Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:47:51 -0800
From: Flip McHooter <1977.flip@gmail.com>
Subject: So Cal Summer 1969 Chapter-29

This story is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents
are either the products of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations or business
establishments or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced
in in whole or in part in any form or by any means, mechanical or
electronic, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Author
or Publisher, except where permitted by law.

Copyright © 2011 by Flip McHooter.

Because it's based in the past, some of it may not be politically correct
as I have tried to be true to 1969.

Thanks to everybody who has emailed me, I appreciate the tips and
feedback. Comments are always appreciated! Flip. 1977. flip@gmail.com

Chapter 29


The four of us silently got up, and marched through the open door into his
huge, wood paneled office. This guy must be really important, because his
office had large windows on three sides of the big, wide room, overlooking
downtown Pasadena to the south and the foothills to the north. In fact, you
could see all the way up to the TV towers on Mt. Wilson. The room was
spotless, not at all like the dirty hallway with its overflowing ashtrays
and sticky floor. Polished oak was everywhere. Leather chairs with big
wings and a large puffy sofa flanked his giant oak desk. Nothing, not even
a tiny little thing, was out of place and, surprisingly, the top of his
desk seemed rather empty. No personal effects or pictures, only an old
black telephone and a fine looking leather desk set. Plus, some fresh
flowers in a towering vase sitting on the corner. It was a big arrangement,
and fancy, too, with strange flowers that I'd never seen before. Kinda like
a Rose Parade float scootin' down the boulevard on New Year's Day. That
must have cost a fortune, I thought to myself. The flowers smelled really
good, like when you went to your grandma's house.

"Sit. There," Mr. Ferrari said, pointing to four chairs in front of his
massive desk.

We did, silently, because we didn't have a choice.

Glaring at each of us for a second, he cleared his throat and straightened
his tie and finally stared down at his son. "So, what's all this about,
Enzo? Actually, before you answer me, why don't you introduce your friends
first, and then tell me what this crap is about?"

Enzo stood up, and pointed to Kenji first, undaunted. "This is Kenji; I
think you've met him before. He's my swim partner. He's been over to the
house lots of times."

"Hello, Kenji. Good to see you again, son," Mr. Ferrari said with a slight
nod. I was pretty sure he didn't remember the guy.

"You too, sir. It's good to see you again." If anything, he had some
serious etiquette going on.

"And this is Ryan Miller," Enzo said, pointing to me. "You probably
remember him from school and Little League games. He lives at the end of
Ridge Top, around the corner from us. They had that situation with the cops
last night."

"Yes, of course," he said. "The cops." He stood up and stuck his big paw
out for me to shake. I jumped up and he grabbed my hand, and when he
squeezed it, I thought I was gonna do a flip, he was that strong. How come
he didn't shake Kenji's hand, I wondered?

"Hello, sir," I mumbled. Man, this guy was big. Bigger than my dad.

"Looks like you're growing into quite the young man. I bet you have pretty
ladies coming out the ying-yang. The last time I saw you, you and Enzo were
in the elementary school pageant playing Indians and Pilgrims. And if I
remember correctly, your dad's Wiley Miller. Works at the big bank down the
street?" More of a statement than a question. And what a memory!

"Yes sir. That's him." I wasn't about to tell him about the `pretty
ladies'. Geez.

"Nice fella. Haven't talked to him in months. I'll have to give him a call
soon, maybe play a game of darts down at the pub. There's always some need
around here for another banker. Tell him old Crash said hello."

"Sure." Like I was really going to do that. All of a sudden I was beginning
to dislike this guy.

"And your mother. She's very pretty. How is she?"

"Um, well, the usual. But she's okay."

"Well, tell her hello from me, will you?"

"Sure." No way was I gonna do that! What a skuzz boning up over my mom!
Geez. Now I really didn't like him.

"And this is Jake. I don't remember his last name," Enzo said, finishing up
the introductions and turning around. "He moved in next door to Ryan a
couple of months ago. Into old man Bailey's big house."

"Jake, Jake Mariano, sir. Nice to meet you," he said, standing up and
shaking the enormous man's hand. He really didn't seem all that intimidated
and was actually pretty comfortable with this thundering guy and his
immense ego. Damn. I loved that foxy dude!

"Hello, son. Another sturdy young gentleman. Although, you do need a
haircut. Maybe you can take Ryan with you," he said, looking back at me for
a second and then back to Jake. Now that I thought about it, Enzo's hair
was pretty short. I wondered if it was Crash or his mom who made him keep
it that way. "Why do I know your name? Your face looks familiar to me for
some reason, too."

"Well, because both Ryan and I had our pictures in the paper today. We
witnessed that cop get attacked up on the hill behind Ryan's house
yesterday and some reporter took our picture down on the street when things
were wrapping up. I didn't even know they had done that."

"Yes, that. What a god-damn fiasco! Those cops are the bane of my
existence, I'll tell you that. But that's not it and none of your
concern. Let's see, Mariano, Mariano? This is probably a long shot, but any
relation to Ace Mariano from down in San Pedro?"

"Why, yes sir. That would be my dad," Jake said, still standing.

"Ah, good, good. I know him very well. He's a Capo, uh, I mean, eh, a
business associate of mine. Had a business meeting out on his family's boat
recently. Down in Redondo if memory serves correctly. A very resourceful
and intelligent guy. He's definitely an up-and-comer with a bright
future. I like him a lot."

"Yes sir, I guess. That's my Gramp's fishing boat. Um, if you see him,
please don't mention that we were here today. We sorta promised him that we
wouldn't come down here to this part of town again. He caught us once down
here and he didn't like it. But this was something really important for us
to do, so I decided I had to disobey him. You understand, right?"

