Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2023 21:42:23 +0000 (UTC)
From: austintc@aol.com
Subject: Carter and the biker boy, Chapter 36

Carter and the Biker Boy
Chapter 36 Camping trip part one

The knock on my bedroom door followed by Mom telling me that I needed to
light the grill because John and Jake were on their way over to the house
snapped me out of the hazy state of mind I was in, along with suddenly
making me realize I had no time to shower off the mess I'd made in my
underwear.

Jumping out of bed quickly, I grabbed a clean set of briefs, one of my
anime t-shirts, a pair of dark blue cargo shorts and practically ran to
the bathroom to change. Standing naked in front of the bathroom sink, I
ran my washcloth under the warm water, added some soap and desperately
tried to clean the dried mess in my pubes. Once again Mom knocked on the
door.

"Angel! Andale! Hurry up! You need to start the grill!"

"Si, mama, ya estoy listo." I told her I was ready as soon as I put my
shorts on and slipped into my Nike flip flops. Another shot of Axe, and I
was soon in the garage pulling the old grill out. Just as Mr. Olsen and
Jake pulled in the driveway, the flames in the starter fluid soaked
charcoal briquettes were dancing close to five feet high, causing the low
hanging branches from the neighbor's fir tree to jump up quickly, just
like a kid who'd walked barefoot on the hot beach sand in the middle of
July.

Jake was out of the car first, and came bounding up to me, obviously
happy to see me.

"Hey Carter! How's it going? Glad to be done with school? Are you ready
for summer vacation? Guess what! We're going camping next weekend. Do
you want to go?" His exuberance was amazing, and I'd almost forgotten
how fun it was to be twelve years old again. His boy like voice sounded
like it was on the verge of not being so squeaky anymore. Mr. Olsen
interrupted Jake's stream of questions.

"Whoa Jake buddy, take it easy on Carter! One thing at a time, and
let's not flood him with a barrage of questions!"

"Sorry Dad. I just couldn't wait to ask Carter, you know..." I had a
good idea what he was going to ask but didn't get my hopes up until Mr.
O. asked.

"No problem buddy but come here and help me take some things in the
house. Oh, and Hi Carter, how was your afternoon after completing your
last and of course most difficult final exam?"

"Hi Mr. O... er, John." I had completely forgotten that he'd told me
the last time we were all together that I could call him John when we
were away from school, and that I'd still have to call him Mr. Olsen at
school. "My afternoon was great. I went to Freddy's with Abbey, Meghan,
Parker, and Caleb after we finished your final. And yeah, your test was
way super hard!" I said laughingly, and then, "and I'm sure that I
probably failed it and will have to take your class over again, right?"

"Well Mr. Carter, I can tell you that you and your study group ranked
number one through four in the class. I'm so proud of the work you guys
did in the class!  But in fairness to all of the other students in the
class..." he stopped to say hi to Mom and give her a hug and kiss before
finishing his thought. "Just keep to yourself what I told you until your
grades come out. I don't want to lose my job just yet okay?"

I smiled and nodded and just as quickly as I'd removed my cell to text
the group, I slid it back in my pocket to remove that notion from my
brain.

The cookout was going great. Mom had made some huge burgers, John brought
potato salad and some sodas, while Mom also had made some frijoles. When
we finished eating our meal on the patio table in the backyard, we sat
back letting the food digest a few moments before getting up. John broke
the moment of silence that surrounded our food coma to ask Jake a
question.

"So Jake, what were you going to ask Carter and Teresa?"

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" Jake replied with enthusiasm in his voice.

"Dad and I want to know if you both can go camping with us next
weekend?" Mom responded first.

"Well mi amor, I have to work next Friday and Saturday, as it's my
weekend to work. But Angel is more than welcome to go if he wants." Jake
looked perplexed wondering who `Ahn-hel' was but then realized Mom was
calling me Angel. It was the first time she'd called me by my middle
name when they were over, which explained his confusion.

"So Ahn-hel, er Carter, can you go? Please say yes!" Jake was looking
at me with puppy dog eyes and so of course Mom nodded as I looked at her.

"Sure Jake, I'd love to go camping with you guys! Where are we going?"
Jake's eyes lit up, you know, kind of like he'd just won a prize on the
Price is Right game show. He looked quickly at his dad then after John
told him to go ahead and tell me, he blurted out everything they had
planned to do.

"We're going to Wildcat Mountain State Park in Ontario, Wisconsin!
We'll get there Friday night, do some hiking, then eat our dinner by the
campfire, look for stars, and then go canoeing down the Kickapoo River on
Saturday. It's gonna be so much fun, right Dad?" John nodded in
agreement and then told Mom more details about the trip while Jake kept
telling me about the canoeing. I was truly getting excited and as Jake
and I got up to shoot some hoops, he had pretty much described the entire
landscape and told me about everything they had planned, including going
to the Amish farms before we would go canoeing.

