Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 12:02:19 -0500
From: Jeff Wilson <vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com>
Subject: W.A.R. Part X - 2

     Welcome once again to a special extra chapter of W.A.R..  Or should I
say, an extra-special chapter?  This may be one of my all-time favorites,
and I had to make sure that it found its way into the series.

     This story is a story of contrasts.  It is the story of Brett and
Dustin.  Two boys who we know will eventually come to hate each other
bitterly because of Billy.  But they didn't always hate each other.  They
have mentioned here and there that there was a time when they didn't hate
each other.  Dustin's mother at one time said that they were friends.  That
may have been pushing it.  But I think you'll get a new perspective on what
may have contributed to their feud in this chapter.

     This chapter would fall into the WAR story probably at about the same
time as the "Camping with Dad" story.  So it's in the fall between "Black
Summer" and "Cold Winter."  Also, this is completely rewritten from the
sketch I wrote back then.  So much so, that this chapter was pretty much
all written after I wrote part four.


		    W.A.R. Part X -- The Extra Chapters

			       Dustin's Day

			      by Jeff Wilson


     "Wake up, Brett!  Mrs. Smith will be here in a half an hour!"

     Brett Reilly slowly stirred from his bed.  On Saturdays, Brett always
slept in.  He had forgotten that it was time for bowling to start again.
He kicked his feet out of the bed and stood up.  He stretched and yawned.
He scratched his bare chest and belly.  He did not feel like bowling.  He
found a tee shirt and slipped it over his head before walking downstairs to
the kitchen.  His mom was working busily at the sink.

     "Do I have to go bowling?"  Brett asked in his best sad voice.

     "No."  His mom said.  "But you have to call the bowling alley and you
have to call Carol Smith and tell her not to pick you up.

     "I don't want to ride with them.  She's a big fat bitch."  Brett said.
"Why can't you drive me?"

     "Brett Reilly!  Don't call people names!  You have to go with them
because I made a deal with Mrs.  Smith.  I'm driving next week."

     Brett grumbled and sat at the table.  He quickly wolfed down his
breakfast, as was his habit.  His mom knew better than to try to get him to
slow down.  He would just eat faster when she said that.  He finished
eating and gulped down his milk.  His mom reminded him to wash his hair as
he walked back up the stairs to the bathroom.

     Brett flipped his shirt off and tugged off his boxers.  He checked out
his hair in the mirror.  It looked fine to him.  He didn't know why his mom
was constantly telling him to wash it.  He jumped in the shower and quickly
washed himself off.  He stuck his head under the water and got his hair
wet.  Then he turned off the water and dried himself off.

     He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked toward his room.

     "I told you to wash your hair," his mom said before he made it into
his room.

     "I did."  Brett said.

     "Sticking your head under the faucet is not washing your hair.  Get
back in there, it's greasy."

     "I'll give you greasy..."  Brett grumbled to himself as he stomped
back to the bathroom to wash his hair properly.

     "Get your ass out of bed, we're late!"  Dustin's mom yelled, banging
on his door.

     Dustin Smith awoke with a start.  He quickly jumped out of bed, but
his legs weren't ready and he fell right onto the floor.  His whole body
ached.  He tried to stretch his arms and legs, to get the pain out of his
joints.  He wished his mom would be home at night, instead of at work.
Maybe then, she wouldn't be so grouchy.  He walked to his door, and
examined the broken lock on it.  "Well, that hadn't helped much..."  He
thought to himself.  He walked over to the bathroom and slipped off his
jogging pants, shorts, and underwear.  He pulled his shirt and tee-shirt
off and tossed them into the hamper.  He looked at his pasty white skin in
the mirror.  He was always pale.  If he went out in the sun for too long
without sun block, he would turn redder than his hair.

     He jumped into the shower and felt the water hit him.  Unfortunately,
his sister had beaten him to the shower.  The water was freezing.  He
soaped himself up and just as he was getting ready to rinse off, the door
opened.

     "Hey!"  He yelled, "I'm trying to take a shower here!"

