Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2020 02:18:13 +0000 From: John Francis Grice Subject: Chapter Four Aaron's Year of '77 Adam pulls up in front of our house right at 9:00am and I'm out on the front porch, waiting for him. He boots Mrs. Fullerton's car down the 401 until we get to Prescott and Johnstown and then heads north up to Ottawa. An hour and a bit later, we're driving by the Experimental Farm on Prince of Wales Drive and about to head onto Carling Avenue and Bronson. We're on our way over to 37 Argyle Avenue where Dad made an appointment with the rental agent to look at this bachelor apartment we've come to look at. We pull up in front of the apartment building on Argyle and park on the opposite side of the street facing the building. It's a red brick house similar in size and architectural style to most of the other houses on the street. At one time it must have been either a duplex or a very large single family home. Three stories tall, with balconies facing the street and a central door on the front façade, it's obviously a walk-up building with lots of stairs. Hopefully, the apartment we have to look at is either on the first or second floor. The prospect of carrying my ten speed bike and dragging laundry and groceries up multiple flights of stairs is not exactly thrilling. The lady who is to show us the apartment is waiting for us out on the covered front porch by the front door with the beveled-glass window in it. "Hello. Which one of you is Aaron Christie?" she asks. I reach out to shake her hand and say, "Hello. I'm Aaron. And this is my friend Adam Blanchard from Brockville. Thanks for meeting us to see the apartment." "I'm Miranda, the leasing agent for the landlord. Your father explained to me on the phone when he called that you're starting classes at Algonquin close by in the fall. You'll probably find this place a little on the small side. It's really just one big room with a kitchen alcove, an entry hall and a bathroom. The rent is $225.00 a month, with a first and last month deposit and post-dated cheques required for the first year. Also, we don't normally rent to students. So we'll be needing a security deposit of $250.00 for any damages that may be incurred for the time you live here. Is that going to be a problem?" "No. That sounds OK to me." "Well then, let's go in and have a look and you can let me know what you think. I've had one person already looking at the place, so if you are interested you'll have to let me know before you leave." "OK. May we see the place then please?" "Yes of course. Follow me." "As you can see, it's on the first floor to the right just as you come in the door, Unit #2. This place has new locks on the door and has just been freshly painted. The landlord bought the building a few years back. And with the exception of this place on the first floor, it's fully rented out. There are nine apartments total in the building. There no laundry facilities. But there is a laundromat three blocks down on Elgin Street beside Al's Steak House. The hardwood floors have just been refinished. This used to be the formal parlour or living room back when this was still a single family home. The fireplace is decorative and not functional. You have a big picture window facing out onto Argyle Avenue. And as you can see, the place is heated with a hot water radiator just under the window over there. The bathroom has new floral wallpaper that I actually picked out and put up for the landlord. It has an original sink and claw foot bathtub that came from another room when the place was converted into apartments. You've got the IGA store for groceries just over on Isabella Street and you're close to the Voyageur Colonial bus station up four blocks on Catherine, just past the YMCA and Bank Street. Heat and hydro are included in the rent. Phone and cable are extra. Do you have any questions for me?" "No Miranda. Too bad the fireplace is painted over. I bet there is some really beautiful oak underneath that paint," I say. "It has at least five coats of paint on it and would have needed far too much time and effort to strip it down to the original wood and re-stain it again." "It's beautiful though." "Tell you what. If you want to put the effort into refinishing it while you're here, then I don't think the landlord would have a problem with that at all," she says, and slowly starts to warm up to me. I keep looking at that fireplace and imagining those scrolled side pieces, turned columns, and moldings with that original beveled-glass over mantel mirror stripped down and refinished with a golden stain to match the hardwood flooring. "Well, the kitchen is really small and there is only that little alcove for clothes by the front door and those hanging hooks between it and the kitchen. I really like the place though. And the location is perfect. It has some real character. If I were to take it, would you accept a deposit now by cheque... and when would I be able to have keys to move into the place?" "Once the cheque clears and you give me the security deposit and post-dated cheques, then I can hand you over the keys." "OK. Well Adam, I don't think I'm going to find anything cheaper, closer or better this close to the start of the semester. What do you think about the place?" "Aaron, it looks OK to me. That bathtub is really big," he says, and gives me a sly little smile. The kitchen is smaller even than my place back in Brock Vegas. But you'll have the cafeteria at school. And there's lots of restaurants and fast food places along Elgin Street. It's your decision Aaron." "Can I give you a cheque now then Miranda? My Mom gave me a blank cheque before we left this morning. I can fill out the amount for first and last month and the security deposit and I'll give you post-dated cheques when I come up on the 22nd. I really like the place." "Sounds good to me," she replies. "I have to be up in Ottawa on August 22nd to meet with the Department Head and get myself oriented to find my way around the school. Can I pick up keys for the place at the same time? I think I'll want to move in around or just after Labor Day so I'll be ready for school to start." "What are you going to be studying in school Aaron?" she asks me. "Interior Design." "Well then, I'll certainly know who to come to whenever the landlord wants to do something around here. Just remember though that you can't paint or do anything that's going to alter the place unless you ask permission first, or you'll lose your security deposit." "Thanks for coming along with me Adam. What did you really think about the place now that I've rented it?" "Well cookie... that kitchen is smaller than a closet. And as for closets... well, there are none. And the ceilings in the place are at least twelve feet high. If you aren't planning on doing more than making coffee and having toast in that kitchen... there is like, no counter in there at all. And if that hot water radiator in the main room heats the place so ya' don't freeze to death in the winter, then it should be OK. Uhm, Aaron, I saw you looking and thinking about that fireplace. Don't do the landlord's work for him. It looks just fine painted the way it is now. You'll have more important things to do with your time outta' school than takin' on something like that... like taking nice, long, hot bubble baths in that old-fashioned tub with me," he says with a suggestive laugh. "Now let's hop in the car and head over to the Campus, `cause I wanna' see how far it is from here and just `exactly' where you're gonna' be going for classes. After that, we're gonna' come back here and take a walk down Elgin Street. Then you can buy me dinner since I'm such a nice guy for bringing you up here today." The St. Pat's Campus of Algonquin College faces directly onto the Rideau Canal along a roadway that is called the Queen Elizabeth Driveway. It used to be the railroad tracks coming along that side of the Canal in to Union Station, right across from the Chateau Laurier Hotel. That is until the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa ripped up the tracks and beautified the entire length of the Canal to promote tourism. It's quite beautiful now. St. Pat's was purchased by Algonquin College and is an "H"- shaped, four-story brown brick, vaguely Tudor-style building that resembles many collegiate high schools built in the same period of time. It reminds me of Brockville Collegiate where I went to high school. I keeping thinking to myself, I sure hope the time I spend here is going to be better than when I was back at BCI... "I'll have to be up here again on August 22nd to meet the Department Head and show her my portfolio Adam. At least now I know how to get here from Argyle Avenue." "That was the general idea there Aaron. Looks like the place is locked up tight for the summer though, so I guess we won't be doing any walkin' around inside. Too bad. I wanted to see what it looked like beforehand with ya'." "Maybe