"Most certainly. I absolutely understand these matters and respect your
request. I would never betray your trust. Sometimes you have to do what you
have to do, even when you're young. Please, take a seat, boy," he said,
dismissing Jake. I sure hoped he'd keep his word. "So, Enzo, please tell me
the reason for this meeting. Surely it wasn't for me to meet your friends?
And while you're at it, tell me how you got that god-damn shiner. I thought
I taught you how to defend yourself. Merda! Who kicked your god-damn ass?"

"Well, you did teach me, Papa, but it's more complicated than that. And
it's not all that easy for me to explain."

"Just spit it out, boy. You know that I'm very busy. God-damn. Who did this
to you? I hope you kicked their god-damn ass." He sure liked saying
`god-damn' a lot.

"Well, not really. Okay, here goes," he said, sucking in a deep
breath. "Something bad has been going on with me, and the guys here figured
it out, and that's why they're here to back me up. It's bad. Really, really
bad."

"How bad could it possibly be? Did you off someone? Make a girl pregnant?
Did you get a disease on your prick?" He started to chuckle when he said
that last one.

"No sir, nothing like that. My dick's just fine, I think. It-it h-has to do
with M-mamma. I guess I should just show you so you can see for yourself,"
he said, gathering his strength. He stood up again and pulled his shorts
down, just far enough to show his dad his chopped off pubic region. But not
the family jewels. "M-mamma made me d-do this to myself. And she's the one
that gave me the b-b-black e-eye when I wouldn't do what she wanted me to
do." A single tear started to roll down his cheek, which plopped on the
floor and made me look away. I felt so bad for him, even if he was a doofus
sometimes. I couldn't imagine having this conversation with my dad, and my
dad is pretty cool.

"What in the hell are you talking about? Holy Mother of God! This is
ludicrous!" He pounded his fist hard on the desk, so fast and furious that
the three of us sitting there practically jumped out of our chairs, if not
our skin. But Enzo stood firm. Ya gotta give that guy some credit!

Nobody spoke for a second, and Enzo's dad looked all around at the four of
us, waiting for an explanation. Man, you could tell he was royally pissed!
If I was Enzo I would have pissed my shorts by now, but he didn't seem
intimidated.

"No sir, it's not ludicrous. It's the truth. For the last few months, she's
been making me do stuff to her. You know, sexy stuff, down there, with her
woman parts, well, you know, with her pussy. Even after I told her I didn't
want to do that with her, or touch it," he said, starting to shake now.  He
wasn't as tough as I thought. Well, actually he was. I couldn't even
imagine having to tell his dad something like this. "She said if I told
anybody she'd hurt C-C-Chris, or tell you that I was t-t-trying to r-r-rape
her. So I had to do what she told me to do, even if I didn't like it. But
then the guys saw me today in the locker room with this... chopped up
hair... and they made me tell them what's going on. Then they forced me
come to down here and tell you." He was really bawling now, and tears were
pouring out of his eyes and running down his cheeks.

Enzo's dad just sat there, his face getting redder and redder by the
second. I think the tips of his ears were about to catch fire. My balls had
sucked up inside of me, I was that scared. Holy shit, Batman! Did we really
do the right thing, I wondered?

And then: Silence. Total, fucking, agonizing silence. The mind-numbing hush
enveloped the big, dark and dank room like a cloud of poison gas. It was so
unnerving that I could feel my pulse beating in my head and the veins
started throbbing in my neck like they were going to rip out and I'd bleed
to death right then and there. I was afraid that I might piss in my shorts
if his dad didn't say something pretty soon. I think all of us wished we
were somewhere other than this freakin' damn office. This was worse than
going to the Principal's office for a paddle on our bare asses. Or getting
your wisdom teeth pulled out without freakin' Novocain.  Or having your dad
give you the dreaded sex talk-in front of your grandma for God's sake! Holy
fuckin' shit! I looked over at Kenji and he looked like he was going to pee
in his shorts too, or start to cry. Only Buddha knows what was going
through his head. He was bent over and had his legs crossed tightly. Even
Jake was studying his feet for God knows what, all hunched over too, and
looking like he wanted to be anywhere other than this.

Then, finally, with the color draining from his face, Mr. Ferrari stood up,
tugged his tight-fitting suit jacket down, slowly walked around the big
desk and then, wrapped his huge arms around his son. "I'm so sorry Enzo. I
believe you. I should have known. I should have seen it. I, of all people,
should know that family comes first," he whispered into Enzo's ear, but
loud enough for all of us to hear. "I'm so sorry."

Enzo completely lost it then, and started sobbing and gasping into his
dad's lapel, his knees bending and falling into his father. His dad,
surprisingly, held him and pulled him in even tighter. The three of us just
sat there, wiping at the corners of our eyes, letting out sighs of
relief. Man, at least we did the right thing. I thought I was tough, but
this had my emotions going haywire. After what seemed like forever, but was
probably only a couple of minutes, Mr. Ferrari kissed Enzo on both cheeks
and once on his forehead, then motioned for him to sit back down. Then he
walked around and sat down in his big oak chair with a plop and let out a
deep sigh.

"Well. This is a god-damn predicament, isn't it?" he said, slamming both
his palms on the big desk once more. Then he took another deep breath and
silently studied the four of us again for a minute. "Okay. First of all,
Enzo, you have to be commended for your bravery, coming in here and telling
me about this, especially in front of your friends. I'm not sure I could do
that. And I also commend you for protecting your little brother. Thank you,
son." He took another deep breath. I had no idea what was going to happen
next and I was really worried. "Gentleman, thank you for supporting my
son. You are all fine young men and winners in my book and I owe you for
helping my figlio. Thank you from the bottom of my heart." I let out my
breath.

"Enzo, this is going to be hard for you to hear, but I must tell you the
truth. When I said that I should have known that this was going on, I
really meant it. You see, the woman that you call your Mamma, well, son,
she really isn't."

"WHAT? What are you saying? Oh my God," he said, slumping deeper into the
wing-backed chair.

