endure. Even if they hadn't peed and pooped, they both would have needed changed again because about thirty minutes before we reached our camp spot Reverend Vandoan had fallen asleep and flipped their boat.

Thankfully, when we stopped for lunch, Mr. Otteranski had the forethought to be sure everything was lashed to the boats. The only things that had to be chased down were two of their three oars. That was another benefit of being so close to shore, the oars got caught up in a fallen tree about a hundred yards down river.

Sleeping arrangements were dealt with while there was plenty of light to see to work. That turned out to be a good idea cause when it got dark ... it got DARK! I was real glad I didn't have to be in the dark alone.

I recognized the tent BJ and Jamie set up, and were going to share, as the same one my brother and I had used a few days before when we camped in the secret room in his apartment building.

The two adults set up the larger tent that would have been big enough for all of us if we really had too.

Lowell and I were given a small, green, canvas, army-surplus tent. I assumed right that Lowell and I would end up in that tent.

It was explained that the sleeping arrangements were because Lowell and I were both still having night time soiling. Since Jamie wasn't, he was going to sleep with BJ. It made sense except Lowell takes pills so he doesn't stink. I took them for a while but for some reason mom stopped giving them to me.

Jamie and BJ finished in record time setting up their tent. They then helped the old guys with the big tent. Lowell and I were struggling with the older army tent. So when the big tent was up, BJ and Jamie came over to help us. BJ had set it up before so he knew how to get it up better than any of us. There were so many ropes that had to be stretched out and staked to the ground. In total there were fourteen steaks we had to hammer into the ground and eight ropes to get pulled tight. I don't think Lowell and I could have figured it out on our own. It was so complicated.

About the time we boys had finished with the army-surplus tent the food was ready. Dinner was fish again except this time Mr. Otteranski used some seasoning he'd brought. It gave the fish a sweet, Cajun flavor with the perfect amount of spiciness without being so spicy that it was hot or uncomfortable.

Four of us had been surprised with corn on the cob which Lowell and the Reverend had brought as a special dinner surprise. We put them, husks and all, right on the fire to cook. I was fascinated by that cooking style. As soon as the shucks looked like they were about to burn, then the corn was done.

"The husks actually act like nature's own steamer; steaming the corn perfectly." The Reverend explained.

Mr. Otteranski also taught us all how to boil the river water inside the two-liter plastic soda bottles. I was sure the plastic was going to melt and the water put out the fire, but it didn't. The bottle distorted and the bottoms turned a smoky-black, but they didn't melt. It was so cool to watch the water boil like that. We used that method to refill all the canteens and then boiled more to keep drinking.

The boiling of river water gave me an idea. I fetched Mr. Otteranski's wet cigarettes and carefully removed each one from the package.

"What are you up to?" Mr. Otteranski asked me when he saw me with the cigarettes."

I smiled, "Just watch!"

I then arranged them on a big flat rock near the fire but not close enough that they would burn up.

When he realized what I was doing he announced, "Simon my boy, you are now my favorite son!"

"HEY!" BJ complained and I couldn't help but laugh.

I stuck my tongue out at BJ, "Ha! Ha! He loves me more than you!"

BJ narrowed his eyes threateningly at me, "Yeah, well I'm still taller than you!"

"Oh short jokes huh?" I laughed as I finished arranging the cigarettes. I even laid out the empty pack so it could dry too.

Maybe it was all the rowing, or the fact that we were outdoors, sitting around a camp fire that made everyone so hungry. There wasn't too much talking while we ate, I think because everyone was so tired and so hungry. There was plenty of fish for everyone to stuff themselves, and enough corn cobs for everyone to have two ears each. I was so full that I ended up giving my second ear of corn to BJ.

________________

Right after dinner Reverend Vandoan gave Jamie a pill which made him super sleepy. He also gave Lowell and me our drugs. And though I took them, I did hesitate as I held them in my hand and pondered them quiet hard. I guess I'd had my emotional and mental breakthrough that Dr. Lizy had been hoping for and now I was going back on my drugs. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Jamie was dozing off by the fire and kept swaying as he struggled to stay awake. When Mr. Otteranski suggested that Jamie head to bed, he didn't protest at all. Without a single word Jamie stood, crossed over to his tent and disappeared inside. He didn't even get to enjoy the after dinner stories and making S'mores.

After Jamie had gone to bed, Reverend Vandoan decided it was a good time to put his son and me into our night diapers. It turned out to be a good idea `cause I was very wet. While he was changing me he confided to me that my brother had been putting on a brave face the past couple hours.

"I guess when we flipped our canoe right before we got to camp, he hurt his arm again. He said he had tried to hang onto the canoe with his broke arm."

"OOOOOOOOUUUUUCHIE!" I said and held my arm sympathetically.

"He never did say anything. I figured it out when I realized he was trying to eat his corn with one hand."

"Oh yeah!" I said as I realized that I'd seen that too.

 "Is he okay?" I asked `cause I was worried for him and hoped he hadn't reinjured it or something bad like that.

"I think so but just to be safe I'm going to make him take it easy tomorrow." He said while pulling the fresh diaper up between my legs.

I nodded, "That's good."

The five of us sat around the fire taking turns telling funny stories. There were no ghost stories told and though it wasn't brought up in my presence, I am sure it had been decided that no one was allowed to tell any scary stories due to the effects they might have on me. I mean for the past couple months I thought I had been living with my very own personal monster. I suppose I am grateful they cared enough not to do any ghost stories.

You know, as I sit here writing this, I can't help but wonder if I will ever be able to enjoy a scary movie, or read a scary book again?

When Mr. Otteranski went over to one of the canoes he pulled out a plastic Wal-Mart shopping bag. He brought it back over by the fire and opened it to reveal chocolate bars, graham crackers and marshmallows. I knew instantly we were going to be making S'mores.

"BOY! That was so good!" I cooed and licked the melted chocolate from my fingers.

BJ had chocolate that ran down his arm and was in the process of licking and sucking it off while making sounds like Cookie Monster. "OM NOM NOM NOM!"

Lowell got a kick out of BJ and started to imitate him.

Despite having burned the crap out of the roof of my mouth with my first bite, I thoroughly enjoyed those S'mores!

One by one our numbers dwindled down to where there was only Mr. Otteranski, the Reverend, and myself left awake. Actually, Lowell had fallen asleep by the fire and had to be put in his tent by his dad. BJ lasted another half hour or so before announcing that he couldn't stay awake another minute.

I watched BJ glowing less and less as he got farther from the fire. Before he ducked into the tent we heard him rip a super loud fart that sounded almost exactly like a bull frog.

"Goodness son!" Mr. Otteranski called out in the dark.

We could hear BJ giggling as he vanished into the tent.

"Poor Jamie!" I chuckled.

"And you wanted to only bring the one tent?" Reverend Vandoan laughed too.

Reverend Vandoan tossed a stick he had been using to stir the coals into the fire and then asked me, "Are you holding up alright?"

"Yeah, I'm doing mostly okay." I answered, paused a moment in thought, before I finished, "But I wish I hadn't let that slip early about Rico."

"I would never want you to feel uncomfortable," Reverend Vandoan began saying, "and I'm probably going to get into trouble with your parents for telling you this, but the boys already knew."

I sat there staring at Reverend Vandoan with my mouth hanging open. Mr. Otteranski took that opportunity to try to toss a marshmallow into my gaping mouth. He missed my mouth and nailed my nose. The funny thing was that I had caught it on the rebound.

"Whoa!" Mr. Otteranski exclaimed when I caught it.