when I come up to meet Camilla `whatshername' on the 22nd." "Depends on when I hafta' work. We'll see. I'd like to though." We head back to the car and hop in. Adam heads north on the Driveway and turns left over the Pretoria Avenue lift bridge that spans the Canal. Then he follows the road to the right where it becomes Elgin Street. "Might as well park exactly where we were before on Argyle and take a walk up Elgin Street toward Parliament Hill. You know Aaron, it's been like, a year or so since I was last up here in Ottawa. I know a bit about this area. I think you're gonna' like it here, once you get yourself all moved in and settled." "If you look over to the left there is the Museum of Nature." "It looks like a castle Adam... " A few blocks further and Adam says, "Over there on the right is a laundromat and Al's Steak House is right beside it. Al's is famous and has been there for decades. Up ahead you'll find a pharmacy. And dontcha' go in there checkin' anyone out either cookie boy!" "You're more than enough for me Adam." "Ya' got that one right there babe," he says and laughs, while giving me a nudge with his shoulder as we walk along. A few blocks more and he says, "There's the Elgin Street Theatre. And look! They're playing `Star Wars'! Wanna' go see it after we eat something Aaron? I've really been wanting to see it. I promise not to eat all the red licorice on you this time. In fact, I'll even buy it! Can we baby?" "When do you have to have Mrs. Fullerton's car back to her?" "Not until tomorrow morning when I hafta' start work. We've got the rest of the day to just fool around and see and do stuff." "OK. Let's find somewhere to eat and we can catch an early show then. Hopefully, there won't be a huge line-up like there was when it showed in Brockville." We head all the way down Elgin Street until we reach the Lord Elgin Hotel. Right behind it is a Ponderosa Steak House. At least it's something familiar and I'm guessing most of the government workers who work downtown probably eat lunch and dinner there. "How about we stop in here Adam? Is this good enough for you?" "Sure thing cookie. I like my meat tender and rare. Just like you baby!" Oh Jeez'! Like, how corny is that? After eating, we stop at the corner of Elgin and Laurier Streets and Adam starts to tell me about the Lord Elgin Hotel. "Ya' know Aaron, they have a gay bar down in the basement of this hotel and it's been there since the end of World War Two. It's called Pick's Place and is sorta' like a beer hall. Local boys call it the `LE'. There's also another place where we can go and dance sometime, just on the other side of where the old train station is on the other side of the Canal. It's called the Coral Reef Club. The guys call it the `oral grief' club!" "How do you know about these places Adam?" "Aaron, you gotta' remember I'm seven years older than you and have more experience with these things. Every once in a while before I met you and whenever I got lonely and horny, I'd come up to Ottawa and check out these places. I want you to know about them. But I want you to promise me to wait and I'll show ya' them though, OK? I don't wantcha' goin' into those places alone without me until you get to know the city better." "OK. Sure Adam." "Now, let's see if we can get into the movie." "Stop hitting me with that piece of licorice! I'm trying to follow the movie." I whisper to Adam. "It's my `light sabre' and I'm attacking you `Luke Skywalker'." "Well thank God your dick isn't as limp as your light sabre. Honest to God Adam. Like, just how old are you anyway?" Adam laughs at loud and six people around us start to give him dirty looks. "Wanna' feel how hard my light sabre is right about now cookie boy?" "Uh, with your big, hairy cock, you're more like a Wookiee down there Chewbacca than Darth Vader. So let's say you just keep it in your pants until after the movie?" "A Wookiee and a Cookie!" Adam is laughing out loud. Three geeks and one little old lady shush him. We both slouch down in our seats and chuckle as quietly as we can for the next five minutes. The ending credits start to roll on the big screen and Adam says to me as we are leaving the theatre, "So do ya' wanna' feel my light sabre and rub my Wookiee fur when we get back to the car there Luke Skywalker?" I start to laugh and say to him, "Honestly Adam, you're like a little kid sometimes." "Only when I'm with you honey. And just what's so wrong with that anyway?" "Nothing at all Chewbacca. Nothing at all!" We head back down Elgin Street, and go past Pepper's Restaurant on the right just before the Museum of Nature. We're almost back to Argyle Avenue now. "OK babe. Let's hop in the car and head back. I wanna' go a different way home though,. Maybe along the Rideau River Road through Kemptville and Merrickville to North Augusta and back to Brockville after that. We can stop in Merrickville for a Coke or something, if ya' like. Is that OK with you?" "You're driving, and I assume you know where you're going." "Yeah Aaron. I know these back roads pretty well. We'll get home not too late after dark. Let's just take our time and enjoy the ride." "OK Chewbacca. My life is in your hands." "It's not alive and in my hands `til I take it outta' your pants there. And it better not be cummin' to life for anyone else but me!" he replies and laughs. Meanwhile, Adam cranks up the radio and Bony M's `Daddy Kool' starts fill the inside of the old lady Fullerton's' car with a driving disco beat. "She's crazy like a fool what about it Daddy cool she's crazy like a fool what about it Daddy cool I'm crazy like a fool what about it Daddy Cool Daddy Daddy Cool Daddy Daddy Cool..." The rest of the ride back is pretty uneventful, although the sexual tension between Adam and me is palpable as he steers Mrs. Fullerton's car along the back country roads. "We're just headin' into Merrickville now Aaron. Didya' want anything here before we hit North Augusta?" "I'm OK Adam. I'm kind of tired though. And it's starting to get dark. Can I just put my head down in your lap and let you get us home please?" "Just as long as my light sabre doesn't keep you awake down there cookie boy," he says and grins. About four miles south of Merrickville Mrs. Fullerton's car starts to sputter and Adam has to wrestle it over to the side of the road. "What the fuck!" he exclaims. "Jeez' Adam. What the hell is it with you and cars anyway?" He gives me an irritated look and then he looks at the gas gauge and realizes we've run out of gas. "Jeezus fuckin' Christ! We're outta' gas babe. I can't hardly fuckin' believe this! Guess I shoulda' filled up back in Merrickville." "Just great." "Dontcha' give me a hard time or I'm gonna' throw you into the back seat and pound your ass off Aaron. Don't care if this is Mrs. Fullerton's car. In fact, get ready for battle `cause this Wookiee's gonna' take his light sabre and turn you over to `The Dark Side' like, right now!" There's a pillow in the back seat I think I recognise from Adam's old Ambassador. Adam grabs me and pushes me back there while he unzips his pants and hops in right behind me with his big cock fully aroused and leaking pre-cum onto his jeans. "Suck my cock Aaron baby! It wants your tongue teasing it! C'mon cookie honey, get down there and suck it now." So here we are with me going down on him in the back seat of old Mrs. Fullerton's car, inhaling and taking in the cloying, manly smell of his hairy, pungent pube basket while paying worship to his big cock under the veiled, cloaked darkness of early evening with us stalled out in the middle of nowhere. This is all just too coincidental... Ten minutes of him forcefully ramming his pulsing shaft deep into me and plowing my ass, grunting and working my dick at the same time and then he suddenly yells out, "Oh fuck! I'm cumming! Oh man! