Welcome back to the continuation of my oldest story. This is Part 2 Chapter 2. If you haven't read Part 2 Chapter 1 yet, or for that matter the original story which is now called Part 1, you can find them in my archive here.
Don't forget to donate to Nifty, providing quality boners for more than two decades.
Comments are incredibly welcome, and I intend to answer everyone.
The boys are famished after an hour of vigorous sex and incessently bug me to cook faster. I point out that water boils at the same rate whether they bitch about it or not.
My spaghetti with meat sauce is well enjoyed and both of them especially rave about the fabulous Italian bread my Teamster friend Carlo brings for me all the way from Little Italy down in San Pedro. After a short interval of "Who Can Belch Louder?" we play cards at the kitchen table for nearly an hour to let the heavy meal digest.
The boys want to learn to play poker so I break out the poker chips and we dive into 5-card Draw. David holds his own quite admirably but Kurt struggles. When he loses the last of his chips he eagerly suggests adjourning to the bedroom for more naked games.
David and I gladly indulge him.
Again nude in my bed Kurt says, "I loved when you licked my butthole Richard. I never even thought of that as a sex place."
"There's a lot you can do back there," David says. "That's why I had you wash yourself, 'cause I figured one of our tongues would end up there."
"I just thought it was because of the smell," Kurt says.
"No, we use tongues, fingers...even dicks!"
Kurt's eyes shoot to my hard-on and go wide. He breathlessly asks, "You let him put that big thing in your butt?"
"Sure," David says. "Remember? I told you Richard and I fuck like bunnies!"
Kurt's expression turns embarrassed. "I guess I didn't actually know what fuck meant," he softly admits. "I hear lots of kids say it but it doesn't seem like it has anything to do with dicks and butts. It's just a swear, you know?"
"It's often used that way," I explain, "but it strictly means putting a dick into a hole, whether it's a girl's pussy or a guy's butt."
"Or a girl's butt," David adds, then with a shrug for me, "I don't see why not."
I chuckle. "Yeah, I guess some girls do that, but not very many."
Kurt makes apprehensive eye contact with David. "Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not any more," David says. "I'm used to it now and I think it feels real good!" He leans in closer and leers at Kurt. "It makes me cum really good!"
"You can squirt that stuff?" Kurt asks in surprise. "You said we were too young."
"No, I don't make sperm yet," he says, then heading off the obvious question adds, "Sperm is the real name of the stuff that comes out. Cum is like slang."
"Actually the real real name is semen," I say, teasing David with a one-up. "Sperm is only part of the fluid called semen."
We're losing Kurt with the details so I get back to his actual question. "The feeling at the end is still called cumming even if nothing comes out," I say. "With young boys it's sometimes called dry cumming."
"Some boys never get the feeling at all," David says. "I messed around with this kid Vinnie once in his backyard playhouse and I kept suckin' him and suckin' him and jerkin' him off for a really long time and nothing ever happened. I felt bad for him because I came twice from him sucking me."
"You boys are lucky," I say, "that you both get to feel it."
Some more than others apparently. If I were Kurt I'd figure something's better than nothing.
"Can I...?" Kurt begins but falls silent.
"No, what?" I encourage him.
"Can I watch you guys do it? If you were planning to, I mean."
David's grin is huge. "Cool! I was hoping we would."
My grin is nearly as wide. "I'm not a tough sell on this," I laugh.
"Yay!" David shouts and throws himself into my arms. We kiss deeply and passionately like so many times before. My bone-hard cock swells even more becoming — I don't know — titanium-hard? I roll us over to put David on his back and begin kissing down his body to his sweet little cock.
I suck him for several minutes, then slip down to engulf his loose, hairless balls. I glance over to Kurt and he is intently watching while steadily stroking his small erection with a thumb and two fingers.
I roll David's legs up and he pulls them back to his shoulders, his hole wide open and pulsing in anticipation. I decide to involve Kurt in a minor way.
"Reach into the nightstand drawer and get me the little bottle that's in there."
He hurries so he can get back to watching and masturbating.
I squirt a generous amount of Astroglide into David's crack and work it into his wide-open orifice. He sighs as my finger goes in to the second knuckle. I get more lube and slowly and carefully slide my entire middle finger into him.
