Date: Sat, 31 May 2014 21:35:21 -0700 From: Douglas DD DD Subject: The Puget Posse Chapter 6 CHAPTER 6 MIKHAIL-TRANSITION Misha's new parents were slated to pick him up at the orphanage on Monday, January 10. From the start of the New Year on, Misha spent every moment he could with Nikki. They slept together, ate together, showered together, did their recreation time together—they did everything but go to class together. The staff ignored whatever breaches of protocol occurred. For all of the flaws of the orphanage, most of the staff were dedicated and caring. There were exceptions, like Vlad, who saw the boys as sexual creatures as well as a means for making money and used them as such, even as he rationalized that the group homes were in the best interests of the boys; the assistant director, who took payment for helping Vlad assign boys to "group homes"; and the director, who, while a good man, looked the other way when Vlad's transactions took place. After all, the men involved had the power of money and made many generous donations to the orphanage. The new computers were an example of what could be obtained by not looking at the source too closely. The three school administrators didn't see themselves as evil. Overall, they felt they had the best interests of the boys at heart. And while there was a price the boys had to pay at the group homes, the administrators believed the value gained by the boys was larger than the price that was paid. On Monday, Misha found out that Nikki would be away for the weekend. "I'm getting a second chance," Nikki told Misha as they played chess in the recreation room. Nine year old Misha was becoming a proficient chess player. Misha was a talented math student and his math teacher took him aside for chess lessons. He liked Misha's thinking skills and saw that the boy was a brilliant student. He felt that chess would help him hone his skills. Nikki rarely defeated Misha, who had passed him as a player. Most of the younger boys no longer played Misha, so he was allowed to go to the recreation room in the C wing to play the older teens. He won maybe a third of the time, but could hold his own against any of the players there. Losing to Misha was met with derision when he first started playing the older boys. But the young boy quickly gained the respect of the chess players among the teens and they enjoyed playing the personable preteen. "What kind of second chance?" Misha asked. "To move into that home." "Do you really want to go there?" "I wasn't sure before. But with you moving to America, there is no reason for me to stay in this dump. Vlad wants me to go on his camping trip this weekend with some of the teens. I get to show him what I can do." "Camping trip? It's the middle of winter. There is snow everywhere." "It is in the dacha of this rich guy. But it's not the guy who I saw the time I flunked. I don't even know if he's going to be there, but I don't care. Everybody says that even with the things you have to do the homes are still better than here." "When is the trip?" "This weekend. That's the bad part because I won't see you all weekend." Misha stood up, walked over to Nikki, and wrapped his arms around the older boy in a deep, heartfelt hug. "I don't want you to go." "This could be my last chance to get out of here. And with you leaving, there is no reason for me to stay here. I have to go." Misha knew he was being selfish, but he didn't care. Nikki, at twelve, knew that bed masters weren't supposed to have the kinds of feelings towards their bedmates that he was experiencing. Every boy in his dormitory told him that particular truth. It was an axiom that was passed down because it kept the boys from being hurt too much. Any other boy would have brushed Misha away and told him to quit whining. He would have told him that their relationship was about sex and nothing else. Nikki knew that wasn't true. He held Misha close to him and stroked his back. "I love you, my Misha. I will miss you for the rest of my life. I promise to sleep with you every night until you leave, except the two I am gone." On Monday and Tuesday night they slept in Nikki's bed. The unwritten Wednesday night rule was that the boys didn't switch rooms, but Nikki came into the nine-year-old's room anyway. Some of the other nine-year-olds told Nikki he wasn't supposed to be there, but Nikki and Misha ignored them. Each night they had quiet sex, but it was loving sex. Nikki initiated the kissing. Misha liked to kiss, but he didn't feel the passion about it that the older boy did. His young prepubescent body didn't have the driving sexual urges that Nikki felt, but he still enjoyed the feelings generated by making out and by sex. Each night they performed mutual masturbation and oral sex, and on Wednesday, anal sex. Anal sex was a frequent occurrence in the dormitory rooms of the orphanage, but it happened more between the older boys then with boys as young as Misha. Nikki and