This
story
concerns adult and teenage gay
males who may be involved in sexual situations. If it is illegal for
you to
read such stories, or if you do not like to read such stories, please
leave
now.
This
story is
copyright 2006 by the author who retains all rights.
This
is a work
of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents
either are the product of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.
This is my
third submission to Nifty. My
previous submissions can be found in the High School section under
Kiel’s Story. Any comments or questions are
welcome at: carl_holiday@att.net.
A warm
thank you goes out to all who
write. I appreciate knowing someone is actually reading this stuff,
whether you
like it or not. I try to answer all emails, even flames. (I’m a writer,
I live
for rejection.) Although sometimes it takes a little time to get back
to
you, I do
try to answer. If I'm remiss in replying to yours, I apologize.
The Pastel Cowboy
by Carl Holiday
Chapter
3 – A Lot of Money
“Zach! What are you
doing?
Anything important?”
“And, a wonderful
hello to
you, too, Steven,” Zach said, wondering what could be so important on a
Wednesday evening. “I’m studying. I’m in college. That’s what college
students
do. God, I never imagined there’d be so much reading.”
“Well, you’re the
fool who
decided to take four subjects this term,” Steven said. “Look, kiddo, I
need a
really big favor.”
“What?” Zach asked.
There was
a queasy feeling in his stomach and it wasn’t from supper which was
actually
good, the fried chicken actually looked and tasted like chicken, a bit
greasy,
but it wasn’t texturized vegetable protein doctored to resemble
chicken. Why go
to the bother of wrapping fake meat around real bones? Well, they did
look like
real chicken bones.
“Look, I know we
haven’t
gotten you completely trained, but I have a client who’ll pay big bucks
for a
cowboy tonight.”
“What? Not
completely
trained? I’ve come in my pants. That’s it!”
“You sucked my cock
and did a
very good job, too, let me tell you; and, that’s all you have to do for
Bud. Come
on, Davey, will you please go suck Bud’s dick. He’s going to pay a lot
of
money. All you have to do is wear what you had on Saturday.”
“I’ll call you back
in a few
minutes,” Zach said, then pushed the END button. Then he turned the
phone off.
He swallowed and
stared at
the short story he had to read. Then there was the calculus homework,
forty
problems. The American history text had to be read. He needed to read
at least
fifty pages a day until mid-terms and that was four weeks away. He
could put
off the psychology text, but had to review his notes. He had to do that.
Then he felt a tear
dribble
down his cheek. His eyes were watery. He went over to the sink and
splashed
water on his face. He looked in the mirror, but didn’t see a whore
looking back
at him. It was just a teenager. He was still a kid, really, legally. He
wasn’t
even eighteen and the guy he was falling in love with wanted him to go
out and
suck another guy’s dick. Was it as simple as that?
He ran his fingers
over his
face and picked up the electric razor. He had a bit of stubble to clean
up, not
much. He didn’t have that many whiskers. Facial hair wasn’t a
distinguishing
characteristic in his family. He’d never have to buy stock in Gillette,
even if
you could. He’d have to brush his teeth, too.
He looked in the
mirror and
saw another tear dribble down his cheek. God! What am I, the “Crying
Cowboy?”
He asked himself as he started undressing. Halfway through he picked up
the
phone and entered Steven’s speed dial number.
“Hello, Zach?”
“Yeah, I’ll do it.”
“Great! Look all
you have to
do is suck his dick. He won’t do anything else. You probably won’t get
off at
all. He lives over in Ballard. He’d like you to stop by at eight. Can
you make
it?”
“Yeah, what’s the
address?”
Zach got out his map, then fired up the laptop and opened his map
program. At
least it was still light out. He couldn’t imagine trying to find a
house in
this city in the dark, but he’d probably end up doing that, too. He
entered the
address Steven gave him and charted his course. Actually, it looked
pretty
easy, once he got out of North Park. Then looking at the
map, he decided if he went out the east side of campus and down
Thornton Creek Boulevard to North Park Boulevard he could go straight
west to Holman Road and follow that up to Crown Hill. Yeah, this
was
doable.
“Can you come over
to my
apartment afterwards?”
“Sure, I’ll
probably need a
blowjob, myself.”
“You got it, kiddo.
I want
you to know, I really, really, appreciate this Davey. I really do.”
“Okay, Stevie,
anything for
you.”
The house was big,
bigger
than anything Zach ever saw. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was big. He
parked the
Ranger in the circular drive and went up to the front door. It was two
minutes
to eight. He rang the doorbell and waited, getting more nervous. He
took out a
tissue and daubed his leaky eyes.
The door opened and
a little
girl, probably not much more than eight, stood there looking up at him.
