Summerabbacat

"And his tongue – his tongue was otherworldly, because it managed to be in so many different places at the same time, going round and round Lawrence’s manhood, from the base to the tip, a feat in itself since Lawrence was well aware of his personal endowment, which wasn’t the easiest to handle, as he’d come to learn from his past sex partners." Lawrence has not been one to boast previously so I assume we can believe his statement regarding his endowment. It appears he may be blessed with an abundance of gifts, and not all of them intellectual. A power bottom's delight. @Seraph28's description in comments on the previous chapter of Bastien as a "homme fatale" were further illustrated in this chapter. One has to wonder if the seduction of Lawrence was merely a game, a challenge, particularly given what Lawrence discovered in Lukas' notebook: "If Lukas kept that picture, it had to be proof of his feelings toward the Hawthorne heir. Lawrence turned it, to see if any date and place were written on its back and did a double take when he read the only word there. Lies???" Whatever Bastien's motivations, he is, as described by Lawrence, something of an oral aficionado. Given your penchant for 80's music @Laura S. Fox, I thought this little offering may delight, in recognition of Lawrence's "gifts". It was a top 20 hit in Australia in 1986, at a time when "gay club" music regularly crossed over into the mainstream:

Sabrina Carpenter on stilts?

Hopefully she won't stop with just her lies.

As much as Elena's objectionable behaviour (smoking whilst cooking, smoking at the dining table whilst Billy and Caleb ate their dinner) irritated the bejesus out of me, her no nonsense attitude and condemnation of Diana Holloway made up for her lack of consideration. I am surprised Billy has a father and brother, both of whom apparently live in the family home, such that it is. Billy's description of the family home as a shithole appears accurate, however, the photographs of Billy at least give the impression the home has warmth, something Caleb has never known. "Caleb's chest tightened. "What did you tell her?" "Enough." Billy handed him a pile of clothes. "She knows about your mom. About the pills. About the... the way she treats you." He paused. "She knows about us. Not the details. Just that you're important to me." Caleb held the clothes. They smelled like laundry detergent and something else. Something warm. "She doesn't care?" Caleb asked. "She cares that you're not eating. She cares that you look like you haven't slept in weeks. She cares that your mother is a controlling bitch who's been feeding you poison and calling it medicine." Billy's jaw tightened. "She doesn't care that you're a boy. She never did." The text in bold illustrates in a few short sentences the difference between Elena and Diana, the former a loud-mouthed lioness who will doing anything to protect her young, the latter an alligator who will eat her young to protect herself and ensure her own survival.

Imagine my excitement (for a millisecond) when I misread the comment above as ……. making a fatal appearance…. Unfortunately I erred, or then again maybe not?

I don't know as I have never eaten there. I never eat fast food takeaway of any kind, even if they have vegetarian and vegan options, unless they are solely vegetarian and/or vegan takeaway. We do have another Mexican food chain in Australia, Guzman Y Gomez, which is Australian-owned. I ordered takeaway once from them many years ago and they do have vegan options. I personally love spicy food and quite like the Mexican food I have eaten, but doubt it was authentically Mexican. Australia has a population of less than 7,500 people who were born in Mexico and almost the entire population lives in either Sydney or Melbourne.

They are "blind" @weinerdog. Will it do any good though? Billy's mum is a single mum and they have very little money according to Billy. The town may see her as white trash, and Diana Holloway is clearly one cunning bitch used to protecting herself and laying the blame squarely on Caleb. I find her medicating of Caleb the most extraordinary and repugnant thing about this whole story. Vickie deserved what she got and the blackmailees may all be a little dodgy.

Another "food" operation providing plenty of customers to Donnelly & Sons @weinerdog? I did not realise they were here in Australia until I saw one the other day. I have just read they had 27 stores but 20 have closed due to poor sales.

Literally. Now that would be a hoot.

I did not know that. I assumed it had always been autumn in the UK too as this is what we call it in Australia. I like autumn, it is one word which has not been erased in favour of American terminology.

