Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 08:57:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tom Borden <tombor99@excite.com>
Subject: "My Father, My Son"--29th Installment

Following is the twenty-ninth chapter of my novel, "My Father, My Son."
The story is mostly fiction, but contains some elements that are true from
the author's own experience.  The story contains explicit descriptions of
sexual activity among family members, but contains no violence of a sexual
nature.  Also, all sexual activity is with the complete consent of all the
persons involved.  In addition, although condoms are never mentioned, it is
the author's intention that readers should assume that condoms are used
whenever anal intercourse is performed by any of the characters.  Any
persons who are offended by material of this nature should read no further.
The author welcomes any comments at any time, whether constructive or
destructive, and whether praiseful or damning.  Suggestions of any kind are
equally welcome.

Send to:  tombor99@excite.com.


My Father, My Son
Chapter 29

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is the final chapter of this series.  I will shortly be involved in
several major projects in my work that promise to be all consuming insofar
as my time and my energy are concerned.  And I will not be able to commit
the time and thought necessary to keep this story going.  I cannot begin to
thank all those of you who have written over the months with your comments
and suggestions, as well as your criticisms, some of which were quite
harsh, but always appreciated and valued, nonetheless.  This has been my
one and only-first and last-attempt at writing a story for the Nifty
Archive.  It was originally intended to be only about three chapters in
length.  But the great encouragement I received from those of you who read
it kept me going.  But now it is time to end it.  Probably more than anyone
else, I will miss all these guys on the Walker Ranch:  Michael and Karl,
Jeff and Paul, Jake and Enrique, Corky and Mark, Adriano and Charlie,
Mario, Maggie, Tony, Clayton, Rhapsody and, of course, my dear Josiah and
his partner, Brian.  Even though they have all been created out of my own
imagination and fantasies, I loved them all as though they were my dear
close friends.  I would like to specifically thank C.K. most sincerely for
keeping in constant touch with his friendly and trenchant remarks and
suggestions, which were of great help to me in writing the story.  In
addition, he has my love and my congratulations for the great success of
his own fine continuing series on the Nifty Archive.  It is my
understanding that it has received well-deserved high praise from all
quarters.   Regrettably, it appears that my friendship with him has now
been brought to an end, as well as with all my other readers.  But I wish
you all the best.

Tom Borden


Homer Kesselring's funeral was held on the third day after his death.  All
arrangements were made by Maggie, with the help of Michael and Karl.  The
church was filled with mourners from both Goliad and Victoria.  Maggie was
amazed at the number of acquaintances Homer had garnered over the years who
spoke of him with kindness and respect.  Homer's son James and his wife did
not attend the funeral.  Maggie sat in the front row of the church, flanked
by Michael and Karl and Jeff and Paul.  Homer had told Maggie about a
number of his loyal friends in Goliad who would occasionally visit him.
Maggie contacted six of them to act as pall bearers.  As they bore the
closed casket down the aisle and placed it in front of the altar, the
minister had already begun to intone the Order for the Burial of the Dead.

" . . . We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.  The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord."

The service lasted about twenty minutes, ending with the minister saying,
"Unto God's gracious mercy and protection we commit you.  The Lord bless
you and keep you.  The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be
gracious unto you.  The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you
peace, both now and evermore.  Amen."

Most of the mourners followed the funeral procession to the grave site at
the Goliad cemetery.  It was raining slightly, and the grave was surrounded
by a sea of black umbrellas.  Maggie almost considered herself the bereaved
next of kin.  Rhapsody had driven down from San Antonio to be with her.
They stood side by side with their arms around each other's waist.  The two
of them had fought with each other through the years, but when one of them
was in distress or needed comfort, the other was always there.

Clayton stood with Michael and Karl.  This was the first funeral he had
ever attended, but was so moved by the somberness of the occasion that
tears filled his eyes for most of the service.  As he stood by the grave
site, staring at the casket suspended over the grave, he imagined that the
man inside was his father.  The thought of watching his father being buried
in the ground gave him a strange feeling of peace and finality to the long
uncertain years of wondering and hoping.

