Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 00:27:43 -0800
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Seventy-eight

	Alas, it is once again time for the warning and disclaimer.
Complaining about it will not help.  Instead just go ahead and skim it and
then you can go on to the chapter with a clear conscience.

	First I always tell minors they have to leave because it is
probably against the law for them to read this story.  Do they leave?  I
have no idea, because they appear to be afraid to write to me.  Now I can
understand that because they no doubt think I am this evil person, just
lurking out here in cyberspace, waiting to get them or "whatever" it is I'm
supposed to do to them.  If someone could explain just what that "whatever"
is, I would really appreciate it.  I'm really sort of clueless on that
matter.  Then again maybe they do actually leave, but I wouldn't bet on it.
While it has been some time since I was a minor, I sure wouldn't have left
unless there was a very good chance of getting caught.  Now I really have a
hard time believing that young people today are any more willing to take
orders than I was, so I suspect at least a few might be reading this.  If
you fall into that group, well just remember I warned you.

	So now we move on to those people who might be offended at reading
descriptions of gay sex acts.  Now I really have no idea of why I need to
say anything about that subject, because anyone finding this warning had to
search for it and already should have a pretty good idea of what types of
stories can be found on Nifty.  However, if you are one of the few so
clueless as to what these stories are about, consider yourself warned that
such descriptions can be found in this, and other stories found on Nifty.

	If you live in an area forbidding the reading of stories such as
this, you can either leave or make sure no one ever finds out you didn't.
I sure won't tell on you, just as I don't tell on anyone else, including
young people.  I happen to believe anyone should be allowed to read most
anything they want.

	Now while I've attempted to make the story seem real, none of the
characters depicted in the story have ever existed except in my mind.  Nor
have any of the events described ever happened except in the same place.
So you can rest assured that none of this story ever really took place.  It
is only fiction.

	While you are free to download and enjoy the story, please don't
claim any of it as your own.  Please attribute any quotes used from it to
me, and if you come up with an idea to make money from the story, please
remember to at least share the money with me.

	I never have been able to understand how I can make so many
mistakes, and then fail to see them.  Fortunately a kind gentleman named
Don has volunteered his time and finds them for me.  It would probably help
if I used all of his suggestions, but I tend to be somewhat careless and
still manage to miss a few, even when he points them out.  So, I take full
blame for the mistakes, and Don can have credit for the parts with no
mistakes.  That way I get blamed for most of it.  Seems fair to me.

	So now we are approaching the end of the warning and only have one
thing left.  That is, feel free to write and complain, ask questions, offer
suggestions, or you can just comment.  I really try to answer all such
emails, but make sure your email client will accept my reply.  Understand
that I will not divulge your name, or age, or anything about you, even if
you are underage, or live in an area where you are not supposed to be
reading this story, so you will be safe in writing.  Just send such emails
to fritz@nehalemtel.net and put "I Love Corey," in the subject line of the
email.  With all that said, I hope you enjoy the following chapter.  Fritz
****************************************************************************

			I Love Corey, Chapter Seventy-eight


	Friday went well.  The morning meeting didn't have anything to
worry about, and my classes went well.  I even managed to remember to call
Kath and broach the subject of Danny accompanying us to Disneyland, and
told her she was welcome to come along if she wished.  Kath said that was
out because she needed to get the cast off, but she agreed to consider
letting Danny go with us.  I'd given her a check for her landlord and she
said he was happy and even agreed to allow her the weekend to get her
things moved.  In fact, now that she had come up with the rent money, he
really wanted her to stay.  However I still figured she needed to be closer
if I was going to get all the benefits of the whole deal.  A quick call to
my realtor, and he agreed to get in touch with Mr. Bartlett's son and start
negotiations on the house.  All in all, things really went well.

	Finally practice was over and we were off to the Graves' apartment.
The weather was still nice and I had driven the pickup, complete with my
utility trailer.  I had a bunch of strong backs even if they sometimes
didn't use their brains, and I actually thought things would go pretty
well.  So I'm stupid, so sue me.

	Now Kath had told me it was a furnished apartment, and she didn't
have much except for their clothes and personal items.  Well she neglected
to mention all the furniture, like a dinning room table and chairs, a
couple of bedsteads complete with mattresses and box springs, and of course
most the living room furniture.  Actually most of it was pretty nice, and
probably from her home before the divorce, but that still didn't prepare me
for the amount.  So finally at eleven o'clock, after three trips, we were
finished.  We did take a few minutes in the middle to gobble down some
frozen pizza, which gave me heart burn.  Plus the shop stall that I
normally kept the pickup in was now full of stuff.  Things just hadn't gone
quite like I expected.  Add in that the realtor had called about the time
we got started and told me the offer was fine except I had to take all the
furnishings along with the house.  So now I had most of two sets of
furniture and only one house to put it in.  Oh well, I could worry about
that when we got back from Disneyland.  I was just happy to fall into bed.
Kath got Corey's room because it was on the ground floor, and Danny had to
sleep downstairs.  I doubt any eyes stayed open more than two seconds after
their head hit the pillow.  I know mine didn't.

	I had no more than dozed off when Dog started barking, and he just
wouldn't quit.  I finally staggered out to see what the problem was and
found Uncle Matt trying to calm Dog down.  As soon as I showed up, Dog quit
barking and ran over to greet Uncle Matt like a long lost friend.  Now why
couldn't Dog have just done that to start with instead of waking me up?  In
fact, judging by all the people showing up, he woke the whole house up.

	Uncle Matt had decided to drive down at night so he could talk with
me in the morning before we went and signed the papers.  So much had
happened so quickly that I hadn't had time to tell him about Kath and the
housekeeping bit, so I had to introduce them and give him a brief rundown
on the whole thing.  Then I staggered back to bed.  All the kids had taken
one look and done the same long before I managed to get things explained.
This time I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, maybe even before I
started to get into bed.

	Of course I woke up at my usual time, but I was still tired.  Oh
well, maybe I could get a little rest at Disneyland.  I was beginning to
think I needed to take a month or so off and get rested up.  So far this
year had been nothing if not hectic.  Every time I turned around there was
another crisis to solve, and I never got the first one solved before the
next one happened.

