Date: Wed, 10 May 2023 11:13:48 -0400 From: Lee Wilson Subject: Look But Don't Look, Look - Chapter 15 Look, But Don't Look, Look This story is an original work of gay fiction, none of the people or events are real. If you enjoy this or the other stories here, why not donate to keep the fun alive? Donate here: https://donate.nifty.org/ The gang: Virgil Caine - 14 Sam Lassiter - 13 Bobby Lassiter - 11 Scott Willis - 13 Tim Thomason - 11 Art Lamonica - 12 Seth Milton - 12 Other supporting characters: Allison Willis - 10 Steven Lassiter - 17 Tommy Thomason - 16 Winston Carter - 16 Pete Willis - 17 FROM CHAPTER 14 Art - 6th period gym "OK guys. Let's line you all up by size, 7th and 8th graders together. We'll split you up into teams for basketball, but I don't want all the tall kids on one team. So line up along the sideline here, shortest on the left. You don't need to be perfect, just get in approximately the right order, otherwise we'll end the period without even getting teamed up." "I hate basketball. It sucks being the shortest kid in 8th grade. Lucky you, you're the shortest in 7th I guess." "Yeah, Seth Milton. You're Art right?" "Yeah, Art Lamonica." "Yeah, I see you with the same guys for lunch every day." "Yeah, they made friends with me the first day..." "OK, count off by six, starting with you Milton." The boys all count off by 6. Team 1, Seth's team, played Art's team, team 2. Having 30 boys in both gym classes, playing 3 on 3 half court, Seth and Art needless to say didn't start playing right away, so they sat together and continued talking. "It's pretty cool you made a bunch of friends on your first day. This is my 3rd year in Brumfeld and I still don't think I have three good friends." "Well, add one to the list. I have a pretty cool gameroom at my house. Maybe you want to come over sometime and play?" "Really?" "Sure, why not?" "Um, most guys don't like me because I'm so small." "Who am I? Boban Marjanovic?" "Who?" "We're playing basketball. Well, sort of. He's the tallest NBA player." "Oh. Yeah, you and me are giants." "Yeah, but look at those doofuses out there. They're giants but probably mental midgets. We're mental giants. That's way better." "I think I'm going to like hanging with you Art, you're funny." "You think I'm funny, come to our table for lunch tomorrow, you'll really laugh with Virgil. Well, maybe laugh AT Virgil, he he." "Um. With that big guy too?" "That's Scott. He's really nice. You've heard of Willie LeDeuce, right?" "Yeah. I'm glad he's gone. I kind of wondered where he went, but then I realized I didn't care as long as he stays gone." "Well, first day of school, Willie was picking on Sam, the third guy at our table. Scott did something to him, he won't tell us what, Willie left us all alone until he messed up and got Davey Aranson to beat up Sam's little brother. They both got sent to juvie." "No wonder they called him the douche. If you say he's cool, OK, I'll join you guys." "Great." "Milton, Lamonica, break up the chat-fest, get out there and play." After school, Art calls the rest of the guys and calls off their investigations, having already gotten his friendship with Seth started. CHAPTER 15 - State vs. Lassiter and New Friends I'll be taking some liberties with the sentence(s) being handed out and the court process. I don't know if any of it is reasonable or not, but this IS fiction. Phil - Court "Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Reynolds, I have been informed you are working on a plea agreement?" "Yes your honor." "How close are you to having that agreement?" "We believe we are quite close and can complete the agreement within one-half hour." "Excellent. If there are no objections, court will recess for one hour. Bailiff, tell the jury pool that they will be informed within 90 minutes whether they will be required or released from duty." "Yes, sir." "Court is in recess until 10 AM." Stevenson and Reynolds - Courthouse conference room "OK Winston, you told the judge we're close. I don't think my client should be incarcerated for 60 years. Why do you insist on his serving all the sentences sequentially, for 60 years? 