"Wow!" Kurt gasps. "It went right in there!"
"You ain't seen nothin' yet!" David giggles.
He is well experienced and doesn't need to be stretched with multiple fingers. He only needs some lube inside and he can take my thickness without trouble.
I squirt some lube onto my cock and slather it around, coating it generously, then knee up to my boy and raise his hips to the proper height. I guide myself to his pucker and slowly, gently push inside.
"Holy cow!" Kurt exclaims as I sink into David, his tiny hole opening wider and wider as my shaft presses forward. In seconds I am in him all the way, my hairy balls squashed against his smooth, pristine skin.
I pull back and, after a pause, slide in again.
"Aw, fuck that feels good!" David sighs. "Oh Richard, you've got the best cock!"
I'm not sure I believe him, but it sure boosts my ego.
The next stroke is faster and I bury myself even more firmly into his depths.
"Not too fast!" David implores. "I want a long slow one tonight."
I show him I'm listening by taking the next two strokes at half the previous speed.
"Yeah baby," he groans. "Like that. Let's go for the record, OK Richard? Do you think you can do an hour?"
Kurt reacts in shock and I turn a wry smile to him. "He's joking, Kurt. 15 minutes is a really long one for us."
"Try for 20 though, OK?" David says in apparent seriousness. "My butt needs it so bad!"
Sometimes I think David plays this stuff up a little too much. I love him to death but I'm not entirely convinced that I'm anything more than a means to an end for him. He certainly seems sincere but then he really is a terrific actor.
I fuck him slowly and tenderly, leaning down to kiss him and swirl our tongues. His legs come around my waist and he locks his ankles behind my back, a position I love. We screw in reverent silence, the only sounds our kisses and the soft squishes of our lovemaking.
David breaks the kiss and his languid blue eyes fix mine. "Let's switch around," he says. "I want to ride you so Kurt can really see."
I do enjoy cowboy position, so I smile and back out of him. We switch positions and I lie on my back, my lube-glistened cock jutting at the ceiling. David climbs on top facing me, reaches under and guides me to his waiting hole. He lowers himself easily and confidently, impaling himself with its entire length.
"Aughhhh!" he grunts in unmistakable rapture. "God damn that's deep!" He begins to gyrate, moving his hips side to side until he finds the angle he loves. He locks with my eyes and begins to fuck himself on my cock.
"Oh man!" Kurt exclaims, scrambling around for a better view. "I can't believe you can take it like that!"
"I fucking love it!" David says. "Feel my dick. It's hard as a rock!"
Kurt reaches in and squeezes David's rampant boner. "It is! Holy cow, David!"
"Climb on here too," David commands, like he's still The Director. "Sit on Richard's stomach facing me."
I'm as bewildered as Kurt but I watch in appreciation as the cute naked boy climbs aboard. Kurt's soft little balls squish against my belly as his slight weight settles onto me and it turns me on even more.
David reaches out and enfolds Kurt in his arms, pulling him in for a kiss. Kurt tightly hugs David as well, joining the kiss with all his considerable enthusiasm. Though I can only see Kurt's beautiful back and butt, by their mutual moans and the movement of their shoulders I know they have both reached down between them to masturbate each other. They gasp and moan and smack loud kisses and it's all I can do not to rush right over the edge.
On and on it goes, David grinding his wonderful tightness up and down my cock and the two gorgeous naked boys writhing together on top of me. Minutes go by, David somehow sensing when I need him to slow the pace to let me cool off. Finally a point comes when David is ready and he grips me tightly with his ass, slamming himself harder and faster onto me in a sprint across the finish line.
With a grunt I swear the neighbor a quarter-mile away can hear I unload a fierce blast into my sweet David. He keeps right on slamming himself down onto me, moaning and crying into Kurt's mouth. He squeals and moans and grips my cock with his strong ring and I hope it's a real mind-blowing orgasm and not just another bravura performance.
The nightstand clock says 11:47 and my little lovers are snuggled up to me on both sides while we watch TV in bed. It's the commercial break just after David Letterman's monologue and I'm wondering what the Top Ten List is going to be. I hope it's not too political so the boys can enjoy it too.
It turns out to be almost perfect: the Top Ten Children's Books NOT Recommended by the National Library Association.