She had
long, black hair done up in braids that hung down her back. She was
wearing one
of those white robes and pajama outfits karate students wore.
“Yes?” She asked.
“Is Bud here?”
“Just a minute,”
she said,
turning and walking away. “Daddy! It’s for you!”
Zach stood there
trying not
to think he’d have an audience. What kind of weirdo would let his eight
year
old daughter watch him get blown by a cowboy?
A middle-aged man
with
graying temples and wearing a purple sweat suit came to the door. He
was about
as tall as Zach and slender, almost skinny. His face was tanned and he
had dark
eyes.
“Why don’t you come
in and
wait in my study,” Bud said. “My wife is a little late getting the kids
to
their tae kwon do lessons. It shouldn’t be a minute. Oh, my, God, your
dick,
oh, shit, yeah, you wait, it will be just a minute.”
Zach followed him
into the
house and into a room full of bookshelves.
“I’ll be right
back, oh god,
you so cute! And, your dick!”
Zach adjusted
himself
thinking about what was about to happen. It seemed so simple a couple
hours ago
when he put on the boxer briefs. They definitely held his package
better than
the regular briefs. Now, with Mommy and the kiddies on their way to tae
kwon
do, it sounded so farcical. Obviously, Mommy was late. If she’d been on
time,
Bud would have answered the door and Zach probably would have sucked
him in the
foyer because Bud was definitely ready to have his balls drained. Zach
could
see it in his eyes.
The door opened and
Bud
stepped in. Shutting the door and locking it, he said, “Look, my wife
has the
shits and I’ll have to take Suzy, Derek, and Conan to their lessons.
God,
you’re so cute, take off your hat. Oh, my god, your hair is so wavy, so
soft.”
Zach stood there as
Bud’s
hands and fingers were all over him and through his hair, but mostly on
his
dick and ass. It wasn’t more than a whisper, “Suck me, suck me now.”
Zach got down on
his knees
and pulled the sweatpants down. Bud was wearing a jockstrap. He was
hard. He
wasn’t that big either. There wasn’t any danger of worrying about that
thing
getting down his throat, it was simply too short. Zach put his mouth
over the
bulbous head and put his hand on Bud’s ass. It happened so quick, Zach
almost
wasn’t ready for it. Three quick bursts and then a dribble. It was
over. It was
easy, almost too easy.
“Great, man,
thanks, oh,
what’s your name if I need to ask for you again?”
Zach thought for a
second.
“Billy, you can call me Billy.” It was his father’s name, he deserved
to be
sucking cock more than Zach.
“Great, Billy, you
were
wonderful, but you got to leave. Here’s your money. I put in a little
extra.
You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
Zach took the
envelope and
watched Bud put himself back together. When they opened the door, Suzy
was
standing there. She gave Zach the weirdest look, then said to her
father,
“Daddy, we’re late! Come on! Derek and Conan are already in the car.
I’ll let
your guest out the door.”
Zach followed Suzy
thinking
how absurd it was for this to be happening. She opened the door and
stood there
almost like she was expecting something. Zach feared the worst.
“Mommy and Daddy
stopped
having sex after Conan was born. You’re not the first, but you’re
definitely
cuter than any of the other boys. Good night, Billy.”
“Good night, Suzy,”
Zach
said. He heard the latch click and the deadbolt slide in with a quiet
thunk. It
was all so absurd and she’d obviously been listening at the door.
Steven was naked
and had a
hard-on when he opened his door with a flourish. Zach walked in and saw
that
the futon was down and the brandy bottle sitting on the table next to a
shot
glass. Was that his reward for sucking Bud? He heard the door shut and
Steven’s
hands were all over him.
“Here’s your
money,” Zach
said as he started to take off his shirt. Steven took the envelope and
opened
it.
“Ohmigod! There’s
eleven
hundred in here. I told him five hundred. He gave you a six hundred
dollar tip.
What the hell did you do to him?”
“Sucked his dick
and met his
daughter,” Zach said, sitting down on the futon to take off his boots.
Steven
sat down beside him and started rubbing his left nipple. Zach laid back
and
felt Steven undoing his jeans.
“Suzy will probably
have
cookies ready for you next time,” Steven said as he worked on pulling
off
Zach’s tight jeans.
“You’re kidding,
aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not. Did
you meet
the boys?”
“No, they were
going to tae
kwon do.”
“Oh, that’s right,
this is
Wednesday. What were they doing home?”
“Mommy had the
shits.”
Steven climbed up
and
stretched himself out on Zach’s naked body. Zach welcomed Steven’s lips
as they
pressed against his own. Their kiss was long, deep, and filled with
youthful
passion. Zach ran his hands over Steven’s smooth, hairless body as if
he was
searching for some hidden treasure. He wanted this to go on forever,
but knew
he had to get back to studying. He didn’t have much time, but he didn’t
want to
hurry what was happening. A tear dribbled out of his eye. He felt
Steven’s lips
on his cheek.
