Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 07:53:26 EDT
From: TulsaAuthor@aol.com
Subject: Tales from the Ranch 54/?

Disclaimer:  The following story is a work of fiction.  If you
are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man
relations, please exit this page.

TALES FROM THE RANCH
Copyrightc 2004 by Tulsa Driller.  All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests.  You will
see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is
also the story of young men who love other men and their coming
of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding.  It is a
story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues
but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's
world.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any
specific person or persons.  Any similarity to actual persons or
events is entirely coincidental.  This work is copyrightedc by
the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the
specific written permission of the author.  It is assigned to the
Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but
it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the
written permission of the author.

This story was to have lasted for 10 chapters, each dealing with
a year in the life of Jason and Kevin Williamson from puberty to
when they were in college.  Somewhere along the way, probably
when Dale was introduced and then Craig, Joey and all the
"supporting cast" the story took on a life of its own.  I've
loved writing every word and the characters have become so real
that I just sit and type what they tell me..

PLEASE:  In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist.  My characters
have unprotected sex.  I hope you use proper precautions because
I'd like you to be around to read the last chapter of this story.

Tales from the Ranch
Chapter 54:  Halloween
     Dale woke up as soon as Craig crawled out of bed to go to
the bathroom.  He needed to pee also, so made his way to join
Craig at the stool.  They quickly brushed their teeth when
finished and crawled back into their bed as they still had 20
minutes before it was time for the alarm to ring.  Each was sure
they could keep the other (and themselves) entertained during
that time.
     They were kissing and groping each other and had started to
turn around to be able to pleasure the other when Dale spoke.
     "I want to see you cum instead of just feel it happen on our
stomachs and chests."
     "That's okay.  Why don't you fuck me and then when I'm ready
to cum, I'll tell you.  I want to see you cum, too."
     "Sounds like a plan to me," Dale said, leaning down to his
lover for a kiss.
     By using the precum both were producing in quantity, along
with saliva, Dale quickly had Craig prepared for his entry.  With
extra pillows under his lower back, Dale watched Craig's face as
he pushed into him.  His eyes shut, then opened and widened as he
felt the pleasure of Dale's cock moving up his love canal.
     "Come on, cowboy.  Ride my ass," Craig gasped in pleasure.
     Dale intended to do just that.  He loved the feel of Craig's
sphincter muscle grabbing his dick as he pistoned in and out of
Craig's rectum.  Quickly each reached the point of no return and
Dale grasped Craig's cock as he buried himself inside his lover
as deep as he could reach.  He stroked Craig about ten times and
he felt like Craig's sphincter was about to sever Dale's cock.
As soon as Craig relaxed a bit, Dale pulled out and using both
hands brought them both to a roaring climax.  There was cum
everywhere on Craig's chest and on the bed where both of their
wild shots had gone.
     As they calmed down, Dale leaned in for a kiss, and then
collapsed on Craig's body.  Craig loved the feeling of Dale's
furry front rubbing against him and through the cum both had
produced.
     They lay there, enjoying the bliss of giving each other
pleasure.
     Finally it was time to get out of bed.  Craig helped Dale
strip the sheets off the bed and decided that the mattress pad
needed to be washed, too.
     After Craig cleaned himself up a bit in the bathroom, he
started for the kitchen to get orange juice and coffee for them.
Joey wasn't in his bed, but Craig could detect the aroma of
teenage cum in the room, even though the bed had been folded up.
He immediately knew what had probably taken place and decided
that he'd better strip the hide-a-bed, too.   He and Dale
frequently had to wash their sheets during the week, but now
there was a third person in the household who was going to be
contributing crusty sheets for the laundry, too.
     Craig opened the bed, stripped the sheets and mattress pad,
heading toward the laundry alcove off the kitchen.  He grabbed a
can of Lysol spray and gave Joey's bed a couple of squirts to
help mask the smell of teen hormones and cum, hoping that Joey
had enjoyed himself as much as he and Dale had.
     Joey hadn't started the coffee pot, so Craig clicked it on
after pouring orange juice for him and Dale.
     Later, as he was taking Joey to school he said, "Hey, bud.
I know you made a mess in your bed during the night and I'm cool
with it.  It used to happen to me, too.  Don't worry about it,
but the next time it happens, pull the sheets off and put them in
the laundry."
     Joey was embarrassed.  "I'm sorry.  I don't know what
happened, except when I woke up this morning there was a mess all
over the bed and me, too."
     "Nothin' to be sorry about.  It happens to all young men."
Then with a grin, he asked Joey, "What happened, didn't you have
a chance to jackoff the last couple of days?"
     This really got Joey, and then he realized that Craig was
being honest and not making fun of him.
     "No, with grandma and grandpa here I didn't have a chance.
     "As I said, it's not a problem.  Just put the sheets in the
wash so they don't get stained.  Your other Dad and I have to
wash sheets, too."  With that he poked Joey in the side, to show
that he was teasing him.
     "I think it's neat that we can talk about this.  Some of the
other guys wouldn't dare ask their parents about stuff like
this," Joey told him.
     "Hey, pal.  Dale and I may not have all the answers, but
we've been through this before.  Wet dreams are nature's way of
helping you control teenage hormones and the problems they cause.
The only problem is if you can't talk to us about it."
     "Thanks, Dad Craig.  I love both of you guys.  You are so
cool."
     With that, Joey leaned around and gave Craig a hug since
they were stopped at a stop sign.
     * * * * *
     As soon as Dale had Patrick and Michael on the way to the
field where they were working he finished up some paperwork,
consisting mostly of invoices to be approved for payment so they
could be sent on to the accountant for payment.
     Dale briefly thought about Bret Jenkins, Sr. and the turn-
around he'd done after separating himself from the Rev. Jimmy Bob
Jones and the crowd that attended Victory Temple.  He had to
smile as he remembered that Bret Junior and Joey were best
friends.  He was really proud of Joey, as he was a very
responsible young man.  One moment he was a young adult and the
next he was a young teen who was curious about how the world
worked and where his place was in it.
     The telephone rang while he was musing over his thoughts.
     "Hi Cowboy," he heard as he said, "Bar-W Ranch, this is Dale
Richards."
     He liked it when Craig called him "cowboy" even though he
really wasn't.
     "Hi yourself, Studly," Dale teased back.  He glanced at his
watch, knowing that Craig had already talked to either Lois Grant
or Leland himself about their appointment to meet David Perkins.
     "Thought you'd like to know that we are to meet in Leland's
office at 10:15.  He wants to talk to David before we all have a
chance to meet him.  I guess Leland wants to make sure David
understands what is going on and what is expected of him before
all of us sit down together."
     "That sounds reasonable to me," Dale stated.  "I brought a
pair of slacks, along with a shirt and tie so I can change here
before meeting you at the bank."
     "Okay, Dad and I'll meet you there just before 10:15.  Love
ya," Craig said.
     "I love you more," Dale said, knowing that neither would
ever win that argument.
     * * * * *
     Dale hurriedly finished up the papers on his desk.  He had
something else he wanted to do.
     As he approached the other barn where the horse corral was,
he noticed that Marty's horse, Sourdough, wasn't in the corral.
That wasn't unusual as Marty liked to ride around the ranch to
see what was going on.  He frequently rode up to the horse and
cattle operations rather than drive.  He liked to stay in touch
with the land the Williamson family owned.
     He gave each of the horses half of an apple before leading
his own horse, Tony, out of his stall so he could saddle him up
for riding.  After that was accomplished, he led the horse out of
the barn and through the first gate they would pass through on
the ride.
     Dale, of course, wanted to ride to his favorite spot on the
ranch, an area about a mile from the horse operation
headquarters.  He had discovered this place several years ago.
It sat below a bluff and there was a panoramic view of a valley
quite a ways on down, along with a small lake that was also down
a slope.
     He used to love to ride out there and either sit and think
or wander the ground, letting his horse graze on the prairie
grass.  Marty had told him that a plow had never touched the
ground in this area of the ranch.  Although the soil was good, it
was shallow and rocky, so was unspoiled.