The evening ended all too quickly around nine pm. John and Jake headed
home while I helped Mom pick up the kitchen.

"Jake sure likes you, amor." Mom spoke, breaking the few moments of
silence that had seeped into the kitchen. "Confío en que te comportarás
lo mejor posible el próximo fin de semana, ¿verdad?"

"Si Mama, of course I will be on my best behavior. And don't worry, I
like Jake too and I would never do anything to jeopardize the
relationship that you and John have. I really like Mr. O. and could
someday see..." I broke off my thoughts once I realized what the
direction of my conversation was going. I didn't want to jump to
conclusions, and Mom realized it right away.

"Amor, John and I have been dating for almost a half of a year now. We
both know that we need to take things slowly, not only for our sake, but
for yours and Jake's sake as well. We are not in a hurry, so let's just
enjoy their company, and have fun next weekend with those two. They are
very excited about you going with." Mom smiled and hugged me, then
reached up to kiss me on my forehead. "Aye mijo, estas creciendo! Soon
I'm gonna need a step stool to kiss your forehead. Pero, ew, mijo, you
need a shower!  You're sweaty and stinky!"

"I know Mama, sorry I smell bad, guess it's because I'm growing so
tall!" I stood next to her and realized that now I did almost stand a
few inches taller than her. She teasingly punched me in my stomach with
the back of her hand and then told me to go shower.

I showered quickly, put on a clean pair of white CK briefs, a white CK
muscle shirt, kissed Mom good night, then crawled into bed. I was so
excited about going camping and canoeing next weekend that I'd forgotten
to look at my phone since John and Jake left. I thought about checking
it, but sleep overcame that desire, and I drifted off into a deep,
dreamless sleep.

The following morning I woke up early, just a few minutes after five am.
The birds were singing extremely loud, and the sun was just about to make
her grand entrance for another glorious late spring day.

I laid in bed for several minutes longer before finally giving in to
temptation. I reached over to my night stand and grabbed my phone,
checking to see how many messages I had. There was one from Big T about
wanting to go running this morning, another from Parker that was sent
about ten thirty last night, and then finally the text that I tried to
ignore at Freddy's.

Parker wanted to know how my night went. I texted him back that it went
well, and that Mr. Olsen had invited me to go camping with him and Jake
next weekend. It was no surprise that he didn't respond back right away,
as he had told me he was probably going to sleep the day away. And then
of course there was the mystery text I received while we were at
Freddy's. I was just about ready to read it when I got a response from
Big T.

< Hey Carter, you're up? Wanna go for a run? I'll stop by your house,
and we can run north, how does that sound?

< Hey T. Yeah, I'll join ya. Just gotta get up and get something to
drink, get dressed and I'll be ready. See you in a few.

< (Thumbs up emoji)

It seemed like just seconds later that T was knocking on the side door to
the kitchen. I unlocked the door and let him. He was wearing a white
sleeveless Nike tee shirt, black basketball shorts and a pair of black
Asics running shoes. He was already sweating and took a huge swig of the
gray plastic thirty-two ounce water bottle he'd brought.

"Damn Michaels, it's a great morning for a run. What a great way to
start summer vacay!" he smiled, as he'd already downed a good ten
ounces of his water in the short three quarters of a mile from his
apartment to my house.

"It sure is bro. I just can't believe that I'm up this early and that
the two of us are going running. Can you believe that?"

T laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah, man, who'd have believed such a thing back when school first
started? Certainly not me!"

We both laughed and soon were out on the bike path heading into Martin
Park.

T wasn't really a fast runner yet. Let's just say that if he decided to
do track or cross country, most of the people would've left the stadium
and gone home by the time that he passed the finish line.  But I didn't
care. I could have run much faster than him, but running at his pace made
it much easier on me so early in the morning.

We ran in silence at our pace going up the incline of the walk bridge
that is attached to the south side of the bridge that crosses the Rock
River. I passed T halfway up and waited a few moments for him when I
reached the stoplights that would allow us to pass the busy Riverside
Boulevard. Since we were both listening to music on our phones and ear
buds, we continued to run in silence.

As we continued north, I looked across the river at the west side of
Parker's house. I still hadn't heard from him. We continued past the
elevated flat limestone outcropping where Dylan and I first fooled
around. It seemed like so long ago, even though it was just last summer.
Finally as we crossed the railroad tracks and emerged from the forest,
the path took a slight turn to the north again before passing the shelter
house where I first met Mr. O and Jake just before school started. The
path then followed along the south side of the soccer fields, the same
soccer field where Javy broke my leg last year. On our right the river
was hidden from our view by scrubby trees and bushes that lined the
shoreline. A little further along the path we passed the baseball
diamonds, and I motioned to T if he wanted to cross the street and
continue to head north to the part of the park where the forest preserve
offices were. He nodded, so we continued along, eventually going under
the bridge of another four lane road, then emerging on the north side of
the road into the park.

