Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 17:30:39 -0800 (PST) From: T. Chase McPhee Subject: OLuFsEN & SONs 08 The story below is a work of fiction, set in the format of reality. Any resemblances to real people, alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon persons, in towns, cities, countries, nor governmental areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then you should not read this story. Additionally, if you are under 18 years of age, in most state and countries, you are not allowed to read this story, by law. Check with your local laws regarding such. % Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction. In real life, use protection. % OLuFsEN & SONs 08 wriTten by T. Chase McPhee % "I was ready to send out the army, navy and FBI after you two. What happened to you two? I tried to get Gef on his cellphone!" he scolded Gef and Nick. Walking in with a brown grocery bag, Nick responded, "We got a little detoured on the way home." "I see," Erik replied, tapping five fingers in succession on the kitchen counter, gaze shifting from one to the other. "Something you want to tell big brother?" he asked Gef. "Actually," Nick started in after each deposited their bags on the counter, "we'd like to make it more of a joint effort." Erik looked mystified but really had a notion to why they were late. He wasn't surprised, but acted it, saying, "Oh my!" When the two caressed each other with multiple kisses. "So. When's the wedding?" Erik asked, giggling away. Gef comes out with, "You better hurry up and find a guy bro so we can make it a double ceremony!" Nick agreed. "Well I better rush into my office and sign on to gay.com right away!" But they were interrupted by Jase and Zack, Jase asking, "Nick, when are we gonna eat?" "As soon as your uncle starts peeling the potatoes!" "Me? Gef replied. "Get used to it," Nick replied, giving Gef a peck on the cheek. "Hey Uncle Gef," Zack got on the defensive. "You stealin' Nick away from dad!" He answered quickly lest the tug on his belt would make his pants fall down, "Nooooo. Me? Steal Nick away from your dad? Nah. I'm jus' borrowing him!" "Is he allowed to do that, dad?" Erik figured it better now than later, to confess, "Boys, Nick and I spent some time together.... trying to fall in love, but it didn't work out." The three waited for something more than Zack saying, "Oh." Then Jase speaks up, the two crowding around their dad, "So who're you going to get to be your boyfriend now, dad?" Zack wondered too. "Can't say," Erik said frankly. "Whenever Mr. Right comes into my life!" They accepted their dad's reasoning. "Hey Nick, got anything to munch on?" When he held up a package of baby carrots, the boys expecting chips, they suddenly felt full. "Almost forgot something," Erik said to himself more, but Nick and Gef heard it. "What's that?" Gef replies. "Have to go see somebody in the hospital before he is released." "Anybody we know?" Nick pries. Reading them right, Erik responds, "It's not at all what you think. The guy whose his arm was cut at Williams-Sonoma the day the boys and I were there. Seems like he has no next of kin, so I thought it would be a nice gesture." Overhearing, Zack and Jase had given in, their little bellies calling out for something to eat. So they got sidetracked, "Can we go see Joaquin too, dad?" Jase asks. "Yeah. Can we dad?" "I suppose," Erik replied. "Joaquin, eh?" Gef ribbed his bro. But instead of Erik having to set the record straight of Joaquin being a twenty year old college guy working his way through his middle years, the kids filled them in, Zack accidentally blaming, "Yup. Jase accidently hit the table and when the dish fell it broke. It almost cut us to pieces but Joaquin caught it on his arm." "And it's all my fault," Jase replied. As quick as he brought it upon his ten year old brother, Zack removes the curse, "But he's okay, right dad?" "That he is and when I talked to him on the phone yesterday he said he was glad he could save two nice boys from getting in harm's way." "What's arms weigh?" Zack asks. "Never mind. Got your jackets?" Quickly Nick had explained dinner not being ready for another hour, so Erik and the boys walked out the door. Back to their work, Gef accidentally drops a potato on the floor. "I