"I'm rather impressed myself." I chuckled and popped the marshmallow into my mouth; stuffing it into my left cheek like a chipmunk.

And then turning my attention back to the Reverend I stared at him. I simply couldn't believe he'd gone and told them about me killing Rico.

"You told them?" I asked and had I not had the marshmallow filling my cheek I am sure he would have detected the unsteadiness in my voice.

He shook his head and explained that when I had been brought home initially, the boys had been sat down and told what had happened so they could better understand why I was so sick and why I was being sent to `The Ranch'.

"For your sake, we swore them to secrecy." Mr. Otteranski added.

"I—I thought only Tom knew and... and well my parents." I said so soft that I wasn't sure if they even heard me.

Staring at the fire I mumbled, "They all did great keeping that secret."

The word `sick' had also sounded wrong to me and while watching the flames jump and dance, my mind went off on a tangent for a minute or so. To be honest I cannot say where my mind went right then `cause I just don't know.

I guess I'd sat quietly transfixed by the fire for so long that I was making them both concerned.

"Simon?" Reverend Vandoan asked while putting an arm around me and giving my right shoulder a squeeze.

"Huh? What? Oh sorry." I apologized, "I—I was..." but I didn't finish what I was saying.

"Simon!" The Reverend said, this time sounding quite concerned because I had spaced out again.

His other hand had clutched my chin and turned my head toward his. I looked up into his fire lit eyes and marveled at the brilliant flames inside his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

It wasn't what he asked but the way he asked that is important here. There was a very strong concern in his voice.

With him still holding my chin I attempted to shake my head to indicate that I wasn't and then fell against him. He hugged me tightly to his side while patting my face and I began to weep.

I don't know why I was crying and it wasn't a hard, river of snot, and tear producing cry. It was sort of like a gentle, steady, spring shower, sort of cry.

After the long cry, I thought about it and I realized I was being stupid. If they already knew than there really wasn't a reason for me to be freaking out. For nearly two weeks now they have been there for me even knowing I had killed someone. That should be enough proof that they don't think bad of me.

Eventually I sat up and rubbed aggressively at my swollen eyes with my palms.

"Sorry." I apologized.

"No!" Mr. Otteranski said to me from across the fire. There was an almost threatening note lying under his words. "No sorries needed."

He waved a stick at me which he'd been using to stir the fire. The tip of it was glowing red hot and made red streaks of light in the air as he waved it at me.

"Son," I noticed Mr. Otteranski called me son too, "with everything you have been through, it is a wonder that you haven't been crying more than you have. Hell! I'm glad to see you finally crying. So no sorries! Alright?"

"Finally crying?" I thought to myself. I feel like all I have been doing lately is cry.

I smiled and wiped at my face again with the backs of my hands and my arms this time.

We talked a while longer about serious stuff like that and before too much longer I announced that I was going to turn in. As I was getting up I became aware of a familiar heaviness in my diaper and new that I'd soiled myself again. It had only been a couple hours since I had been changed into a thick, disposable, night diaper and I figured it would be the diaper I'd sleep in that night but my bottom had other ideas.

"Um, Sorry," I said sheepishly, "but I need a fresh one!"

One look at Lowell's father and I knew that he'd already known I had a dirty bottom. I'm sure that both he and his wife have developed an almost sixth sense when it comes to soiled and wet diapers.

Turning to Mr. Otteranski he asked, "You want to get this one?"

Mr. Otteranski held up a single hand and crowed out an amused, "I cooked, you clean!" but really he was trying to light one of those cigarettes that had been drying by the fire for the past few hours.

Since it was dark now, and the only light was the fire, we did the deed right there on the ground. Well, not directly on the ground. He first spread out a towel for me to stretch out on. It was a different sensation than what I have experienced before when my diaper was opened. The heat of the fire licked at my privates and caused me to shiver.

"Cold?" Reverend Vandoan asked.

I shook my head, "Warm!"

It turned out not to be that bad of a mess and didn't take long at all to clean me up. When I stood up again Mr. Otteranski was sitting there finally enjoying a cigarette.

"Hey it worked!" I cheered quietly so as not to wake the others.

He then spit into the fire.

"Yeah, but tastes and smells like bad fish." He laughed, "But I'm not complaining!"

I walked around the fire and gave him a hug.

"Night!" I told him and then pretending that I was going to give him a kiss on the cheek, I instead pressed my face against his and blew. My mouth produced fart sounds.

He swatted my diapered bottom, pulled me down so I was lying face up on his lap and proceeded to tickle my tummy. As he held me down, he exhaled a lung full of smoke out of the side of his mouth, away from me.

He stopped and I lay there catching my breath as he told me, "If you have any nightmares or problems tonight, I don't want you to feel bad about waking us up. Alright?"

I nodded and said, "Okay, but I hope I don't."

He gave my naked tummy a smack that echoed across the river.

"Not fair!" I moaned and rubbed my tummy as I rolled off his lap.

I then went back around to the Reverend who had put away the diapering supplies and returned to reclining by the fire. I hugged his neck and kissed his cheek.

"Good Night." I said.

"Sweet dreams!" He told me as though it was an order and not a suggestion.

Wearing just the diaper and those infernal rainbow colored unicorn pants, I headed for my sleeping bag.

I was about to duck into the tent when Mr. Otteranski called after me. "You can probably take off that helmet while you sleep."

I reached up and felt the helmet. I'd had it on all day and had gotten so use to it that I didn't even know I still had it on.

Reaching up I unclicked the plastic buckle from under my chin and gave it a toss toward him.

"G'night" I whispered and then slipped into the tent.

________________

When I crawled into the tent I assumed Lowell was sound asleep. His head was at the back of the tent and was the only part of him I could see from the bit of firelight glowing past me. Despite the warm night, he was totally down inside of his sleeping bag like it was the middle of winter. I made sure the tent flaps were securely closed and then on all four I moved quietly, trying not to wake him. The zipper on my sleeping bag seemed extra loud, even going slow.

It was warm enough that I lied inside my sleeping bag without covering myself with it. No sooner was I flat on my back then Lowell rolled over so that his mouth was inches from my ear.

He whispered real soft, "Are you really Mary's girlfriend?"

Now I knew what he had meant to say and I shouldn't have laughed, but I couldn't help myself.

"Yeah I'm her G-I-R-L-friend!" I spelled out for him.

With the tent flaps closed, none of the fire light was able to make it inside the tent so it was impossible to even see my own hand when I held it a millimeter from my nose. In the dark I didn't have any inclination whatsoever that his fist was coming down like a sledge hammer into my diapered groin. His force was greater than the padding of the thick, night diaper, so as you can imagine it hurt like... well there is nothing that hurts like getting punched in the balls. I actually saw a flash of bright white light when his fist impacted my beloved boy jewels; that should give you an idea just how much it hurt.

I didn't cry out at all. I simply curled into a ball and I rolled to my right, away from him.

I've no idea where I got the air or strength to groan out, "I'm going to rip your eyes out through your asshole!"

I heard a fluttering and rustling of his diaper and for a split second saw light from the fire as he threw open the canvas tent flaps. He had scampered out of the tent while I was still paralyzed with pain.

It felt like ten or fifteen minutes before I was able to breathe again; and another ten or fifteen before I was able to move. How long it actually was is anyone's guess. I first extended one leg while allowing myself to ever so slowly roll onto my back. I then extended my other leg, all the while delicately supporting my aching gem stones. I took a deep breath and blew it out through puckered lips.

As I lay there recovering; my rage gave way to such a sound sleep that I didn't even stir when Lowell eventually returned.