	Corey never even twitched while I took my morning shower and got
dressed.  As far as that goes, I don't think anyone did, not even Dog,
because I was all alone when I made my coffee and started staring blindly
at the paper.  About then I realized I had forgotten to call the paperboy
and tell him not to deliver, or the mailman for that matter.  I was just
trying to figure out how to deal with that when I remembered that Kath
would be here and she could take care of the mail and paper.  She had
agreed to allow Danny to go with us, but wouldn't go herself.  I had a
hunch she was really looking forward to getting her cast off.  So I just
sat there, staring blindly at the paper, trying to remember what I had
forgotten to do.  There was the paper signing at ten, and the funeral at
eleven, at which I was a pall bearer.  Then there was the fact that we
hadn't gotten the trailer loaded with our stuff.  Really, things just
weren't going well and I was getting way behind as usual.  What had looked
pretty well organized a week or so ago was no longer that way, and I was
once again scrambling, trying to get my act together.

	About then Kath came out and we set and discussed Danny for a few
minutes.  Thank God I'd made a full pot of coffee because she joined me in
drinking part of it and I knew Uncle Matt would also want some.

	Then I managed to explain about what was happening with the house,
and told her that she could get the realtor to show it to her, giving her
his name and phone number.  If she really hated it, well I suppose we could
do something else, but the house was a good buy, and so I had already given
the go ahead to the realtor.  Even if Kath didn't like it, it would be a
good investment as property values were going up, and Uncle Matt had been
after me to diversify my investments some.  She wouldn't be able to move in
for at least a couple of weeks because there were still a lot of the
personal things the family had to remove, and of course the paperwork had
to go through, but we could worry about all that later.

	Since no one else was up yet, I showed her around the house a
little better, well actually I showed her where things like all the pots
and pans were, and all the various foods were stored.  We did make it down
to the washer and dryer and I was just explaining about them when Uncle
Matt came out of one of the guest rooms, actually what had been the sex
room, and headed our way.  I sent him up to get some coffee and went ahead
and showed her the spa or hot tub area, and then we went back upstairs and
joined Uncle Matt.

	So then Uncle Matt and I spent some time talking about the whole
property deal in the Castro district, and how he thought we should handle
some of the things that had come up.  The whole thing sounded good to me,
and by the time we finished that Corey joined us.  It was time to get
started on breakfast.  So I sent Dog, who had come out to see what all the
noise was about, off to wake the rest of the boys and started some
breakfast cooking.  Some hash browns, along with ham and eggs would have to
suffice this morning.

	Mark was his usual bright-eyed self, and the rest of the boys were
about like normal.  Danny fit right in with JJ and LT.  He was a little
more alert than Kyle, but certainly nothing like either Corey or Mark.
When breakfast was over, it was time to get busy.

	I gave the boys orders to get with the program on putting their
clothes in the trailer.  Also to make sure the dinner ware we had robbed to
use after Corey's mother's funeral was returned to its place, and all the
clean bedding was loaded aboard also.  They could do that while Uncle Matt
and I signed the papers.  Since I'd be crowded for time, I dressed in the
clothes I'd wear to Terry's funeral and we left to go meet with the
attorney and sign.  I also made sure to warn the boys they had to be ready
to go to the funeral when I got back.

	The signing went well except everyone seemed to want to talk things
over more than I thought necessary.  I finally had to leave, but we had
managed to sign all the papers, and the rest of them could just visit all
they wanted to without me.  I simply had to get to the mortuary and get
ready for Terry's funeral.  At least the boys were all dressed and ready
when I drove in so we made it in time.

	Of course as a pall bearer, that meant there was no way I could
avoid the graveside part of the services, but finally it was over and I
could plead that I had to leave rather than attend the luncheon afterward.
Diane and kids stood up about as well as could be expected, and I really
felt badly that I didn't have more time to stick around and try to offer
support, but I was just running so far behind schedule that it wasn't
possible to do so.  Even so it was after two by the time we made it home.
By the time we had finished loading everything we could think of, it was
after four before we finally left.  I did remember to leave Kath some
money, and gave her my cell number, but I was sure I was forgetting all
kinds of things.  I was so thankful that she had fixed some soup and
sandwiches for lunch so we at least had something to eat.

	Now I hadn't mentioned it to Kath, but if Danny was going to be
comfortable running around with my boys, he needed some new clothes that
fit him.  So that meant a stop at the mall in Redding.  My boys went hog
wild at the idea of buying Danny some clothes.  It wasn't really that his
clothes looked all that bad, that is if you didn't notice that they were a
little small for him, and that they were pretty well worn, but he also
needed more of them because I sure wasn't going to spend all my time in
some laundromat.  This was supposed to be some kind of vacation, and I
fully intended to act like it was.  Danny was a little overwhelmed by the
whole thing, but I didn't have time to worry about that.  Besides, the
other boys were really enjoying it, and they even managed to sneak some
things in for themselves.  I left them in one store looking at shirts and
made a quick trip to the cell phone kiosk and grabbed another phone and had
it activated.  That way they could all check in with me if we got
separated.  However that all took time, and it was dinnertime by the time
all the shopping was done, so we stopped at the Outback Steak House and
filled up.  While I wasn't all that hungry, but by the way they ate you
would have thought I'd been starving the boys for weeks.

	Finally we were off.  One nice thing was that Dog was at home with
Kath.  While I had originally planned on taking him with me, this was
better.  He wouldn't have to stay in the trailer while we were all at
Disneyland.  However having an extra boy really crowded the pickup, and I
suppose we were breaking the law because there wasn't enough seatbelts for
everyone.  That sort of worried me and I paid particular attention, trying
to make sure I didn't get caught in traffic and had no way to avoid an
accident.  So while I was busy concentrating on my driving, I just let all
the chatter sort of wash over me, and didn't really pay much attention to
them.  They were laughing and joking about all the fun they were going to
have, and all the rides they were going to take.  By the time we got to the
rest areas just outside of Dunnigan, the boys were all pretty quite, and I
was tired so I pulled in and we retired to the trailer.

	Then we discovered our first problem.  No one had thought on where
Danny was going to sleep.  I was too tired to worry about it and just told
him he would have to sleep with Corey and me until we could figure out what
to do.  The boys were too tired to worry about it either and soon we were
all asleep.