got it!" he says, bending over to reach the potato. `Hmm,' Nick thinks to himself, a smile crossing his lips. "Hey, What's this?" Gef asks, looking at the business card on the floor, turning it over to look at both sides. "Oh that. One of the concession fellas at the arcade," Nick replies a little hot under the collar, feeling guilty after trying to pick Patrick up. Reading the headline of the card Gef reads, "Fool the Guesser? Patrick O'Cuinn? Does children's parties too?" It was Nick's `out', saying, "Yeah. Maybe he could entertain at one of the boys' birthday parties." "I hope it's not one of these old guys out to supplement their social security checks?" Gef reckons. "Nah. Patrick's like 18 or 19." "Hmm..." then as Nick goes about his business, Gef asks, "Cute?" Nick drops the knife through the tomato, it hitting the board with a mighty clunk. "I was just asking," Gef replied. No saint himself in the matter, Nick decides to turn it into a joke, "Very cute!" "Maybe we should have him over for a pool party. Y'know, entertain?" Then with a last breeze of thought, "Does he do adult parties?" "Of `that' I'm not sure," Nick replied. Not knowing about Patrick at all except the strong possibility he is gay, he wasn't sure if Patrick would like entertaining ten or twelve gay men at a no-suit swim party. "Okay," Gef left it at, placing the card on the counter in front of Nick. "Of course we could always call him and ask?" Gef handed Nick the remote phone. He tapped the knife he was using to cut up potatoes on the counter. Nick put his hand on Gef's hand, cautioning him to stop. "Hi. Patrick?" Gef was all ears, listening to Nick converse with Patrick, saying this and that, but not mentioning, "Get to the party. Ask him!" Then as if holding Gef his captive, Nick put him in a hold, still talking nonchalantly, arm aroung Gef's neck, his hand secured over his mouth. "What'd he say?" Gef eagerly asked when Nick hung up. "He's coming over for dinner." "When?" "Tonight." % "Hi Wah-king," Zack jumps to the front of the line, Jase and his dad following behind. "Heeeeey!" Joaquin yells out. "How you doing Jase?" "I'm Zack. He's Jase," Zack points over his shoulder to his brother. "Oh Sorry." Erik was glad the boys came along, Jase automatically asking, "Are you mad at me Wah-king?" "Mad? For what?" Erik says, "Jase has been blaming himself lately for the little mishap which caused `that'," Erik nods to the bandaged up arm. Maybe it was Jase's fault and Joaquin didn't deny it, but wasn't going to mention it so said instead, "My arm is doing good. The doctor said I can be released as soon as I make some arrangements to go home." "So, what keepin' ya?" Erik asks cheerfully. Skipping over the question, Joaquin asks, "Say, do you know if my car is still parked at the mall?" "Of that I'm not sure," Erik said. "Oh," Joaquin said with glum. "I hope it didn't get stolen." "Let me see if I can find out something. Boys, keep Joaquin company." And that they did, telling Joaquin how much Nick liked his gifts, especially the Spiderman decorating cakes. "Yeah and he said when we have our birthday he's going to make us a Spiderman cake!" "When are your birthdays?" Joaquin inquires of the two. "November eleventh," Jase replies. Then to Zack, "Your birthday?" "November eleventh." "Wait. You're not twins are you?" Joaquin asks, not sure, but had his doubts since they didn't look exactly alike, comparing Jase's brown hair with Zack's blond. "Everybody wonders," Jase tells. "Zack and me were born on the same day a year apart!" "Cool huh?" Zack asks. "I'd say," Joaquin replies. Then Erik shows up without a smile on his face. "This is bad news, right?" Joaquin says, losing his happy composure. "It's not entirely bad news. The police did tow it to the compound." "Whew! Oh good," Joaquin said in relief. "But the bad news is the paperwork got mixed up and your car was sent to the junk yard and demolished. "Owwwwwwwwwwch!" Joaquin yelled out as he harshly fell back, his arm hitting the bed as well. Running to each side of the bed, Jase and Zack showed concern, Zack rubbing the small hairs on Joaquin's right arm, telling, "Don't worry, Wah-king. Dad'll help you out. Right dad?" He asks his dad. "Sure. Whatever you need, Joaquin." Then Joaquin levels with them, "My