30 years is plenty if some of the sentences run concurrently. Either way, he's not going to be eligible for parole. If he serves 30 years, he'll 72 years old when he is released. Odds are he won't live that long in jail anyway." "60 years guarantees he won't ever get out. But, I'll bend so we can get this behind us. 40 years, still no parole. He'll be in Federal court on the terroristic threats soon anyway. I doubt they'll want to run that sentence concurrently, but even if they do, getting out at 82 years old would be sufficient I suppose." Of course, Reynolds doesn't know I've got permission to go as low as that 30 years from the DA, but I promised the family they'd never have to worry about him again. Either sentence would satisfy that. "I can tell you're not going to bend any further. I guess cutting your initial 'offer' in half has got to mean something. I already told my client what I would be asking for and your potential counter offers. He reluctantly agreed on a number as large as that, knowing if he goes to trial the sentence will indeed be closer to that 80 year initial offer." "OK. I'll fill in the length on the plea agreement, you initial and sign it and we can put this behind us." 10 AM - Court "The plea agreement has been fully executed?" "Yes, your honor." "Please hand it to the bailiff Mr. Stevenson." The bailiff retrieves the agreement and hands it to the judge. The judge takes a couple minutes to examine it. "Very well. The defendant will please rise." A sad and beaten Phil Lassiter stands up. Not physically beaten, not yet anyway. Physically abused, however, that's another story. "Mr. Lassiter, you have been apprised of this sentence?" "Yes, your honor." "Very well. Philip Lassiter, you have pleaded guilty to possession of an illegal firearm, firing a weapon within city limits, attempted murder, and resisting arrest. I understand the charge of making terroristic threats will be handled in Federal court in 3 weeks. This court sentences you to 40 years at the Forest State Penitentiary without the possibility of parole. Court is adjourned." Maureen Thank God. This is the last time I'll have to look at that bastard. He's already been served and signed the divorce papers, I won't need to see him ever again. I'm glad this is over with. The boys will be glad this is behind them and we can move on with our lives. At home that afternoon "So your dad got sentenced to 40 years without the possibility of parole." "It's really over?" "Yes Sam." "And we don't need to see him ever again?" "Not if you don't want to Bobby." "No way." "Me either." "I hope it won't bother you guys if I do go see him once. Although if you knew what I am going to say to him, I'm sure it won't." "It's OK Steven. Feel free to share our hate when you do." "Yeah. (under his breath) The butthead." Sam chuckles because he heard Bobby's mumble. Not to mention he could have guessed it no matter what. Art - School lunch the next day "Hey Seth. Follow me and I'll introduce you to the rest of the guys." "OK. I hope they'll like me. I'm never very lucky meeting new people." "I like you so they will too..." "Hi guys. This is my new friend Seth Milton. Seth, Virgil Caine, Sam Lassiter, and Scott Willis." Fist bumps all around. "Welcome to the gang Seth." (Nervously) "Gang?" "That's just what Virgil calls the group of us, which actually includes my brother Bobby and his friend Tim. They're both in 6th grade." "So having a 7th grader hang out with you isn't a problem?" "No." "Nope." "Not at all." "Besides, if I didn't skip 3rd grade, I'd be in 7th too." "You guys going to eat your lunches standing up? Or maybe we're not good enough for you?" "Cool it Virgil. We'll sit, but Seth has always had a hard time making friends, so keep the jokes to a minimum until he's used to you... That should only take a year Seth. Ha ha." "We'll try not to give him a 'hard time.' At least not right away." "God, you're so un-funny Virge. You want to scare the kid away after only, what, 3 minutes?" "OK, Scott. You're right. I'll try to be good." "Um, can I ask you guys something?" "Fire away Seth." "So was it really you guys that had Willie and Davey sent away?" "They weren't your friends, were they?" "Hell no. I just wanted to thank you for that if you did." "Well, indirectly Seth. Scott threatened Willie to keep away from us. So he got Davey to beat up my brother pretty bad. But the dipshit forgot modern technology exists and did it in view of a video camera. Virgil looked at the video, recognized Davey, and Art's dad sent them away to juvie." "I'm sorry your brother got hurt Sam, but thanks for at least contributing to their departure." "Yeah, we're kind of heroes around the school now." "In your own mind Virgil." "Good enough