Misha had only performed it a few times during their relationship. For them, each time was special. Things would change on Thursday when they got a big surprise from Emma, the housemother. Misha was playing chess against Dmitry while Nikki was finishing some homework in the study room. Emma came into the recreation room, which was being supervised by the 12 and 13- year-old's housemother, Lara. She walked up to Misha and asked him to go to the cafeteria. "Can I finish my chess game, first?" Misha asked. He was leaving the orphanage in less than a week and didn't see why he should have to give up his game for Emma, who nobody liked much anyway. "You can finish after I have talked with you and Nikolai," she said. "But...," "Now, Mikhail." Emma always used the formal version of a name and never used the word please. Misha shrugged and headed to the cafeteria. He had always been an obedient little boy. Emma then went into the study room, pointed her finger at Nikki and beckoned him to follow her into the recreation room. "Join Mikhail in the cafeteria. I wish to speak to the two of you." Nikki could think of no reason to argue, so he went into the cafeteria and sat next to Misha. The room was not fully lit. The two preteens looked even smaller in the large cafeteria. "Are we in trouble?" Misha asked meekly. He couldn't figure out what kind of trouble he could be in, but Nikki could. He knew that Emma was going to chew them out about his switching rooms the night before. "Mikhail, I wish all the boys here were as good as you and Nikolai. I am going to miss your sweet smile. I hope only the best for you with your new family in America." Misha and Nikki were having trouble believing that the Emma sitting at the table with them was the same gruff lady who ran the B wing with an iron fist. What they didn't realize was something most of the boys didn't discover until they were older. The iron fist that Emma wielded was cushioned by a soft heart—she truly cared for her charges and often worked behind the scenes to make their lives easier. Sometimes, like she was about to do now, she did her work in the open. "As for you, Nikolai, while I do not agree with many of the things Vladimir does, I do know that most of the boys he removes from here to the home of his rich friends seem to lead happy lives. Don't do anything you do not want to do with anybody this weekend. Vladimir is not a bad man, he will understand. And stay away from the vodka and whatever else is offered. You are much too young for that." "Yes, ma'am," Nikki said sincerely. "Is that why you had us come to the cafeteria, to tell us these things?" "Well, it certainly wasn't to feed you," Emma said, exhibiting a rare moment of humor. She rose from her chair and stood behind Misha, feeling his forehead. She then did the same to Nikki. "What are you doing?" Misha asked. The boys exchanged looks. The always reliable, steady Emma was getting weirder and weirder. "You boys feel feverish. I think you need to spend the night in the infirmary." "We do?" they asked in unison. "There is a room not often used that is for children that are very sick. It has a large bed, just the right size for active boys who suffer from a certain fever. I will take you there." The boys soon found themselves in a room off of the six bed infirmary. It had a twin bed and was private. Emma gave the two of them a thin smile. "I will wake you in the morning before breakfast, then you will go to your own rooms before you eat. I believe the two of you will be quite ill again on Sunday night, so please find me during recreation time." The housemother left, quietly closing the door behind her. It was on that night that the two boys learned some things about the passion of sex. Nikki let his hormones control him. He shed his clothes in an instant and then undressed Misha. The two of them plunked themselves on the bed and kissed with a fervor that was new to them. It was more than just locking lips or trading tongue. The kisses had a feeling to them that neither boy could describe. They couldn't kiss each other hard enough or stick their tongues into each other's mouths deep enough. Misha felt jolts of sexual excitement crash through him. At the tender age of nine he found out that there was more to sex than getting an occasional dry orgasm and helping his partner get off. Misha learned that there was a drive to sex and could send him beyond the somewhat passive sex he had been enjoying. Nikki's enthusiasm in bed helped to fuel that ardor in Misha. Nikki's first orgasm had him shooting his watery cum into Misha's mouth. Misha's first orgasm was a quivering dry cum in his lover's mouth. Their second orgasms came as Nikki fucked Misha hard and with a fervor unknown to either of them. They didn't have to worry about disturbing the other boys in the dormitory room. This time sex was all about them. Even Nikki's four inch cock popping out of Misha's ass on occasion didn't stem their