Altimexis

The timing couldn't be worse, but Nicky does need to tell Jack about what happened with Jonah and to be honest about it. The reason is that Jack will know something happened. Whether it's because Jonah is no longer welcome in their in-room get togethers or because of Nick's frosty relationship with Jonah, he'll know. God forbid, if Nicky tries to cover up the episode by treating Jonah as he always does, the result would be a disaster. Jonah would take that as a green light to keep pushing until he get's Nicky in the sack with him. And Jack will still know. The longer Nick puts off telling Jack, the harder it will be to tell him and the harder it will be for Jack to forgive him. The relationship won't survive if Jack realizes he can't trust Nick to be honest with him. That's true of the pictures as well. Regarding the letter, my hope is that it says something to the effect that Jack's parents are glad to be rid of him. Good riddance and don't expect anything in the way of support from them. Jack's welcome to live with the pathetic, sorry excise of a woman that is his alcoholic grandmother. Unfortunately, I suspect that the letter says something vindictive, such as their intent to send him off to a military school.

“Excuse you,” Jonah snapped, one hand on his chest. “I happen to know Geneva is in Switzerland, home of the United Nations, and I could spell ‘descendants’ and ‘Geneva’ on your back with my tongue.” Um, Geneva is the home of the UN? There's a large UN office in Geneva, but the UN is headquartered in New York, in Manhattan. It's on First Avenue at 42nd Street, in the neighborhood known as Kipp's Bay. So while Geneva might be home to one of the largest UN regional offices, it's not the home of the UN. When the General Assembly meets, as it did from September 18–30, east-side traffic in Midtown comes to a standstill and those of us with appointments in the area have to allow an extra hour for transportation time. Frankly, if Geneva wants the UN headquarters, they're welcome to it.

No! Nick can hint to his mother that he might be able to provide pictures of physical abuse, but if she sees the pictures herself, she would be legally obligated to report suspected child abuse to an appropriate state agency. Failure to do so would almost certainly cost her her medical license.

Poor Jack! His parents hate him. His long-lost nana is a lush. His boyfriend has his own issues. It's no wonder he feels so alone. His ace in the hole is Nick's mom. There's no doubt that she loves him unconditionally and is willing to spend all the time that it takes to make Jack's life secure. How ironic that she's let her own son down when it comes to spending time with him. What Jack doesn't seem to know is that NIck's mom will stand up for him, even if Nicky doesn't. He can count on that. Legally, it's a whole other matter. The guardianship battle would be fought in California and if it fails, there'd be little recourse. Faced with parents who've been shown to be abusive and a grandmother who's an alcoholic and totally unfit, anything could happen. If the physical evidence from Nick's pics were presented, the judge could well place Jack into the system or at least require the parents to go through counseling, which they might refuse. NIck's mom could seek to adopt, but she lives out of state. The pics might be used to blackmail Jack's parents into voluntarily giving up custody of their son. His nana could probably get guardianship, but she might not qualify to adopt unless she successfully goes through a program such as AA. I'm not sure that Nick's mom can adopt as long as she's out of state. It's probably doable, but it would come at a cost. In the meantime, she absolutely can't see those pics herself. If it came out later that she'd seen them but not reported the abuse to an appropriate agency, she could lose her medical license. What a complicated mess! Little Buddha certainly knows how to write a complicated story!

That was my first thought as well, but it’s complicated. Remember how Jack said his father told him he should just kill himself, as if would be better all around? Jack is a big disappointment to his parents. He’s an embarrassment. Instead of being a super-athletic all-American boy, he’s artistic and to top it off, he’s gay. The trophy kid they wanted to show off is tarnished. At least they can point to his academic excellence in attending Harrison West. Now imagine they’re at a party and someone asks how their son is doing. Imagine how it would look to say that he lives with his grandmother now. That’s not a good look at all. Better to slug it out in court. Keep it hush-hush as much as they can. Better to be vindictive against both Jack and Nana. Not many people on the outside world know what’s going on. The only thing worse would be to be charged with child abuse. That would be very public. It would be in the papers, on the local news and all over their social media. Without Nicky’s pics, there’s no physical evidence of abuse. It’s a civil case with only custody involved. They can fight that and win. However, with physical evidence, it becomes a criminal case. They’d be arrested. They’d be arraigned. There could even be prison time involved. They’d want to avoid that, even at the cost of losing custody.