     "Shut the hell up!"  His sister Amanda cursed.  She stood at the sink
and started putting make-up on.  Dustin angrily thought that it wouldn't do
much good.  He started to rinse off, but then, for no reason, Amanda
flushed the toilet.  Dustin's water supply turned into a trickle.

     "What the fuck?"  Dustin angrily shouted.

     "Didn't anyone ever tell you to flush after you piss in the toilet?"
Amanda said as she walked out of the bathroom, leaving the door open.

     Dustin was furious.  He did what he could to get the soap off while
waiting for the water pressure to come back.  When it did, it was scorching
hot.  Dustin yelped and turned the hot water down.  He finished washing his
face and hair.  He jumped out of the tub and quickly closed the door.  He
dried off and spent about ten minutes working on his hair.  When it was
perfectly spiked, he put all of his clothes back on and walked to his room.
Then he took all of those clothes off and put on his clothes for bowling.

     He walked down to the kitchen and found a bowl for his cereal.  He
reached for the box of frosted corn flakes, but the box was empty.

     "What the heck?"  Dustin said angrily.  He looked to the table and saw
Amanda, finishing the last of the frosted flakes.  "What are you doing?
You hate frosted flakes!"

     "I felt like something different today."  Amanda said smugly.

     Dustin demanded, "Then why did you put the empty box back on the
shelf?"

     "Shut up, dickhead."  Amanda said as she poured the rest of her bowl
and many frosted flakes into the sink.  Dustin scowled at her as she walked
out of the kitchen.  Dustin was about to look for something else to eat
when his mom came into the kitchen.

     "Let's go.  We're going to be late."  She said.  Then she looked into
the sink.  "Dustin!  How many times have I told you not to put cereal in
the sink?"

     "I didn't!  It was Amanda!"  Dustin protested.

     "Amanda doesn't eat frosted flakes, Dustin.  Clean this up."

     "But I didn't do it!"  Dustin said, frustrated.  His mom quickly
slapped him hard on the back of his head.

     "Don't talk back to me!" She said angrily.  "And don't lie either!
You clean this shit up and get your ass out to the car.  If you're not out
there in three minutes, I'm leaving without you."

     Dustin found a spoon and started to clean up the frosted flakes out of
the sink.  His vision blurred as he tried to hold back the tears that were
filling up his eyes.  "Boys don't cry," he kept telling himself.  He rinsed
out the sink and walked to the door to get the only thing in his life that
made him happy, his bowling bag.  He walked out the door and out to the
car.

     "Let's go."  His mom said.  They drove for a while through the town
until they came to the part of town where all of the houses were nice.
Dustin thought it was funny that his house was just on the other side of
the woods over the hill behind Brett's house.  Nobody was eager to put a
road between their neighborhoods, though.

     They pulled into the driveway of the big white house near the woods.
Dustin's mom told him to get out and knock on the door.  Dustin wondered
why she didn't just beep the horn, but he obeyed.  Just as he was about to
knock, the door opened and out walked Brett.

     "Why did you get out?"  He asked.  "I knew you were here."

     "My mom made me."  Dustin said.

     "Oh.  Well, I get shotgun."  Brett said as he walked quickly to the
car.

     Brett opened the door to the car and quickly hopped into the front
seat.  He didn't seem to notice that Dustin was scowling at him from the
back seat.  Mrs. Smith pulled out of the driveway and down the street.  She
asked Brett how he was doing.

     "I'm okay.  I had to get a new pair of bowling shoes because my feet
grew three sizes over the summer."  Brett replied.

     "Oh... That's interesting.  You do look taller than you did before.
Your mom probably had to buy you a whole new wardrobe."

     "Yeah.  I grew five inches in the last year."  Brett said happily.
Brett was happy that he wouldn't have people calling him a shrimp anymore.
Dustin slumped down into his seat so that his knees pressed into the back
of Brett's seat.  Brett didn't think much of it, since he had been a little
rude in claiming the front seat.  But he still felt a little bit of
discomfort as they arrived at the bowling alley.  The boys jumped out of
the car and Mrs. Smith looked for a parking spot.