“You cry too much
Davey,”
Steven said.
“I can’t help it. I
was
daubing my eyes when Suzy opened the door.”
“I’m going to do
something I
shouldn’t,” Steven said, climbing off Zach and running into the
bathroom. When
he came back he had a condom. “I know you have to get back to the dorm,
but I
think this won’t take any time at all. My Davey is hot to trot.”
He slipped the
condom down
over Zach’s erection. Then straddling the boy’s waist he lowered
himself down
onto Zach, who looked up into Steven’s eyes as pleasure receptors in
his dick
began to send the most incredible sensations to his mind. He couldn’t
believe
what was happening, what he was feeling, and what Steven was doing for
him. And,
then, Steven lay down on Zach’s chest and sucked a nipple into his
mouth,
nibbling at it with his teeth.
Zach held onto
Steven’s hips
as he thrust into the warmth enveloping him. This was so hot and it was
so
overpowering. His mind wasn’t keeping up with all the input coming from
his
dick, nipples, as Steven was busily pinching the other one, too, and
the feel
of Steven’s skin under his hands. He wanted this to go on forever, but
his body
had other ideas.
“Oh, god, Stevie!”
Zach
moaned as the orgasm swept through his body, flooding his mind with
more
pleasure than he’d ever felt before. He tried to force his pulsing dick
deeper
into Steven’s hot body, but that wasn’t necessary because Steven raised
himself
up taking all Zach could give.
“How’s that?”
Steven asked.
His ass muscles were milking the engorged rod embedded inside him, but
stopped
as soon as Zach’s hand enveloped his unsatisfied throbbing cock almost
duplicating the sensations he had been giving Zach.
“You didn’t come,”
Zach
whispered. “What am I going to have to do to you?”
“You worry too
much,” Steven
said, lowering himself down onto Zach’s muscular body to kiss away
another tear
dribbling down the boy’s cheek. “You cry too much, too.”
“I want you to do
me,” Zach
said, lifting Steven off him and putting the skinny body down rather
roughly
beside him.
“No, we can’t do
that. Your
ass is too valuable right now for me to fuck you.” He was smiling and
started
to play with Zach’s right nipple.
“What do you mean
by
valuable?” Zach asked. That queasy feeling was coming back.
“Do you remember
Sunday
morning when I said some of my clients would give thousands to be with
you?”
“Yeah, kinda.”
“Well, the bidding
hit ten
thousand the last time I looked,” Steven said, pinching the nipple,
causing
Zach to cringe.
“You got my ass on
ebay?”
“No, nothing so
public like
that, you’re on my website.”
“You’re selling my
ass?” Zach
asked. He sat up and pulled the come filled condom off his softening
dick. He
looked at Steven smiling back at him. “You’re disgusting.”
“Come on, Zach,
it’ll be fun.
There’re conditions. You have to be taught to fuck. There’ll be no slam
bang,
thank you Johnny. No, it’ll be a classy fuck. Long and deep, and we’ll
get you
ready, too. All nice and clean. You’ll wear your cowboy suit, of
course. We’ll
get you all shaved and trimmed, too. It’ll be the fuck of a lifetime.”
“But, I wanted you
do it the
first time,” Zach said, feeling himself losing before he even got a
chance to
hear all the rules. “I’m, well you know, I’m starting to like you an
awful lot,
you know.”
“No! You can’t love
me,
Davey,” Steven said, sitting up then getting to his feet. “I won’t
allow you to
fall in love with me. I won’t allow it!”
He was practically
yelling.
Zach looked up into Steven’s face and saw more fear than anger.
“You don’t have to
like me
for me to love you,” Zach said reaching out and placing a hand on
Steven’s
smooth hip. He smiled and tried to imagine Steven entering him. Would
it hurt
like some of the stories said, or would pleasure overwhelm whatever
pain might
have been there because he relaxed himself as the stories implied was
possible?
However it was to be, he wanted Steven to be his first.
“Look, Davey, ten
thousand.
Do you having any idea how much that is?”
“Yeah, I do. I had
five of
them in the bank until I paid for this term’s tuition.”
“But, I’ll give you
a share.”
“I would expect
that,” Zach
said hoping saying that wasn’t implying he was agreeing to the deal.
“It’s my
ass. I’d expect most of it.”
“Then you’ll do it?”
“Oh, come on,
Stevie, I want
you to do it. I want you to be my memory of my first time. Don’t you
have a
special memory of your first time?”
“No, my first was
some cowboy
in the back of his pickup at the Midland Rodeo. I was eleven. I let
five
cowboys fuck me that weekend.”