whole life was in that car." "How come?" Jase asks, not understanding. Erik didn't rightly get it, but had an inkling. Instead of a plain answer, Joaquin thought at least he owed Erik an explanation, saying, "When I came to town I didn't have much money. I had run out of most of my money around Utah. From there I landed here and found myself a job at the mall. It wasn't much, but.... my car is... was like my home." Then instead of finishing up, "I can't believe it's all gone!" "Did you sleep in your car Wah-king?" Jase asks. "Yep." Zack seeks the answer to, "Where did you change your clothes?" "At the store, unless the store was closed. One time I found myself up on Forest Drive and stopped at a picnic place and changed there right in the woods. Sometimes I sleep there, using the picnic table for my bed." "It's right down the road from our house!" Zack exclaimed. Joaquin knew Erik worked at some corporation but never guessed he lived in such luxury. "There are like million dollar homes up there!" "Right," Erik said. "And we live in one of them!" "We've got a swimming pool too," Zack says. "Yeah and you can come swim in it," Jase said, then remembered to ask his dad's permission, "Dad, can Wah-king come swim with us in our pool?" "Of course he can, but I don't think with his arm all bandaged up it would be a good idea." "Do you think if they found what was left of my car there would be anything to salvage?" Joaquin thought of the most important thing to him now. Scratching the back of his head with one finger, Erik responds, "I kind of doubt you would find much, Joaquin. Sorry." "Oh man. This means starting over. All my clothes and papers.... oh man my citizenship papers were in there. Now what am I going to do?" "Dad, you gotta help Joaquin," Jase pleaded. Zack took a different approach. "No problem my dad'll loan you some money and we can go to the mall and buy you new clothes, right dad?" "Um, I don't think that's a good idea," Joaquin turned him down. It was on Erik's mind, thinking Joaquin had enough to worry about with his arm getting better, however he sensed Joaquin wasn't too keen on a handout, but he did leave it open-ended, "You could call it a loan and pay me back whenever you get it." "And we've gots of food, right dad?" "Plenty and I'm sure Nick and Gef are cooking up something special for us. Why don't you join us, Joaquin?" Even though he could have gotten pretty upset over the boys offering so much, Erik had seen something in Joaquin way back before the accident when they did some shopping. "Please?" the boys begged Joaquin. Zack even added, "And you don't have to pay us back. Right dad?" Erik smiled, saying, "On the house tonight!" So Joaquin couldn't possibly have turned down the invitation with the two angelic faces begging him. "I'll see about your discharge papers," Erik said. It's another reason why Joaquin suddenly had a headache, not having the insurance to cover the hospital bill. But unknown to him, Erik wrote out a check and made sure the billing department told him he was covered, leaving it up to them to explain `how'. "All set," Erik said. "Like that? Didn't they give you a bill or something?" "Nope," Erik replied, but went ahead to lie, "they said something about a charity foundation and your bills would be paid out of that." Joaquin says, "That's good in a way but someday I'm going to pay them back." Erik said he and the boys would wait outside while Joaquin slipped into his clothes. "But I think I need some help with my arm. I'm not sure but I think I'll have trouble fitting my arm into the sleeve." It was said more as asking, so Erik asked the boys to sit in the chairs outside so that Joaquin could have his privacy. "Right now I have the biggest challenge. Um, mind untying the back?" "I can see where you need an extra set of hands!" When he untied the gown at the top it just slid open. Facing him was the smoothest back he ever saw. Naturally tanned, he followed the shoulder blades to the middle of Joaquin's back, the small indentation and then Joaquin's ass. The back of his legs sported a light covering of hair. When Joaquin turned around he found Erik looking down and not up. "Checking me out huh, Erik?" "Whatever do you mean Joaquin?" Erik tried pulling a fast one. Then, instead of