He too eventually gave into sleep and at some point in the night rolled over and draped an arm over my neck. That woke me up.

Unable to see, I delicately felt for his shoulder and rolled him away from me and onto his back while at the same time trying not to wake him just yet.

He was now on his back, on top of his sleeping bag and wearing only a disposable diaper without plastic pants like I was wearing.

As slow as a sloth I slid my hand into his diaper. A couple times I had to freeze `cause I thought he was waking up. When my hand was softly cupping his unsuspecting boy-balls I then placed my other hand over his mouth. At the exact same time, I pressed down firmly on his mouth and squeezed his balls with all my strength.

He made a muffled groaning sound, but that was all he could manage as he was in too much pain to do much else.

Without letting go of his jewels or his mouth, I put my mouth close to his ear and spoke loud enough for him to hear but no one in the other two tents had a chance of hearing what I had to say.

"You ever sucker punch me like that again and I am going to forget we are friends. I will end you and you know I can do it! Do you understand?"

Somehow, through the pain he heard and understood what I was telling him. I felt his head nodding beneath my hand which was still firmly clamped over his mouth.

I released my vice-like grip on his balls, and then withdrew my hand from his diaper before I uncovered his mouth.

Though I couldn't see him, I could tell from the sounds he was making that he was laying there sobbing.

"What the hell is the matter with you anyway? You've been acting like a jerk all day." I whispered.

It was quite a while before he answered.

"Why did you say Mary is your girlfriend? I thought you were my boyfriend?" he whispered between sobs however it didn't come out that clear as he was crying pretty hard.

As paralyzed as I was when he had hit me in the balls, was exactly how paralyzed I was with shock at hearing him refer to me as his boyfriend.

When I was able to speak what came out was less than lucid.

"Friend-You-Boy-Kiss-Friend-Mary?"

"What?" He sniffled.

It was another minute or two before I could try to speak again. By then I didn't have any words to utter. Instead I leaned down to where I thought his face was. As though I had infrared vision our lips connected and we kissed.

I wish I could string together the words that would accurately describe that kiss, which lasted for a very long time. Imagine the power of a bullet train condensed down into just two sets of lips. Without our lips parting we rolled as one so that I was lying flat on my back with him stretched out on top of me. Thank God my pillow was right there or I may have hurt my head and ruined the moment.

The kiss probably would have gone on indefinitely had Lowell not began to giggle. Seriously, he went from a muffled heavy sobbing to a fit of infectious giggles. Before long I was giggling too and was forced to break our lip lock. With the heaving of our two chests as we struggled to stifle our laugher, Lowell bounced and that only made us laugh all the more.

Still laughing he buried his face in my neck to muffle any sounds he was making.

He moaned into my neck, "My balls still hurt!"

"Want me to kiss `em and make `em better?" I asked.

Without lifting his head he moaned, "Yes please!"

I laughed.

It was then that I realized I was hearing the thump-thump-thump of big, fat raindrops on our tent.

He had moved his mouth nearer my ear. "I thought Mr. Otteranski said it wasn't going to rain."

His breath was hot and tickled the little hairs inside my ear canal. I hadn't heard anything about rain one way or the other so I simply shrugged beneath him.

And as if God had decided to flood the earth as he had done in Noah's day, there was a flash of lightning and the rain became a deluge. The lightning had been so bright that it lit up the inside of our tent for several seconds and almost immediately after came the earth shaking BOOM of thunder.

From outside our tent came the scream that could have only come for my brother who'd been frightened from a dead sleep.

"Everyone alright?" Mr. Otteranski called out over the deafening sound of the rain.

"Fine here!" Lowell shouted at the top of his lungs.

When he screamed, his mouth had still been right by my ear so he blew out my ear drum.

"Dad I think Jamie hurt himself!" BJ called out.

"Jamie you alright?" Reverend Vandoan asked.

We heard Jamie cry out loudly, "NO I'M NOT FUCKING ALRIGHT!"

"Whoa, did you hear that?" Lowell asked but I was already rolling him off of me and about to launch myself out of the tent.

"Simon, Lowell!" Reverend Vandoan shouted, "Stay in your tent!"

And that was the last any of us could hear from the others.

The Thump-Thump-Thump of fat rain suddenly became a roar of rain so loud that Lowell and I could not hear the others anymore. The rain was to last the rest of the night.

A few minutes later our tent opened and BJ's father's very wet head appeared as well as a hand holding one of the oil lamps.

"Jamie's fine, just moved to fast when he was jolted awake." He told us, "You boys alright in here?"

Lowell and I were both sitting up now. We nodded as one.

"This rain can't last too long. Try to get some sleep." He said and just like that he was gone.

Lowell hurried to secure the tent flap before crawling back over and pushing me down so that he could flop himself down on top of me.

Lowell, still lying on top of me, put his lips right on my ear and spoke, "Are you okay?"

Taking pointers from him I turned my head so that my lips were pressed to his ear too.

"Yeah, I'm glad Jamie is okay though." I said back.

He then said, "I think we're going to die!"

I laughed, which made him bounce upon my chest.

"Guess what?"

He answered back with, "What?"

"I just peed!"

Lowell was laughing hard again, "Did the rain make you?"

"Well, it's not like I need the motivation to pee, but yeah I think the rain and that dang thunder scaring it out of me."

"Good thing you didn't poop!" he laughed.

"Nah, I did that before I came to bed."

He then confessed that after he punched me in the balls he got so scared that he messed his diaper.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" he said and laughed again, "You scared the crap out of me!"

The two of us laughed so darn hard that my stomach and face muscles hurt.

"So are you my boyfriend or not?" Lowell asked, returning to the subject that had rendered me speechless moments before.

I didn't answer right away `cause I was now thinking about something that had happened a number of days ago between BJ and myself. The two of us had an argument because I got mad that he had said that Lowell was his best friend. I'd taken offence to the idea that he could have more than one best friend.

Pressing my lips against his ear again I asked, "How many best friends do you have?"

"Don't change the subject!" he growled warningly.

"I'm not! Just answer the question!"

When I had said that last part, I did so with lots of breath so that it would tickle his ear canal. I know it worked because he giggled and his hand brushed my nose while heading for his ear to rub the tickle away.

"What's that got to do with anything?" he asked.

There was another really big BOOM of thunder that lasted much longer then the first. It had been so loud that I felt Lowell's whole body tense for an instant.

Now when I tell you that the earth shook, I am not making that up. We literally could feel the earth shaking beneath us.

"I wish it would stop doing that!" Lowell whimpered.

"Try not to think about it. Pretend we are in one of those motels that have those beds that vibrate." I suggested and then repeated my question, "So how many do you have?"

When he didn't answer right away I pinched his back. "Stop being scared and answer."

"OUCH! Wait a minute, I'm counting!"

"COUNTING!" I bellowed into his ear, "How many do you have that it takes you that long to count them?"

He laughed as he answered, "Well, counting you, I have six."

"SIX?! SIX?!" I exclaimed even louder, but there was no chance anyone in the other tents had heard me.

"Yep! You, BJ, Fyer, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit." Lowell said and then stuck his tongue in my ear.

"HEY!" I shouted and with a hand over his whole face, I tried to push him away a bit so that I could wiggle a finger into my ear to get his slobber out.

He was laughing hard again (Boy I love his laugh!) and as soon as I moved my hand from my ear, his lips were again pressed against it.

"Don't do it again or else!" I warned while laughing.

He giggled madly into my ear.

