skinnydragon

Thanks Ron! Yeah, I think the other ERIK-shoe hasn't dropped yet.

Thank you Hunter! You're right. If David had witnessed that, we can only guess what would have happened. He totally lost it when he THOUGHT Biggy might have hit Twoey. What would he do to Erik if he saw him manhandle Twoey? Oh wait! David hasn't learned about it yet. There's still time! That should get the Team Twoey guys rooting!

Thanks lux! I guess those orange cones steered me away from that dangerous meeting that never happened. Oh yes, something will have to be done about Erik.

I'm sorry I totally missed this when it was posted (I missed lots of chapters that day!) MrM! This is a thoroughly delightful story. It kisses the myths with just the right touch. You're very good at this! Thank you for sharing!

OMG how did I miss this post? You had me rolling on the floor, my friend. Absolutely brilliant and naughtily er ...polar!

Thank you Lisa! Yeah, I think we've all given up naming the couple. Maybe they'll give themselves cute names and we'll join those. I think Toph is approaching "the talk" with Gary. Then maybe those words will move from his mind to his mouth. You know how Toph is with most stuff, baby steps and slow ones, at that! Also his "failure" with Steve weighs heavily. The next chapter will show Luke a little more. That special TALON group has become a replacement for his blood-family.

Then the great hour struck, and every man showed himself in his true colors Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky *** I woke at five this morning. I had no nightmares and no dreams that I could remember. I was rested and content. After my session with Keating yesterday, I was worried about that. But after my session with Donny, I think that part of me might have gotten cured. I didn’t want to shower yet or make any noise to wake up my brother or anyone else, so I picked u

I don't think Leo is there to take him out of school. Maybe find out the facts? Get him some security? Or maybe it has nothing to do with that and is something completely unrelated. I guess Ron will just make us wait. Exciting chapter, Ron!

Nice chapter mitchelll ! Thomas and the senator! Just who we need in the mix. ...haha I like how Viktor goes from being the bad guy to possibly the good guy to the guy we don't like but might need. You've really kept him mysterious, and that's clever. Living with Jason will be interesting, especially to his family. Thanks for this chapter!

I don't see how this attack can be taken so casually. It was a hate crime and he was stabbed! The college is going to react in some way. They HAVE to. It happened right on their campus. Bryce will react to, when he finds out. And how he reacts will define him. Devin better get thoughts of blaming this on Bryce out of his mind, though. Another interesting chapter, Hunter!

Congratulations Parker, and well deserved. A to Z was not only good, not only well written, not only had outstanding characters, but was unique. Quite the combination of assets IMHO.

Oh Wow! What a great beginning Carl! Poor Will! What a horrible childhood, if you want to call it that. However, it has made him a good judge of character, as long as the character in question is a truck driver. The good thing about the arrest is he won't have that woman inflicted on him! Thank You, Jesus!

Thanks CG! I think it's quite clear by now that David has lost any confidence he ever had in his father. Maybe he'll start calling him "the man who lives in my house." I guess when you're a teenage boy you sort of get used to the fact that your adults don't really pay any attention to you unless you cause them trouble, like getting picked up for smoking a joint or ditching school. Your emotional life is a book written in a language they may have known once, but is as obscure to them as cuneiform tablets would be.

Thank you, jess! Do you really think David is emotionally ready to have anal sex with Donny? With his entire adult support group gone (whoops, you don't know that yet) the ramifications of that incident might be scary. He might run amok, careening around town screwing all the boys: Matty, Twoey, Chuck, ... oh, wait...

Thank you, Geoff! I'm glad you could feel his anguish. The poor kid is almost at rock bottom. We know it's mostly of his own creation, but he doesn't know that and it's no help to where he is right now. His only light seems to be Donny. But someone mentioned, in the review to an earlier chapter, that he was putting all his eggs into one emotional basket. And this is true. David doesn't seem to have a Plan-B.

Thank you, Dayne! That was a very thoughtful set of comments. You certainly helped shed light on the problems our little hero is confronting. Your comment that David is unable to access his own memories and has to rely on what others tell him should remind us that WE TOO have to rely on what David tells us. In the short distance of a few paragraphs he has already offered two or three different conclusions on what "Danny really meant." Then, of course, you had to toss in another. He is spiraling out of control, with Donny being the only parachute available at the moment. But hell, we have 12 chapters left--plenty of time.

