RENEGADES & OUTLAWS

By Pink Panther

All the usual disclaimers apply.

And so the story moves on. Just one word of explanation: the expression ‘shred it’ is used by rock guitarists to describe playing very fast, usually at ear-splitting volume. As always, feedback will be more than welcome. Please send your comments to archimedes294@hushmail.com and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

After a week back at school, Josh’s life had almost returned to normal. With homework, piano practice and a band rehearsal to attend to, he’d been busy, and he’d had his friends around him; that had helped too. But in quiet moments, when he was on his own, his encounter with Simon and Brandon kept re-surfacing. Though the physical scars had disappeared, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. However hard he tried not to, he re-played the events over and over.

He was desperate to talk to someone about it, but who? Ryan would bite his head off and tell him he was stupid. Tommy had enough shit of his own to deal with, and in any case, he couldn’t be sure how the boy would react. He might be angry about him sending Mr. Fox the webcam video; he couldn’t risk that. He could have talked to Zac, but he didn’t know him well enough.

The only possibility was Mark. Mark would understand; he’d help him. The only problem would be finding a suitable time. He wasn’t expecting to visit the flat until the spring half term at the earliest, but that was several weeks away; he really needed to talk to him before then. Somehow he’d have to create an opportunity.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“Hi Josh!” Mark greeted, strolling into Josh and Ryan’s Saturday morning jam session. “We missed you last week. Are you better?”

“Yes, thanks!” Josh responded, smiling.

Ten minutes later they were on their way to the swimming pool.

“Are we jamming together this afternoon?” Josh asked.

“Sure,” Mark assured him. “We went to the studio last week.”

“Why don’t you come over to mine?” Josh asked. “I really enjoyed it the last time. Mum and dad are out all day, so there won’t be a problem”

“Sounds good to me.” Mark agreed. “What d’you think, Ry?”

“Yeah, cool!” Ryan enthused. “It means we can play a bit louder.”

They arrived at the pool, paid for their tickets and headed into the changing room. They were almost ready when Tommy and Gary appeared.

“Hi lads!” Josh said brightly, grinning at them.

“Where’s Peewee today?” Ryan enquired.

“Oh, he said he wasn’t coming,” Tommy answered.

“He was here last week, wasn’t he, Mark?” Ryan continued.

“Yeah,” Mark said casually, wishing that Ryan hadn’t mentioned it.

Tommy and Gary looked at each other and shrugged.

“Didn’t say nothin’ to us about comin’ here,” Gary commented.

Tommy was perplexed. If Peewee had wanted to go to the pool, why hadn’t he asked if they were going? Was it because of the argument they’d had the week before? He felt sure that was part of it, but it wasn’t the whole story. Peewee never went anywhere on his own, he just didn’t; it was completely out of character. So why had he done it? It was as though he didn’t want them to be there. Tommy had never known Peewee to keep secrets from him and he didn’t like it.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Mark, Ryan and Josh settled into their afternoon jam-session. ‘Autumn Leaves’ was followed by ‘Round Midnight’ and ‘Bag’s Groove’. Both Ryan and Josh had improved again, Mark noted, their playing more fluent and imaginative than on their last session together.

“Can we do some jazz-funk stuff now?” Ryan asked.

“Sounds like a plan!” Mark agreed.

“Let’s open the top of the piano,” Josh suggested. “Let the sound out.”

“Yeah!” Ryan enthused. “Time to wind things up a bit!”

“Are you sure the neighbours won’t mind?” Mark queried.

“Should be okay,” Josh said. “They’re not that close and they’ve all got double glazing.”

Mark pulled out the charts for ‘Cantaloupe Island’. It was one of the tunes that he and Ryan had worked on the previous week, but with Josh’s rolling piano backing them up, it worked so much better, both boys taking fluent, assured solos. Mark was impressed; these kids were a class act.

“That was great,” he told them, smiling. “Time to try something new; I think you’ll like this.” He fished in his case. “Just by chance, I brought these along.”

He handed out another set of charts. Ryan’s eyes lit up.