"Ugh you are going to deafen me!" I complained, "First you try to impregnate my ear with your nasty, slobbery tongue, now you are blasting it with your girly-giggles!"

"Stop making me laugh, my tummy is hurting!" he laughed and spoke at the same time.

"So, counting just us mortals; you have three best friends?"

"HEY! Did you just call me girly?" he protested.

I laughed, "Did I say that?"

He tried to stick his tongue in my ear again but I managed to block him.

"Yeah, just you, BJ and Fyer are my bestest, bestest, bestest friends in the whole wide world!" He sang and then added breathily, "And I get what you are trying to say."

"Do you?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I don't like it!"

"What don't you like?" I asked.

"I want you to be just my boyfriend!" he whined and I recognized that whine as the one he uses when he is being playful.

He used to try to use that whine on me back on the Banachelli when all I wanted to do was sleep and all he wanted to do was get into my diaper.

I tried to inject some humor by wrapping my arms around his naked middle and bear-hug him as I said, "Didn't your mom teach you to share!?"

"OH SIMON YOU ARE HUGGING THE PEE OUT OF ME!" he groaned like I was killing him.

And then the little beast bit my earlobe! Of course that was an act of war! I released him from the bear hug and dug my fingers into his ribs. Tickling almost always works on Lowell and this time was no exception. He released his vampire bite on my lobe as he began to flop upon me like a fish out of water. While I tickled him we rolled so that once more I was on top of him... well sort of. I was actually straddling his right leg and my right knee was firmly pressed into his groin.

Still tickling him, I began to kiss him again, just as passionately as before. At first he resisted the kiss but soon gave into it as the tickling morphed into heavy petting. Our hands began to explore the naked bits of our bodies and arms.

From beneath me he began to hump against my knee and I could feel him moaning into my mouth.

I might point out that at no instance of the night did I feel awkward or confused about what we were doing. Maybe it was the constant thunder and the continual roar of rain falling that kept my mind from wandering off to anything other than the passion of the moment.

I felt Lowell's left hand move down my spine to the waistband of my Unicorn plastic pants. I could feel his fingers fumble with the elastic, like a giant spider working its way into my diaper. His fingers made it into my plastic pants and then began to search for a way into the back of my diaper.

In fact, now that I think about it, that was a risky move given that we both could have had poopy diapers. I mean, can you imagine thrusting your hand into the back of your lovers diaper only to have your fingers mush into a warm, wet turd? Thankfully, neither of us had soiled diapers, but we were both wet.

Oh wait, now that I think about it, we both had confessed moments before to having pooped so maybe Lowell knew this. Maybe that's why he was so willing to stick his hands back there.

CRASH!

BOOM!

CRASH!

BOOM!

The thunder continued over and over like enormous cymbals while the two of us began to tongue wrestle. With each clap of thunder Lowell dug his claws into my poor tushy which would make me moan. I guess he took my moans to be born of lust `cause wow he went wild.

He was humping upward against me so forcefully that I bet, had I not shifted my position, he would have climaxed within seconds.

I rolled slightly to my left but didn't let our lips separate. My right hand came to rest over his very erect left nipple and I could feel his heart beating with ferocity! I then realized his entire body was trembling uncontrollably.

He rolled toward me a bit so that we were lying on our sides; belly to belly, heaving chest to heaving chest, and tented diaper to tented diaper. His other hand slipped into the back of my diaper with his other. Like raven's claws he clamped down on my butt cheeks a second time and pulled me closer so that our diapers were pressed so tightly together that I'm surprised our penises didn't rub holes right through the diaper material. He was thrusting like some daemon possessed machine and no longer moaning but growling into my mouth.

All of a sudden he broke off the kiss, pulled me closer, if that was even possible, and then threw his head back. Though I couldn't see him, I imagined that his eyes had rolled into his head so that only the whites were showing. I'd seen him do just that before when we use to lay on our shared cot back on the Banachelli and jack each other off inside our wet diapers. Those were some of the few times that we'd actually felt happy during those horrible days.

His body stayed deathly ridged for what seemed like a full minute, maybe longer before he let out a long exhale and then fell backward, exhausted.

I allowed myself to fall with him and let my left ear come to rest directly over his heart once more. His nipple, which was still very much erect, honestly felt like it was going to pierce my cheek. We laid like that for a very long time. I listened to his fast beating heart as it gradually slowed while his body calmed and recovered.

After an unspecified time, his right hand began to play with my hair and my right ear. It tickled like mad to have him tracing my ear with a single finger, but it also felt so good that I didn't want him to stop.

I'd never had anyone pay that sort of attention to my ear before so I was not prepared for just how wonderful it felt. And had he kept at it for much longer, I am sure I would have had a similar reaction to what he had while humping my diaper. Granted his probably filled his diaper with his milky, boy juices, but one doesn't have to shoot to experience those wonderful feelings!

It seemed impossible for it to do so, but the falling rain got even louder. Or maybe, since we were just lying there, I was noticing it more.

And then Lowell stopped playing with my hair and ear. Using both hands he lifted my head from his chest and put his mouth next to my left ear.

"Want a back rub?" he asked.

As if to answer, I rolled off him and right over onto my tummy.

"Move more in the middle of the tent." Lowell ordered and I obeyed.

He then straddled the backs of my thighs and began to rub, kneed, and squeeze all over my back, neck, shoulders, and arms. He kept that up for so long that I was in real danger of losing molecular coalition and melting into a puddle of Simon ooze.

What surprises me now is that never once did I think about how I was shirtless and his hands were all over my scarred back. I guess maybe being in the dark helped put me at ease; that and the fact that it was Lowell after all.

And just when he was about to push me over the edge, he stopped again, leaned forward and asked, "Want me to do your front now?"

Taken twice to the brink only to be denied the chance to... well to jump; one should understand when I say that I was rather energetic by this point.

Though he probably didn't hear me over the rain I cried out, "YES!"

He moved off me so that I could flop myself over. Before I was even settled, and probably because neither of us could see anything, he sat down on my diapered crotch. He started near my belly button which tickled a lot, then worked his way up and down and up and down and oh my god it felt so gooooooooood!

As he would knead the muscles higher on my torso, he'd lift his bottom off my crotch. Likewise, when he was focusing on my abdominal muscles he'd press his diapered rear-end against my groin. He'd even wiggle around for added effect; and believe me there was plenty of `added effect'!

He tried to massage my sides, both low and high, but I was way too ticklish. I simply couldn't stand his tickling my sides; my tummy I could stand, just not my sides. Each time he tried, I would buck and roll and nearly throw him off of me. Thankfully, after a couple attempts he abandoned my side. Of course, being the evil devil that he is, ever so often his fingers would slip back down there, for only a second, which would cause me to tense up briefly. Each time I'd tense up, I could hear him giggling over the roar of the rain. He seemed to be enjoying giving me a massage as much as I was receiving it.

When he was massaging my back it both turned me on and relaxed me so much that I almost melted into a gelatinous glop. However, with everything he was doing to my front, there was little risk of me going gelatinous. Quite the contrary actually. I was getting hugely, and massively, and colossally, and monstrously solid!

When he leaned down and began to nurse upon my left nipple I felt an electric shock... or maybe that was just lightning outside; either way my entire essence exploded and convulsed violently over and over.

Even after the initial explosion, my body would still twitch and tremble as I slowly came down from such an all-consuming high.

When he knew that I was done he lowered himself, and stretched out so that he was again spread out on top of me with his mouth by my ear.

"I think you just had an orgasm." He said.