Thanks Hunter! I think it is as you have guessed. This is not an insane asylum. Dr. Keating sees no movement in David's therapy beyond what they (mostly David and Donny) have already figured out . Before therapy can significantly help him, he needs to remember, and thus the clinic to do just that. Dr. Keating's big mistake was assuming this very smart boy, who has shown remarkable maturity and seems to be mentally stable, would understand what Syracuse was all about. If he did not explain it very well to David--CAUTION, we only know what David tells us--then he has made a serious error. He certainly didn't know about David's dream. Too bad David didn't tell him about that dream.

Thanks Parker! I don't think Dr. Keating knows what an "utterly unattached and clueless father" David has. As I mentioned somewhere below, therapy seems to be at a dead end until David begins to remember, which the doc doesn't think he has any chance of doing without the intervention of the clinic. So David is safe for two weeks. I think we know better. For 110 chapters, we know better! And we're not worried about getting packed and ready to fly to Europe, either. We can only pray Donny or something else good will save him. Otherwise, I think our boy is lost. I'm hoping it's THAT realization causing the consternation on this page, and not me.

Thanks Def! I talked about Keating in the below replies, so let's think about Ginny here. First, what we don't know (we will Sunday)is that she has a book coming out and will be on a book tour to Albany next week. Let's assume that has distracted her a bit. Here is what she knows: Her son is happy. David, who was confronting orientation demons, seems to have gotten his act together and now has a girlfriend, whom he has proudly brought to her house. When Twoey told her of David's strange phone call and collapsing at Sam's, she immediately called his shrink, not realizing David was not still seeing him. She even told Twoey what signs,in David,to watch for from her third-hand perspective. (Which was pretty accurate.) Of course Twoey couldn't do it because he no longer has any contact with David or anyone--but Ginny does NOT know this. The little breakfast scene Friday morning, no doubt alerted her and flashed some caution lights. Of course she won't get the chance to go into analysis mode, since we know everything is going to break loose either Saturday or Sunday, and Twoey will be gone all day Saturday anyway. So, since she works every day, and also writes, she isn't sitting around thinking of dire scenarios for her son, who, when he is with her and his boyfriend, seems incredibly happy and content.

Thanks spikey! Do not ever forget we get our information basically from David's narrative. HE said it was a mental health facility, not his doctor. As I mentioned to lux, it seems Dr. Keating needs David's memory to return so he can be treated. He knows it won't happen without some sort of intervention (the clinic). To him, David is in no risk for the two vacation weeks, when he will be with friends and family. Of course, we know--by now, I hope--that David's biggest enemy is himself. This means he is at great risk. Donny seems to be helping him, but we know David is only a crisis or two away from losing it.

Thanks lux! David is very good. I'm sure Dr. Keating thinks the only thing left is to get David's memory back so therapy can continue. He does not see a boy in crisis. He see's someone in control of himself and who figured out the abuse on his own. The clinic, in reality, is certainly not what David thinks it is. But we know how he is. For 110 chapters we know how he is. That's why I'm a little surprise at some of the comments here. I'll try to address those in my other replies.

In the chapter after Kiel "jumped" I began to wonder about Geoff. And now you have me wondering even more. Great chapter. Carl!

I'm still with it Carl! And enjoying it too. I'm assuming from the title, there's more to come with Tim. Geoff's father was really f***ed up! But I think it's stuff like that which makes certain people such homophobes. Not all, but some. Anyway, this was a very good chapter.

Well, Carl, I'm diving into another one of your stories. I think this one captured me, right away, with "When you’re pathetically uncoordinated, you consider things like that." Anyway, I've thoroughly enjoyed chapter one and am on my way to more!

Well, CG, whatever happened between Mikey and his dad didn't seem to interfere with his attendance at the subsequent study sessions. I enjoyed the first scene, under the truck, and all your double entendres. It was also nicely revealed, when Greg realized just how much he was helping his Yank. That's an important thing to know, given the memories from Maine. Another nice thing you do is select one couple to concentrate on, along with a section for J&M. It sort of lets us see the similarities and differences of the relationships. Another great chapter, CG!