“Red Baron!” he breathed, grinning from ear to ear. “That’s wicked man! I listen to this all the time! Now I can pretend I’m Frank Gambale!”

“Yeah, well don’t try to play too fast,” Mark advised. “Concentrate on your sound and your phrasing; you don’t have to shred it to be effective. The speed will come later.”

They set to work, running through the tune. The boys needed several attempts to get to grips with the intricate timing, but after twenty minutes they’d pretty much nailed it.

“Okay,” Mark said. “Let’s give it a go.” He turned to Ryan. “You take the first solo and remember what I said, yeah?”

Josh’s piano chords led them in. After two choruses of the tune it was time for Ryan’s solo. He started quietly, playing simple, bluesy phrases. Gradually he built it up, utilising all the techniques and tricks he’d been practising, winding up the volume until the sound was almost ear-splitting, before finally bringing it to a dramatic conclusion. Josh’s solo followed, with Mark playing a simple bass line and Ryan filling in the chords. After another chorus of the tune they were done.

“Man, that was wild!” Ryan enthused. “What a blast!”

“Yeah, I can’t fault that,” Mark agreed, smiling. “You did exactly what I asked you to do. You were really rocking there! You did well too,” he added, turning to Josh. “Nice phrasing, great sense of rhythm; excellent stuff! Time to knock it on the head, I think; we won’t top that, not today anyway.”

After a drink and a slice of fruit cake they began to pack away. Josh summoned up his courage. Ryan wouldn’t like it, but it couldn’t be helped; he needed to speak to Mark and this was likely to be the best chance he’d get.

“You’re not in a rush, are you?” he asked.

“No, why?” Mark asked.

“I need to ask you about something,” Josh said cryptically.

“Yeah, no problem,” Mark agreed.

“Let’s go up to my bedroom,” Josh suggested.

As expected, Ryan looked somewhat put out.

“We won’t be long,” Josh told him, ushering Mark out of the room.

They sat side by side on Josh’s bed. Mark listened patiently as Josh told him about making the webcam video, sending it to Simon and his subsequent meeting with Simon and Brandon. Finally he was finished.

“Well, I can understand you putting on a performance for Tim” Mark commented, “but why did you record it?”

“I thought it’d be fun, you know, to watch Tommy, er . . .” Josh explained, his voice trailing off.

“Well, I can understand that too,” Mark said gently, “but it was still a pretty bad idea. If it ever came to light, not only would you be in trouble, Tommy would too. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“No,” Josh said looking shamefaced. “I’ve been stupid, haven’t I?”

“You’ve made a few bad decisions,” Mark said quietly, “but we all do at one time or another. You’ve been thinking with your cock rather than your brain. Plenty of guys do that, so you’re not alone there. Your really bad move was sending it to this Mr. Fox guy. Does Tommy know you did that?”

“No,” Josh admitted.

And what would he think if he did?” Mark probed.

“He wouldn’t like it,” Josh said, staring at his feet. “I’ve let him down; I just wasn’t thinking”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Mark counselled. “In all probability he’ll never know. Have you still got it?”

Josh nodded.

“And do you have any software that will erase it completely?”

“Yeah,” Josh confirmed. “I bought some in case I ever needed it.”

“Well, you need it now,” Mark told him. “Have you got anything else on your computer that shouldn’t be there?”

“A few pictures that he sent me,” Josh conceded.

“You need to get rid of them as well,” Mark said firmly. “It’s not that I think having stuff like that is wrong, but if you get caught you’ll be in all sorts of trouble; it’s just not worth the risk. Crazy, but that’s how it is.”

“I’ve thought before about getting rid of them,” Josh said, “but I’ve kept putting it off.”

“Well, as soon as I go from here, you’re going to do it, aren’t you?” Mark insisted, looking Josh right in the eye.

“Yeah, I will,” Josh agreed. “I promise.”

“That’s good,” Mark said, smiling. “And there are positives to take out of this. You did superbly to get out of that place and make them bring you home. That must have taken a lot of courage.”

“Thanks,” Josh said, giving Mark a weak grin. “I knew you’d understand.”

