CP Fiction by Bobby Watson
Copyright © 2018 Bobby Watson, All Rights Reserved.
(Author Note: This is the fifth story in a series. This series is based on
characters and situations originally introduced in the CP novels, Camp
Torowa Falls and Camp Torowa Falls 1964 .
This series may be read independently of those novels.)
For best results, you should read the first four chapters of this series first.)
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You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", Coots/Gillespie, 1934
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When Miss Dottie woke them on Christmas morning she chose not to comment on the fact that both boys were sleeping together in Mike's bed.
As they climbed out of bed Mike said, "I'm glad she wasn't freaked out about us sleeping together."
Jamey laughed. "Well, we've done it before... on several occasions. And not just when we were forced to share a hotel bed. But even if she knew what we did together in the early morning hours Mom probably wouldn't have cared. My parents are cool about that stuff. There is at least one gay pilot in Dad's squadron, 'The Tomcatters'. It doesn't bother him at all."
Mike had to rush through taking a shower and getting dressed for church since Uncle Dana would be picking him up at 7:30 AM to take him to Christmas Mass which was scheduled for 8 AM. The Christmas morning service at the Protestant church attended by the Lanes and Farnhams didn't start until 9 AM. The exchange of Christmas presents and Christmas brunch would have to wait until after everyone returned home from church.
When Mike got downstairs around 7:15 the kitchen was already buzzing with activity. Aunt Anna was working on prep with two professional chefs who would be doing much of the heavy duty work. Manny Calhoun, the private chef employed full time by the Lanes was accompanied by Marco Lombardi, who had been hired especially for the holiday dinner. Aunt Anna gave Mike an Orange Muffin and a glass of milk as a quick breakfast to get him through church.
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It wasn't full daylight yet when Uncle Dana picked him up for church. The man drove a late model Jaguar XJL 4-door sedan in a very pleasant green color. As they pulled out of the driveway of Lane Manor Mike examined the ultra-luxurious interior of the English luxury car.
"Like it?" asked Dana.
Mike nodded. "Yes, Sir. It's as impressive as Uncle Corey's Range Rover. But I think I like your green paint better than his silver paint."
Dana chuckled. "Yeah, it's British Racing Green, the official color for Jaguars."
"Why is it official?"
"Because that was the color they painted all the Jaguars used for racing back in the last century."
"Wow! So this thing goes fast?"
"Oh, yeah. Fast enough to get my butt thrown in jail if a cop catches me doing it on the street, especially with a minor in the car."
"So I guess a demonstration is out of the question?"
"Damn straight it is!"
"Okay."
They were quiet for a few minutes as Uncle Dana drove east, towards the ocean and the rising sun. Eventually Mike realized that Dana seemed to be staring at him frequently out of the corner of his eye as he drove. He wasn't sure how that was even possible, but it looked like that to him. In the end his curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "What's wrong, Uncle Dana?"
Dana smiled, "Absolutely nothing, Mike. In fact from the looks of things you seem to be floating on a cloud this morning."
Mike was confused by this observation. It did seem to be an unusually beautiful morning, despite the clouds in the sky. But, "It is Christmas morning. Isn't this always a special time?"
"Of course it is. But this seems like a lot more than Christmas spirit. I've only known you for three days, but we spent a lot of time together during those days. Unless I'm really misreading the situation your life has undergone a major change since last night. Am I right?"
Mike could feel himself blushing, and he had no idea why. How the hell did Uncle Dana know? Was he running around with a string of cum hanging from his ear like the guy in that stupid old movie? He brushed his hands over his ears as casually as possible, but nothing. That made no sense on second thought. He had taken a shower since then, and Aunt Anna had adjusted his tie for him and declared him "as neat a pin", which he assumed meant he was dressed appropriately for church on Christmas Day. Surely she would have mentioned it if the shower had missed anything that embarrassing. He became aware that Dana was stifling a laugh as he waited for an answer. Oh, to hell with it. "How did you know?"
Dana stopped stifling his laugh. "Let's just say that I was once a 12-year-old gay boy myself. That seems like an age ago, but I can still spot the signs. You and Jamey have been displaying most of them."
Mike shook his head slowly. "I can't speak for Jamey, but I'm not 100 percent sure that I'm gay."
"Don't worry about it, Mike. It's totally normal for 12-year-olds to experiment. But if you experiment with anyone other than Jamey be sure to use protection. That goes double if the person you are experimenting with is a girl. Guys who become fathers in their early or mid-teens very rarely go on to really successful lives. You don't want to screw up your life before you even get out of the starting gate."