"Your sweet, sweet, dear mother, Maria, God bless her soul, died giving
birth to Chris. I was too busy to take care of two very young sons by
myself at the time, so my Consigliere, I mean, my father-in-law, suggested
that his niece could come out from New York and assume the duties of a wife
and mother. She resented me because she was pulled from the man that she
truly loved, Three-Finger Sal, and into my arms, a man that didn't love her
and was grieving for the wife I had just lost. She resented the whole
scenario and I'm afraid that she took it out on you, Enzo. I am so, so very
sorry for this. I should have never agreed to something this crazy, but
famiglia can be so powerful. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I guess. Maybe. Damn! Why didn't you tell us sooner? Papa!" He was crying
again, tears dripping on his chest. "Papa! Did you really think you could
keep this from us forever? What about Chris? He's never met his real
mamma. Don't you think he should know the truth? I can't believe this."

"I know son, and I'm so sorry. God-fucking-damn." He slammed his fists on
his big desk again, scaring the crap out of us and rocking the big
room. Would this ever end, I wondered?  Then after half a minute, which
seemed to take, like, forever, he said, "Yes, of course, I should have told
you sooner, but time just went by and now you're almost grown up. Your poor
old papa doesn't do so well with matters of amore. Please forgive me. But I
promise you, no, I swear to you on your dear mamma's grave, that I will
make this right."

"What are you going to do?" he said, wiping more tears from his face with
the back of his hand like a little kid would do.

"Let's just say that you'll never have to see her again."

"Oh no. NO! Not that. You won't hurt her, will you? She used to be nice,
once, a long time ago," Enzo said, standing back up. "I can't believe she
was pretending to be my mamma."

"No, no. If that's what you want, I won't hurt her. I promise. I'll just
send her away. Forever. You and Chris will never see her again. I want to
protect you. You boys come first, you know? How's this: Can you and Chris
spend the night at one of your friend's houses? Let me take care of
everything, tonight, okay? I'll get her packed up and sent away, someplace
far, far away. Let me be the papa that I should have been to you. I promise
that I'll make this up to you."

"Okay. Just please don't hurt her. Just make her go away and never come
back. I don't want to see that woman ever again. And promise me you'll tell
Chris about his real mamma, tomorrow."

"Consider it done, son. Again, I'm so terribly sorry," Mr. Ferrari said,
coming around the desk again for another embrace. "Now, is there anything
else I can do for you? I really need to get back to work."

"No sir. That's it. That's enough."

"Fine then. I'll take care of everything and when you come home tomorrow, I
will have a professional maid in to do the cooking and cleaning and
shopping every single day. I'll make sure she's a good cook, too. But I
will expect you to step up and look after Chris from now on."

"No problem. I've been treating him kinda badly, so I need to make it up to
him. He's a good kid and I don't think he knew what was going on with
me. But you might want to double check that she wasn't messing around with
him too. Thanks, Papa."

"You're welcome. I just wish I had known about this sooner. And with God as
my witness, if she was fu-," he stopped mid-sentence and looked at
us. "Well, if she was messing with him then there will be hell to pay, I
promise you that."

He ushered us out of the big office and into the smaller waiting room. He
unlocked and opened the outer door into the hallway, and then yelled for
Tony Boy. He showed up in a snap, practically out of thin air. Made me
wonder if he was trying to listen through the door.

"Yes sir?"

"Give these young men each a Grant. They've earned it. And Tony Boy? Tell
the fellas out here that these gentlemen were never down here today and
that you've never seen them before. And if they spill it, they'll have to
answer to me. And I mean it," he said, tugging his suit down again.

"Yeah boss. I get it. But a nifty? Each?"

"That's what I said. Don't question me, god dammit! And send in Zero. I
need to hire a woman. Gentlemen, Tony Boy will see you out. Enzo, we'll
talk tomorrow."

"Yes sir. Thanks Papa."

"You're welcome, son."

And with that, we were on our way down the hall, each one of us fifty bucks
richer. The guys in the dingy room still stared at us, but I didn't care
because this had gone so well. I felt good that our mission was
accomplished and everything turned out okay. Except for the woman
pretending to be Mrs. Ferrari. I wondered what was going to happen to her
and if Crash was capable of killing her. But then, after everything she'd
done to Enzo, I really didn't care. Then I wondered what happened to
Three-Finger Sal and where he was. I made a mental note never to get Crash
Ferrari mad at me. We climbed aboard the waiting elevator and Little Johnny
shut the door with a clang. He engaged the gears and we headed down to the
lobby.

"I take it your meeting with the boss went well, gentlemen?" he asked, to
no one in particular, while he fiddled with the controls.

"Yes, thanks for asking," Enzo said to him, as we continued our descent
towards the downstairs lobby. I don't think he felt much like
talking. Walking out into the lobby, we saw Lisa sitting there looking
comfortable and reading some old ladies magazine on the ancient leather
couch, while Jordy was engrossed in an animated game of checkers with Mamma
Rosa-something-or-other. It was beginning to get confusing with all these
people and their funny Italian names.

`C'mon little man, time to go," I said, calling to him. The large room was
empty except for the three of them and my voice really carried.

"We can't go yet. I have to win back my two dollars," Jordy said, holding
his hands up like he was broke, sorta like the little bankrupt dude in
Monopoly, Rich Uncle Pennybags. I wanted to laugh, but bit my tongue
instead.

"Well, that's a good lesson for you to learn. Never bet more than you're
willing to lose," Lisa said, as she walked over to us and we all agreed.

"But that's not fair. I didn't think you'd be back this fast!" Jordy said.

"It's all right, giovanotto. You can win your money back the next time that
we play," Mamma Rosa Whatever said, and gave him a wink. She looked sweet,
like someone you'd see on a pasta sauce commercial, but I don't think I'd
want to cross her. She probably had a small .22 strapped to her thigh, or a
dagger buried in her pile of gray hair. Hopefully, she wasn't going to be
Enzo and Chris's new maid.