	When I woke up, I soon discovered another of our problems.  In all
the rushing around I had forgotten to stop and pick up the groceries on the
list, which was still in my pocket.  At least I had remembered to put some
coffee in, so I could have a pot to get my day started.  Soon I had hungry
complaining boys to deal with, so we headed down the road and found a
restaurant.  The restaurant was even fairly close to a grocery store, so I
managed to buy the things on the list, and a few other things that looked
good.  Then we were off again, and it was only slightly after eight.

	Well the traffic wasn't bad through Sacramento, but the highway
between there and Disneyland is a little on the boring side, and so I soon
had boys asking how much longer it would be before we got there.  And they
asked, and they asked, and they kept asking, like every half hour or so.  I
was seriously wondering if duct tape was boy-proof, and if I could get away
with taping their mouths shut when I think they finally got the message and
quit asking.  Anyhow they went back to chattering about all the fun they
were going to have and let me pull my shredded nerves back together.

	I was surprised at how well the trip went, that is if you
overlooked all the pit stops the boys required, and their bitching about
nothing to do, and their complaints about being hungry, well you get the
message.  Even with all those stops we got there a little sooner than I
expected.  So at five o'clock we were checking into Canyon RV Park just off
the Riverside Freeway.  The park was just as nice as the pictures had
shown, and we had a nice stall.  While I'd originally selected it because
of Dog, I was still happy with the choice.  Plus it was nice that the
directions were so easy to follow to get there.  All in all, I was pretty
happy to be there and start getting set up.  In fact, if the boys hadn't
required so many pit stops, or food, we would have been there much earlier.
Still it had been an easier drive than I had thought.  It really helped
that the traffic hadn't been very heavy.  Plus it was really nice to get
all that pent up energy out of the pickup, and particularly not have to
answer how long till we got there questions.  Now all I had to contend with
was all the "when are we going to eat" questions.

	There was an Olive Garden not too far from the park, and the boys
agreed that would be acceptable so off we went.  Once again you would have
thought I had starved the boys for a couple of weeks, but even they looked
stuffed by the time they finished.  Then it was back to the trailer to try
to get a little better organized.

	There still wasn't really any place for Danny to sleep, and so we
finally agreed that he would sleep with Corey and me.  While I wished it
wasn't that way, there didn't seem much I could do about it.  While the
trailer was large, it had never been designed to handle lots of people, but
instead was geared more towards the comfort of a few.  So we just did the
best we could and didn't worry about it.  Besides, the boys were all too
excited to worry about the little things.

	Now sometimes I'm not too smart.  I was tired, and I thought the
boys needed a good night's sleep, so we went to bed early.  Big mistake.  I
should have kept them up half the night, maybe longer.  Now I could have
understood Corey, or Mark waking up early, but to have Kyle up and raring
to go was unheard of.  I mean Kyle was a boy that normally took half the
morning to get going, so to see him all bright-eyed and ready to go at six
in the morning was simply beyond my comprehension.  The level of excited
chatter made it hard for me to even think, much less fix breakfast.
Telling them there was no need to bolt their breakfasts down was totally
ineffective, and I should have just saved my breath.  Not only that, I
almost had to fight them off in order to finish my breakfast.  During my
last few bites there were a whole bunch of hands, waiting to grab my plate
and wash it.  I swear they begrudged me every bite.  I shooed them off to
the shower facilities and tried to pull my shattered nerves back together.
At least I finally managed to drink a cup of coffee while they were doing
that.  The only one that had even come close to acting in a somewhat
civilized manner was Danny, and even he was pretty excited.  I could only
hope that they would calm down some as the week went along.

	Well of course they were ready nice and early.  So Disneyland
didn't open until nine, no problem.  They would be ready as soon as the
park would take them.  The only question remaining was would they still be
alive by then.  I was quietly contemplating just how to kill them.  However
I finally just gave up and headed out.  So we were early, so they could
stand around in the parking lot and jump around.

	So the twenty minute drive turned into thirty-five, so what.  We
were still way too early.  However we did get to park closer to the
entrance.  Then it was listen to all the rides they wanted to go on.  The
only thing wrong with that was they couldn't make up their minds where to
start.  Finally it was getting close to opening time and we walked up to
the entrance and waited some more until I could buy Danny a pass.  Finally,
the gates opened and the boys charged through.  Now the only question was
which way to head.

	Well the boys just couldn't seem to make up their minds.  The
debate was between Splash Mountain and the Indiana Jones adventure.  I
assured them they could go on both, and a lot more, but that still didn't
help them make up their minds.  I finally just gave up and headed for the
Indiana Jones adventure.  They were forced to follow along, or is that run
ahead of me.  I did kind of snicker at the boys.  Their heads were spinning
back and forth so fast I figured they would develop whiplash.  As for me, I
was amazed that the staff could keep the whole thing so clean and neat
looking.

	We seemed to be sort of splitting up into two groups.  Corey, Mark,
and Danny were staying fairly close to me, but the other three were
constantly getting ahead and then returning.  Since it was still early, the
lines weren't long and soon we were riding our trusty jungle transport,
dodging poisoned darts and all kinds of things.  Really, it was pretty
realistic, and the boys were having a blast.  Their eyes were sparkling and
their giggles were coming in an almost steady stream, occasionally
interrupted by shouts and flinches as something startled them.  There was
also all kinds of rib jabbing and pointing going on, accompanied by lots of
chatter.  I was even startled a few times, and the mummies looked pretty
real to me.  Of course the fact that all the boys had seen all the Indiana
Jones movies at one time or another added to their enjoyment of it.  Well
I'm not sure Danny had, but my boys had most of the movies in their DVD
collection.

	Once the ice was broken by the first ride, the boys were off and
running.  They seemed to quit worrying about which one to go on next, and
were happy to take the next one available that didn't have too long a line.
Of course being spring break, there were lots of people and soon the lines
were longer even at some of the less popular rides.  That meant that we
frequently had to stand in line for a while, but even that turned out to be
interesting.  Most of the people were there with their kids and it was
pretty easy to strike up conversations as we waited.  Of course the boys
tended to like it when there were other boys around their age group in the
line close to them, but even the boys got a kick out of the wide-eyed
expressions on some of the younger kid's faces.  I didn't have the heart to
tell them that they looked much the same.  After all, that would have
implied that they weren't nearly as grownup as they liked to think of
themselves.

