"You didn't wash your hands, Earl"
How stupid can you be, Bradd?
Shit, what the fuck happened there?
Earl and I kept playing FIFA for a while, without ever saying anything. I knew that my time to scold him big time and make him beg for forgiveness was over. I didn't know what I'd be scolding him for anyway. Was Keith enjoying all of this? There was no other explanation for letting a younger and weaker kid do this kind of thing to you.
When Keith came downstairs after about twenty minutes, the mood got really tense. His hair was wet - from a regular shower, I suppose - and he was wearing new clothes which he probably kept in Amy's room.
I tried to act naturally but I knew that I was failing and that Keith knew that I knew what happened. It was so fucked up but I couldn't force myself to say anything. What would I tell him anyway? So, I saw you getting pissed on by Earl. Neat!
It bugged me the whole next day. It happened. I saw it happen and I let it happen.
Nothing made sense. Sure, Earl was bossy and confident and yeah, Keith could be a bit of a pussy sometimes but this was way too much.
I finally dared to call Keith in the evening, but he didn't pick up. I sighed with resignation. I couldn't leave it like that. I should've listened to Keith and never come over that night. Now I had to live with that knowledge. I tried calling him again.
But once again he didn't pick up so I called Amy instead to ask if she'd seen him.
"I'm going to the movies with my friends right now, Bradd," she explained. "Keith is babysitting Earl."
"Alone?" I asked weakly.
"Yes. They've been getting along a little better lately. What's the worst that could happen?"
I didn't answer but my mind went running. I pictured Earl spread naked on the couch, playing FIFA with Keith between his legs, licking the boy's crack. I imagined the younger boy's voice: "Oh yes, Keith, two more hours and you can stop, just as we agreed." I imagined Earl having a sleepover with his friends and having Keith give them all head whenever they wanted. I imagined them giving him a golden shower all at the same time. I shook my head. I felt really disturbed fantasizing about it but in the end, my superego won. Whatever was going on, I had to stop it.
I considered coming in without knocking and possibly catching Earl and his friends gangbanging Keith in the middle of the living room but once again, reason won out.
"Come in!" I heard Earl's voice after I knocked. That was another unsettling sign.
What I saw inside wasn't as bad as I feared (which was only a little disappointing) but it wasn't good either, depending on how you look at it. Indeed, Earl was spread on the couch playing FIFA. He was fully dressed. Just before the couch, there was Keith - also fully clothed - on all fours, serving as a footrest for the boy.
"Hey Bradd," Earl grinned at me and patted the empty spot next to him invitingly but I interrupted him.
"What do you think you're doing, Earl? Go to your room. Now," I commanded.
Earl looked at me intently for a few seconds, as if to make sure I wasn't joking. When it got to him that I wasn't, he looked away and frowned. Then, with some embarrassment, he took his shoes from Keith's back and marched upstairs without looking at me. Shit. This was on me. The moment I let Earl step out of the line, he almost made me his partner in crime. No wonder his parents didn't even bother to control him anymore. They had probably stopped trying a long time ago and who knows, maybe I would too.
I stood there, lost in my thoughts to the point where I almost forgot that Keith was still here. He was sitting now on the floor, staring blankly at the TV and the paused video game screen. I slowly came closer and knelt down next to him.
"Keith..." I almost whispered. "What the fuck?"
Keith didn't even blink and got me seriously worried now. I shook his shoulder gently. When he didn't react, I shook it stronger.
"For fuck's sake, Keith, talk to me. What the fuck dude?" I insisted.
"Leave me," he said without emotion in his voice.
"You are kidding me, right?" I shook him again.
"Please just leave me. I'm okay," he lied with a poker face.
"No you're not, Keith! Hey, you know me, dude. I'm open-minded. If your biggest fantasy is to be enslaved by a tween boy, I don't judge. But I have a feeling you're not happy at all. Please tell me what's going on."
Keith kept staring at the TV and I almost thought the conversation was over.
"And if I tell you, will you leave me alone?" he spoke.
"Only if you tell me the truth, Keith. All of it. Whatever it is, I will understand."