undressing the gown he let it fall to the floor, the left side getting caught on his bandaged arm. Still, much could be seen. They looked at each other, Erik forcing himself not to look downwards. To break the ice, Erik says, "Here, let me help you with that." He busied his hands with working the sleeve down around the fat bandage. He did notice something and made the mistake of mentioning, "You're tan all over." "Right," Joaquin said, not mentioning the obvious. In his hand he had a pair of tightey-whities. Erik helped feed his right leg into it, but had trouble adjusting his left arm. "Do you mind?" "Of course not," Erik replied. Squatting down, holding the open leg, Erik came within inches of the soft cock lying on a bed of dark brown, almost black hair and two nice sized balls. So as not to make himself obvious, he quickly brought the elastic waist up along with rising up from down. He didn't mean to, but followed the thin treasure trail up to Joaqin's deep innie and then the same thin trail up to the small patch between his pecs. They stood there, the eighteen year old looking into Erik's eyes. Surprisingly, he mentions, "You know Erik, I don't know you well at all but I like you." It shocked him, but didn't bend Erik completely out of shape, maybe a little flustered as he said, "Thanks. I mean I think it's great. I mean.... where's your pants?" Producing a pair of jeans, holes here and there, Erik helped him feed his legs into them. Then he stood back, waiting for Joaquin to finish. "Um, sorry Erik, but with this bandage wrapped aroung my hand, I can't do the button." If Erik didn't see the gauze crossing over Joaquin's hand, keeping his hand from flexing, he would have thought Joaquin was coming on to him. "No problem," he responded. However as he buttoned up the jeans the back of his hand was rubbing against the tight, thin treasure trail. He started to feel static electricity in his own pants. "Sorry. Same story with the shirt." Erik was as gentle as can be, holding the shirt for Joaquin's left hend. From there he had to work it a bit to get it up and over the bandage. Placing the shirt over Joaqin's head, when he couldn't see for a second, Erik quickly scanned the latino's bod. "There! All set! You look like a million bucks!" "I'll take that as a compliment." When Erik inquired if Joaquin had a jacket he turned up zilch. "It's getting chilly in the evening. Summer usually comes in like a lamb around here, but fall can be as vicious as lion!" He excused himself, "I came from a warm climate. I don't own much more than a longsleeved shirt, well did at one time. Right now all I have are the clothes I'm wearing." He didn't want to take Erik's jacket, but Erik made him take it, again helping to feed it onto his one arm, zipping it half up to enclose the other arm. "That'll do," Erik said. When they made their exit, Zack asks, "Hey dad, how come your jacket is on Wah-king?" But instead making Erik explain, Joaquin told the boys his name didn't have a `g' on the end and taught them how to say `Wah-keen'! % "Patrick, this is Gef. Gef, Patrick." "Great to meet you Patrick," then offering the worn out cliche, "Nick has told me so much about you." `Really?' Patrick thought to himself, knowing they've only met briefly and hadn't any kind of chat which would result in nothing more than one fact. However maybe Nick was talking to him about what he thought, things they hadn't talked about. "C'mon in," Nick offers. "Mmmm, something smells heavenly," Patrick says, motioning his nose like his breath is sucking in everyone's aroma into his lungs. Gef says, "Nick whipped up some cabbage, carrots and pork." Then proudly he adds, "And I made the potatoes!" "Sounds sort of Irish. I haven't had a good old-fashioned Irish meal in years," Patrick informs. "What about St. Patrick's day?" Gef asks. "Nah. I don't know anybody who celebrates it." Patrick really wanted to mention he didn't know anybody except his boss at the arcades. He had wanted to get out and socialize, but that costs money. Money he didn't have. His only luxury was having a cellphone. Gef tells him, "I don't think you'll find much celebration on St. Patrick's Day what, with us Danish folk!" Nick begs to differ, "Well `Stavos' isn't exactly Irish, but we celebrated the