	Chatting with those waiting for a ride frequently brought looks of
surprise when I explained that no, I was not overseeing a youth group, but
was a foster parent, raising all but one of the boys.  That produces a lot
of head shaking from some of those waiting for rides, and even questions on
how I managed, but all that conversation helped pass the time while we
waited.

	Of course all the rides and the expenditure of all that nervous
energy soon meant that we needed more boy fuel, commonly known as food.
Yikes, the prices were a little more than I'd expected.  However, as long
as I was paying, the prices didn't seem to bother the boys in the least.
In fact I was beginning to think the boys were now thinking of me as more
of a big wallet they had to drag along with them.  They were busy
chattering back and forth amongst themselves and paid little attention to
me.  Still that gave me a little time to look at them in a more
dispassionate manner and compare them to a lot of the young people who were
running all over the place.  I suppose I'm prejudiced, but my boys compared
very favorably to the other kids.  In my mind they appeared better looking
than most, and much better mannered.  Thinking about that as they gobbled
down a lunch that cost as much as a meal in a lot of decent restaurants, I
started to wonder if part of that was because they were around adults a
lot, and were perhaps a little more mature for their ages.  However I
discarded that idea, in part because they really weren't around all that
many more adults than normal, and instead started to wonder if perhaps it
was because me and most of my friends treated them more as adults, in that
we respected them as individual persons and so interacted with them.
However before I could think any further on the subject they were pulling
me up and we were heading back to see what new ride they could find.

	The boys really enjoyed Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  It didn't
look like something I'd be that fond of so I just found a place, set back
and relaxed while they battled the evil Emperor Zurg.  In fact that was the
first one they decided they had to go through twice.  I'm pretty sure they
saved the Empire and I would no longer have to worry about earth being
conquered.  However I enjoyed just looking around and watching the various
people.  Some other parents joined me at various times and we just
generally visited and mostly complained, with big grins on our faces, about
attempting to raise kids.  I particularly enjoyed it because for the first
time I got to visit with parents and not in the role of a teacher.  Sure
I'd talked with a lot of parents, but always as their child's teacher.
Since I didn't mention I was a teacher, the parents were a lot more open
with me.  They bitched about their kids, the schools, and a whole bunch of
things.  Sometimes I found it hard not to jump to the defense of teachers,
but still it was both interesting and informative.  The complaints about
teachers ranged from too much homework through not paying any attention to
their child.  It was truly interesting to see myself as others sometimes
saw me, and I picked up a few things I promised never to do in my classes.
One parent was really upset that a teacher had poked fun at his child, and
all I could do was agree that such an action was not only wrong, but that
the parent should go confront the teacher, the principal, and the school
board over it.  Something like that should never be tolerated.  Of course I
was only hearing one side, but still it should be checked out by the
administration of the school so if true, it would never happen again.
There are always a few kids that really enjoy needling the teachers and are
perfectly willing to accept it when the teacher jabs back, much like my
relationship with Marty Logan, but I was always careful to make sure that I
didn't hurt the feelings of the students less inclined to that sort of give
and take.  In fact, normally by the end of a school year several more had
become comfortable in that type of behavior, and they joined in such verbal
sparring.  Plus, you could always see that a lot of other kids would like
to join in that sparring, but they were not quite confident enough of
themselves to do so.  What I really enjoyed was when I'd had the same
student in different classes for several years, and they slowly worked
their confidence up to where they were willing to take me on in that type
of verbal jousts.  You could just see how much their confidence had grown
and that really pleased me.  Perhaps that's one of the reasons my classes
sometimes appeared unruly, but the kids seemed to enjoy it that way, and
they learned, so I encouraged it within reason.  Surprisingly the kids soon
picked up on what was permissible and rarely stepped over the line.  When
they did, a little gentle kidding normally took care of the problem.  It
was a pretty rare occurrence when I had to take a kid aside and really talk
with him or her about what was permissible and what wasn't.  I suspect
there was a student grapevine that pretty well explained what they could
get away with and what they couldn't.

	We finally made it to Frontier Land and of course the boys had to
try their skills at shooting.  Somehow we had picked up some more kids and
parents that were around, and we were now wandering around more as a group.
With the shooting most of my boys had done, they did better than some of
their new friends and were pretty smug about it.  Finally I forced them to
admit that they had done some shooting and their new friends soon started
razzing them about the few targets they had missed.  Everyone seemed to be
having a ball, just enjoying the whole experience.

	Along about four in the afternoon the boys started to run down.
Even the two loads of boy fuel was no longer working and they all agreed
that perhaps a little rest would be a good idea.  So with my assurance that
they would be coming back tomorrow, and they would be able to do those
things they had missed, we headed back for the trailer.  At least on the
ride back they were no longer bouncing all over the pickup.  There was
still a lot of chatter, but they just set there and talked in a much
quieter manner than the trip this morning.

	Well naturally the boys raided the snacks as soon as we got back to
the trailer.  I mean they really did a good job of it.  After stuffing
about everything in sight in their mouths, they seemed to gain a little
energy back and soon were outside just goofing around.  Before long, some
kids from some of the other trailers joined them and they were all
chattering about what they were doing.  It wasn't all that surprising that
most of the kids were here for the same reason we were, and that was to
visit Disneyland.  I hadn't really thought that much about it, but I
suppose the park got a lot of business from families going there.  Since
they had eaten a large quantity of snacks, I was in no hurry to fix dinner.
I suppose we could have gone out again, but the boys had suggested we have
hamburgers when we shopped yesterday, and I had picked up lots of buns,
hamburger, potato salad, and things to go with them.  I'd even hidden some
chips so that they couldn't find them for their snack.  Well either that or
they knew I would kill them if they got into those chips too soon.  Since
it was a simply beautiful day, I just dallied around until I figured the
kids were about ready to eat.  Then I got my gas barbecue out of the back
of the pickup and started cooking.