Now I'd for sure had something, but it wasn't like before when I was able to masturbate and ejaculate. This was so much different and was inside my entire body. It was like every cell in my body had screamed all at the same time.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah." And hugged him super tightly.

After a moment I told Lowell, "I don't know what just happened, but it felt great!"

"I love you so much Simon!"

We lay like that for a long time, listening to each other breathing. Why neither of us fell asleep after all that exertion is beyond me.

After a good long time Lowell spoke again, "It was like the time at your Aunts... Uh, I mean your real mom's... Uh, I mean when we were little."

"What?" I gasped.

"You know; when we were little and had play dates. Me, you, Jasper, and that jerk Peter."

"WHAT?!" I asked again although louder. Thankfully the rain was still going strong.

"You remember!" he said, "You wrote about the four of us?"

He paused an instant; probably waiting for me to acknowledge that I did remember.

"In your journal?" he finished and then paused again before adding, "Playing at her house?"

He paused once more before saying with an almost exasperated tone, "Come on Simon! You let me read it in your journal! Remember now?"

"I-I remember us being there, but what do you mean `this was like then'? And I didn't let you read anything! You found it and read it without my permission!"

Completely ignoring my accusations he went on, "Are you messing with me? Do you really not remember? Come on, you got to remember how the four of us use to play naked games when we were alone or supposed to be napping." he paused again before adding, "All those times up in her playroom?"

"Th-that never happened!?" I said, meaning it to sound like a set in concrete fact; however it came out sounding more like a set in Jell-O question.

"Simon, I swear it did! You can ask Jasper. He remembers."

Like a tiny mouse that had just turned the corner and come face to fang with a hungry cat, my voice squeaked out, "Really?"

"Really-really!" he said.

"I—I don't remember that." I said and then I asked, "Does Peter remember?"

"I don't have a clue what that jerk remembers. When we stopped going to your Aunt's, I never saw him again until you two became friends again."

"Yeah, I wouldn't say we were friends." I said, feeling the need to clarify that fact, "I mean he did beat the crap out of me."

"Yeah, well you know what they say." Lowell said and though I knew he was setting me up, I took the bait anyway.

"No, what do they say?"

He laughed, "With friends like Peter Alderman, who needs enemas?"

"That was bad Lowell!" I laughed along with him.

I wrapped my arms around him and locked my fingers behind his back as we continued to talk.

"I think I got that line from you." He cooed.

"Probably. It sounds like something I would say."

He laughed.

"I just wish I could remember too." I whined.

"Want me to tell you about some of our naked games?"

"Does Elder Abernuckle like to take it in the butt?" I asked in return.

"Gross!" he said and laughed.

"I have to agree with you there. I mean, can you just imagine those old, sweaty balls and that nasty old man dick swinging back and forth as Donny thrust into him over and over and..."

"If you don't stop I am going to blow chunks of S'more and Cajun trout all over this tent!" Lowell cautioned.

I gave him a soft kiss and said just over the roar of rain, "Mmmm old, sweaty, dick and balls! Doesn't that turn you on?"

Lowell hissed. Seriously, he hissed like a mangy old alley cat.

"Maybe kitty would like some of old man Abernuckle's man milk?" I teased.

Since it was so dark I had zero warning that his fingers were headed for my rib cage until it was too late.

"STOP! STOP! STOP! PLEASE STOP!" I begged as Lowell tickled and tickled and tickled!

"OK! OK! I WON'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT HIS OLD SWEATY BA... AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I GIVE! I GIVE! UNCLE!"

I was now on my stomach. How the heck did I end up on my stomach? Lowell was sitting on my butt while his fingers were buried in my arm pits.

I was thrashing and begging him to stop.

"IIIIIII'MMMM SSSSSOOOOORRRRRRYYYY!" I cried.

"Tell me you love me!" he ordered.

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! IIII LLLLOOOVVVVE YOOOOOUUUU! PPPLLEEEAAAASSSEEEE SSTTTOOOOPPP!"

And `POOF' he was gone! He had hopped off of me and disappeared into the darkness of the tent. I had no idea where he was, though I was sure he couldn't be all that far away.

I had just enough time to catch my breath when his fingers re-entered my pits.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" I cried out while trying to get ahold of his arms.

Again he suddenly vanished into the darkness.

Though he couldn't hear me I asked anyway, "How can you have such excellent aim when it is so freaking dark!"

I rolled onto my back and both kicked and swung my arms into the darkness but felt nothing but tent.

"Where are you, you little beast!?"

And then like a paratrooper without a parachute he did a belly flop right on top of me, driving the air out of my lungs.

I had just enough air left to moan, "Aaaaguh, you killed me!"

"Wove hurts huh?" he asked in his best baby voice.

Now that I think back on it, he's darn lucky he didn't make me have an asthma attack `cause I didn't have a clue where my inhaler had gotten too.

I took a breath, let it out, and then took in another before I spoke, "If this is love, then I'm glad you are my boyfriend and not my enemy."

"Really?" he asked.

"Really what?" I asked back.

"I'm your boyfriend?"

I wish I could have seen his face right then.

And then the devil got into me again.

"Well, one of `em." I joked.

"ONE!" I heard his shout as again he began to tickle me!

"KIDDING! I WAS KIDDING!"

He kissed me.

"You better be kidding! You are all mine!" he said in a threatening tone.

As I lay there beneath him, recovering from his attacks I began to wonder something. "Does Aunt Catherine, your mom or any of the other moms know we played naked games?"

He didn't answer, but I felt his head moving.

"Lowell! I cannot see your head shaking!" I reminded him with a laugh, which made him bounce upon me again and started us both laughing more.

"Oh yeah!" he giggled and kissed my cheek, "Everyone knows! Actually it was in the papers!"

I growled and swatted his diapered butt. Though I didn't hear the thump of my hand hitting the padded plastic diaper, I felt it all the way through him and into my groin. It is good he was padded, else that would have hurt big time.

"Don't worry! No one knows." He laughed and kissed my cheek again, "At least I think none of them knows. If they did, they never let on at all."

"So what happened? What sort of stuff did we do?"

Lowell slid off to my left so that he was lying on my right arm while keeping his mouth next to my ear. He kept his left arm draped over my chest and was fingering my right nipple as he spoke.

"You want to know about the very first time?"

"How many times did we play naked games?" I asked.

"Oh lots! Way too many times to count." He said.

"Really?!" I asked in that same mouse sees cat voice, "I swear I thought that one time that I wrote about was the only time all us were together at my aunts."

"No way Simon!" he said, "We used to also go to the park, or everyone came to my house. Sometimes we went to McDonalds to play in the Play Land area too."

"Wait!" I called out as a blurry memory started to come out of the fog.

I had to concentrate real hard, but it apperated before my mind's eye. First like a fog but then became solid.

"Did we break Ronald McDonald?" I asked while drawing out my words as the memory came into slightly better focus.

Lowell laughed real hard and rolled away for a moment. Thankfully there was another huge flash of lightning that lit up the inside of our tent. It was just enough that I saw him on his back laughing and kicking his legs madly in the air. Apparently what I'd said struck him as hilarious.

The light was gone as fast as it came and suddenly there was the biggest clash of thunder we'd experienced thus far.

Lowell and I found ourselves sitting up clutching each other for dear life.

Unexpectedly our tent flap opened and Reverend Vandoan's very wet head appeared, illuminated by a flashlight beneath his chin.

Have you ever seen someone hold a flashlight under their face in the dark? If not, let me tell you that they can look very, very spooky!