enthusiasm. Nikki's cum shot into Misha's ass as it was supposed to. Misha's dry orgasm came after Nikki let Misha get on top of him and dry hump his belly. The exhausted boys slept tightly wrapped around each other, relishing the luxury of the large bed. On Sunday, Nikki told Misha about his adventure at the dacha. "I had sex with two teenagers who said they were sixteen. And I had sex with Vasia. Vasia and I posed for pictures while we had sex. We both stayed away from the vodka and all that stuff and Vlad said that it was okay if we didn't drink." Misha and Nikki kissed and went to find Emma. She left them in the private room at the infirmary where they undressed and talked some more. "I think Vasia and I are going to have a new home," Nikki said, finishing his story. "Vlad said our pictures came out good and we did sex really good. Plus, we both had good grades and would be able to get into the school they use." "I thought you just had to be good at sex," Misha said. "Nope. You gotta be good at lots of stuff." The chatter ended and the two of them kissed and rubbed each other for a long time. Even after all of his sex during the weekend, Nikki had something left for Misha. They had only one orgasm each that night, but the night was special for them. They knew it was the last one they would ever enjoy together. This time they kissed and petted and dry humped and came almost simultaneously as they rolled around the bed with abandon, enjoying the touch of each other's bodies, enjoying the feel of sex, wishing this wasn't the last time. "I love you, Mikhail, my Misha," Nikki said as tears dribbled down his cheeks. "I love you, Nikolai, my Nikki," Misha said, parroting his older friend, his tears flowing unchecked. They kissed and licked away each other's tears and slept with their arms and legs wrapped around each other's naked bodies, feeling the energy flow between them. Emma woke them in the morning, getting a special kind of satisfaction at seeing the two naked boys sleeping so intimately. She told them to dress, shower, and head to the cafeteria for breakfast. Misha's new parents would be arriving in a couple of hours. He was packed and ready and very frightened. ++++++++++++ Misha sat in the director's office, his meager belongings packed into the two boxes in the corner. His new parents would be arriving any minute. Misha wasn't going into the meeting cold. He had exchanged many emails with the Larsons, but that didn't stop him from being nervous. His biggest fear was that the Larsons wouldn't like him once they met him, no matter what they had been writing to him. His next biggest fear was that he wouldn't like them. He also learned a great deal from Greg, who worked for the adoption agency. He had arrived in St. Petersburg two weeks before. He met with Misha every day during school hours, tutoring him in English, American culture, and telling him about his adoptive parents. He helped Misha send and read emails from the Larsons, and soon had them communicating via Facebook. Thanks to generous donors, some of whom had ulterior motives, the orphanage had twenty computers. Only the boys in the C wing, who were fourteen and older, were allowed to have their own email and Facebook accounts. The older boys attended a public high school. The orphanage school only went as far as the equivalent to eighth grade. Misha was happy he wasn't sitting alone. Greg was with him, as were Dmitri and Nikki, his two best friends. "Do they have football in America?" Dmitri asked. "Yes, but they call it something else," Misha answered. He turned to Greg. "I can't remember the name." "It's called soccer," Greg said. Nine-year-old Dmitri started laughing. "That's a crazy word." Since soccer would have translated into football, Greg pronounced the English word, soccer. "Everybody says football players in America aren't very good. Misha is good. He'll be the best there is when he gets there," Nikki said. "What about chess?" Dmitri asked. "Misha told me they play chess everywhere." "I'm sure your new parents will get you involved in chess and soccer," Greg said. Misha quietly thought about his new parents. Greg said they would try to hug him and if they did he should let them. He told Misha that he'd instructed his parents to wait to see how he felt before giving him any hugs, but they might get excited at seeing him and hug him anyway. "Why should they be excited at meeting me?" Misha asked. "Because they love you." "How can they love me when they haven't even seen me yet?" Misha didn't believe he could be loved my any adult. Nikki was the only person who loved him, although Dmitri, Stepan, and Vasia might love him, too. They were really good friends, which might mean they loved him. He wondered if he loved them. Everybody talked about love, but he didn't really know what it meant. He just knew that he liked Nikki more than any person he knew. The wait ended suddenly when the door to the office opened. A