PrivateTim

I am confused. Why was Jack in LA?? There are always two sides to every story, everyone is pissed off at Robbie for not taking Will's call and everyone, including and especially Will, are assuming it was to spite Will. Has no one ever missed a cell phone call before and not known it? This story is in 2000, cell phones were not as sophisticated then as they are now. There were very few multi-line screens on cell phones back then. As a result texting was not ubiquitous yet and seeing missed calls wasn't as easy. I still don't like the idea of Kristin and Gathan back together. It just makes no sense to have a girlfriend in Ohio when you are a freshman in college in Palo Alto.

Yeah, they do seem to be slow learners for two very smart guys.

Actually, I'd love to go back..... I'd love to know what DID go down when they found out about Pat, how they found out, what they did, who they called, etc....

I think the point you miss is that if Will had sex with Pat it would not have been "abuse". Brad and Robbie know Will well enough and know how strong willed he is that abuse was not going to be an issue. Had it been JJ, that might have been a different story. You also can not state "no truly responsible caretaker or parent would have behaved as Brad and Robbie did" because truly responsible caretakers and parents behave all kinds of ways. Some truly responsible caretakers and parents might have had their 14 year old in therapy after naked pole dancing and ejaculation in gay night club, some truly responsible caretakers and parents might have had their 14 year old in therapy after a kidnapping and near rape. Some truly responsible caretakers and parents might certainly have ignored their precocious 14 year old while they figured out how to deal with the situation. We still have no idea what conversations Brad and Robbie had together, had with Stef and JP, had with their lawyers, had with the police or had with anyone.. Brad and Robbie are not your typical, naive parents. They have their faults, I really object to their pot smoking around the kids and their apparent lack or concern that the kids smoke pot too, but that part is not atypical unfortunately. But they are much more attuned to Will's sexuality than most parents are to their 14 year olds sexuality and who have no idea what they are up to with their cellphones, webcams, chat rooms, etc. Maybe because you are older you don't get what is going on with the youth.

Like I said.... a weak year in the NCAA, a dearth of great teams.

I've Got a Little list As some days may happen That a victim must be found I've got a little list I've got a little list Of society offenders Who might well be underground And who never would be missed They never would be missed There's weightlifters and bodybuilders People of that sort Bank robbers who retire to Spain The minute they get caught Bishops who don't believe in God Chief constables who do All people who host chat shows And the guests what's on them too And customs men who fumbling through your underwear insist I don't think they'd be missed I'm sure they'd not be missed He's got them on the list He's got them on the list And they’d none of them be missed They’d none of them be missed There's the people with pretentious names Like Justin, Trish, and Rolf And the gynecologist I've got him on the list All muggers, joggers, buggers, floggers People who play golf They never would be missed They never would be missed All waitresses who make you wait Accountants of all kinds And actresses who kiss and tell And wiggle their behinds And pouncy little singers who to entertain us try By dressing up like women and by singing far too high And who on close observance must be either stoned or pissed I don't think they'd be missed I'm sure they not be missed He's got them on the list He's got them on the list And they’d none of them be missed And none of them be missed There's the beggars who write letters From the inland revenue And the gossip columnist I've got him on the list All critics and comedians and opera singers too They’d none of them be missed They’d none of them be missed All traffic wardens, bankers, Men who sell Venetian blinds All advertising chappies And Australians of all kinds And nasty little editors whose papers are the pits Who fill their rags with gossip And with huge and floppy... ritz. And girls who sell the stories Of the Tories they have kissed But you must have got the gist 'Cause none of them be missed You may put them on the list You may put them on the list And they’d none of them be missed They’d none of them be missed

Meh.... it was a weak year in mens basketball.

And to me it rang incredibly true that they completely ignored a fourteen year old who may have been sexually involved with an adult caretaker because knowing how sexually precocious Will is, they might not have been ready to broach the subject. This isn't a case of typical parents who suddenly discover their 14 year old son has a sexual appetite (even though fathers were one 14 year old boys) and think maybe a nasty old man robbed him of his childhood, innocence, blah blah blah. They are parents who know of his sexual involvement with older people and might have been avoiding him until they figured out what to do about the situation.