"Can we come back, Ry? I wanna win my money back."

"We'll see little man, we'll see. Thanks for keeping an eye out on the
munchkin, ma'am," I said, waving to Mamma Rosa.

"My pleasure. See you soon, innamorato."

"Arriv-a-douchy," Jordy said.

The six of us headed out the door and into the bright sunlight and late
afternoon heat. I hadn't realized how cool and dark it was in there until
we stepped outside and we had to shield our eyes for a second. No wonder
those freaky guys wore old hats. Lisa and Jordy headed on to the car while
the four of us guys had a quick pow-wow on the sidewalk. It was difficult,
but Enzo finally spoke after a long silence.

"Thanks you guys. I really mean it. That was so hard for me to do. I
thought my papa was gonna pound me, and then to find out that she's not my
real mamma. Shit. Sorry to put you through all of that. I just can't
believe it."

"No problem, buddy. Like we said, that's what friends do. Besides, we're
all fifty bucks richer!" Jake said.

"Yeah, man, no sweat. Maybe you can focus on swimming now and kicking back
a little bit," I said. "Put that crap behind you."

"Yeah, Enzo. Now that that's over, the four of us can all get to know each
other and be better friends. And you gotta be a better big brother to
Chris. I wish I had a little brother. It's just me and my mom," Kenji said
sadly.

"And you know, maybe we can get Lisa to take us up to the cemetery up in
Altadena so you can say a nice farewell to your real mom. We'll bring Chris
too, and that might help you feel better," I said.

"And we'll bring her some flowers," Jake added. "I bet Mrs. Kravitz across
the street would give us some of her prized roses."

"You guys are right. That's a great idea. Thanks, guys. I've got three best
friends now! Hey, I've got an idea. Chris is always saying how much fun he
has over at your house, swimming and running around and stuff. Think that
Chris could stay with Jordy tonight and me and Kenji can hang out with you
guys? Chris says you guys sleep out sometimes in your big tree house and
that sounds boss. I've never done that. Like I told you before, I wanna
make it up to you," Enzo said, a huge smile on his face. "Besides, I want
to have some fun for a change."

"What are you gonna do, give us blow-jobs?" Jake asked, giggling.

"Yeah, if that's what it takes. I'll do it," he said, seriously. "I'll do
anything as long as it doesn't require that old lady's pussy!" Enzo said,
starting to laugh for the first time in like, forever.

"It's all cool, man. Don't promise something you can't deliver, though," I
said. "I don't think it should be a problem if you guys spend the night
with us. Jake's over all the time and Chris is here a lot, too. The four of
us guys can sleep out in the pool house tonight. It's bigger and the two
couches fold out and make beds. My folks won't mind. And if you wanna pay
up, that's an extra boner, I mean, bonus!"

The four of us all cracked up over that.

"Hey Enzo, would your dad have really killed that lady or was he just
talking?" I asked.

Enzo didn't seem fazed by the question and neither did Jake. Kenji just
looked at the ground. "Nah, he's all talk when he gets pissed." But still,
I wondered.

"Man, I was so pissed, I'd probably kill her myself and I don't even know
her," Jake said, cracking us all up again.

We were still laughing as we piled into the car and Lisa cranked up the
engine. "Home, James," Jake called out to his big sister.

"I'm not sure I'm gonna like doing this," Lisa said, but she was
joking. Like she said before, this was a better gig than working at
McDonalds. She cranked up the air-conditioning and adjusted the rear-view
mirrors.

"You know you love it, Lisa," I said. "Where else do you get to hang out
with four studly and groovy guys likes us?"

"Hey! What about me?" Jordy wailed.

"You don't bat for the same team, little man," Lisa laughed at him. "And
big deal, Ry," she said. That was for us.

"What does that mean?" Jordy asked.

"It means you're not on our swim team, little man," Jake said, thinking
fast.

"What's she talking about?" Enzo asked from the back-back seat.

"Nothing. She's just fucking with us. You'll get to know her humor soon
enough, and love her like a big sister, just like we do," I said. "Hey
Jordy, when we get home, call Chris up and have him come over and spend the
night with you again. If his mom gives him a hard time let me talk to her,
okay? If we have to, Jake and Kenji and I will go over there and get him
ourselves. We're gonna have a swim party tonight. Does that sound cool?"

"Yeah! Oh boy. Shebang!"

"And what am I supposed to do tonight?" Lisa asked, as she pulled into the
busy traffic.

"I thought you had a date with Cooper," Jake said. "And really, I don't
think a pool party with a bunch of skinny dipping guys is really his
scene."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Suddenly, she was off in dreamland again. Yup, she's
got the hot's for him, that's for damn fucking sure.

We were all pretty high on the way home, naturally of course this time,
happy that our encounter with Mr. Crash Ferrari and Partners had gone off
rather smoothly, and thankful that nobody associated with Jake's dad had
seen us (at least I hoped). Lisa and Jordy had picked up on our good mood
right away, because Lisa was zipping down Colorado Boulevard, pushing all
the yellow lights again, while Jordy was playing Mister DJ. That little
dude had the grooviest taste in music, I swear. When the 59th Street Bridge
Song came on, a cheesy remix by Harper's Bizarre, he cranked it up, and all
six of us started to sing: "Slow down, you move too fast."

When we got to the line that said "Life I love you, all is groovy," Jake
and I looked at each other with super-goofy smiles on our faces, and I
think, at that very moment, I was the happiest and luckiest dude in the
whole fucking god-damn world! I wanted to give that foxy boy I loved so
much a great big, sloppy kiss right there in the car, but thought better of
it, and instead, gave him a quick wink and pinched his nipple. If anybody
else noticed us, they didn't let on `cause everyone was too busy
singing. Man, for like the millionth time in the last four weeks, my heart
was doing double time, and it made me want to sing out at the top of my
lungs: I LOVE JAKE MARIANO! Feelin' groovy!

