by
Mark 'Ponyboy' Peters
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sleep didn't come easily for the remainder of the night, as troublesome images flooded my mind and dark grey clouds circled around. Between short stints of shut eye I watched Olly sleep and listened to him breathe, ran my fingers through his hair, even allowing him to snuggle back up against me after a little while, though remaining conscious of the possible consequences of getting just a little too comfortable.
When dawn finally did come around, I was feeling drained, purely from a lack of sleep, nothing else. Those wispy, grey mists that had swirled around in my brief dreams now seemed to be filling even my waking hours. I put that down to my lack of sleep, but it also started my mind running in circles once more. What was happening? Was this fog I was seeing something from just my dreamscapes, or was there something real about it? Was I simply imagining its existence? Was it a harbinger of doom . . . of something ominous on the horizon?
I rubbed my eyes and shook my head not knowing where these thoughts were even coming from, then tried to focus. There was another day of work ahead of me, which I needed to make it through, then I would be having a few days off, which would be time enough to recharge my batteries and get my head around the events of the past few days.
As quietly and as carefully as I could, I edged away from Olly and slid out from under the blankets, before swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and then standing up. Finding my underwear, I pulled them on and then made my way to the bathroom, where I emptied my bladder, despite the difficulties posed by my morning wood. With that accomplished I returned to my bedroom, where I found that Olly had rolled over and was now facing me, his eyes wide open.
'Good morning, sleepyhead,' I said to him, as I climbed back under the blankets.
'Already?' he replied.
'We can stay here for a while yet. How come you came in here?'
'I didn't know if you came home. Thought you might be sleeping at his place, so I came to check.'
'Who's place? Rafael's?'
'Yeah. That's what boyfriends do isn't it?'
'Only sometimes, mate.'
'Did you do sex stuff?'
'What? That's for me to know and for you to find out! And what would you know about sex stuff? You're only ten years old!' I chided him.
With that he snuggled in close to me and as I held him close, he drifted off to sleep once more with me soon following. I had the alarm on my phone set for seven a.m. every morning, so we managed another hour before we were awoken by the sound of an old-fashioned telephone ringing. I could have stayed there for another hour, but that wasn't going to be possible, so I reached out and touched the screen to silence the infernal contraption that had shattered another dream, then lay my head back on the pillow.
Olly was sleeping with his head on my chest, and I gently shook his shoulder until he finally stirred, having slept through the alarm.
'Time to get up, bud,' I said to him.
'Don't wanna,' he protested.
'You want mum to throw a bucket of cold water over us?' I said, repeating a threat that we had all heard from the time we were small, though never actually acted upon as far as I could recall.
'She wouldn't.'
'Well, I'm not going to risk it,' I said, as once more that morning I slipped out from under the covers.
I noticed him watching me as I pulled on a t-shirt and some shorts. I guess that being ten years old he was at an age when a boy begins to grow curious about his body and all things associated with it, especially after his earlier comment about whether Raffa and I had done any sex stuff. I didn't want to say anything to him that might give him a message about anything like this behaviour being wrong, but I did make a note to talk to him about it later. I wanted to make sure that as he grew up, he had no hang-ups about being anything but himself, whatever that may entail.
'You want me to put out some Weet Bix for you?' I asked him.
'And some coffee and toast?' he asked.
'Geez, you're pushing your luck now!'
As I left the bedroom, he was grinning at me. Of course, I would get his breakfast for him, I loved the kid, even if he did know exactly how to push my buttons from time to time.
I found the house was all quiet when I left the bedroom, so I headed for the kitchen and set about getting our breakfasts started. Olly joined me a few minutes later, just after the kettle clicked off and I began pouring water into our mugs and onto the Weet Bix, before then adding milk and sugar to all. Mum joined us a few minutes later as we were eating.
'Good morning you two. What gives?'
'Somebody crept into bed with me last night and woke me early,' I replied.
'And how was last night?'
'It was great. Thanks.'
'Kiss . . . kiss . . . kiss . . .' Olly teased, as milk dribbled down his chin.
'What have I told you?' mum scolded. He quickly put his head down as I gave mum a wink.
'How is dad?' I asked.
'He seems okay. He told me the two of you had a good chat last night when you got home.'
'Yeah, we did. I think he appreciated just being able to talk to someone who might be able to relate . . . even if it was only me. Did you have any luck with getting him to see someone?'
'Working on it but have some leads that sound positive.'
'That's good then.'
With breakfast over I retrieved some clean clothes from my room, then headed for the bathroom for a shower before work. After locking the door and stripping off I started the water running, then once it was hot enough, I stepped into the shower. It didn't take long before thoughts of my evening with Raffa came flooding back, with totally predictable results. The need to get moving this morning was of the essence and I was soon soaped up and stroking away as if my life depended on it. This had to be a quick blow-and-go and, with images of Raffa and his ministrations of the previous night vivid in my mind, the glass door to the shower quickly received the brunt of my punishment. With streaks of milky cum soon running down the inside of the door I milked the last of it from my cock, as my breathing gradually came back under control.