Hunh... is it me or was that a really short chapter? I'm just sayin'..... I am thinking JT doesn't turn out to be a bad guy, just an abused kid acting out. Nice chapter, even if was small, smalls not always bad.....

Cool chapter, although I have to say I've never seen a congregation applaud a sermon though..... I am also not so sure that everyone in the congregation would accept what the pastor was saying that easily. It would be going against what they had been taught previously. I think there would also have been a bit of head scratching over "where did that sermon come from" since there hasn't been a precipitating event leading up to it. If there had been an incident in town that needed addressing, a word from the pulpit would make sense, but an out of the blue declaration seems more likely to confuse people. As to druids, Druid Hills, KY is a section of Louisville, KY, so yeah, they have had their influence over the years, but it mostly as people who had special gifts, but they didn't follow druidism rituals. They would have been Christians with the druid part not thought of as druidism. It is religions merge and absorb parts of other religions... but that is a whole other topic about how modern Christianity is a mix of classic Christianity mixed with pagan beliefs like Easter bunnies, Yule logs, etc. I hope that that what's his face hasn't come out too soon and to too many people. It is one thing to be out to your parents or best friend, but it is another to come out at school, on your baseball team etc.

Silverlake is where you go when you are tired of the drama of WeHo and then Palm Springs just before you die

Wait... you live in So Cal and don't understand someone f'ing with someone's life, just for the sake of being a bitch, creating drama and hurting someone you don't like? Don't you ever go into WeHo?

I never got the impression that Andy's parents knew all that he was doing. It would take a lot of Misson volunteering and "Our Father's" and "Hail Mary's" to undo a pole dance not to mention, a "step aside girls, gotta gargle".

Lots of interesting stuff in this chapter.... is this the first mention of a pool at the Malibu homes? I think there are only four pools on the beach in the Colony.... And while I get poetic license, could Will really see all those things in Gathan's eyes from across the rink? I was hoping that they would stay broken up.... never did like that little tramp... This part is a whole topic unto itself, "[/background] “Sometimes people who are being molested don’t feel like they have a choice. They feel trapped. Or maybe they think they want that to happen, even if it’s a bad thing.” " I've seen this from both sides of the occurrences. I've known young guys who were in willing relationships with older guys and older guys in relationships with younger guys. Many times the younger guys have later felt preyed upon or manipulated, even when at the time, they told everyone around it was what they wanted. It is an interesting situation and so seldom turns out well for anyone. I love Will, but he is being a bit unreasonable. What has he done to show his parents he is capable of making adult decisions for his life? If I had done a naked pole dance when i was 13, I'd still be grounded. Not many 14 year olds get a lot of input to major decisions about their lives. Lastly, we still don't know what the police are doing or what part they played in the firing of Pat. The first person a police investigator would have wanted to talk to after the initial "victim" would have been Will*. The police would certainly have been in touch with Brad/Robbie and their lawyers and we don't know what advice or instructions were given or how Brad and Robbie reacted to the request. I am sure a few chapters are already written, but I'd love to see that police interview with Will when and if it happens. *this is basically a repost of my "review" and I wrote it before reading the above post about what police investigators might or might not have done.

Interesting perspective and I am sorry for what your niece had to go through all around, but I think there are key differences. One is no matter how much we pretend, we treat 14 year old boys and girls very differently on things like this. Two, Will is known to not be an innocent or a virgin and it is known he is gay. I think that shapes how the dads would view the situation. They might be afraid to know what really happened and delayed to think things over.The police would have wanted to interview Will, but Robbie and Brad might not have wanted that. This family isn't just any family, the local police (and we don't even know what jurisdiction is conducting the investigation yet) wouldn't be able to run roughshod over the family like they do to others. If the police weren't allowed to see Will, and we know they weren't, they might have requested that he not be told. They like to interview people when they can catch them unawares. It is also unlikely that Malibu, which is covered by LA Sheriffs under contract to the City of Malibu, is the same agency conducting the investigation. That is most likely being done by Beverly Hills PD or LAPD. In either case they have zero power to demand to see Will. They need to go to court if they really wanted to force cooperation. Overall my gut is I think Brad and Robbie were afraid to dig too deep and avoiding Will was the only way to not get into it. No, I just think Michael is a punk ass bitch who doesn't like Will and he knew hurting Pat would hurt Will.