As the casket was slowly lowered into the ground, the minister concluded
the service.  "Unto Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother
departed, and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto
eternal life . . . ."

The next day, Homer's son, James, called the ranch and said that he wanted
to go there and search through his father's things.  He insisted that
everything Homer owned now belonged to him.  Karl had answered the phone.
He informed James that he would not be allowed to enter the house.  In two
days the will would be read at Nicholas Biddle's law office and the
disposition of the property will be determined at that time.

The day after Homer moved onto the ranch, he took the precaution of having
Power of Attorney given to Maggie.  Therefore, Maggie was among those
invited to hear the reading of the will.

The reading took about fifteen minutes.  When it was over, Homer's son,
James and his wife sat in stunned and horrified silence.  Homer had left
all of his furnishings and other personal effects to Maggie.  Every item
had been painstakingly listed with detailed descriptions.  Included was
Roman's violin with the stipulation that it be cared for and played only by
Maggie.  To James, the will gave the sum of five hundred dollars, to be
administered by Mr. Biddle to help with Homer's funeral expenses.

Finally, Homer left to Maggie all of his bonds, stocks, bank account
balances and other securities in the amount of two million, seven hundred
thousand dollars.

As Maggie stared at the lawyer in disbelief, James rose from his chair in a
rage.

"That's not possible!  That God-damned old man gave all his money to that
fucking music school long ago!"

Micholas Biddle stood up.  "If you come out with another outburst like
that, I will have to ask you to leave my office!"

"I'm going to sue this fucking queer.  That money is mine.  I'm the old
man's son!"

"If you'll calm down, Mr. Kesselring, I'll explain.  Your father did donate
a little over one and a half million to the music academy.  But he didn't
give away all his money.  You might as well give up any thought of suing to
have this will overturned.  Your father was of sound mind when he made his
will and when the codicil was added."

James grabbed his wife by the arm and stormed out of the office.  Maggie
continued to sit almost as though she were paralyzed in her chair.  "I
can't believe this.  Did you say two million and something?""

The lawyer stood over Maggie, smiling.  "Maggie, it's true.  My first
suggestion now would be to hire a good manager of these securities.  Some
would probably need to be sold, with the money invested in other ways.
You'll be able to realize plenty of cash out of this inheritance to buy
whatever your heart desires and even travel around the world if you choose
to."

The word of Maggie's good fortune traveled fast among all the people at the
ranch.  And as she drove into the yard, Maggie had a reception of cheering
ranch hands like she had never seen before.  The first thing she did when
she got into the house was to call her friend Rhapsody and give her the
good news.

"What are you going to do with all that money!" screamed Rhapsody.

"Well one thing I'd like to do is buy you a new drag wardrobe.  With all
your frayed hems and runs in your stockings and your dreadful taste in
color combinations, you have become the tackiest looking queen on the
block!  For once, I'd like to see you in some high style."

"But what else are you going to do with that money?" said Rhapsody, still
screaming.

"I'm not sure yet, ducky, but let's get together and talk about it.  Can
you zip down here tomorrow?"

Maggie and Rhapsody talked all day, and Maggie decided that she would like
to buy or build a house for herself up in the beautiful Hill Country of
West Texas where she and Rhapsody could live together.  They also talked
about a trip around the world and cruises to exotic places.

It was only two days before Thanksgiving, and Maggie asked to see Michael
and Karl about her plans.

"You've been asking me what I'm going to do with all that money," Maggie
began.  "Well, as you probably suspected, I'm going to have to give you my
resignation.  That is the one unhappy thing about all this.  But I'll stay
for a few months while my new house is being built up in the Hill Country."

Michael said, "Well, Maggie, we did think that your leaving us now was a
real possibility.  But things just won't be the same without you."

"Well, Tony's a first class cook.  And you won't have any problem on that
score."

"I know, Maggie, but Tony isn't you.  It's you we'll miss.  Isn't it going
to be a little lonely in a house all by yourself?

Maggie said, "No, because Rhapsody will be living with me."  Then looking
at the expressions on Michael's and Karl's faces, she quickly said, "I
know.  You're thinking, how can I stand to live with that old queen.  But
Rhapsody and I go way back.  We fight a lot, but we've been close friends
since we were puppies.  Since I've worked down here on the ranch, we've
just not been able to see each other or be together as much as we'd like."

