PrivateTim

And who says Juneteenth is a worthless holiday!

Dom, Dom, wherefore art thou? “I think with Nick... I miss being his friend, you know?” Even BEFORE getting to the end of this chapter I had copied this statement from Jesse. Why on earth would he want to be friends with Nick? Nick was NEVER his friend. Nick was always about Nick. Luis saw that early on. I am sorry the story never got finished, but I think we know that Jesse and Logan will wind up together, Jesse's mom is going to throw out Randy, Luis will wind up in a better place than he is now and he, Jesse and Logan will be 'pals'. Luis might even date Lee.

Just a brilliant chapter. Luis in real life wouldn't have needed to testify. If it had been a mere sexual abuse case, yeah, but Brooks was already looking at life for kidnapping, interstate trafficking, and whatever other charges from the armed robberies. But there is no drama in that and that doesn't diminish the incredible, gut-wrenching writing.

I just don't get why Jesse was all moony over Nick and why he cared Nick was mad at him. Nick is a dick and he has zero right to be mad at Jesse. But I never got Quinn, Rory or Owen either......

Yeah, I knew Luis kicked Nick's ass for Jesse 'cuz Jesse is too much of a wuss to do it.

Took Jesse's dumb ass long enough to make the decision to dump Nick.

Kick Nick to the curb already. I am thinking Luis beat up Nick because he is cheating on you Jesse.

Well good. Someone had to kick Nick's worthless ass. It should have been Jesse, but Luis was a good sub.

I was getting tired of trying to figure it out. Ever since the shoplifting incident, Nick had been cold with me at times and seemed to expect me to figure out why Time to dump Nick. He is self centered and high maintenance. I think we all know that in the end Logan is going to wind up as Jesse's next boyfriend, or at least I hope so. Dom has a way of pulling surprises. I am sure Logan has his faults too, all boyfriends do and eventually they get to you, but I bet it would take a lot longer to get tired of him. Nick exhausts me. I see a crack in Luis' veneer. I think this is the turning point towards normalcy for him.

I can't believe no one has ever commented on these chapters. I am sure we had a lot of discussions in the old Domaholics Froum, which I really miss. I liked the old forum format because it allowed real, back and forth commentary. My heart just aches for Luis. The odds of a kidnapped child, ala Elizabeth Smart, ever being found are incredibly rare. I can't imagine what he suffered at the hands of his kidnapper. It doesn't even have to have been physical abuse, just the separation from your friends and family would be traumatic enough for an 8 year old.

I am not a reptile or fish fan, nor birds for that matter, and never understood my friends who were. But Logan seems a catch anyway.

Obviously we'll find out more about Luis' situation, but this is a great, intriguing beginning. This stood out to me, "Only then I reached for the cell phone I carried around on occasion--one of the very few occasions when I didn’t mind giving my mom a way to reach me." This story was written just as smartphones were being introduced. Kids were not joined at the hip to them the way they are now.

This is truly a masterful work. It could very easily be a very good Netflix mini-series. It is better and more original than 90% of the scripts and treatments I read. The part that is interesting (besides the story) is how much technology has changed since this was written. The idea of written letters, not emails is just quaint, and beyond email, Zoom and the like. Another interesting aspect is that these young people are able to support themselves and pay rent on relatively meager earnings. That is still true in a lot of the Midwest, but those days are gone forever in So Cal. I know I am a selfish bitch, but I wish Dom had continued to write the way Mark Arbour has. He is now in the 18th book of the Chronicles Of An Academic Predator and 9th book of the Bridgemont series.

Dom was definitely a man, albeit a very young man when he was writing.

Sara deserves no redemption because she has no redeeming features. John Gordon does deserves some redemption. He was a terrible father, but as twisted as he was, he did love his boys and Dennis had earned his respect. I wish the story had five more chapters so we could see how the dynamics shifted with Leo, Ben, Kyle, Owen, and the others who once hated Dennis. Thanks once again Dom, wherever you are.

PS I really miss the Domaholic Forum that we used to talk about these stories on. NaperVic, no longer with us, was the biggest Domaholic and always had incredible insights.

Well Lyle is going to be someone's bitch for a while.

Dennis is who he is, and that is being a stoic. He isn't a "let me explain" guy. Ben really needs to straighten Leo out.

Sara gets no slack from me. She let a drunk badly abuse two little kids. She should have shot Bill herself. I wish Dom were around still writing. I'd like a Michael story ten years down the line.

This book has the wrong title. It ought to be The Long, Long, Really Really Long Way, Aiden and Owen need professional help, like couples therapy; someone who can get the truth out of the two of them.

The Gordon's are one messed up family. Travis and Dennis are both changing.

Uh yeah, I'd tap him too.

Really? No one mentioned that Dennis outed himself to Owen? Oh, and I meant to mention last chapter that I know exactly how Dennis felt when he and Phil and Leo were all best buddies. I had these great friends in Middle School, one had been a very good friend for a long time, but somehow when we got to high school we all went separate ways into different cliques. We didn't end up all hating each other like Leo, Dennis and Phil, we just became nothing, mere acquaintances, whereas once we were bosom buddies sharing everything, all our secrets and plans. It still makes me sad to have lost that intimacy with my friends.

Travis is such a dick. He's mad at Kyle for not respecting his private life, but he presses his way into Dennis' private life and worse is trying to force something on Dennis he doesn't want. I also hated how Travis kept interrupting Dennis telling his story.

“Why is it so important for you to label me?” The question of all questions for the gay community. Why is it so important? Dennis says he is straight then he is straight. Sexual orientation is self-declared, there is no criteria for one label vs the other. Yes it is possible to have a completely straight orientation, but still enjoy sex with men. And no, that doesn't make you bi. I am sure we will see more of Michael. Dom doesn't introduce new characters without a purpose.