At that point they arrived at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Jacksonville Beach. Mike was surprised that the main building looked a bit more like a school than a church, at least from the outside. It was finished with adobe-style stucco walls. When they got inside he realized why. St. Paul's was obviously intended to look like an old Spanish Mission-style place of worship. The rafters were a beautiful shade of dark wood, probably in the mahogany range. The church had some nice stained glass windows, although Mike couldn't figure out what some of the images were supposed to represent. He never was very good at that. He and his Catholic friends back home still argued about the images on a couple of the windows in their home parish church. This after years of seeing them once or twice every week.
Not too surprisingly, the church was nearly at capacity for Christmas morning Mass. The people seemed very nice. Many of them knew Uncle Dana, which wasn't the least bit surprising since he was a long time member of the parish. The Christmas Mass was offered in English, which was handy for Mike. He only spoke a little Spanish, so the Spanish language Mass offered later in the morning would have mostly gone over his head. On the other folded hand, the structure of a Catholic Mass was largely the same, no matter the language being spoken. It was Christmas morning, so of course the actual sermon featured the traditional exhortation for the faithful to attend church at least once a week throughout the year, and not just on Christmas and Easter. Mike was forced to suppress a laugh throughout that part of the sermon.
Apparently he didn't suppress his amusement well enough. As they were getting back into the Jaguar after the service Uncle Dana asked, "What was with all the suppressed laughing?"
Mike blushed a bit, "Oh. I was laughing at the priest telling people to show up more often than on major holy days. That part of Christmas and Easter sermons always irritates my Dad. The Damico family attends at least once a week, so he resents having to sit through a lecture about it."
"Okay, I can see his point about that." Uncle Dana seemed lost in thought for a minute or so. "You know it will be at least another 60 to 90 minutes before the Protestants get home from church?"
"That long?"
"Probably. Corey and Jerry are both Deacons in their Methodist Church. So they can't just rush out of the place after services end. Especially not today."
Mike was once again stunned. "They're both priests?"
"Well, the Protestants call them ministers, not priests. But they are assistant ministers, yes."
"Wow! I had no idea."
"They don't flaunt it." said Dana. "I believe the formal name for Methodist parish pastors is Elder. The Deacons assist the Elder during worship services and during special events like weddings and baptisms. They also attend to secular matters on behalf of their congregation."
Mike struggled with picturing Uncle Corey, and especially Uncle Jerry, helping out during a solemn event like a Christening. Well, they were very serious men. "But they're actually ordained clergy?"
"No. I know they have each filled in and led the Sunday worship service when the Elder was unavailable. But they are lay Deacons of their Methodist Church, not ordained clergy."
As Mike considered the situation he realized that the neighborhood they were passing through looked unfamiliar. A street sign they passed indicated that they were on Mayport Road. Then he saw a sign that read "Naval Station Mayport" with an arrow pointing straight ahead. "Where are we?"
"Atlantic Beach, which is just north of Jacksonville Beach. This road leads to Mayport Naval Station at the end of the peninsula."
"Why are we going to the naval base?"
"We're not. We're going to stop for coffee."
Mike felt kind of weird suddenly. "At your place?"
"No." Dana looked at him in disbelief. "I'm gay, not a pedophile. You won't have anything of interest to me for at least six or eight years. By then I'll be far too old to care about it anyway." He could obviously see the confusion on Mike's face. "Look, it's good to be cautious. There are some very dangerous and disturbed people out there in the world, but I'm not one of them."
Mike was reassured and smiled. "It's okay, Uncle Dana. I really do trust you. After all, Uncle Corey has known you for umpteen years and he trusts you."
Dana chuckled. "Umpteen years? Yeah, it has been a long time. We met in eight grade homeroom class when we were both 13 years old. I had just arrived from out of town and was the new kid. Corey took me under his wing and we became good friends over the years."
Mike wasn't sure how to ask the next question. "Umm, did you and Uncle Corey ever...?"
"Hmm." Dana thought for a few seconds before saying, "We never had a relationship like you and Jamey have. Corey already belonged to Jerry by the time I met him. I was late to the party... as usual." The man had a vaguely disgruntled look on his face.
"So wait, Corey and Jerry were lovers?"
"I wouldn't put it that way. I know they played together, and I don't mean just kids games. I suspect that they were always what is classified today as Bisexual, but Hetero-Amorous. That means they are attracted to both genders, but they only tend to fall in love with members of the opposite sex."
