Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 13:43:38 +0100 From: Drew Hunt Subject: The House On The Hill 16 This work is copyright. I have given permission for a copy of this story to be placed on the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement. But This work may not be copied or archived onto any other website or newsgroup without the prior written permission of the author. This story is fiction, it didn't happen, to the best of the author's knowledge no one in the story exists in real life. If you have a problem with reading stories of a homosexual nature, then bugger off. Also you shouldn't read on if you are below the age of consent, or you have the misfortune to reside in an area where reading and downloading this kind of material is against the law. Tom W and Lars have offered their invaluable thanks once again. Chapter 16 Ben walked from the car park of St Winifred's High School towards the playground with a lump in his stomach, formed from his undigested breakfast. He hadn't wanted anything to eat that morning, but Sarah had insisted. Ben was grateful that Robbie was with him. He'd seen his new school before; his middle school had organised a half day there to help acclimatise the newcomers. During the visit, Ben didn't think that he'd ever find his way around the maze of passageways and staircases. There just seemed to be so many of them. Though he recalled having the same thoughts when he'd moved to the middle school. As the large number of bodies milling around the schoolyard swallowed him up, Ben began to wish that the holidays could have lasted another week. St Winifred's had a much larger population than his old school. Sensing his friend's unease, Robbie put a reassuring hand on Ben's shoulder. "Don't forget it looks more crowded because there's a few mums and dads here, too." Ben wanted to bury his head in Robbie's chest and be comforted, but knew he had to remain outwardly strong. Ben's new school uniform also felt rather strange and uncomfortable. He'd rarely had to wear a shirt and tie before. It felt as if the collar of the shirt was biting into his neck. He occasionally reached up and ran a finger round the inside of the collar to loosen it. "Robbie Foster, well, fancy seeing you here." A woman came up to Robbie and shook his hand vigorously. "No, don't tell me. It'll come to me in a minute." Robbie stared hard at the smiling woman in front of him. She had a round, open face framed by a mass of unruly black curls. She stood about 5 feet eight inches or so, with a fairly slim frame. Snapping his fingers, "Nancy Clayton," he said in triumph. "I haven't seen you since, well, since we last saw each other," Robbie chuckled. "Yes, in this very schoolyard. And it's Nancy Pearson now, and this is my son Joshua." Nancy was one of the few people during his schooldays that Robbie could call a friend. Though when Nancy had left at 16, with Robbie staying on for A Levels, the pair had lost touch. Robbie looked across at the boy standing next to Nancy. Joshua was the same height as his mother. Although Nancy wasn't a large woman, Joshua looked much bulkier, though his size seemed to be made up more from muscle than fat. However, the most striking thing about him was his skin, which was a rich coffee colour. Robbie tried to hide his surprise as best he could. Nancy let out a laugh; she'd spotted Robbie's momentary shock. "Josh's dad's black, we met when I went on holiday to Jamaica. I thought it'd just be one of those holiday type romances, but we kept in touch afterwards, and decided that it was the real thing." She smiled wistfully at the remembered evenings walking along moonlit beaches, holding hands with the very tall, broad and devastatingly good-looking apprentice motor mechanic. "Great to meet you, Joshua." "Please Mr, call me Josh," a smooth quiet voice said. Josh couldn't meet Robbie's eyes; he was just too shy and nervous at starting at a new school. Though pretty large physically, Josh was by nature rather timid, especially around people he didn't know. Being one of the few coloured kids in the area didn't help boost his self-confidence, either. "Please, you must call me Robbie." Robbie held out his hand to shake. "And this young man is Ben Powers. You remember Carl Powers, Nancy? Well, this here is his son." "Oh yes, of course." "It's Ben's first day, and as Carl's working over in Boroughton, I brought him along today," Robbie said. "You starting here today too, Josh?" "Yeah, erm, Robbie, that's right." Robbie couldn't fail to miss the pensive expression on Josh's cast down face. It was a mirror image of Ben's. "I know starting at a new school can be a bit daunting. At least you don't have Sister Margarita to deal with, ay Nancy?" Nancy laughed loudly, causing a few people who were standing nearby to look at her. Josh winced; his mother was always drawing attention to them. "Jesus, that woman put the fear of God into me more than once, the evil old cow. Remember when she caught the Locke brothers taking money from the second years that once?" "Yeah, they got a right good slippering from the old dragon, in front of the whole school, too," Robbie observed. "Didn't do any good to them though, did it?" Nancy said quietly. "Still there's no turning round some people." Robbie nodded. He'd secretly cheered when the two brother's had got punished, he regarded it as payback for all the occasions they'd baited him in the past, before Carl had come on the scene. "Whose class are you in, Josh?" Robbie asked. "Mr Peterson's," Josh said in a small voice. "Same as mine," Ben said in an equally small voice. "That's great," Robbie encouraged. 