for me." "You guys are funny. I hope I can keep hanging out with you." "Why wouldn't you? Oh, wait. Scott's B-O." "Virgil, how would you like to find out what I threatened the douche with?" "And a lovely B-O it is." Laughs all around. "So Sam, the trial started yesterday. Any news yet?" "It's got to be way too early Virge, they probably haven't even finished picking the jury yet." "No. There won't be a trial. He pleaded guilty to a bunch of charges and was sentenced to 40 years." Seth is looking around completely confused about this. "It's a long story Seth. Short version is my dad's an asshole. Art invited all of us over on Saturday to play in his totally awesome game room. Has he invited you yet? If he did, I can fill you in then." "Well, he asked me about Thursday after school before. I have to check with my mom, but I'm sure she'll say OK. Of course she'll want to meet you all when she drops me off." "Oh no. Meeting another mom. How can we stand it?" "That, I could tell was a joke." "But yeah Seth, you're invited to come over Saturday too. One-ish would be fine. You can meet my dads." "I'll ask. Wait. Dads?" "You didn't tell him yet?" "No Virgil, I really only met him officially yesterday afternoon. But yeah Seth, I have 2 dads. But they're both great, and I don't miss having a mother at all, considering I never knew her." "He was a test tube baby." "Virgil..." "Just getting Seth used to my wise-ass side." "I guess that's pretty neat. So, um, your dads are, um..." "Yes, they're gay, and it doesn't bother me, or any of the gang. You going to be OK with it?" "Yeah, I guess so. I don't think I've ever known anybody that's gay." Sam does the silent look for confirmation from Virgil that they're so used to now. Virgil nods. "That's not true. You know two gay people." "No I don't." "Sure you do. Virgil and I are boyfriends." "Wow. You only just met me and you shared that?" "It's OK right? We try not to have any secrets within the gang." "Sure. Neither one of you acts like I always thought gay people would act." "Neither of them act human either, but they are." "Ooooh. Scott with the burn." They finish their lunch, chatting about more stuff and head to their classes when the bell rings. Art - Thursday after school "Hi Seth, Mrs. Milton." "This is Art mom, the boy from school I was telling you about." "Yes. Hello Art, nice to meet you." "Same here. Come on in, you can meet my dad..." "Dad, this is Seth and his mother, Mrs. Milton. Mrs. Milton, Seth, my dad, Lou Lamonica." "Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Milton." "Shelly, please." "And I'm Lou. Won't you come in and sit down for a bit Shelly? Would you like a drink? Coffee, tea, soda, juice? We typically don't keep alcohol in the house, so I can't offer you anything stronger." "A soda will be fine. And I'm happy you don't keep alcohol. Shows a level of responsibility some parents don't have. We don't have anything usually either. Perhaps a bottle of wine when we're entertaining." "I'll be right back... Here you go." "Thank you. Seth tells me that Art has two dads." "Yes, my husband Winston Stevenson is at work. He's an assistant district attorney. I work in the radiology department at St. Vincent's. I hope the fact that we're gay doesn't prevent you from letting Seth come over." "No, especially with what Winston does for a living, I wouldn't expect either one of you to step out of line. And you must be a caring person, being in the medical field." "Thank you. Yes, we've always taught Arturo here to respect people and treat them how he'd like to be treated. We practice what we preach, so to speak." "I'm glad to hear that. Yes, I will feel comfortable letting Seth come over here to play." "Let me show you where the boys will typically play when they're here." My dad shows them to the gameroom. "Wow, Sam said it was awesome. This is great." "Yes, it is very nice." "We went a little overboard with the playroom. We felt if Art wanted to have friends over, make it pleasant for them plus we know they'll be safe." "I appreciate your concern for Art's friends. Well, I'll let the boys play. Is there a special time you want me to come back and get Seth? 5:30, 6?" "Well, he's welcome to stay with us for dinner and we can drive him home, maybe 7:30ish, if that's OK with you." "Please mom?" "Yes, I think that will be OK. As long as you don't mind giving him a lift home." "No problem at all. Art will be having a few more of