When Jack has a meltdown, he trashes his room. When Nick has a meltdown, he pushes everyone away and almost seems to sabotage his relationship with the one he cares about the most. It's not unusual for people who feel insecure to lash out at those who love them, as if they aren't worth of that love. The way Little Buddha handled this is so realistic that I can't help but wonder if he went through something like this himself. The pics Nicky has on his phone of the welts on Jack's back could do so much to help Jack's case. Confronted with those pics, Jack's parents might well acquiesce rather than risk criminal charges for child abuse. The problem is that Nick took them surreptitiously without Jack's knowledge, specifically after Jack told him to let it go. Nicky is probably afraid of Jack's reaction on two counts - that he took the pics without Jack's permission in the first place, and that he held on to them without telling Jack he has them. That's a risk Nicky really needs to take, as the reward would be immeasurable. The truth will come out eventually, and Jack's reaction could be nuclear if he learned that his boyfriend had the evidence that could have saved him but didn't use it. Hopefully, Nick's mom will get it out of him. Nana's drinking could become a real issue and I worry that it could torpedo her chances of being Jack's guardian. I also worry about Nicky's supply of clonazepam. I fear that he might take all of them at once if he spirals into suicidal thoughts.

This is a perfect example of why I gave up on writing from a detailed outline. Not that it isn’t important to know in advance where a story is going or how it will end, but in a character-driven story, characters invariably develop organically and the choices they make dictate what happens in the middle. Ideas for new characters and entire subplots emerge. Ideas for clues come to mind and devious ways of distracting the reader become evident. Sometimes it becomes necessary to go back and tweak earlier parts of the story to maintain consistency, which is paramount. A good story writes itself.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 The summer would soon be drawing to a close, and we were on our way to Paris for the vacation of a lifetime. We’d been invited by a longtime friend — a professor of music known the world over for his restoration of centuries-old musical instruments. He also sold hand-made harpsichords that he designed and built in his own workshop. Thanks to his unique skills, Stephan Larouche had amassed enough money to live comfortably, if not extravagantly, in the Latin Quarter.

James was excited at the opportunity for a research fellowship in Paris. How romantic it could be, except that he had no one with whom to share it, and he didn’t speak any French. He's instantly drawn to another young American, Chris, who’s doing an apprenticeship with one of the foremost experts on restoring musical instruments. Saddened that they must go their separate ways, a near-death experience shows them both what matters most. Drawn from real events in the life of the author, modified to suit a young gay audience.

If Mr. Johnston had pictures and vids of Nicky in the shower, how do we know he didn’t post them on social media or sell or trade them online?

Epilogue “Earth to Jeff. Come in, Jeff,” I heard as the fog cleared from my brain. Paul and I were enjoying a leisurely Sunday brunch in our apartment on the Upper West Side. I’d gone out earlier to Zabar’s to pick up bagels, lox and schmear. I could have gotten delivery from Kossar’s, but Zabar’s was a local institution within easy walking distance of our apartment, and frankly, I liked their lox even better than Kossar’s. Apparently, I’d zoned out while in the midst of eating my bagel

I'm shocked that everyone's coming down hard on White Castle and yet no one seems to be the least bit perturbed that a mother would server her son and his boyfriend Taco Bell. Not that White Castle isn't horrible - it's something I've managed to steer clear of for nearly seven decades - but Taco Bell is pretty far down the fast food chain. Okay, I enjoyed Taco Bell Tuesdays in the St. Mary's hospital cafeteria as much as anyone, which says a lot the unhealthy food they served the rest of the week, but that's beside the point. When you can choose takeout from any fast food restaurant, Chipotle is so much better for Mexican food - it's on Forbes list of the 10 Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants. Sadly, hot dogs go hand in hand with baseball. Do they at least have turkey dogs available now? Enough about the food. Why do people call baseball as the all-American pastime? Baseball is just a variation on cricket, just as American football is a variation on rugby. The one truly American sport is basketball, which was documented in its earliest form as a sport played by costal native Americans in the sixteenth century. The formal sport was invented in 1890 at what is now Springfield College, in Massachusetts. Now that's a true American sport. Growing up in Indiana as I did, the only thing worse for a boy than being accused of being gay was not playing basketball. I must say, Detroit is a quintessential sport city. I lived for a time in the SF Bay Area, which certainly has its professional sports teams, but they don't dominate life the way they do in Detroit. I lived in a restored Art Deco building in Midtown Detroit, with a south-facing view of downtown and beyond that, Ontario. Detroit is one of the few places in America where Canada is to the south. Comerica Park, Ford Field and Little Caesars Arena are prominent features of Downtown Detroit, but they lack the character of the original Tiger Stadium, which still stood proudly in Corktown when I lived there A lot of fans cried when it was finally torn down. As to the chapter - what's not to like. The scene at the end with Christian and Jonah was priceless. That Jack's Nana may be back in the picture is heartening, but having her take over responsibility for Jack isn't a slam-dunk. It would be much easier if she lived in California, where a single agency would be involved. States are loath to give up jurisdiction in child custody cases. Most states do have some kind of of kinship care, which is much simpler than foster care, but it requires a relative willing to take responsibility, and that's generally one who lives in state. If the grandmother is willing, hiring an attorney and getting the parents to give up parental rights to the grandmother would be the way to go. They might even stipulate that the parents would provide a monthly stipend to cover the cost of raising Jack, that they continue to pay his tuition until he graduates and that they set aside money for his college education. Getting them to agree to all of that is where Nicky's pictures could come in handy.