“Oh, my god, you’ve
been
doing this shit since you were eleven?”
“No, I started
sucking them
when I was nine. I looked six, but I was nine. They paid good bucks for
a
blowjob from a six year old, or so they thought, the fools. Now, we’re
going to
make a lot of money, a lot of money on this deal. Are you going along
with it,
or are you going to put your clothes on and walk out that door?”
Zach looked through
Steven’s
anger, but there wasn’t a little boy in those eyes anymore. This was
business,
pure and simple. His ass was a treasure, a once in a lifetime treasure.
This
wasn’t even about being gay. This was about getting a lot of money from
letting
someone like Bud fuck him. There wasn’t any pleasure implied in the
deal. He’d
have to ooh and ahh, moan and, probably, scream a little, too, but it’d
be
faked. Wouldn’t it?
“Fifteen thousand,”
Zach said
getting to his feet and walking toward the bathroom to wash his come
covered
dick. He turned back to Steven. “That’s what I want out of the deal. I
don’t
care how much you get, but I want fifteen thousand for selling my
virginity.”
“Will you do a
couple johns?
Fifteen thousand is an awful lot for one, we might scare them off.”
“No, one, uh, john
and I want
him to make me like what he’s doing to me. I want to enjoy having his
dick up
my ass. You might not have enjoyed your first fuck, but I want to
remember mine
as something pleasurable. Okay? And, I’ll sleep with him. I’ll spend
the night
so he can fuck me more than once. Fifteen thousand for a willing virgin
who’ll
probably cry before, during, and after the event.”
“Oh, you’ll knock
him dead if
you cry,” Steven said walking over to Zach. He was still hard and Zach
took it
in his hand. “Ohmigod, you’re crying now.”
Zach lowered
himself and took
Steven into his mouth. At least he enjoyed doing this. This was being
gay.
Zach made it
through Calculus
practically scribbling his problems down on the paper. It was messy,
but it was
done and it was done right. Math was easy, English was difficult.
Doctor
Jeffers came in after everyone had taken their seats. He opened his
aged,
leather valise, drew out the papers they’d turned in the day before and
flopped
them down on the desk with an audible slap. He turned to the class and
his eyes
scanned the assembled faces. Zach feared the worse.
“There was one A+,
two A’s,
one A-, three B+’s, one B-, two C’s, one C-, and Jerry I need to see
you today.
I’ll be in my office from eleven until three. Be there, or be dead.”
Zach looked over to
the
corner chair where Jerry Barnes always sat. The boy was staring at his
desktop.
He looked sad. Everyone knew Doctor Jeffers didn’t grade below a C-.
Jerry got
an F on his first paper. That was nearly an eighth of his grade.
“I will read the A+
paper,”
Doctor Jeffers said, looking directly at Zach. “With permission of the
author.”
Zach smiled and
nodded.
“Good. The title of
the paper
is ‘A Canoe Trip on the Buffalo River.’ It begins thus, ‘I’d
gone on a week-long
canoe trip
on the Buffalo River
in Arkansas with three
of what used to be my best
friends . . .’
”
Zach sat back and
listened to
his paper being read, enjoying the way Doctor Jeffers added emotion to
the
words. It sounded to him almost as if he hadn’t written the words, but
only
suggested a few lines to an actor skilled at ad-libbing. He listened to
the
sounds the other students were making as the tale continued to
inevitable end
when a sort of stunned silence enveloped the room.
Sara was first
break the
spell, “You mean just because you didn’t get an erection, they said you
were
gay?”
“Yes,” Zach said.
“They kicked you
out of your
church because you didn’t get an erection?” Sara asked, digging deeper.
“Yes, but they had
a
completely different story from the other boys by then,” Zach said.
“They had
to cover their asses pretty quick because I came out of the canyon
first. They
had to concoct a story that was believable, if not totally absurd.”
“But, no one asked
you,” Sara
said. “They just assumed it was true. They were that scared of
homosexuals? Wait a minute isn’t there something in the Bible about
confronting
a sinner?”
“Yes, Matthew 18
something, but
they were too horrified to think there was a homosexual in their midst
to
follow any Biblical procedure.”
“Okay, you two,
enough of the
religious stuff,” Doctor Jeffers said. “This paper received the A+ not
for the
subject matter, but from the excellent way Zach laid out his essay and
arrived
at his conclusion. I hope all of you were paying attention and not just
listening to my excellent reading simply for enjoyment.”
No conceit in his
family,
thought Zach.
Zach glanced over
at Jerry
and saw he still had his head hung low staring at his desktop. For some
reason
that Zach wasn’t totally sure of, Jerry intrigued him. He was tall, at
least
six foot six, slender and always wore black jeans that were a little on
the
tight side. His ass wasn’t prominent; in fact, Jerry’s ass almost
wasn’t there.