"Number 10," Dave says, the drum rolling in the background, "Curious George and the High Voltage Fence."
We all erupt in laughter and it's a really great moment. I'm starting to feel very close to both of these kids and I think it's pretty mutual.
The next couple are not nearly as funny but these lists are rarely gold all the way through.
"Number 6," Letterman says, "Tommy Tune: Boy Choreographer."
The studio audience laughs but Kurt turns to me with a puzzled look. "Why is that funny?"
I'm still considering how to delicately explain this when David aggressively jumps in.
"Because Tommy Tune is gay and he acts like it!" he says with bitterness. "They think its a big joke that he probably acted that way when he was a kid too. They're making fun of gay boys just like us!"I wish I could contradict his assessment but sadly it's 100% accurate.
"Is that right, Richard?" Kurt asks. "Are they being mean to us right out there on TV?"
"I'm sorry, Kurt," I say, "but yes, they are. People make jokes about things that make them uncomfortable."
"And they hate people for being different," David adds, still pissed off. "They think Tommy Tune is bad for being gay and they'd think we were bad too if they knew."
"Like my Dad," Kurt says. His sadness breaks my heart.
"Not everybody, kiddo," I say, hugging him closer and offering what lame reassurance I can. "We have our community and things are getting better over all. There are a lot of straight people nowadays who understand and accept us."
"Not enough," David says. "It would ruin our careers if anybody found out."
We fall silent as this reality sinks in. On TV Letterman has reached his last joke.
"And the number one Children's Book NOT Recommended by the National Library Association, The Care Bears Maul Some Campers and are Shot Dead!"
The absurdly irreverent joke lands with my boys and I'm truly grateful to hear them laugh again. The band plays a fanfare then swings immediately into The Kids Are Alright by The Who as Letterman throws to the commercial.
"We'll be right back with a bright young actor about to star in his first feature film, Jonathan Taylor Thomas."
"Hey!" I cry, giving Kurt a nudge. "They're having JTT!"
"Yeah Kurt," David teases, "your fantasy boy."Kurt turns red but his eyes sparkle.
"Hey," I say, "don't be embarrassed. I've jerked out a few gallons over him myself."
"Yeah man," David adds. "I'd like to give him a little Tool Time."
David doesn't notice the surprised look I shoot him. I don't think I've ever heard an 11-year-old boy refer to his penis as a "tool." I know he's been with other grown men so I shouldn't be surprised that he's picked up some crude euphemisms but I'd much rather think of him as childishly innocent.
Now who's in a fantasy world?
"I wonder what movie he's going to be in?" Kurt breathlessly asks.
"He's doing the voice of young Simba in The Lion King for Disney," I say. If Kurt was older I'd add "Don't you read the trades?" but I guess not many kids do. Kurt's too busy whacking off over Tiger Beat.
"The voice?" he asks, confused. "Yeah," David pipes in. "It's an animated film." "A cartoon?" Kurt's tone is sorely disappointed."Yes, sorry kid," I say. "You won't get to see his pretty face on the big screen, but you'll hear his sexy voice."
"Shit."
The commercial ends and Letterman does some amusing schtick with Paul Schafer before introducing JTT. The band plays the Home Improvement theme as the massively cute boy comes out. He looks super confident and self-assured, waving to the audience with a huge smile. He sits in the guest chair and begins playfully, yet respectfully, bantering with the iconic host. His feet don't quite reach the floor and I think it's adorable.
I squeeze both boys against my sides and say, "From everything I hear this kid is exactly the kind of pro I want you guys to be. Twelve years old and holding his own with David fucking Letterman. Just look at him!"
"Oh, Kurt's looking at him all right," David observes.
I glance down and Kurt's little dick is again at full stretch as he slowly masturbates with his accustomed thumb and two fingers.
"Yep," I say with a wry smile. "He's holding his own too."My own cock expands as I watch Kurt's delightful exhibition. Finally I reach over and nudge his hand away.
"Here, let me help you with that." He gives me a beautiful smile and opens his thighs a bit wider for me. His bony little cock is warm and alive in my fingers.
"And I'll help you," David says, wrapping his small cool hand around my cock and jerking it with practiced vigor.