     He remembered the day that he'd brought Craig and Joey,
along with Frank and Doris up here while showing them the ranch
from horseback.  All were taken with the beauty of the area.
Craig had mentioned that he would love to design a house that
would take advantage of the view.  But, there were problems.
Marty probably wouldn't want to sell a few acres in the middle of
their family ranch.  Then too, getting materials and equipment to
the site wouldn't be easy as there were no paved roads nearby.
Utilities were an even bigger problem.  Electricity was available
about a quarter of a mile away, toward the horse operation.
Water would have to come from a well and he couldn't even begin
to guess the depth one would have to go to get a flow of good
water.  Same thing for gas.  The house would have to be total
electric or propane or butane would have to be trucked in and a
tank put in place.
     Why was he even thinking about the possibility of building a
house out here?  Certainly there were other places that were just
as great and easier to get to.  Besides he liked to ride out here
to clear his head and allow himself to think in solitude.
     When he reached the area, he stopped Tony and swung himself
off the horse.  He wrapped the leads around the saddle horn and
allowed Tony to wander while he walked. and thought.
      There were so many thoughts trying to tumble through his
head.  The one of concern right now was the possibility of a
family enterprise in the computer business.  That had seemed like
a far-fetched idea until Frank said that he would love the
opportunity to help get the business started and possibly stay on
as the financial manager.  This, of course, was enthusiastictly
endorsed by Leland but hinged on David Perkins approval.
     With Frank working for the new company, any doubts Dale
harbored had pretty much vanished.  He and Craig wouldn't be
directly involved in the management, but Frank would see to it
that they knew what was going on with the daily operation and any
problems that might require a decision before they became a major
stumbling block.  And, with Leland overseeing the operation, he
felt very secure in the decision to pursue opening the store.
     Was this being done for Joey's sake?  Maybe, maybe not.
Joey certainly would have enough money of his own when he was
allowed control of his trust fund ten years from now.  Dale
didn't know where the venture capital money was coming from and
at first that bothered both him and Craig a great deal.  Here
again, Frank had explained what was happening and now both of
them could see past that.
     Dale glanced at his watch.  It was 9:20.  An hour from now
they would all be sitting in Leland Stanton's office, deciding if
this was really the right thing for them to do.
     He called to Tony who immediately came to him.  Dale swung
back on his horse and started for the barn/office.
     He wasn't aware that another person had been watching him.
Marty was going to cut across that area on his way back to the
ranch buildings, but decided go back a different way.  He knew
Dale liked to ride up here to think things over and he wasn't
going to disturb him.
     * * * * *
     At 8:45 a.m., after the morning mass, Fr. George Tikker
received a phone call while he and Paul were sitting at the
breakfast table, enjoying being with each other and having a good
cup of coffee to sip.  Fr. George had discovered that he liked
coffee better than tea when he was attending seminary in
Wisconsin.  Paul had long ago decided that he preferred the brew,
too.
     Paul answered the phone.  The person calling was Arletta
Sterns from Memorial Hospital.
     "Just a moment," Paul said as he handed the phone to his
lover.  With his hand over the mouthpiece, he said, "It's a Mrs.
Sterns.  She's the Administrator of Memorial Hospital."
     "Fr. George here.  What can I do for you, Mrs. Sterns?"
     "I need some information and if you can't help me, maybe you
can direct me to someone who is in a position to do so."
     "I'll do what I can," Fr. George said, wondering what the
mysterious request was.
     "As you know, the Reverend Jimmy Bob Jones died as a result
of an accident last Saturday morning."
     "Yes, I was aware of that," he answered.
     "Well, the body is still in the morgue here at the hospital.
No one will step forward to claim it.  His wife doesn't want
anything to do with it and the members of Victory Temple don't
want anything to do with this either."
     Fr. George made a sound of agreement.
     "The mortuary won't remove the body from the morgue until a
responsible person will agree to pay the expense of embalming and
whatever other services are decided on," she said.
     "And?." Fr. George asked.
     "Would the Williamsport Ministerial Alliance take
responsibility for the body and its burial?  It's been five days
since the accident."
     "Are there any other relatives?" Ft. George asked.
     "Well, his wife.  She claims she doesn't have any money and
she's living with her boyfriend.  On top of that, she just found
out she is pregnant with this fellow's child."
     "That's a pity," Fr. George told her.
     "Mrs. Jones only knew of two relatives and I can't locate
either one.  He had an Aunt Lujean Jones who pretty much raised
him.  She used to live in Dumas, Texas, but she must have moved
away from there, or maybe she's dead.  No one seems to remember
her.  His father left him with this aunt, his sister, when Jimmy
Bob was about 10 years old.  Jimmy Bob's wife doesn't recall him
having had any contact with either of these people."
     Somehow, Fr. George wasn't surprised.
     "Let me make some phone calls and I'll see what we can do
about getting the body removed from the hospital.  If Mrs. Jones
will sign the papers, maybe I can get the Alliance to pay for
cremation."
     "Oh, thank you Father.  You might even get the mortuary and
crematorium to handle this on a hardship case and not charge you
for it," Mrs. Sterns told him.
     "Well, that's an idea I hadn't thought of," Fr. George told
her.  "I'll get back with you later this morning and, hopefully,
we can be rid of this mess."
     After they hung up, Fr. George started laughing.
     "What's so funny?" Paul questioned.  He'd been in the
kitchen and hadn't heard very much of the phone conversation.
     "The 'Legend of Jimmy Bob Jones' won't die, just because he
did," Fr. George said, and then laughed again.
     He related the conversation to Paul, who enjoyed the mirth
as much as his lover.
     "This is better than a soap opera on the telly," Paul
laughed.  "But, only because we know some of the people
involved."
     "I need to make a few phone calls.  Maybe I can get several
of the ministers to give a few dollars each.  I think the cost of
cremation is only about $100," he told Paul.
     "What are you going to do with the ashes?" Paul want to
know.
     "Have them boxed up and sent to Victory Temple.  Maybe they
can declare Jimmy Bob a saint and parade his ashes up and down
the aisles," Fr. George said, without any humor in his voice.
     "Hey, this is Halloween, it's an appropriate time to do
that," Paul teased.
     "That congregation probably is clueless about Halloween and
it's relationship to All Saint's Day," Fr. George declared.  "I
can't imagine they know anything about Holy Days except for
Christmas and Easter."
     "You are probably right about that.  Well, good luck.  I'm
sure the other ministers in town will be glad to see him burn,
too.  St. James probably felt the brunt of his verbal attacks
more than any other congregation in town, but I can't think the
others were comfortable with his activities as they were revealed
this past week or two."
     "No, you are right about that," Fr. George agreed.
     * * * * *
     Leland Stanton and David Perkins ate a late dinner together
at the IHOP close to the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport in
Austin.  Leland immediately found David to be a personable man
with a quick sense of humor.  He was about 5'10" and probably
weighed 170 pounds.  He wore his thick, sandy brown hair trimmed
neatly, but one could tell that it had a mind of its own, wanting
to arrange itself differently than it was combed.  David had
brown eyes that seemed to dance, along with bright, even teeth.
His skin was either a natural dark complexion or he spent a lot
of time in the sun.  Leland wondered if he worked out or spent
time playing various outdoor athletic games.
     David Perkins had gone to work for Sturdy Lift Corporation
after he had been out of college for a year.  He first had been
involved with helping some friends start a software development
company for a year after he graduated.  His expertise in sales,
management and attention to detail had the company up and running
in a very short time.  His two best buds from college provided
the product and David not only found the money to promote it, but
also traveled the country from one end to the other to
demonstrate and sell the business software they came up with.
     He still owned a chunk of stock in that company, although he
had been more than willing to accept cash for what he had done.
His partners wouldn't hear of it and cut him in on the stock when
it went public.  In the three years since he had left to go to
work for Sturdy Lift, the stock had split 3 times and he had
bought more with each split.  He now owned 28% of the stock and
the dividends provided him with a comfortable income, even if he
never worked another day.