"So what else are you planning," said Karl.

"Well, this is all tentative, you understand, but Rhapsody and I are
thinking about a cruise up along the Canadian and Alaskan shoreline.  Also,
we both definitely want to go to Australia.  But what I really want to do
most of all is to go to Italy and be able to view all that marvelous art
work and sculpture.  I want to go to Tuscany and see all the great art I
can in Florence."

"Tell me, Maggie," inquired Michael.  "There's something I've always
wondered about.  Why is Rhapsody called Rhapsody?  And why would anyone
want to be called Rhapsody?"

"Well, that's not her real name, of course.  But years ago she was a
contestant for most beautiful drag queen.  The contest was held in a gay
bar, the El Jardine on Navarro Street in San Antonio.  And, although she
didn't win-she came in last-one of the critics from a gay newspaper in town
was there and described her in his column the next day as 'a rhapsody in
pink.'  And the name just stuck."

"Oh."


On the same day, Josiah received a letter from the Admissions Office of the
University of Texas.  He was afraid to open it and waited until Brian came
back to the room after his chores.

Josiah handed the unopened letter to Brian, saying, "Brian, would you open
this and tell me what it says."

"No," said Brian, handing the letter back.  "It's about your admission and
it's addressed to you."

Josiah sat on the edge of the bed, and Brian sat down next to him.  Josiah
pulled the letter from the envelop and read, "The Admissions Committee of
the University of Texas has considered your application for admission as a
new freshman.  We are pleased to inform you that . . . ."

Brian grabbed Josiah and, falling back on the bed, they hugged tightly,
kissed deeply, and laughed and cried and laughed some more.

Brian shouted, "What a beautiful day!  Everything is so beautiful!  How
could any day be more wonderful than this!"

Grabbing his cell phone, Brian called Paul's office in Austin and told him
the good news.  Paul informed Brian that he and Jeff would be back on the
ranch the next day and will be there for Thanksgiving dinner.


Because of all the good news that was happening around them, Michael and
Karl decided to have a major Thanksgiving celebration.  Not only would Jeff
and Paul be there, but Corky and Mark would also be invited.  Josiah and
Brian, as well as Jake and Enrique would also be at the table, and Adriano
and Charlie would be asked to come down for dinner.  Although both Tony and
Maggie will prepare the dinner, they will also join them at the table.
Clayton, too, will be a part of the celebration, and Rhapsody will be
invited to come down to share the meal with them.

Neither the dining room nor the dining room table was large enough for the
sixteen people who would be there.  So Jake and Corky constructed a rough
cut table that would be set up in the living room.  Maggie sewed together
several large linen table clothes that would be thrown over the table and
would hide the rough construction.  A large traditional Thanksgiving dinner
was planned for the ranch hands and would be served at one o'clock in the
rec hall at the end of the bunk house.  Three TV sets would be set up in
the room so that the hands could watch the various games being played that
day.

For all those who would be eating in the house, dinner would be served at
four o'clock.  The out-of-town guests, Mark, Rhapsody, and Adriano and
Charlie arrived earlier in the afternoon.  It was arranged that drinks
would be served on the front verandah starting at two o'clock.  Everyone
seemed to want to gravitate toward Mark and sort of rub up against him.
But Corky kept a watchful eye on them.  Since the dinner was well on the
way in the kitchen, Maggie and Tony also mingled with the guests for a time
on the verandah.  When Maggie felt she should return to the kitchen to
check on the dinner, she looked about for Tony.  Tony and Clayton were
standing alone at one end of the verandah talking.  The two looked rather
cute together, and Maggie decided not to disturb them.

Not long before it was time for Maggie to ring the bell for everyone to sit
down at the table, she looked out of the kitchen window and saw that Tony
and Clayton had walked together out into the fields and seemed to be very
engrossed with each other.  She stepped to the edge of the veranda and
called as loud as she could, "Tony!  Clayton!  It's time to come back for
dinner."