	About the time the first load of burgers came off the barbecue, I
had not only my kids, but several others there, adding all kinds of things
to their burgers and scarfing them down.  It practically looked like one of
those shark feeding frenzies you see on television, what with various kids
grabbing goodies and eating them.  The boys did take time before attacking
the food to introduce me to their new friends, but just barely.  I took a
quick glance and loaded the barbecue with another load of patties.  One
round was simply not going to be enough for the six of mine and five others
they had picked up.  Two of the extras only ate one burger, thanked me and
told me that they had to hurry back to their families because dinner was
about ready.  The other three, two boys and a girl showed little sign of
leaving and just kept mowing away the groceries.  Soon I learned that those
three belonged to a motor home a couple of stalls down.  They consisted of
a boy Daryl, a little older than my boys, a girl Stacy, about the age of
mine, and another boy about twelve named Cliff.  I was just taking the
second load of burger patties off the barbecue when their parents came
wandering over, apparently looking for their kids.  They apologized for
their kids joining us, but I told them it wasn't much of a problem since I
had plenty, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.  I also invited
them to join us, which they did after a little mild protesting.  And so the
Thomas family joined us for dinner.  Ed and Martha seemed like nice people
and were easy to visit with, and their children seemed pretty well
mannered, so everyone appeared to be enjoying dinner.

	Soon everyone was filled up, that is if you ever consider kids
filled up.  All I can say is the kids quit eating and I took that as a sign
they were full.  I growled some comments to the boys about picking up the
dishes and cleaning up the mess, well actually I didn't growl to begin
with, only when they kept stalling, and finally they did clean the mess up
and their guests even pitched in and helped.  After that we adults just sat
back in the lawn chairs, which I'd managed to remember to load in the
pickup, probably because they had been stacked sort of in the way so it was
hard to miss them, and batted the breeze about how the kids were all
enjoying Disneyland.  The kids were goofing around out of earshot, and I
idly wondered how Stacy was managing to cope with all the boys, but she
seemed to be doing fine, I suppose because she had two brothers and was
used to putting up with boys. She appeared to be somewhat of a tomboy, and
was having no problems in the impromptu soccer match that soon started.  In
fact she might very well have been the best player out there.  I'd even
remembered that I had a six-pack in the fridge so we were just relaxing,
enjoying a beer, and getting to know each other.

	Ed and Martha were from Fresno, and this was the first time they
had brought their kids to Disneyland.  One other planned trip had been
cancelled when one of the boys fell and broke his arm just before they were
ready to leave, so both groups of kids were experiencing it for the first
time.  Somewhere along in the conversation it was agreed that since I'd
cooked this evening, Martha would do the cooking tomorrow night.  However
she wanted to borrow my barbecue since they hadn't thought to bring one.  I
knew the propane tank was full, so I didn't see any problems with that
idea, and she promised to make a batch of chicken, which Ed assured me I
would be willing to die for if I had any idea of how good it was.  And that
was the way the evening went, just sort of visiting and watching the kids
play.  We didn't really exchange all that much information, but I did learn
that Ed was the manager of a small manufacturing company, and Martha worked
for an accounting firm.  Both Ed and Martha complained that sometimes his
hours were way too long, but he hoped that as he built the company up more,
those hours might get better.  I had some reservations about that because
he appeared to be one of those people who like to make all the decisions.
However it was his life, and his decision to make, so I said nothing about
some of the things he was complaining about, and besides, it seemed to make
him feel important to always have to be on call to take care of any little
thing that came up.

	Actually I learned more about Ed and Martha than they did about me.
It wasn't that I wasn't willing to tell them anything, just that Ed was
busy talking about himself and the company he managed, so I never really
had a chance to stick much into the conversation.  That didn't bother me in
the least because I was on the tired side and was just enjoying sitting
back and relaxing.  The last week had been so hectic that it felt good to
just set there, enjoying a beer, and not having to do anything except
listen.

	After a while the rather half-hearted soccer game fizzled out, and
soon the kids were all back and looking for some soft drinks in the fridge.
Well they found the soft drinks, and the last of the snacks I'd stocked up
on, and they managed to consume them although I have no idea where they
found the room.  Shortly the adult conversation sort of dried up as we
listened to the kids all talking about what they had enjoyed the most at
Disneyland so far.  When it finally got late enough, the Thomas's went back
to their motor home, and we put things away and went to bed.  The boys no
longer were bouncing all over, and it appeared that the day had pretty well
worn them down.  However I had great confidence that they would be ready to
go again tomorrow.

	Well I must say Tuesday morning was much better.  I almost
recognized the boys.  They were much calmer and more like normal, although
Kyle was a little too awake to be completely normal, but at least they
didn't drive me nuts wanting to leave before it was time.  However we were
early enough to be towards the front of the line, like almost first.  The
nice thing was that today they had it much better figured out what they
wanted to do.

	The boys really enjoyed Autopia, and even had to make another trip
through.  God I hope they drive better than that when they get their
driver's licenses.  If not, I predict a big increase in auto company
stocks.  To say they were having fun doesn't describe it, and I was really
enjoying watching them have fun.  The day was off to a great start.
However one thing the boys could have done much better is to plan their
rides so we didn't end up walking all over.  They would decide they just
had to go on some ride and it was never anything close, and so we just kept
walking all over, or sometimes riding.  And so that is about how the day
went, wait in line for a ride, and then hurry off to another where we once
again stood in line.  They seemed to be having a ball, even on some of the
rides that were geared more at younger kids, and we just kept hurrying from
one to another, with a few breaks thrown in to again stock up on boy fuel.
Since they weren't quite so excited, they lasted a little better and it was
close to five before they decided they'd had enough for the day.  There
were several of the exhibits that I would have liked to spend more time at,
but busy boys kept dragging me on.  And after all, we weren't there for me;
we were there for the boys.  Maybe next time they would be more willing to
let me look at some of the things I was interested in a bit longer.  I was
also somewhat surprised that they didn't seem to want to run off on me, and
do things on their own.  Instead they seemed to think I needed to see every
thing they did.  We were still kind of split into two groups when walking
to another ride, but the older group stayed pretty close and kept returning
to hurry us along.  It appeared that one of my reasons for the cell phones
wasn't really necessary, at least not yet.  It had been in the back of my
mind that they would be handy on this trip so that if we were separated, we
could call each other and figure out where to meet.  So far we just hadn't
had that happen.  Once we did see Mr. Thomas and his kids, but only waved
at each other in passing.  That also surprised me somewhat, but both groups
seemed happy with the way things were going so I just let it go.  I suppose
my bunch was so used to each other that they really didn't need other kids
to have fun.  After all, Corey usually stayed pretty close to me, and of
course JJ and LT stuck together.  That only left Kyle, Mark, and now Danny.
Danny was still pretty hesitant to venture very far, and Mark, being
younger than the others, was the same.  So while Kyle might have been
inclined to take off, he still felt responsible for Mark and stuck close to
him most of the time and so that meant we were kind of a self-contained
group, and just sort of stayed together and the boys just felt a little
more comfortable that way.  That made it a lot easier for me to keep track
of them, so they got no complaints from me.