He is so passive about everything @jcdii Hopefully Beth may initiate a discussion with him, one during which much will be revealed by Owen, before the brown stuff hits the fan.

"Mrs. Patterson said she’d always known Margot was the one." Well let Mrs Patterson marry Margot then. Seriously, enough of the bullshit. Next they will be saying Jonah really did live inside a whale. "She ordered tablecloths online and asked my opinion on colors and I said “white is fine” and she said “white is boring, Owen, what about sage?” and I said “sage is fine” and she said “you’re no help at all” with a smile that meant she loved me and had no idea who I was." Sage, sounds ideal for a funeral. What about burnt orange, purple or scarlet? Or better still fuchsia? Although it is a sham, shouldn't an engagement be a celebration? I am becoming increasingly disgusted with Margot, and to a much lesser extent Owen, over the amount of money being spent and the amount of "stuff" being purchased, much of which I imagine is single use, for an event to celebrate a falsehood. If Margot insisted on this sham, the least she could have done was insist on NOT having an engagement party. The problem is, Margot relishes being the centre of attention, being Daddy's little princess. She is as supercilious as her parents. I am really hoping Ryder has noted @weinerdog's comment, contacted Jules and arranged for the both of them to attend the engagement party. Jules as a dyke on a bike, decked out in something very butch, topless, and Ryder in backless chaps.

She certainly was a "piece of work". She has had her comeuppance.

I did not expect any humour in this chapter, or any chapter given the storyline, but in this chapter there was humour to be had. The "love at first sight" meeting between Alejandro and Marcelo, the arrival of Gerardo catching Ximo in his underwear and the dismissal of the sycophantic Emilio due to his alleged incompetence. The cliffhanger, somewhat reminiscent of Who Shot JR? Who's The Mole In The Movement? Regardless of Ximo's discounting him, I think it is Armand aka Roger? He moves in the same circles as Ximo's odious mother and her parents. A self-hating gay man? I think not, more likely someone who has hidden his homosexuality cleverly from those in whose circles he moves, a hypocrite of the highest order, like the traitorous Roy Cohn. Another feather (faux of course) in your cap @Gary L. Looking forward to the continuation of this story, sometime in your autumn, or do the Spanish also refer to it as fall?

I immediately thought that too @drpaladin, but when Caleb stated Vickie never went anywhere near him I wondered if it was so.

Grey Harbour appears to be very appropriately named. If I lived in a town where grey was the predominant colour, especially the weather, I think I would feel like murdering someone, possibly on a daily basis. Did Vickie's mother have an affair with Mr Park? Did Vickie believe he was somehow involved in the death of her mother? There has to be a reason why he is concerned about what Vickie said, if anything, about her mother. I guess it was a bit much to expect one of the students or one of the teachers get up and state what appears to have been the case "Vickie was a blackmailer and I for one am glad the bitch is dead". Realistically, only someone she was blackmailing would know this, therefore they are unlikely to state it, but I hate the way horrible people are "sainted" just because they die, especially if the death is suspicious or tragic.

Dyke bitch. Is that the best the cosmetically tragic skank, Shayna, can do? Clearly her ego is larger than her brain, but probably smaller than the "cathedral" downstairs if Jake's comment she "goes after anything with three legs" has any truth to it. Shir's comment she saw something in Shayna's soul that she is "not altogether comfortable with" was intriguing. Was she speaking literally or figuratively? If the former, does she possess some kind of "supernatural" gift? I had wondered when she first appeared in this story if she might be African American or Haitian given she was raised on the bayou in New Orleans. It is perhaps a stereotype, but if she does have some kind of "supernatural" gift, I am inclined to think it is more likely she is African American or Haitian than white. The brain is an astonishing organ, one we still know so little about. When I sustained a head injury in 2010 the only thing I could remember about the accident at the time and to this day, was lying on the bathroom floor and thinking I am not dead. I do not remember falling and smashing my head open on the corner of the spa bath, telephoning my neighbour to ask for her help, my neighbour arriving and taking me to hospital, or being at the hospital and having an MRI (I definitely would have remembered that under normal circumstances). I could remember coming home from the hospital many hours later as I was fully conscious by then, but not being at the hospital itself. It appears Mannly's current amnesia may be the brain protecting him from the horrific attack he suffered. He may or may not remember his assault, but hopefully will recover sufficient memory to know who he is. A little "comedy" again, albeit unintentional, in this chapter @Vcs. When Shir refers to Mannly as Cher, which she has done before, I have an image of the Cher, albeit a cosmetically altered hybrid, a redundant statement perhaps, in her If I Could Turn Back Time outfit, with a larger derriere and the addition of some cowboy accoutrements.