Motioning to the path that circled the park and the pond, T once again
nodded, so we continued clockwise around the lake before T motioned that
he wanted to stop and rest at the park bench that overlooked the manmade
ten acre pond, which was once a limestone quarry that became useless once
the owners dug too deep and hit water. Swimming and fishing is not
allowed in the pond, so it's nice to sit and admire the quiet beauty of
the pond, especially in the fall.

Finally catching his breath and nearly finishing his water that he
carried in a small backpack T broke the silence as he took out his ear
buds.

"Michaels, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you being
my friend. I know I've not said it before even though I've meant to. I
guess I'm just not much for expressing, you know, my um, well,
myself..." His words trailed off and I guessed that he wanted to say
feelings, but I didn't put those words in his mouth, nor did I press him
to finish his sentence.

"Thanks T. I'm, I'm just glad, you know, that I could be there for
you. You had it pretty tough when your uncle died. I was worried about
you. I really was." T gazed off across the lake, soaking in the words
I'd just said. He then looked down at his water bottle, thought for a
few moments, as if fishing for the right words that just couldn't come
out. Finally, slowly, and quietly he continued.

"Carter, I've never told anyone this. But when my uncle died and my
aunt was so upset with me, I honestly considered killing myself. I
wasn't sure how to do it, but I was going to do it. I...felt so
responsible. I really did. But you -- man you were there for me. You
didn't have to be. I was just a big old tub of lard that had no
self-esteem and struggled so much, trying to fit in. I had no friends. It
sucked. Remember how hard it was for me to climb the stands in the gym
before P.E. class started? Remember how you wanted to move away from
me?" I laughed and nodded my head.

"Remember how you didn't want me to sit by you on the bus and all? It
took all of my nerve to sit with you, because you, were so small that I
thought you were in grade school. But then seeing you in gym class and
all that happened to you, I knew I had to be there for you. I told my
aunt and uncle about you when they asked me if I'd made any friends, and
they told me that you were a good friend and also told me to make sure
that I didn't mess it up with you." Now I was on the verge of tears
hearing T tell me about this.

"But I just want to tell you this, and then I'll stop being all
sentimental and mushy. When you came to my house and helped me clean my
room and told me to try harder to be there for my aunt, your words and
being a true friend to me gave me confidence in myself that I didn't
have before. Carter, you're truly my best friend. Thank you for helping
me get to where I am today. Without you, I'm sure I wouldn't be here."
The tears did come. I tried to hold back, and sensing this, T put his
left hand on my shoulder and then told me something I'm sure I'd
remember for the rest of my life.

"No matter what, Michaels, I've got your back and I'll be there for
you just like you've been there for me." I smiled, wiped the tears from
my eyes, looked up at him and smiled. I wanted to hug him, but he was way
sweaty and smelly, so we just fist-bumped before resuming the run home.

We arrived at my house about thirty minutes later. I was tired but felt
great. T had slowed down quite a bit, but I could tell he still had
energy left.

"Same time tomorrow, bro?" he shouted out as started running down the
driveway for the last leg of his run. I shouted out that I'd be ready,
and just like that he was gone.

Mom had already left for work but did leave me a note on the countertop
in the kitchen to make sure that I started laundry. Since I had no other
plans other than hopefully seeing Parker later, as soon as my shower was
finished, I started washing my jeans and shorts, as well as my sweat
soaked running shirt, shorts, and yes, my black CK briefs.

I'd just finished eating a bowl of Cherrios and a banana that I
remembered the text I'd gotten when we were at Freddy's yesterday. When
I saw it, my stomach tightened, and a slight jolt of nervous excitement
gave me a slight chill.

< C-man! Saw you at Freddy's. You're taller! Hope you're doing good.
Miss u.

Damn. I was right. I knew I'd recognized that number. Since I promised
that I would delete his number from my contacts, his name did not come
up, only his number.
I took a deep breath, wondering if I should return the text. I promised
that I wouldn't have any contact with him.


But still.

It was not easy and although I hadn't thought about him as much anymore,
I still missed my biker boy.

Thoughts of him and the time we spent together a year ago gave me an
instant erection.

I wanted to text him back. In fact, as I pressed my finger in the text
box next to the blinking blue cursor, the letters popped up and I began
to write the words, only to be interrupted by Parker's incoming text.

< Morning babe. How're u doing on this most excellent first day of
summer vacation?

Quickly I snapped back to reality as I glanced at the wallpaper on my
phone, the one selfie that we took yesterday as we sat on the rock in the
park, our smiling faces, cheeks touching, our eyes hidden by our
sunglasses. My erection got harder if that's even possible.