I was still leaning against the wall, with hot water rushing over me, when there was a bang on the door.
'Hurry up! I need a shower too!' Olly yelled.
'Righto, righto!' I yelled back.
I quickly soaped up the rest of my body and then rinsed off, as well as splashing water on the shower door to wash away my cum, then shut off the water. After a quick towel off and clean of my teeth I wrapped the towel around me, picked up my clothes and opened the door. I would finish dressing in my room.
Olly was standing there in a similar state to me, with just a towel wrapped around him, and rushed in even before I could step aside for him.
'About time,' he said. 'What do you do in here that always takes so long?'
I could only smile as I thought, 'Just give it a couple of years little brother and you'll know all about it.'
* * * * *
After dropping Olly at school again I headed for work, arriving just moments after Raffa had done so. He was just taking his helmet off and attaching it to the side of his bike as I pulled into a nearby parking space. The grin on his face when he saw me was enough to get my workday off to a bright start. I could only hope the remainder of the day could be so good.
As I got out of my car and locked it, he came over to me, offering our usual fist bump in greeting, though not before he quickly kissed his closed fist first. That was a nice touch, I thought.
'A real one would be better,' I said, referring to his delivery of the kiss.
'Yeah, that's for later, babe,' he replied.
'I'm going to hold you to that.'
'I just want you to hold me, period!' he replied quietly. 'And just so you know, next time you're on top. Think you can handle that?'
'Top, bottom, upside down, whatever you want! I'll try anything at least once.'
'I guess I'll just have to hold you to that too, then.'
I grinned at him, then just to tease him I opened my mouth slightly and ran the tip of my tongue a couple of times around my lips.
'Oh fuck. Are you trying to get me hard even before I get inside the store?'
I glanced down at the zipper of his trousers.
'Looks like you're already there. Maybe I'm just trying to get you harder?'
'Asshole!'
As we started towards the stairs, we noticed a couple of guys come out of the doorway at the top of them, one of whom I recognised as one of the managers of the shopping centre. They started walking across the carpark before they stopped and looked down at the surface, which we could see was marked with the tell-tale signs of burnouts, from the yobbos that frequently came flying up the ramp onto the carpark, spun their tyres, hooned around and then disappeared.
'Those guys look serious,' Raffa said.
'Yeah. Checking out the burnouts from the hoons that keep coming up here after hours. Fuckers will stuff it up for everyone if they keep it up.'
'Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me.'
When we reached the shop doors and made our way inside, we found Mrs Mack waiting at the front Service Desk and talking to some of our workmates as they arrived. When she spotted us, she immediately excused herself and started coming our way.
'Just the two young gentlemen I was looking for,' she cheerfully said.
'Good Morning, Mrs M.,' we both replied.
'Before the store opens, can you both spare a few minutes to discuss the upcoming staff position changes? Now that everything has been approved by State office, we'll need to get things in place as soon as possible.'
Raffa and I glanced at each other. We were both smiling as we set off behind Mrs Mack on the way to her office. Things were about to get real, and the only way from here was up, as far as I was concerned.
When we reached the offices, we both signed on for work, then spent the next fifteen minutes or so discussing plans with Mrs Mack, as she laid out her proposal that we both start in our new positions the following Monday.
'Really?' I exclaimed. 'So soon?'
'Well, we can put you back by a week if you need us to . . .'
'Oh no. Next week is fine. I just didn't expect it to happen this fast.'
'Well, Grayson, once everything has been approved further up the chain, we like to get moving as fast as we can. We can't afford to have nobody staffing Tom's old area, so Rafael will need to step in there as soon as possible, which means we'll then need his old area covered quite quickly.'
'That sounds fine by me. Thank you.'
'You're more than welcome. Now, onto other matters, have you heard anything more following our discussions with the police? Or has Mike said anything? Mr Webster did show him the images late yesterday just in case he may be able to help.'
'Sorry, I haven't seen Mike as yet today, and no, I haven't heard anything else.'
'Well, please let us know if you do hear anything, and we'll also do the same for you if any news comes our way.'
'Thank you. I appreciate that.'
With our meeting done Raffa and I set off for our work areas, both of us knowing that we had a great deal to do today. Just before we parted I kissed my closed fist and then held it out for him for a fist bump. He had seen what I did and smiled as we bumped. It looked like we had a new not-so-secret greeting.
I found Mike talking to the girls in the Invoice office when I made it to the loading dock, which wasn't an unusual occurrence. I said, 'Good Morning,' to them all, then asked Mike what needed doing first.
'Start with the trolleys please, then there's some tidying up to be done upstairs again. Seriously, some bloody people around here are such slobs.'
As I set off in search of the trolleys, I certainly couldn't argue with that.
I spent the next couple of hours making deliveries around the store, chatting to the occasional staff member who would stop me to ask how I was doing. It felt good to be acknowledged, to know that I wasn't just some freak that my workmates could gossip about, and with everything else that was going on in my life I was finally starting to feel like I was somebody again, which I felt was often something you lose when you go from a senior in high school to the lowest of lows in the real world.