'Was I as bad as this when I started?' he mused. "Now you both know someone, it might not be as scary." "See, I told you you'd find a friend, Josh love." Turning to Robbie, "Not many of his class have moved up to this school, and he doesn't have many friends, either." The bell rang to signal the start of school, and everyone moved towards the doors. Once the crush died away, Robbie, Ben, Nancy and Josh made their way inside. "Hasn't changed much," Robbie observed, seeing once again the labyrinth of corridors painted in the same unattractive institutional green. "God, I know," Nancy said. Josh winced again; he didn't think it was a good idea to take the Lord's name in vain, particularly as they were in a Catholic school. The four made their way to the small dining hall where the year seven's were to be processed. After a fair amount of bureaucratic red tape, Josh and Ben discovered that not only were they in the same form, they had a number of subjects together, too. The head of lower school then raised his voice above the din, and announced that all parent's had just a couple more minutes before their offspring would be lead away to begin their lessons. Throughout the room there were endless examples of squirming children trying to evade their parents' attempts to kiss them goodbye. "Not here, mum!" Robbie heard more than one blushing child say through gritted teeth. "Okay Ben, time to go." "Yeah." Ben felt terrible. "You'll try and get Lady in at the Vet's won't you?" Ben tried to distract himself by thinking of his newly acquired pet. He had patted her goodbye that morning, telling himself that the next time he saw her he'd have got through his first day. "Don't worry, love. Sarah said she'd ring them as soon as they opened this morning, and you know Sarah, she won't have stood for any nonsense from the receptionist," Robbie said rubbing Ben's back. This had brought a faint smile to Ben's lips. At first, Sarah had been horrified at the thought of a dog shedding hairs everywhere, and she wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of discovering numerous 'unpleasant surprises' around the place, either. But as soon as Ben had told her that Lady had been found abandoned by the side of the road, plus Lady treating Sarah to the full lost pup expression at full wattage, Sarah did a complete reversal, and went into full protection of "the sweet innocent little mite" mode. Sarah then went scurrying around finding a feeding bowl, plus something to "tempt the precious little thing" into eating something. Once the kids had been lead away, Robbie couldn't fail to notice that many of the mothers, and some of the fathers too, were battling hard not to cry. "He's growing up too quickly," Nancy, normally quite an ebullient woman, said, fighting back her emotions. "It doesn't seem like two minutes since I was taking him to nursery school." Robbie put an arm around her. "Can't stop the march of progress, much as we'd love to." "Yeah," Nancy said sniffing. "Well, there's nothing much more we can do here, I suppose," Robbie said, trying to remain calm himself. "I remember all too clearly being in their position," he said, pointing at the now closed door that the children had passed through a few minutes earlier. "Yeah, me too." "Look, if you've got a few minutes, do you fancy going for a coffee or something?" Robbie said, trying to lift the mood. "Oh please. Jamie will be out at work till this evening, and I thought I'd be okay, but I don't fancy being by myself just yet." Robbie squeezed her shoulder, the two then walked to the car park. "Do you want to follow me to the town centre?" Robbie said standing by his car. "Oh, erm, I've not got my own car, Josh and me came on the bus this morning." Robbie could have kicked himself, he'd just assumed that all adults had their own private transport; he'd forgotten that not everyone was so privileged. "Hop in then, we'll go for a coffee and a cream bun in town, I think my diet can stand me being a bit naughty just this once." Nancy smiled. "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." "Well, I won't tell if you won't." Nancy laughed, remembering one of the phrases that the pair had used when they were at school. Before setting off, Robbie called Sarah on his mobile phone, learning that she'd 'talked' the receptionist at the Vet's into getting an appointment for 1 pm that afternoon. * * * * * Sitting at a table in the rear