Torso and legs seemed to be attached without a bulge of muscles in
between.
And, Jerry had mop of straight, red hair that hung below his shoulders
and
bright, white skin almost completely hidden by freckles.
At the mid session
potty
break, Zach went over to Jerry’s desk. He hadn’t moved and was still
staring at
his desktop.
“Jerry? Are you
okay?” Zach
asked, sitting down in the empty seat next to him.
“No.” Zach heard
the tears in
his voice, but there weren’t any on Jerry’s face. His eyes were blue
and a red,
pocket t-shirt hung loosely on his slight frame. “I’m gonna flunk this
class. I
know it. Look at this paper. There’s red marks all over it. Look what
he wrote
at the end. ‘This is the worst college paper I’ve ever read.’ That
makes me
sound pretty pathetic, doesn’t it?”
“Do you know how to
write a
college paper?” Zach asked, noticing right off Jerry hadn’t used any
paragraphs. It was one long narrative with a lot of misspellings, too
many.
“Don’t you have a computer with a word processing program like Word or
Word
Perfect, or at least something simpler with at least a spell checker?”
“I have the laptop
Dad gave
me for Christmas five years ago and it was three years old then. It
doesn’t
have anything but a bunch of games, really. There’s an odd spreadsheet
program.
As far as papers go, no. We didn’t cover that in high school, not that
I know
of. I wasn’t on the college prep track. My grades weren’t all that good
when I
started high school as a freshman and you couldn’t get on it later.”
“Are you willing to
do a
little extra work?” Zach asked. He was staring at Jerry’s crotch, but
there
wasn’t anything there that he could see.
“What are you
talking about?”
“Learning how to
write a
college paper, for one,” Zach said. Jerry didn’t have much of a beard,
either.
There was a faint patch of fuzz on his upper lip, but not enough to
make a
mustache. It was probably just unshaven. “How many classes are you
taking?”
“Two, I didn’t want
to flunk
out early.”
“What’s your other
class?”
“Calculus, at one.”
“Are you having
trouble with
that?”
“No, math is easy.”
“Good, that gives
you a lot
of extra time to concentrate on writing papers,” Zach said, thinking of
the
books he used in high school to write his papers. Elements of Style
was
probably the best for right now, but he wasn’t about to part with his
copy.
They’d have to go to the bookstore and see if there was anything that
might
help. Of course, that was if Jerry agreed to let him help and Doctor
Jeffers
wasn’t thinking of dropping Jerry right now.
“What are you
talking about?”
“I’m going to teach
you how
to do a college paper. You’ll need it because that’s all you do in
college
besides the endless reading.”
“Why are you doing
this?” Jerry
asked. He looked away from Zach, out the window. It was raining. “Is it
because
you’re queer?”
“Why would that
have anything
to do with it?” Zach asked, thinking the worst, waiting for the dagger
to
pierce his flesh.
“I don’t know. No
one ever
likes me, so I figured you were just trying to get in my pants, not
that I
wouldn’t mind, I guess.”
“What? You’re gay?”
Zach
whispered, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was close enough
to hear.
“I don’t know what
I am,”
Jerry said. He still hadn’t turned around. Zach noticed the small gold
loop in
Jerry’s right earlobe. It was so small, he hadn’t noticed it before.
“Jerry, how many
friends do
you have at home?”
“None, I wasn’t
into sports.
I mostly worked on our farm when I wasn’t in school.”
“Didn’t you go to
any school
dances or anything?”
“No, girls didn’t
like me
because I drive a beat up Escort.”
“Look, Jerry, I
wasn’t asking
because of that, okay? I just want to help. I’m the one who got the A+,
don’t
you think I might know how to write papers?”
“I guess so.”
“But, I think you
need a new
computer.”
“I can’t afford
one.”
“I can.”
“I can’t let you
buy me a new
computer.”
“Then we’ll get a
used one.
One that has a word processing program. Of course, I’ll have to go with
you to
see Doctor Jeffers.”
“Okay, class, time
to get
back to work,” Doctor Jeffers said. “Zach? Back to your seat or move
over
there. Time’s a wastin’, boy.”
Oh, god, the
comedian’s back,
thought Zach. “Yes, sir.”
“Wait for me after
class,
okay?” Zach whispered to Jerry, lightly touching his bare forearm. The
skin was
hot. Jerry smiled.
“I want to talk to
you after
class,” Sara whispered to Zach as he walked by. He looked at her, but
she just
smiled and scrunched up her nose.
“Okay, ladies and
gentlemen,
let’s discuss how to structure a college paper,” Doctor Jeffers said.