Is Charlie telling the truth? If he isn’t he is an even bigger arsehole than I thought. If he is telling the truth then Nathanial is in deep shit. A very complex and suspenseful story @J92.

I like Ryder too @dboggs9700, but I had some reservations about his parting "threat" to come to the engagement party. I, like you, am hoping his ploy is to help strengthen Owen's resolve to stand up for himself and not be bullied into submission by his parents and/or Margot. I think with encouragement from his Aunt Beth too, particularly if it is delivered when he has to say goodbye to the "Seahorses", Owen may find the courage to say no and refuse to continue with the charade in all aspects of his life, not just his fake relationship with Margot. I certainly hope so.

Perhaps she can off the bitch then. She could argue it was a mercy killing.

It is allegedly disrespectful to speak ill of the dead. Well I say, fuck that shit. Vickie Morrison was a contemptuous parasite whose murder was warranted for her abhorrent treatment of others. Given her increasing number of victims, it may emerge she was murdered by more than one person, like Lanfranco Cassetti in Murder On The Orient Express, with every victim of her evil extortion stabbing her at least once. The bitch got what she deserved. Councilman Archer is a prig. He has no sympathy for Tyler and what he has been through. His only concern, his own reputation and what it will suffer if word gets out about Tyler's sexual encounter with Caleb and his subsequent foray into child pornography. Tyler's exploits on Only Fans mirroring those of Traci Lords and Brent Corrigan, although In Tyler's case his porn shoots were solo efforts. @weinerdog was right @Topher Lydon, there are very few residents of Grey Harbour whom one could say are likeable. Thus far I can only recall Caleb, Billy and perhaps Billy's mother and Tyler. The one thing which disturbs me the most, in fact the only truly disturbing thing because Vickie's murder is, meh, the residents of Grey Harbour seem to know what Caleb's "mother" is doing to him, but no one appears to have tried to stop her. Is she some kind of evil force the rest of the town's residents are frightened of?

Who might be Margo(t)'s nemesis @drsawzall? Might Nora surprise or Ellie gain a voice and become an Eve Harrington? Or better still, might someone emerge as a Veda, the horror daughter of Bette's hated rival, Joan. The potential for bitchy cat fights is unlimited.

"Ryder flicked the cigarette into the gutter. Kicked the bike to life. The engine rumbled through the frame and into my body and my bones and my teeth." I like Ryder, have done from his first appearance, but he needs to ditch the cigarettes. If he does not, he at least needs to STOP flicking the butts into the gutter. Cigarette butts, like one-use plastic bags, are a scourge environmentally. I am a little surprised Owen was able to kiss Ryder given he had just smoked a cigarette. As an ex-smoker I find the smell of them disgusting.

I will be very surprised @weinerdog if Margot does not turn on Owen and become the nasty bitch I suspect is just below the surface of her carefully constructed facade. I have little doubt she will throw him under the bus and play the "wronged woman". I believe her arrogance will not entertain Jules might dump her, perhaps until it is too late. I think Jules and Aunt Beth will both be an ally for Owen. Aunt Beth's support may result in her being ostracised by the rest of the Donnelly family, but hopefully she will be strong enough to overcome any hostility. If their hostility is severe enough she may file for divorce, and wouldn't that upset their perfectly constructed homogenous lives.

Clearly I should just stick to making comments and posting songs @weinerdog. My timeline accuracy is fraught with errors, except for The Seventeenth Summer which was set in 1975, the year ABBA exploded on the Aussie pop charts.