This was news to Mike. "Is that common?"
"Yes, a lot more common than you would think. It certainly explains all those guys who are happily married to women, but who like to fool around with men on the side."
Mike's curiosity had been aroused, among other things. He ignored the growing bulge in his pants. "You said Corey and Jerry played with each other. Did you play with them, too?"
Dana groaned. "You know what? I think that's enough of this kind of talk for a Christmas morning." As he pulled the car into a small parking lot in front of the Polaris Bakery and Deli he said, "Keep on exploring your desires, but be careful Mike. You're beginning to deal with segments of human life where mistakes can get real expensive, very quickly."
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The Polaris Bakery and Deli was essentially a 24/7 deli and coffee shop with a large bakery section. The place was busy, with a number of people in military uniforms mixed in with festively dressed civilians. The breakfast menu was bewilderingly large and Mike ended up choosing an egg, bacon and cheese croissant sandwich. He washed it down with a steaming cup of Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Cocoa. Wow! The cocoa was heavenly and the sandwich was miles ahead of the Bacon CROISSAN'WICH ® he was used to getting from Burger King.
Uncle Dana had coffee and a bowl of something called Pastrami Reuben Hash that came topped with two soft boiled eggs. It actually looked like there was sauerkraut in it. Weird.
While they were finishing their breakfast Mike fielded a call from his mother. They exchanged Christmas greetings and Mike told her about the Christmas shows they had performed at the ERIC club. Of course he left out any mention of the rum scenario from Thursday.
She asked to speak to Uncle Dana, who confirmed that Mike had been behaving himself and assured her that they had just attended Christmas Mass. After the call Mike thanked Uncle Dana for covering for him.
Before they left Dana picked up a pre-order from the retail bakery window. The three bakery boxes contained Wisconsin Cherry Kringles. These were large ring-shaped Danish pastries that had a delightful cherry and cheese filling. They turned out to be popular and disappeared quickly when put out as part of the Lane Family Christmas Brunch. Mike enjoyed the first slice he tried so much that he grabbed a second slice before it was all gone.
Uncle Dana's timing turned out being perfect. They joined the end of a parade heading through the gate guarding King's Harbour Country Club and winding around the community to the circular driveway of Lane Manor. Uncle Corey's silver Range Rover led the way, followed by Commander Dan's blue Pacifica minivan and then a brown Cadillac Escalade Hybrid SUV that held Uncle Will and his family. Uncle Dana's green Jaguar formed the tail end of the procession.
As the cars were unloaded Mike met Bethany Lane, Uncle Will's wife, and their baby daughter, Victoria. By the time everything had been moved inside Uncle Alan and his sons arrived with more stuff. When it was all unloaded and the crew of fifteen people was inside the house there was a gigantic pile of gifts under the festively decorated tree in the huge living room.
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There were people arriving throughout the rest of the morning and the early afternoon so gifts were being exchanged all day. But the main gift opening frenzy occurred just after arrival, once Aunt Anna was satisfied with the preparations in the kitchen. It would have been humanly impossible to track and remember all of the gifts exchanged that day. Of course Mike remembered the gifts he received, since he still had them after the party. He also remembered many of the gifts he gave to people.
Mike gave his hosts novelty drinking glasses emblazoned with humorous text:
Corey's Drinking Glass
Engineer. Noun, [en-juh-neer] Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data
provided by those of questionable knowledge. See also wizard, magician.
Anna's Drinking Glass
Civilian Families:
Dad's away for a week. Longest week of their lives.
Military Families:
Dad's away for a week. That's all? Sweet!
Jamey gave his grandparents novelty t-shirts:
Corey's T-Shirt from Jamey
Those of you who think you know everything are very annoying to those of us who do.
Anna's T-Shirt from Jamey
If I had known being a Social Worker would be this difficult, I would have joined a convent!
Jamey and Mike exchanged funny t-shirts,
The shirt Jamey gave to Mike said, "INCORRIGIBLE - Do Not Incorridge!".
The shirt Mike gave to Jamey said, "Never Trust an Atom - They Make Up Everything"
Mike received some incredibly generous gifts from the adults there.
Uncle Will gave him autographed copies of both Bayou Beach albums. The CD jewel cases had been signed by the
entire band! He would treasure them forever.
Uncle Corey and Aunt Anna gave him a Prelude by Conn-Selmer AS711 Student Model Alto Saxophone along with a book
on how to play sax. Chief Marston helped pick out the instrument for Mike. As a special bonus the old Senior
Chief would be arriving for the party later. He was going to give Mike his first saxophone lesson that very day!