Lots of interesting stuff in here.... is this the first mention of a pool at the Malibu homes? I think there are only four pools on the beach in the Colony.... I get poetic license, but could Will really see all those things in Gathan's eyes from across the rink? I was hoping that they would stay broken up.... never did like that little tramp... This part is a whole topic unto itself, " “Sometimes people who are being molested don’t feel like they have a choice. They feel trapped. Or maybe they think they want that to happen, even if it’s a bad thing.” " I've seen this from both sides of the occurrences. I've known young guys who were in willing relationships with older guys and older guys in relationships with younger guys. Many times the younger guys have later felt preyed upon or manipulated, even when at the time, they told everyone around it was what they wanted. It is an interesting situation. I love Will, but he is being a bit unreasonable. What has he done to show his parents he is capable of making adult decisions for his life? If I had done a naked pole dance when i was 13, I'd still be grounded. Not many 14 year olds get a lot of input to major decisions about their lives. Lastly, we still don't know what the police are doing or what part they played in the firing of Pat. The first person a police investigator would have wanted to talk to after the initial "victim" would have been Will. The police would certainly have been in touch with Brad/Robbie and their lawyers and we don't know what advice or instructions were given. I am sure a few chapters are already written, but I'd love to see that police interview with Will

"The first thing I realized was the thatch of neatly trimmed dark blond curls; the second was Billy’s half hard uncut cock." Ha ha, oh please, as if he'd have been half hard by then. A teen boy on his first experience? It is a wonder if you don't blow when someone you like looks at you

I guess you don't understand a parent's visceral reaction to the "m" word. It clutches at your throat and a your stomach drops out. Even if you know your kid's been sexually active, "molestation" brings up all kinds of scary scenarios in your head. As to Pat, would he work for Brad again? I think yeah, even if people are slow to your corner, the fact that they get there at all makes you grateful to them. Even if you are cleared of the charges, the whispers and doubts linger from some people.

I don't think Tyler Clementi killed himself because Ravi outed him formally on campus. I think Tyler killed himself because he was afraid his born again mother would not accept him because he was gay. They went to a pretty conservative church in NJ that was not supportive of gays.

I don't think a case of the "panics" is out of the question here for Brad and Robbie. Having an employee accused of a crime of this nature makes even the most sane parents crazy. They didn't handle it right, but they have experience that helps them make a better decision. I am pretty sure they knew Will didn't like Michael, I am not sure they understood it was a mutually shared feeling between Michael and Will and that Michael used his position incorrectly. I thought Brad and Will had worked out their issues earlier and had come to a place of understanding, but it just shows that as a parent you can't ever really relax or assume, you have to keep working at it. I love that they are going to St Barts, the place where the self indulgent rich go to indulge. I think the Post Ranch Inn would have been sufficient. Robbie needs to stop getting travel advice from Uma Thurman and the Hollywood crowd.

Great chapter as usual. Will looked less like the angst ridden teen, than a genuinely wounded teen. The insight Brad got from Ryan's entrance should terrify him. It is a glimpse of where father-son relations can go. I suspect that more than anything will shake him up. And yes, I too was taken aback by the "tournament" not competition slip, but it only shows how high the standards are that you have set, that we expect perfection.

Yowsers I love surfing Trestles.

Gtafton, duh!

I'm not picking on Will, I was Will. He is my twin brotha from a different motha. I know exactly how he feels, but I also know that he is partly wrong too, just as I was at that age. You don't figure out until you are older. This is also not a new phenomenon. Mark Twain once said, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." Even we don't have all the information we need to judge on if Robbie and Brad made the right decision because we don't know how or why they decided to withhold the information from Will. We don't know if they talked to each other, the police, their lawyer, JP and Stef, a prosecutor, etc so I am not ready to brand them bad parents. But Will was speaking from an teen angst moment where it was all about him, and that was his only consideration. That makes him a typical teen, not a bad kid.

Yes, a 14 year old, or any teen, who empathizes with or understands the pressures a parent is under is not the norm.