his friends over to play on Saturday afternoon. Seth is welcome to come back and join them." "Those are the kids from lunch that I mentioned mom. Can I?" "Yes, but like I did with Mr. Lamonica, I like to see who my son is spending time with, so I'll want to meet them." "I told them at school you would. They didn't have a problem meeting you." "I would hope not." "Winston should be here then as well, as long as there are no crises in the legal world." "OK, thank you and I'll see you later. Be good Seth." "I will." "Goodbye." "She seemed to like you both. There have been a couple times where she wasn't impressed with a friend or a parent that she wouldn't let me go back, but it looks like that won't be a problem here." (Evilly) "That's good. Now I can turn back into the nasty monster I really am... Don't be afraid Seth, I'm just kidding." "OK. I'll have to get used to a parent that jokes around with their kids." Seth and I played for a while. When my other dad got home, I introduced them and we had dinner. Dad L made baked chicken. He's a pretty good cook. We all took a ride to bring Seth home, that way his mom and dad could meet my other dad too. He thought he may have to work on Saturday. Everybody seemed to get along. Shelly and Tanner Milton "I was a little worried when you told me Art's parents were two gay men, but after meeting them and knowing what they do for a living, I think Seth will be in good hands when he's over at Art's. I think he found himself a pretty good friend this time. Art is very polite too." "Yes. At first I was a little concerned too, but after spending just a few minutes with Lou this afternoon, I was very comfortable." "I trusted your judgement, but it was really nice of both of them to bring Seth back so they could meet me. Gay or not, I like them." Seth was eavesdropping at his bedroom door. He gave a quiet fist pump when he heard his parents were OK with Art and his dads. He thought to himself 'finally a friend I can keep for more than one visit.' Art - Saturday "Hey guys. Thanks for coming." "Yeah, we had to drag ourselves here to play in that awful gameroom." "If it's so awful, you can just hang out with my dads Virgil." "Oh, did I say awful? I meant awesome. Yeah, right awesome." "So where's Seth?" "Oh, his mom wanted to bring him just a little later to make sure you were all here to meet her. His parents seem a little overprotective, but I guess he's had some bad luck with making friends in the past, not necessarily the nicest people. I guess they're just careful." "Well, since we are the nicest people, we should pass with flying colors." "What does that even mean?" "I'll answer with a joke." "Oh geez." "What do you call a blind deer?" "A referee?" "No. No eye deer. What do you call a blind deer with no legs?" "What" "Still no eye deer. What do you call a blind deer with no legs and no dick?" "Oh gawd, what?" "Still, no fucking, eye deer. SO flying colors... beats the shit out of me, it just sounds good." Groans all around. "So, anyway, you make a move on Seth yet Art?" "Hey wow, Virgil, you sounded just like Scott there... No Scott. I don't want to scare him away. You heard him Tuesday, he didn't even know any gay people by then. I kind of doubt he's going to be gay, but I like him anyway." "Yeah, he's pretty cool. We have to loosen him up a little though. He's too closed up." "Well, again, bad choices in friends in the past, I think he's just being careful until he knows we're cool. And that his mom approves of us. I bet that's the biggest thing." "So no messing around like we did at the last sleepout?" "Not planning to, Tim, but who knows?" Ding dong. "There they are. Virgil, be good." "Huh? Why you picking on me?" "Because you are you." "Oh, yeah." "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Milton, Seth. Come on in." "Dads, the Miltons are here." "Take a seat in the living room, when my dads get here, I'll introduce everybody. And, here they are." "Hello Shelly and Seth, welcome back. And Tanner, it's good to see you again, welcome to our humble abode." "Thanks. But to be honest, it doesn't look too humble. Very nice though." "Thank you. Can we offer you a drink? I know Shelly knows we don't keep alcohol, but we have pretty much anything else." "Coffee would be nice." "Make it two?" "Coming right up. Arturo, why don't you make the introductions?" "Yes sir. Mr. and Mrs. Milton, these are my friends. Starting with the big guy, Scott