Lisa was in the left turn lane, waiting for the signal to change so we
could head up Michillinda towards our houses. For some reason, we were all
looking out the front window all at the same time when we saw a woman with
perfect blond hair, piled up high and driving a red Camaro, just like my
dad's, go speeding through the intersection. Not far behind her was a motor
cop on his big Harley-Davidson motorcycle, red lights flashing and siren
wailing. Oh boy! This was going to be good, I thought.

"Hey! That's mom," Jordy screamed, and pointed out from the front seat.

"Yeah little man, that looks like her all right. Guess she was speeding," I
said. I leaned over the seat and whispered in Lisa's ear, "When you go past
her, go slow, okay? I wanna get a really good look at this."

"You got that right, Ry. After that speech she gave you and me the other
day, I wouldn't miss this for all the fucking tea in China!" Lisa
agreed. "I wish I had my camera!"

"Who's Fucking T in China?" Jordy asked. "Is he like Superman?"

"That's just an expression, and you know you shouldn't be saying that
word," Lisa told him.

"Fuck? Why fucking not? That's just fucked up," he said, and we all busted
up.

Lisa turned the corner when the light changed to green, and we followed my
mom and the cop up the street. Both the Camaro and the motorcycle had
pulled over to the side of the road a little ways up, and when we went by,
we could see that it was definitely my mom. It looked like she was arguing
with the cop! Holy shit! I sure hoped she knew what she was doing or Dad
would be bailing her out of jail tonight.

A couple of minutes later we pulled into the driveway to my house. Lisa was
pretty spacey; I guess she was still thinking about Cooper. I pulled her
off to the side and whispered in her ear so Enzo couldn't overhear, "Thanks
for taking us down there today. I just want you to know that we really
appreciate you driving us downtown. This was something really important
that we had to do, but you probably figured that out already. I can't tell
you why exactly, except that I think we probably saved that guy from some
really bad juju. I got some extra money out of this freaky thing, and if
you want, I'll give you some of it so you and Coop can go have a really
good time. Go to a fancy restaurant or something. North Woods Inn or The
Derby. I think the four of us have some serious bonding to do
tonight. Later on, I'll tell you all about it, but for right now, let's
keep it cool, okay Lisa, just between you and me?"

"You know, I love you so much, Ry. You have the greatest spirit! I think
I've told you that before, but it's true. Not many guys your age would go
out of his way to help someone who was being a jerk to them."

"Well, Jake and Kenji share some of the credit for this," I said. "And
besides, he needed us."

"I don't think they would have acted like that unless you did. You took
leadership of the situation. That means a lot. I love you, pussycat. You're
like another brother from another mother to me and I'm so glad we moved
here and we met each other. I just wished that we had met sooner." She
scooped me up and squeezed me tight into her big boobies. "I promise I'll
always be there for you, little brother."

For about the millionth time today, I wanted to cry. All of these crazy
emotions were really starting to get to me. Holy crapola! "Thanks. That
means a lot. I've never had a big sister."

"Now, fork over the dough!

A few minutes later when my mom got home, I checked in with her to make
sure it was okay to have Chris stay with Jordy and for Enzo and Kenji to
stay with Jake and me out in the pool house. Just like I figured, she was
in a mood all right, and at first she said no. She didn't want Jordy and
Chris running around all night again like they did last night. Then I told
her they could stay out in the tree house and not bother anybody. Her
answer was still no. So then I asked how she was doing driving dad's
car. She just rolled her eyes and said fine. I pushed it a little more, and
after telling her that it was really important for the guys to stay over
with us, she finally got it that something was up.

"Spill it, Ryan. I'm not in a mood for any games right now."

"Okay, I shouldn't tell you, especially the way you gossip with the
neighbors. Anyway, this is going to get out sooner or later so you might as
well be one of the first to know. I'll tell you what's up as long as you
keep it secret for two more days. Seriously, this is really important and
you can't tell anyone about it-yet." Then, really pushing it, I said, "And
if you do tell one of your lady friends, I'll tell dad we saw you get
pulled over by that cop today. Deal?"

"You saw me? Oh my word. When did you get to be such a little manipulator?"

I started to laugh. "I learned it from you."

At first I thought she was going to go ballistic on me, but then
surprisingly, she started laughing, and then she said, "That was pretty
funny, wasn't it? He clocked me doing sixty-two in a thirty zone. But I
lucked out and only got a warning. Wasn't that nice of him? I think he was
one of the cops up here last night going through the backyard."

"Yeah, mom, that was funny. If that had been me instead of you, I bet the
outcome would be completely different. I'd have a ticket and be grounded
for a year. So do we have a deal?"

"Oh, all right, they can stay the night. Sweetie, you're growing up so
fast," she said, and came over and gave me a hug. "Now spill it, you rat!"

I gave her the abbreviated version, leaving out all of the sex parts, and
just told her that Mrs. Ferrari really wasn't their mother and she did
something bad to Enzo and had to go away for a while. She wanted more, but
I held firm. For a minute she reminded me of Sloan begging for a dog
biscuit. I told her that after the dust settled, I'd give her the rest of
the story. I figured that the next time I got in trouble, I could use that
as a bargaining chip! After Jordy called Chris, he was here in a flash with
no problems from his `mom'. Then my mom asked me if we could watch the
little guys so she and Dad could go out to dinner and celebrate his new
promotion.

"Sure Mom, thanks. We'll wear them out so they sleep all night. I don't
think I've told you this lately, but I love you."

"Oh, sweetie, thank you. I love you too. Now get outside with your
friends. I want to listen to Julie London while I wait for your father."

Oh brother.