< Hola mi amor, I'm good. Got a good run with T. Just chillin. HBU?

< Needing to hang out with my bff. You know...Can I come over?

Now I thought it was going to burst out of my shorts.

< You're not here yet? LOL.

< OMW.

Literally moments later I saw Parker whiz by the front of the house on
his mountain bike as he flew into the driveway, quickly dismounting his
bike. I'd opened the garage so he could put it in just in case someone
walking by decided that they needed it more than Parker did.

Seconds later we were in each other's arms. It seemed like it'd been
forever since we were alone together in the house.

What had temporarily subsided, had now returned to its full glory.

I lost count after the third time.

We were now lying naked on my bed, on our backs, holding hands -- his
left in my right -- both of us exhausted, but completely satiated.

Through the open window in my bedroom a robin was singing on a branch of
the honeysuckle bush that's next to the house. The voices of some kids
riding by on their bikes drifted in, only to be muffled as a loud car
sped by.

Minutes later I heard the sound of a lawnmower and line trimmer starting.
It sounded close, like it was in my yard. It then dawned on me that Tio
Javier was probably starting to mow the yard. As much as the bed and
Parker tried to hold me down, I had to at least make sure that I
acknowledged their presence, otherwise Tio Javier would find the key to
our house and come in.

Sure enough, Tio Javier was mowing the grass, and some other Mexican guy
I didn't know was doing the line trimming. I opened the front door and
waved to Tio. He looked up and waved back but kept mowing. When they
finished, I offered them both bottles of water, but they declined. Tio
told me that in another week Javy would get the boot off his healed
fractured ankle and hoped that the ankle would heal properly so he would
be ready for soccer in the fall. I did tell him that I also hoped it
would heal well and also told him that Javy and I would have to get
together again and play some video games soon.

After they left, I went back in the house to see what Parker was doing.
He must have been exhausted because he had fallen asleep, naked, and was
actually hard again. I couldn't resist waking him up for another round,
and before I could finish him, he reciprocated, culminating in both of us
arriving at the same place at the same time. The taste of his kisses
almost prompted another round, but we realized that Mom would be home
within the half hour. Reluctantly we dressed and were now sitting on the
porch watching people riding by the house on their bikes.

My mind drifted off once again to the day I'd first recognized Dylan's
daily ride, as the time was moments away from being that exact same time
he would pass by the house. Parker was talking about some plans for the
summer his dad had discussed with him. I was lost in the thought of
Dylan, and when I younger guy about my age rode by wearing almost the
same type of clothes Dylan would wear, I felt my heart skip a beat
thinking that it might have been Dylan. Wishful thinking though, of
course it was not Dylan.

At least it sounded like Parker and Dad were getting along better than
before. Mom (Parker's mom, that is) and his Dad were spending more time
at church now, so hopefully their marriage will be salvaged. I guess
saying prayers every night does help.

I had yet to tell Parker about the camping trip next weekend with Mr. O.
and Jake. I was somewhat afraid to bring it up to Parker because I was
afraid he would either be jealous or ask if he could go. But since it was
next weekend, I had to tell him. After watching a couple of cute guys
that were our age ride by on their motocross type bicycles, I thought it
was the best time to tell him as he couldn't take his eyes off the two
guys as they reached the intersection and turned to ride south out of our
sight.

"So Mr. O. and Jake invited me to go camping with them next weekend." I
said in a calm voice, almost timid, hating myself for saying it that way
knowing that I had nothing to hide and should not feel remorseful for
being invited to go somewhere without my boyfriend. His response somewhat
surprised me but reassured me that he didn't mind it at all.

"Oh that sounds like fun! Where are you guys going? Is your mom going
too?" Relieved now, I sang like a canary, spilling my guts on all that I
knew about the camping trip.

"We're going to this place to canoe, it's called something like
Kickapoo River, and we're staying at a state park called Wildcat
Mountain."

"Whoa, are there like real Wildcats there?" Parker now genuinely
sounded concerned about me going hiking and camping where my life might
be endangered by wildcats and mountain lions.

"Um, that's a good question! I really didn't think to ask! Yikes!"
Now I was concerned and thought about texting Mr. O. later.

"Silly boy, you can do a google search too..." Parker teasingly punched
me in the arm, and I gave him one of those "well duh" looks.

So it turns out there are no wildcats, bears, mountain lions or tigers at
Wildcat Mountain State Park. I was relieved but then felt really dumb for
assuming that there were vicious animals lurking behind every tree or
rock. About the only wildlife we'd probably see would be deer, rabbits,
eagles, hawks and maybe a badger. The site also talked about how much fun
it is to canoe the Kickapoo River from the little town of Ontario to the
canoe launch at the lower end of the park. It listed the approximate
travel time between those two places at close to four hours! Now I was
getting excited about going. Friday will not get here soon enough!