Willis." "Nice to meet you both." "Same here." "Next, I guess I'll continue height-wise, Virgil Caine." "Nice to meet you." "Ditto." "Sam Lassiter." "Pleased to meet you both." "Likewise." "Tim Thomason" "Hi." "Tim's a little shy around new people." "Nothing wrong with that. Hello Tim." "And last but not least, Bobby Lassiter." "Nice meeting you both." "Same here. What happened to your leg Bobby? Sports?" "No. Um, bullies." "Excuse me?" "My brother was beat up by a bully after school a few weeks ago. The kid got caught and he and the boy that put him up to it are both in juvenile hall now." "Oh, we're sorry to hear that. But yes, I do think I remember seeing something about that on the local news." "Here are your coffees. Milk and sugar on the tray as well. Yes. Those two boys made my job easy. I had to prosecute them, but between a video and the actual culprit informing on his friend, it was a pretty simple case." "That doesn't seem to be the only thing I remember about the name Lassiter." "You are correct Tanner. Sam and Bobby's father... you boys don't mind me telling it do you?" "No." "Go ahead. We're kind of tired of telling it." "Well, sparing you the gory details, Sam and Bobby's father got a little upset about a situation Sam found himself in, and because Virgil's dad, while protecting Sam, punched Mr. Lassiter, Mr. Lassiter then got drunk, and later went looking for Mr. Caine. He ended up at the wrong house, shot Virgil's neighbor in the shoulder, threatened police, and a number of other things. He was just sentenced to 40 years in jail this past Monday. Hopefully that's the last time a Lassiter will land in my circle of responsibility. They both, actually all of them, are good boys." "Oh, how awful. You boys must miss him." "I don't want to seem rude Mr. and Mrs. Milton, but no. Bobby and I don't miss him. He was mean to us even before that happened. It's terrible to say, but we're both glad he's out of our lives." "Well, if his history was that bad, I don't suppose I blame you." "Thanks Mrs. Milton." "We can continue to chat while the boys head to the gameroom, oh, unless you want to see it Tanner?" "It's really cool dad." "Sure, I'll take a quick look." We all head to the game room. Mr. Milton is impressed with the setup. "It looks like you spoil your son." "A little, but we also felt that if we gave him and his friends a nice place to play here, they won't get in trouble out on the streets, and we know they're safe." "Yes, that makes sense. Well, Shelly, shall we leave Seth with his friends? We don't mean to run, but we thought with Seth spending the afternoon here, we'd spend some time out ourselves. To be honest, Seth doesn't have many good friends." "Da-ad." "Not at all. Enjoy yourselves. If you ever want a night away, Seth is always welcome to stay here. Actually, the rest of the boys used to have sleepouts and sleepovers before Art met them. I was thinking about extending an invitation to spend the night tonight to all of them. Seth is welcome as well, if he wants, of course." "Well, it's short notice, but I suppose we can drop a change of clothes and some other things off later if he wants to." "Really? Yes, I would love to. Thanks Mr. Lamonica and Stevenson." "Anytime, like I said. Art has told me that sometimes you other boys made plans for sleepouts and sleepovers at the last minute, so I hope you'll all be able to join Art and Seth?" "We should. I think we'll have to use your phone to ask." "Yes." "Yes." "Fine then. And if you'd like, Mr. Stevenson and I can shuttle you all back and forth to pick up your necessaries. Seth as well, if you wish Shelly, Tanner." "That's nice of you to offer. That would work." "Good. It's settled then. Truthfully, since we've only been here a few months, Art had a little trouble initially making friends, but this group welcomed him into their circle without hesitation." "Yes, the same with me mom and dad." "They all seem to be nice well-behaved boys. We're happy Seth found them, or rather they found him." Next up - "The Big Overnight" Author's Note Hmmm, I wonder what mischief the boys will get into at Art's sleepover? Will they corrupt Seth or will it be tame? Thanks to those of you who have sent email. I appreciate the comments, good or bad. Feel free to drop me a line if you haven't already. If you liked this, check out my other story on nifty: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/my-roommate-teaches-me LRW