	On the way back to the trailer I stopped at a grocery store to
replenish the snack supply.  Of course I had to look around a little, and
there was this lovely standing rib roast, just sitting in the meat case,
waiting for me to come along.  Since Martha was cooking tonight, it seemed
only logical that I would cook tomorrow night.  I could pop that roast in
the oven before we left in the morning, and dinner would be pretty easy to
finish up when we got back.  While I didn't have a roaster in the trailer,
one of those disposable ones would do.  So soon we were headed for the
trailer, a bunch of groceries in the back of the pickup.

	Well Martha's chicken was good, but I suspected the secret
ingredients consisted of a salad dressing marinade, most likely some brand
of Italian dressing.  However it tasted pretty good, and she apparently
knew about kids and eating because she must have wiped out a flock of
chickens to get enough drumsticks.  Still, all the kids did their best to
see that the chickens had not died in vain, and there weren't many left by
the time they finally admitted defeat and gave up eating.  There weren't
even many complaints when I set the boys to washing the dishes and cleaning
up the mess.

	The kids all seemed a little tired, and they just wandered around
after the dishes, laughing and talking. It wasn't long until it looked like
they had picked up a few more kids to add to the group, and there was about
fourteen or fifteen kids just goofing around.  They certainly weren't
causing any problems, and in fact they were somewhat quieter than I would
have normally expected.  The adults all gathered up a beer, and we also
took our chairs and gathered close to one of the fire pits that the park
had.  While I'd decided the next time I would bring some wood from home,
after getting sticker shock at the price of a bundle, I started a fire, not
because we needed one, but because there is just something about a fire
outdoors that is nice.

	The fire had died down some, and the kids all decided to roast some
marshmallows.  So the adults just continued to sit and visit a little while
we watched the kids all take turns burning marshmallows.  By now there was
something like seventeen or so kids, ranging in age from about ten to
sixteen or so, and they were having fun, setting their marshmallows on
fire, and finally eating them.  There was sort of a lull in the adult
conversation, and I'm not sure which one of the girls in the group said
what, but I clearly heard LT say, "You can't have him, he's mine."

	I did hear someone then say, "What are you?  Like boyfriends or
something?"  I really couldn't pick out just who was saying what, but I did
hear that much.

	Well LT started blushing and nodded his head.  Then I heard Stacy
complaining about all the cute boys being either taken or gay.  The kids
all giggled over it, like it wasn't that big a deal, and just went on
burning their marshmallows, but Ed got a real funny look on his face.

	"Are those two boys queer?" he almost snarled at me.
	Martha looked like she was trying to think of something to say,
perhaps to calm him down or shut him up.  Anyhow she had what could only be
described as a stricken look on her face.

	Now I was still pretty calm, owing to the relaxed state I'd been
in, and so I didn't yet get upset.  "What difference would it make if they
were?" I asked.

	Boy that was the wrong thing to say.  I started getting a real
lecture on the evils of queers, and how they should not be allowed to
exist.  Martha was tugging at his arm but that didn't slow Ed down a bit.
It probably didn't help that I was now getting more than somewhat angry
over the whole thing.  When he stopped to take a breath I jumped in.

	"So just what is it you want done with them?  Shall we kill all of
them?"  Now anyone could tell that I was really pissed by the tone of my
voice, but Ed never even slowed down.  As soon as he got another breath, he
went right on.  Martha was still tugging on his arm, and out of the corner
of my eye I could see kids scattering every which direction.  That is all
but my boys, and they just sort of got together in a group, not far from
the fire, and watched.

	Now one of the things we'd been talking about was how active Ed was
in his church.  In fact, he claimed to be a Catholic, although he sure
didn't sound like one now.  In fact he sounded more like one of those fire
and brimstone revivalists as he started shouting out various passages of
the Old Testament.  Of course pointing out that Jesus had said nothing
about homosexuals, and that a lot of things espoused in the Old Testament
were no longer acceptable had no effect, and so I headed for the trailer,
boiling mad.

	Now apparently Ed wasn't used to having people walk off when he was
talking, or throwing a temper tantrum or whatever, because he grabbed me,
spun me around, and continued yelling at me.

	Now I put up with it until he wound up to let fly with some kind of
punch.  That was too much, and I simply employed one of the moves I'd
learned in high school when I was on the wrestling team.  Now Ed was about
four inches taller than I was, and probably outweighed me by forty pounds
or so, but when that punch started forward, it really only meant the he
landed a little harder.  And of course that did nothing for his attitude,
which was already really getting to me.

	Well he jumped up and charged, and I simply ducked under that
charge, and of course he went flying and sprawled on the grass at the end
of his short flight.  However his landing seemed to knock some of the wind
out of him, and he didn't make the same mistake again.  Instead, when he
got a little of his wind back, he headed for his motor home, shouting
threats over his shoulder.

	Well by this time there were several adults standing around, trying
to figure out just what was going on.  I also had armful's of boys huddled
around me, and was starting to get myself calmed down somewhat.  One of the
adults asked what all that was about, and I just told him.  I was too upset
yet to think of anything else to say.  That fellow just looked and me and
said, "Another of those homophobic bastards eh?"

	It turned out that several of the onlookers had seen him swing
first, and they all seemed more than happy to so testify if I needed it, so
I got their names and addresses and by the time that was all done, most of
the kids that had been burning marshmallows and had scattered when the
shouting had started, had come sneaking back to see what had happened.
They looked a little nervous at first, but soon were giggling and burning
their marshmallows like nothing had happened.  I went and grabbed another
couple of six-packs and the new group of adults and I had a few beers and
started visiting and relaxing.  A short while later Martha came over an
apologized to me, but said she wouldn't be able to come to dinner tomorrow
night.  That wasn't really necessary because I'd already figured that out,
but I appreciated the courtesy.  I actually felt sorry for her because it
was apparent that she was terribly embarrassed about the whole thing and
really had no idea of quite what to say.