holiday anyway." "Before Eric had the kids," which was easier for Gef to explain than bringing up marriage, "he and I used to hit the bar every time the holiday rolled around. Ever drink green beer?" "No," Patrick replied, nodding his head. The ninteen year old didn't want to make mention of why he hadn't celebrated the `green' holiday since he was sixteen, being he wasn't around the house after having a bad argument with his father over a particular gay issue, coming out! The conversation dropped dead, Nick and Gef looking at each other when Patrick stood there with nothing else to say, but also a strange, quietness abounding. "I wonder where Erik and the boys are?" Nick asks. After Gef said he didn't know, he wanted to make Patrick inclusive in their conversation so asked, "So Patrick, Nick tells me you're a mindreader. So, what question did the boys ask you?" "Which school they went to." Nick jumps in, "And Patrick guessed it right away!" "Almost right away," Patrick put his two cents in. But he left out the part about Nick getting mad him, then minutes later the glances they exchanged. If Patrick was mindreading things right now he was guessing Gef and Nick were more than friends and didn't want to upset the apple cart. "That's cool," Gef said. "Tell me though, what grade do you think I'll get on final cooking project?" "Tell you what," Patrick said as he leaned on the counter enjoying a beer with the two, "most of the time I'm right but there have been times I've been wrong. It wouldn't be too nice if I told you and then I was wrong?" "He's got a point there," Nick said. "Rats!" Gef replied. "Why'd you have to mention that?" Nick smacked Gef in the back of the head, saying, "Get the man another beer, idiot!" "See how he treats me?" Gef joked as he handed Patrick a second beer. It could have been the beer loosening him up, but Patrick thought this a perfect time to ask, "Um, are you two like... um.... more than friends?" Nick and Gef stare at each other and smiled. Nick says, "We're hoping it works out this time." It then led into the conversation of how the two were once madly in love and after three weeks called it quits. "Too bad. You two seem so good together." "Yeah," Gef said, "but we're hoping this time we make it to three months." Nick knew what Gef meant, but Patrick was in the dark about their special mating ritual. "What Gef is saying is we had this pact. After a week we were madly in love and expected to keep it that way for three months and get the other one pierced. But we never made it past three weeks." "Well, looks like I'm way ahead of you guys!" Patrick pulls up the middle of his tee shirt to his chin. "I mean they're not rings." They look upon the nineteen year old's bod, taking in the treasure trail which hiked up about four inches to his navel, then up to his chest where the blond hair seemed like peach fuzz, making the silver, miniature barbells looking more pronounced. "Nice," Gef said. Nick agreed. "I thought about having my navel pierced," Patrick lay his thumb above his navel, finger below and stretched it open, "but I ran out of cash." It's then the kids came rushing in, Jase's arm around Joaquin's, Zack doing what he always did with Gef, holding onto his belt loop. "Hey everybody, this is Wah-keen!" Joaquin didn't exactly care for the way he became introduced but at least he thought, `They got the name right!' "Hey guesser-man," Zack says to Patrick, "how come you got your shirt up like that?" Patrick didn't rightly know. He could have blamed it on the beers, but then he would be deluding himself of the thoughts of laying eyes on an Adonis! "My shirt. Oh... I was showing Gef and Nick something." He let his shirt drop. Erik enters saying, "Set one more plate for dinn-dinn, will ya?" And then to the boys, "Jase and Zack will you show Joaquin to the jon to freshen up?" Zack asks, "Why dad? He just got out of the hospital. He's clean!" "They have germs at the hospital too, `idiot'!" Jase tells him. Erik wondered where they picked up the word `idiot', though he was happy Jase answered Zack's question. Nick thought he better watch himself. At this age the kids were picking up on everything said. "Which jon?" Zack asks. "Pick one!" Their dad replied. "No sweat," Zack replied, a phrase they heard