Mike would have liked to experiment with his new sax, but unfortunately it came in pieces. Miss Dottie was a
clarinet player and she advised Mike to not try assembling the saxophone himself. Woodwind instruments could be
delicate and it would be a shame to damage the new instrument before he even had a chance to play it. Mike
realized that she was probably right. He would wait until Chief Marston taught him how to assemble it properly.
Mike was more than a little concerned about violating his mother's wishes on the "no musical instruments" ban. Aunt Anna promised to have a talk with his mother and convince her to accept the situation. Mike thanked her and silently prayed she would succeed against long odds. Unfortunately Mom could be almost as crazy as Aunt Stacy, at least about some things.
As Jamey later put it, apparently his grandfather went on a shopping spree at the local Guitar Center. Jamey's gift from his grandparents was a Martin 00L-17 Acoustic Guitar in Whiskey Sunset. Jamey loved it! He was quite partial to "sunburst-style" paint schemes that faded from one color to another throughout the body of the guitar. Jamey had been playing guitar for a bit more than two years so he was able to christen his new guitar by playing "Photograph" by Ed Sheeran.
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As the gift giving went on the chefs were joined by Myra and Betty, two kitchen/serving assistants who were hired for the day. They set up what amounted to a cross between a Christmas Brunch and an Hors d'Oeurves Party. An incomplete list of the dishes served included:
An entire gingerbread town had appeared on a side table. There was a town hall with a tall clock tower near the center of the display. There was also a small railroad depot on one edge of town, a church, a grocery store, a school house, an automobile service station, a hardware store, a small department store, a bakery, and about 10 houses of varying designs. There was even a tiny nativity scene set up in the town square. Mike had never seen anything like it before, at least in a private residence. The kicker was that nearly everything there was edible.
The gingerbread town was intended as a display during Christmas Day. At the end of the day the smaller buildings would be boxed up so that guests could take them home as a special gift. The Lanes and their house guests would consume the town hall over the next day or two.
As brunch began people stood around in small groups chatting and sharing Christmas cheer. Eventually Mike discovered that Uncle Jerry and Aunt Becky would not be coming to the party. As it turned out the Farnhams were hosting their own family Christmas party just a few doors down Shipwatch Drive. Mike had been looking forward to seeing them at the party. On the other hand the good news was that Jamey's idiot cousin T.J. Tressler was also at that other party. Any day without T.J. was a good one.
There was a rumor that Chuck Eastman might be attending the party with his two sons. Mike hoped they were around his age, since there were only five youngsters at the party. So far it was his own group of four boys from Virginia and a baby girl.
As the servers tended to serving brunch, the two chefs continued working hard in the large kitchen preparing the main Christmas Dinner for later in the day. Two pale green taper candles in candle holders made from some kind of milky white glass were on a side table, their flames dancing a bit as air circulated through the room. The candle gave off a unique scent that Mike found out was called bayberry. Apparently bayberry candles were a New England holiday tradition, which for some reason Aunt Anna's family practiced even though they lived in New York.
The first new person to arrive was Marty Thorpe, an African-American professional caddy and golf coach. Marty was Will Lane's best friend and fraternity brother. He brought along some Cheerwine Christmas punch, which was apparently a popular drink in his home town of Charlotte, North Carolina. It tasted like a cross between cherry and cola, but with a kicker. There were strawberry halves floating in the punchbowl. There was no alcohol in this punch, so it was appropriate for children and for recovering alcoholics like Marty.
The next arrivals were a man named Jonah, who was some kind of manager at Uncle Corey's gun store, and his girlfriend, Kate. These two mostly kept to themselves and only interacted with Uncle Corey, Aunt Anna and Commander Dan. Kate hit the champagne pretty hard and was fairly drunk before long. Eventually it got kind of embarrassing and Jonah took her home before dinner was even served. It was a sad and awkward situation but everyone seemed relieved after they were gone.
As it turned out Chief Marston's car was in the shop so Chuck Eastman gave him a ride to the party. The two band members were accompanied by Chuck's sons, 13-year-old Wolfie and 11-year-old Dino. Mike was quite happy to see Chief Marston, of course. It meant he would definitely be getting his saxophone lesson today. All four newcomers were festively dressed, but Mike had to stifle a laugh at the way Wolfie Eastman was dressed. He was wearing an unbelievably pretentious outfit: a green blazer with a red and white scarf. Who the hell wears a scarf in Florida?