     But, that wasn't what he wanted.  A college professor had
kept his eye on David and recommended that Walt Timmons hire him.
Sturdy Lift products were selling well, but the business was at a
point where it was either time to grow and go national or remain
as it was, a small company with a great product and low sales.
Within 6 months, David had helped the company grow from 8
employees to 64 and had secured venture capital money to build a
new building and buy additional manufacturing equipment.
     Then the bottom fell out right after the application for a
patent was filed.  Walt dropped over with a heart attack at the
age of 48.  The two sons, Sean and Ian, took over the company,
voted themselves a huge salary and then cut expenses to pay their
salaries.  Things had started to turn sour almost at once.
David's travel to promote the product was cut.  Plans to hire a
couple of salesmen were shelved and, of course, production drew
almost to a halt because of few sales.  David had to layoff 57
employees.
     David's pleas to the sons fell on deaf ears.  They were dumb
enough to think that there was a pile of money somewhere that
would allow them to continue to do nothing and still draw their
salaries.
     David told Leland, "There isn't enough money in the bank to
pay any bills or salaries after this week.  There is about
$30,000 in accounts receivable, but it's in a "floor plan" where
the dealers are making payments on it and when the equipment is
sold, we get the balance of our money."
     "You said that the company might be for sale?" Leland asked.
     "They are going to have to close their doors.  There's no
way it's going to survive.  Even if there was an infusion of
cash, the sons are going to have to leave.  If they hadn't gotten
greedy, they were sitting on a potential gold mine."
     "And the patent?" Leland asked.
     "They don't know the value of it.  Someone might be able to
buy the company for 20% of what it could be worth.  If they could
do that and get the patent rights, a lot of money could be made,"
David told him.
     "Keep your eyes and ears open.  I've got someone who would
buy the company and move everything to Williamsport.  This person
has helped many companies get their start and a lot of them have
grown into companies with names that are known nationally now."
     "These boys aren't going to turn loose of anything until the
cash dries up.  They wouldn't even talk to me about what could
happen," David told him.
     "I understand.  Just let me know if someone starts sniffing
around, wanting to buy the company.  I can make them a better
deal."
     "I'd like to see them starve to death," David laughed.
     Leland laughed with him, and then turned serious.
     "Okay, one of the prospective owners of the computer company
has a father who has been the business manager for the largest
law firm in Dallas for his entire career.  He has stepped forward
to say that he would like to help get this company started.  We
can make him the financial manager and he would also take the
responsibility for hiring, payroll, insurance and the daily
operation of the business.  He's willing to give us three months
of his time and then will decide if he wants to continue here or
go back to his other job at the end of his 90 day leave."
     "Wow!" was David's response.
     "I can assure you that he's not going to get hurt either
way.  Although he is the business manager for the firm and it has
75 attorneys on staff, plus that many more clerks, paralegals and
secretaries; the original partners made him a partner when the
company was starting up.  He has taken all the stock options
through the years and could retire at age 55 and never worry
about money again.  But, he doesn't want to do that.  He's
willing to work for us."
     "I'm impressed," David said.  "Now what about the guys who
are going to own the company.  What can you tell me about them?"
     "They are both young and have limited experience in the
business field.  That's why we need someone like you and Craig's
father, Frank.  As I told you, I'll be on the board and oversee
the operation, hopefully from afar, until the venture capital
money is repaid," Leland stated.
     "Okay," David responded.
     "Craig Bastian, the one with the father, is 27 and an
architect.  He's in partnership with a friend from college, Don
Albrecht, and they have proven themselves by carefully renovating
old homes, adding modern conveniences such as new lighting and
central heat and air conditioning; and doing it without upsetting
the interior of the home.  At the present time they are working
with a developer on a small shopping center to be built close to
the downtown area."
     "Sounds like they know their stuff, doesn't it?" David
asked.
     "Yeah, there are two nice buildings here in Williamsport
that they have designed.  One is called The Carriage House and
has ten condo units in it.  The other is the Republic of Texas
Bank and office building.  It's right downtown, two blocks from
Commerce Bank where I work," Leland said.
     "And the other owner of the computer company?" David asked.
     "That's Dale Richards.  He's from Williamsport and is an up
and coming young man.  I think he'll be 25 on his next birthday.
He came from a poor family and he had to quit school to pay
medical bills for his mother before she died about three years
ago.  He has worked at the Bar-W Ranch, which is the largest
operation of that sort in central Texas.  Dale started out as a
laborer, working crops, and was made foreman over that part of
the operation.  Then recently he's been named as General Manger
for the entire operation, which includes, crops, cattle, horses,
timber, gas and oil.  He's smart and should be easy to work
with," Leland responded.
     "What about the venture capital funds?  Any chance of them
drying up?" David asked.
     "No.  This person is determined to see this succeed as he
has a big interest in the economy of Williamsport and the area.
I'm sure that if it was needed that some additional funds could
be made available, but unless the economy completely collapses,
my forecast is that the loan could be paid back ahead of
schedule, but I wouldn't recommend it unless the company is
generating money by the ton," Leland laughed.
     David joined in the laughter.
     Leland looked at his watch.  "It's almost 11:45 and we still
have a drive back to Williamsport.  I've made a reservation for
you at the Best Western out on the highway.  I'll pick you up
about 8:15 and we can have a quick breakfast before going on to
the bank."
     "Sounds great," David said, getting up out of his chair and
following Leland to the cash register.
     * * * * *
     There were whispered     rumors around school as to what had
happened to Coach Paul Dennison.  The boys in the last hour Phys
Ed. class were some of the most popular in school that day as
they could provide an eyewitness account of what had happened to
warrant his being removed from the class.
     So everywhere Joey, Bryce and Matt went, one student or
another had a thousand questions.
     What actually happened was that Douglas Tate, the principal
of Davy Crockett High School had met with Paul Dennison on Monday
to talk about his overly aggressive behavior toward his students.
In addition Marty Williamson and Clint Meyers, both of whom were
on the school board were present.
     Principal Tate opened the meeting and then got right to the
point.
     "Paul, these aren't Marine recruits, they are 14 to 18 year
old boys in gym class.  You should be encouraging them to learn
how to play as a team instead of dividing the group into two
teams to play half-court basketball and then making them run laps
for punishment for a foul that probably wasn't even their fault.
This is a class for the boys to enjoy, not be threatened by a
frustrated drill sergeant."
     Paul Dennison blew up and went into a screaming rage.  Those
in the outer office area at the school were treated to language
seldom heard and certainly not by a teacher in high school.
     "These boys need discipline.  Most of them don't know
anything except being babied by their families and some of them
don't even get that.  Their parents really don't give a fuck
because they don't know any better, either.
     Marty stood up.  "Paul, listen to me.  We've had complaints
ever since you started in the Williamsport School System.  We've
had complaints about the way you handle the football and
basketball teams.  We've had complaints about your coaching the
track team, but most of the complaints have come from the way you
conduct yourself in front of the boys Phys Ed. class."
     Coach Dennison was sputtering and jumped to his feet.
"Dammit it to hell, don't you understand?  I'm trying to give
those boys a little backbone."
     Marty cut him off.  "The school board is warning you that
you had better change your ways and your teaching methods.  I
want to see lesson plans on Wednesday and I want those boys doing
something different in gym class everyday.  They can climb ropes,
they can play scooter basketball, they can wrestle, they can do
gymnastics, you can take them outside to play soccer; but they
are not going to be playing half-court basketball and running
laps all the time. anymore!  Do I make myself clear?"
     Paul's response was, "Soccer is for wimpy-assed faggots to
play.  Not in my class!"
     "Lesson plans - Wednesday morning - in Doug Tate's office by
8:30 a.m.  Got that?" Marty asked.
     Paul glared at him, simply nodding his head.
     So, it shouldn't have surprised anyone as to what had
happened during gym period the evening before.  This time the
meeting took place in Coach Dennison's office with coaches Eddie
Thompson and Joyce Bressler who went with Paul to his office.