of the café, Robbie and Nancy began to reminisce about the old days at St Winifred's, both admitting that although they didn't appreciate it at the time, they'd quite enjoyed themselves. Nancy also shared a little of how she and her husband, Jamie, had gotten together, and how the immigration authorities had been suspicious of Jamie marrying her, believing that he'd only done so in order to remain in the country. "So did you get married, Rob?" Robbie had grown used to answering 'no' to such enquiries, the word was on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself. Although he wasn't married to Carl, saying 'no,' Robbie felt would somehow be denying what he and Carl had together. "Oh, I'm happy as I am," he said hoping he'd given a satisfactory answer. "That's good." Thinking of something else. "Hey, did you see Sister Angelina coming down the library steps as we walked past?" "Yeah. God, didn't she look old?" Nancy laughed loudly. "She looked old when she taught us." "Yeah, I know." The two remained in the café for about half an hour, continuing to reminisce. * * * * * The bell to signal the end of morning school sounded. Ben and Josh had just experienced their first geography lesson. However, the majority of the time had been spent with the handing out of exercise and textbooks. The remainder of the lesson had been spent with Mr Armstrong going over what they would study during the year. Ben was surprised to find that the subject sounded quite interesting, he thought that they'd just be learning about maps and things, but Mr Armstrong had talked of agriculture, trade winds and sea temperatures. "Okay, you lot, as it's your first day here, I'll walk with those of you who are brave enough to sample the delights that the school's catering staff are offering, and show you the way to the canteen," Mr Armstrong said loudly above the din of banging desk lids and chairs being scraped back. "For those of you whose parents took the wise precaution of protecting you from such culinary horrors, and provided you with a packed lunch, we'll go via the main doors, and you can find somewhere to eat your sandwiches outside." "What you doing for lunch, Josh?" Ben asked as the two left the classroom. "Mum gave me some money to get a meal," Josh said, digging into his back pocket. He came to a sudden halt in the corridor, when he realised that he hadn't picked the money up from its place on the kitchen worktop, where his mother had left it. Terry Young, a year nine pupil, cannoned into the back of Josh, knocking him forward. "Hey, watch it," Josh said. "Get out of the way, Paki," the older boy sneered, as he tried to push his way past Josh. Though he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable what with the new school environment, the recent discovery of his lack of funds, and now having racist names flung at him, Josh remained outwardly calm. Ben was also feeling unsettled about the newness of the school, but he was horrified at the name-calling. However being a timid person, Ben didn't say anything. Mr Armstrong had heard the racist remark; he'd stopped his class of pupils, and was bearing down on Terry. Josh closed his eyes, and tried to block out the raised voice of Mr Armstrong. "Master Young, why am I not in the least bit surprised to learn that the long summer holiday has done nothing to temper your obnoxiousness? Still, I guess I should have realised that miracles no longer happen. Though I'd have thought it would have taken you a little longer than," Mr Armstrong consulted his watch, "three hours and ten minutes, before you ended up being reported." "Sir, he was in my way." "That did not give you cause to open that cesspool of an oral orifice of yours and spill forth the vilest of pejoratives, geographically inaccurate as they were, did it?" "Huh?" 'Why does old Strongarm always sound like he's swallowed the bleedin' dictionary?' Terry thought. Mr Armstrong bent down to a position about six inches from Terry's ear and spoke slowly and deliberately. "We do not use words like 'Paki' in this school, Mr Young." Mr Armstrong then sent Terry off to see Mr Holloway, the deputy head. "I'm sure that despite the fact that you haven't made the journey for the past six weeks, you won't have forgotten the way." Terry shot a hateful look at Josh, before heading off to find Mr Holloway. "You alright, lad?" Mr Armstrong put a hand on Josh's shoulder. "Yes sir," Josh said looking at the ground. "Okay then, take heart, not many of the inmates in this institution are as bigoted as the likes of Mr Young." "Yes sir." Mr Armstrong went to the front of his line of pupils and resumed his walk. "So, you coming to lunch then?" Ben asked, not wanting to dwell on what had just occurred. "Erm, can't." "Why, what's wrong?" "I've forgotten my lunch money." Ben put a hand on Josh's upper arm. "Soright, you can borrow it from me." Carl had given Ben his lunch money that morning before heading out. Later on that morning, Sarah had also slipped Ben a couple of pounds "to buy some sweets." Just