Zach
smiled.
“Well, boys and
girls, that just
about wraps up another pleasant session of English Composition,” Doctor
Jeffers
said, stuffing a bunch of papers into his valise. “Remember your next
paper is
due next Wednesday and the subject will be ‘my most memorable
character.’ It
will not be mommy, daddy, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, niece,
nephew,
boy friend, girl friend, and any other living or dead human being. It will
be your most memorable character from a work of fiction. Tell me about
a
character you remember the most. I know you all read, so tell me about
the
character who affected you the most. See you tomorrow.”
Zach thought of a
number of
characters, but none seemed to come up and wave his, or her, hands
wildly while
screaming, ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ ”
“Zach? Will you go
to a movie
with me Saturday night?” Sara asked. She was standing beside his desk
and
looked so charming, Zach couldn’t say no.
“Sure, but it’s
only a movie
and we have to take Jerry with us.”
“You want to take
another boy
on a date?”
“It’s not a date,
Sara. I’m
gay. I date boys, not girls. I’ll go to a movie with you as a friend,
but we
need to take Jerry with us, if anything as a chaperone so you don’t put
the
make on me.”
“I wasn’t asking
for that
reason,” Sara said with a pout. “I just wanted to get to know you.”
“You can get to
know Jerry,
too. Besides, maybe he’s straight and you can put the make on him.”
“I’m beginning to
think you
think you’re a comedian.”
“Who me?”
“Yes, you, but I
guess we can
take Jerry with us. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Okay.”
“Remember, no
kissing.”
“Oh! You’re
impossible!”
Zach watched her
walk out and
wondered if he could go back to being straight. Could he put being gay
out of
his mind and actually get excited about being with a girl? Well, for
one, it
certainly wouldn’t be Sara. She definitely wasn’t his type. Yet, what
was his
type, if he was looking for a girl?
He looked over at
Jerry’s
desk and saw that Jerry hadn’t made a move to leave. He was still
staring at
his paper on the desk. This was going to be hard. Jerry was definitely
in ‘I’m
going to flunk out of college’ mode and it was sucking up all his
energy. Zach
picked up his book bag and went over to Jerry’s desk.
“Hey, you staying
here?” Zach
asked.
“I don’t know,”
Jerry said in
the same teary, defeated voice.
“Come on, let’s go
see Doctor
Jeffers.”
“I can’t let you do
this.
Nobody is nice to me.”
“I am, but then I’m
just a
farm boy from a little ol’ spread in Oklahoma and don’t know no better.”
Jerry smiled,
briefly.
“Come on, let’s go,
farm
boy.”
“My nickname in
high school
was faggot. Even my dad called me that sometimes.”
“Oh, fuck!”
“Yeah, the shits
isn’t it?
Okay, let’s go see if I have a future in this class,” Jerry said,
getting out
of his seat and slowly extending to his full height. Zach looked at him
a
little too obviously. “It’s not as big as yours, okay?”
“Yeah, sure, sorry.”
“Hey, I checked you
out, too.
Come on, let’s go see what the old man has in store for me.”
“Let me do the
talking. I
have an idea.”
They walked out,
but Jerry
got a little ahead of Zach as they were heading down the hall toward
the
staircase. They hadn’t walked thirty feet when Jerry stopped and shook
his
head. He looked at Zach when he came up to him then shook his head,
again,
before starting off. They were on the fourth floor of Caine Hall and
had to get
to the ground floor then across Beresford Quad to Biddly Hall where the
School of Liberal
Arts and Humanities had their offices.
Doctor
Jeffers’
office wasn’t much more than an unwindowed closet on the west end of
the fourth
floor, up where the roof line cut the room in half. His door was open,
but
there was only a desk lamp illuminating the room.
“Well, isn’t this a
surprise!” Doctor Jeffers said. “Two boys for the price of one. I
haven’t been
this lucky since getting suckered into a two for one special at a
whorehouse in
Wallace, Idaho,
when I was a measly little freshman. Never
willingly
take seconds boys, that’s my advice. So, Zach, what are you doing here?”
“I want to help
Jerry learn
how to write college papers,” Zach said. “I was thinking of getting him
a copy
of Elements of Style, but I wanted to check with you first.
Also, can he
do a make up paper? I know he won’t be able to erase the F, but maybe
you could
possibly split the difference.”
“Good work, Jerry,”
Doctor
Jeffers said. “It’s always best to have an agent do the talking for
you. I’d
offer you two a seat, but as you can see summer help doesn’t get the
best
furnishings. Yeah, that’s a good book, plus, let me see, yes, let me
write out
a list of useful reference books. I normally don’t allow second
chances,
there’s always the risk of getting a double negative, but since it is
obvious,
Jerry, that you don’t have the foggiest idea how to do a paper I’ll
give you
one chance. How about friendship? Yes, that sounds perfect, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t have any
friends,”
Jerry said, staring at the floor.