Tony and Clayton stopped and slowly turned around and walked back.  When
they came close to the verandah, Maggie said, "I'm sorry to have
interrupted your talk.  You looked as though you were having a very good
talk.  Both Tony and Clayton looked at each other, smiled, and very visibly
blushed.  Maggie thought to herself, "Oh how I do wish those two would get
together.  They look so cute together.  If I dared bet on it, I would say
that love is very obviously beginning to blossom between those two.  But
I'll just have to wait and see."

The traditional Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Maggie and Tony included,
two large roasted turkeys, ham for those who prefer ham, candied yams,
creamed onions, a fruit salad, stuffing, cranberry sauce, spiced peaches,
the dreaded Brussels sprouts, and a variety of rolls.  A choice of red or
white wine would also be served.  And for desert, of course, along with
coffee, was pumpkin pie with real whipped cream.  For those who didn't care
for pie, there was ice cream.

During the desert course, Michael tapped his fork on his glass as a signal
that he wanted to speak.

"I'm so glad that all of us are together.  There has been so much good news
for some of us, Karl and I thought that it would be appropriate to
celebrate it on Thanksgiving day.  First of all, I would like to formally
introduce Mark.  He's a former Texas Trooper-can you just picture him in
that uniform?  The news is that Corky has accepted a position to work with
Mark in his job as a private investigator.  Corky will be leaving the ranch
on December first and moving to San Antonio, where they'll be working and
living together.

There ensued applause, as well as envious looks aimed at Corky.

"Just a couple of days ago," continued Michael, "Josiah received
notification that he has been admitted as a freshman at the University of
Texas in Austin."

This news brought on more applause and smiles and congratulatory remarks.

"As you know, Brian is having to return to school in January, and this
means that Josiah and he will be able to be together in Austin for sure."
More congratulatory remarks.

Then looking at Maggie, Michael said, "Now we come to our friend Maggie
who, with Tony, prepared this wonderful dinner.  We all know what good
fortune has come upon him.  I've been given permission to announce that
Maggie will be leaving us in January."  Many groans.  "He and his friend,
Rhapsody here, have booked a month-long trip to Australia.  They'll be
leaving on the trip in mid-January.  When they return in February, they
will live in San Antonio while Maggie's new house is being built up in the
Hill Country, where they will both live eventually.  He has promised that
he will have us all up there for a grand housewarming when it's completed."

Michael then reached down into a brief case that he had sitting next to his
chair and drew out several sheets of paper.

"Now I would like you all to hear something that is very special.  It is a
letter that Homer Kesselring wrote and had his lawyer attach to his will.
Maggie hasn't seen or heard of this letter yet, but I would like to read it
to all of you while Maggie listens to it for the first time.

Picking up the paper, he reads,

"Dear Maggie: When you get this letter, I will have passed away after
spending some of the most cherished days of my life.  Those precious
moments with you and the joy that you brought me in my last days were more
than any mortal could hope for or expect.  You taught me so much.  After a
lifetime of prejudice and not understanding, I had the privilege of
learning, before it was too late, that we are all-no matter who or what we
are-in this life together.  I cannot adequately express my regret for the
cruelty of my remarks to you early in our friendship.  How could I not know
then the hurt and the pain I caused you?  I am so ashamed.  Your touch is
gentle; your heart is warm; your tears are as salty as mine, and our blood
is interchangeable.  Your human compassion and concern, your unselfish
charity and love for me and others can never be repaid, not even by what I
am leaving you.  Feel my love, Maggie, my son, even after my death.  Yours
forever, Homer"

As Maggie looked at Michael with tears in her eyes, Jeff leaned over and
put his arm around Maggie's shoulder.  "Maggie, Homer's message is really a
message from all of us.  We've all been touched by your humanity, and we're
all the better for it.  This letter from Homer is probably the best
Thanksgiving message that any of us could have heard today."

Raising his wine glass, and signaling for the others to do the same, Jeff
said, "A toast to Homer's memory.  And a toast to the success and happiness
of those of you who will soon be leaving us.  And finally, I propose a
toast to the greatest and most wonderful spot on Earth, and may it exist
and flourish forever, the great Walker Ranch!

Tom Borden
Tombor99@excite.com