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuckin' Jeezus fuckin' fuck' babe! Am gonna' cum inside you honey! Like, right now!" "I don't think old lady Fullerton ever did anything like this in her car," Adam quietly says to me after his orgasm, and starts to really laugh. "Oh God! Yuck! What a gross thought!" More laughter from him, and then on a sudden impulse he grabs me and pulls me out of the car and drags me around to the passenger side where he bends down and starts to give me a blow job. "Too boned up here to give you tips on how to do this right baby. So you just lean back and let my lips and tongue to the talkin' while you just enjoy the lesson." He keeps holding tight onto the base of my cock to keep it rock hard while licking my sweet spot. I keep praying in the back of my mind that no one comes along and sees what we're doing even though we're partially hidden by the car on the side of the road. "Oh shit! Oh shit!' Adam, I'm going to cum real soon!" "Just shoot your spunk into my mouth babe. I need ya' to fill me up tonight baby." "Too bad you didn't think of that with Mrs. Fullerton's car back in Merrickville... " "Shhh! No funny talk outta' you now! Gimme' all ya' got there cookie." I shoot a load of my boy juice into his mouth. He swallows it and then gets up, wipes my cum off his mouth, then takes his finger and wipes my mouth with it. Finally, he passionately kisses me and embraces me with a tight, hot embrace. "Guess I'd better go and get the gas can I put back in the trunk before we left Brockville this morning and fill up Mrs. Fullerton's car so we can make it back the last few miles into North Augusta and then to Brockville," he says to me and grins. "You mean to tell me you actually planned this Adam?" I say to him in disbelief with my mouth wide open in total surprise. "Uhm hmm... sure did Aaron. Figured we'd christen old lady Fullerton's car and end this trip with something memorable to mark it by. I like the look on your face when I shock ya'. I kinda' get off on it babe. But then again, I get off on just about everything about you." "I get off on just about everything with you too Chewbacca. Now put your big, hairy light sabre away and let's go home." Adam starts to growl at me and then laughs, as he opens the trunk and pulls out a full five gallon gas can and starts to pour it into the gas tank. "Thanks for taking me up to Ottawa today. You made me feel a little less scared and nervous about moving up there. It helps to know that you know a bit about the area where I'm going to be living. I'm going to get a key made for you to come up any time you want. With the Voyageur Colonial bus stop so close by, you can take the bus up on weekends and any time you're off. I'd like that if you would," I say, as we get close to pulling into Brockville. "Will you stay with me tonight at my place please Aaron? I just don't wanna' be alone this evening," says Adam, with a sad and tired look on his face. "Mom and Dad are expecting me back to let them know how the apartment trip worked out in Ottawa. I guess I could call them from your place and give them some excuse for not coming home this evening. I wouldn't mind seeing your place without passing out in it like I did the last time." Adam laughs at my comment and pulls me over tight against him as we turn off the 401 and head south down North Augusta Road, then right heading west down to Pearl Street West. "Well baby, your Dad was pretty good about that whole damned scene. Meant to ask you by the way, did he really make you hafta' mow the lawn that morning when you went home with a hangover?" "Yeah he did. And then he told me I didn't have to go and work for my brother-in-law Warren up at the store until September and gave me the money Warren owed me for working part-time up there for him over the past month. It was weird though. Warren wasn't very nice to me when he found out I was going to go back to school. And then my Dad said not to call him or my sister to thank them for the extra money they gave me over and above what Warren owed me." "Whadya' mean he wasn't nice to you?" "Well Adam, Warren actually started acting strange around me when he met Robert Pierce from Woolco. Robert and I are friends. He's the only gay guy I ever really knew in Brockville, until I met you of course. Robert came into the paint store one day. And we got to talking. He's a nice guy Adam. He and I started having lunch at Howard Johnson's together. And sometimes he'd come and pick me up and we'd go up to either the 401 Inn or the Skyline Hotel with Calla and Wendy to have a beer and dance and talk a little." "Should I be jealous of him there?" says Adam, as his arm tenses up and he starts to hold me a bit tighter. "Oh God! No Adam. I don't like him that way at all. It's just that I never really had many friends in high school besides Calla Cuthbertson and Wendy Weldon. And Robert was a lot like me in some ways... and we just started to talk. I got beat up a lot in high school Adam. I don't like to think about those times now. The boys, once they thought I was gay, always bullied me and tried to beat me up. And it was weird Adam. Most of them wanted me to suck their cocks afterward and it really kind of messed me up. And the girls were even worse. I'd walk down the hall at BCI to my locker and a bunch of girls would be standing around and the first thing you know, I'd hear the words fairy and queer from them, once I got to my locker. Whenever I hear the word `queer' even now, it sends a shiver up and down my spine and I just want to run away." "Aww, baby... same kinda' things happened to me too. I went to BCI and graduated a bit before you started there. But I remember my time there too. Kids can be real cruel when they're growin' up. There was talk about my Dad and Mom. And I got picked on `cause I didn't have two parents and all. The girls all wanted me to date them... just wasn't interested though. I realized after I graduated, those girls were real mean bitches when they figured out you didn't wanna' date them. Most of what was said about me in school came from them. I had to toughen up a lot and had lots of fights with the boys and eventually they all learned not to mess with me. It was lonely for me though. I still have bad memories. Guess I always will. I kinda' learned though not to let what others think or say about me ever get to me. My Mom always said to me, `Adam, what others think or have to say about you is none of your business.' It sure as hell took me a long while to fuckin' figure that one out, let me tell ya'. You know baby, you're always gonna' have people who don't like ya'. You gotta' understand though, you can't let them affect how you feel about yourself. Do you understand what I'm tryin' to tell ya' here Aaron?" "I'm sorry Adam you got picked on in high school. I'm just so glad we met and know each other now." "Me too babe... me too. We pull up in front of Mr. and Mrs. Nicolson's house on Pearl Street and Adam parks Mrs. Fullerton's car in the driveway in front of the garage. "Sooo... cookie boy, think ya' can manage the stairs up to my place without falling off your platform disco shoes this time?" Adam says with a laugh as he follows me up the stairs and slaps my butt. "I think so, yes Adam," I say, with an embarrassed look back to him as I reach the front door to his place at the top of the stairs. Adam deliberately leans over closely past me to unlock the door so I can really feel him behind me. He blows in my ear and then puts his hand on the small of my back to guide me into his apartment. This time I get to really see how he lives. And I have to admit, I'm fascinated with having the opportunity to really see what he's like when I'm not around him. I see a huge colour TV set with a stereo and AM/FM radio and what looks to be a liquor cabinet, all housed in one hulking cabinet console in his small living room. He has a couple of tall, dark wood bookcases that have a lot of records on them, and surprisingly, a lot of hard cover books as well. Looking over his books, I see many books on History and a few as well on Science Fiction. He has a thick brown shag rug on the floor, and lots of big, plump, orange and blue oversize pillows on both it and a couple of overstuffed old, faded, lumpy armchairs where I'm guessing he must relax and read and listen to music when he's all by himself. The kitchen is the first place you come into when you enter the apartment. It's immaculate with dish towels folded just like the linen displays in Walker's Department Store down on King Street, and a sign above the sink that says, `Kiss the Cook'. The bathroom has what looks to be very old, tiny black and white octagon-shaped tiles on the floor that remind me of what some of the stores in Brockville have outside their covered entrances, just before you step inside to shop. Some of them even have the street number laid out in small black tiles with a border around them just before the front doors like that. I've always liked that kind of tile. I think they call it glass mosaic. He has a modern type of bathtub with a big showerhead and spray. And there is a white vanity cabinet in there with his cologne, shaving cream, soap, toothpaste, razors and face cloths on top. It feels very intimate for me to be looking at all of his stuff like this. I think to myself, he must really be comfortable with you to let you see all his personal things. His bedroom has a big, queen-size bed in it. I sort of remember when I passed out on it and have some vague memory of him undressing me and sleeping with his arm wrapped protectively around me the night I got drunk on him. He has a beautiful quilt on top of the bed in colours of blue and orange that looks handmade. "My Mom made that quilt for me Aaron. She's pretty good with her hands. She took a long time to find those exact fabrics and colours. They're my favorite colours there." "It's beautiful Adam. She is talented." "My hands are pretty talented too ya' know," he says, and comes up close behind me starting to massage the back of my neck. You better call your folks to let 'em know you're