"No you won't," he blurted and finally looked me in the eyes, but just for a second. "You're going to lecture me and preach what's best for me. I just know it," he said bitterly and turned his head back to the TV. I took the remote and muted the speakers.
"Keith... I know what you mean and you're right. I can be preachy sometimes. But I promise I won't do it this time. You mean a lot to me, man. Just tell me what's going on. Do you enjoy it?"
A shrug.
I had to blink a few times but I promised myself not to overreact.
"So... you enjoy it just a little bit?"
Keith took a deep breath. "Maybe a little but it's not it. Earl saw us kissing the other day. He threatened to tell Amy if I don't do everything he tells me to do for a whole day."
I paused to take it all in. "For a whole day? Hasn't it been going for three days now?"
"Four. He changed it to a whole week."
I couldn't believe it. I held Keith's head in my hands and forced him to look me in the eyes.
"Don't you fucking see where it is going? Are you going to be his lifetime servant just so that you can keep living your little lie?"
"He'll get bored eventually."
"And what if he won't? Are you ready to become his full-time bitch just so you can fake a relationship with a girl you don't love to make your parents happy?"
"Fuck you Bradd, I knew you were going to preach. This is my life and my choice. I asked you to help me with Earl but you refused so I took the matter into my own hands."
"And you have no fucking control over it whatsoever!" I almost shouted and immediately toned down because I didn't want Earl to hear me. "Keith, listen up. You're my best friend. I love you. I can't stand seeing you like this. It's killing me! If you choose to go down this path, it's over."
Keith moved my hands away and stood up. "It's easy for you to say. You have a normal family who accepts you the way you are and shit."
"So what?" I said and stood up too. "And what's wrong with your folks? I know them, they wouldn't mind if you had a boyfriend."
"Maybe not, dude, but they'd mind if I didn't give them grandkids. You don't know how they freak out about me being the only kid. And they love Amy so much."
"So why don't they marry her?" I blurted. "Do you think they'd want you to live an unhappy life because you decided your priority should be to meet their expectations?"
"But I was perfectly happy until..."
"Until you realized you have feelings for me, right? Until you realized that taking my dick is ten times better than sex with Amy could ever be. Am I wrong?"
"You're not but..."
"... and you know that if it didn't happen now, it would happen sooner or later. Maybe in a year, maybe in ten years. Believe me, better to accept it now when you have nothing to lose than when you have a family and kids you've been lying to your whole life."
Keith collapsed on the couch with his face buried in his hands. "Bradd... I love you, but you keep forcing me to make decisions about my life I'm not ready to make. I'm not an adult! I'm really proud that you came out and everyone is so accepting but why don't you give me a break and let me figure things out at my own pace?"
I sat next to him and grabbed his hand. He was close to tears. I knew I was putting a lot of pressure on him but I'd never give up on him. I had one last chance before keeping my promise and leaving him alone.
"Keith..." I started and squeezed his hand a little stronger. "How about we figure it out together?"
"How?"
"For starters, I'll help you get out of a dead-end relationship and from the slave camp you were about to commit to for life?"
"Braddy... I'm scared."
"I told you man... together," I whispered and moved my face a bit closer to his. He didn't pull back.
"I'm really scared," he whispered back.
"Together, Keith."
"I'm really sca..." he didn't finish because I sealed his mouth with my lips. I immediately felt he was tense, so I embraced him tightly and moved my lips ever so slightly. It took more than a minute of kissing him before he started melting in my embrace and his mouth started cooperating.
"Mmph," he moaned quietly and I felt him relax in my arms. As much as I had come here expecting the unexpected, I was finally regaining control. I gently bit his lower lip and I slipped my hand under his t-shirt, feeling my dick quickly gaining hardness and volume in my pants. I almost forgot that Earl was upstairs and was very ready to have sex with Keith here and there on that couch. But Earl didn't let me forget for too long because suddenly I heard a noise coming from the staircase. I opened my eyes only to see his wide-open eyes that disappeared as soon as he realized he'd been discovered.