What do they say? From the penthouse to the outhouse, or something like that? That's what it had been starting to feel like for me . . . at least up until these past few days, when the relationship between Raffa and myself had suddenly blossomed.
Of course, there were still those who wouldn't talk to me regardless of what I might do or say. Tom Goodwin's friends, Troy Shorten and Dan Thompson, were amongst these. They would turn away any time they would even see me, and if I happened to say anything to them, they would just snarl, like two rabid dogs. If it wasn't linked to such a serious matter as that which had taken place, it might even be funny.
As had become our habit I met Raffa at the front doors at lunch time and we picked up something to eat from one of the cafes in the arcade, then went for a walk down to a nearby park where we could just relax without the prying eyes and questions from our workmates, however well-intentioned they might be.
As we sat and talked, we relived last night, before I asked Raffa about their family business and his reaction to what his father had said the previous night.
'It's not something I really talk about much,' he said.
'Sorry. None of my business then.'
'Oh no! No, it's fine. It's just that I'd always wanted to be involved, but being the second son, you know, we usually miss out on the inheritance.'
'What? Even in this day and age?'
'Oh, absolutely. The old traditions die hard, even when you up and move the family to another country.'
'So this, what, goes back to your grandparents, or even their parents?'
'Definitely. Unless you're a first born you must make your own way in this world. But don't get me wrong . . . my folks are good to me. I have my own place and they encourage me to chase whatever dreams I have. Just not the dream of working in the family business.'
'That's so fucked.'
With a shrug of the shoulders he said, 'It is what it is.'
After enjoying our one hour break, we made it back to work just on time and headed for our stations. As I walked through the stockroom, I noticed Hoppy and a slim, young, blonde-haired guy, who I think had only recently started with us, as they climbed the stairs to the top deck storage area.
I didn't think much of it at first but thought I would keep an eye out for them when they came back down, mainly just so I could get a closer look at the new guy. Mike was still at lunch, so I busied myself with crushing boxes again. After about fifteen minutes or so, more than enough time to find a specific box of stock or some spare fittings for use out on the shop floor, Hoppy and his friend hadn't returned and curiosity was starting to get the better of me. I decided to check out what might be happening upstairs.
Quietly I climbed the stairs and made my way along the top deck, past stacks of boxes loaded with stock for upcoming sales. I had expected to see them working somewhere along here, but when they weren't to be found I continued towards the fittings area, where once again I found nobody.
By now I had a pretty fair idea as to where they might be and what they might be up to. I felt myself stir at the thought of Hoppy initiating this sexy, young, blonde newbie into the unofficial Stockroom Sex Club, but I knew I couldn't interrupt their assignations, however tempting it might be to peer over that rail and down into the fire escape. Instead, I started to back away, but in doing so I kicked a metal hook across the floor.
'What was that?' I heard a nervous voice ask. Not Hoppy.
'Sssshhh! Relax,' another voice replied. That was Hoppy.
I retreated further along the top deck and started packing up some boxes into piles, busying myself so that it wouldn't appear too obvious if they came back up the stairs, although I’m sure that Hoppy would know exactly what I was up to.
My hunch proved correct, and it was only a minute or two later when I heard the sound of them climbing the fire escape stairs. I looked that way and noticed them coming towards me.
'Hey, Gray,' Hoppy said, smiling, as they reached me and stopped.
'Have fun?'
'What do you think?'
Blondie looked at me, clearly embarrassed.
'You don't have anything to worry about here,' I said to him. 'I'm Gray,' then held out a hand for him.
He shook it and said, 'Yeah, I know. You're the . . .'
Before he could finish, however, Hoppy elbowed him in the ribs. Not hard, but enough to make a point.
'Sorry. Yeah, we all know who you are now. I hope you're not getting a hard time from everyone here at work any more?'
'There's only one person giving him a hard time now,' Hoppy said, while laughing. 'And sadly it's not me. But I've got young Nathan here to help with that now, don't I?'
Young Nathan blushed, but he didn't pull away when Hoppy pulled him close and kissed him on the cheek.
'Lucky you,' I said to him, which earned me a raised eyebrow from his new companion. I offered him a wink and said, 'No secrets here, Nathan. So come see me later if you want me to fill you in on a few of Hoppy's.'
They left me after that, and I could still hear Hoppy laughing as they descended the stairs. I watched them as they did so and noted that Nathan turned and looked back at me before they were out of sight. I saw him smile and I smiled back, then they were gone.
Mike returned eventually, after taking what seemed to be an extended lunch break. He was looking flustered, and so I asked if he was okay.
'Yeah. All good. And just so you know, you won't have anything to worry about now.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' I asked.
'You'll find soon enough, kiddo. You can thank me later.'
To be continued . . .
Authors Note:
Hi there. It has been a while since I have posted anything new on Nifty. I guess life gets in the way sometimes.
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