     "What the fuck were you doing putting your stupid knees in my back,
asshole?"  Brett asked angrily.  Then Brett noticed Mrs. Smith getting out
of the car.  "Oh you've got to be kidding me.  She's not coming in with us
is she?"  Brett asked.

     "Yeah."  Dustin said.  "She's gonna stay."

     "Oh that's just fucking swell."  Brett said sarcastically.  "Just what
I need.  Your fucking mother to yell at us while we're trying to bowl.  I'm
going to make my mom go away when she drives us."

     "Well don't blame me.  I don't want her to come in anymore than you
do."  Dustin said angrily.  For some reason no one annoyed Dustin more than
Brett.  Maybe it was the fact that Brett always seemed to think he was
better than Dustin at everything.  Maybe it was the fact that Brett always
had more money and better things than Dustin.  Maybe it was the fact that
Brett was always proper and polite around grown ups but tended to be a jerk
when they were gone.  Maybe it was Brett's annoying constant complaining.
Or maybe it was the fact that Brett had basically stolen Dustin's best
friend right out from under him.

     Brett walked into the bowling alley with Dustin trailing behind him.
They walked up to the front desk where Brett asked the owner of the alley
where they were going to play.

     The owner told them where they were to go.  "You guys are on three and
four this week.  You're on the same team again, with Jason, Tyler, and
Teddy."

     "Who's Teddy?"  Brett asked.

     "New boy this year.  He's young, so you better watch your language
this year Brett."

     "Oh, fuck off, Barry."  Brett said jokingly.

     The boys walked to their lanes and got their things ready.  "I can't
wait to see what this new ball will do."  Brett said as he pulled out his
new bowling ball.

     "Wow, an Ebonite Apex!"  Dustin said in awe.  "How'd you get that?"

     "It only cost a hundred and fifty dollars."  Brett said
matter-of-factly.  "My hand grew too big for that old Fusion.  Maybe I
should give it to one of the younger bowlers."

     Dustin tried to slip on his bowling shoe, but he discovered that he
couldn't squeeze into it.  Brett already had his new shoes on and was
practicing with his new ball.  Dustin walked back to his mom, who was now
sitting with some of the other mothers who had come to watch.

     "My shoes don't fit anymore."  Dustin said.  Many of the mothers
laughed.

     One mother said, "Oh, my little Aaron had to get new shoes over the
summer too, Carol."

     Another replied, "These boys grow up so quickly nowadays."

     Dustin's mom took his old shoes and sent him to the counter to get
alley shoes for the day.  Luckily, Barry the owner didn't charge for shoe
rental for leagues.  Dustin slipped on his rental shoes and walked back to
his lane.  He grabbed his ball and noticed that it seemed tighter than
before.  He walked onto the lane to practice, but his footing wasn't good
with the alley shoes and the ball was so tight on his hand now that he
couldn't get it off his hand until it was too late.  He lost his balance.
The ball went spiraling into the gutter and Dustin fell forward.  He fell
forward over the lane.  He put his hands out in front of himself to break
his fall.  But when his hands hit the lane they slid in the lane oil and
Dustin landed hard on his chin.

     Above the sound of all the kids and adults laughing at him, Dustin
heard Brett's voice shout, "Foul."  Dustin managed to get himself up and
walk back to the ball return.  Brett rolled on the next lane and got
another practice strike.  He was wiping his eyes from laughing so hard.
Barry the owner walked up to Dustin.

     "You okay?"  Barry asked.

     "Your shoes suck, Barry."  Dustin said, rubbing his chin where he had
bashed it into the lane.