Doug Tate was there along with Clint Meyers and Marty Williamson,
who had also witnessed what had just happened in Phys Ed. class.
     Marty spoke.  "I have permission to speak for the entire
Williamsport School Board as we've had two telephone conference
calls today.  They have each given me permission for what I'm
about to say and Clint here, will back me up."
     "First of all, I don't know for sure what happened out there
this afternoon, but it looked to me that the boys were doing just
fine until you got there, Mr. Dennison.  Sure, a couple of the
boys took a spill and the ball ended up in the wrong court, but
that is no reason for you to come unhinged and start shouting
obscenities and berating the boys.  Running 40 to 60 laps isn't
going to teach the boys anything about sportsmanship.  In fact,
in my book, anything more than 5 laps is excessive punishment in
this environment."
     Paul had a wild-eyed look on his face.  He was so mad he
couldn't even whisper, which was probably a good thing as there
was no argument to be heard.
     "Effective immediately, you are on 'official leave' for the
month of November.  You will be paid your normal salary, but not
for extracurricular time, such as coaching the football team
after school.  The school board will send you to a behavior
management class in Austin that will last for three weeks.  At
the end of that course, their staff will evaluate you.  If you
pass their interview, you will be allowed to come back to your
position here, however, I warn you that you will be watched
carefully and any return to your abnormal behavior will result in
immediate termination.
     "If their staff feels that you haven't changed your ways,
you will be dismissed at the end of November.  It's all up to
you, Paul.  This is all the school board can offer."
     Marty looked into Paul's eyes and didn't like what he saw.
"Any questions?"
     One could tell that Coach Paul Dennison was about to blow
up, but he couldn't even squeak out a reply.  Nobody in the room
felt sorry for him.  He'd brought this all on himself.
     "Okay, what happened today stays in this room," said Doug
Tate.  "I don't want rumors to get started.  Eddie, will you and
Joyce stay with Paul while he gets things he wants to take with
him?  Then he is to turn all of his keys in and they will be held
in the key cabinet in the office until he returns, hopefully at
the end of November."
     Eddie and Joyce stayed with Paul while Doug went to his
office to get a couple of boxes so Paul could pack what he
wanted.
     Paul had regained a whisper and true to his nasty
disposition, used what little sound he could make to berate those
with him and everyone else he could think of.  He started in on
Eddie.
     "Okay, faggot, I guess you got what you've wanted all along.
My goddamn job.  I'll bet you engineered this whole thing, didn't
you?  You're a goddamn fudge-packing cocksucker, aren't you?"
     Doug Tate was standing in the door and about that time Coach
Carol Holmen came into the office area they all shared, having
sent the boys off for their showers.
     Coach Dennison was just getting wound up, although he still
could only talk just above a whisper.
     "And you two lesbians.  You think your kind rules the world,
don't you?" he hissed.
     Carol Holmen, the larger of the two women walked over in
front of Paul.  "I ought to kick you in the nuts, but it would
probably be wasted effort on my part because you don't have any
balls.  It's not worth my time."
     "All right folks," said Doug.  "Let's cool down.  He put the
boxes on Paul's desk.  "I think it would probably be a good idea
for all four of us to wait for Paul to pack what he wants to take
with him."
     Paul tried to say more, but he could only move his lips.
There wasn't any sound.
     All he wanted to take with him were a few things that fit
easily into one box.  He reluctantly gave Doug his key ring and
left the building.
     * * * * *
     Later that evening after they had gone to bed, Eddie told
Tom about the meeting with Coach Dennison.  When he got to the
part where the coach had called him a cocksucker, Tom asked,
"Well, are you?"
     Eddie smiled and said, "Yes".
     "Show me then," Tom giggled.  And Eddie did.
     * * * * *
     Marty arrived back at the corral just as Dale was finishing
up stowing his saddle and combing Tony.
     "Hi, Dale.  Haven't seen you to talk to for a couple of
days."
     Dale was pleased to see Marty, too.
     "Yeah, a lot going on.  I lost one of my workers.  John
Sterling, our newest guy, went to work for Ray Evans.  John's a
smart fellow and will do well working for that company."
     "I'm sorry to hear that, Marty said.  I know you were
impressed with his work."
     "He would have been a good crops foreman, but Ray will be
able to use him for his brains and certainly there is more
opportunity for him there.  Ray's company is growing rapidly."
     "What about your other men?  Is either of them up to the
crops foreman job?"
     "They are both good workers, but I'm not sure either of them
has any ambition in that direction.  They are both 'followers'
and not leaders," Dale replied.
     "Are you going to hire someone right away?" Marty asked.
     "I think we can get by until spring.  The men have two more
sections of ground to work and then we'll knock off the hard work
until late February.  I'll probably need to add two men then, but
there is no use paying them for slack time," Dale said.
     "Good thinking.  We'll probably be adding another 3 and
maybe five sections of ground about the time to plant spring
crops.  You may need more than two men."
     "Are those deals pretty well wrapped up?" Dale asked.
     "The contracts are ready to sign on the three sections we
talked about last month.  We're talking to the other people now,
but they've indicated that we offered a fair price so it
shouldn't be any problem to close the deals," Marty said.
     Dale glanced at his watch.  "Marty, we have a meeting with
Leland Stanton at the bank at 10:15.  I need to change clothes
and head to town."
     "I meant to ask you, what's going on with that venture?"
Marty wanted to know.
     "We're to meet with a fellow this morning that Leland found
in Kansas City.  Leland is impressed with him.  Also, Craig's
father is talking about taking early retirement from his company
and being our operations and financial manager."
     "That's great.  You'll certainly have someone you can trust
handling the money and financial reporting," Marty told him.
     "Yes, and he can take charge of personnel, insurance,
payroll and the daily operation while the manager is out selling
and promoting our product.  Hopefully, this should all come
together in a few days.  Leland and Craig have been scouting for
a store location and Leland wants to open the store the day after
Thanksgiving.  That's really moving fast," Dale said.  He was
getting really excited about this now.
     Marty shook hands with Dale and then pulled him into a hug.
"I know you guys will do well with this.  And now that Frank's
involved it really will be a family enterprise.  Good luck."
     Dale was thankful Marty was pleased.
     * * * * *
     Dale walked into the lobby on Leland's floor just at 10:15.
Lois Grant was just ready to take Frank and Craig to their
meeting in Leland's office.  She greeted Dale and led them down
the short hall.
     Leland greeted them and introduced David Perkins who gave
each of them a firm handshake.  David was impressed with the
appearance of the three men.  It was easy enough to tell that
Frank and Craig were father and son.  Dale presented a somewhat
more rugged appearance, but still fit his good clothes well.
     As the conversation progressed and they were sitting around
the coffee table, Frank was very impressed with David's grasp of
the economy and the questions he directed to Frank about cash
flow, overnight investments of unused cash, inventory, personnel,
benefits and at least another dozen things that impacted a
business.
     All Dale and Craig could do was to sit and listen.  Most of
what they heard made a lot of sense, but neither would have
thought of the questions and answers they heard.  Both were glad
that Frank was there and could answer the questions to David's
satisfaction.  Then it was Leland's turn to quiz both Frank and
David.
     Leland went through the whole scenario from product
availability, staff training, sales and marketing, future plans
for the company if they were successful in the retail business.
He talked a little about being a service center for several name
brands of computers, building their own custom line of computers
for businesses, selling parts at both wholesale and retail
levels, eventually getting into manufacturing their own boards
and selling to other companies.
     David interrupted several times to ask questions and made
sure that Frank, Dale and Craig understood what was being
discussed.  All three of the men were very impressed with David
Perkins.
     Finally after an intense hour of discussion the conversation
wound down.  Leland excused himself to go to the restroom,
leaving the other four men alone.  This was a planned opportunity
for them to talk to each other without Leland being present.
     David had questions for Frank about his present job and the
retail business verses managing a large law firm.  Frank's
answers seemed to please David.