“Nonsense, Zach is
trying
very hard to be your friend. Why don’t you go to the library and do a
little
research on friendship? I’m sure Zach has lots of ideas about what it
means to
be a friend, and I’m sure he’s more than willing to be your friend.”
“Yeah, I guess
you’re right.”
“Anything else,
Zach?”
“No sir.”
“Good, here’s your
list,
Jerry. I’d get at least two, but three are better. Definitely the
illustrated Elements
of Style and any two of the others. Go to the Campus Bookstore,
they might
have used copies from spring term. I know Doctor Henley uses a number
of those
in his English 101 classes. And, I’d think about engaging Zach as a
tutor.
You’re going to need some help with your spelling, too.”
“Sir? He doesn’t
have a word
processing program on his computer. I’m going to help him with that,
too.”
“Well, Jerry, this
seems to
be your lucky day. Two papers next Wednesday. Do good on both and I
might
consider dropping the F. That’s might consider. Do good work and you
get
rewarded. Do just getting by, mediocre work, and well, I’m sure you can
guess
the results.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And, Jerry? Jerry
look at
me. Come on, get those baby blues up where I can see them. That’s
better. Now,
don’t feel so dejected. College can be fun. Ask Zach, I’m sure he’s
having a
blast. God, Zach, four classes? You’ve got to be either crazy, or a
masochist.
Okay, boys, have a good day. Oh, Zach, could you wait a few minutes.”
“I’ll be right out,
Jerry,
wait for me.”
“Sure.”
“Shut the door
Zach.”
Zach came back to
the desk
and waited for whatever was coming. He’d done his work, so there
shouldn’t be
any reason for rebuke, but why else was he being held back. Doctor
Jeffers face
wasn’t any help, either. Even in class, he always seemed to have a
stoic
unconcern for what was happening around him. He looked up a Zach.
“I’m just guessing,
so don’t
take offense, but is there some ulterior motive behind your interest in
helping
Jerry?”
“What?”
“Looking for a boy
friend?”
“I have one
already. Look,
yeah, Jerry fascinates me. He’s so quiet all the time. He’s never said
anything
in class. He just sits back there as if he’s so overwhelmed with being
in
college. I have a feeling he was either pushed into this or he’s here
to get
away from something. I’m taking him with me when Sara and I go to a
movie
Saturday night.”
“Sara?”
“Yeah, she asked
me. Now,
there’s an ulterior motive if you’re looking for one.”
“Okay, I apologize
for thinking
the worst. I’m just concerned about Jerry. He seems so innocent.”
“Yeah, he is that.
And, no
apology is necessary. Jerry asked practically the same question, too.”
“Good, now you’d
better get
going or you won’t be able to get something for lunch. Four classes!
Zach,
where was your mind?”
“I need to be busy.
I can
handle it, honest. See you tomorrow, Doctor Jeffers.”
When Zach got out
to the
lobby Jerry was sitting in a sofa looking at a magazine. He looked up
and
smiled. It was the first time Zach had seen Jerry actually spread those
red
lips apart so the pearly whites could gleam in the light. He wanted
very much
at that moment to kiss Jerry, but knew that would sour the deal and
probably
send Jerry running away permanently.
“Come on, I’m
hungry and I
only have thirty minutes before my next class,” Zach said. “You might
as well
go to the bookstore and get what you need.”
“I don’t have that
much
money,” Jerry said. “My parents are helping a little, but most of my
funds come
out of student loans and what I earned working on our farm. Dad only
paid me
minimum wage, though. He said I wasn’t a skilled worker.”
“What are you,
adopted?” Zach
asked as they headed down the broad stairs in front of Biddly Hall.
There was
bronze plaque stating the stairs were dedicated to all the North
Park students who died in World War I. The names
were listed on the plaque.
There were only ten.
“Yeah, actually, I
am,” Jerry
said. He stopped for a moment, allowing Zach to get a few paces ahead,
then ran
to catch up.
“What was that?”
“I was checking
your ass,”
Jerry said, playfully pushing Zach’s shoulder. “You did it to me in
Caine and I
was just returning the favor.”
“Did you like what
you saw?”
“I don’t know. I’ve
never
been an ass man myself. I’m more interested in boobs, or at least I
think I’m
supposed to be interested in them if I’m straight. You got nice pecs,
by the
way.”
“Well, coming from
a man who
knows his boobs, I’ll take that as a compliment. You hungry?”
“Yeah, but I go to
the Union
for lunch.”
“Me, too.”