The six boys exchanged introductions. It turned out that Wolfie's real name was Wolfgang Amadeus Eastman. Needless to say he had been named after the famed classical composer, Mozart. It turned out that Dino had an even more in-your-face name. His legal name was Dean Martin Eastman. It seemed that Jamey couldn't stop himself. "So Dino, have you ever been hit in the eye with a big pizza pie?"
Both Eastman brothers groaned at that one. Dino said, "Very original, Jamey. You're only like the three thousand and first person to hit me with that question."
Jamey smiled. "Great minds think alike."
All six boys laughed about that one. They exchanged basic family information. It turned out that Chuck Eastman was an Instructor in Percussion and Music History at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He was divorced from their mother, who lived down in Orlando. Shared custody meant that the boys were shuttled back and forth regularly. Their father was trying to find a job down in Orlando so that he could be closer to his sons.
Jamey and Mike told the Eastmans about their fathers' service as naval aviators. Jack Miller told them about his father, who was a nuclear engineer working for Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. His Dad was working on building the new Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carriers.
After brunch wound down Chief Marston decided that it was time for Mike's saxophone lesson. Uncle Corey showed them to his sound-proof recording studio. Mike noticed the brace that Corey was wearing on his right wrist and asked if he was okay. Corey replied, "Yeah, I'm fine Mike. I just need to lay off guitar playing for a few days is all. I'm not used to playing extensively three days in a row. It is now obvious that I'm getting too old for that kind of thing. Thanks for asking, by the way."
Mike was a bit alarmed by all the recording equipment until Corey assured him that no recording of the practice session would be made. The studio was the best place for the lesson since it would block out any distractions from party noises, and vice versa. Mike was amazed that there was a full rock drum kit with dual bass drums in the studio, along with what was apparently most of Corey's guitar collection. There were electric and acoustic guitars, and even a Rickenbacker electric bass guitar. Mike wondered if Uncle Corey could really play all these instruments himself. Unfortunately he didn't think to ask that question until after Corey had left the studio.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum
How lovely are thy branches
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
How lovely are thy branches
Your boughs so green in summertime
Stay bravely green in wintertime
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum
How lovely are thy branches
"O Tannenbaum", Traditional German Carol (Loose English Translation)
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Holy crap! Miss Dottie sure had been right about Mike not trying to assemble his saxophone the first time himself. Even with Chief Marston's expert and patient help it took about 15 minutes just to assemble it. Then the man made him disassemble it and reassemble it on his own. Just getting the reed installed right drove him a bit nuts. Chief Marston assured him it would be second nature to him in no time. Finally after 30 minutes or so of work Mike was finally ready to play his first note, which was a B.
But it turned out that playing the sax amounted to much more than simply blowing air into the mouthpiece and pressing the right keys. He had to learn how to use his tongue properly on the reed. Who knew that saxophone players were actually tonguing their instruments up there on stage, in front of God and everybody? No wonder they looked so into it!
Chief Marston taught him the basic notes played by the alto sax, then he taught him his first simple song. Very appropriately for the day the song was "O Tannenbaum", the classic German Christmas carol. The lesson ended with Mike disassembling the sax, reassembling it, then disassembling it one final time. The old sailor was right, the process did get easier every time Mike did it. The lesson had lasted nearly 90 minutes and Mike was tired.
They left the studio and started down the hallway towards the main part of the house. Suddenly Chief Marston stopped and stuck out his left arm, blocking Mike from continuing. The man sniffed. "Do you smell that?"
Mike sniffed, and sure enough... "Smoke."
"Yeah, and not from a fireplace." Chief Marston turned to Mike with a deadly serious look on his face. "Listen up. If I tell you to 'Scram!' I want you to head for the nearest outside door and leave this house as fast as you can. You stay outside until you get new orders from an adult. Are you clear on these orders?"
Mike gulped as he realized there was some kind of commotion up ahead. "Yes, Chief."
"Good," As the man started walking again he said, "Stick close to me until we figure out what the hell is going on."
"Okay," said Mike as he followed the old Senior Chief. As they moved up the hallway towards the main living area the commotion ahead got louder, but the smell of smoke actually faded a bit. Whatever was going on, it didn't seem to be a major fire.