     Then Craig jumped in with questions about David's schooling,
his present job and his family.
     "I'm not married," David replied.  I was engaged for about a
year but my fiancee thought that I was more likely to be married
to my job than to her," he laughed.  We decided that marriage to
each other wasn't a good idea.  There isn't anyone else at the
present time."
     Craig was surprised when Dale made the next statement.
     "We want you to know that Craig and I are domestic partners.
We've not been together very long, but feel that we have a deep
commitment to each other.  In addition, we have a 14-year old
son, he's actually is my half-brother, who lives with us.  You
will probably meet him while you are here.  He's an honors
student and will be taking Advanced Placement courses next
semester."
     "Thanks for being up front about that part of your lives.
I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it or understand much about the
gay lifestyle, but it's not for me," David replied.
     "We just don't want any surprises down the road," Craig
said.  "We're not flamboyant and would never do anything to
embarrass ourselves or this company we are hoping to start."
     "I wouldn't have guessed that you fellows were gay, you
don't seem to be any different than any other men I encounter,"
David said.
     "Thanks for telling us that," Dale said.  "We are quiet
about our relationship, but many people know about it and have no
problem with our love for each other."
     "I've never had any gay friends, so this is new to me.  I
just don't want you to hit on me."
     Craig said, "Number one, Dale and I won't hit on you, but
I'll bet you have a lot of friends who are gay, but just haven't
told you about it, probably because they didn't want to upset
you.  Just think about your various friends, who they associate
with and their relationships with each other.
     Almost immediately, David came up with two of his friends
who seemed much closer to each other than the women they were
dating.  He'd just never been exposed to the "alternative life
style" before.  Maybe he had friends he "didn't know about"?
     Regardless, Dale and Craig seemed like good solid men.  He
needed a job.  They wanted to start up a business.  Craig's
father was available to lend his management experience.  He was
comfortable with that.
     David's next questions were to Craig and his architectural
company.  They discussed that for a few minutes, and then David
questioned Dale.  He wanted to know about the Bar-W Ranch and its
operation.  He had grown up on a farm in north central Oklahoma
where they harvested two crops each year.  Winter wheat in June
and a crop of either soybeans or silage in the fall.  He'd had no
experience with raising horses or cattle and was stunned at the
size of the herds on the Bar-W Ranch.
     Leland allowed the men to visit with each other for almost a
half hour before coming back into the room.  "Gentlemen, our
lunch reservation is for noon.  If anyone needs to use the
restroom, it's down the hall to the left."
     "Thanks," David replied as he started out the door.
     The others followed after a short wait, none of them going
together.
     Lunch continued with questions and answers by each of them.
Leland seemed to take charge of the conversation to begin with,
but then that was taken over by Frank with his excellent
questions and viewpoints on the many aspects of the soon-to-be
company.
     Craig and Dale joined in, both discovering that they knew a
lot more about running a business than they had thought.
     By 1:15 they were back in Leland's office and he asked David
Perkins to excuse the rest of them so they could have a private
discussion.  David decided to ride the elevator down to street
level and walk around the downtown area for the next 45 minutes.
     Leland got right to the point as soon as David was out of
the office.  "I'd like to hear what each of you think of our
candidate," he said.
     Frank was first to speak up.  "I like him.  He certainly
knows his stuff and seems to have the track record to prove it.
It's too bad that he's going to lose his job with Sturdy Lift,
but I guess there are no guarantees in life.  However, you can't
tell.  My present job was to be a temporary one and I've been
there for 33 years," he laughed.
     "I like his ideas for marketing and his thoughts about where
the company might go and his plans for growing it a little at a
time," Craig told them.
     "I think he would be a good general manager.  I like his
emphasis on sales marketing and the fact that he's willing to
leave the financial operation to you and Dad," Dale told Leland.
     "What are your feelings about him?" Frank asked Leland.
     "We had a good discussion last night and another extended
meeting this morning before you came in.  He has impressed me.
We discussed his benefit package and what he wants is doable.
He's not greedy but asked for a salary, commission and profit
sharing or bonus.  Actually we would be paying Frank a higher
salary, but David could easily beat him out when the company
really starts to make a profit.  Then we might have to
renegotiate Frank's salary," Leland said, smiling at all of them.
     "How soon can he start here in Williamsport?" Craig asked.
     "Probably on Monday of next week.  Neither of us feels that
he owes Sturdy Lift anything more in the way of his time.
Especially since he might not get paid for it," Leland said, "but
we haven't nailed that down yet."
     "I agree," Frank told them.  "He's not going to be able to
have any influence over the two sons and the company is going to
sink, regardless."
     "That's the way I see it, too.  My friend at Boatman's Bank
in Kansas City is the person who recommended David.  He's in a
position to see what will happen and since they are already in
financial trouble there won't be any more loans from his bank.
He'll keep me advised about buying the company and the
possibility of moving it to Williamsport."
     "David wouldn't be likely to want to work for them if the
company was moved here, would he?" Dale asked.
     "I don't think so.  He gave them his loyalty.  They are the
one's who chose not to listen to him.  I think you'll find that
he'll be committed to this company.  By the way, we need to come
up with a name for it," Leland said.
     "We already have one," Dale said proudly.  "Joey thought of
it this morning.  We were trying to come up with some combination
of our initials.  We like his idea.  It's 'Saber Computers' with
the slogan, 'the cutting edge of computer technology'.
     "How's that spelled?" Leland asked.
     "S - A - B - E -R," Craig replied.
     "Shouldn't be a problem.  American Airlines calls their
reservation system 'Sabre', but they spell it differently.  Can't
get in an argument with them," Leland told the men.  "I like the
reference to the 'cutting edge of computer technology'.  That's
great!"
     Then Leland told them, "We'll have to file corporation
papers and obtain permission to do business under that name, but
it shouldn't be a problem.  Does Joey have any ideas for a logo?"
he asked.
     "We didn't talk about that," Frank told them.  "But I'll bet
he can come up with some ideas."
     "Okay.  That certainly doesn't have to be decided today.
What we need to do is to finalize some agreements for Frank and
David's employment and have you fellows sign a contract for the
venture capital agreement and we are ready to roll on this."
     "How soon are we going to be able to do this?" Dale asked.
     "Tomorrow morning.  You can sign your venture capital
agreement and then the employment contracts for Frank and David.
After that I want to hit the Austin and Williamsport papers with
an announcement on Sunday.  We don't have to decide on a location
yet, but I know that Craig has looked at a couple that would be
suitable, either short term or long term leases."
     "Could I ask for something?" Dale wanted to know.
     "Sure," Leland said.  He was enthused with what had
transpired today.
     "I know that Joey is a minor, but could he sign the
contracts, too?  He is really excited about this and I can sign
as his legal guardian.  Does that put his trust fund at a risk?"
     "No, his funds are not at risk.  I think that's a great
idea.  He will feel that he's really a big part of this, but his
signature wouldn't be binding.  We'll just put the words "a
minor" under his signature line.  It will have absolutely no
bearing on the contract."
     "Thanks,' Craig said, then laughed.  "You realize that all
we set out to do was to help him pass a computer lab course at
Davy Crockett High School?"
     "I remember," Leland smiled.  "How's that class going?"
     Dale laughed.  "Joey and at least one other boy in the class
know a whole lot more about computer programming and operation
than the clown teaching it."
     David Perkins was waiting in the outer office and Leland
invited him to join the rest of them around the coffee table in
his office.
     Leland again started the discussion.  "David, the agreement
has been made to hire you at the wage and benefit package you and
I agreed on this morning.  How soon do you have to be back in
Kansas City?"
     He laughed a little.  "I guess all I really need to do is
turn in my keys and collect my final paycheck, assuming there's
enough money to pay me.  Other than that, a copy of the
employment contract will allow me to break my apartment lease.  I
guess all I need to do is rent a U-Haul and either tow my car or
see if I can get a friend to drive it down for me.  So, I guess I
need to spend the rest of the day and tomorrow morning looking
for a place to live."