Lucky for me, the remainder of the week passed by fast, and before I knew
it, T was at my door for our morning run telling me that we'd made it to
Friday. Our run went well, and after showering and eating a light
breakfast, I gathered the clothes together that I thought I'd need for
the weekend, stuffed them into my old tattered blue backpack I used in
8th grade, and waited for John and Jake to pick me up at 1 pm. Jake had
sent me a text around noon telling me to be sure and bring a hat, since
there could be ticks in the woods that could fall into our hair. He knew
all about Lyme disease and wanted to make sure that we took all the
precautions necessary to protect ourselves.

I must admit that I was a little nervous yet quite excited to spend time
with John and of course with his son Jake. The more I've gotten to know
Jake, the more I like him. It's pretty cool that he looks up to me. I
know I'll enjoy spending more time with John as well, I mean it's Mr.
O.! What kid wouldn't want to hang out with him on the weekend? Yeah,
okay, I know that makes me sound like a nerd, but he truly is a nice
guy.

Just as promised, John and Jake pulled into the driveway in John's 2021
Toyota Rav4 with John's red kayak firmly tied to the roof. I've ridden
in it a couple of times and it's a pretty cool SUV. Jake burst out of
the rider's side door as soon as the car came to a stop.

"Hi Carter! Are you ready to go camping? Did you get my text? How about
canoeing tomorrow? I can't wait! Did you know that it's not supposed to
rain up there so we should be able to see the stars like you've never
seen them before?"

I couldn't get a word in edgewise, and John sensed this as soon as he
got out of the car wearing a short sleeved navy blue button up shirt with
a white tee shirt under, khaki colored cargo shorts and a pair of brown
leather sandals. "Whoa Jake, slow down buddy, it's going to be a long
car ride and we have all weekend to talk with Carter. We don't want to
scare him off now, do we?" Jake just answered with an "Awe, Dad, I
know" as John ruffled Jake's medium length brown hair with his hand.

"So Carter, are you ready to go camping?" John asked, repeating Jake's
original question without really thinking about what he'd just said.  I
nodded and replied that I'd been anticipating this day since they asked
me to go last weekend. We loaded up my backpack and a half case of
bottled water that Mom had bought, along with some chips, marshmallows,
chocolate bars and graham crackers so we could make s'mores.

"I've got shotgun!" Jake shouted out as we were about to get in the
car. John told him to let me ride in front, to which of course he
answered back with the same reply as earlier, "Awe Dad" John then told
him that he could ride in the front on the way back home. Jake agreed and
reluctantly got in the back seat and put his seat belt on.

I got in the car and realized I'd left my journal in the house. I asked
John if he could wait and after he nodded yes, I ran quickly in the house
and got my journal and pen. Finally we were on the way to the western
part of Wisconsin, where Ontario was located, something like forty miles
south east of La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The drive from my house to Ontario Wisconsin, according to Google Maps
was going to take just over three hours and one hundred and seventy one
miles. According to John, the route he takes involves driving north on
Interstate 90 until highways 12 and 18 go west around the southern part
of Madison, eventually turning back north for a few miles until they
intersect with highway 14. He then drives to Richland Center, where he
turns north and takes Route 80 to Hillsboro, then Route 33, which will
take us right past Wildcat Mountain State Park.

"This route is the most scenic route I've found." John remarked as we
pulled on to the ramp that put us on the interstate. "I suppose we could
just stay on the interstate all the way up to Tomah and then go south,
but there are some neat things to see along the way going `the
backroads' if you will. When we get west of Madison, you'll notice the
flatland turns into rolling hills. And then once we get north of Richland
Center, you're really going to see some neat land formations."

"Oh that sounds a lot better than going along the boring interstate." I
replied, not really having a visual image of what the rolling hills might
look like. Then Jake added his opinion.

"Carter, they're really cool. Just wait until we get on the river
tomorrow canoeing. There's nothing like it in Rockford, except maybe out
at Rock Cut." He thought for a moment, then as excited and exuberant as
always, he added more. "OH, I know! You know along the bike path,
right?" I nodded my head. "There are those rock outcroppings, the
limestone, like where there's this kind of like flat area?" I knew just
the place. "Well there are places like that along the river. You're
going to love it, one hundred percent, yes, you will!!"

Jake continued to tell me about the river and the park, as well as
different features around the Ontario area. John was quiet, letting him
talk. He would occasionally ask John about something if that was the
right place, or the right farm. John would nod his head and tell him that
he has a great memory and that he probably would love to show them to
me.