They reached the living room and Chief Marston blocked Mike from proceeding again. Mike was quite happy to just stand there and take in the chaos. Whatever had happened apparently involved Dino Eastman and Jack Miller. Both boys were glaring at each other and being held by the collar while the Riot Act was read to them. Chuck Eastman was holding Dino back and Commander Dan was holding Jack. Uncle Corey was standing nearby holding a fire extinguisher, obviously ready to put out the fire if the smoldering pile of... whatever... reignited. There was a bit of light smoke in the room, but not too much. Aunt Anna and Miss Dottie were opening windows to clear out the smoke.
Chief Marston released Mike to enter the room after whispering, "Don't get too close to where the fire was."
Mike whispered, "I won't go near there. Thanks again, Chief."
"My pleasure, Mike."
Mike made his way to where Jamey and Timmy were standing. He got close to Jamey and whispered, "What the hell?"
Jamey shrugged and whispered back, "Damned if I know. Jack and Dino had been sniping at each other for at least an hour. I thought it was kind of funny. Next thing you know they went all Smackdown Live on each other and in the process knocked over that side table where the candles were burning. My guess is that the Christmas bunting on the front of the table was something flammable, because Whoosh!, it was like a torch there for a little while. I was about to grab Timmy and high tail it out of here when Grandpa showed up with the fire extinguisher. He had the fire out in a few seconds."
Holy shit! Mike was stunned by all this. "Was anybody hurt?"
"Not that I know of. But I think two people are about to get hurt... real bad."
Sure enough, it looked like preparations for a spanking were underway. As the two men led the guilty boys to chairs Aunt Anna and Miss Dottie continued opening all the windows to let the smoke out of the house. Fortunately it was nice outside. The early morning wind had blown away the clouds and Christmas day had turned bright and sunny with temperatures in the low-60s and still climbing. So the light breeze that blew through the house clearing the smoke away was not very chilly.
Commander Dan led Jack to a chair and Chuck Eastman led Dino to another chair. It was plainly obvious what was about to happen. Nobody in the room even bothered to pretend that they weren't watching. Hell, the little brats had nearly burned down the house, so who could blame them? Mike certainly intended to enjoy the proceedings.
There were protests when the men started unfastening the boy's pants so they could be lowered, but to no avail. Soon the two combatants were standing there in their boyish white briefs. This didn't last long. Jack was quickly bare between his waist and ankles. Dino tried to stop his father from pulling down his briefs. "Please no! Not in front of everyone!"
Chuck said, "You fought and started a fire in front of everyone, so now you have to pay the price in front of everyone."
"Nooo!" whined Dino, desperately holding on to the waistband of his undies.
"You disappoint me, Dino," Chuck shook his head. "You're real brave when fighting another boy, but not so brave when it's time to pull down your pants for a spanking. What's your next trick, peeing your pants?"
"Nooo!"
"Well, then get those undies down around your ankles unless you want me to start slapping your hands."
Dino looked like he was ready to cry, but he didn't lower his briefs as ordered. His father sighed and said, "Hold out your left hand."
Dino blinked in surprise and then yanked his undies down to join his pants down at his ankles. He tried to cover his boyish genitals with his hands, but Chuck wasn't having it. "Attention!"
Dino hesitated, then snapped to attention. He stared at the man who was about to punish him, almost as if he was trying to block out the rest of the people in the room.
The man regarded the boy a bit sadly. "Now, hold out your left hand."
Mike would have bet that Dino could not look any more shocked than he had already been looking since he was led to the chair for his spanking. And Mike would have lost that bet. The 11-year-old slowly lifted his left hand, holding it out in front of him. Chuck said, "Palm up."
Dino rotated his wrist. As soon as his palm was facing up the man's right hand became a blur. He administered a single sharp slap to the open palm. It looked like Dino's eyes were about to pop out of his head like in a cartoon. The energy of the slap traveled through his body, causing his limp little penis to waggle.
Chuck said, "Now hold out your right hand."
At that point Dino deflated and looked resigned to his punishment. He lowered his left hand and raised his right hand, presenting it palm up. There was another quick sharp slap, a gasp, and another penis waggle.
Things went quickly after that, Dino was tipped over his father's lap. The same thing happened to Jack, who found himself over Commander Dan's lap. Each man lifted his strong right hand and began sharply spanking the naughty boy he was dealing with.
Dino had apparently run out of impudence and was soon bawling as his bottom heated up. Now Commander Dan was a serious guy and he fulfilled his disciplinary duties with firmness and efficiency. But given a choice Mike would have picked Jamey's father to spank him rather than the Lighthouse drummer.