gonna' be staying over here with me tonight. I don't want them callin' the Police and thinkin' we got into an accident or something like that. The phone's on the wall in the kitchen. You give `em a call now baby and I'll open a bottle of wine... if ya' promise me not to drink the whole damned bottle on me like you did the last time." "What time is it now?" "Uhm... just after 8:00pm." "I'll call them closer to 10:00pm and tell them we just got back then. Mom will be up by then and getting ready to go to work and Dad will be busy with her and having to walk Blackjack before bedtime." "Your call there babe." He goes over to the big TV console, lifts up the top and the record player and liquor shelf rise up from inside the cabinet. "You know Aaron, this was the first piece of new furniture I got for this place when I moved in here The liquor shelf has a gold-veined `Elvis Graceland' kinda' mirror on the bottom of the tray that goes up and down. It's kinda' weird and tacky. But the colour TV is really big. And the record player and built-in speakers are really good. Wanna' hear some music? What would ya' like to hear?" "Whatever you like. I'm kind of curious to see what you've got in your collection." "OK. Leave it to me then." He looks through his LPs and pulls out `Chaka Khan', carefully puts it on the stem of the record player and flicks the switch. The arm and needle move over and then `Sweet Thang' starts to play softly in the background. "Here ya' go baby. One glass of wine only for you and that's gonna' be it for this evening. Let's cuddle on the floor on the pillows in front of the TV and you'll call your parents in a little while then." "God... this is nice Adam. You always feel so warm next to me when you put your arm around me. And you always smell so good. It just feels so good." Adam leans in to kiss me. His lips nuzzle my ear and then make their way down to my neck. I swear every time he gets close to me, all I can sense is his virile, masculine smell... and it's all I can do not to jump on him and start to grab his dick and rip his clothes off of him." "Uhm, Adam... I meant to ask you. What's this thing you have about calling your big cock different names all the time?" He looks shocked and is speechless for about five seconds, and then starts to really laugh. "You mean my `crotch rocket, stick shift, fuck rod, big, hairy dong' there?" "Yeah. Like, what's with the `dong' thing? It seems to be the one you say most often." "Well baby, I don't know. I just do, that's all... " "Well Adam, you can stick your big, hairy `King Kong' dong into me anytime you like." Adam's mouth opens wide and after another few more long seconds of gaping speechless surprise, he spills a bit of his wine onto the carpet and starts to laugh while squeezing me in a head lock. "Jeezus fuckin' Christ, Aaron! You're a funny kid ya' know. No more dong talk though for now. You'll just get me all hot and horny here and I'd like to just lie here beside you on the carpet and cushions and listen to some music and feel you close beside me. Is that OK with you?" "Can we do it without our clothes on Adam?" "Maybe later, after you call your Mom and Dad. And remember, I just hafta' get up to go to work early in the morning. So we're actually gonna' sleep tonight and I'll drop you off at home before I head on in to Fullerton's tomorrow." "Where did you leave your car when you borrowed Mrs. Fullerton's Adam?" "Out behind the store where I always park it when I'm working. Why do ya' ask Aaron?" "No reason. I just thought of it now. I guess, maybe just because it was the first place you ever kissed me." "Less thinkin' and more kissin' there Aaron," as he leans in and starts to take his tongue to trace the outline of my lips. I can taste the wine on his tongue... sweet and rich, so nice." `Chaka Khan' plays softly in the background and I hear the lyrics, "I will love you anyway Even if you cannot stay I think you are the one for me Here is where you ought to be..." "Aaron, I think you better call your Mom and Dad now so they won't be worried. The phone's on the wall in the kitchen by the front door. I wanna' get that outta' the way and then we can relax a bit after today and get a good night's sleep. Hangin' around you makes me kinda' tired at times." "Hi Dad. We just got back from Ottawa and Adam still has Mrs. Fullerton's car. He has to drop it back off to her either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. And I'm over at his place now. Can I tell you all about Ottawa in the morning when he drops me off at home?" "So you're staying over at Adam's place tonight then Aaron?" "Uh, yes Dad. If that's OK with you, that is." "You're almost twenty now Aaron and don't need my permission to stay overnight at a friend's house. Just as long as you call to let us know where you are so we don't worry. I'll talk to you in the morning over breakfast before I have to head in to the Hospital for work. I assume you rented the apartment then. Just don't get drunk again on Adam over there. The poor guy was beside himself when he called me the last time." "Oh Dad! Yes, I got the apartment. I'll see you in the morning." "Good night son. We'll have some cinnamon toast in the morning." "There, happy now Adam?" "Yep, sure am Aaron. They don't need to be worrying about you. Now come on back here and lie down beside me. Let's just listen to some more music and finish our wine and then head off to bed. My `King Kong' dong's' not gonna' molest ya' though. Not tonight when we hop into bed. Gonna' be a busy day for me tomorrow. And I just wanna' see if we can make it through one night together without jumping on each other's bones." "OK Adam. Just being close to you and feeling your sexy body heat against me and smelling you and touching you all over will be good for me," I say, as I bend over and start to rub my face in his hairy arm pit and then bite his shoulder. "Ah fuck Aaron! Am getting all hard here again with that kinda' talk from you." I reach down into his jeans and slowly start to rub my hand against his pleasure trail while reaching down to hold onto his big baby maker." "Well, maybe you can just jerk me off and then we'll hop into bed and sleep. And I do mean sleep this time." he says, while holding onto the back of my neck and nuzzling my cheek. "OK. That sounds like a good idea to me." August 22nd arrives, and I'm waiting at the Voyageur Colonial bus stop on Perth Street in Brockville for the morning bus to take me up to Ottawa for my orientation interview with Camilla Mezaros. Adam has to work today, and my Dad as well. So I'm on my own to make this trip to finalize all my courses and pay final tuition for commencement of classes on September 12th. The bus is twenty minutes late and I'm starting to worry because my appointment is scheduled for right after lunch. Finally, the bus pulls up in front of the station and I hear on the loud speaker, "Voyageur Colonial bus # 43, with stops in Maitland, Prescott, Spencerville, Kemptville, North Gower and Ottawa is now ready for boarding. Have your tickets and luggage ready for loading please. And `Thank You' for travelling `Voyageur' this morning." Just great... a milk run! This will take at least 2 ½ hours to make it up to the Campus at this rate. There is a twenty minute layover in Prescott which adds to the time delay. Nothing I can do about that now, I think to myself. Fortunately, the stops are quick enroute with very few people boarding or getting off. So the bus arrives at the Catherine Street station just before the noon hour. I know I'm close to my new apartment and the Campus. So before leaving the station, I call Miranda, the rental agent to pick up the key to the place on Argyle Avenue after my interview. After that, it's time to start to walk over to Algonquin to meet Camilla. So glad that Adam made sure I knew my way around when he brought me up here. I really wish he could have come with me today. With the free time I have before my interview I take the time to walk through the Design Wing of the Campus to check out the classrooms, labs and library. There are six classrooms, with divider partitions to close them off and make them smaller when needed. I can see some three-dimensional models and sample boards, renderings and drafting plans and details on the tables and walls from previous students I'm assuming. There are long rows of tables placed length-wise throughout each classroom with drafting surfaces on top of them and stools that look like Chinese torture devices in front of each spot. There are huge windows along the exterior walls that flood each room with natural daylight. I was told that typically in the first semester, there are between twenty to twenty-five students accepted for the Interior Design Program. There is an English Program and a French Program that are completely separate with different rooms and Professors and Instructors. I was also told that the drop-out rate is high in the first and second