I headed outside to find three naked teenagers and two naked ten-year-olds
splashing around in the pool and having a great time. I skinned off my
clothes and jumped right in. It was really good to see Enzo and his little
brother together, having fun for a change. If either Chris or Jordy saw
Enzo's weird haircut down there, neither one mentioned it. We played a
bunch of goofy pool games but the best one was when I got the volleyball
out and then we all teamed up. I got Jordy up on my shoulders while Enzo
got his little brother up on his. Chris was so happy to be playing around
with his big brother that he was smiling from ear to ear. After some trial
and error, Kenji was able to get up on Jake's shoulders, too. We had a
blast playing keep-away and trying to knock each other off. The four of us
bigger guys went kinda light on the little dudes, and they were in heaven
with so much attention. Even Sloan got in the action: she normally doesn't
get in the water but when Jordy splashed her one to many times, she jumped
in and started biting at his fingers. That was funny.

Finally, the little dudes were worn out and said they were headed inside to
take a shower and watch some television. I guess a rerun of I Love Lucy was
on that they both liked. The four of us had a couple of races down the
length of the pool, and surprisingly, all four of us were pretty even. All
of the work that Jake and I had been doing seemed to pay off. Kenji beat
all of us, but not by much. He was like a little Japanese torpedo. I was
next followed by Jake, and Enzo was last. But considering how bad a day he
had, we cut him some slack. I was surprised though, when Jake did a couple
of flips off the diving board that really impressed both of them. My mom
stuck her head out the kitchen door a little bit later and yelled at us
that she was going to meet my dad for dinner someplace and that they'd be
home late. She reminded me to check on the little guys in an hour or so,
after their TV shows were over. She also said that she had some frozen
lasagna in the freezer that we could heat up. She said there was enough for
all six of us.

After a few more races, the four of us headed into the pool house to take a
quick shower. As we were walking through the sliding glass door, Jake
pulled me aside and whispered in my ear, "I think we should shave off our
dick hairs so Enzo doesn't feel ashamed and so we'll all look alike. After
all, we're teammates now and it'll grow back in no time. It might make Lisa
laugh when she sees us, but I think it's the right thing to do. What do you
think?"

"I think that's a scathingly brilliant idea. They get in the way when I
suck your dick anyway. You're so cool for thinking about something like
that. Let me run inside and get the electric hair trimmers."

When I went inside the house, I passed the little dudes sitting on the
couch in the den watching TV. Actually, they were both sound asleep, worn
out from swimming and not getting much sleep last night. A couple of
minutes later, I was back in the pool house, trimmers in hand and doors
locked. Then I had a brainwave, and told Jake to run up to the tree house
and get the stash box. If we were really going to shave off our pubic hair,
I figured that we should be totally stoned for this goofy event. I mean,
c'mon! We'd worked hard these last three or four years coaxing on these
little hairy friends that were attached to our dicks and balls!

Once Jake was back, I locked the door again behind him and then called all
of the guys together.

"Jake, why don't you make us one of your famous doobies, okay?"

"Roger that Bucky."

"Who is Bucky?" Enzo asked.

"You know, I really don't have a freakin' clue," Jake said, flashing his
goofy grin.

"Since the four of us are a team now, and friends, Jake and I think we
should shave off all of our dick hairs and become one for all and all for
one. What do you guys think? I got the clippers right here," I said,
waiving the clippers around up in the air.

"It'll all grow back in no time," Jake said, sitting on one of the plaid
fold-out couch's working hard on the joint.

"I agree. I think it's a cool idea," Kenji said, "although, I don't have
much hair to trim off myself."

"No way! You guys can't do that. I'm not gonna let you guys do it," Enzo
protested. "You guys have done so much for me already. That's just not
right."

"Sure it is. Only I'm gonna do the trimming this time. You don't seem to do
a very good job," I said giggling, and pointing the clippers at Enzo. "Not
that you had much of a choice. Sorry- I shouldn't have said that. But
anyway, maybe this will make us faster swimmers. I saw a guy on Wild World
of Sports being interviewed by Jim McKay one Saturday who said he shaved
his head and it improved his times. He actually shaved his whole body down,
but I wouldn't go that far unless I was gonna be in the Olympics."

"Ry, I don't care how stoned we get; I'm not going to shave my head. Or my
pits, for that matter. That's just plain stupid," Jake said, giving me a
comical stare. "I must insist, I must, I must."

"Yeah, you're right; that's taking it too far. But I think we should still
trim our pubes. That way Enzo won't feel different or left out."

"I'll go first," Kenji said. "I don't have that many to begin with and I
won't miss them."

"Yeah, I'll do it too, just let me roll this up."

"Cool. Enzo?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you guys don't have to do this. I suppose you're gonna do it
anyway, so I'll go first. You can clean me up and make it look as good as
possible. I hope you're good with those things, Ry." Wow. That was the
first time that he ever called me that.

"Let's get high first," Kenji said.

"Okeydokey. I'm all done. Let's fire this up," Jake said, holding up the
biggest, fattest joint that I had ever seen. It was even bigger than the
one he rolled the other day. It looked like one he did before that looked
like one of my Grandpa's Cubans, but this one was humongous! We all laughed
at him.

"What?" Jake sat there clueless.

"Dude, you're gonna have to use that fifty and buy our next bag or three of
pot. This thing is gigantic! How did you do that?"

"Well, you never showed me how to roll one, and it's not like they show you
how to do it in Home Ec." He was pouting now. "I used two papers because
there are four of us."

"Hey, no harm, no foul, buddy. Just make them smaller next time, okay? But
it's your turn to see Coop, anyway, man. I can't afford to keep you and
Lisa in pot forever. Did you really have to take Home Economics at your old
school?" I asked, taking the super-fatty and torching it up.

"Yeah," he said, and started laughing. He never stayed mad for very
long. "They made the guys mix it up with the girls and we learned some
super groovy survival skills. Like how to make a grilled cheese sandwich or
nacho's made out of Wampum's and Velveeta in one of those new microwave
oven thingies. If we're ever stranded on a desert island and we get the
munchies, I'm your man!" He took the joint from me and took a big hit, then
passing it on to Kenji.

"Outasight!" said Kenji.