Lowell and I were still holding each other there in the middle of the tent when he appeared holding that flashlight like that. The two of us saw him at the same time and as one screamed so loud we actually drowned out the roar of the rain for like five seconds.

"Daddy you scared us to death!" Lowell shouted and did I detect a hint in his voice that he was on the verge of crying?

"Reverend Vandoan! That was not cool!" I screamed and threw a pillow at him.

Shouting at the top of his lungs so that we could hear him over the rain he asked, "You boys ok?"

"That last thunder scared the heck out of us!" I shouted back.

"Do you two want to come sleep in the big tent with us?"

We both shook our heads at the same time.

"No way! We'll get drenched too!" Lowell shouted.

"This rain can't last forever! So sit tight and try to get some sleep! Alright?" he shouted and then vanished.

Lowell rushed to the tent opening again and secured the flaps to keep out the wind and rain. He was just finishing up when there was a flash of lightning and thunder that startled us both again, but him more than me. He launched himself at me and we both fell backward. Thankfully my sore head landed on his pillow.

He got back up off of me and it was too dark to know where he was, but then my pillow hit me in the face.

"OOOOH IT'S WET!" I shouted and pushed it off.

Despite the rain I could hear Lowell laughing somewhere close by.

Then his lips were back on mine and the two of us kissed again for a long time. Actually he missed my lips at first. Instead he was sucking on my nose for a millisecond, which I found very funny, but then his lips found mine. As we tongue wrestled our hands were slipping and sliding all over each other as we were both drenched in sweat. I rolled him again so that I was on top of him once more. I fumbled in the dark until I got hold of both wrists and pinned them over his head. Then, using my legs to separate his, I basically had him lying beneath me spread eagle. I then began to thrust my diaper against his while kissing him passionately. He must have really liked it `cause he was groaning and moaning into my mouth a lot.

I moved his hands together so that I had them both pinned above his head with my left hand. This freed my right hand to do other things. Without lifting my diaper off his, I thrust my hand down inside his very wet diaper. Boy it was warm and wet in there. It was like reaching into a bog... not that I have any idea what reaching into a bog really feels like.

He must have feared I was going to squeeze his balls again because he began to tense up and thrash about in an attempt to get away. However, when I wrapped my hand around his penis he stopped wiggling. I gave his hard boy-rod three tugs which must have felt real good cause he broke off our kiss. He pressed his head into the pillow and arched his back as a strangled gurgle came out of him. Within my grip I felt his penis throb three times.

He finally collapsed under me and exhaled hard. Or maybe I drove the air out of him since I was still on top of him.

Unwilling to let go of his now softening penis, I left my hand there and kissed him sensitively before putting my mouth to his ear.

Now what I did next, I had intended to be playfully mean or at the very least to tickle, but it had the opposite reaction. My lips found his ear and I began to suck and lick his ear lobe. Apparently Lowell really, really, liked this, `cause he was making chipmunk sounds. I was also surprised to find that his penis wasn't done yet. I still had my hand wrapped around it and even after two climaxes in a row; it was quickly re-engorging with blood for a third time.

"Oooooh Simon!" Lowell called out.

He worked his arm between our tummies and realizing what he was trying to do, I lifted up just enough to allow him to slip his hand down into my diaper too. When his hand wrapped around my penis it responded by twitching.

I began to nibble on his ear lobe with my teeth. Boy Lowell loved that! Remembering how Lowell was a week or so back; I started to wonder if he was one of those guys that gets turned on by a little pain. I gave his earlobe a real bite, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough that he was going to feel that one in the morning. At the same time I squeezed his fully engorged penis with all my might.

He cried out while his body went stiff as a board. When I released my bite and loosened my grip he was breathing real hard and making sounds that reminded me of two camels mating.

Somewhere outside the tent there was the sound of metal against metal that distracted us for only an instant.

"What was that?" he moaned.

"Don't know! Don't care either!" I said and bit his ear while squeezing his penis hard again.

"OOOOH!" Lowell cried and laughed at the same time. He then warned me, "You keep that up and I'll explode again!"

"That's kind of the idea!" I said with his ear firmly wedged between my teeth.

This time he gave my penis a squeeze like I was doing to him. I don't know why it was turning him on so much `cause it hurt like hell when he did it to me.

"SHIT!" I cussed but with a moth full of ear it sounded more like "SITH!"

"What?" he asked, "You don't like it?"

I released his ear so I could speak and be understood. "Oh god Lowell! Please don't do that again!"

"You don't have to call me god. You can just call me master." He joked.

I laughed and thrust my tongue into his ear again. It tasted real gross, but Lowell loved it so I kept doing it, trying to get my tongue deeper and deeper. I was imagining licking his brain with the tip of my tongue. He was wiggling and wriggling like mad. It was all I could do to keep hold of him and keep my tongue buried in his ear.

Removing my tongue I asked, "You really like that huh?"

"Don't stop!" he begged.

Instead I slid off him and found his left nipple with my mouth. When I moved, his hand came out of my diaper. With his nipple in my mouth I first sucked on it like a nursing infant, but what really got him going was when I began to nibble on it with my front teeth. That kid went completely out of his freaking mind! I almost lost my grip on his penis a couple times, which should give you an idea how much he was flailing about. I bet if he wasn't wearing the diaper my hand would have slipped off for sure.

I kept switching from nipple to nipple while jacking him as fast as possible. With my left elbow planted firmly beside his arm and shoulder to support myself I was able to use my left hand to play with his wet ear and pinch the lobe.

It took longer to get him off for the third time, but it was worth it. Right as he was about to cum, there was a flash of lightning and a huge boom of thunder almost at the same time. The combination of my nibbling, pinching, squeezing, jacking, and the fear brought on by the loud boom had sent him over the edge.

His right hand had found the back of my neck. When he came his fingers squeezed my neck and he smashed my face against his diaper so hard that I couldn't breathe. It was a discomfort I didn't mind suffering for his pleasure.

I knew his third orgasm was subsiding when his hands relaxed on my neck. Pulling my hand free of his diaper, I jokingly wiped it on his sweat covered tummy. I don't know if he produced any sperm or not `cause it was so wet inside his diaper and the two of us were covered in buckets of sweat. When I wiped my hand on him it made him giggle.

"Stop that, it tickles!" he said.

With one more kiss on what I was sure was a red and raw nipple I fell backward onto my cold, wet pillow.

At first the pillow felt refreshing, but then it put a chill into me and I gave it a fling toward the other end of the tent. Lowell must have sensed what I had done because without saying a word he had slid his pillow over for the two of us to share. I rolled to face him and could feel his hot breath on my face as the two of us wrapped our arms around each other and drifted off to sleep.

________________

Sometime in the middle of the night I awoke with a detonation inside my diaper. Well, at first I thought it was inside my diaper but then I realized that as I slept, Lowell had unsnapped my plastic pants and untapped my thick, wet, disposable, night diaper. I was stunned when I realized just what was happening. That little beast had not just stripped me naked while I slept, he must have got me hard again then sat himself down upon me. Though I could not see him, I sure as hell could feel him bouncing up and down as my penis slid in and out of his backside. I could feel both of his hands resting on my bare, sweaty chest as his anus worked its magic on me.

The little beast had me screwing him while I slept. He later confessed that I'd awoken him when I had been having a bad dream. He wanted to instead give me a good dream in the only way he knew how. So he sucked me until I was hard, then he climbed on top of me and rode me like a horse!

I don't remember the bad or good dream. I only remember waking up as explosions rocked my body. I couldn't shoot sperm anymore thanks to all those drugs messing with my body, but thanks to Lowell I have learned that I can still have the most wonderful, amazing, explosively-awesome orgasms. And what an orgasm it was! I only wish I would have woke up sooner so I could have enjoyed more of it.