Tony use. Up the stairs and down the long hallway the boys came to a closed door. Opening it, Jase says, "Dad calls this a sweet." "Because it's got two bedrooms. See?" Zack tells, the two leading Joaquin into the second room of the suite. "I only see one," Joaquin replied. So the two led him into the room from which they came, crossing it and walked into another one. "Looks the same as the other room," Joaquin said of the lavish bed gear and drapes, plus two dressers and two armchairs. Off to the side was a desk and hutch, a computer sitting on it and a mahogany swivel chair sitting in front of it. "I've never knew a person could have a bedroom this big!" "The jon!" Zack called out. The two led him out of bedroom number one and into the adjoining room. To their left they led him into a third room. "How do you like it?" "Wow!" Joaquin said taking a quick assay of the large room, almost as big as the bedrooms. "Is that a hot tub?" "Yup," Jase reports. "This is one of the guest rooms and our dad says he wants people who visit to have anemonities." In his travels, on the road since he was fourteen, Joaquin had once worked as a bellhop in a fancy hotel in New York City. He knew the word and how Jase called it. "Amenities," Joaquin corrected him. "Okay," Jase plainly said, more excited to show Joaquin how everything worked. "Dad showed us how to turn the tub on." The three approached a panel on the wall. "You start with the white button," Zack said. Jase butt in, "I'm telling!" Seeing the brother rivalry, Joaquin asks, "So... after you press the white button then what do you do?" It made Zack's frowny face light up, Jase taking over and saying, "Then you push here." "What does that do?" "Look!" They turned to the hot tub and water began gushing out of the faucets. "You don't have to get up to turn the water off," Jase told him. "Yeah," Zack says, "It turns it off all by itself." More scientific, Jase regains control, "When the water comes near the top a senzster tells it to turn itself off." "So you can be in the tub and relax with somebody if you want," Zack put it. Jase adds, "Or by yourself!" "Sounds nice." "You want to try it out?" Zack asks. "Um, not right now, but could you show me where I wash up please?" Joaquin asks politely. The boys lead him over to the modern vanity, towels on shelves underneath. Jase takes a bar of soap and quickly tears through the paper covering. "Here you go," he tells Joaquin." "Oh," Joaquin replies. "Whatsamatter?" Zack asks. Jase says, "You can take it. Here." "Um, I have a little problem. I can't get this wet," He holds the bandaged arm up enough to get the point across. "We can help!" Zack says. Going to work, Zack and Jase soap up their hands. "Give it here," Zack says. Smiling, thinking what smart boys they are, Joaquin hands his bandage-free hand to them. As if scrubbing stuck food off a pan they rub away. Zach leaves Jase to grab a towel. "I think that's clean enough," Joaquin tells Jase. "Rinse!" Jase yells out pulling Joaquin's hand under the faucet, causing him to bend a little. So excited to be helping Joaquin out, Jase passes Joaquin's hand along to his brother, Zack announcing, "Time to dry it!" "Wow!" Joaquin says after his hand is washed and dried, "I think that's the cleanest my hand has ever been!" Walking him back downstairs, Jase and Zack told him if he wanted the rest of himself clean their dad would have to do it. Joaquin smiled, thinking how wouldn't might it a bit! Downstairs they were ready to sit. The kitchen was good for a family of four. A fifth could be squeezed in, but with Patrick and Joaquin as guest diners, Nick and Gef made a corporate decision to hold dinner in the dining `hall'. "Are these paintings real?" Patrick asks. "If I'm not mistaken, this is `Life In The Jar' by Jose Vasco-Velasquez?" Joaquin says of the painting Patrick is looking at. Erik exclaims, "Wow! You know your art, Joaquin." "And this," Joaquin says, moving on past Patrick, now acting like a curator, "I don't remember the exact title, something like `Grading... something', but the artist I believe is Jake Idnani, but not an original. Idnani's artwork doesn't come cheap!" Walking over next to him, Patrick asks, "How much would a thing like this go for if it was real?" "Two or three