before he'd got out of the car, Robbie had insisted that Ben take some money as well. "Thanks, Ben." Josh lifted up his head and treated Ben to a wide grin. "What are friends for, ay?" As they continued to make their way to the dining room, Ben was really thankful to Robbie for breaking the ice with Josh that morning, he'd never have had the courage to do it himself. Ben hoped that Josh would become a friend; he liked the boy very much, and he hoped that Josh liked him, too. * * * * * "Err, I think I'll bring a packed lunch tomorrow," Ben said once the two had collected their food, and had found themselves a place at a table in the far corner of the dining hall. "Yeah, I know what you mean," Josh said after tasting the rather bland shepherd's pie. The two boys hadn't been able to talk much up until that point. As they ate, both boys discovered that they enjoyed reading, both agreeing that Harry Potter was brilliant, and they couldn't wait for the next book to come out. Ben put the spoon down in his now empty pudding bowl. He'd asked for fruit pie. However, he wasn't able to determine what the fruit had once been; the thing was more pie than fruit, anyway. The two rose from the table, making their way to the counter to deposit their used crockery. Trying to restart the conversation, which had begun to flag during the meal, Ben said, "If you give me your email address, I'll send you some cool links to some really awesome Harry Potter websites that I've found." "Don't have a computer," Josh announced. "Dad says I might be able to get one for Christmas, though." The boys left the dining room. "Oh, sorry Josh. We could still talk on the phone, maybe?" Ben hoped that he hadn't upset Josh by bringing up the subject of computers. He'd not had access to one until he'd spent time up at his Uncle Rob's, but he didn't know what he'd do without one now. "Okay. Though mum wouldn't be too happy if I talked on the phone for long. She says the bill is dear enough with dad always talking to his family back in Jamaica." "That where you're from?" "No, I was born here in Greenville," Josh said a little defensively. "Shit man, I'm sorry. I just haven't talked to anyone who is, erm . . ." "It's alright," Josh said. At least Ben was trying to be diplomatic about it; other people wouldn't have put it so nicely. "Listen, want to go for a walk around the playing fields or something?" Ben said, pushing open the door to the playground. "Yeah." As they made their way to the field, Josh asked, "So, what do your parents do?" "Dad's a joiner, and well, mum's a housewife, but she lives in Hereford, I live with my dad and . . ." Ben suddenly realised that he shouldn't say that he also lived with another man who was his dad's partner. Robbie had gently told Ben the previous week to try and steer any conversation away from his living arrangements, as some people wouldn't understand, and it might make things difficult for him. "Oh, right, sorry." Fortunately, Josh hadn't questioned Ben on his abruptly ended sentence. "Oh, it's okay, mum left when I was really small." "Bet you get away with all sorts of stuff, then," Josh questioned. "No, not really, but dad's a really cool guy. What do your mum and dad do?" Ben wanted to shift the focus away from his own domestic arrangements, and as he'd seen Josh's mother that morning, and with Josh mentioning his dad using the phone a lot, it seemed obvious that Josh lived with both his parents. "Oh, mum's a part time home help, you know, for old ladies, and dad works at Foster's." Ben was about to tell Josh that his uncle owned the glassworks, but he stopped himself in time. He didn't want to come across as a snob; Robbie had told him that the fact that his dad had owned the glassworks had caused Robbie no end of trouble at school. "Oh, right, I see," Ben said in reply. * * * * * The two boys had to split up for the remainder of the school day, as their timetables differed. However, Ben spotted Josh coming out of the science block once the final bell had rung. "What was your first day like, then?" Ben questioned his friend. "Oh, okay. The teacher was a bit boring though." Josh had sat through a dull and seemingly endless monologue from the chemistry teacher about how important it was to always observe the safety rules when working in the laboratories. Josh had lost count of how many times the teacher had told his class that they must never run when carrying any glassware. "I had my first lesson in the computer lab," Ben said. "They've got loads of machines up there, too." Ben had soon discovered that the PC's weren't as powerful as those at his Uncle Rob's house, but they were fast enough for searching the web and running the software that was on them. Ben discovered to his delight that he'd picked up a fair bit of computer knowledge from Robbie over the summer. So much so, that when a ginger-haired boy who was sitting at the next terminal to Ben, ran into difficulty, Ben had pulled his desk chair over, spotted the problem, and a couple of mouse clicks and keystrokes