semesters. Usually by second year, the class size shrinks down to around fifteen students. And by third year and graduation, there are only six to eight students left to move on and enter the work force. Most of these students wind up working for the Federal Government doing office planning and design for government buildings in the National Capital Region. A select few are lucky enough to land jobs in Toronto or even outside of Canada and really get to experience the whole spectrum of Interior Design with challenging and rewarding careers. " `Vel, sooo... you are Aaron Christie," says Camilla Mezaros, as I sit waiting outside her office for my orientation interview. "All right... come in and show me your portfolio." I'm nervous and can't help but stare at her as I follow her in and sit down before her glass-topped desk. She has what looks to be a synthetic, platinum blonde wig on. Talk about big hair! It looks bizarre on her as I estimate she must be at least sixty years old. That damned, stupid wig would likely spontaneously combust if she ever came into contact with any open flame. She is wearing a huge red velvet bowtie that I later discovered was nicknamed `Camilla's Lips' by students already in the Program. She is wearing a tight, ill-fitting, grey, double-breasted pantsuit that makes her boobs look like they're ready to burst out of it at any moment. And to top everything off, she's wearing these oversized pale blue, thick coke bottle lens, plastic-framed glasses with rhinestones embedded into them that effectively block any direct eye contact and that completely distract me. She looks like a weird cross between Carol Channing and Phyllis Diller. I open my portfolio binder and start to show her some of my work. She is completely uninterested in what I have to show her and then blurts out, "Just how old are you?" "Uhhh... I'll be twenty this December." "No one coming from high school directly into this Program ever makes it through to the end. There are thirty-five hours of class time, and at least the same number of hours required to complete the assignments every week. Most students quit during the first semester. `Vhat makes you think you can make it?" she asks and stares at me. "Uh, well... Ms. Mezaros, I always wanted to be an Architect. And when I started working for my brother-in-law back in Brockville in his paint and wallpaper store, I found I liked advising people and they seemed to like what I recommended to them. I studied the course outline for this Program. And an Instructor I knew from a sales course I was taking at St. Lawrence College back in Brockville suggested I apply for enrollment. "Who `vas this Instructor?" she asks imperiously. "Isobel Szabo. She teaches Professional Salesmanship courses part-time at St. Lawrence College." "Szabo... that's Hungarian, just like me!" The rest of the interview passes with Camilla Mezaros telling me her entire life story. She used to be an Aeronautical Engineer who worked on drafting and design of weapons and armaments during World War Two and after the Communist takeover of her country, immigrated to Canada with her son and eventually wound up as the Department Head of Design at Algonquin College. The interview told me everything I never needed to know about her and nothing about the Program I was about to enter. By the end of it I was sitting there and asking myself, just what the hell have you gotten yourself into here Aaron? At the end of the interview, Camilla stops talking about herself and looks me straight in the eye and says, "You are a very meek and quiet young man. You know you `vil really have to get your `vire up if you `vant to survive in this Program ... `hmm... izzzn't it'... " When she said the word wire, she pointed directly at my crotch and cock and my mouth fell open in complete shock and embarrassment. I couldn't get out of her office fast enough after that outrageous remark from her. "Classes start at 8:30am on September 12th and if you are late or miss more than three consecutive classes in any one semester you `vil get a failing grade for that course, and `vil have to repeat it the next year. You `vil have six full-time courses to get through before the first semester finishes at the beginning of December. Interior Design One, History of Design, Colour Theory, Design Basics, Building Construction and Basic Drafting. You `vil have me for Interior Design One. Alan Closer `vil teach you Building Construction. Elizabeth Mountebank `vil teach you Colour Theory and Design Basics. Lynda Naagy-Birdsong `vil teach you History of Design and Furniture and Gordon Goodrich `vil teach you Basic Drafting." I walk out of her office in a complete daze and really wish I'd had either Adam or my Dad with me to make some sense of what just happened to me in her office. "Thanks for meeting me to drop off the key Miranda. I just finished over at Algonquin and it looks like I'm going to have a pretty full itinerary and workload for courses for my first semester," I say to the rental agent as I stand with her on the front porch of the apartment building on Argyle. "You look like you need a boost of confidence from someone Aaron. I'm sure you'll do just fine once you get settled and into the routine of classes and studies. Good luck Aaron. If I can answer any questions you have with respect to the apartment or any problems you might have, here is my card and phone number. Don't hesitate to call me any time. And I mean it. Good luck again to you." There's a hardware store about six blocks down on Elgin Street. I guess I'd better get keys made for Mom and Dad and Adam while I'm here. After I do that and start walking back down Elgin Street, I look at my watch and realize it is just past three o'clock. Time for something to eat and then to catch the bus back to Brockville for 5:30pm. I play it safe and head over to the bus stop where they have a restaurant. My mind is still reeling from the bizarre interview which really was just a diatribe on the life and history of Camilla Mezaros. Jeez'! I sure hope the rest of the Profs aren't as weird and wacked out as she is. Luckily, the bus leaves right on schedule from the Catherine Street station and I can now just sit back and stare out the window and try to forget that stupid `wire' reference and those negative cracks and assumptions about my age from that crazy lady Mezaros. Adam is waiting for me in the waiting room of the bus stop when the bus gets back to Brockville, just before 8:00pm. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to work late this evening Adam." "Figured you'd like to see my smiling face waitin' for you when you hopped off the bus. Are ya' not happy to see me?" "God! Yes! Am I ever." "Well c'mon then. I'll take you for an ice cream cone at Smith's Dairy down on Apple Street after ya' drop your stuff off at your Mom and Dad's." We hop into Adam's old car and he starts to ask me questions while we head over to Bethune Street. "Sooo... talk to me Aaron. How did things go at Algonquin?" "It was weird Adam. That Mezaros woman is really strange. How she ever got to be an Interior Designer is something I can't even begin to figure out. She's got this really stupid way of saying ...`hmm... izzzn't it'... after everything she says. She could be telling someone she has to go to the bathroom and she'd wind up ending her sentence with the words, `Hmm... izzzn't it.' " Adam starts to laugh and says to me, "Is that the only thing you remember from your interview with her?" "Nope. I'm not done. She spent most of the interview talking about herself and couldn't have cared less about my portfolio. All she seemed to care about was the cheque for the College tuition. And she kept telling me that students as young as me never made it to the end of the Program. Then she made this stupid comment about me being meek and having to get my `wire' up in order to make it. And get this Adam... she was pointing to my cock when she said that too!" Adam is killing himself laughing and then says, "Well baby, your `wire' never has a problem cummin' up for me. I wouldn't be too upset about what she said though. Sounds like she was tryin' to psych' you up to expect a lot of work. And she maybe might have a point about how young you are. You're gonna' do just fine baby ...`hmm... izzzn't it'..." he says, and bursts out laughing. Now drop your stuff off and tell your parents you'll be back in an hour or so." "If you say so Adam. ...