In no time we were driving around the south side of Madison. John pointed
out the capitol building to me and Jake, which was visible once we got
closer to the south side. It looked pretty cool, and I thought about how
neat it would be to visit it someday. He then told me that on Saturdays
during the spring, summer and fall months there is a farmer's market on
the capitol square. Jake chimed in and told me that it's "super cool"
and that we'd have to there some Saturday morning this summer. It was so
cute because he also told me I could buy my mom some flowers there.

Before long we were heading west on Highway 14. We passed through several
little towns and fruit markets that actually had farm animals and places
to play. John told me that we'd probably stop there on the way home,
since he wanted to get to the campground before five pm.

When we passed through the small town of Richland Center, I noticed the
landscape did start to change. There were small rock outcroppings in the
middle of a pasture area that had trees growing on top of them. The
houses were few and far between, and the road started to meander between
larger hills, as the elevation change challenged John's SUV. We were
about halfway between Richland Center and Hillsboro when Jake spied
something going slow along the right side of the road.
"Dad! Carter! There is an Amish buggy!" Sure enough as we got closer,
an old fashioned horse and buggy was going slowly heading north, the same
direction in which we were driving. As we slowed down to pass them, I
turned and looked to see a young guy about my age driving the two horses
while it looked like his mother and younger sibling were riding next to
him inside the covered black buggy. He waved as we went past, and I waved
back. I was in awe. I'd heard of the Amish before but had never seen any
of them so close. The boy that was driving the horses was wearing what
looked like a blue button up dress shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a
straw hat. His mother and sister were both wearing light blue dresses
with bonnets on their heads. As we headed further away from them and
eventually they were on the other side of the hill as we resumed speed, I
was lost in thought about how it must be to live like them.

"Pretty wild to think about how they live, isn't it Carter?" Jake
chimed in. "Just wait until you see how they live on their farms, right
Dad?"

John seemed a bit lost in his own thoughts but answered back right away.
"Sure, you will be... amazed perhaps at how this group of people can live
like they do in a world that's surrounded by technology driven devices,
let alone gas powered vehicles that take us wherever we want to go. So
Jake, would you like to live on a farm with the Amish people we've met
in the past?"

"No Dad!" Jake vehemently responded. "First off, Dad, I can't think
about not having running water in the house. Second, I can't imagine
life without a television or a microwave. And third, No video games!
That's not fun at all, Dad!"

John chuckled to himself and then just like that the conversation ended
about the Amish. It made me realize that I was about to learn a lot about
the Amish culture and about the life people lead out in the country. I
couldn't wait!

As we got closer to Wildcat Mountain State Park, the road began to curve
sharply, then go over small hills, exposing beautiful green valleys,
dotted with an occasional small farmhouse and for the most part, older
barns, mostly red that probably had seen their better days. Jake pointed
out some cows that were leisurely grazing in a pasture that was bisected
by a small stream.

I've been to some pretty neat places in young life, especially in Mexico
over the past Christmas, but this was pretty cool and as more farms,
curves in the road and hills passed by, the more I realized I was going
to like this part of Wisconsin.
Ten minutes later we slowed down as we passed by the entrance to the
park. John had told us that he forgot to buy charcoal starter, so that's
why we passed the state park to go into Ontario. A few more twists and
turns in the road and finally after driving over the bridge above the
Kickapoo River, we emerged in the downtown area that made up the small
town of Ontario. The century old two story building with its ornate
architecture looked like it had received its share of paint over the
years. A small modest cream colored wooden sign with the words "The
Peeling Ceiling" written in green paint hung over the front door that
looked like it had to be at least ten foot tall.  A red neon OPEN sign
flashed in the window to the right of the door, next to a black plastic
sign that said "Sorry We're Closed" in red letters.

We followed John through the door which had a set of wind chimes attached
to the door closing mechanism on top of the door. Almost immediately an
older man's voice seemingly boomed from the back of the store.

"Well if it isn't John Olsen! Miracles never cease! Let me guess,
school is finally out back home in Loves Park. And is that Jakey? My
goodness boy, have you ever grown!"

"J.D.! How are you my old friend? It's good to see you again! I thought
you were going to retire, sell the store and move to Florida? What
happened?"

"Well, you know Frank. He just can't get away from the small town
atmosphere here and leave all of our faithful customers, neighbors, and
friends. I've been trying to convince that stubborn old box of rocks,
but to no avail. I guess we just wanted to make sure we'd get a chance
to see your smiling face again. And speaking of smiling faces, who's
this handsome young man with you and Jakey?"

"This is Carter, my lady friend's son, and one of my top students from
the incoming freshmen class this past year." No sooner had John
introduced me to J.D. when an older man about my height that must have
weighed three times as me shuffled in from the back room of the store to
greet us.

"Johnny! Jakey! And who is this handsome young man again with you?"
Since I'd already shaken hands with J.D., I introduced myself to this
other man, who I'd assumed was Frank.
"I'm Carter, nice to meet you..."