later, the situation was resolved. Ben had made a new friend. "Right. I'm glad it's all over though," Josh said. Though no one else had called him names, he'd received a few stares from some of the other children who hadn't seen that many coloured kids before. "Yeah," Ben said. "How you getting home?" "School bus, and you?" "Oh, Uncle Rob's coming for me, the bus doesn't go near his house, and with my dad still being at work, I'll stop with him for the afternoon." Ben wanted to invite Josh up to the house, but he thought it best to discuss the matter with Robbie first. "Do you know where the bus leaves from?" "Not sure," Josh said realising that he didn't. They got swept along with the sea of other bodies that were also escaping the school buildings. Seeing a few lines of children forming up, Josh approached one boy, who looked to be about 14 or so. "Is this the queue for the bus to Potter's Bar, please?" The boy stared at him for a moment, then he treated Josh to a crooked smile. "No. It's right at the other end of the school, near the teachers car park." The boy then turned away and nudged his friend in the ribs. As Ben and Josh turned away, they saw a number of the kids making ape type gestures with accompanying sound effects. "I've got a banana for yer," one kid shouted out. Josh slunk away, followed by Ben. Ben hadn't spoken up when the kid at lunchtime had teased Josh, but he couldn't remain silent this time. "God, how do you stand it?" "I just get used to it," Josh said quietly as he continued to walk across the now empty playground. "But it's stupid." "Yeah, but what can I do about it?" Josh said, lifting up an agonised face to look at Ben. Ben reached up and put a hand on Josh's arm. "I'm sorry, mate. I don't know what to say. Can't you tell the teachers or something?" "It'd only make it worse. That guy who got caught at lunchtime, he's probably gonna cause trouble for me as it is." The two continued to walk. "Won't your uncle be waiting for you or something?" Josh asked. He really appreciated Ben being with him, he didn't particularly want to be alone, but Josh didn't want his friend to miss his lift. "Yeah, but I'll walk you to your stop." When they got to the rear exit, there was no queue of people waiting. A member of staff came out a minute later, Josh asked where the bus left from, the teacher told him that all the buses left from the front of the school, which was where Ben and Josh had been originally. The two boys walked quickly back to the front of the school, but the buses had left. Josh was beginning to panic. He didn't want to come to this school in the first place; the comprehensive was much nearer to his house. "Ben, there you are! I've been wondering where you'd got to," Robbie said, walking over the expanse of empty playground to Ben. Lady was with him, attached by a red leather leash. As soon as she spotted her owner, Lady began tugging on the lead. "Josh has missed his bus, Uncle Rob," Ben said, once he'd petted a delighted Lady. "Okay, don't worry, I can drop you off at home." "I don't want to put you out, mister," Josh said looking at the ground. Robbie lifted up Josh's drooping chin. Smiling at him, he said. "Please call me Robbie, remember, like I said this morning? And it won't put me out at all. How come you missed the bus, anyway?" As they walked to Robbie's Trooper, the two boys explained what had happened, with Ben giving details of the racist comments that Josh had had to listen to. Robbie fumed inwardly. "Wasn't there a teacher on duty at the bus lines?" "No," Ben said. "Okay, hop in. You want to ride shotgun, Josh?" Normally Ben rode up front, but he was more than happy to let his friend enjoy the privilege. It also meant that he could be in the back with his dog, who was still fussing him, she'd been worried that he'd left her, and he wasn't coming back. It took about ten minutes to get to Josh's house. To Ben's surprise, Josh lived immediately opposite his friend Morgan Smith. "Thanks mist, erm, Robbie," Josh said unbuckling his seatbelt and leaving the vehicle. "Hang on a tick, I'll come in and have a word with your mum," Robbie said, also undoing his seatbelt. "Ben, I won't be long." Josh got his key out and unlocked his door. "That you, Josh love?" Nancy called from somewhere upstairs. "Yeah, mum." "You're early, I didn't think the bus would have dropped you off yet." "No, I got a lift," Josh called from the hall. Nancy appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh, hi again, Rob. Thanks for bringing our Josh home, you needn't have though." "Can I have a word, Nancy?" Robbie had a serious expression on his face. Nancy came down the stairs. "Do you want to take your uniform off, son?" "Yeah, in a minute." Robbie then outlined what he knew of what had happened at the school. "Do you know the name of the boy who told you to go to the other end of the school to wait?" Nancy asked, disturbed that her child had been picked on. "No, mum, and it'd only make things worse if I told." "But Josh love, it's not right that they