Chuck Eastman came across as a laid back guy, but it was apparent that he took his fatherly duties as seriously as did the Navy squadron commander. The kicker was that Chuck was a professional drummer and percussionist. It sure looked to Mike like Dino was having a much worse time of it than Jack was. The spanks that Chuck was administering just seemed so... controlled.
Commander Dan seemed to pick up on the difference between what he and Chuck were doing. He began to synchronize his spanks with the drummer and the boys were yelping in unison as their bottoms suffered and they writhed across the men's laps.
Mike was developing quite an erection in his pants and he held his saxophone case in front of him to conceal it. He was thoroughly enjoying seeing the two little brats howl and squeal as their bottoms were turned a dangerous shade of red.
Then Chuck began varying the tempo of the spanking and Dan followed suit, which seemed to really displease the suffering boys. Soon they were really bawling their eyes out. Of course all good things must come to an end.
Soon the two miscreants were furiously trying to rub the sting from their aching backsides as they performed the traditional spanked-boy dance. They were so sore and tearful that they totally ignored the fact that they were displaying their jiggling boyhoods for all to see. Eventually they came to their senses enough to pull up their pants and restore their modesty.
The two sobbing boys apologized to their hosts and everyone there for causing the disturbance and the fire. Miss Dottie and Commander Andy escorted the two miscreants upstairs so they could get washed up and put themselves back together.
Chuck and Commander Dan offered to pay for the damage but Uncle Corey and Aunt Anna wouldn't hear of it. Corey said, "Boys will be boys. They messed up and paid the price. Nobody was hurt, that's the only important thing here."
Anna said, "That's right, no harm done. I've been wanting to replace the carpet and that side table anyway. Now I have an excuse."
Corey laughed and it rippled through the crowd. "Like you need an excuse." This increased the laughter as the tension was removed from the room.
Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home!
I met a man who lives in Tennessee, and he was headin' for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie
From Pennsylvania folks are travelin'
Down to Dixie's sunny shore
From Atlantic to Pacific
Gee the traffic is terrific!
"(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays", Perry Como, 1954
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Uncle Corey supervised the cleanup of the mess from the fire. There was a small burned spot on the carpet. This was the only damage apart from the side table, candle holders and other items from the table which had to be thrown out. Aunt Anna watched the procedure with great interest. Mike guessed that she was trying to imagine how she would redecorate the room.
Eventually things settled down. The chefs and servers were hard at work preparing the main Christmas dinner and the Christmas revelers were reveling. This was a Methodist home so there wasn't a lot of booze around. Besides, after that embarrassing situation with Jonah and Kate people seemed to be staying sober. There were two bowls of non-alcoholic punch available all afternoon. There was the Cheerwine Christmas Punch that Marty Thorpe brought and a very tasty tropical Caribbean fruit punch.
The boys were playing with their holiday presents, but there were some problems. Jamey's father gave him a very nice flying drone. It was cool, but in the crowded house it seemed a bit dangerous. In fact Uncle Corey wasn't gonna take any chances after the wrestling debacle. He declared the entire interior of the house to be a "No Fly Zone". Commander Dan took everyone with an RC toy out in the back yard to play. In fact all six boys went along to get some fresh air.
Wolfie and Dino were fascinated by the Admiral's yacht. Wolfie said, "Keesog, what does that name mean?"
Commander Dan said, "Keesog means Moon in the Mohican Indian language. They were a tribe that lived in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State."
Wolfie said, "Wow! Mohican as in The Last of the Mohicans?"
"Exactly," said Commander Dan. "James Fenimore Cooper wrote that book about the same part of upstate New York where Camp Torowa Falls was located. That was a summer bible camp that my father attended as a boy. My brother Will and I went there too. The camp was located on a lake called Little Bear Lake. In that lake there is a small island called Keesog Island."
Dino piped in, "Do Jamey and Timmy go to that camp, too?"
"No," said Jamey. "The camp burned down years ago."
Wolfie was stunned. "A camp burned down? How does that work?"
Commander Dan said, "More than half of the camp was destroyed by a wildfire in the Autumn of 2012. The camp has been closed since then. But my cousin, Rick Farnham, it trying to arrange to buy the place. His idea is to rebuild it as a summer camp for wounded warriors and their families."
Mike was impressed. "Your cousin supports the Wounded Warrior Project?"
"Yes. My cousin Rick is a wounded warrior. He lost a foot in Afghanistan. Got caught by an IED. So he was forced into disability retirement as a Marine Corps Major. He splits his time between teaching computer security courses in college and working on Wounded Warrior matters."