"Frank. And it's nice to meet you too, Carter. Welcome to Ontario, and
to our little store. We've got the best prices in town and can get you
anything you need. Might take a week, but we can get it." Everyone
laughed, and it was becoming easy to see why John and Jake liked coming
up to this little town. Something was a little bit different with J.D.
and Frank, and if I had any intuition at all, I'd have to guess that
they were more than just business partners. Maybe the way they kept
looking at each other, I don't know?

Finally after about twenty minutes of conversation, John got a bottle of
charcoal lighter fuel, paid for it and we said good-bye to Frank and J.D.
for now, promising to stop back in before we would leave Sunday morning.
A few minutes later we were at the park ranger station where we got our
park pass and a piece of paper with our campsite and check out date,
which was to be clipped to the post that was by the road, telling us
which site was ours.
The camp site was amazing. It was somewhat open where the car would park
on a gravel driveway but secluded and surrounded with huge oak and
hickory trees where the tent would go. There was a nice flat grassy area
for the tent, as well as a fire pit and a brown wooden picnic table.

Before long we had the eight foot by twelve foot tent assembled and our
sleeping bags and clothes bags moved in. John then got the grill going
while Jake and I went to buy a few bundles of firewood from the man with
an old tractor that was pulling a hay wagon with almost fifty bundles of
neatly cut firewood. We bought four bundles all together, carrying one
bundle at a time to the campsite, putting each bundle on the ground about
four feet away from the firepit.
It wasn't much longer that dinner was ready. John made us huge
hamburgers, and served us chips, a pickle, and some baked beans. He'd
also given us our choice of soda, so we both chose Cherry Coke. It was so
neat to eat dinner in the great outdoors and as the smell of the fresh
country air wafted in and out of the campground.

John and Jake talked through dinner, reminiscing about the times they'd
been up here in the past years. Apparently this had become a yearly
tradition that started back when John was my age.

"I never get tired of coming up to Ontario." John spoke with a
matter-of-fact tone of voice. "You'll soon see what I see in this part
of the country. It's a nice escape from the world we live in."

"Based on what I saw on the way up here, this is a beautiful part of
Wisconsin. I agree with you though, that this is so different from home.
I do like it so far. I bet my mom would like it too." I replied with
confidence in my voice.

"You do think she'd like to go camping?" Jake asked.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but I bet she'd give it a try. She did
sound kind of down when she knew that she had to work this weekend."

"Dad, I have a great idea!" Jake burst out after a few moments of
silence. "Maybe Carter and his mom could come up when we make our annual
trip before school starts, when the meteor shower takes place?"

"Ah, great idea Jake. Carter I am sure you and your mom would like to
come up here in August when the Perseid meteor shower takes place. It's
usually around the 11th to the 13th of August. Since there aren't any
large cities nearby, the stars will be brighter than you've ever seen
them. I came up here one year and there were literally two to three
shooting stars ever five minutes."

I couldn't stop smiling. Once we finished eating dinner and cleaning up
a bit so that no scraps of food would entice some of the wild critters to
come into our campsite.

"Okay boys, how about we take a short hike since it look like the sun is
going to set in a half hour or so. That way we can see the Kickapoo River
Valley and wait for the sun to set. Sound good?"

Jake and I both said sure at the same time.

We found a trail that seemed to follow the perimeter of the top of the
hill where our site and the rest of the campground was located. We must
have been hiking close to a half an hour through old growth deciduous
trees when the trail finally broke through the woods, and we were now
walking on the grassy area near a picnic shelter. We walked another
quarter of a mile and were soon at the scenic overlook. John pointed out
the tiny river below and then told me that we'd be on that part of the
trail tomorrow. There were a few people just staring at the now huge
orange ball of a sun that was minutes away from setting over the western
horizon.

The view of the lush green valley from the cliff was amazing. The sounds
from a chorus of birds could be heard and Jake nearly screamed with
enthusiasm as he spied a lone hawk that was soaring high above us. John
pointed out the steeple of the church that's located in downtown
Ontario, nearly ten miles away. It was on the northern end of the valley,
and looked cool as the steeple was all we could see. In my young life I
couldn't recall anything so beautiful as the view from the lookout cliff
in the park. I mean yeah, the view from the Tower of the Americas in San
Antonio was awesome, as was the view of the city in Guanajuato, Mexico
where we went over Christmas. But here in real nature, this was the best
thing I'd seen so far.
As soon as the sun set, there was a chilly breeze that began to creep in
from the north, so we decided to head back to our campsite where Jake and
John got the campfire started. Before long we were sitting by the fire,
waiting for it to get hot enough so we could do S'mores.