million," Joaquin replies. "Idnani's works are only in museums." The boys are hungry, but are entertained by Joaquin and Patrick when their dad informs them, "It's an original. Shall we sit down to eat?" Patrick watches Joaquin giving him a signal, taking up his napkin from under his fork. "Oh yeah," Patrick replies, swiping the piece of cloth from the table, unfolding it and placing it over his crotch. After the food is passed around, the boys taking potatoes and meat, Erik looks at Nick after seeing the heaping plates Joaquin and Patrick have mounded up. Zack asks, "Geesh. You guys gonna eat all that?" Patrick tried answering with food in his mouth. Joaquin wiped his mouth off with his napkin and answered, "Remember... I had to contend with hospital food for two days?" At least the adults understood. While Jase and Zack looking over their guest's plates, Nick spoons some cabbage, carrots and a floret of broccoli on each of the kid's plates. "Hey! Where did they come from?" Jase asks. Zack had the same reaction, the two staring at the French china, zoning in on the orange, light and dark greens, knowing they didn't put it there themselves! With his elbow leaning on the table, mouth again full, Patrick says, "A man's got to eat to survive!" Patrick would know, living in a tiny room at the arcade, a place where only business is supposed to be conducted. Yet he never minded sleeping with boxes of supplies and a refrigerator which sounded like a freight train, in the middle of the night. "Ain't it the truth," Nick reinforced the statement, looking at Zack and Jase. But Zack had all the answers, saying, "But we're kids. Kids don't need as much as big people!" They felt like being ganged up on when their dad said, "Just eat what Nick put on you plate please?" "Do we have to?" Jase complained. "Yes you have to," Erik replied. Both had the worst faces when forcing a piece of broccoli between their lips. Zack made like he was gagging, grabbing his Spiderman glass to clear his throat. Jase thought he was doing him a favor, slapping his hand against his brother's back. But when he did, the glass of milk flew out of Zack's hand, it landing in the middle of the table, it's contents firing like a cannon, Patrick directly in its line of fire. "You stupid pinhead!" Zack yelled at his brother. Instead of fighting back, Jase replies, "I'm always doing bad things. Everybody hates me!" "What was that all about?" Gef questioned Erik when Jase got up, almost overturning his chair and raced out of the room. "Guilt complex. Be right back. Excuse me gentlemen," Eril said. While father and son were gone, Nick took on the job of father-hen, helping to sort out feelings Zack was feeling now. But before he could, Zack tells even more, "I didn't mean to make my brother mad at me." Nick replies, "What happened to you was an accident. Jase was trying to help you, but it's the choice of words you used which made him feel the way he did." Then Zack says, "Maybe. But maybe not. I don't hate Jase." "I'm sure you don't," Nick replies as the other three men follow the conversation. "But I think maybe if you didn't say what you said afterwards Jase might still be eating dinner with us. You have to learn to control your self." The others agreed. "But it's not only me." "Oh? How's that go?" Nick asks. "Dad told us it wasn't true, but Jase thinks Joaquin hates him." "Hates me?" Joaquin said out loud as if he was being accused. "Yeah," Zack confessed his brother's thoughts. "Jase says it was all his fault the plate fell and broke and then cut you to pieces." It was a bit exaggerated, only one slit along Joaquin's arm taking him out, but the message got across. Nick then placed the problem in Joaquin's ball court. "Maybe I should see how your father is making out," Joaquin said, taking his napkin out of his lap, folding it neatly with one hand and two digits of his bandaged arm, placing it under his fork. The other two were busy chatting with Zack, Nick following Joaquin out of the room, not because he thought he had a hot ass, but seeing the tender side of him. % Copyright 2009 T. Chase McPhee This story may not be sold, nor made part of any collection, without prior consent from the author. The more you stretch, the more you can fit in... 'spread' happiness! TCMcP.....