     "The various contracts will be ready for everyone to sign
tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.  Dale, Craig and Joey will need
to sign everything and Frank and David will need to sign their
employment contracts," Leland said.  Then he added, "Any
questions?"
     There were none and the men shook hands as they stood up.
     "You don't have a car down here.  I'd be glad to help you
find a place to live, or at least direct you to a realtor who
deals in rental property," Craig told David.
     "I don't want to be a burden, but that really would be
appreciated," he told Craig.
     "Not a problem.  There are some really nice apartments in
the River Parks complex.  There are some efficiency units as well
as both one and two bedroom apartments.  Then there are duplexes
and houses available, too.  We'll have to go to a realtor to get
a listing on them."
     "I bet that Phyllis Richmond can find exactly what he
needs," Dale said with a grin.
     Leland and Craig about doubled up with laughter.  Frank
couldn't remember who Phyllis Richmond was and, of course, David
had no clue.
     "That's great!" Leland said when he finally got his
composure back.
     David was standing there with a funny look on his face.
     Craig quickly explained.  "She's just a bit of 'local color'
in the real estate market here in Williamsport.  I don't think
any of us will be dealing with her again."
     Leland spoke up.  "Shall we meet back here in the morning at
10 o'clock?
     Everyone nodded, and then Frank spoke up.  "I think this
calls for a celebration and I'd be glad to treat everyone to
drinks and dinner tonight.  Craig, do you think we could go to
the Lakeshore Country Club?"
     "I can handle that," Leland told them.  "I think that the
bank can help us celebrate this occasion.  It's my first use of
venture capital funds that directly affects the economy of
Williamsport.  Commerce Bank will pick up the tab," he said.
     They agreed that Leland would pick David up at his motel at
6:30 and they would all meet at the Lakeshore about 6:45.  Doris
and Joey were to join them.
     * * * * *
     It was 3:15 p.m.  Dale had been gone from the Bar-W far
longer than he had planned.  However, his cell phone hadn't rung
so there must be no problems at the ranch.  Dale dropped Frank
off at the condo on his way back to the ranch.
     Craig took David Perkins to the River Park Apartments first
and then on to the Four Winds Apartments, these being the nicest
complexes in Williamsport.  There were both a one and two bedroom
unit available at River Park and both faced the lake the river
formed behind the downstream dam.  Four Winds had a two-bedroom
apartment, but David was more impressed with the unit at River
Park.
     "Do you want to see if you can find a house to rent?" Craig
asked as they were sitting in the parking lot at the Four Winds.
     "Actually, I think I'd be happy at River Park if they will
give me a six month lease.  I would like to look at houses, but
to buy one rather than rent.  Six months will give me time to
find something suitable and make a purchase."
     Craig was pleased to hear this.  It meant that David was
dedicated to staying in Williamsport.
     * * * * *
     It only took Fr. George 5 phone calls to get all the
arrangements made.  His first call was to Shepherd's Funeral
Home.  The manager told him that they would pick up the body,
provide a box for the crematorium and deliver the body for $95.
For that fee, the ashes would be put into an aluminum canister.
     The second phone call was to Marlene Jones who was very cool
toward Fr. George until she found out that he wasn't asking for
money, but only needed her signature to allow the body to be
cremated.  He told her that he would pick up the form and bring
it past her apartment for her signature by 11 o'clock.
     The next call was to the treasurer of the Williamsport
Ministerial Association.  Rev. Preston Rogers of First Christian
Church told him they had funds to cover such things as that and
he would call the mortuary to guarantee payment.  The only thing
Fr. George had to do was to pick up the form at the mortuary,
secure Marlene's signature and return it to the mortuary so Rev.
Jimmy Bob's body could be taken from the hospital.
     For some strange reason, it gave Fr. George perverse
pleasure to tell the mortuary to deliver the canister containing
the ashes to Victory Temple.
     * * * * *
     Doris had enjoyed another day somewhat to herself.  It was a
much different routine than being at home where she played bridge
and canasta with two luncheon and card clubs she belonged to.
She was enjoying getting acquainted with Williamsport and looking
through the stores and what they had to offer.  She was amazed,
deciding that Williamsport was a city beyond its size.  She
decided that there was a lot of money in that town as there were
branches of stores from Dallas and Houston, a couple which had no
outlets in Austin.
     Returning to the condo that Craig, Dale and Joey lived in,
she encountered Vernon Ernst waiting for the elevator.  They
recognized each other although they had not been introduced.
Doris decided to break the ice as they nodded to each other,
commenting on the beautiful day.
     "Are you Mr. Ernst?" Doris asked.
     "Yes, I'm Vernon Ernst and you must be Craig's mother?" he
replied.
     "I am.  Craig told me that you are having an estate sale
starting in the morning?" she said.
     He was hesitant to answer in the affirmative as the women
who were handling the sale had decreed that no one be admitted
before the sale opened the next morning.
     "Yes," he replied.
     To his relief Doris replied, "I'll be down for the sale in
the morning, but I wanted to tell you that my husband and I may
be moving to Williamsport to help our family with a new business
venture.  We will be looking for an apartment to rent for at
least 90 days and maybe 6 months or longer."
     "I really hate to take a lease for less than 10 months.
I'll be retiring from my job with the government next October.
My mother, who lived here, recently died and my sister is having
some problems, so we may want to come back here to live."
     "We would be interested in looking at the unit if you want
to rent it.  We won't have a decision for a day or two as to what
might happen," Doris told him.
     "You are welcome to look at the condo," Vernon said.  It
might be hard to visualize what it really looks like.  They have
tables set up everywhere.  It's kind of like going through a
maze."
     "I understand.  How many bedrooms are there?"
     "Two, but there is another room that could easily be used as
such.  There are two bathrooms, one for the master bedroom and
the other is for the second bedroom, but is also accessible from
the hall."
     The layout was quite a bit different than the condo Craig
shared with his family, but had the same amount of floor space.
Craig's unit was more interesting and had larger rooms.
     "My husband and I might be interested in this unit, but we
won't know for a couple of days," Doris told him.
     "That's fine.  I'll be here until Sunday afternoon.  I'm not
pressed to rent it right away, but I hate for it to sit here
empty for several months," he replied.
     Doris thanked him for the tour, telling him that she would
be back for the estate sale the next morning.
     * * * * *
     When Joey arrived home from school, Frank and Craig told him
they were going to the Lakeshore Country Club to celebrate,
without telling Joey what was going on.  They wanted Dale to be
there to share in the celebration of telling him what had
happened that afternoon.
     "I'm supposed to go to choir practice tonight," Joey said in
disappointment.
     Craig was disappointed, too.  After all this was a big event
for this entire family and he wanted Joey to know he was a part
of it.
     "Can you call Paul and find out if you can be excused?  We
would really like for you to go with us," Craig said.
     Joey brightened.  "Yeah, I'll call right now.  He should
still be at the rectory."
     He picked up the phone, pushing the buttons for his call.
     Paul answered on the second ring.
     "Hello, this is the St. James Rectory."
     "Paul, I'm glad I caught you before you left.  This is Joey
Sullivan."
     "Hi Joey.  What can I do for you?"
     "Something has come up with my family this evening and they
want me to attend a dinner with them.  It's pretty important to
all of them," Joey told him.
     "We're not practicing anything that we haven't already been
working on for the last several rehearsals.  I don't have you
scheduled to sing a solo until the middle of the month, so I
guess it wouldn't hurt anything.  I know your family has been
busy and your grandparents are there, too.  I can excuse you, but
you may have to work harder later," Paul chuckled.
     "I really appreciate this, Paul," Joey told him.
     Craig indicated that he wanted to speak to Paul.
     "Paul, Dad Craig wants to say something to you," Joey said.
He handed the phone to Craig without waiting for Paul's reply.
     "Paul, this is Craig Bastian.  Sorry we had to ask for a
special favor but this is a special cause for celebration
tonight.  I can't tell you what's going on, but we can talk about
it on Sunday after church."