Thursday, November 23, 1972 Thanksgiving. It was a time for people to come from all over America to be together. It was a time of frantic kitchens and frayed nerves and putting out fires, some of them literal. It was a time for seeing annoying relatives, last seen a year or more ago. It was a time of kids overburdened with homework, assigned by all of their teachers because the kids were off for the holiday and had nothing else to do. Yet somehow, things always worked out. Before D

Yes, it's the plumbing, and it's obvious. She can hear when the shower is running and if the shower only runs once, then they're either alternating taking showers while the other does without, or they're showering together. What a wonderful chapter! How great it is that Tommy is still Nicky's friend, and perhaps Jack's too. I just can't help waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hope Nicky's mom is working on backup plans for Jack.

Tuesday, August 7, 1972 Mom really blindsided me at dinner by bringing up a subject no teenage boy wants to discuss with their parents, especially their mother. She began, “I know how uncomfortable it is for boys to talk about sex, unless they’re talking with other boys,” she continued, “but there are consequences that can affect you for the rest of your life. “If a girl gets pregnant, she either has to travel somewhere where abortion is legal or raise the child while she herself is sti

A week spent camping and hiking in Tahquamenon Falls State Park on the UP would be a lot of fun, and affordable. However, without a car or a license, it'd be just about impossible. Besides, in the early spring, it would still be freezing cold.

I think that Nick's mom is already thinking along those lines. Of course if there's another family member willing to step in, that would be much simpler from a legal standpoint. Otherwise, she'd have to convince Jack's parents to give up their parental rights, yet pay his tuition, or convince them to let her serve as Jack's guardian in situ. In other words, she'd take responsibility for Jack's wellbeing while they remain his parents. The worst case would be if they needed to accuse Jack's parents of child abuse, as that would mean getting CPS involved, opening a real can of worms. And what a POS is Noah! Even now, all he wants is an occasional blow job. He might as well make room in his medicine cabinet right now for Biktarvy.

I said the story was semi-autobiographical. There are significant differences between the fictional account in this story and what happened in real life. I’ll have more to say at the end of the story, which is just a week and a half away. After that, I’ll be posting a short story and as with this one, it will weave real events from my life into a romantic tale.

Saturday, August 5, 1972 It was a five-to-six-hour drive from Indianapolis to Iowa City, so the round trip was doable in one very long day. We figured that Mom could drive out and I’d drive back, and that way she wouldn’t have to stay in a hotel overnight. I had second thoughts in the morning at 7:00, when she called to say she was on her way. Paul and I had only gotten to sleep a few hours before. We had to wash up in our sink before we were presentable enough to leave our room to take

Asperger’s? I don’t have experience with adolescents, but the adults I’ve known with Asperger's are often uncomfortable with human contact and they don’t exactly crave attention the way Jonah does. I’ll defer to the experts on this, but I think we’re all overthinking Jonah’s mental health diagnoses. The author says it’s not important and I think we should take him at his word.

Okay, given that the author says otherwise, Jonah’s not a mental case. He’s just a rich kid who’s never known boundaries.

I was just thinking the same thing. Jonah seems to be hypomanic most of the time with bouts of outright mania and occasional depression. He doesn’t seem to have delusions, but at times he borders on delusional. Yes, it could be ADHD, but this seems like something more. He needs to see a pediatric psychiatrist in any case.

Friday, August 4, 1972 The presentations were being given in alphabetical order, based on the presenter’s last name. Lindsey was in the middle of the alphabet, and as luck would have it, I was scheduled for the first presentation of the morning on this, the final day of the program. Going through the cafeteria line, I took a full assortment of breakfast items. They were serving omelets, and I took a two-egg western omelet with hash browns, two strips of bacon and two sausage links. As always

Not pastries — pasties, without the ‘r’. You can get pastries anywhere, but pasties are unique to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Everywhere you go, you’ll find signs proclaiming, “We’ve got pasties.” Truthfully, most cultures have some variation on the theme of a meat-filled pastry, but what distinguishes pasties is that they’re large and thick. As mentioned in the story, they’re similar to an empanada, but much thicker and meatier, and with a more doughy crust. While you’re getting your pasties on the UP, be sure to see the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, go hiking in Tahquamenon Falls State Park and then slip across the border at Sault Ste. Marie and take the narrow gauge railway to Algonquin Canyon. Then return home to Cincinnati, one of the most underrated cities in America, and that’s coming from a New Yorker.

I haven't posted to Nifty in years. 20 years ago, Nifty was an important entry point to the world of gay-themed fiction. Sites like GA were in their infancy and Amazon only sold actual books. Nifty was a chance for those of us who were so-inclined to test the waters writing our own gay fiction. GA is a much better place for a new author to get their start. It's a far, far better place for readers who are looking for more than a quick erotic fantasy. I admire you for continuing to post to Nifty. Stories like SftF can provide an important off-ramp to the world of quality gay fiction. Good luck with getting Nifty to update your story!