"Dude, you're hilarious. Where did you go to school?" Enzo asked, ignoring
Kenji.

"Me and Lisa and my mom lived in a crummy part of San Pedro, in an old,
stinky apartment building. Our school was poor and didn't have much of a
sports program, other than football. Unless you were gifted, or Asian
illegals, sorry Kenji, there was no chance of getting a good
education. Half the school took the short bus, for fuck's sake. I thank my
mom every day that we moved here," Jake said.

"Was it really that bad?" Kenji asked, letting out a thick cloud of smoke,
and then passing it on to Enzo.

"Yeah, it was. We didn't have to get to first period until almost
eight-thirty. Then we'd have a super long class one day, then a short one
the next. Fridays were completely different, and nobody knew what was
up. Shit! God forbid we had a pep assembly and then the whole schedule was
shot to hell. We didn't have our lunch break until one-forty-five, and then
for only twenty two minutes. By that time we were so sleepy and hungry we
couldn't even think straight. Three quarters of the school was on the lunch
program and they hogged up the food lines. So me and my friends just jammed
off campus to Tobacco Road, downed a beer and ate a bag of Cheetos or
something. Amazingly, I still got A's and B's."

"Wow, that sounds fucked up. At least here in Pasadena we have good
teachers and a reasonable lunch period. Did the parents at your school take
an interest? The Bulldogs have a great following and the alumni always show
up for our football games," Enzo said, blowing out a cloud of pot
smoke. "Even though my dad never had time to show up for our meets, he
always donated money to the booster club." He passed the big doobie on to
me.

"Maybe he'll start showing up now," Jake said, "and yeah- the football team
was everything, and more. It was the only thing that the school did
right. After every game they had a party at one of the player's houses
where everybody got fucked up and then this one time-"

"Hey, dude. Save that for later, okay?" I interrupted, taking another hit
of the grass and passing it on to him. "That's too long of a story for
now. I want to get cutting!" I said with a wink. The other guys didn't need
to hear about Lisa and her sordid sex history.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll tell you guys about that later." He took one last
drag and snuffed it out.

"Okay, who's going to go first?" I asked. I had gotten an old beach towel
out of the bathroom and placed it on the floor in front of a chair. That
way, clean-up would be a breeze. I plugged in the trimmers and then sat
down. Clicking the setting on its lowest level, I was ready to play barber.

"I'll go first, since you're all doing this for me." Enzo walked right up
and stuck his half-hard dick in my face. His dick was good sized. Not as
fat as mine or as long as Jake's but it was pretty close. His dark dick
hairs, or what was left of them, made him look kinda deformed.

"Okay. I'm gonna hold onto your dick and clean all of this up. I'm not
gonna mess with your balls though," I said.

"What if I get a boner?" he asked.

"I don't care. We all get `em." I looked over at Jake who was smiling at
me. "I shouldn't tell you this, but Jake and me fool around with each other
from time to time. It's no big deal. The way I look at it is this: If God
didn't want us to play with our dicks, He wouldn't have given us one."

"You're funny Ryan. We should have been better friends. Kenji and I fool
around sometimes too."

"No! Really?" Jake deadpanned, and we all cracked up.

"Yes, really," Kenji said, smiling like crazy.

"Okay, here goes," I said. I grabbed his meaty cock with my left hand and
pulled it taut. Then I switched on the clippers and started to finish off
the little patches of hair that he had missed. Surprisingly, he seemed to
like me holding onto his dork because it was throbbing in my hand. In no
time I was done, and when I let go of his dick it looked huge.

"Don't you think we should do the balls, too? It doesn't look right."

"Yeah, I guess. But you'd have to shave them in the shower `cause the skin
might get caught in the trimmers. You've got low-hangers and it would be
easy to nick them with this thing. I don't want to have to call Lisa and
have her take us to the E.R. How would we explain that?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought about that. Thanks Ryan. That looks more normal
now," Enzo said. "What do you think, Kenji?"

"Wow. It looks so big. I like your dick. Do mine next, Ry."

"All right, Kenji. Bring that bad boy over here," I said.

I gave Kenji the same treatment that I had just given Enzo. His compact
dick was already hard, I guess from watching me fondle Enzo. So I grabbed
it and took a second to slide his foreskin back and forth a little. It was
cool to check out another un-cut dude. His `skin didn't cover his whole
dick head, but almost. It was fun to play with, though, and I could tell he
was enjoying it.  Then I got to trimming. Even though he didn't have all
that much hair, once it was shaved off it made his dick look bigger,
too. Man, if Kenji's dick looks big, what's Jake's dick going to look like,
I wondered?

"Oh wow. That feels funny. I look like I'm six again! Thanks Ry," Kenji
said.

"Okay, Jake you're up."

"I'd like just a little off the top and sides, please," he said, joking. He
stuck his long, skinny dick in my face for review.

"How about if I give you a Mohawk? You know: a racing stripe down the
middle?"

"Naw, too complicated to keep up. Just go ahead and hack it all off."

"Okeydokey. Bye, my little friends," I said, flipping the clippers back
on. I had mixed feelings buzzing off Jake's pubes, but it was for a good
cause and they'd grow back. Besides, it might be fun to suck all around the
base of his hard cock without getting his curly hair stuck in my teeth.

"Dude! Your dick is huge. Look at that," Enzo said, looking over Jake's
long, hard dick once I was through trimming him and he had boned up
completely.

"Yeah, it does. Wait until you see Ry's. His dick is really fat when he's
all hard," Jake said, rubbing his paw through the naked patch. "You want me
to do you?" he asked me.

"Sure. Just be careful and don't cut off my dick and give me a whisker
biscuit," I said.

Jake took a seat in front of me and then grabbed my dick. Here I was again,
naked in front of a bunch of guys showing off my hard-on. "Okay, Jake. Get
`em out of here."

"You got it," he said. Zoom-zoom and goodbye pubic hairs.