	By the time the fire was about out, all the marshmallows were
history, I think maybe the fire got more of them than the kids, and there
must have been two dozen kids, and about half that many adults around the
remains of the fire.  There was one real nice elderly black couple, who
were actually in the motor home right next to us and had waved at us
several times, but most were parents who were taking their kids to
Disneyland.  I was fully calmed down and had even consumed three beers, and
the last time I'd drank that many was in college.  While it had taken the
boys a little while to calm down, they were once again right in the middle
of things, having fun.  So we made sure the fire was out, then said
goodnight to everyone and headed for the trailer.  I got a warm goodbye
from the elderly couple, the Maxwells, and even invited them to dinner
since I now had a huge roast and not as many to feed.  They agreed and
really, the whole group seemed pretty laid back and like they had enjoyed
the evening, even if there had been a problem earlier.  A couple of them
reminded me that they were still willing to tell anyone what had really
happened, and somehow that renewed my faith in people.  Sure there are a
few unpleasant ones, but most are pretty nice.  The Maxwells even
complimented me on what nice polite boys I had, and giggled about how I
must really crack the whip on them.  I couldn't recall ever cracking the
whip, but I had stressed being polite, and the boys did a little better on
that than a lot of kids.

	As soon as we got in the trailer the boys needed to talk about what
had happened.  They all seemed somewhat in awe that I had been able to keep
Mr. Thomas from beating up on me, but the important thing to talk about was
his actions.  We kicked the whole thing around for a while, and I think I
managed to convince the boys they had really done nothing wrong, but they
still should be a little more cautious about what they said around relative
strangers.  After all, none of us had any way of knowing that he was so
homophobic, and there might be a few other people out there like him.  This
was something they were going to have to learn to deal with as they grew up
into gay adults.  I know, it shouldn't be that way, but the unfortunate
fact of the matter is you have to deal with life as it is, not how you wish
it would be.  Since no one had really been hurt, maybe it was a good
lesson, and I hoped they wouldn't suddenly become scared of people they
didn't know.  Still it is probably better to be a little cautious about
some things because while few in numbers, there are some real kooks out
there, and they can be dangerous.

	With that done, I started getting things ready to cook the roast.
I was busy peeling some garlic, and just feeling rather happy about the
Maxwells reaction to the whole thing.  Now there was a couple who had no
doubt confronted bigotry, although for their skin color rather than their
sexuality, and yet they had still been willing to speak up on how much they
were against any form of bigotry and discrimination, not just that which
they had received.  I could only be thankful that our society had advanced
to where skin color is less of a problem, and that people like the Maxwells
only helped show how silly such a thing had truly been.  I could only hope
that trend continued because they were as nice a couple as I'd ever met,
and I certainly doubted that I would ever have any reason to change my mind
on that.  They'd even been more than happy to show me pictures of their
kids and grandkids.  You could just see the pride in their faces when
showing those pictures, and of course all the others in the group had soon
been admiring those pictures.  Yet something about their quiet confidence
had helped to relax everyone.  They had just sort of taken charge and soon
had everyone more relaxed and enjoying life.  Mr. Maxwell had let drop that
he had been a plant manager, and I had a hunch that the company that had
employed him had done well and been more than happy over promoting him,
that is if they looked at his efforts for that company.  He was just a sort
of quiet, yet take-charge person and had soon defused everyone to where we
just enjoyed ourselves.  My impression was that he was a truly nice man,
married to a truly nice woman, and I was really looking forward to having
them as guests for dinner.  About then, someone knocked at the door.

	A young man, who after informing me he was in charge of the park,
informed me that owing to the large number of complaints against me and the
boys, we would have to leave.  Now I was still just a little wound up, and
there was still some underlying anger at Mr. Thomas bubbling around inside
me, and his attitude was less than nice, sort of a superior and
condescending one, that the whole thing really ticked me off.  So instead
of just complying, I struck back.

	"Hmm, I suppose you would be more than happy to tell me just what
all those complaints were, and who made them.  After all, I only have your
word for it that there are any complaints and somehow I'm less than
convinced there are many complaints against us."

	Well he started sputtering something about he couldn't reveal the
nature of the complaints, or even who made them, but he hadn't really
thought the things through and he gave out some information that he really
shouldn't have, and that was that we were too noisy.

	"Well, I suppose you have rules you have to follow, but in order to
get me to leave, one of two things has to happen. Either you will have to
supply me with a written eviction notice, or you will have to get the
courts to issue a ruling that evicts me.  And as long as your asserting all
those complaints, and I even heard you mention something about noise, the
motor home next to me is the closest one, and if there are complaints about
noise, it would only seem logical to me that they must be among the many
doing the complaining, so what say we go over and ask them.  I'm quite sure
the Maxwells will be happy to help clear this whole thing up."

	Well, needless to say, the idea of talking to the Maxwells wasn't
quite what he had in mind.  I let him sputter a while before interrupting.

	"Well, since were are in the last space in this row, and the
Maxwells are the closest ones to us, it only seems logical to me that they
must have been one of the many that complained, however, I'm pretty sure I
know who made the complaint, and I really doubt that there is more than
one, so once again, bring me a written notice of eviction, or get a court
order, or leave.  But, here is some free advice, and I suggest you listen
carefully.  If you bring me some kind of paper telling me to leave, you
better have all the details on it–" Boy that set him off again on the fact
he couldn't reveal such information and it took me a while before I got him
shut up.  "As I was saying, it better contain all the details because if it
doesn't contain all the name, times, and nature of those alleged complaints
I flat guarantee you that you will reveal that information in court.  I
have one other piece of advice I think you would be wise to follow and that
is this; I would strongly suggest that you get in contact with the owners
or the number one manager and talk the whole thing over before going any
further.  If a Mr. Thomas is the one complaining, and I'm willing to bet he
is, then you would be wise to learn exactly what happened and what this is
all about.  Now you're free to disregard this advice but remember, I will
take the whole matter to court, and somehow I doubt that the owners will be
pleased with that or the publicity that it would bring.  So either bring me
a paper, or leave me alone.  Good night."  And with that, I closed the door
in his face.  Well it was a little more difficult than that, but he did
step back, and I did then close the door.  I was furious by that time.  I
didn't have any idea if I could get the whole thing into court, but at this
point I really didn't care.  It had sounded like a pretty good threat to
me, and if he came back with some sheet of paper telling me to leave, well
I could probably go after Mr. Thomas for defamation of character or
something.  I was about ready to call Russ Young when I thought maybe I
better wait and cool down just a little.