Both of my hands were clutching the sleeping bag beneath us as wave after wave of TNT ignited within me. There were a total of seven consecutive detonations; each slightly less powerful than the preceding one.

As I lay recovering I realized that he didn't know I was awake there at the end. I could feel his body shaking and I put two-and-two together. I knew that while I was still inside of him he was jacking himself off.

I guess I fell back to sleep before he came for his fourth time that night `cause the next time I woke up he was lying with his back to me and I could feel my diaper was back on me. I had my arms wrapped around him and the palms of my hands pressed against his chest.

Feeling the slow, heaving of his chest I knew he was sound asleep. I lay there thinking about what the two of us had done and oddly also about Mary. I knew I was willing to be a boyfriend to both Lowell and Mary; however I couldn't help but to wonder if Mary would be willing to share me with Lowell.

It was still raining and the temperature had dropped a little lower than what I was comfortable with. We were both lying on top of Lowell's sleeping bag, which wasn't exactly flat anymore because he had gotten it bunched up with all the... uh... playing, we had been doing. And since we were both on top of his sleeping bag, I fumbled in the dark with one hand and covered the two of us with my bag.

I had tried to do all that without waking Lowell but I hadn't succeeded. As I tried to put my arm back around him, he turned over so that we were once more facing each other.

"Is it morning already?" he groaned and hugged me close.

I chuckled, "Nope. I think it is still the middle of the night."

"Oh, good! I ain't ready to get up yet." He cooed.

I think he had tried to kiss my mouth but in the dark he missed and kissed my right eye instead.

We lay holding each other and listening to each other breathing for a long time. I had thought he had gone back to sleep but then he spoke.

"I didn't finish telling you about our naked games." He said and boy he sounded so sleepy

I chuckled, "Oh yeah! I guess we sort of got distracted. That's ok. You can tell me another time."

It sounded like he was chuckling and yawning at the same time. He snuggled his face close to mine so that his right cheek was resting on mine.

He spoke softly, "I'll take that kind of distraction any night."

"Me too." I said back soothingly.

"Want me to tell you now? Or do you want to sleep?" he asked.

To be honest, I was dying to know what the heck these `Naked Games' were all about. And I tried to hide the desperation as I said, "Please tell me! Even if I go to sleep again! I just like listening to you talk! It's like when you used to record your stories for me and I could listen to you."

"Oooooh yeah! I remember when I did those for you!" he said thoughtfully.

"Hey, did you ever finish that story?" I asked.

"Which one was it again?" he asked.

"The one with the archaeologist boy that wet his pants all the time."

"Oh that's right! Hamunaptra, City of the Dead." Lowell said.

"That's the one! I really like it!"

He yawned as he said, "I told you the end when we were on the ship."

"You did?" I asked.

"Yep, when you were in the pit that one night and I..."

"OOOOH YEAH!" I exclaimed loudly, "I had almost forgot!"

I think I had startled him cause I felt his body convulse just a bit.

"I wish I could forget all of it!" he confessed.

"Well not all of it." I said to him, "There were some pretty good times."

"Yeah, I guess." He agreed but I could hear between his words that he didn't' really agree.

I could tell I had stumbled into a live mind field with Lowell and so I quickly backed away from where the conversation had gone.

"I—I must have fallen asleep when you were telling me `cause I don't remember how it ended." I told him.

"Um," Lowell hummed thoughtfully, "what part do you remember last?"

"I think it was when the boy was trapped in the tomb. Everybody else was dead. A girl gave him some kind of magic rock or something. And I think he was following some kind of sound or something like that down deeper into the tomb."

"OOOOH! That was almost the very end." Lowell sang out and I could tell he was wide awake once more.

"Do you remember how he got that magic stone that kept him cool even though it was so hot?" Yeah, from that girl he was seeing and smelling all over the place.

"Yeah" Lowell laughed at the `smelling all over' bit.

He then went on to tell me, "Good! Well, he went down a bunch of stone steps and found a dragon at the bottom that was chained to the ground, the walls, and the cave ceiling with seventy-seven chains. The dragon turned out to be none other than Lucifer, the devil."

"You know, I had a feeling it was going to be a dragon." I confessed.

"Why?" Lowell asked.

"Dunno, just did."

"Well, there was a really good wetting scene where the boy and the dragon talked. The dragon could smell the pee. The dragon lied to the boy, trying to trick him into coming closer. He was telling the boy he had the power to fix the boy so he never wet again. When the boy approached the dragon to receive this wonderful gift the dragon tried to eat the boy. But then the boy shoved that magic stone down the dragon's throat and turned him into ice."

"Oh a Dragon-sicle! That was smart!" I said and then asked, "How'd he get out of the tomb?"

"You mean the boy or the dragon?" Lowell asked.

"Yeah the boy. Wait! The dragon got out too?" I asked.

"No! No! When the dragon was frozen, the tomb collapsed and the boy escaped just in the nick of time. It all ended with the boy standing at the end of the now reburied tomb. Everything they had been digging up, all those cities and stuff got reburied. He was standing there looking over everything that was buried as the sun rose behind him."

"Whoa! That was a really good ending, Lowell."

"Yeah, well now you know." He chuckled.

"Yeah! And I'm just sorry I had to wait so long to hear that awesome ending!" I told him, "Can I read some of your other stories someday."

"You can read all of them!"

"No wait! I want you to record them for me instead! Like you used to do."

Lowell giggled, "I knew you were going to say that."

"Now tell me about the naked games." I begged.

"Oh yeah!" he grunted in this really cute way.

He sounded a bit like Mary when he said that. I bet he even scrunched up his nose the way she does.

"Well, sometimes we'd do naked shows; like acting. Sometimes we'd play doctor."

"Doctor? Really?" I chuckled.

"Well everybody's got to play doctor at least once when they are growing up!" Lowell laughed.

"My favorite naked games were when we would dare each other to do stuff."

"Really? When we were so young we still played dare?" I asked.

"Peter thought up most of the games. I think maybe his older brother was teaching him the games."

"Wait! Peter has an older brother?!"

"Uh, no, he has three. Well he had three. They are all dead now."

"WHAT?!" I gasped.

"He never told you?"

"NO!"

"Yeah, all three died from drugs."

I couldn't help but to be dumbstruck by this information.

"I—I never knew!" I said.

"He was so little when the first two died. Like one or two I think."

"Dang!"

"Yeah, the third one died like four or five months ago or something like that. It's why Peter is so against drugs."

"I'd never guessed Peter would be anti-anything that was against the law. Well I mean back then. Now he is some sort of super straight student soldier."

Lowell laughed.

"What?" I asked.

Lowell continued to laugh as he said, "You said super straight."

I laughed too at his lame gay joke.

"So anyway, he was the one that kept coming up with different naked games and almost always was the one to suggest the idea in the first place." Lowell said.

"Dang! I really wish I could remember that stuff." I groaned.

"Yeah, we had some crazy fun!" he confessed.

"This one time Peter got you and Jasper to dress up like girls. We pretended that we were your husbands. We kissed and stuff like that."

I began to wonder something and had to ask. "Did we ever do sex stuff?"

"You mean like sucking and screwing?" he asked.

"Yeah like that."

"Well sucking but we never did screwing."

"Wow! I really want to remember all that." I said.

"I wish you could remember too." Lowell said and kissed my lips softly.

"I just had a weird thought." I said after a short silence between us.