     Paul was curious about the apparent excitement, but didn't
press the issue.
     "Not a problem.  Just tell Joey that he 'owes me one'," Paul
laughed.
     "Thanks for understanding."
     "It's okay, just tell Joey to be in the choir room tomorrow
evening at 5:15 for choir before the All Saints Day mass.  This
is one of the big church celebrations of the year," he reminded
Craig.
     "We'll see to it that he's there and we'll all be in church
tomorrow evening, too.
     With that, they hung up.
     "Okay, you're excused, but Paul says you may have to work
harder later," Craig told him.
     "Yippee!!!" Joey said.  "What are we celebrating?"
     "We'll tell you as soon as Dale gets here," Frank told him.
     "Is your homework completed?" Craig asked.
     "All but three Algebra problems and they shouldn't take me
long," Joey told him.
     "Okay, you may want to take a shower and get dressed.  We
need to leave here about 6:30 to drive to the Lakeshore Country
Club for dinner.
     "Can I use the neat shower in your bathroom?" Joey asked.
He loved that shower.
     "Sure, help yourself, but remember that Dale and I want to
shower, too."
     When Dale arrived home about 5:20 Doris told him there were
two messages for him to return telephone calls.  The first was
from Harlan Holman and the second was from Cary Clark.
     Dale dialed Harland Holman's number first.  He answered on
the third ring.
     "Hello, this is Harlan Holman."
     "Dale Richards, Harlan," he said.
     "Good to hear you voice, Dale.  I have some good news for
you," Harland told him.
     "You sold Joe's house?" Dale questioned.
     "Yeah, and you're not going to believe the price I got for
it," Harland gloated.
     "Good, or bad?" Dale asked.
     "Oh, very good.  Three couples actually got into a bidding
war as all of them wanted the house.  I ended up with a qualified
contract for $308,000 this afternoon.  They've already got the
loan money lined up and I can Fed-Ex a copy of the contract so
you can sign it and return it to me.  We'll have this deal closed
by Friday."
     Craig heard Dale say, "Wow!  That's hard to believe!"
     "Believe it.  I see that your estate sale people have
finished up.  I talked to Rusty Gable yesterday and he said the
sale was a big success and he planned to call you today to give
you a report."
     "I have a note to return his phone call when I'm through
talking to you," Dale said with a huge smile on his face.
     "This is the first time I've ever had a bidding war decide
the price of a piece of property I've sold.  It's also the first
time I've ever sold a piece of property at more than the contract
price for my client."  Harlan was as excited as Dale.
     "What do I need to do?" Dale asked.
     "I've still got time to get this to the FedEx drop off this
evening.  You should have the contract in the morning.  Just sign
it and have it notarized.  Then put the contract in the Fed-Ex
envelope I'll send along.  You should have a check from the loan
company next Monday or Tuesday.  I'll have them Fed-Ex it to
you."
     "Do you know how much the check will be?" Dale wanted to
know.
     "$279,360.00," Harlan told him.
     "I don't know how Craig and Joey and I can thank you," Dale
said.  You have really done a super job."
     "You had a very desirable house in a good neighborhood.  It
is in excellent condition, just needs a little redecorating, and
so you were lucky several people wanted to buy it."
     "I'll look for the Fed-Ex man in the morning, take the
contract to get it notarized and back to you tomorrow.  Thanks a
lot!" Dale told him, again.
     "How are things going in Williamsport?" Harlan asked.
     "Really well.  We've been busy at the ranch, Craig has a
shopping center project that's about finalized and we are ready
to sign a venture capital contract to start a new computer
business here in Williamsport.  We plan to open the Friday after
Thanksgiving," said proudly said.
     "That's wonderful. hey, don't mean to rush, but I have
another call coming in," Harlan told Dale.
     "Not a problem.  I just hope that Rusty Gable's news is as
good as yours," Dale said in telling Harlan goodbye.
     "Can you believe that?" Dale ask everyone
     Joey was back in the room by that time, wanting to know what
he should wear.
     "I take it that Harlan sold the house?" Craig asked.
     "Did he ever!" Dale said.  "He sold it for over $17,000 more
than our contract price."
     "What?" Frank exclaimed.  "How did that happen?
     "Three parties wanted the house and they kept upping the
bids on each other.  One couple finally offered $308,000 and has
the loan secured.  Harlan is sending the contract by Fed-Ex
tonight and I'm to sign the contract and have it notarized, then
send it back in an envelope he'll provide.  We should get a check
for $279,360 early next week."
     "Guess I'd better get to work on house plans," Craig teased.
He walked to Dale and hugged him, then the others joined in.
     After things calmed down a little, Dale called Rusty Gable.
     "Hello Dale," Rusty said in answering the phone.
     Dale realized that he had Caller ID.
     "Hi Rusty, I just got home and have talked to Harlan Holman.
The house is sold."
     Rusty knew about the contract, as Harlan was so proud of
this sale, he was telling everyone.
     "Yes, I talked to Harlan.  He's never had anything like that
happen before, although I've heard of other realtors having
similar things happen with contracts."
     "We're certainly pleased.  I hope you have some great news,
also," Dale said.
     "Well, nothing like Harlan had, but we've finished up the
sale.  Everything is cleaned up and hauled away and I've turned
the keys in to Harlan."
     "Sure, since I guess we don't own the house anymore, at
least as of this Friday."
     "That's right.  Well, the weather was excellent and we had a
huge crowd and one of the best first days that we've ever had.
Cary thinks that we sold over half the items on last Thursday,
the first day.  Things sold at a good price, especially the
furniture, shop equipment and kitchen items.  The clothing sold
better than we thought.  In fact, everything really sold better
than we had anticipated," he told Dale.
     "That sounds favorable," Dale stated.
     "I'm putting a check in the mail tomorrow for almost $22
thousand.  We almost should pay you a commission, too.  We've
signed two contracts for sales as a result of your sale."
     Dale was elated.  He wished that he had put the conversation
on the speakerphone, but they were almost through talking and he
had made notes.  He could hardly wait to tell everyone else the
good news.
     "That's great!"  You guys are tremendous.  We felt very
comfortable when we first talked to you and I'm glad someone
recommended you.  Thanks a lot, both of you."
     "You are most welcome.  Tell your family 'hello' from both
of us.  The next time you come to Houston, please let us know as
we'd love to see all of you," Rusty told him.
     "You never know where we will turn up.  We'll certainly keep
that in mind.  You said that you'd never been to this part of the
state, so we'd like to issue an invitation for you to come visit
us, too."
     "We might do that.  Actually we have some friends in Austin
and they have been after us to come spend a few days.  You're
only down the road a short distance, aren't you?"
     Dale replied, "About 35 miles, depending on what part of
Austin you start from."
     "We'll keep in touch with you.  Both of us would like to see
your ranch and the other things you are involved in."
     "Thanks.  We'll look forward to seeing you again, too."
     Having said their goodbyes, both hung up the phone.
     Dale was standing there with his 1,000-watt grin.
     "What?" Craig asked.
     "First the house sells for more than the contract, then
those two guys sell everything for more money than they thought
the sale would generate.  Rusty is going to mail us a check for
almost $22 thousand."
     Again there were a lot of hugs and high-fives.  Everyone was
elated.
     * * * * *
     It didn't take everyone very long to freshen up and dress
for the evening.  Dale and Craig showered in their bathroom, but
didn't have time to do anything more than swap a few kisses.
They kept their hands to themselves knowing that they would have
time for each other later after they were back at home.
     It was almost 6:15 when everyone started gathering in the
living room.  The men were all wearing slacks and sport coats.
Doris was wearing a long black and red skirt with a beautiful
long-sleeve paisley blouse.  They made a good-looking family.
     Frank took drink orders and it was the usual scotch and soda
or gin on the rocks for each.  Joey had a ginger ale.
     As soon as the drinks were served, Dale cleared his throat
and hoisted his glass.
     "To our business venture, 'Saber Computers'.