We are all focused on the sexy boy on TV and we get more and more excited. As the interview wraps up I feel my orgasm approach and I'm a bit surprised at how intense it feels, having so recently emptied my balls into David's sweet bowels. I sense Kurt's climax approaching as well and I'm very pleased when he gets there just a few seconds before my jism squirts yet again, painting my belly and dribbling down over David's still-working knuckles.
Once again Kurt's climax is mild, just some lovely pulsing between my fingers, but he sure seems to enjoy it.
David grins as he retrieves my cum rag, which is still damp from the earlier cleanup but does the job. He always seems to like wiping up my mess.
"What about you, David?" Kurt asks. "I could help you get one."
"Nah," he replies. "I want to remember the fantastic cum I had with Richard's big cock up me and you and me makin' out so good! That might be the best one I ever had."
Kurt grins happily. "I love that I could help you feel that, David." He's a very sweet, giving boy and my mind turns back to the undeserved problems he's having at home.
"Listen," I say. "I know the casting agency for Touchstone Television, who make Home Improvement. They're always looking for kids to play schoolmates of the Taylor boys and you're the right age to play one of Randy's friends. They're usually very small parts, like one scene with a couple lines of dialog, but it's network TV and a great credit for your resume."
"Oh my God, Richard!" Kurt beams. "It would be so awesome if I could play opposite Jonathan!"
"Just try not to get a boner on the set," David says with a smile, but it's a bit disingenuous.
Have I paid Kurt a little too much attention for David's taste? I wish I could think of him as my sweet little boyfriend with no strings attached but the fact is David wants me focused on his career just as much as Big Momma does.
"You look a bit young to play 12," I offer, "but maybe you could audition for a friend of the younger brother? I can't remember any on the show so far since the Mark character is kind of a quiet loner, but maybe you could be in his Cub Scout den or something."
"I don't think my Mom would be happy with that," he says, and he's right. "She wants me in bigger parts, not smaller ones."
"Well don't worry kid," I say with a fond smile. "I've got ideas for you, too."
We're entering our fourth hour in a windowless editing suite in Burbank, cutting the Afterschool Special. My Film Editor Ira is getting restless.
"I could sure use a pee Richard," he says, "and a fresh cuppa joe."
Ira is pushing 60 and started out shooting 16mm battlefield footage for the Army in Korea. He's as old-school as they come but a bonafide whiz with a Steenbeck flat-bed editing table. Ira is a real mensch too. He could throw union rules in my face about mandatory breaks but he never would.
"Oh, I see," I say with a smile. "You want to empty your bladder and fill it right back up again."
"That's how it works," Ira chuckles. "I'm a human coffee filter."
Ira pulls open the door of the editing suite and nearly runs into someone just coming inside. He excuses himself and steps around, in a big hurry to get to the men's room. I react in surprise to see who's there.
"Jen!" I exclaim. "Hey, I didn't expect you to come all the way over here. I only called to set up a lunch."
"I have a client meeting downtown in an hour," she says amiably. "I figured why not stop in and see my favorite director?"
Jen McCutchen is an attractive and capable woman in her 30s with huge blue eyes and a terrific smile. A couple of years ago she came right out and told me in vino veritas that she wouldn't be mad if I asked her out. If I were to go for anyone with two X chromosomes it would be her but that wasn't going to fly. I liked and admired her too much to lie to her so now she is one of the five or six Industry people keeping my secret.
Well, I didn't tell her all of it of course, only that my preferred partners also pee standing up. She heads the Young Performers division at Creative Casting Associates and has worked with kids her whole career. It wouldn't sit well to know that if they made a daytime soap about my sex life it would be called, The Young and the Hairless."
"Well come on in," I say, ushering her to the couch in the back of the suite. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Pellegrino?"
"I'm good," she says warmly. "They're going to coffee and bagel me to death over at Touchstone anyway."
"About that," I say, edging into my pitch. "You're still casting Home Improvement right? Guest cast and bit players?"
"Not me personally, but one of my girls."
"Good enough. I'm working on this Afterschool Special for ABC..."
"Yes," she breaks in with a bright, proud smile. Ever since I came out to her Jen's taken great interest in my career. I guess it's her way of showing that she appreciates my trust in her.