well- dressed middle age couple entered the room, followed by the director of the orphanage. The man and woman both had broad smiles. They stopped and looked at Misha. Ryan and Lois Larson could tell immediately that Mikhail, as they knew him, was much more handsome than his pictures indicated. In fact, to them, even as the boy worked to maintain an impassive face, the broad shouldered, athletic looking, nine-year-old was beautiful. "Hello, Mikhail," Lois said in a tone of voice that immediately brought a sense of comfort to Misha. "I am Lois Larson, your new mother." Lois felt the surge of tears. She had an incredible urge to take the obviously frightened little boy into her arms and give him a huge, loving squeeze. While she remembered her lessons from the counselor from the agency in Seattle, telling her to maintain her distance, she couldn't believe the vulnerable nine-year-old boy in front of her didn't want a warm and loving hug. She put her arms around him and squeezed him against her. Misha tightened up and refused to return her hug. She'd been told to expect that behavior, but it still stung. Mikhail had been abandoned by his parents. The adults at the orphanage, even the most caring ones, kept their distance emotionally. While Mikhail had an innate urge to be close to an adult, he also had a deep seated distrust of adults. Ryan Larson held out his hand, a gesture Misha understood and could accept. He shook his new father's hand with a surprisingly strong grip. "I'm Ryan Larson. It is a pleasure to meet you at last, son." Misha felt a momentary flash of warmth on hearing the word "son". He managed to successfully suppress a smile and maintain his stoic look. Misha said nothing, hiding every emotion he felt except the fear that was deep inside of him. "Who are your friends, Mikhail?" Lois asked. Misha was surprised to be asked a question, and even more surprised that it was a question about his friends. He spoke to them in his broken, accented English. "This is Dmitri. This is Nikolai. He is called Nikki. He is my best friend ever." Lois was surprised that Misha's best friend was a boy who looked to be two or three years older than he was, but said nothing. She was just happy to hear her new son's lilting boy soprano speaking to her in English. The Larsons had met Greg before he went to Russia to prep Misha for this day. They discussed what would be happening next. The paperwork was all completed, so it was now just a matter of taking Misha to the waiting car that would transport them to the airport. Greg picked up one of the boxes of belongings and Nikki, not wanting to be left out, picked up the other box as the group left the room. But the group didn't head for the exit. Instead, Greg led them to the recreation room, which was empty since school was in session. Misha was surprised to see two suitcases sitting open on one of the tables. Before he could react, his new parents were moving his belongings from the boxes to the new suitcases. Misha was going to travel in style. As he watched the packing take place, he felt somewhat embarrassed by how little he actually owned. Since he wasn't taking his uniform, he really didn't have much that belonged to him. He had some underwear, socks, shoes, shirts and shorts, soccer gear, and his chessboard. After the suitcases were packed, Nikki and Greg carted them out of the exit and down the front steps to the parking area where a car was waiting for them. Misha smiled when he saw Vasia and Josef waiting just inside the door. They waved to Misha and told him they each got excused from class to say good-bye. Ryan and Lois saw Misha's smile for the first time and thought it was the most beautiful smile they had ever seen. The good-bye was sweet, with Vasia and Josef each trading kisses on the cheek with Misha. Misha and Dmitri did the same thing after the suitcases were loaded in the trunk of the car. The real good-bye was the one between Misha and Nikki. The bed master and his bedmate were traditionally paired for the sexual convenience of the older boy, the bed master. Some bed masters, like Kirill, were as close to bullies as they could get away with. The sex with their bedmate was all about them as the bed master, and they expected things to be done their way. Most bed masters were like Vasia and Josef. While their first concern was themselves, they also cared for the feelings of the younger boy and usually gave pleasure to their bedmate. When an emotional attachment of some kind did develop between bed masters and bedmates, it usually involved the younger boy more. The bedmate looked up to his older partner and tried hard to please him. As is so often the case in the orphanage, the younger boy feared being abandoned by the boy who "adopted" him. But on rare occasions, the older boy and the younger boy become emotionally attached. That is what happened with Misha and Nikki. The nine-year-old and the twelve-year-old had fallen in love with