"Wow, that feels really weird, and it's sorta breezy," I said laughing. And
everybody was right, my dick did look bigger.

"It really does look bigger. I might have a hard time getting that whole
thing down my throat," Jake said.

"Sure you will. Just a little more practice, that's all," I said.

"You guys suck each other off?" Enzo asked.

"Sure. Don't you and Kenji?" Jake answered. I was too busy looking at my
naked wiener.

"He `lets' me suck on him. But he won't do it to me," Kenji complained. "He
only gives me a hand job."

"Why not? If he does you, you should do him. It's only fair," I said.

"Yeah," Jake added. "I agree."

"I know, but with all that stuff that my mom, um, I mean, that lady was
making me do to her, I just, I don't know, I couldn't really, it's just
weird, that's all," Enzo said, clearly embarrassed. "I was always worried
I'd choke or something. I mean, I want to do it but, you know, it's just so
damn complicated."

"Well, don't worry about it. After dinner, the three of us will give you a
crash course in how to suck a cock," I said joking.

"You would? That would be so cool. I have to be honest and tell you guys
that I didn't like the stuff I had to do with her. Not only `cause she made
me, but because I just really don't think I like pussy," Enzo said, looking
down at his feet after realizing what he just said. "Are you guys still
gonna be my friends after I just said that?"

"Of course we are. Didn't we just say we'd teach you how to suck a cock?
Ryan? Can I tell him?"

"Sure, buddy, go for it."

"Tell me what?" Enzo asked. All eyes were on Jake now.

"Well, when I moved here, Ryan and his family were right there welcoming us
to the block. The first time I saw Ryan, I knew we were going to be best
buds. And we are. But I didn't ever imagine loving him like I do. I love
him more than anything. From the first time I saw him I wanted to be his
friend. I never felt like that ever before. So don't worry about
it. Everything works out. My mom always says everything happens for a
reason, and I really believe that."

I couldn't believe he just said that. It's one thing to tell each other
things like that, but he just stated that he loved me in front of our
friends! Man, I loved this dude. "C'mer, you!" I said, pulling him up off
his chair. "I love you too, chowder head." I pulled him in tight and gave
him a huge, sloppy-wet kiss.

"Oh, wow! Kenji, look at them. They're like boyfriends and girlfriends but
they're boyfriends and boyfriends. Holy crap. I can't believe it!" Enzo
said, eyes like saucers and looking back and forth between Kenji, Jake and
me. Then, turning to Kenji he asked "Can we be like that?"

"Be like a boyfriend and a boyfriend? Fuck yeah you can, if that's what you
both want," I said, grinning. "That's totally bitchin'! You just have to
learn not to do anything sexy that would give your relationship away to
others who might not really dig it. Lots of people don't like two guys
doin' it. You know, even those hippies and the Summer of Love groupies in
the park all talk about free love and drugs and shit, but I don't think
they're into guy sex."

"What do you mean?" Enzo asked.

"Well, you can't go around holding hands or kissing each other or grabbing
each other's dicks in front of other people like a guy and a girl
can. Well, a girl doesn't have a dick, but you know what I mean," Jake
said, giggling. Sometimes he was so goofy, or maybe he was just high.

"Yeah, it would be like Jake and me making out at Cooper's party the other
night. We'd probably get beat-up," I said, "even by those acid-heads. But
you can do it in front of us anytime you want. We don't care. We're cool,
dude."

"I hadn't thought of that. Oh man, that bites. It just looked so cool to
see you guys kiss and I want to do that with Kenji."

"Enzo, you nimrod! I've been waiting forever for you to say that. Get over
here and give me a kiss, right now you dumb-ass!"

That's all it took for Enzo to hear, and with a gigantic smile on his mug
he scooped up Kenji in his big, strong arms and practically sucked down the
little guy's face, pulling the shorter teen right off his freakin' feet! It
was funny, and yet, it was so endearing that all I could do was stand there
and smile at them. Jake was standing next to me with a big shit-eating
grin, too. He leaned over next to my ear and whispered, "Awww."

Once they came up for air, Kenji said, "Outasight!"

"Listen guys, this has been a really emotional day for everybody. Let's put
on our sweats and head inside for some grub," I said. "We need to check on
the little men `cause I don't want them getting into trouble or coming out
here and finding us doing this kinda stuff. We can come back out here after
dinner and I'm sure we can teach you some groovy sexy things to do with
Kenji and we'll talk about this some more, okay Enzo? And you guys can kiss
all night long if you want to. Jake and I will be probably doing the same
thing, sucking face `till we fall asleep."

"You guys really love each other, don't you?" asked Kenji.

"Yeah, we do. Right snookum's'?" Jake asked, looking over at me, with a
dopey look on his face.

"Right, lover honey-pie," I replied.

That made everybody crack up again. We got dressed and headed towards the
door, but not until Enzo gave Kenji another big kiss.

I opened the sliding glass door and was about to step outside when I
narrowly missed stepping on a pile of empty cigarette packages and used
matchbooks piled up in a weird little pyramid. My good mood instantly
disappeared. What in the hell is that, I wondered, taking a quick step
back? I looked around and didn't see anybody or anything, and didn't hear
any strange noise's either. Then it hit me. The Dark Man! Of course. He was
here when we were playing around with the trimmers. Oh my god. Did he want
more cigarettes? Or was he sending me a message? Was he pissed that we were
fooling around? Oh fuck. I hope he doesn't grab me again.

I slammed the door shut and locked it. I just stood there thinking. Jake
saw the panicked look on my face and asked, "What's wrong, Ry?"

"Guys. The Dark Man was just here! He left a pile of cigarette packages and
empty matchbook covers in a weird pile just out the door," I yelled. "Oh
man, I thought he was cool but now he's stalking us! I thought he was done
with me. Shit, what am I gonna do?"

***

As always, a special shout-out to my editors Jason T. and Hans for their
great help with this chapter!