`hmm... izzzn't it'... " "Hi Dad. Adam met me at the bus station and gave me a ride home. I'm just going to drop off my portfolio here for now and go and have an ice cream with him. Are you going to be here when I get back?" "Yes son. I have to take your Mother in to work for midnight so I'll want to hear all about Algonquin and how you got along when you come back." Adam drives over to Blockhouse Island and parks after we get our ice cream. When getting out of his car, he says to me, "Let's walk to the end of the pier where the lighthouse beacon is. It's a nice night and we can sit there and watch the lights on the other side of the river in Upstate New York, then see if any of the really big Great Lakes freighters go by in the main channel. You know Aaron, I still remember that big freighter, the Edmund Fitzgerald, before she sank a couple of years ago in Lake Superior in `75. That was real sad. All those lives lost." We have to pass by the World War Two Sabre jet that's mounted up on a concrete pier in memory of the fallen soldiers and veterans of World War Two on our way to the beacon. "That Mezaros woman told me she was an Aeronautical Engineer in Hungary during the war and that she had to come to Canada when the Allied Forces declared peace." "Hmm, Hungary you say? She was probably a Nazi Sympathiser during the war and worked for either Hitler most likely. Lotsa' those people wound up in Canada in the `fifties. Then again, you never know... she coulda' just been tryin' to escape the Communists at the time." "You really know a fair bit of History don't you?" "Just one of the interests I have there... besides you cookie butt." "Here Adam. I had a key made for you for my place on Argyle. You can put it on your Superman key ring." "Aww, thanks baby." Then he stares at the key with a sad look on his face. "Guess this is really startin' to happen now. So when are ya' thinking of movin' your stuff up to Ottawa?" "Dad said he could move me up right after Labor Day. He has a trailer hitch on the car. And there won't be much to take up outside of most of my clothes, books and records. Mom said I could take my grandmother's pine desk and the armoire in my room. I'll have to get a new bed and I'll need to buy a drafting board and stool and then I should be pretty well all set up." "You don't want, or won't need me helping ya' then Aaron, when ya' move?" says Adam, with a disappointed look on his face. "Well of course I do! I already told Dad you wanted to help and he said, "Thank God he offered, because I was going to ask him myself to help otherwise." I think he'd adopt you if he could Adam. I told you he was a nice man." Adam smiles finally and says quietly to me, "Ya' know Aaron, you're a lucky kid. I hope you know that baby." After Adam drops me off, I head in the front door and Dad is in the living room waiting to talk with me. "So how did you make out with Camilla Mezaros at Algonquin Aaron? Did she look at your portfolio and did she have many questions for you?" "Uh, well... Dad, she seemed to want to tell me more about herself and didn't care so much about what I wanted to show her. She kept coming back to asking me how old I was and telling me most kids my age never lasted to graduate until the end of the Program. She kind of scared me a bit." "Sounds like she was trying to intimidate you in to either not enrolling or to standing up to her. What did you say to her?" "Well, I didn't want to say too much back to her honestly. I figured since I was already accepted into the Program, she could say whatever she liked. I'm going into this because I want to. And after listening to her, I figured if she can make a career out of this then I should be able to as well." "Well, the final cheque for enrollment sure went through fast enough. She must have ran to the bank to cash it. You'll come to understand Aaron that what people think of you and say about you shouldn't matter a damn once you've set your mind to something. Your Mother and I have faith in you and know you are going to do well, once you get into the routine of the Program." "Oh Dad, here. I had keys made up for you and Mom for my place on Argyle. Adam was asking me about when to move my stuff up just now. He'll need to know in case he has to book time off to help us. I was thinking maybe the Tuesday, right after Labor Day, September 6th. Will you be able to take the time off that day? I really want you to see where I'm going to be living. Does Mom want to come too?" "I don't think your Mother will come. You know, she's going to miss you and seeing where you're going to be living might not help with that right at the moment. I'm sure we can always take a drive up sometime to have a look at your place together once she gets used to the fact that you're not going to be living at home anymore. You know Aaron, we're both going to miss you, very much." "I'm going to miss you both too Dad. And Dad... thanks." "Labor Day's coming up real fast Aaron. Can we do something? Like, just us two together before I hafta' move ya' up to Ottawa?" "Sure Adam. What would you like to do?" "Well cookie, it's been a real fast summer and I haven't been out camping at all or out of town except for takin' ya' up to Ottawa. I'm not complaining though. Hows about I pull out the tent from Mom's garage and you and me can maybe spend the weekend together out at Brown's Bay? We can swim and cook outside and have fires in the evenings and get nice and cozy together in a sleeping bag in a tent under the stars. Whadya' think? "You like to camp Adam? Jeez' there's still a lot I don't know about you. Sure! That sounds like fun actually." "Oh, and Aaron, your driving test with the Department of Motor Vehicles is in a few days right?" "Yeah, it is." "OK then baby. Then between now and then I'm takin' ya' out for a couple of driving lessons. My damn fuckin' car's been actin' up again. But I think as long as we stick close to town and don't get too aggressive with it, then the damn sonofabitch shouldn't give us too much of a hard time." "Hmm, you know Adam, I've been thinking about that first time you picked me up in it. You were wearing that brown suit of yours when it broke down. And then you let me give you a hand job and rub my face in the crotch of your old suit pants and suck your big, hairy `King Kong' dong. And that's when we first started to be with each other. Do you think maybe we could pretend to do that all over again tonight when you get off work?" Three seconds of profound shock on Adam's face and then he grabs me and thrusts his tongue into my mouth. "Fuck baby! I sure am gonna' miss you when you're up in Ottawa. Tell ya' what, am not too damn thrilled about the breaking down part with my car. But, I hafta' admit it sounds kinda' hot and kinky that you wanna' do that with me again. I've gotta' work `til midnight tonight and then close up the store. You wanna' maybe have me drive by and pick you up again on King and Perth Street and head on out to the Lyn Pit to go skinny-dipping after that?" "Wear that suit please and go commando." "You got it! You sure as hell are one cute and kinky little fucker at times aren't ya'?" "Only when I'm with you Adam." Then I give him a wink and a little nibble to his ear lobe. Its two minutes after midnight and I'm watching the parking lot behind Fullerton's to see when Adam closes up the store. He shuts it up and the light above the back door turns off. He walks over to his car and hops into it. He's right... it isn't running very well again. He slams his fist down on the top of the steering wheel and swears at it to turn over for him. Finally, it stumbles and hesitates and comes to life. He puts it into `reverse' and then pulls out on his way down to King and Perth. I know he's going to be waiting for me to make my way down there. He'll probably be sitting in his car, idling away in the parking lot behind Howison's and wondering where I am. Let him wait. It will only add to the suspense. By the time I make it down the six blocks to King and Perth, he's had the chance to pull his old car into the parking lot. He seems to be getting into this whole fantasy scenario thing pretty well, because he's got the hood of his car jacked up and he's sitting sideways, facing out onto the street in his driver's seat with the door wide open. His legs are spread wide apart and when he sees me, he starts to rub his big cock. Then he gives me one burning, lascivious leer and motions for me to walk over toward him. "You've been starin' at me in the store kid and my stick shift gets hard on me every time it sees you lookin' at it. My cock needs someone to suck it tonight kid. I just got my shitbox car runnin' again here. So how's about I get out and slam down the hood and you hop in and let me ram my big, hairy dick into your mouth for the next hour or so? Whadya' say kid?" I've decided not to say a word, because I want to see just how well he can pull this whole act off. He stands up and is less than six inches away from me. I reach down and grab onto his fully aroused tool. Then I start to rub it through the coarse fabric of his warm suit pants. "Get inside the fuckin' car kid... inside!" he growls. He slams down the hood of his car. Then I'm in the passenger seat tight beside him as he plunks his hot man ass down in his driver's seat, and pumps his gas pedal three times. "C'mon you sonofabitch. Fuckin' start!" Eventually, it coughs and turns over for him. He revs it few times and then takes my hand and shoves it