     "I think I can help you.  Bring your ball and come with me."  Barry
said.  Dustin scooped up his ball and walked with Barry.  They walked to
the end of the alley and down past the lanes to the back room.  Dustin had
been back there before, but he was always in awe of the machinery that
always made sure the pins were placed perfectly.  Barry walked Dustin to a
door in the back and into the pro shop.  Barry quickly took Dustin's ball.
Then he measured Dustin's hand.  Dustin watched curiously while Barry
filled in the holes on his ball and re-drilled it.  Then he asked Dustin
what size his old shoes were.  Barry walked to a shelf full of shoe boxes
and brought him a box of size ten and a half Dexters.

     "Here, use these."  Barry said.  "They're some of the best ones we
have.  I use this kind myself."

     "But, Barry, I can't pay for..."

     Barry quickly put his hand up and interrupted, "Don't worry about
that."

     "But I..."

     "It's a gift," Barry said firmly, "From one bowler to another."

     "Thanks, Barry." Dustin smiled broadly and, to the surprise of both of
them, he hugged Barry.  As soon as he did it, Dustin felt weird about it.
But then Barry smiled and patted him on the back firmly.

     "You just wait and see.  You're going to be good, Dustin.  Real good.
Brett can buy all kinds of balls and stuff, but you've got more talent than
him.  Don't worry about it when he comes in here with all new stuff.  I've
seen guy spend thousands of dollars on stuff for a 160 average, and you've
already got that.  Just bowl and have fun."

     Dustin nodded and took in Barry's words.  Then they walked back out to
the lanes.  Dustin noticed that Brett was looking curiously at his new
shoes and was trying to figure out what was different about his ball.  And
after their match was over, when the team had won all three games, Dustin
had finished with the high series for the league with a 567.

     The boys walked back to Dustin's mom, and she congratulated him on the
game.  She told him that she had talked to Barry during the match and
wanted to pay him.  Barry had refused and just said to have fun.  Dustin
could see that Brett was trying to look like he was not paying attention to
their conversation, but he knew that he was.  The disgusted look on his
face after the game was enough to keep Dustin happy for a few weeks.

     Dustin walked up to the counter to talk to Barry.  Barry gave Dustin
his hand to shake.

     "That was some great bowling, Dustin."  Barry said.

     "Thanks to you."  Dustin replied.

     Barry shook his head.  "Shoes and balls and stuff can only do so much.
You just keep up the good work."

     Brett called shotgun as they walked to the car.  But Dustin didn't
care.  He wasn't even going to try to stick his knees in his back this
time.  For a day, he didn't feel like the poorest kid he knew.  This was
Dustin's day today, and he was a winner.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X


     I hope you enjoyed this little peak into the lives of Brett and
Dustin.
  This is the kind of thing that would be impossible to write from Billy's
perspective.  In fact, if you look through this story you wouldn't find
Billy in it at all except for one passing reference.

     I originally had a quick little sketch of Brett and Dustin bowling and
of Brett being jealous because Dustin was better than him.  That evolved
into the chapter where Brett punched Billy after Billy and Dustin beat him.
But the idea remained in my head that these boys have a past.  I wanted to
explore that a little more.

     Like I said, I wrote these little stories to get a better insight into
the characters.  I wanted Brett to be more than just "the boyfriend" and
Dustin to be more than just "the third wheel."  Their lives are almost
opposites of each other, but there are a few things that connect them.
Billy is the one that causes the most problems.  Bowling is another.

     If you'd like to talk about this or any other chapter, I'd be glad to
do so with you.  Just write to:


vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com

     I'm not sure what's next.  I've got lots of part five slugged out, but
it still needs a lot of work because it's kind of choppy at the moment.
I've got the story of Mike and Dustin I could use, but I think I've pretty
much gotten that all out through the WAR main story itself.  So I don't
know what's next.  Could be anything at this point.

***** One more thing...  I finally broke down and got one of those yahoo
groups.  It's called:

                 squirrelwriter

     It's in the relationships/ erotic stories (WAR is erotic?) area under
the adult section and I'm not sure exactly how it works and all.  I'm a
cyber nit-wit.  But you can feel free to join it and maybe I'll put some
stuff on there.  Just give me time to figure all of that stuff out.