     "May it be successful beyond your wildest dreams," Doris
said.
     "Hear, hear," Frank replied.
     "Are we really gonna do it?" Joey asked.
     "Yes, bud.  We're gonna do it.  I'm taking you out of a
couple of classes in the morning so we can all sign the
contracts," Dale proudly told Joey.
     "This is so neat!" Joey said.  "Does this mean I can tell my
friends?" he asked.
     "Yeah, you can," Dale told him.  "Leland is going to try to
get an article or announcement in the Austin and Williamsport
Sunday papers.  We met David Perkins this morning and all of us
seem to like each other.  Your grandfather is going to take 90
days off from the law firm to help get this started and we hope
he will stay on as our chief financial officer, but that's up to
him.  The important thing is that he will be our eyes and ears
and watch out for our money while the business starts up."
     "There is a lot of work to do between now and then.  We have
to hire staff, sales people, people to help stock shelves, people
who are knowledgeable about computers and later on we'll have a
service department and can actually build a computer to the
specification a customer gives us," Craig told Joey.
     "Cool!" Joey replied.
     "We're going to have to decide on a location for the
business.  I've looked at a couple of possibilities, but there
may be at least one more place to look at," Craig said.
     "Can I work in the store?" Joey asked.  He was more than
excited.
     "Sure.  It's your store," Dale told him.
     "My store?" Joey questioned.
     Craig laughed.  "Remember when you were having problems in
computer class and we said we'd help you in any way we could?"
     "Ye.. Yeah," Joey said, with a huge smile on his face.
Then, "How is this going to help me?"
     "How about you and a couple of your pals learning all you
can about several programs and be available to help your friends
and other customers, too?" Dale wanted to know.
     "That would be so neat.  We could show everybody that Mr.
Korte is full of shit," Joey said with enthusiasm.  Then he
realized what he had said.
     Turning a little red, he said, "Sorry grandma.  I didn't
mean to say that word in front of you."
     "It's okay, Joey.  I've heard it before.  At least you don't
say it in every sentence like some others your age and even
younger."
     Frank looked at his watch.  "Sorry our happy hour is a short
one, but I'm sure it will continue at the club."  With that he
put everyone's glass on a tray to take to the kitchen.
     * * * * *
     Leland introduced Doris and Joey to David as the group met
in a corner of the large lounge.  David couldn't get over the
fact that Dale and Joey looked like brothers and that they were
only half-bothers.  He wondered what their father looked like.
     Craig's parents were both good-looking people and David
thought he had inherited the best qualities of each in the
appearance department.
     Almost as soon as the greetings were finished the waiter for
the bar arrived with a tray containing mixed nuts, cheese and
crackers and a dip.  He sat these on a coffee table, and then
asked to take drink orders.
     As they sat down, Joey ended up sitting next to David and he
wanted to know all about his computer class and was not impressed
that he was learning Basic computer programming.
     "That was an obsolete program before it was ever
introduced," he told Joey.  "It was in a package sold to IBM for
their new PC's.  Everyone else thought that if it was good enough
for IBM they should offer it, too.  It's very limited and there
are all kinds of better programming tools available, starting
with dBase and the clones it has generated."
     "Our instructor doesn't seem to know much about it, at least
he can't answer our questions.  All he's interested is a Bulletin
Board he runs on his PC at home.  Everyone in the class is
supposed to log on each day.  It's almost like he's taking
attendance because in every class he announces the names of those
who didn't access it the day before," Joey told him.
     "Soon the World Wide Web or Internet is going to make the
Bulletin Boards obsolete.  They've served their purpose in
helping distribute a lot of good programs like -PC Write and some
great DOS utilities, but in another year or so, the Bulletin
Boards are pretty much going to be gone."
     Joey was fascinated at what he was being told.  He'd not had
a chance to talk to anyone who really was knowledgeable about
computers before and David Perkins was sharing his thoughts with
Joey.  The rest of the people were visiting among themselves and
David Perkins had Joey's full attention.
     "Joey, what you need to do - and I recommend that you get
some of your friends to work with you - is to pick several
computer programs, dBase III, WordStar, WordPerfect, Lotus or one
of its clones and Windows, a new Microsoft host that allows
several screens and programs to be available at the same time.
Learn these, and then you can help sell computers and programs at
the store and teach others to use them, too.  It will really help
sales," David told him.
     "Cool," was Joey's reply.  "My friend, Daniel, has helped me
a lot.  I found a book at the Electronic Home that has helped us,
too.  It has sample programs.  We took one program and he figured
out how to change it so we could do a temperature conversion from
Fahrenheit to Centigrade and I used the same example to do a
simple interest calculation.  It's not hard after you figure out
what to tell the computer to do.  It's just writing instructions
the computer can read and execute, isn't it?" Joey asked.
     You are absolutely right.  I'm just saying that you only
need to learn enough Basic to pass your course.  Get proficient
in the other programs that are going to be around for a while."
     Dale and Craig had shifted their attention to what Joey and
David were talking about.
     Craig told David about the 'textbook' that was being used
for the class.  David was familiar with the text, as it had
become somewhat a laughing matter in the computer industry.
     "I can't believe that they are actually making students buy
that book," David told them.
     "Believe it," Dale said.
     "Well, there is a lot of misinformation available and a lot
of people trying to teach it, too," David laughed.
     "Do you mean that I can work in the store?" Joey asked.
     "Sure, I'll find a place for you and several of your
friends.  You can demonstrate computers and that will help sales,
too.  Besides, young people like you pick up on new programs and
how they work faster than old people like me," David teased.
     Joey thought that was funny.  "You aren't old."
     "Maybe not, but I'll bet that you can learn more about
computers faster than I did."
     That statement pleased Joey.  He thought David Perkins was a
cool fellow.  David thought that Joey was a neat kid.  He had his
act together and that's more than he could say about half the
kids Joey's age.  He sensed that Joey had a quick mind and would
be a good asset to the company.
     Of course, David wondered about Dale and Craig being gay and
was curious about Joey.  'Was he gay, too?  What went on with the
three of them?  Was Joey being forced to perform lewd sexual acts
with them?'  David had never thought about being gay before and
could only recall a couple of people he knew that were gay.  Dale
and Craig acted so masculine.  They didn't talk with a lisp or
have limp wrists.  They acted normal, whatever that was.  So did
Joey.  He didn't act like any of the characters on TV that were
supposed to be gay.
     David was a little confused about these men.  They had
offered him a good job.  Frank would be a great business manager.
Dale and Craig had little computer knowledge, yet someone was
willing to back this business venture.  Leland Stanton had an
excellent track record and was very well recommended by the loan
officer at Boatman's Bank in Kansas City.  He knew he had found a
home in working for Saber Computers.
     * * * * *
     Later that evening Dale and Craig were in bed, holding each
other.  They were not sexually aroused, but reveled in the fact
that they could hold each other and feel secure that they could
spill their innermost thoughts to the other.
     "I don't know how this all happened, but we can do this!"
Dale whispered to Craig, nuzzling him on his neck.
     "Yes, I'm grateful to Dad, Leland, David, Mom, Joey and
you," Craig told him.  "Together, we will all pull together to
make this a successful business."
     "Thank you for being 'you'," Dale whispered as Craig could
feel a few tears on his chest from Dale's eyes.
     He used his finger to wipe the tears from Dale's cheeks.  "I
love you, Cowboy," he said.
     "I love you more," was the answer before they drifted into
sleep, secure in each other's arms.
     * * * * *
     (to be continued)
     * * * * *
     Author's Note:  Thanks for the overwhelming response to
previous chapters.  I have received positive replies from all
over the world.  My special thanks for proofreading help to Paul
Daventon, who has taken time to help me catch obvious errors.
Also to two other "on-line pals", Joey Tuvok and Thomas from
Austin who have been giving me encouragement and their friendship
the last few months.
     Thanks for being such loyal readers.  Any comments are
appreciated and you can reach me at TulsaAuthor@aol.com.  Thanks,
David.