get away with it." Josh then mentioned the incident just after the lunchtime bell had rung. "I'll have a word with your teacher in the morning," Nancy said, her motherly protective instincts going on full alert. "No! Mum, please don't, it'll make things a lot worse for me if you do. If I say nothing, then maybe they'll stop it soon." Nancy looked at her son. "I'm afraid he's probably right," Robbie said; he'd been bullied himself, so he knew what Josh was going through. "The kids will hopefully all settle down soon." Nancy wasn't happy, but she listened to reason. "Okay, you go and change out of your uniform now. I'll make you a sandwich, and we'll eat our dinner when your dad gets home. Once he was out of the way, Nancy thanked Robbie for bringing Josh home. "Oh, it's okay. Look, your house isn't that much out of my way, why don't I bring him home every afternoon. I might as well take him to school as well." Josh's house was actually quite a bit out of Robbie's way; both Nancy and Robbie knew it. "Rob, I couldn't ask you to do that, it wouldn't be right." "Look, Nancy, Josh is a shy kid, you said yourself that he doesn't make friends easily. Ben's just the same. I think those two are starting to build a friendship together. God knows I enjoyed my time at school much more when I made friends. So it'd be good for the pair of them if they see as much of each other as they can." "Thanks, Rob. You're right, but you must let me pay something for the extra petrol." "No, absolutely not," Robbie said holding up his hand. "Listen, Ben's in the car, I better be making a move now. I'll be back at about half past eight in the morning, okay?" "Thanks, Rob." Nancy gave Robbie a squeeze. "I worry about Josh sometimes." "You wouldn't be a good mother if you didn't," Robbie said opening the front door. Whilst Robbie was inside Josh's house, Ben spotted Morgan walking down the street. Winding down his window, Ben called him over. "What was it like today?" "Crap," Morgan said. "Oh? Didn't you like the lessons?" "They were okay, but some of the bigger kids were a bit rough," Morgan said. He'd had a terrible day, he'd got lost as he walked down one of the corridors and a few of the older kids had bullied him, taking his glasses from him at one point. Morgan could barely see without his specks, and he'd begun to cry. A year ten pupil had taken pity on Morgan and intervened, making the gang give Morgan back his specs. Morgan was effusively grateful to the boy, who just shrugged off the praise, but the bad experience had shaken Morgan's already fragile sensibilities. "Oh, right. St Winifred's was alright, a lot bigger than our old school, but I think I'll get on there okay," Ben said remembering the two friends who he'd made that day. "Better get in, mum will have my tea ready," Morgan said slinking away from the car. Although it was good to see his old friend again, Morgan just wanted to get back to the comforting and familiar security of his home environment. * * * * * Emerging from Josh's house; Robbie got back into his car and drove down the street. "If I forget," Robbie said, knowing that he wouldn't, "remind me to come round here in the morning." "Why's that?" "Well, I thought you'd like it if you and Josh rode to school together every day." "That'd be cool, Uncle Rob!" Ben said enthusiastically. Then he sobered. "You know, it was horrible what those kids said to Josh today. I wish I'd have said something to them, but I got scared." "But you were there for him, weren't you?" "Oh yeah, I just knew I had to stop with him. Josh was worried that you'd not be able to find me when you came for me, but I couldn't just leave him." "You did the right thing, Ben. You did what a good friend should do." "Thanks, Uncle Rob. I hope Josh wants to be my friend." "I'm sure he will, love. So did you have a good day despite what happened to Josh?" "Yeah, I think I'll be learning loads of new stuff." Ben treated Robbie to a pretty detailed description of his day. ". . . Mr Armstrong who teaches geography was quite funny, he kept using loads of long words, but he's nice, though." "Is he still there? I liked his classes, too. See, I told you it wouldn't be as bad as you thought it would be." "No, though the food's horrible," Ben said pulling a face. "Yeah, it was when me and your dad went there, too," Robbie chuckled. He remembered the vile slop which used to get served up day in, day out. The menu never changed; shepherd's pie on Monday's, toad-in-the-hole on Tuesdays, and of course, fish on Friday's. "Was it shepherd's pie, today?" "How did you know?" Ben asked in surprise. "Some things never change," Robbie chuckled. "Would you prefer to take sandwiches instead?" "Do you think Sarah would mind?" "I'm sure she won't mind at all." "Yeah, a packed lunch might be better. Josh said he was gonna take one tomorrow." Ben thought for a moment, idly stroking Lady's fur; she'd settled down and was treating her saviour to her now typical adoring look. "Uncle Rob?" "Yes, love?" "Thanks for what you did this morning, with