"What's that?"

"So you, me, Peter, and Jasper were all like playmates when we were real little; but when we were grown none of us were really friends anymore. Well except you and Jasper."

"Yeah." Lowell said as though he were waiting for more.

"So, I was wondering if Peter remembers any of that stuff. I wonder if maybe he used to pick on Jasper `cause he remembered and was afraid Jasper would blab it to the entire world?"

"I don't know." Lowell said and again there was a bit of silence between us before he added, "You could always write to Peter up at that military school and ask him."

I don't know if Lowell meant that to be funny or not but it sure struck my funny bone.

________________

The two of us went silent, listening to the roar of rain against the tent. The lightning and thunder seemed to have stopped for the time being.

We were lying side by side; so close that all of Lowell's right side was touching all of my left side. My left hand fingers were intertwined with his right hand fingers. So when Lowell began to shake I felt it.

I turned my head toward him so that my mouth was by his ear again.

"Are you crying?"

I felt his breath on my face and knew he'd turned toward me.

"Nooo!"

"Are you playing with yourself again?!" I asked with utter amazement!

"I am laughing."

"Oh! What about?"

"Something funny I did last year at school."

"What's that?"

"Um, if I tell you, do you swear you will never tell a living soul as long as you live?"

"Lowell! Do you want your jewels crushed again?"

He laughed.

"Okay, but when you hear this you will understand." He said and then went on to tell me what he found so funny from last year.

"Well, it is actually two things, but they both happened at the same time. This one week we had a substitute teacher that was a real nasty lady. She yelled at everyone and if anyone made so much as a sniffle sound she would bang this big wooden ruler on the desk and shout at everyone to be quiet. We had been given a homework assignment to write about our hero. She was real strict about how it was to be written. It had to be written in ink, we had to skip every other line, I think it was 600 words and the part I missed was that it had to be done on college rule notebook paper. You know the kind with the skinny writing lines. Also we couldn't use the kind that you rip out of a spiral notepad."

"Well, when I turned it in, I had done it on regular notebook paper, not college rule paper. The way she was acting you would have thought I had just handed her a flaming diaper filled with poo."

"Gee-whiz she sounds positively atrocious." I said sympathetically.

"Oh Simon, she was the worst. Imagine a fat, older version of Mrs. Wriggle with gray hair all rolled up in one really tight ball right on top of her head. Her hair was pulled so tight that I don't think she could even blink."

I rolled up onto one elbow momentarily and then lowered myself back down so that all of me was now facing Lowell. I put an arm over him, letting my hand rest on the small of his back.

I then told him, "I'd rather not picture anything to do with those two..."

There was another, loud crash of thunder, which drowned out my final three words. However, that was a good thing `cause they were not nice words at all.

Lowell went on to tell me, "She went bonkers and was yelling at me like all the evil in the world was somehow my fault. She sent me back to my seat and refused to accept my assignment. She made me stay after school that day and completely rewrite the whole thing and still she ended up giving me an F."

Lowell moved closer so that our bellies were now touching as though we were connected at the belly button. And though I couldn't see him, it sure felt like our faces were super close to each other. Less than an inch, I would guess. I wanted to kiss him again but then he went on with his little story.

"The next week when our regular teacher returned, she told us that none of the work the substitute assigned us was going to be counted. I guess she gave everyone really bad grades too."

"Well, for the rest of the week that we had that witch, I was miserable. She wouldn't let me go to the nurse's office when I needed a change or nothing."

"On Friday, which turned out to be the last day we had to put up with her, she caught me in the hallway before class and was yelling at me."

"What was she yelling at you about this time?" I asked kind of angrily.

"I haven't a clue! Heck, Simon I didn't even know back then. All I knew was I was walking down the hallway minding my own business when she grabbed my arm and pulled so hard I dropped my books. She was red faced with anger about something but I don't have any idea what I did."

"Anyway, I got to class a couple minutes before her or anyone else. And well, I saw her long, gray wool coat hanging on the back of the classroom door. I swear Simon, I didn't plan it or anything, I... well, I just had this idea pop into my head all of a sudden. It was like, I thought, what would Simon do and `POP', there was the idea. I reached into her coat pockets, pulled out her gloves one at a time and..."

Lowell paused and at the worst time. I was on the proverbial edge of my seat with anticipation.

"THEN WHAT!" I insisted.

"Well, I pulled down the front of my pants and my diaper, stuck my doodle into her glove and peed. Well it wasn't as easy as that. I had to really try hard to pee, but soon enough I started and filled first one glove, then the other. I carefully put the gloves back into the pockets so as not to spill any pee on the outside of her coat where she would see."

I was beside myself with laughter, but had to ask, "Didn't the gloves leak?"

"No! They were leather or vinyl or something like that. Real shiny and didn't leak at all."

"Whoa cool!"

"So like, I then saw her umbrella leaning in the corner behind the door so I peed in it too. I had to really squeeze out the last of my pee, but I got enough into it. Then leaned it right back where I had found it."

"Lowell!" I gasped and laughed, "That was brilliant but what made you think I'd do something like that!"

"Oh please! You know you would have done it if you thought of it." Lowell said.

I had to give him that one, "Yeah, I probably would, but still Lowell. You came up with it and actually did it! I know this sounds completely wrong, but I am so proud of you!"

Lowell giggled, "Ooh but wait! You haven't heard the best part yet."

"So about halfway through class there was a fire bell. It turned out there wasn't really a fire; someone had pulled the fire alarm as a joke. Anyway, everyone had to leave the class and go outside. It was cold and wet and not raining but drizzling out too. Since all our coats were in our lockers, we had to go out without coats. However, not that evil witch!"

Lowell laughed hard.

"Oh Simon, I wish you could have heard her when she screamed. We were all standing outside. She was one of the last to come out of the school. When she stepped out into the drizzling rain, the first thing she did was to raise that umbrella over her head to open it. But she didn't even get a chance to open it as my pee splashed down on her head."

Lowell and I were laughing like maniacs.

"I would have given just about anything to have seen that." I laughed and hugged him tighter.

"Well she must not have realized right away that it was pee, `cause she threw down the umbrella and thrust her hands into the pockets for them gloves. I guess she was cold."

Lowell went off on another fit of giggles.

"She screamed again when she pulled out the gloves which she had squished inside her pockets." Lowell said.

"Did you get into trouble?" I asked between panting-laughter.

"Nope! Not a bit. No one ever knew it was me." He laughed maniacally, "The funniest part was when she smelled her gloves and realized that it wasn't just water."

"What happened?" I asked.

"She screamed so loud that she actually drowned out the fire truck as it was pulling into the parking lot. She was cussing and screaming at every single student." Lowell said, but it was hard to understand him due to his insane laughter.

When he calmed down enough he went on to tell me, "After the firemen figured out that it was a prank we all got to go back in. But we were all cold and wet so everyone was allowed to go to their lockers, get their gym clothes and then go change. The locker rooms were packed but that was ok `cause we got to spend the rest of the day playing in the gym or sitting in the lunch room talking or go to library."

"Whoa, I can't believe Mr. Freeman actually let everyone goof off the rest of the day like that." I exclaimed.

"You know, come to think of it, I never actually saw him that day. Or Mr. Nazi... I mean Mr. Graff for that matter." Lowell said sleuthilly.

"Mr. Nazi?" I laughed.

After that, the two of us laid there talking for a little while longer before we both gave into sleep. We were naked belly to naked belly, diaper front to diaper front, and arms lovingly wrapped around each other. Neither one of us woke again the rest of the night.