"I had breakfast the other week with Gene Treblow," she goes on, "and he couldn't stop raving about the dailys he was seeing."
Gene is Executive Producer on the project, my direct boss. He's very hands-on for a guy with four or five productions going at once. I've gotten plenty of notes from him in the past but on this one he seemed very happy with the raw footage I screened for him every morning.
"So there's this kid in the lead, Kurt Simmons," I say. "I think he's terrific. Sweet kid with great instincts. Nobody knows him yet but I think he could go do all right with the proper casting."
"Yeah?" Jen says, her interest perking. Child actors come and go with heartbreaking frequency. Casting agents have to get them early before this soul-deadening business chews them up and spits them out. The cynical part of me takes the metaphor even further and I picture baby sea-turtles crawling out of the sand, the seagulls swooping in to gobble some up before they get to the water.
Jen probably thinks I'm giving her the heads-up so that she can be the one to make a few sheckles before he burns out, or reaches the age when a kid can no longer get by on cuteness and playing make-believe; when he has to actually act.
"What can I see him in?" she asks.
"He's represented by Kathy Henshaw," I say. "He has a decent reel but as long as you're here there's a scene right on the machine over there that might be his best work. Ira and I just finished the rough-cut."
"How convenient," she says with a suspicious little smile.
"What? I didn't know you were coming, did I?"
Her smile turns into confusion. "No, I guess you didn't," she says. "OK, let's see what you're all excited about."
I'm not really supposed to touch the equipment because I'm not in the union but I logged about a million hours on a Steenbeck back in film school and I'm not going to fuck anything up. I run it back to the start of the scene, which happens to be the confrontation with Kenny in the school hallway.
Jen huddles with me to see the small view screen from straight on and our heads bump. She giggles like a schoolgirl and we make eye contact. I detect a look like maybe she's still thinking about having something with me and doesn't want to take gay for an answer. I decide it's not the moment to shoot her down.
"OK, so here's the setup," I begin and give her the plot about the abusive father, the punching-bag mother and the conflict with Kenny. I roll the film and Jen watches with increasing interest. When we get to the cut-in close-up of Kurt's glowering face and it morphs into remorse, confusion and embarrassment all at once, she audibly gasps.
"My God," she whispers. "Those eyes! They say it all, don't they?"
"Burnt amber somebody called them."
It was me but I don't point that out.
I still-frame the Steenbeck on the wide shot of Kurt stalking away, Jason on the floor and David kneeling at his side. Jen turns to me and locks eyes.
"I think you're on to something, Richard," she says. "You've got a real eye for the kids."
She doesn't know the half of it.
"When this special comes out in January Kurt is going to be hot," I say. "CCA should lock him in now, establish a relationship with his agent and his parents so you always get first shot at casting him. There's no guarantees of course but you could have a good run with this kid."
"Thanks, Richard," she says. "I owe you one. I'll give Kathy a call." Our eyes linger just a second too long.
And there's that look again.
She clears her throat and looks nervously away, back to the view screen. "I know this boy," she says, indicating Jason on the floor. "He read for me for Dennis the Menace a couple of years ago, but he's small and looked too young next to Mason Gamble. I remember he was good though. But who's that?"
My eyes widen. This wasn't part of today's pitch but what the hell?
"His name is David Furth," I say. "Another unknown. In fact nothing but commercials until now. That's how I found him, casting some fruit juice commercials last spring."
"Boy, does he have a look! Wow!"
"Yeah," I say, trying to sound disinterested. "Good little actor, too. He's almost too pretty for this part, distracting from the leads. I almost didn't cast him because of it."
I resist touching my nose to see if it's growing.
"Does he have representation?"
"His mother," I say, unable to hide my disdain. "Piece of work, that one."
"Oh, one of those," Jen says. "Well, I can usually get through to the Moms."
Yeah, good luck with that, I think.
"So," I say, awkwardly changing the subject, "back to Kurt. He's the same age and size as JTT. I think he'd be perfect for one of Randy's friends."
"I'll speak to Alyssa, see if there's anything coming up."
"Great, thanks, Jen," I say, and then there's a moment of pregnant silence.
"OK," she says, gathering her purse and briefcase. "I know you've already given your pitch but let's do lunch anyway, OK? By then I'll know if there's anything at Improvement for Kurt."