Josh, I mean. I couldn't, well, I wouldn't have been able to go up to him and talk to him like that. But because you said what you did, well, I felt okay about talking to him." "What are Uncles for?" "Yeah, thanks." Ben smiled. Robbie then spent the rest of the journey back to the house telling Ben all about what the Vet had said about Lady. She'd been given a number of inoculations. As neither the Vet nor Robbie could be certain if she'd already received the shots, Robbie was advised to play it safe and have her treated anyway. "The Vet said that she's about six months old, and she's in pretty good shape," Robbie concluded. * * * * * "I expect you're hungry, now you've spent your first day up at 'Big School'" Sarah's warm face greeted Ben as he ran into the kitchen. "Thanks, Sarah." Ben sat himself at the kitchen table, and Sarah proceeded to spoil him rotten. "He's got to eat his dinner tonight when Carl gets home," Robbie warned Sarah as she pushed a fourth biscuit into Ben's hand. "He's a growing boy," Sarah said pinching one of Ben's cheeks. Ben had to recount his story a third time when Carl arrived home, though Robbie noticed that Carl received an edited version, which omitted the racist comments. Ben rightly thought that Carl would only worry about Ben being safe if one of his friends was in the firing line. * * * * * "I heard from the solicitor's this afternoon," Robbie said once he and Carl were lying in bed on Wednesday night. The two had just enjoyed a pretty heavy love-making session. Carl was proving to be a most accomplished top, and a more than willing bottom, too. Robbie was snuggled up to his sweaty lover as they talked. "Have they got the papers for Ben's guardianship drawn up, then?" "Yeah, all ready for whenever Maureen is free to come up from Hereford." "I'll try and ring her tomorrow then," Carl said, licking Robbie's ear. "Give over, unless you want to get me started again," Robbie giggled. "Better not, I need my sleep, all this sex is wearing me out and turning me into an old man." "Rubbish, my lover is at his prime. He's a stallion with a dick to match." Carl kissed Robbie full on the lips. "Love you." "Love you too. I'll ring Maureen if you want." "Thanks. I might forget to do it." Robbie giggled then. "What?" Carl enquired. "We've just been making love, and now we're talking about your ex-wife." "Sorry." "Don't be daft. Maureen's the mother of your child, and she's willing to let me share him, too. So I'm more than okay with it." "You don't mind if she stops here overnight?" Carl asked. "Not at all. Though I'll put her in one of the bedrooms at the other end of the house. Somehow I don't think she'd want to be kept awake by having to listen to her ex-husband roaring out his climax as he cums inside his male lover." "I don't roar!" Carl protested. "Car, love, you do. You should hear yourself. And I love it, I love it a lot." "Want me to see how loud I can really get?" Carl said raising himself up on his arms. "Erm, well," Robbie pretended to hesitate. "Go on then, you've twisted my arm." The two began to mate once again, hurtling towards another most satisfying climax with Carl pounding Robbie into the mattress. "Did I roar?" Carl asked once he'd managed to catch his breath. "Like a lion," Robbie said gasping for air. "I thought I was meant to be a stallion?" "Stallion, lion, doesn't matter, there all virile and masculine and strong, just like my awesome Carl." Robbie pulled Carl on top of him and kissed him deeply on the lips. * * * * * Robbie got in touch with Maureen on Thursday; she decided to come down the next day. "Will that be okay, Rob?" "Yeah, no problem, but I'll just try ringing Carl to see if he can get the afternoon off. Hang on, I'll put you on hold for a minute." Robbie then dialled Carl's number. Carl heard his phone ringing, picking it up and looking at the display he saw that it was Robbie. "Hello, lover," Carl said in his deepest and most seductive voice. Carl remembered offering to have phone sex with Robbie; as Jerry wasn't in the same house at the time, Carl thought he'd have some fun. At Carl's words, Robbie's penis stiffened. "Oh Carl, you gorgeous hunk, you." "Oh sorry, it's you, Rob," Carl said, trying not to laugh. Robbie was taken aback for a second before the penny dropped. "You git." Carl couldn't hold in his laughter, "Sorry, sweetheart. I just couldn't resist. Jerry's not here at the minute, do you fancy phone sex?" Carl said the last using his deep voice again. "Well I'd love to, darling, but your ex-wife's on the other line." Robbie then explained why he was ringing; Carl told him that as they were a bit ahead of schedule, he'd not have any difficulty in getting the time off. Going back to the conversation with Maureen, Robbie told her that there'd be no problem. Maureen said she'd come up by train, and she'd ring Robbie with the time of its arrival later. "But can we keep all this a secret from Ben?" she asked. Robbie agreed that her arrival, and the signing of the guardianship papers would make a