down into the hot pube forest between his long, furry legs. "You know what to fuckin' do kid. Now get down there and take care of my big dick." After a couple of minutes, I have to stop and look up at him and say, "You know Adam, this just really doesn't seem so exciting now that we're doing it again for a second time." "I know what ya' mean baby. I think we're kinda' well past the point of first contact. That being said though, I hafta' admit I kinda' like you down there playin' with my cock though." "Can I have your suit coat to put around my shoulders Adam? I can't get enough of how it smells like you." "Only if you lick my arm pit and bite my shoulder like you did the other night. I kept looking at your bite marks the next morning in the bathroom mirror when I was gettin' ready for work. And then I jerked off in my shower thinking about you and was hoping I'd still be able to see those marks when I got home." "That's just the beginning of the foreplay I'm going to do to you. You've taught me well." "I sure as fuckin' hell hope so baby!" he groans, as I go down on him and lick his balls and suck on his throbbing `King Kong' dong. "Fuck cookie! I swear you make me cum harder and harder each new time you go down on me now. If I can get it up here again for ya' in a few minutes, then I'm gonna' bang ya' so hard you're gonna' be walkin' with a limp for the next couple of days." "Adam? I need to buy a new bed for my place in Ottawa. Do you like soft or hard mattresses and what kind of pillows so you like to sleep with... feather or foam?" Another look of complete shock from him and he says. "Jeezus Aaron! Way to pick bad timing for a question like that. Right now I'd fuck ya' on the hard, bare ground if that's all we had. Now let's just sit here quietly for a bit and you can bury your face in my sweaty jacket and smell me to your heart's content. And I'll shove my hand up your tee shirt and play with your cute, little boy nipples." "Can I smell your hairy pube forest too Adam?" "Cookie honey, if I could bottle it up like my `Eau Sauvage' I'd put it in an atomizer and you could spray my man scent on ya' and wear me on your hot little bod' all the time. Now babe, let's head up to the Lyn Pit `cause I really wanna' take your clothes off you and go skinny dippin' with ya' there." It's Friday, September 2nd and the start of the Labor Day weekend... my last free one in Brockville before commencement of classes in Ottawa. Adam has packed his Mom's tourist-style canvas tent into the trunk of his car along with a big, double-sized sleeping bag. He's also borrowed a cooler from my Mom and Dad and packed it full of food and disposable boxes of cheap `Baby Duck' rosé wine to last us through the three days we'll be camping together up at Brown's Bay. Brown's Bay is about twenty miles west of Brockville on the old Highway Two. The St. Lawrence River there is wide open and the main shipping channel along the river at this point is closer to the American side than the Canadian one. The Thousand Islands don't really start until about ten miles further west where they stretch out between Rockport and where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario, up by Kingston. Dad always took the Weldon kids, John and Wendy along with me up to Brown's Bay every weekend when we were all in grade school together at St. Francis Xavier. I have good childhood memories of Brown's Bay. "Well Aaron, looks like we've got everything packed up and ready to head out. Remember, there's no electrical to plug in your blow drier and ya' won't be needin' a steamer trunk for twenty-five changes of clothes either." "Very funny Adam. I can rough it just as well as you can Chewbacca!" "We'll see baby. I kinda' doubt that though." This looks like a pretty decent spot to set up the tent. It's out in the open on pretty flat, bare ground, away from all those spruce trees and far back into the campground. Shouldn't be gettin' too much noise and disturbance from other folks back here and there's a fire pit just beside us, so I can use some wood I brought and make a campfire for us to sit around after dark. Whadya' think Aaron? Is this good for ya' here?" "I like that we don't have people on either side of us. Let's pull everything out of the trunk and set up camp." Three hours later and Adam has a little folding hibachi grille set up and is cooking up hamburgers for us. `Mmm, they smell good Adam. I'm hungry." "They'll be ready in a couple of minutes here. We'll save the steaks I got for tomorrow and maybe head in to Rockport to have dinner at the restaurant there on the river on Sunday. I want everything to be perfect for ya' before you hafta' head up to Ottawa next week. Jeezus Aaron, I'm gonna' miss you not being in town baby." "I don't want to think about that. I just want to be with you right now, OK?" "OK baby... OK." After dinner, Adam goes and finds some kindling and pulls a couple of fire logs out of the back of his trunk while I dump the charcoal into the fire pit from the hibachi and clean up the grille and melamine dishes from dinner. "This is so nice and peaceful Adam. I'm really happy you suggested we do this." I smile over at him and then lay back resting against a fallen tree trunk staring into the fire that he managed to build with the sparse kindling he had to work with around the camp site. "They were talkin' about some rain overnight on the radio this morning. But it looks pretty clear to me," he says, as he moves over to lie back close beside me. "Here baby, here's a glass of wine for ya'. Gotta' love that burning wood smell from a camp fire, eh Aaron? Let's just finish our wine and douse the fire and then crawl into that nice big sleeping bag I hauled along for us. OK?" "Mmm, I like that plan Adam. Can we get naked under the covers? " "Keep talkin' that way babe and I'll generate enough heat to keep ya' on fire all night long." It's three o'clock in the morning. Flashes of lightening and loud crashes of thunder wake us both up. The old tent is starting to leak badly, because of the torrential downpour from the thunder storm raging over the river close to the campground. We both wake up to discover the open ground we set the tent up on has become a virtual river with both the canvas floor of the tent and the bottom of the sleeping bag almost soaked right through. The front flap on the tent is whipping back and forth and every ten seconds or so, a wind gust sends a driving spray of cold rain onto us as we lay beside each other in the sleeping bag. "Jeezus fuck baby! Quick! Grab the pillows and I'll roll up the sleeping bag! We'll hafta' leave the tent and cooler and stuff `til it stops raining and hike it over to the car where it's gonna' be a helluva' lot drier inside than what this shit is right now. I'm really sorry about this," says Adam, as he jumps up stark naked and starts to gather up whatever is still semi-dry and runs over toward his car. "You didn't exactly plan the weather. It's OK though. You've had to sleep in your car overnight. I guess spending one night in it with you isn't going to kill me either." The rest of that night, Adam and I are entwined together in his back seat as the wind gusts from the storm buffet his old car back and forth. The driving rain keeps coming down obscuring whatever is happening outside the car and luckily for us, the action happening inside between Adam and me until first daylight. The last thing I remember before falling into a deep sleep was Adam slowly shoving his fully aroused penis up my butt and whispering to me, "Honey, I'm gonna' keep my dong warm by leavin' it in ya' `til we both fall asleep. OK cookie?" "OK, sure Adam. Works for me." I fall asleep feeling his heartbeat and throbbing hot cock deep inside of me. Six o'clock on Saturday morning.. and the rain is still coming down in sheets. "Aww, fuck Aaron! Look at the tent!" Adam is leaning up from the back seat and staring over at where we set it up. "It's like, totally collapsed!" The tent poles must have given way overnight and the poor tent is spread out flat and soaking wet on the ground with only the cooler and whatever other stuff we couldn't grab and throw into the car last night poking through the front flap. "What a fuckin' disaster this whole idea turned out to be!" he shouts. "And I wanted it to be perfect for ya' too! Lemme' throw on some clothes here and we'll head on into Rockport and have some breakfast there. Then we'll come back and grab the tent and cooler and head back in to Brockville. We can spend the rest of the weekend at my place. I'm so sorry about this babe. I really am!" After he throws on a pair of soggy shorts and tee shirt he climbs over his back seat and gets himself settled into his driver's seat and tries to start his car. "Fuck! C'mon you sonofabitch!" The rain keeps coming down in buckets and his sad old car is not cooperating with him at all. It just keeps cranking away and refuses to start. "Ya' fuckin' shitbox! C'mon baby! C'mon, fuckin' start for me!" I manage to throw on some clothes and crawl over the back seat and say to him, "I don't think it's going to start." "Shhh, baby. It's just gotta'! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Turn over for me ya' fuckin' cocksuckin' piece a' shit!" He keeps brutally pumping his gas pedal and turning his ignition key. "Come on ya' god-damned cunt ... c'mon ... c'mon ... c'mon ... c'mon ... ahhh fuckin' c'mon man ... start for me!" And then, all of a sudden his starter starts to squeal and make horrible noises like metal screeching and scraping against metal. There is a smell of something electrical burning inside his car and then blue and white smoke starts to rise and seep out from the front hood vent where his windshield wipers are. His starter finally gives up completely and starts to squeal and then just click as he keeps turning his key and curses and swears. Then he slams his fist down hard onto his steering wheel. "Fuckin' shit! Just fuckin' wonderful!" he yells. "Fuckin' stuck in this fuckin' goddamn rain with a dead shitbox of a fuckin' crappy car and fuckin' stranded here now! Just fuckin' marvellous!" "Well... uhm, uhhh, Adam, if I have to be stranded, I'd sure rather it be with you than anyone else." "Aww honey! I'm so fuckin' sorry! I just wanted this last holiday weekend before you go to be perfect." Then I can see tears starting to well up in his eyes as he stares out the windshield and shakes his head at the swirling, acrid-smelling smoke rolling out from the front of his old car, hissing and vaporizing with the constant driving sheets of rain. "It is perfect, because I'm spending it with you." It's all I can think of to say to him. Then I wrap my arms around him to try to make him feel better. "Well now we're gonna' hafta' get fuckin' soaked here walkin' over to the pay phone at the front gate. I'll hafta' give my Mom a call, and hopefully she can come and get us and take us on back home. I'll figure out what to do with my fuckin' goddamn car and the tent and crap later on." Then he just sits there for a couple of minutes, turns to me eventually and says, "Aaron baby? Do you know what a `metaphor' is?" "Uhhh, no... not really Adam. I've heard that word before. But honestly, I don't really know what it means though?" "Well, it's kinda' like a symbol or expression for something else. You know like, this fuckin' shitbox old car of mine is sorta' like a metaphor. It's like everything else in my life right now. Holdin' me back and reminding me of my Dad and how he let my Mom and me down and how I'm not going anywhere right now. I just wanna' cry. You're gonna' be gone soon, and here I am about to be alone again. I don't wanna' be alone Aaron. I just don't anymore!" Tears start to roll down his face and I know I have to say something to him to make this better for him somehow. "You're not alone Adam. You have me. I don't know what I can say to make you feel better right now. But school and distance are not going to break us up. That much I do know." He pulls me into a tight embrace and buries his head on my shoulder, "I'm gonna' miss you Aaron, so much! I really am!" "It's going to be fine Adam. I just know it is." "Jeezus Aaron! Sure am glad this armoire of yours comes apart. Gettin' it down the stairs would have been a bitch if we'd hadta' carry it down in one piece," says Adam, as he starts to sweat and strains to carry the side pieces of it down the front stairs. My Dad is down at the foot of the stairs and shouts up to Adam and me, "Careful boys! Don't mark the wall when you bring the desk and the rest of everything down to load into the trailer." "I think we'll be OK and I promise we won't hit the stair bannister railing or the wall when we get the rest of the stuff Mr. Christie. Are there any more pieces of furniture to go after we bring the desk and stereo components down and then that last chair in Aaron's room?" "There's a small pine washstand in the basement along with an extra portable TV. I think that's it for the furniture. Then there are just the boxes of records and books and after that, just clothing. We can head out once everything is packed into the Rent-All trailer and maybe stop for breakfast in Johnstown at the Husky gas station and restaurant there before heading up to Ottawa." "Dad? Can I take that rug Mom put in my room too? It's my favorite colour and I think of Mom every time I look at it." "I think she'd like to know that. And yes Aaron, take the rug. I'll tell her you said that son." "I wish she were here right now." "She's having a hard time with you moving out and leaving Aaron. She's never been good with good byes." "But Dad, this isn't really good bye. I'll be back on weekends and holidays." "It `is' a kind of good bye to her. For me too, come to think of it. You're almost all grown up now and moving into your own apartment in a strange city. Give her some time and she'll be fine son." Finally, the rental trailer is all loaded up and we're ready to head out. "Adam, you sit up front and ride shotgun with me. And Aaron, you're in the back this time," Richard says, as we sit in the driveway ready to go. "Looks like a good day for weather and hopefully this should all go well." Richard heads down the 401 to Prescott. "We'll stop in Johnstown to gas up at the Husky gas bar, and Jon's Restaurant there to have something to eat. I'm paying for breakfast and lunch Adam to say thank you for helping out. You know, you've been a really big support to us throughout this whole transition. Aaron's Mother and I are very grateful to you for pitching in and helping us all out here son. She wants you to come over in the next couple of weeks to have dinner with us, just us three after Aaron is gone." "Happy to do whatever I can Mr. Christie. We'll get Aaron set up and off to a good start here. Once we make it up to Ottawa, Richard parks the car in front of the apartment building on Argyle and looks over at where I'm going to be living. "Well, we made it. Now let's test my key out here and have a look inside. Then we can start to slowly unpack." "Hmm, better... much better than I thought it was going to be boys. There is room for a good-size bed in here and that antique pine desk of your grandparents can go over there beside the fireplace. You have some built-in bookshelves in the wall there for your records, stereo equipment and books. The armoire will fit just fine beside the door into the bathroom. And you'll still have room for a drafting board and stool in front of that big window at the front. The TV can go on top of the wash stand and you'll be able to see it from the bed. Very good." "And I want that rug to go right in front of the fireplace Dad. Thanks again for letting me have that." "Let's just get everything placed for now, and you can set up the armoire and get everything fixed the way you want it when you come up just before September 12th to start classes. Is that OK son?" "Yes Dad. I know this has been a long trip. Maybe Adam can help me with that stuff later on." Adam responds with, "Sure thing Aaron. No problem with that. I'd like to, actually." The ride back to Brockville is quiet and fairly uneventful. "Adam, you're driving back. I have to admit I'm not as young as I used to be and this day has been tiring. Are you good with that son?" "Yes Mr. Christie. More than happy to drive back." An hour and a half later and Adam pulls off the 401 saying, "Mr. Christie, if you don't mind, I'll swing around over to my place. You can drop me off there and then you take back over to drive home to your place. Is that OK with you?" "Yes son. Good idea." I pipe up from the back seat, "Adam, can I go to the bathroom at your place? I really like, have to go." "Sure thing Aaron." He throws his keys back to me and says, "I hafta' pick up a package from Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson, so go on in. You know where the bathroom is." Richard smiles at Adam while waiting for me and says, "Thanks again for everything Adam. Now remember, you come on over anytime you like to see us. And I was serious when I said we'll get together for dinner once Aaron is up in Ottawa. I think Viv would really like that son. And so would I." "Yes Mr. Christie. And thanks a lot for the meals and everything. I'll see you real soon." "Bye Adam. I'll call you tomorrow at the store." I lean out from the passenger side window of the car and wave. Then Dad starts to drive away and head on home. Adam unlocks his door and steps into his kitchen. "Fuck! I feel so alone and I miss that damn kinky, sexy, little fucker already." he says out loud to an empty room. Then he looks up above the sink at his `Kiss the Cook' sign. "What the fuck!" he exclaims in complete surprise. I've taken a piece of white Bainbridge board and added the letters `i' and `e' to his sign, so it now reads `Kiss the Cookie'. And right below it is a note that just says, `I love you Adam." Aww fuck Aaron baby. I love you too...