Of course I had very little experience with warming up a marshmallow over
the open fire, so after watching two marshmallows start on fire only to
slip off my stick and go into the fire, I agreed to let Jake show me how
it's done. He was an expert if there ever was one and had the patience
to show me how to become an expert at getting marshmallows to the perfect
temperature before slipping them off the stick onto a chocolate bar and
smothering it between two pieces of graham crackers.
After nearly eating all of the chocolate bars, graham crackers and
marshmallows, our bellies were full, and I could see Jake dozing off.
John told him that if he wanted to go to bed now he could. He took his
dad up on that promise, and soon after walking over to the nearby
bathroom/shower facility to use the toilet and to brush his teeth, Jake
stumbled back into the campsite back yawning, nearly half asleep. He gave
John a huge hug and told him good night, then did the same to me. I was
so surprised but was happy that he felt that comfortable enough with me
to give me a hug. Moments after he crawled into the tent and into his
sleeping bag, he was out like a light.

As John and I sat in our lawn chairs watching the firewood burn, we both
seemed to be lost in our thoughts. There were so many things on my mind
that I wanted to say, or talk about with John, but I couldn't find the
right words to begin a conversation. John must've read my mind, because
a few seconds passed by, and he spoke.

"So Mr. Carter, what do you think?"

I wasn't sure how to reply to that vague open ended question, so I
thought it was appropriate to talk about the trip so far, and to express
my gratitude for him taking me.
"I just want to thank you and Jake for bringing me along on the camping
trip. I'm really enjoying this. It's something I've never had a chance
to do, but always wanted to try. So thanks again."

John smiled and took a sip of his hot coffee he'd just made.

"Sure thing. Jake really likes you and talks about you quite a bit. Like
me, he likes your mom too."

I felt my face blushing, mainly with excitement. I mean the whole idea of
Jake liking me was nothing more than me being like a big brother figure
to him. And the fact that he likes my mom was cool too.
"Thanks, I'm glad to hear that. I like him too. Obviously I don't have
a little brother and my younger cousins aren't really around that much
anymore, so it's really cool."

"Great." John quickly replied. "Well Jake can be a boy that asks a lot
of questions just to warn you. I always try to be as open and honest with
him as I can, so the only advice I can give you is to try and be the
same. He may ask you some very personal questions that you may feel
uncomfortable responding to him, so if you feel that way, just tell him
so, and he should be satisfied with your answer. He's at the age where
he's looking for answers to life's mysteries and because you're close
to his age, he may feel more comfortable asking you. I'm not one hundred
percent positive of that, but as we all spend more time together this
summer, he will get closer to you."

"I'm fine with that, I mean though, are you, um, okay with me being,
you know, the way I am?" I wanted to say gay, but I couldn't and
didn't want to spoil the moment. But if there was ever a man I could
talk to and feel comfortable talking about my feelings and all, it was
John.

"Oh, you mean that you're gay, right?" I felt my stomach knot up a
little as he left that question out there for me to answer. I nodded my
head as I looked down into the fire as if I was searching for something
I'd tossed into the orange coals.
"Look Carter, first off, you know you can talk to me about anything, and
I will not judge you.  As the son of my girlfriend whom I really enjoy
being with, I would never do anything to jeopardize the relationship I
have with your mom. You are an amazing, smart, polite, and super cool
young man. If your mom and I have a future together, I would be extremely
proud to call you my son."

I felt like crying! This was too good to be true. It was all I could do
to say the following words...

"Thank you, John. Yeah, I think Mom really likes you too, I mean I see
how happy she is with you. She hasn't been this happy in quite a long
time." I might have stretched the truth a little bit, but Mom truly was
a lot happier since she started dating John. My only hope would be that
they would stay together.

"Great. So we've got that out of the way. Let's talk about tomorrow,
okay?" Once again I nodded my head in agreement. "We're going to need
to get up early, about seven o'clock in the morning. I know this Amish
farm where they serve the best fresh cinnamon rolls, so we'll go there
first and eat breakfast at their farm. Then we'll head to the canoe
outfitters to rent a canoe for you and Jake, and I'll just use the
kayak. Then we'll embark on our four hour cruise to the take out spot in
the lower part of the park. I've made some tasty sandwiches that we can
eat on the canoe trip. Once we're done with the canoeing, we'll head
back to Ontario, get the car and then we'll go visit some of the other
Amish farms. Then we'll come back here for a bit before heading back
down to Ontario to hang out at the small festival they're having.
We'll probably eat dinner at the barbecue. Then we'll head back here to
the campsite. How does that sound?"

I was completely in awe over how fun the day sounded. I found myself
caught in a huge yawn, so after it was done, I told John that I'd
probably better get some sleep, so I'd be ready for the big day. He
laughed and agreed. The fire was almost out, so I went inside the tent
first and changed into my sleeping shorts and a tee shirt. As soon as my
head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.