each other. They didn't know they had fallen in love because they were too young to understand that is what had happened to them. Plus, the environment they lived in wasn't one where love was felt or discussed. And yet, even with all of that against them, Misha and Nikki had expressed their love to each other. Misha walked up to Nikki, wrapped his arms around his bed master and placed his head against the tween's chest. "I love you, Nikki." Misha didn't really know whether or not he loved Nikki, but the word love reflected what he felt. "I love you, my Misha." "I want to kiss you." "What about them?" Nikki asked, nodding his head in the direction of Misha's new parents. "I don't care. I don't know them. I know you—you are my best friend who I love." Nikki bent down and Misha kissed his bed master. That was Nikki's role as the older boy even if both boys knew that they were each other's bedmates—equals, in spite of the age difference. Ryan and Lois expected another ritual kissing of the cheeks. Instead, what they saw was two boys kissing each other on the lips, oblivious to the four adults watching them. The kiss became more than a meeting of lips—it became a kiss of passion and love, a kiss neither boy wanted to break as desire built up inside of them. They hadn't really known each other long. They knew they most likely would never see each other again. But their short time as bedmates was a time neither of them would ever forget. At twelve and nine they had been each other's first love, and nothing was more special than that. Misha's new parents knew there had been more between the two boys than mere friendship. They didn't know it at the time, but the kiss foreshadowed an important part of Misha's future. Misha sat in the back seat of the car with his father and Greg. His mother and the driver occupied the front seat. Misha waved to Nikki until his friend dropped out of sight. After Nikki disappeared from view, Misha lay against the seat back and sobbed. The emotions flooding trough him were mixed. He wasn't going to miss the orphanage and its crowded dorm rooms, its endless rules and traditions, and often being at the mercy of the older boys. He knew he had it better than most. He'd had Nikki, Vasia, and most importantly, Josef, standing up for him, not to mention using his own assertiveness to stand up to the bullies. What he was going to miss were his friends who had kept him comfortable in bed almost every night. But most of all Misha would miss his Nikolai who let him know he could be loved. Now he was embarking into the unknown. His new parents seemed to be as nice as their emails indicated. But adults had either abandoned him or kept their distance from him. There was nothing permanent about people, whether his friends at the orphanage or the adults who ruled over him. He wondered how long it would be before he was abandoned again. ++++++++++++ Greg had told Misha to talk to his new parents and practice his English on the flight home. Misha didn't know what to say to them, so he said nothing. Instead he slept, or pretended to sleep. Being on the plane was so new and exciting he had a problem sleeping for long. They were flying first class. Misha always had the same window seat as he traded seat partners between Greg, his father, and his mother. He told Greg in Russian how amazing flying was. "Tell your parents," Greg replied. "I don't know them." "Telling them things is how you will get to know them." "They're going to make me go back," Misha said. "They will think I am dumb because I don't speak good English." "No, they love you and will never send you back." Misha didn't trust them. Something would happen to make them send him back. Maybe it had already happened, he thought. Maybe me kissing Nikki will make them not like me. Boys don't kiss boys is what everybody says, and I am sure they know that. Those thoughts drifted through his mind as he fell into a fitful sleep. They changed planes in New York. Misha was amazed at the size of the city and the buildings as they landed at Kennedy Airport. From New York they flew to Seattle. Lois was sitting next to Misha when they approached the Emerald City. "There's you new home down there, Mikhail," she said. "You're fortunate that we are having a clear day. Look over there." Her hand was in front of him as she pointed out the window. "That is Mount Rainier. You will learn to love looking at it." Misha tried to ignore her, but he couldn't. Her enthusiasm for showing him what was out the window was contagious. "We are so fortunate to have you in our lives, Misha. I hope you will soon understand that. Your father and I love you and are so happy you are landing in your new home with us. We will be here forever...we promise." She wanted to hug him again, but didn't repeat her mistake in the orphanage. The adoption counselor said the right time for hugs would come. They couldn't come soon enough as far as Lois was concerned. Next: MIKHAIL-USA