"How's 12:30 on Tuesday at The Polo Lounge?"
"Ooh, fancy," she says with a smile. "Sure, if you're buying."
"I am," I say, thinking of the even bigger favor I'll ask her then.
It's a beautiful Thursday morning in the City of Angels and I'm whistling the hook from All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow, which is in such hot radio rotation I heard it three times on the drive in from the Valley. I step into one of the the many chrome and glass towers on Wilshire in plenty of time for my 9 a.m. with Jen and Alyssa Meyer at CCA. When I get to their floor I'm pleasantly surprised to find Kurt and both parents already in the waiting room. I put on a big smile as I approach.
"Judith, Ted," I say as I approach with my hand out to shake. "I'm so glad you could both make it. This meeting is pretty important."
Judith's greeting is genuine but Ted just can't help himself. His handshake is grudging at best.
"I took off work for this," he growls, giving me a look that is supposed to be intimidating, "so it better be good."
It doesn't faze me in the slightest. I've got his number.
"You'll be glad you came," I say, faking warmth for the asshole homophobe. I give Kurt's hair a ruffle and we share a genuinely happy smile.
"I want to thank you so much for the interest you're taking in Kurt," Judith gushes. "He just thinks the world of you, and we know how busy you are."
"I'm glad to help. He's a great kid." Kurt and I fondly smile and I note disgust enter Ted's eyes.
A young assistant opens the inner door and sweetly smiles. "You can come back now," she says and ushers our entourage to a small conference room. It's quite opulent in an old-fashioned Men's Club sort of way with dark-paneled walls, a thick mahogany table and plushly upholstered heavy wood chairs, like a chunk of the Friars Club dropped into the middle of a sleek, modern office building. It's seriously out of character for a young hip firm like CCA but I guess they find it helpful with some of their stodgier clients.
A wall of windows lets in the endless California sunshine, without which the place would feel like a cave. Ted nods in appreciation, which strikes me appropriate for a cave-dwelling knuckle-dragger like him.
Jen is waiting with two other women, one of whom must be Alyssa but I've never met either one.
"Hi," Jen says, rising and shaking hands with all three Simmonses. Kurt smiles at being treated with the same courtesy as the grownups.
"I'm Jen McCutchen, head of Young Performers casting here at CCA." She indicates the zaftig but pretty blonde in the first chair. "This is Alyssa Meyer, one of my top agents and..." She indicates an older, well-dressed woman in the third seat. "This is our Vanessa Truman. They'd like to talk to you about a little show called Home Improvement."
Judith and Kurt share excited looks but Ted's eyes widen in alarm.
"I'll leave you in Alyssa's capable hands," Jen says, shooting me a knowing glance as she exits.
"Thanks to Mr. Howell," Alyssa says, gesturing to me and conjuring up my usual, distasteful image of Jim Backus from Gilligan's Island, "your talented son is now on our radar."
The Jim Backus thing is another reason I make everybody call me Richard.
"We've watched Kurt's clip reel and footage from the Afterschool Special Richard is directing," Alyssa says. "I have to say we're impressed."
"Excuse me," Judith timidly interrupts. "Shouldn't Kurt's agent be here?"
"We're nowhere near that point yet," Vanessa says in an unexpectedly deep voice. Thirty years of cigarettes, I'm guessing. "There won't be any negotiating today. We just want to meet Kurt and have him read some dialog for us, get a feel for what he can do. Very preliminary stuff."
Alyssa adds, "Kathy's in the loop on this. Obviously she sent us his resume and reel. Don't worry, if there's an offer it will go through her."
Judith's eyes flash even more brightly at the word "offer."
There is a bumping sound at the door as someone pushes it open with their butt. A young man backs into the room with an A/V cart loaded with video equipment, including a camera mounted on top.
"Thank you Tony," Alyssa says. "Set it up right over there, will you?" The technician plugs the power cord into an electrical outlet and a thicker cable into a round, multi-conductor outlet in the wall and in less than a minute he's gone.
"We record everything these days," Alyssa says with a chuckle. "Kurt, would you be more comfortable sitting or standing?"