“The important thing now is to put this behind you,” Mark advised, putting an arm around Josh’s shoulder. “Don’t brood on it; learn the lessons and get on with your life. And remember, if you need to chat again at any time, I’m here.”

“Thanks,” Josh said. “I’ll remember that.”

They made their way downstairs. Ryan was waiting, looking impatient.

“Right young man! Mark said brightly. “Time to get you home!”

Mark and Ryan said their goodbyes and were on their way.

“So what was all that about?” Ryan demanded as they got into the car.

“Josh needed some advice about something,” Mark said gently, “something a bit private. What I can say is that it’s absolutely nothing that concerns you.”

Ryan sat back in his seat, his nose well and truly out of joint. Josh had something going on that he wasn’t going to share with him. They’d drifted apart; there was no getting away from it.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

After dinner at Rachel’s house, Mark drove back to the city, feeling very conflicted. Josh was a good kid and had been through a pretty unpleasant experience, but he’d been very naïve. Allowing Fantastic Mr. Fox to see that webcam video had sent out all the wrong signals; he’d made himself look like a total slut; he’d even agreed to let the guy fuck him.

Mark couldn’t judge Mr. Fox too harshly. For a guy into preteen boys, having a monster cock was a real liability. It made it almost impossible to fuck a boy without hurting him. If you took that out of the equation, what Mr. Fox had done was no worse than the way he’d treated some of the boys he’d met on his travels. Just the previous summer, the delightful Dimitri had been very nervous about losing his cherry. He’d turned the boy onto his tummy and fucked him anyway. Was that so different? He didn’t want to think about it.

And despite everything Josh had said, Mark couldn’t be too hard on Brandon either. He’d met several boys like him; pretty rough on the outside, but very sexy and quite harmless once you got to know them. He suspected that he’d have quite liked the kid. He just hoped that Josh wouldn’t get himself into that sort of situation again.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

“Ry,” Ashley asked, snuggling up to his friend. “D’you mind if I ask you something?”

“Course not,” Ryan assured him.

“Well, I know it’s none of my business,” Ashley said quietly, “but are you and Mark . . , you know, doing stuff together?”

Ryan’s body stiffened, his throat suddenly dry. He’d been sure this wouldn’t happen.

“What makes you ask?” he temporised.

“Remember a few weeks ago when Peewee came to the pool on his own? When we were getting changed afterwards, he was standing there naked, getting dry. Mark was, you know, looking right at him. I’d never even thought about it before, but since then I’ve noticed him several times, looking at us while we’re getting changed. It’s okay; I don’t mind. It just made me wonder.”

Ryan swallowed hard. “Yeah, we are actually,” he said evenly, “but only ‘cause I asked him.”

“Really?” Ashley breathed. “So how did that happen?”

Ryan quietly related the events of New Year’s Eve and the morning that followed.

“Wow! Ashley breathed. “You must have been really worried when he walked in on you.”

“I was crapping myself that he’d tell mum,” Ryan admitted. “I knew he’d seen what we were doing. I thought the best thing to do was to talk to him about it.”

“That is sooo cool!” Ashley said, his eyes shining. “Mark’s great! I know it sounds bad, but I wish I could do stuff with him.”

“Well, he loves you to bits,” Ryan said, grinning, “but he wouldn’t do anything unless he was sure it was what you wanted.”

“You’re not winding me up, are you?” Ashley queried.

“No, of course not!” Ryan protested. “Josh is always going on about Mark liking you, so I asked him. He said he thought you were gorgeous, and very sexy.”

“Wow!” Ashley whispered. “That’s wicked!”

“Well, I’m not promising anything,” Ryan cautioned, “but I’ll see if I can get something sorted.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Ashley queried.

“Nah! It’s cool, man!” Ryan assured him. “But don’t go building your hopes up. Mark’s very cautious, so he might not go for it.”

“So are we going to have some fun now?” Ashley breathed, gently stroking Ryan’s penis.

“Course we are!” Ryan told him.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Josh arrived at the Old Farm at quarter past two, joining his band-mates in setting up the equipment.