When the boys paid
for their
food and drinks Zach led the way to the back corner where Bruce always
sat. He
was there slowly picking through a salad. He looked up at Zach then
looked
surprised when he saw Jerry sitting down at the table directly across
from him.
“Bruce, Jerry,
Jerry, Bruce,”
Zach said while unloading his tray then putting it on the table at the
empty
spot beside Bruce.
“Wow, you’re
androgynous,”
Jerry said. “My cousin Benny has the same problem. He can actually walk
into a
women’s restroom without anyone batting an eye.”
“Well, Zach, you
certainly
move fast,” Bruce said. “You’ve been here a week and already you’ve got
a boy
friend. Kind of cute, too.”
Jerry sort of
sighed then
mumbled something Zach couldn’t understand. Zach looked over at Jerry
and he
was quivering like he was sick or having a seizure. Then Jerry got to
his feet
and practically ran to the men’s room.
“Well, thank you
very much,
Bruce,” Zach said. “Are you going to go apologize or do I have to?”
“What’s wrong with
him?”
“In high school his
nickname
was faggot, but he doesn’t know if he is or not. I’m going to tutor him
in
English comp because he doesn’t know anything about doing papers. We’ve
already
gone through the ‘I’m not doing this so I can seduce you’ bit. Okay?
Yeah, he’s
cute as hell and I’d love to really get to know him, but I want to help
him.
Okay?”
“Fuck, I guess I’d
better go
talk to him. If I’m not out in an hour, bring condoms. Just kidding!”
Zach watched Bruce
wander
over to the men’s room then looked at his watch. He was going to be
late to
American History, but he really didn’t care right then. Then his cell
phone
rang.
“Hello?”
“Davey, what are
you doing?
The deals in the bag. Friday night.”
“Fuck, I wasn’t
hoping, no
that’s silly thinking. What’s the gig?”
“A guy named
Charlie. That
isn’t his real name, but he’s richer than hell. He’s got a penthouse
condo
where he likes to take his boys. It has a view of Elliot Bay. The
planes going into
the airport
practically fly
right by his window. And, he’s a great fucker. You’ll love the feel of
his dick
stuffing you.”
“Okay, okay, what
do I need
to do?”
“Be over at my
place no later
than five on Friday so I can get you ready.”
“I’ve got a class
that
doesn’t end until five and what do I need to do to get ready?”
“Leave early
because I have
to clean you out. Charlie doesn’t like a stinky fuck.”
“You mean you’re
going to
give me an enema?”
“Yeah, a couple, or
more.
He’ll want you spotless and odorless.”
“Fuck, this is
turning into
more trouble than its worth. You’re going to have to be extra nice to
me. Do
you understand?”
“Yeah, sure, you
get your
fifteen, plus whatever tip he throws in.”
“I can’t believe
someone is
actually going to pay fifteen thousand dollars to have my cherry.”
“Twenty-five
thousand.”
“Twenty-five?”
“Yeah, sounds
absolutely
crazy doesn’t it? Do you want to come over tonight and fuck me?”
“No, I’ve got
studying to
do,” Zach said preferring not to say anything about helping Jerry.
“I’ll see
you Sunday morning.”
“What’s wrong with
Saturday
night?”
“I going on a date.”
“You met another
guy?” He
sounded worried.
“It’s with a girl.
Tell you
about it later. I’ve got to get to class.”
“Who was that?”
Jerry asked,
sitting down in his chair. He looked like he’d been crying.
“My pimp.”
“Your what?” Bruce
asked.
“My pimp.”
“Tell me you’re
kidding,”
Bruce said.
“Okay, I’m kidding.
He’s a
friend. You guys make up?”
“Yeah, Bruce is
kind of neat,
but I like you best,” Jerry said, placing his hand on Zach’s thigh up
close to
the crotch and squeezing a little. Zach looked at him and he smiled.
“Bruce
said he has an extra laptop he got for high school graduation. He’s
hardly used
it. He’s going to give it to me.”
“Thanks Bruce,”
Zach said.
“You’re a good guy, you know.”
“Try to be,” Bruce
said.
“Oh, shit, I got to
get to
class,” Zach said. “Jerry, do you need any money to get your books?”
“I don’t know, I’ll
check and
see how much it’s going to cost then see you at supper in the
cafeteria, okay?”
“I’ll be there at a
quarter
after. I sit over by the Pepsi machine.”
“I know where you
sit.”
“Checking me out?”
“Yeah.”
“You know, Jerry,
for a boy
who doesn’t know if he’s gay, you’re doing an awful lot to make it look
like
you are.”
“So? Is that bad?”
“I’ll see you
later. Bruce?
Be nice to him, okay?”
“Oh, we’re friends,
now. See
ya tomorrow, Zach.”
“Yeah, tomorrow.”