Kurt opts to stand and for the next 15 minutes he cold-reads from what may or may not be an actual script for the show. From behind the camera Alyssa reads the parts of other characters so he has someone to play off of. At one point she asks Kurt to memorize a short monologue and after studying for about a minute he flawlessly delivers it off-book. Vanessa has been taking notes, smiling and nodding the whole time. Judith and Kurt beam, knowing it went well.
Ted sits in his chair scowling.
"Why am I here?" he barks, instantly changing the atmosphere like a fart in an elevator. "You said this was important but it's just another audition like a dozen others I didn't need to be at. You're wasting my time."
"Oh for Heaven's sake, Ted," Judith pipes in with mild defiance. "You work in the shipping department at a shoe company. They hardly even know you're gone and this is a big moment for your son."
"I'm the Supervisor Judith!" he says hotly. "And I'm down two guys with the flu."
"They'll manage Ted," she says with surprising boldness.
"We asked you both here to expedite things," Alyssa says. "Assuming Kurt was right for it — and now we know he is — there is a part we'd like him to audition for and the time frame is very short. If this is going to work we need to get the ball rolling today."
She pops the video cassette out of the recorder and gestures with it.
"Because he's a minor we need your permission to share the tape we just made with the producers of Home Improvement and set up a formal audition. It's our policy to deal with both parents so there is no confusion."
Judith wrinkles her brow. "Again, shouldn't Kathy be here?"
"There's no money involved yet," Alyssa says, "or any committment by either of us. We are casting agents. We work for the producers, not the actors. You'll never sign a contract directly with us. Today you're only signing what's called a waiver. Without it Kurt's likeness is protected by law and we can't show it to our client."
"We never had to sign one of those before."
"You were auditioning for the hiring producers themselves, not a third party," Vanessa explains. "The waiver was wrapped into the employment contract you signed."
"By all means then," Judith says with a smile, but Ted's expression is anything but happy.
"OK," Vanessa says as brightly as a pack a day of Virginia Slims will allow. "I'll get the paperwork started." She snaps her notebook closed and purposefully strides out the door. Alyssa also stands and turns to Judith.
"While we're waiting can I show you some pictures? They want the new character to have a distinctive hairstyle and it would be great if he had it for the audition. Kurt will have to wear it in everyday life as well so I'd like you to be in on choosing something you can live with."
"Yes, of course," Judith replies, and the two women rise and leave.
I act mildly startled and reach into my pocket. "Oh, that's my phone vibrating," I say, pulling it out and flipping it open. "This is Richard," I say into the dead instrument. "Excuse me a minute guys," I say, hurrying out the door. "I've gotta take this."
I make a point of closing the conference room door, leaving father and son alone inside. I turn immediately into the room next door, snapping my phone closed and putting it back into my pocket. Alyssa, Vanessa and Judith are already there and a TV screen mounted in the wall shows an image of the conference room from the angle of the video camera. It obviously is not only still running, its video is piped into the office A/V system.
Ted has already stepped over close to his son, who shrinks away in fear.
"What is this?" Judith asks, suspicion in her tone.
"Maybe nothing," Vanessa says. "Maybe something."
"Don't even think about it," Ted says onscreen. His threatening tone is evident even through the tinny speaker. "The kid you were perving on in the magazine is on that show, isn't he? Answer me you little faggot!" He grabs Kurt by the collar and lifts him to his tiptoes. "You just want to be near your lover boy so you can get all gay with him! No way I'm letting you near that kid!"
"But Dad..." Kurt protests and Ted silences him with a slap.
"But nothing! I won't have a queer for a son even if I have to beat it out of you!"
Judith storms out of our room and into theirs, her face blistering red.
"Get your hands off of that child!" she screams. "I swear to God Ted!"
"You stay out of this Judith!" he cries, tightening his grip on Kurt's shirt. "It's your fault he's a goddamn pansy in the first place, with all this show-biz prancing around! I won't have it, I tell you! I'm gonna make him a man!"
Alyssa and I are rapt, watching this on TV like an actual show. Suddenly into the frame steps a uniformed security guard about the size of the Capitol Records building, followed closely by Vanessa.
"Is there a problem here?" the guard menacingly intones.
Ted's eyes go wide as he assesses the guard but he doesn't release Kurt. "This has nothin' to do with you, man."