“I’ve got some news,” Zac announced. “We’ve been confirmed to play the Lower School gig at the end of term,”

“That’s great,” Greg said, smiling. “Mind you, I’d have been pretty pissed off if we hadn’t been. How long do they want us to play for?”

“Forty minutes,” Zac said.

“Have we got enough material? Damian asked.

“Yeah, just about,” Zac responded. “Nine songs should do it.”

“We haven’t got a name yet,” Damian commented.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Zac responded. “I thought we’d call ourselves ‘Outlawz’. I’ve put this together for our logo.”

He produced a piece of paper bearing the legend:

OUTlawz

“I hate that ‘z’,” Greg complained. “It makes us look like a hip-hop band.”

“And why is ‘out’ in caps and the rest lower-case?” Damian queried.

“Oh, it’s ‘out’ as in ‘out of the closet’,” Zac said airily. “You know!”

“Fuck off!” Damian protested. “You might be gay or bi or whatever, but me and Greg aren’t!”

“So have you got a better idea?” Zac countered, looking very put out.

“How about ‘Fireblade’?” Damian suggested.

“Isn’t that a motorbike?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, Honda Fireblade,” Damian confirmed, “one of the hottest bikes you can get.”

“Well, I like it,” Greg said, smiling. “What d’you think, Josh?”

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed.

“We could incorporate a picture of the bike into the logo,” Damian suggested, “the bike in black with the name in red over the top of it.”

“Yeah, great idea!” Greg enthused. “So is that agreed then?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Zac conceded, shrugging ungraciously.

“We’ll need to get in some solid rehearsal time,” Damian said, “make sure we’ve got everything really tight.”

“I was thinking we could use the half term break for that,” Zac proposed. “Set up here on the Tuesday; we could rehearse every day Tuesday to Friday if we wanted.”

“Works for me,” Damian agreed.

Josh and Greg nodded their assent. Josh was very excited. They’d been given a focus, something to work towards. Although he’d played piano in front of his schoolmates at Stainmoor, that was very formal. Playing with the band wouldn’t be like that. There’d be no polite applause; either the kids would like them or they wouldn’t. That would be the real test.

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Three hours later, the rehearsal completed, Greg and Damian were on their way home. Josh and Zac made their way upstairs, stripping up their clothes before snuggling up on Zac’s bed.

“I thought ‘Outlawz’ was a great name,” Josh said, nuzzling Zac’s ear, “but I can see why Greg and Damian didn’t like it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Zac sighed with a note of resignation.

“I like thinking of us as outlaws,” Josh continued, “you know, you and me.”

“Yeah, well I guess we are,” Zac responded, running his hand down Josh’s back.

“Especially when you’re fucking my bum!” Josh said playfully.

“Fuck, yeah!” Zac grinned. “There’s no way we’d want Mr. Plod knowing about that; I’d be right in the shit.”

“So are you going to fuck me now, Mr. Outlaw?” Josh asked provocatively.

“You bet I am!” Zac confirmed, fondling Josh’s stiff penis. “Can’t get enough of it, can you?”

0 o 0 o 0 o 0

Ryan packed his guitar away and followed Mark out of the rehearsal studio. The session had gone pretty well, but had been nowhere as enjoyable as the jam at Josh’s house the previous week. They could have gone there again; Josh’s parents were out again, but if they’d done that, he wouldn’t have got to go back to Mark’s flat. It was just like Mark said; he couldn’t have everything, and today, getting together with Mark was the priority.

Within a few minutes they were in Mark’s bedroom, sensuously undressing each other. To Ryan, it all seemed completely natural, the perfect way for them to express their feelings for each other. They snuggled up on the bed, their noses almost touching. Ryan took a deep breath.

“You know me and Ash get together on Tuesdays after school?” he began.

“Yeah?” Mark confirmed, wondering what was coming next.

“Well he asked me if, you know, you and me were doing stuff,” Ryan continued.

“Really?” Mark queried. “What brought that on?”

“A few weeks ago, when we were at the pool,” Ryan said, “he saw you givin’ Peewee the eyeball; said he’d never noticed before.”

“Oh, I see,” Mark responded. “It seems I wasn’t being as discreet as I’d thought. And?”