This was fascinating, but Mike began to wonder. "So your cousin lives up in New York?"
"No. He lives right here in Jacksonville. Rick isn't very musical so he wasn't in the show. Plus he has an 18 month old daughter with a second bun in the oven. He is almost certainly at his parent's party down the street."
Mike wondered what that party was like. He momentarily considered asking permission to walk down the block and check it out, but... nah. This party was more than enough for him to handle in one day.
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Christmas dinner was ready to serve in due course. Before the meal was served there was a round of Christmas and Holiday toasts offered by various adults there. The final adult to offer a toast was Commander Dan. After he finished he made the announcement that the final toast would be offered by his youngest son, Timmy.
Timmy rolled his eyes as the group applauded. As he stood up he fixed a more or less sincere smile on his face. He raised his glass of non-alcoholic Cabernet, looked around at the assembled family and friends, then smiled and said, "God bless us, every one!"
Timmy bowed and sat down again as the group cheered. He looked at his laughing older brother and said, "Don't get any ideas, Jamey. I won't be dying anytime soon."
Jamey laughed and said, "Oh, I know that, bro. You'll still be plaguing me when I'm 90."
"You got that right," Timmy said smugly. This exchange brought a great deal of merriment from the assembled revelers.
Then the huge Christmas feast was laid on for the large group. It kicked off with a choice of two soups, including Cream of Curried Peanut Soup. Mike was suspicious of this but tried it anyway. He was quite pleasantly surprised. The curry wasn't overwhelming, but gave the soup a nice heat.
There was a choice of Roasted Goose or Baked Hardwood Smoked Ham. Mike tried a small slice of the goose and it was okay. But he mostly stuck to the ham, which was delicious. There were two different types of potato side dishes and a nice variety of roasted and/or glazed vegetables. There were two different salads plus garlic breadsticks and lovely soft dinner rolls.
Dessert choices included Pumpkin Pie, Buche de Noel (Chocolate Yule Log Cake), and Gingerbread Cheesecake topped with Gingerbread Star Cookies and Crystalized Honey. Mike tried a bit of all three, with the cheesecake turning out to be his favorite.
There were four varieties of California wine available (two reds and two whites) along with St. Regis Reserve Non-Alcoholic Cabernet. There was also a variety of soft drinks available. While Mike had enjoyed the non-alcoholic champagne served with brunch, the booze-free Cabernet just tasted like grape juice that was weirdly sour, and not in a good way. He drank the St. Regis Cabernet for the toasts. For dinner he mostly stuck with a nice home made raspberry iced tea.
By the end of dinner Mike was stuffed. His stomach was not super uncomfortable, but there is no way he would have wanted to eat anything else. Most of the other celebrants were in a similar state. There wasn't going to be a lot of after dinner snacking.
While the hired help cleaned away the remains of the dinner the guests retired to the large home theater. There they were treated to a showing of the 30th Anniversary Blu Ray edition of A Christmas Story. Mike was used to catching that film during the "24 Hours of A Christmas Story" marathon that ran every year on one of the cable channels. He had never seen the flick without commercials before, which was a more interesting experience than he would have imagined.
Mike's mind wandered during the oh-so familiar film. He wondered what his father was doing this Christmas Day. Was he flying? Was he in combat? Mike prayed for the safety of his beloved father. He also prayed for his mother and for Aunt Stacy, who could use all the help she could get.
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Before Chief Marston left for the evening with the Eastmans there was a request for Mike to play the song he had learned during his first saxophone lesson. He was more than a little nervous as he assembled his instrument. Playing in the studio for his instructor was one thing. It was a completely different kettle of fish to have to perform in front of about twenty people. At least most people seemed to be rooting for him to do well. Uncle Corey and Aunt Anna smiled at him, and Chief Marston gave him a thumbs up. Oh well, all serious musicians eventually have to give their first public performance. But Mike wondered how many of them had to do it the same day they had their first lesson?
Finally Mike was ready and he began playing. He played it a bit too slowly and not completely accurately, but it was recognizable as the song "O Tannenbaum" and he received polite applause from the audience, along with enthusiastic approval from Jamey.
At the end of the day, that's all he really needed. The approval and love of his best friend. He saw the love in Jamey's eyes and all was right with the world. This had been a very Merry Christmas, one that Mike would never forget.
Author Note: I'd like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest New Year!
The author welcomes comments from readers. You can contact Bobby Watson by e-mail
at: mrbwatson (at) gmail.com
Please be patient - Bobby doesn't always check his e-mail every day.