"Shit," Keith cursed under his breath, probably getting ready for another week of doing Earl's bidding.
"Leave him to me," I told him quietly and slowly walked upstairs to Earl's room, considering different scenarios of defending against his blackmail.
The door to his room was open and I let myself in. Earl was sitting on his bed, looking like the saddest tween in the world. It caught me off-guard and I was suspecting some kind of a trick but he really seemed on the verge of tears. I approached slowly and sat next to him.
"Hey Earl... what's the matter, buddy?"
He sniffed and just said, "nothing."
I took a risk and moved a little closer and placed my hand on his knee. "You can talk to me Earl, I promise I won't judge you."
He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "You and Keith; are you going to be together?"
"I hope so, sport," I said, deciding to be honest with him. "Is this why you are upset?"
"No. I mean, yes. Does it mean you won't be coming to visit anymore?"
My heart melted. I was low-key expecting Earl to be jealous but he seemed just sad that he wouldn't hang out with me anymore.
I considered it for a second. I didn't plan ahead on how to tell Amy about me and Keith but every scenario involved her not being exactly thrilled.
"I don't know, buddy. I'll do my best to stay friends with Amy but I can't promise she'll still want to have me around."
"I see," Earl said and frowned even more. I've grown a soft spot for this little psycho and it hurted me to see him like that.
"It definitely won't help if you tell her what you saw today," I smirked and gently nudged him with my elbow.
"I won't, Bradd," Earl said humorlessly.
I put my arm around his neck and said, "It's going to be alright, buddy," I said. A crazy plan started forming in my head.
Almost exactly two months later, we went on our first double date. I was with Keith. Patrick's new boyfriend, Torry, was a tall, dark-haired boy. He could be one or even two years older than me. Sure, I was the happiest I've been in my life but honestly, it was even better to see Patrick happy and in love. We had some fast food and talked for a long time after we finished eating. We only left because the staff virtually made us.
It was Patrick who surprised me with his offer. "Do you want to come to our place, guys?" He asked. "We could grab something to drink and Netflix and chill, you know."
I looked at Keith questioningly, trying to figure out how innocent Patrick's suggestion was. "Can we, babe?" I asked.
"Earl is coming from school in an hour."
"Shit, you're right," I said. I still hadn't gotten used to being responsible for someone. I always wanted a kid but I never expected to have one when I was still a kid myself.
"But he's staying with his parents next weekend. We could come over then," Keith smiled at Patrick.
"Awesome! It's a date then!" Patrick grinned and winked at me. Oh boy, here we go again.
We hugged each other goodbye and went home. I called my parents to tell them we won't be visiting today. Since we had effectively moved into Keith's parents' 1st floor, we would come over for dinner at least twice a week.
Keith opened the front door with a key. His folks were still at work so we had the house to ourselves. Keith went upstairs to grab a shower and I went to the kitchen to reheat the lunch. Just when I was almost done, Keith came downstairs and the front door opened. Earl stormed inside and jumped on Keith.
"Hey dad!" he said and then ran straight to me to do the same.
"Hey sport, how was school?" I asked.
"Good, what's for lunch?"
"Stew."
"Again? Ewww!"
"You can go back to your parents if you don't like it."
"No, thanks," Earl said, raising his hands defensively. "Amy's new boyfriend is visiting today. He's so lame!"
"You mention it at least five times a day," I noticed.
"That's how lame he is! Can we go have pizzas instead?"
"Absolutely not. Go wash your hands and come eat."
"Alright," Earl gave up and disappeared into the bathroom.
Keith came over to me and hugged me tightly. "You're such a good dad, daddy."
"So are you, daddy two."
"Bradd?"
"Yeah?"
"When Patrick invited us over... he meant sex, right?"
"He totally did."
"Are we still coming over then?"
"Absolutely!"
I have no idea how come my one-chapter story turned into seven but I guess this is what happens when you get attached to your characters too much. There won't be any new chapters very soon, but as you could've noticed, I left some loose ends for a possible sequel in the future. Not promising anything but it's very possible. If you have any suggestions, let me know! - archhunter420@gmail.com
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