wonderful surprise for him. * * * * * "Mum!" Ben said, running to Robbie's car on Friday afternoon. "Oh mum, I didn't know you were coming." Ben had survived his first week at school; he'd managed pretty well, all things considered. The schoolwork was challenging, but not overwhelming. Apart from his deepening friendship with Josh, he'd also started to make friends with a few of the other non-athletic pupils, too. They all tended to congregate in one corner of the schoolyard to eat their lunches. Now, with the unexpected arrival of his mother, Ben felt on top of the world. "I had some papers to sign, remember?" Maureen didn't want to say more, because of Josh's presence. "Hello, you must be Ben's new friend?" "Yes, Mrs Powers, I'm Josh." "Well, I'm actually Mrs Gordon now." "Oh, sorry," Josh blushed. Josh hadn't had such a bad week, either. Although some of the other kids still stared at him and made stupid gestures to him, there hadn't been any real unpleasantness. He'd joined the athletics club, and spent a couple of lunchtimes on that activity. This provided him with an opportunity to make some more friends as well as giving him a group to belong to. His status as an athlete also gave him increased credibility with the other students, though Josh continued to maintain his friendship with Ben. All in all, Josh was happy. He was glad that the weekend had come, but he didn't fear the start of the next week too much. "And this is my dad, he is Mr Powers, by the way." Ben giggled as he introduced Carl to Josh. Carl had heard Ben speak of his new friend numerous times that week. "It's great to meet my son's new friend, who he's never stopped talking about," Carl said, smiling warmly at Josh. "Hello, Mr Powers," Josh said in a small voice. Josh's pupils widened slightly, then his face dipped as he began to blush. Josh was a little awed by Carl. His own father was a large and powerful man, with an equally large presence. Josh admired his father very much; he often felt slightly intimidated by Jamie's strength. He'd worked hard to try and build up his own body to emulate his father, hoping that his appearance would please him. Josh felt the same kind of magnetic attraction to Carl, too. "Now then, it'll be a tight squeeze in the back I'm afraid," Robbie said, getting into the front passenger seat. Carl always seemed to drive when the two travelled together. Ben and Maureen got in the back. "Are you sure it's okay? I can get the bus, I don't think it's gone yet," Josh said. "Rubbish. Climb in, Josh, it'll be fine," Robbie encouraged. They soon dropped Josh off at his house. Robbie promised that he'd be round on Monday to pick him up as normal. "Thanks Robbie, Mr Powers." Josh smiled shyly, he held Carl's gaze for a second before dropping his eyes to the pavement. "That's okay, Josh," Carl said. "But please call me Carl." "Sorry," Josh said blushing again. Robbie didn't miss the interplay between the two. 'Oh God, Josh is falling for Carl, and Carl's totally unaware of it.' Carl then drove the Trooper into the centre of Greenville. He found a parking space in the small-scale multi-storey next to the pedestrian precinct. The four made their way through the crowd of shoppers to the solicitor's office. Signing the guardianship papers, and having them witnessed, was a bit of an anticlimax really. A copy was given to each of the three signatories, and that was that. Carl then made arrangements to come back in a few days time to draw up a new will, which reflected his change of circumstances. They all then trooped out of the office, with Ben feeling as though he were ten feet tall. "Happy now, kiddo?" Robbie asked a beaming Ben. Ben looked up at Robbie, his exuberance was tempered slightly. He hadn't been sure if he wanted to bring this up yet, but he realised that now was as good a time as any. "Erm, well, now you're kind of like my guardian, when there's no one else about, will you," Ben hesitated, "would you mind if I called you dad?" Robbie thought he was going to lose it right there on the street. Swallowing hard, he gripped Ben's shoulders in an effort to steady himself. Looking down earnestly into Ben's upturned face, in a wavering voice, cracking with emotion, Robbie said, "I'd be honoured, really honoured if you did." Ben wrapped his arms around Robbie. "I love you, Dad Rob." "I love you too, son." Maureen and Carl looked on as this tender scene was taking place. Both instinctively reached for one another's hands and gave them a squeeze. If either of them had any doubts about allowing Robbie to become Ben's guardian, they were now well and truly dispelled. "Okay, we've got that restaurant to get to," Robbie said, straightening up. "And one word from you, Carl Powers, about me not paying the bill, and I'll smack you over the head." Turning to Maureen, Carl said, "Who'd have thought that geeky kid who was always hanging around me at school would turn into such a brute?" Maureen laughed. They all linked arms and marched down the precinct for their celebratory meal. To be continued.