“He was totally cool about it,” Ryan said calmly. “Said he wished he could do stuff with you.”

“And what did you say?” Mark asked, almost dreading where this might be headed.

“I told him you liked him a lot,” Ryan said casually, “I said I’d see what I could do.”

“Well I don’t see how we could arrange it.” Mark objected. “He’s not a muzo, so what possible reason could there be for him to come here? I definitely wouldn’t do it anywhere else.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Ryan said. “I didn’t see how we could do it either, but last night Josh told me that he’s going to be rehearsing all through half term week. His band have got a gig at the end of term and they want to get everything nailed down, yeah? He’s well excited about it. Well, you know you usually invite me and Josh to your Thursday evening gig when we’re on holiday. Well, he’s not going to be able to come because he’ll be rehearsing. I wondered if we could invite Ashley instead.”

“Well, I’m not saying no,” Mark parried, “but are you sure he’d want to? It’d be a pain in the arse if he got bored with all the waiting around, and he might not like the music.”

“Nah, it’d be cool,” Ryan assured him. “He doesn’t play himself, but when he comes round to mine he always asks me to play something. He’s really interested.”

“And you’re sure you wouldn’t mind?” Mark probed.

“Nah, course not,” Ryan said, grinning. “Ash is great; it’s not like he’s going to steal you, is it?”

“I guess not,” Mark conceded, “but would his parents allow him to come?”

“Dunno,” Ryan said casually, “we’d have to ask them. I think they probably would though; Ash is right in their good books since he got into the grammar school.”

“Well, okay then,” Mark said cautiously. “But you’ve got to promise me one thing; he’s said he’d like to have sex with me, but if he changes his mind, you mustn’t push him into it, understand? Even if he gets here then changes his mind at the last minute; that’s perfectly okay.”

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Ryan assured him. “I wouldn’t do that anyway. If he bottles out; that’s it, yeah?”

“Thanks,” Mark said quietly, somewhat reassured.

“I could ask him if he wanted to give you your morning call,” Ryan suggested. “I’d tell him he didn’t have to or anything, but he could if he wanted to.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Mark agreed. “I certainly wouldn’t want to rush him into the bedroom as soon as he got here.”

“Cool!” Ryan said, grinning. “I’ll ask him then! So have we got some time for us now?”

“Yeah, of course we have,” Mark confirmed, drawing Ryan to him.

It was as though they were on auto-pilot, not needing to speak, not even needing to think. They kissed; they sucked each other, their hands roaming everywhere. Finally Ryan got onto all fours. Mark moved in behind, guiding his well-lubed penis onto Ryan’s pucker. He pushed hard, immediately penetrating the boy’s anus.

After a moment’s pause he pressed forwards, his cock advancing steadily into his nephew’s rectum until his pubic hair was pressed tight against Ryan’s bum. A second later, he began to fuck with long, even strokes, quite slowly at first, gradually increasing the pace until he was giving it everything he had. Ryan was in ecstasy, Mark’s penis thrusting relentlessly over his prostate taking him to the brink of orgasm. This was their thing, him and Mark, something not to be shared with anyone else.

“Oh yes!” Mark rasped, his breathing short and uneven. “I’m gonna cum! Ohhhhhhh!!!”

He held Ryan around the hips, thrusting in one last time. Semen barrelled through his penis, spurting into Ryan’s bowels in several thick wads. After several seconds he withdrew, rolling over onto his back.

“Come on!” he gasped, pushing himself up onto his elbows “You know what I want!”

Ryan straddled Mark’s chest, driving his rampant cock into his uncle’s waiting mouth. It only took a few thrusts. He held Mark’s head, little jets of boy-cum squirting onto the man’s tongue. Mark slurped and swallowed, making sure he didn’t lose a single drop. Ryan eased himself away, flopping down onto the bed.

“That was beyond awesome,” Mark breathed, gently pulling Ryan towards him. “You’re amazing. I know Ashley’s gorgeous and sexy, but you’re my boy; nothing’s going to change that.”

It was everything that Ryan needed to hear. He pressed his lips to Mark’s, drawing him into a sensuous, post-fuck kiss.