	All those thoughts were running through my mind as I stomped over
to the coffee pot and poured the last of it in my cup.  Of course it was
cold, and it had set since I had made it as soon as we got back today, so
of course it was close to undrinkable.  I dumped it in the sink and started
making another pot.  When I had it on the stove, I turned around.  There
was a bunch of wide-eyed boys just staring at me.  Then it struck me that
this was the first time they had ever seen me truly mad.  They just sat
there staring at me, almost a look of fear on their faces.  Jeez, suddenly
I was almost sick.  There was no way I could begin to accept their fear,
and to think that I was at least partly responsible for it, maybe
completely responsible, just sickened me.

	It took a while, but I think I finally convinced the boys they had
nothing to fear from me.  I also made sure to praise them for showing good
judgment by not saying anything to me when I was so angry.  Amongst our
whole conversation I kept pointing out that no matter how angry I might be
with someone else, they had nothing to fear.  Now that I was thinking a
little clearer, I also explained why it is better not to say anything to
someone when that person is angry.  After all, they might take it out on
you, and then feel terrible later.  In fact my advice to the boys was to
allow a person, who appears angry, a chance to cool down if at all possible
before saying anything to that person.

	It didn't seem like we talked that long, but the coffee finished
perking, and I even drank a cup before the boys seemed calm, and I was
also.  By now it was getting pretty late so I finished up getting the
spices ready for the roast while the boys started setting up their beds.
Before I could get completely finished, there again was a knocking at the
door.  I was getting angry all over again as I went over and opened the
door.  This time it was not that arrogant punk that had been here earlier,
but instead a middle aged man who introduced himself, but never really said
what his title was, and asked if I could spare him a few minutes.

	When I inquired just what it was he wished to speak with me about,
he explained that he was investigating the complaint that had been
presented against me.  Now I was in no mood to be nice, and so made a
rather sarcastic comment on suddenly the many complaints had shrunk to one
and now it was even being investigated instead of just assuming I was
guilty, and had the world suddenly ended, or words to that effect.  That
brought forth apologies over how things had been handled to that point, and
assurances such things would never happen again.  I was still in a foul
mood and just quipped something to the effect that how could he be so sure
it wouldn't happen again?  He just stated it wouldn't because that
particular employee was no longer working there, and that he had already
been on probation for being disrespectful to another guest of the park a
few weeks back.  So that told me I was dealing with someone a lot higher up
than the first idiot.  I thought about that for a few seconds and decided I
was being rude to someone that didn't deserve it, and actually was ashamed
of my behavior, and so I apologized.  Really, this gentleman had been
polite and I was way out of line by not being courteous to him.  He tried
to shrug my apology off, but I suddenly felt badly over my behavior and
kept apologizing while inviting him in for coffee, and promising to do
anything I could to help him.  I finally managed to get a cup of coffee in
his hand and we got down to the nuts and bolts of why he was here.

	Ed Thomas had accused me of attacking him, and of course something
like that both need to be investigated, and if I was deemed guilty, I would
be asked to leave.  Well that made perfect sense to me, I mean really, the
park had to attempt to keep its guests safe and couldn't have some nut
running around attacking people.  However since I hadn't attacked Ed, there
didn't seem to be much of a problem to me and so I explained what had
happened, and got out the sheet of paper with all the names and space
numbers of those who had offered to help clear anything up.  By now
Mr. Karlecky had tried the coffee, and apparently liked it, and was looking
much happier.  When I opined that it was getting pretty late to talk with
those on the list, he assured me he really didn't think that was necessary.
Then he said that owing to the unpleasantness, my stay would be comped, a
term I wasn't familiar with but which he told me meant there would be no
charge for my stay at the park.  When I protested at that, and at the fact
he hadn't even had time to check with any of the witnesses I had told him
about, Mr. Karlecky just grinned and said he had talked with Mr. Thomas
before coming to talk with me and he thought he had things pretty well
figured out.  Then he did something that took me by surprise, and that was
ask me just what kind of coffee I had served him?  That was easy, because I
had another package that I hadn't opened yet, so I just gave it to him.  On
the package it gave the name of the variety of the coffee, and how and
where to order it.  It was kind of pricey, but one of my coffee nut friends
had found an online coffee store a couple of years back and had told me
about it.  I'd tried several of their blends and settled on one that was
predominately Kenyan in origin, and that I particularly liked.  When he
protested I just grinned and told him take it and enjoy it, that I had
plenty to last until I got home, and that there was another package at home
in the freezer.  And so on that note, we parted.

	I did spend a few minutes explaining to the boys how I had been
wrong in the way I'd first treated Mr. Karlecky, and they needed to try not
to ever let anger with one person carry over to another.  We had just
finished getting the beds all set up when I heard a vehicle starting up.  A
quick look outside and I saw it was Ed Thomas and family pulling out.  I
didn't know if he'd been asked to leave, or was just leaving because I
wasn't, but I sort of suspected the former, and while I know it's wrong, I
felt a little smugness as we finished getting ready and went to bed.  By
now it was pretty late, but I was sure the boys would be ready to go in the
morning.  Tomorrow they wanted to try Disney's California Adventure Park,
mainly I think for the California Screamin Roller Coaster.  That sounded
pretty good to me because I always have liked roller coasters.

			To be continued...

	Something I perhaps need to remind readers of, and that is that the
story is fiction.  While I've tried to make it fairly realistic by using
the names of actual restaurants and attractions, and yes, there is a Canyon
RV Park, but none of the people actually exist and none of the events ever
happened.  Except for the supposed hometown restaurants such as Italian
Surprise, Flo's, and Old Texas Ribs which are imaginary, all other
restaurants are where I say they are in the story, and so are the
attractions, such as Disneyland, and in previous chapters Fisherman's Warf
in San Francisco.  Canyon RV Park is a lovely park, and I think anyone
wishing to stay there would enjoy it, but remember, the people named do not
exist, and the events described never happened.  And for those curious
about such things, the hometown would be about thirty miles west of
Redding, in Northern California.  So far, in two and a half years of
writing the story, I haven't come up with a good name for it, so it shall
remain nameless.