"If it happens in this office it has to do with me."
"And with me," Vanessa calmly says. "I'm not a casting agent with this firm Ted. I'm head of Legal Compliance. There's all kinds of laws in California protecting children and I know every single one of them, because I was with Child Protective Services of Los Angeles County for 22 years before I went corporate. I know every case worker in DCFS, every judge in the Family Court system and every prosecutor in the DA's Special Victims division. We have a videotape of that smack you gave your son, complete with sound track of what you called him. Both of those things are illegal, Ted. If I give the word Clifford here picks you up by the scruff of the neck and holds you off the floor with your arms and legs flailing until the cops get here. Do we understand each other?"
Ted hesitates and Judith steps forward. "Let go of my son you bastard," she says, and Clifford takes a step forward too.
"OK OK!" Ted relents, very grudgingly releasing the boy. Kurt rushes into his mother's arms, letting his tears come.
"It's OK baby," she says into his ear, cradling his head against her shoulder. "I've got you now." Ted squares his shoulders to face her.
"Judith, the boy needs..."
"Don't even!" Judith snaps. "I knew there was something wrong between you two. I should have said something as soon as I realized Kurt was different."
Kurt jerks an astonished look up to her face and Alyssa and I share a similar expression. That's when I notice that somewhere along the line Jen has rejoined us.
Ted's mouth falls open. "You know he's a fag—"
"Watch it," Clifford growls, his Muscle Beach chest expanding in the most subtle, yet most intimidating way I've ever seen.
Ted's yap slams shut.
"I suspected it, yes," she says, then adoringly smiles down at her son. "You and David should really be a little quieter when he sleeps over."
Kurt's eyes go wide and he blushes but gives his Mom a sheepish smile. Something makes me turn to Jen and she is wearing a knowing little smirk.
"Good for Judith, eh?" she says.
"And good for Kurt," I reply. Her pretty eyes are genuinely kind.
"OK," Judith firmly announces, "here's what's going to happen. You're moving into a hotel Ted, at least for now. Maybe in a week or two we can talk."
"Wait a minute," he protests. "That's my house Judith!"
"Now now Ted," Vanessa says, her tone full-on patronizing. "Don't forget that video tape. I strongly suggest you cooperate or you'll have big trouble faster than you can say restraining order."
Ted grunts something animalistic then falls silent for a few seconds before angrily striding for the door. "You haven't heard the last of this!" he says as he storms out.
Alyssa slips out murmurring, "I'd better make sure he gets out of here without making a scene."
On TV Judith is saying, "I can't thank you two enough. Vanessa, Clifford, I don't know how I would have handled this alone."
"You're very welcome," Vanessa says. "It felt good to get back in the saddle again. I've kind of missed putting arrogant bastards in their place!"
"Oh," Judith says abruptly, "what about the waiver? Don't you need both signatures?"
"Well, that was a little fib," Vanessa says. "One parent can sign. We just needed an excuse to get Ted down here so he could hang himself with his own rope."
I meet Jen's eyes once again, both of us grinning.
"Why you scheming little minx," I tease. "I only asked you to tape him so Judith could see when he inevitably started being an asshole. I didn't know you'd call in Vanessa the pit bull and her giant enforcer!"
"Sometimes you have to haul out the big guns," she says, then gives me a little elbow nudge. "Did you know about Kurt's, um, orientation? Is that why you're going to such lengths for him?"
I don't even entertain the thought of lying to her, although the whole truth sure ain't coming out.
"Yes," I say. "He was getting upset during the shoot and I could see he needed help."
"Guess you could relate, huh?"
"Yeah, that's about the age when you start figuring things out. I wish I had a grownup in my life I could have talked to."
On screen Clifford gives Kurt the same sort of elbow nudge Jen gave me. "David, eh?" the man says with a sly smile. "Nice goin' kid!"
Kurt blushes his deepest, but grins.
Thanks for reading Part 2 of Casting Call. Part 3 will be around at some point. So will Christmas. Let's see which comes first.
If you like my stuff have a look at my story archive here on my Prolific Authors page.
If you email me I will add you to my mailing list and notify you whenever I post on Nifty. I won't use your name for any other purpose and I will remove you from the list upon request.